Never the Bride by Cheryl McKay and Rene Gutteridge

Never the Bride by Cheryl McKay and Rene Gutteridge

Published by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group

I originally picked up this book because of Rene Gutteridge. I have read all of her books, and I know that it seems like I always say this, but she is one of my favorite authors. Her books are wonderfully different, always a great plot. I would not have picked up this book by looking at the cover. But, seeing her name on the cover as one of the authors, I decided to bite.

And boy, am I glad I did! I found this book to be a pure delight! I should have known better. I absolutely loved this book. I found the character of Jessie Stone very real and enjoyable. All I am going to say about the plot is....well done.

I usually prefer suspense or mystery, but I have to make a confession: I LOVE chick lit. And I would put this book in that category. Chick lit with a meaningful message.

Because of the discussions regarding new FTC rules, I want to disclose the following:

I reviewed this book on my own. I did not receive a free copy or compensation from anyone.

Seaside Letters A Nantucket Love Story by Denise Hunter

Seaside Letters
A Nantucket Love Story
by Denise Hunter

Published by Thomas Nelson


www.brb.thomasnelson.com






I was so excited to see this book on the list of books available to review from the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers website. Denise Hunter is one of my favorite authors. I'll put it this way: I have bookcases throughout my home, but only one for my FAVORITE authors and books. My husband knows that this particular bookcase is OFF LIMITS for anyone wishing to borrow one of my legions of books. I have a shelf for each author, and will NOT part with these books. Denise Hunter's collection is on the second shelf. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to review this book, and to add it to my collection. :)

Sabrina Kincaid is a waitress at the Cobblestone Cafe. She serves coffee every morning to the regular customers, including Tucker McCabe. But she is more than just a waitress, and he is more than just a regular customer. They have been corresponding to each other via the Internet under the screen names Sweetpea (Sabrina) and Harbormaster (Tucker). The online friendship has evolved into each having strong feelings for the other. Sabrina opens her heart to Tucker through the safety and anonymity of the emails.

Sabrina is dealing with issues of fear, insecurity (not feeling like she is pretty or good enough for Tucker), hurt from past betrayals, as well as shame from a bad decision made in the midst of a painful time in her life. She is hiding out on Nantucket Island after running from a painful betrayal by her fiance and cousin. She is avoiding dealing with her past. When she learns that Tucker would be affected by her past mistake, she goes to elaborate lengths to hide her true identity, further shutting him out of her future.

What she does not realize is that he knows who she really is, and is reaching out to her. He goes to elaborate lengths to reach out to her, to draw him to her, and to help her feel safe in revealing her true self. Unfortunately, Sabrina's fear of his finding out her past indiscretion is stronger, and she continues to hide.

I don't want to reveal any more of the plot than I already have, but I was deeply touched by this book. I loved how Denise used Tucker's love for Sabrina to illustrate God's love for us. The issue with more than one of the characters dealing with fear was powerful as well. Fear really does paralyze us, stops us from doing and being who God created us to be. Last, but not least, there is the theme of forgiveness. God's forgiveness, forgiving others, and forgiving ourselves. I think we all can use the reminder that one mistake does not define who you are, and if God can forgive us and remember our sins no more, than we can forgive ourselves and others.

I would recommend this book to all of my reader friends. If you have not read any of Denise Hunter's books, I highly recommend starting with Mending Places, book one of the New Heights Series. I promise you will not be disappointed!

The American Patriot's Bible

This is my review of The American Patriot's Bible, The Word of God and the Shaping of America, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers. This bible is presented in the New King James version, and is considered a Study Bible. According to the back cover, this Bible "connects the teachings of the Bible, the history of the United States, and the life of every American. Beautiful full-color insert pages spotlight the people and events that demonstrate the godly qualities that have made America great."

This was to be the first bible I was to review for the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers site. It was exciting to have UPS stop at my door and deliver this Bible to me! I could not wait to get started!

My husband and I homeschool our eight-year old son, and we were looking forward to using this Bible in both Bible studies with Nick and as a supplement to his history lessons. My goal this summer was to homeschool Nick right through with no stopping. Unfortunately, my oldest daughter's tragic accident superseded all of our best-laid plans. This review, the entire book review blog, was put on hold. Lauren is still hospitalized, but on the way to recovery. We were able to resart homeschooling in the past few weeks. So, I have made the decision to also restart my dream of reviewing books. Sorry if this is rusty, but here goes:

When we initially received The American Patriot's Bible, we sat down and went through the pages. We read several of the inserts, and were amazed and impressed that there is much of our American history that WE do not know! We read with Nick the color insert on Christianity and Equal Rights, located in the beginning of the book of John. We were satisfied that it helped to illuminate that, even though our country was built on liberty and justice for all, certain minority groups have not always enjoyed their rights as American citizens. We thought this insert was timely, having recently inaugurated the country's first black president. We thought the information was both timely and relevant to what is going on right now. We also reviewed the book of John, and emphasized with him the article on the Bill of Rights on page 1217. He is only considered a second grader, but I don't think one is ever too young to learn about the history of this country. We also liked the short blurbs scattered throughout each chapter. On page 1208, titled, Selfless, we read a quote from Colin Powell about our young men and women fighting for freedom in other countries, tying this quote with John 3:16.

We are very impressed with The American Patriot's Bible and would recommend it to anyone homeschooling, or just hungry for more knowledge of American History. I know that we have learned just as much as Nick has!

Available in both hardcover and blue bonded leather.


www.brb.thomasnelson.com

How I Spent My Summer....

I started this blog in May, so excited to discover that Thomas Nelson publishers would send me (FOR FREE!!!) select books to review. I had always wanted to be an author when I was young, and even though I enjoy reading so much more, I thought this would be a way to polish my writing skills. I will NOT be writing any novels ANYTIME soon, just want to make that clear. My passion is reading, reading, reading.

In June, life as we know it was forever changed. My oldest daughter, Lauren, was a passenger on a Harley Davidson that was struck by an SUV. Her boyfriend (the driver) was thrown from the bike and died instantly. Lauren was pinned under the Harley, which exploded on impact. She suffered full-thickness burns to 40% of her body, and her left leg was amputated mid-calf upon impact. In fact, the left side of her body was badly broken. Her injuries are too numerous to list right now. She was lifelined to one hospital, then transferred the next day to the Richard Fairbanks burn unit in Wishard Hospital due to the extent of her burns. She remains there today. In fact, she was to transfer to the rehabilitation hospital this week, but for insurance and medical reasons, she was told she will be there at least three more weeks. But I am getting ahead of the story.

Her prognosis was grim. She had so many injuries, and each one was critical on its own. For about five weeks, we lived from day to day. She has had so many surgeries I lost count after #10.

Despite all the obstacles, Lauren has survived. I give all the glory to the Lord! She is a miracle! She has a long, hard road ahead of her, but she is going to make it. She is neurologically intact, thank God, so when she is rehabilitated she can come home to her two little girls.

Throughout all of this I forgot all about my vow to become a book reviewer. I had not returned to this blog until this afternoon to post the review for the Max Lucado book, Fearless. I have spent what little computer time I get anymore to post entries on Lauren's Caring Bridge website.

Having returned, I discovered that I missed opportunities to review books I would have loved to review. I started this blog for me, never thought anyone would actually read this!

So, I am making a vow to spend more time doing what I orginally set out to do.

Book Review: Fearless by Max Lucado

"Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear."

"Can you imagine your life without fear?"

-Direct quotes taken from back cover of book.

I requested Max Lucado's new release, Fearless, with a mixture of skepticism and hope. This summer has been a particularly rough summer for me and my family. I have had many reasons to be fearful. Plus, working at a Christian book store for the last three years, I have witnessed many new releases claiming to have the answer to life's problems. I DO enjoy Max's writing style, and figured, if anyone is going to teach us how to conquer fear, why not Max? So, I requested a copy of this book.

I found Fearless to be informative, reassuring, and touched my heart in several chapters. Easy to read, yet not a light read. Max has a way of drawing you in, and targeting the core of our fears. He covered the gamut of our personal fears in fifteen chapters.

Chapter one opens the book with the story of Max's brother, Dee, who passed away from a massive heart attack while Max was writing Fearless. He also defines fear as well as explains how Jesus conquered fear, once and for all, on the cross. The following fourteen chapters define individual fears, and how Jesus specifically addressed each one. He first addressed fears related to our personal shortcomings, such as, fear of not mattering and fear of disappointing God.