Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Promise Me Always



Promise Me Always
By: Christine Lynxwiler


This book has a really great storyline and great characters. I love how she describes the characters and really makes you fall in love with them or greatly dislike them. Whichever the case may be. I love how persistent Daniel is. The idea of women being wooed is quickly dying and it is refreshing to feel like you are being wooed right along with Allie. My only real complaint is the self-talk. I have so many worries of my own that I fight with daily that I don't need so much of that from a book I'm reading for relaxation. Other that, it's a great read!

Back of the Book:
Allie Richards has always dreamed of having her own landscaping company. After she loses her job, her lifelong "Pinky Promise" girlfriends convince her to enter the Beautiful Town Landscaping Competition, a prequel to the Shady Grove Centennial Celebration.

The prize? A new landscaping truck, a chunk of cash, and a one-year contract for Shady Grove's landscaping and maintenance.

But there's a hitch. Every move Allie's ragtag crew makes will be filmed and featured in the reality segment of the local TV show Wake Up, Shady Grove. And Daniel Montgomery, the man behind the camera, is after more than just a story. Will he be satisfied with anything less than Allie's heart?

Armed with a green thumb, help from her Pinky friends, and lots of determination, can Allie survive the hype, keep her fatherless kids from running amuck, maintain her faith, guard her heart - and still win the prize?


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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Ransome's Honor


Ransome's Honor
By: Kaye Dacus


I personally love reading books about the Regency Era and this was no exception. My favorite type of book is when people agree to marry for some sort of duty and then fall in love. Julia Witherington is a wonderful heroine. She loves her father very much and wouldn't do anything to harm his reputation as an admiral in the Royal Navy. When her aunt and cousin try to manipulate her into marrying her cousin in order to pay off his debt with her dowry, Julia comes up with her own plan to counteract them. Unfortunately for her that means swallowing her pride and asking William Ransome, a man she has not forgiven for the last 12 years, to feign marriage for a year. With a few twists in the end this book will have you on the edge of your seat waiting to see if they go through with it. I couldn't put it down.

This book is very well written with a great plot. I look forward to reading the next 2 books as they come available.


Back of the Book:
When young Julia Witherington doesn't receive the proposal for marriage she expects from William Ransome, she determines to never forgive him. They go their separate ways - she returns to her family's Caribbean plantation, and he returns to the Royal Navy.

Now, twelve years later, Julia is about to receive a substantial inheritance, including her beloved plantation. When unscrupulous relatives try to gain the inheritance by forcing her into a marriage, she turns to the only eligible man to whom her father, Admiral Sir Edward Witherington, will not object - his most trusted captian and the man who broke her heart, Willam Ransome. Julia offers William her thirty-thousand-pound dowry to feign marriage for one year, but then something she could never have imagined happens: She starts to fall in love with him again.

Can two people overcome their hurt, reconcile their conflicting desires, and find a way to be happy together? Duty and honor, faith and love are intertwined in this intriguing tale from the Regency era.



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Saturday, August 8, 2009

Not Far From the Tree




Not Far From the Tree
By: Ruth Smith Meyer



One word: Excellent!!
In this book the author takes you on a journey through the 20th century through the eyes of one woman, Rina. Rina and her family endure many hardships along the way including losing jobs, moving, sickness, and death. Rina's faith is strong and she is a wonderful example to all of us on how to deal with problems biblically. She isn't perfect and has her moments of doubt and fear, but through it all she was a dedicated wife and mother.

Without coming across as preaching there are many lessons to learn through this book. I found myself underlining just as I do in my non-fiction books. Among the lessons learned are that God does not give you more than you can handle. If you are feeling overwhelmed you are taking something that doesn't belong to you. Lay your burdens at the foot of the cross and trust God to take care of you. She is also a great example of not giving up. She pressed on no matter what. One of my favorite statements from the book is when Rina says "You may as well wear out than rust out". And last they never had much but were always satisfied. God truly does take care of all of your needs and this book shows testimony after testimony of how God did that for this family. They were brought to a point where all they could do was trust God and he delivered many times over.

If you want to be encouraged and convicted all at the same time while enjoying a wonderful story this is the book for you. The life of this family is told through Rina's eyes as a 99 year old woman remembering her life. So I encourage you to take this journey down memory lane with Rina.


About the Book:

Those who lived in the twentieth century saw more rapid changes than any previous century. Born at the beginning of this era, to a family that had already faced dramatic change and challenge, Rina seemed to come into the world with a zest for the revolution the 1900’s would bring. Based on the story of a real person, the narrative alternates between the daily activities of a still spunky 99-year-old Rina and her vivid memories as she relives vignettes of her life. The impetuous and sometimes capricious nature of young Rina almost exasperates her parents Jake and Ellie.

When she is barely a grown woman, marriage to an imaginative and sometimes impractical dreamer husband, the arrival of babies, the great depression and life in general take over, moulding her into a strong woman not unlike her parents, proving the apple indeed does not fall far from the tree. The unbelievable twists in the lives of Rina and her beloved David will keep readers fascinated with the indomitable strength of the human spirit when there is a solid foundation of love and faith. Although this is a sequel to Not Easily Broken, it can readily stand on its own.

About the Author:

Ruth Smith Meyer is an Inspirational/Motivational speaker, a regular contributor for Rejoice Magazine, a daily devotional resource, the editor of Marriage Encounter Newsletter and has had her poetry published in Purpose and Christian Living Magazine.


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