Love Your Heart by Tim McGraw and Tom Douglas, Illustrated by Abigail Marble

Love Your Heart
by: Tim McGraw and Tom Douglas
Illustrated by: Abigail Marble

Love Your Heart is a children's book written for, I would say, 3-7 year olds. This is a great book of a father's affirmation. Katie is trying to decide what to do for the talent show. There are some very funny moments involving the family dog. In the end, Dad is so proud of his little girl for making a very selfless choice to help a friend at the talent show.

I really enjoyed reading this book, especially with my daughter. Katie is such a fun character for kids to relate to. She's carefree, imaginative and puts others first. Also, I love books that highlight the daddy/daughter relationship. That is such a special relationship that is very well illustrated in this book. The message of the book is clearly depicted through Katie's selfless act during the talent show where she put her friend, Sophie, first and helped her with her talent. The illustrations are fun and whimsical with bright colors to attract kids. I would definitely recommend this book.

This book was sent to me by Thomas Nelson Publishers for the purpose of reviewing the book.
I was not influenced by them regarding how to write this review.

Forgiving Sean

by Jessica Adriel

This month, CFRB presents Forgiving Sean by Jessica Adriel.



About the Book:

Marissa Gladstone has already buried her father and had one man walk out on her, so when her boyfriend Hawke Davies suddenly proposes, Marissa’s unsure things will last. Hoping that her quiet summer at home will give her time to think, Marissa forgets that her first love may be home for the summer. Before she can give Hawke an answer, she needs to find out why Sean disserted her. But when the competition heats up between the boys, Sean tries to win her back by making a staggering confession that links his former life to Hawke. Forgiving Sean may be the answer she has needed all along and allow her to choose the man she’s always loved.



About the Author:

Jessica Adriel is a licensed minister, author, mother and speaker. She spends her days penning books, preparing talks and delving into the world of teenagers. Her gifts of communication and compassion were noticed early on when she composed over 800 poems during high school and yet spent a great deal of time with volunteer efforts. A native to New England, it was Jessica’s tragic stint of car accidents, assaults and a four year career in modeling, that inspired her to write ‘real life’ novels that impact teenagers. Today Jessica inspires and ignites teens to find their God given purpose through her books and challenging seminars. Her stories provide a bridge between today's generation and the pressures of media and peer pressure which lead teens in the wrong direction. Armed with a plethora of stories and a deep love for God, Jesus introduces her audience to Christ in unconventional, yet very powerful ways.



Visit the author's website and

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The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher

The Choice
by: Suzanne Woods Fisher

About the Book:

One moment, Carrie Weaver is planning to elope with Lancaster Barnstormer Solomon Riehl, leaving their Amish community behind. The next, she is staring into a future as broken as her heart. Now Carrie faces a choice. An opportunity. But will this decision, this moment in time, change her life forever?

"Fisher kicks off a refreshing new series, Lancaster County Secrets, with characters that are strong, both in body and spirit. They also have weaknesses that develop into strengths with the
4 stars, choices they make." Romantic Times


About the Author:

Suzanne is a wife and mom, raiser of puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and an author of Christian books, both non-fiction and fiction.

Her relatives on my mother's side are Old Order German Baptist Brethren, also known as Dunkards. That's where her interest in Anabaptist traditions began. Suzanne's grandfather was born into a family of 13 children, started his career as a teacher in a one-room school house in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and ended it as one of the very first publishers of Christianity Today. "We called him "Deardad" even though he was a very stern fellow. Still, Deardad's life inspired me to write."

After college, Suzanne was a freelance writer for magazines and became a contributing editor to Christian Parenting Today. Her work has been featured in Today's Christian Woman, Marriage Partnership, Worldwide Challenge, among others. She took the plunge into books a few years ago and now she's hooked. To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com.

My Thoughts:
I must admit, my first thought was along the lines of 'another Amish book. Hmm.' But Ms. Fisher does a great job of making it like no other Amish book you've read before. With many twists and turns and more tragedy than one heart should have to bear, Suzanne takes you on a journey with Carrie to the depths of her soul. Is it ever too late to turn to God? Of course not. Read this book and see how this family discovers that wonderful truth. Ms. Fisher has a wonderful writing style and you won't want to put this book down. I look forward to reading more books from this series.

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This book was sent to my by the publisher for the purpose of review. I was not influenced on how to write my review of this book.

Healing Sands by Nancy rue & Stephen Arterburn

Healing Sands
by: Nancy Rue & Stephen Arterburn

Summary of the Book:
Ryan Coe's world just fell apart. While out on assignment for the local newspaper she sees through her camera lens that her son appears to have committed a horrible hate crime. In trying to deal with the stress of the situation and her anger she turns to Healing Choice Clinic and the famous Dr. Sullivan Crisp. While helping her work through her anger, Sully is dealing with his own skeletons in the closet. Sully is trying to find the woman that encouraged his wife to take her own life. Both situations come to a head at the same time. Two people convicted of crimes they didn't commit ~ how will they convince the justice-seeking Detective Baranovic that both are innocent?


My Thoughts:
To be honest, at first I wasn't sure what I thought about the book especially starting book #3 in a series without reading 1 & 2. However, this book can easily stand on its own. The authors have a great writing style that grips you within the first couple of pages. You feel like you are the one looking through the camera and finding your own child in the driver's seat. The only problem I had with the book was that the spiritual talk is a little bit too emotion-based in my opinion. However it is a great mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. Overall I think it is a really good book.

Thanks for stopping by!

This book was sent to me by Thomas Nelson Publishers for the purpose of reviewing the book.
I was not influenced by them regarding how to write this review.

The Raven Saint

The Raven Saint
by: M.L. Tyndall

I just want to start off by saying that I love the writing style of Ms. Tyndall. She captures your attention right away and keeps it throughout the book so that you really don't want to put it down even though your eyelids are drooping and your body is saying "Sleep!!" I found myself in this situation the couple of nights that it took me to read this book.

The Raven Saint is a wonderful story showing that 'our ways are not His ways'. We are not always meant to know what God is doing. The main character, Grace Westcott, does a lot of work for the Lord and doesn't understand why the Lord would allow her to be captured. She quickly starts to look for who the Lord has for her to lead to Him. She doesn't understand why He seems to keep making the situation worse. Attempting to do everything she can, nothing seems to work to bring anyone closer to the Lord.

Grace has to face a lot of hard situations and the reality of who she is falling in love with to learn this very hard lesson. Sometimes the strongest of Christians can have the hardest time learning a new lesson that God has for them. We can all relate to Grace. There are many times when we are doing good things that God will be pleased with, but He has something better for us. We may lose children, houses, jobs, etc. before we truly open our eyes to what He has planned for us.

I highly recommend this book. It is a great story of a damsel in distress on the sea with seemingly no hope, but God triumphs over all.


Back of the Book:
What has she done to deserve a fate worse than death?

Grace Westcott has spent her entire life serving God and helping the poor -- not to mention trying to save the souls of her two wayward sisters. But while on an errand of mercy, she is kidnapped by a French mercenary and told she will be sold to a Spanish Don in Columbia.

Determined to hold on to her faith and see God in every situation, she believes she must have been sent to help someone find God's love. But no one will listen to her peas, warning, and prayers.

When Grace's situation grows far worse than she could imagine, she is forced to face her own human weaknesses. But she isn't prepared to face her biggest weakness of all -- falling in love with the nefarious captain, Rafe Dubois.

Will Grace discover God's purpose for this harrowing journey? And what will she do when she realizes His purpose for her is not to redeem the captain and his crew, but herself?

Visit M.L. Tyndall at her website: www.mltyndall.com


Thanks for stopping by!!

This book was sent to me by the publisher for the purpose of reviewing the book.
I was not influenced by them regarding how to write this review.