Beautiful Story. 'Facing the Dawn' - by Cynthia Ruchti

 

About the book:

While her humanitarian husband Liam has been digging wells in Africa, Mara Jacobs has been struggling. She knows she's supposed to feel a warm glow that her husband is eight time zones away, caring for widows and orphans. But she is exhausted, working a demanding yet unrewarding job, trying to manage their three detention-prone and needy kids, failing at her to-repair list, and fading like a garment left too long in the sun.

Then Liam's three-year absence turns into something more, changing everything and plunging her into a sunless grief. As Mara struggles to find her footing, she discovers that even when hope is tenuous, faith is fragile, and the future is unknown, we can be sure we are not forgotten . . . or unloved.

My review:

This was in some ways a harder story to read than I thought it would be but also easier.  Harder because there was more loss than I was prepared for but I also loved the sarcasm and wit Mara and her friend Ashlee both exhibited.  I found myself laughing out loud sometimes and wiping away tears at others.  I loved Mara's honesty with God as she told Him how she felt and it was wonderful seeing her journey back to Him as she had drifted away long before her grief.  Her children's transformations were wonderful to see, too, as they had been headed down the wrong paths before.  What was really inspiring, though, were two friends who came alongside her and encouraged her and were just there for her every step of the way.  It was really beautiful to see such deep friendship and love, especially when one was a new friend she didn't know well.  This story was really about looking for the beauty amid the grief and knowing that you'll survive and even thrive again.  I highly recommend this beautifully written story.

I received this book free from Revell.  I was not compensated for this review.  All opinions are my own. 

           The Author

1. 

   © Emilie Haney, EAH Creative

   Cynthia Ruchti

   Cynthia Ruchti is the award-winning author of more than 30 books, including the novels Miles from Where We Started, A Fragile Hope, Song of Silence, When the Morning Glory Blooms, and They Almost Always Come Home. Her...

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Amazing! 'Unknown Threat' - Defend and Protect 1 - by Lynn H. Blackburn

 

About the book:

US Secret Service Special Agent Luke Powell is lucky to be alive. Three of his fellow agents have died in unusual circumstances in the past ten weeks. Luke is devastated by the loss of his friends and colleagues, and his inability to locate the killer feels like a personal failure. He and his team are experts at shielding others, but now the protectors are in need of protection.

FBI Special Agent Faith Malone is driven to succeed and confident in her ability to solve every case she's assigned. She's been put in charge of the investigation into the unprecedented attacks, and with Luke's life in danger, the stakes have never been higher. But it's hard to know how to fight back when you don't know who the enemy is.

Luke has teamed up with Faith before, but he's not convinced she's up for the job and she's not convinced he's telling her everything he knows. As more agents are targeted, Luke and Faith will have to learn to trust each other and work together to bring a killer to justice and prevent any more names from joining their fallen brothers and sisters on the Secret Service Wall of Honor.

My review:

This was such a wonderful story, full of non-stop action and likeable characters and a great romance to boot!  There was one crazy situation after another so it was incredibly suspenseful but I also loved the interactions between the Secret Service agents and with Faith.  They were funny and had such a close bond with each other and I loved that they were people of faith.  Both Luke and Faith dealt with unforgiveness towards people in their past and grew in their faith throughout the story.  The romance was written well with Luke and Faith being attracted to each other but since they're colleagues they're trying to maintain professionalism and also work through issues that would stand in the way of a relationship.  There were some very sweet moments between them.  I liked that the characters seemed real, like Faith having an obsession with Cherry Coke and how they butted heads at the beginning of the investigation.  It was also great to see characters from Lynn's other series show up here.  I can't wait for the next story.  I highly recommend it!

I received this book free from Revell.  I was not compensated for this review.  All opinions are my own.

                   The Author

1. 

   Mary Denman

   Lynn H. Blackburn

   Lynn H. Blackburn is the author of Beneath the Surface, In Too Deep, One Final Breath, Hidden Legacy, and Covert Justice. Winner of the 2016 Selah Award for Mystery and Suspense and the 2016 Carol Award for Short Novel,...

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Fate - The Perfect Time for Love 2 - by Natasha D. Frazier

 

About the book:

Melanie Bennett and Detective Brian Morris met over a year ago when he solved her best friend's murder case, and now Nashville's annual Christmas festivities have them crossing paths again, could it be fate?

Melanie Bennett has spent the last six months in therapy to erase the self-assigned blame and eradicate the night terrors that plagued her at every attempt to close her eyes after witnessing her best friend's murder. The Christmas season always had a way of lifting her spirits, and this year is no different. The spark within her to live again couldn't have come at a better time when she and Detective Brian Morris are reacquainted, but first, she must believe that she deserves happiness.

Will the circumstances of how they met prevent Melanie from taking a chance on love?

Brian was drawn to Melanie when he first laid eyes on her over a year ago; he wanted to ask her out, but the timing was all wrong. Expressing interest in her when she'd just lost her best friend was tacky, but fate dealt him another opportunity when he walked into her hair salon delivering flyers for the annual stuff the cruiser toy drive a year later. Though Brian desires love, will his unresolved issues with his mother get in the way?

Every moment spent with one another can only be described as fate - a power beyond human control. Will this Christmas season bring about the healing and love both Melanie and Brian crave?

Fate is book 2 in the Perfect Time for Love Series (Sweet Christian Romance).

My review:

This was a sweet romance but I kept expecting something dangerous to happen.  I haven't read book one and that probably would have helped since I didn't know what the situation was with her friend getting killed or if the bad guys were caught.  The obstacles between them didn't seem too large and were easily resolved.  The Christmas setting was magical and I liked the different activities they did to celebrate the season.  I also liked that they both had a strong faith, discussed it and prayed often for guidance and wisdom.  They also brought out the best in each other.  There was a little bit about Brian's job as a detective and a couple things were left open-ended, which I wonder if might get addressed in the next book.  You might enjoy it if you like sweet romances, especially at Christmas.

I received a free kindle copy of this book from JustRead Tours.  I was not compensated for this review.  All opinions are my own.

Enjoyable! 'Behold: 40 Days of Seeing and Savoring God' - by Sarah J. Callen

 

About the book:

Our days are filled with busyness: work meetings, family obligations, church responsibilities, and more. We know that we need to spend time with God, but how often does our reading the Bible become checking an item off a to-do list?

Behold is an invitation to just sit with God. Spend time with him. Enjoy his presence. For 40 days, let's sit with him, enjoy him, and choose to be in awe of him.

My review:

I enjoyed this devotional that really focused on the awe and wonder of who God is.  Sarah invites us to just sit and really think about the verses.  First she chose a passage, from a few verses to 2 chapters.  Then she had some thoughts about it and at the end of each devotional thought she had the words, "Pause, Be, Enjoy, and Wonder" to remind us to not rush through this and just sit with God.  I appreciated her honesty about her shortcomings and struggles and could totally relate!  One thing I didn't like was when we looked at some of the passages more than once and a few times she said for us to choose our own passage.  If this had been a longer devotional, it would have made more sense to me but when a devotional is for forty days, I felt a little cheated out of content.  Overall, I felt it was helpful to use and could see myself reading it more than once.  We could definitely all use more quiet time with God!

I received a free pdf copy of this book from JustRead Tours.  I was not compensated for this review.  All opinions are my own.

Wonderful! 'From This Moment' - by Kim Vogel Sawyer

 

About the book:

A lost ring brings together two wounded souls--a youth minister haunted by the past and a spunky church custodian--in this heartwarming romance from the bestselling author of The Librarian of Boone's Hollow.

Growing up in the foster care system, Jase Edgar always dreamed of one day starting his own family. But his fiance's untimely death shattered his plans. Moving to Kansas and serving as a youth minister should be a fresh start, but he can't seem to set aside his doubts about God's goodness long enough to embrace his new life.

Newly-appointed church custodian, Lori Fowler is battling her own challenges. Her strained relationship with her father and her struggles with overeating convince her she's not worthy enough for love. When an Amish weaver enlists their help locating the owner of a ring found among the donated clothing she uses as fabric, Jase and Lori find themselves drawn to each other. But will they be able to release the past and move forward from this moment into a joyful future?

My review:

This was a wonderful story about a man who thought he knew what God's plans for him were and struggled to trust Him after they were upended.  He was honest with God about His doubts, which I liked about him.  Jase moved to this small town and got to know some of the wonderful people that rounded out this story, including the pastor and his wife.  While I liked Jase a lot, Lori was my favorite character.  She was funny and joyful yet also struggled with emotional eating after her mom died when she was a preteen.  Due to that and her father's verbal abuse, she suffered from insecurity and low self-esteem.  I liked seeing the huge difference in her from how she was before realizing her problem, working on it and turning to God and after.  An interesting aspect to the story is Lori's best friend Kenzie, a girl who grew up Amish but had left that religion when she discovered grace.  She weaved items into works of art and they both work at a craft store.  Kenzie really had a strong faith and was very humble.  It seemed like I learned something from each person and their faith journey as they each had struggles.  There were a few cute moments and I hope we get more of Kenzie's story in a future book as I want to know where she ends up.  I highly recommend this story!

I received a kindle copy of this book free from Netgalley.  I was not compensated for this review.  All opinions are my own.