It wasn't Cassie Haddon's fault that she had managed to reach the age of twenty-five without possessing any useful skills. Until the war, she had always had servants to wait on her. Since then, she and her widowed mother had moved from place to place, relying on family to care for them. Now she's forced to find work to support them both. What isn't in her plans is falling for Jacob West, a local restaurateur and grocer. She needs a job and he needs help. But what they both need is love.

With her signature sweet romance, Ann Shorey weaves a tale of two people from very different backgrounds finding common ground and the hopes of a bright future together.
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Another unexpected love for my bookshelf. Ann Shorey does a wonderful job of creating characters that are relatable and that you feel as if you've known them forever. The relationship between Cassie and Jacob is one that you'll keep your fingers crossed for while at the same time wondering what poor Cassie is going to do about her mother! If you love historical romance or just good, sweet romance that has you captivated, this is one that you're going to want to check out.



I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are my own.

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Spunky Allison McClare is determined to be a fearless, independent woman, resorting to a mammoth hat pin for protection on her way to and from the school where she teaches. But when she takes a notion to explore the wild Barbary Coast she quickly discovers she is no match for rum-soaked brute strength.

 Detective Nick Barone would rather do almost anything than teach this petite socialite jiu-jitsu, but it seems he has little choice in the matter. Sparks fly every time the two meet until a grudging friendship develops into something deeper. But when Nick suddenly leaves town, Allison realizes he’s a fraud just like all the rest of the men she’s cared for. Does she dare love again?

Again I find myself reviewing the second book in a series when I haven't read the first! Luckily for me, this book didn't need for me to have read anything else. Like so many other books lately, I loved this one too. (I guess I've gotten lucky and not had a lemon in a while!) Allison certainly is spunky and there's a twist to Nick's story that I certainly didn't see coming. Historical fiction is another favorite area and this book didn't let me down in the slightest.



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Twenty-year-old Bethany Schrock is restless. Her love life has derailed, her faith hangs by a thread, and she is spending the incredibly hot summer days wading through a lifetime’s accumulation of junk at the home of five ancient Amish sisters. About the only thing that holds her interest is the spirited and dangerously handsome Jimmy Fisher–and he seems bent on irritating her to no end.

When the sly old sisters and a guest at the Inn get Bethany involved in running the local soup kitchen and starting a community garden, she suddenly finds herself wondering, Shootfire! How did that happen? Despite her newfound purposefulness, a gnawing emptiness about a childhood mystery continues to plague her. Encouraged by Jimmy Fisher, she will seek out the answers she craves–and uncover a shocking secret that will break her heart, heal it, and point her to love.

Suzanne Woods Fisher has become one of my favorite authors. This book certainly didn't disappoint me. In fact, it made me want to go back and read the first book in the series, all while eagerly awaiting the next book. This book kept me glued from page 1 to page 320. While this is the second book in the series, I had no trouble picking it up and reading it without having read the first. All of the characters were well developed and you felt as if you were a part of the community, watching and waiting to see what would happen next. Honestly, if you love Amish fiction, you're going to love this book.


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The world of J. R. R. Tolkien is filled with strange creatures, elaborately crafted lore, ancient tongues, and magic that exists only in fantasy; yet the lessons taught by hobbits and wizards speak powerfully and practically to our real lives. Courage, valor, trust, pride, greed, and jealousy--these are not fictional virtues. This is the stuff of real life, the Christian life. Professor and author Louis Markos takes us on the road with Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, with looks at selected classic works of literature as well, to show how great stories bring us so much more than entertainment. They inspire and convict, imparting truth in unforgettable ways.

Rediscover the virtue of great storytelling and the power of fantasy to transform our reality.

It's been a long time since I've read anything that has an intellectual basis. Don't get me wrong, I love fiction and getting lost in a story but it's a different brain experience than reading something that actually causes you to pause and think about what the author is saying. This is just that sort of book. More than once, I found myself holding my page with my finger while I considered and contemplated something that he had wrote within the pages. This is a book that helped to re-stretch my brain and one that I will go back and read again once my brain has been stretched again. If you're at all offended by biblical references, this won't be the book for you but if you're interested in how they compare with some of our favorite fantasy stories, don't hesitate to pick this one up.



I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. In fact, I received two copies, so if you'd like one, let me know and I just might send one on its way to you. All thoughts, comments and opinions are my own.

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I don't write much here anymore. Sure, I try to keep it filled with book reviews and if I'm honest, most of the time, I miss writing. Writing is a part of my soul, but it's been a part that I've had to put on the back burner while I dealt with other things. Then, something happened...and it opened my eyes just a little bit wider..

You see, I just returned from spending a week in Canada with one of the most amazing people that I know. I know that I've mentioned him here before. His name is Rob and we've been friends for something like seven years now.  Sometimes it feels like I've known him a blink of an eye and others for a lifetime. He's just one of those people who came into my life and it was as if there was a perfect Rob shaped space that he slid right into. In all that's happened, there has been a comfort knowing that whatever happens, he's in my life for good. I can't imagine us not knowing each other.

Now, before I gush on too much and make y'all think that I'm in love with the man or that we've secretly snuck off to the Canadian version of Vegas (is there such a thing?), let me just say that he really is one of my best friends and if I take sneaky pictures of his backside, that's my business. *grins* Seriously though. Rob is amazing. For starters, he has lost an entire person over the course of the past year or so. I cannot begin to tell you how proud of him I am. He looks seriously amazing and I can tell just how much it's helped his health and has bled into so many other areas of his life.  If that wasn't enough, he's also really taking control of his life and starting to live it for him and his children and nobody else. I've long said (and yes, said it to myself, as well) that you have to live for you before you can add in anyone else. Like me, he had that a bit reversed for a while. It's exciting to watch as he rediscovers aspects of himself.

Folks, that's just what I got to spend a week doing. I got to watch as he puttered around his new apartment, making it just how he wants it. He asked my opinion of where he had things stored and I couldn't help but smile as I told him that it was his place. It only had to work for him. I'd find things if I needed them. I got to listen as he talked about his struggles and yes, preened a bit over his accomplishments. It reminded me of how far I've come and how far I have yet to go. It inspired me. He inspired me.

So, here I am...back at the keyboard because I wanted to put all of this down into words. I'm not sure that I'm really doing it proper justice..just how much that time meant to me...but my heart knows and for once, my head is right on board with it. Every time a negative thought peeks its head in, I'm reminded of how he told me to take away the memories of a good weekend together..I remember and I smile. I'm also taking the inspiration and I'm using it. They may be tiny little things to the "average" person, but to me, they're steps in the right direction...

Since I've been home, I've:

• not left things sitting in the van to be dealt with later.
• stopped drinking most anything other than water.
• hauled out more bags of trash than I'm going to admit to here.
• gotten my new nightstands into place and organized them.
• flipped my mattress and put clean bedding on it.

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"A beautiful heirloom ingrained with family memory has become a totem of a life Saffee would rather forget—a childhood disrupted by her mother’s mental illness.

Saffee does not want the table. By the time she inherits the object of her mother’s obsession, the surface is thick with haphazard layers of paint, and heavy with unsettling memories.

After a childhood spent watching her mother slide steadily into insanity, painting and re-painting the ancient table, Saffee has come to fear that seeds of psychosis may lie dormant within her. But as an adult with a family of her own, Saffee must confront her mother's torment if she wants to defend herself against it.

Traversing four generations over the course of a century, The Painted Table is an epic portrait of inherited memory, proclivity, and guilt. It is a sprawling narrative affirmation that a family artifact—like a family member—can bear the marks of one’s entire past . . . as well as intimations of one's redemption."

Wow, where to start? This book is not one of warmth and laughter. Instead, it is the story of those who struggle with mental illness and the affects that it has on all those around them. So many will relate and not only that, will be drawn in. You'll cry alongside Saffee and move with them from house to house. At the end, you'll breathe a soft sigh as you close the final pages because Saffee has become a real part of your life. Even though this might not be one of those light hearted, fun reads, I can't suggest enough that you find yourself a copy and read it. It may give you insight, it may give you a new way of thinking or maybe, just maybe, it might even move you.

Suzanne Field is celebrating her novel The Painted Table with a beautiful hand-painted table giveaway!


One winner will receive:

• A beautiful hand-painted table (see it here: http://etsy.me/15L90cD)
• The Painted Table by Suzanne Field

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on January 18th. Winner will be announced January 20th on Thomas Nelson's Facebook Page.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by the TNZ Facebook Page on the 20th to see if you won.

I received a copy of this book through Litfuse. All thoughts, comments and opinions are 100% mine.

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Image from Amazon.com

Angela and her brand-new husband Josh have just arrived at their honeymoon destination, a romantic bed-and-breakfast hotel on the breathtaking Washington coast—the Inn on the Edge.

But everything isn’t as it seems. The lessons that come free with the room aren’t for painting the lovely coastal scenery—the lessons are for better sex. Angie and Josh, shocked and titillated, immerse themselves in every sensual offering.

It doesn’t take long for things to go horribly wrong. They discover that the old man running the place is a sex demon who has been stealing their sensual energy. Worse, he’s dangerously in love with Angie and he has plans for her—plans involving an heirloom wedding ring.

Inside Scoop: This book contains scenes of unbridled demon-inspired passion—girls with girls, boys with boys, twosomes, threesomes and more!

Wow! It's been ages since I've read anything like this and I'm completely thrilled that I got the opportunity. Angela and Josh have a true love romance and then along comes a sex demon! The book was well written, the characters well rounded and the sex scenes...well, they were hot! The author keeps you guessing as you turn page after page. I won't spoil the ending for you. I'll just say that if you like hot, steamy, paranormal erotica that keeps you guessing, you'll want to check out Inn on the Edge.



I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are 100% mine.

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