Jesus Calling - Sarah Young - Devotional

I'm not a non-fiction reader.  It's been a long, LONG time since I've made it all the way through a non-fiction title.  I'm definitely not a "stick-with-it" devotional reader.  Normally, I'll make it a couple of weeks or a month before I lose interest and the devotional starts to gather dust.  But I have to say this book has been a real blessing for me.

Each day you're reading a short blurb that's written from the standpoint of Jesus.  For example, they start out like this:

"In Me you have everything..."

"Peace is My continual gift to you..."

"Draw near to Me with a thankful heart..."

After reading the paragraph for the day, there's around 2-4 reference verses that you can look up.  Amazingly, I've not only kept up with this devotional, I've only missed one day that I made up.  For me, that's pretty big.  I enjoyed the truths coming together in a conversational way and that they were short enough I didn't get bored.

If I had to complain about one thing, it would be when the author references a specific translation of the Bible.  I don't know about you, but I don't have 10 Bibles in various translations just sitting around my house.

I started this around April or May and have stuck with it the rest of the year.  I've really liked it and recommend it for anyone, especially people like me that can't get through most other devotionals.

Steadfast Heart (Brides of Seattle #1) - Tracie Peterson

This is the first book in a new series by Tracie Peterson called Brides of Seattle.  Living in Washington, I was drawn to this book, and the cover is intriguing.

Lenore has seen the man of her dreams.  Her family has money and is getting ready to leave Seattle, but Lenore hopes that her talkative friend, Abrianna, will sing her praises to Kolbein while she's gone.  Lenore knows almost nothing about the man, but she's determined that he's the one she's going to marry.

Kolbein has come from Chicago to try and find his sister.  He was trying to tell her what to do, so she ran away.  He's tracked her as far as Seattle and shows up at the Bridal School hoping to find answers.  Instead, he sees Lenore and she begins to consume his thoughts.

First off, I want to warn you that there are aspects of this story that make me think it's going to be a continuous series.  The main reason is that we have a villain smuggling drugs and branching out into smuggling women, but he's only dealt with on a superficial level.  There's also the story of Wade and Abrianna that is left unresolved.  I liked their characters more than Lenore and Kolbein and was disappointed to find that their story isn't the topic of the next book in the series.

Speaking of the next book - Refining Fire comes out June 30, 2015 and revolves around Militine and Thane.  I'll be on the lookout for it, since I'm not sure what's going on with the villain and I'm hoping to read more about Abrianna and Wade.  Overall, I think if you go into it with the mindset that you might be signing on for all three books for a complete story, you'll be fine.  Even though I usually shy away from this type of series, I'll give this one my Good Book! review.

*I received a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Beyond All Dreams - Elizabeth Camden

Elizabeth Camden has become one of my favorite authors.  I find myself anxiously awaiting her next novel.  She always has such interesting elements in her stories.

Anna works in the Library of Congress.  Her father disappeared years ago and the navy's story is that the ship was lost in a hurricane.  Anna knows that's not true and is determined to find the truth.  Fixing a simple mistake turns out to be anything but easy.  Her duties in the map room lead her to meet an arrogant congressman who decides to take a shine to her.  She's not willing to give the up the two things that mean the most to her: her job and her privacy.

Luke was struck by lightning once before when it came to love, and he's sure that his fascination with the quiet librarian will fade soon enough.  He's mistaken and finds ways to spend time with her.  She claims they can never be together.  She'll never fit into the role of a congressman's wife, and Luke's temper is a cause for concern.  He's prone to rages and even though he vows never to be like his father, he sees similarities more often than not.

There's so much to this story to love.  From the sad backgrounds of Anna and Luke to the unusual cast of characters that surround them, this is a great read.  These two are about as opposite as it gets, but yet they're able to find the common ground it takes to fall in love.  It's not all peaches and cream, though.  There's instances of alcoholism, physical and verbal abuse and even death.

These things are dealt with in a way that you don't regret picking up the book, and I heartily recommend it.  This was a great book from beginning to end.  The author keeps you guessing from one point to the next - what happened to Anna's throat?  What happened to the Culpeper?  Will Anna ever find the truth?  I heartily give this one a Great Book! review.

*I received a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Bluebonnet Bride (A Butterfly Palace Short Story) - Colleen Coble

After reading Butterfly Palace, I kept my eye on this short story since I wanted to find out what happened to the White family.  I ended up paying $0.99 for it and found the time to read it today.

This stand-alone story tells the story of Elli.  She's come from Finland to America as a mail order bride for Nathan White.  She's brought trouble with her, though.  She suspects that the man who's responsible for her father's murder is after her, but she's not quite sure why.  She dreams of settling down with her handsome new husband, but the danger is great and she thinks he just wants her to take care of his niece and that's it.

This was a quick story - about 100 pages - and I liked it.  With it being that short, the action moves fast and so does the relationship, almost too fast.  Mention is made of characters from Butterfly Palace: people like Belle, Lily and Andrew are mentioned but not in such a way that the stories are dependent on each other.  Good Story!

Secrets on the Wind (Pine Ridge Portraits #1) - Stephanie Grace Whitson

For my Kindle Unlimited book this month, I chose a book by an author I'd read before.  In the past, I've read Sixteen Brides, A Claim of Her Own, and A Most Unsuitable Match.  I've had some issues in the past with some of these stories, but I wanted to give this one a shot.

This story follows a few different people.  First off, we're watching Nathan, a sergeant posted at Camp Robinson.  He's out on patrol when he finds a wild woman trapped in a small room under the floor of a home that had been attacked by Indians.  She seems to be out of her mind and tries to take her own life.  Nathan stops her and brings her back to camp.  She survives, but her future is uncertain.

Laina's past is something that she's not proud of.  Ending up in that small room was the culmination of a bad past and bad choices.  Now that she's free, she isn't sure what she's fit for, but she's under the care of Granny Max, a godly woman who shows her the love of God.  Laina starts to believe that she can escape her past and look forward to the future.

Caleb is also trying to escape his past.  He's an angry man who places the blame for things on anyone else but him.  He knows Nathan from years ago, and explains that he's changed his name to try and get away from his past.  He hasn't done anything wrong, but he's not making friends in the camp and ends up in trouble more times than not.  He recognizes Laina from their shared past, and while he doesn't want to cause any trouble for her, he feels like he has a friend.

To me, this book was on the dark side.  There's a lot of deaths in there, and so many things happen to Laina, you're tempted to think she's cursed.  She starts to get over one thing, but then something else happens to her.  I did have an issue with the way the story line goes.  The author leads you to feel the story is going one way, then the ending is different.  I was confused with the way the relationships turned out and the ending felt really rushed to me.

I'm a "happily ever after" reader.  I need a happy ending and resolution for me to say a book is "good."  With this book, there was so much sadness and death, even toward the end, that I'm not sure how I feel about this book overall.  I wanted to like it, but I'm not sure that I did.  There are two more books in this series, Watchers on the Hill and Footprints on the Horizon.  I think the issues with the way this author writes will prevent me from reading the other two.

Tidings of Peace - Tracie Peterson

I wanted to read something "Christmas-y," so I found this set of four novellas from a talented author.  It's been out for a long time, but I hadn't heard of it until this year.

All four of these stories are connected by their ties to Longview, Washington.  A small town on the Columbia River, it's the setting for two of the stories and the hometown of most of the characters.  The stories are set around Christmas at different years during WWII.

Coming Home - David was at Pearl Harbor, but he wasn't where he was supposed to be. He feels that he should have died with his friend and is ready to end his life.  He's reminded of a promise he made to his friend, that he should visit the man's family and decides to fulfill the promise.  He fits into the family easily, and his friend's sister, Rachel, has fallen in love with him.  David feels that they wouldn't love him if they really knew him and he feels the same way about God.  He's going to have to let go of his hatred and accept God's love to move on with his life.

Remember Me - Erik is shot down somewhere around the Solomon Islands and has to try and survive.  He hasn't heard from home in some time and is afraid that his fiance has found someone else.  As he fights to simply stay alive, Mary Ann is working at the Boeing plant in Seattle.  She's far too trusting and gets herself into trouble.  Erik's going to have to trust God to help him through while Mary Ann looks to God for protection.

Shadow of His Wings - Melody is pregnant.  She married Collin before he went off to war, but she was already pregnant.  Her parents didn't take the news well and told her that God would never forgive her.  Collin doesn't want to trust God and mocks his friend, John, when he brings up the Lord.  John's mother, Ginny, has taken in Melody and is standing by her and showing God's love.  On the other side of the world, Collin and John fight for their lives as their plane is shot at and they have to try and make it to safety.

Parachutes and Lace - Clara is working with the Red Cross and is fortunate to be stationed close to her fiance, Michael.  He's unsure of the future and wants to marry Clara, but she's obsessed with having a wedding dress.  She puts him off numerous times and does everything she can to get a dress.  Eventually, she'll come to see what's really important.

I started this book and really liked it.  The first story was nice and had a great ending.  The next one wasn't as good, because there's the hint of a resolution, but we never see the reunion.  The third one had me disappointed as there really isn't any resolution at all.  We never read any interaction between Melody and Collin.  The fourth one was definitely my least favorite.  I found Clara to be a selfish woman with her priorities WAY out of order. Even after she realizes the truth, she ends up getting what she wanted anyway, so she'll never know if she would have been happy with the hardship or not.

Overall, this was an okay set of stories, but the lack of resolution was something that was disappointing.  I think an epilogue at the end would have been easily written wrapping everything up in a nice little bow.  A celebration after the end of the war or something. I've read books by Peterson that were much better than this.  I'd give it 3/5 stars.

The Bracelet - Dorothy Love

I enjoyed Dorothy Love's Hickory Ridge Romance series and was happy to see she had another book coming out.  I jumped at the opportunity to read it.

Celia is the main character in this book.  Her life is going just as she's planned.  She has a wonderful fiance, and her father has no qualms including her in his business.

A reporter starts to make waves in her little world by dredging up a mystery regarding her family.  She doesn't want anything to affect her plans, but she can't help being curious about the circumstances.  What actually happened all those years ago?

Strange messages and an ominous bracelet come into her possession and now she is more determined than ever to find the truth.  She follows leads on her own and doesn't feel comfortable confiding in anyone.

While I enjoyed this book, I did have the story figured out by the reveal.  Once the villain is unmasked, I wondered why there was so much left in the book.  There really wasn't much romance with Sutton in the book; it was more Celia solving the mystery than anything else.  They are in love all through the book.

I appreciated the author's note at the end telling of her inspiration for the story.  She also reveals that there will be another book in 2015 where we will see Celia again.  In the meantime, there's a Hickory Ridge novella, A Proper Marriage, that came out in October.  I look forward to more!  Good Book!

*I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Stars in the Night - Cara C. Putnam

I've read a few of this author's books including A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island and Shadowed by Grace,  I liked both of those and saw this, one of her older books, pop up for sale and the story line intrigued me.

During WWII, Audra knows something is wrong when her sister misses calling the family from Hollywood.  Audra's already lost her brother under tragic circumstances and feels like it was her fault.  On the plane, she meets a minor celebrity who helps her get through the bumps of the trip.  When she arrives in Hollywood, she makes one horrible discovery after another.  She feels compelled to try and find out what happened to her sister, no matter the cost.  She ends up getting a job on a Victory Caravan that travels across the country raising money for the troops by selling war bonds.

Robert is one of the minor celebrities packing the train.  He sees that Audra is different from anyone he's ever met, but she seems determined to return to Indianapolis after she finds her sister's killer.  Audra's still in trouble, though, and he's going to protect her.  With the body count piling up, will they be able to solve the mystery before one or both of them ends up dead?

While I liked this story, I feel like some parts of the relationship between Audra and Robert were left out.  For instance, Audra seems to waffle back and forth on whether or not she believes Robert could be behind the murders.  I would have thought Robert would at least once question whether Audra was right for him if she couldn't trust him.  Also, the motive for the murders didn't seem to justify the number of bodies that piles up.

Even with the minor issues I had, I still enjoyed the book.  I hadn't known about the original Victory Caravan, so I also learned something new.  I liked Robert more than I did Audra, because she irritated me every once in a  while with her doubts.  Of the two books I've read that take place during this time period, I'm going to have to say that I liked Shadowed by Grace a little bit more.  Still, it was a nice read and well worth my time. Good Book!

Shattered (Alaskan Courage #2) - Dani Pettrey

This is the second book in the series.  The first book is called Submerged .  The others are Stranded and Silenced.  The fifth book in the series, Sabotaged, comes out January 2015.

At the beginning of this book, we find Landon drowning his sorrows.  He loves Piper McKenna desperately but thinks she'll never feel the same way.  Then a murder happens and the prime suspect is her brother, Reef.  Landon feels like he's part of that family and is worried how Piper will take the news.  He's a "play by the rules" person and likes to be logical all the time.  He went by his feelings in the past and was burned.  He likes to be absolutely sure of things before committing to a decision.

Piper is the opposite.  She runs on feelings and what she feels for Landon is quickly evolving into love.  She feels torn, because she's trying to find the real killer and sorting through her feelings for Landon.  He keeps giving her mixed signals, but they're going to have to talk through it eventually.

The murdered woman had a very tangled past, so finding her killer won't be easy.  The search takes them all over the place, including Canada.  The plot has a lot of twists and turns, making this an easy read.  I finished it in two days!

I love this writer's style.  She sets up the relationship between Gage and Darcy for book 3, Stranded, quite nicely, but you're going to be okay if you read them out of order, like I did. The author has a great way of making sure the stories are connected without penalizing you if you skipped a book.  I look forward to her new release in January!  Good Book!

Operation Zulu Redemption: Act of Treason - Part 4 - Ronie Kendig

IMPORTANT: Make sure you've read the first part of this series, Overkill - The Beginning, Collateral Damage, Out of Nowhere and Hazardous Duty before starting this installment or reading this review.

This is one story broken up into five parts.  The complete story includes:
Overkill - The Beginning
Collateral Damage - Part 1
Out of Nowhere - Part 2
Hazardous Duty - Part 3
Act of Treason - Part 4

In this part, everything comes together.  We find out what happens between Annie, Trace and Sam.  We also find out about Keeley, Francesca, Teya, Nuala and all the others.  The men behind the Misrata tragedy are unmasked, but the team has the chance to do more. You're left with something of a cliffhanger as it's not all wrapped up in a neat little bow as to what happens after the dust settles, but overall it was a great story.  I didn't get my wish in a lot of the situations, but I still walked away from it with no regrets.  It's a great book.

If you can manage to get all the parts and read them at once, I think you'll be doing yourself a favor.  When you're done with one part, you just gotta keep reading and find out what happens next!  Not sure if there'll be more about this team, but I keep track of this author, so I'll be able to look for more if it's written.  Great Book!

Operation Zulu Redemption: Hazardous Duty - Part 3 - Ronie Kendig

IMPORTANT: Make sure you've read the first part of this series, Overkill - The Beginning, Collateral Damage and Out of Nowhere before starting this installment or reading this review.

This is one story broken up into five parts.  The complete story includes:
Overkill - The Beginning
Collateral Damage - Part 1
Out of Nowhere - Part 2
Hazardous Duty - Part 3
Act of Treason - Part 4

In this part, Annie frees herself and discovers that Sam has been brought in with the team.  She's furious, because now she feels like she has to sort out her feelings for both men and choose between them.  Teya comes across The Turk again, but it isn't in a capacity that she expects and she could get in some serious trouble for it.  Keeley's health is deteriorating, causing Boone to be an absolute mess and possibly missing some things he normally wouldn't.  Luckily, Nuala is there.  She doesn't miss much.  Trace is getting called to the carpet again for the mess about Misrata.  They're after his job and his life, but he's not planning on burdening the team with it.

The whole tension with the love triangle between Annie, Trace and Sam is going to have to be resolved soon, I've only got one part left to read.  While I like Sam's character, I have to say that I'm hoping things work out with Trace.  There's so much left to wrap up, I'm curious as to how it all ends.  Will Teya get to go back to David and will he take her back?  Will Keeley make a miraculous recovery?  And what about poor Nuala?  That girl's heart is in pieces and I feel bad for her.  And most importantly, who set up the team in the first place?

My Kindle's charging, then I'm off to read that last part - can't wait!

Petticoat Detective (Undercover Ladies #1) - Margaret Brownley

Margaret Brownley is a fairly new author to me, but what I've read has left me wanting more.  This is the first book in a new series, Undercover Ladies.

Amy is working undercover trying to discover the identity of the Gunnysack Bandit.  Her cover has her acting as a "working girl" in Miss Lillian's unusual establishment.  Not only does the business involve entertaining "guests," it also houses a boot shop, barbershop, singing lessons and fortunetelling.

Tom has come to town to discover the truth about his brother.  Even though his brother had a criminal past, Tom wants to believe the letter he had claiming his brother had turned his life around.  Wanting to discover who murdered him, he's come to ask questions of his fiance, Rose, only to find her murdered in her room.

Amy/Jennifer needs to keep her virtue, but she also needs information.  Tom wants her help to clear his brother, and she needs the information for her assignment.  Tom doesn't want to fall for a working girl, but something about Amy leads him to believe that she doesn't belong there and he tries to convince her to leave.

This book was really entertaining.  I had no idea the Pinkerton's even had female detectives, so I learned something new in that respect.  I was smiling during the lead up to capturing the bandit, it was too funny. I'm not sure I was happy with Jennifer's ultimate decision regarding her sister, but it definitely wasn't a deal breaker.

The next book, Undercover Bride, is due out June 2015.  There was an excerpt at the end of this book, and it looks like the heroine in it isn't related to this book.  I look forward to more.  Good Book!

*I received a copy of this book from Barbour Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.