Saturday, January 29, 2011

Book Review: Fatal Judgement by Irene Hannon

Jake Taylor is a US Marshall who has been in plenty of scary situations. But his next assignment will take all the strength he has to give. He has to protect federal judge, Liz Michaels when it seems her life is in danger. The problem is that Jake already knows Liz. She was married to his best friend and with her drive for work leaving no time for anyone else, may have driven him to commit suicide.

But Jake has to put his personal feelings aside if he is to do his job well. The problem is, that is hard to do when everything he thought he knew about the woman is proving to be wrong. Not only is she a kind, selfless lady, but she is also very attractive, and Jake has a hard time keeping his heart out of his mission.

I would recommend this book if you enjoy a good suspense read. Although it always bothers me a little when people "fall in love" pretty quickly, I still enjoyed  getting to know the background of the characters. The end was a good page turner and I probably stayed up too late finishing it :)

Available January 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Thanks to Revell publishing company for a free copy of this book to review.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

You know you're tired when...

You can fall asleep standing up!

I think Eóin is having a growth spurt. I have never seen him so tired! I can't believe he is going to be 4 in just a few weeks. I'll post more on his funny personality on his birthday. Just thought I'd stick up this pick from the other day :) I love the shiny drool on his face and messy hair - he was really out cold! 

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Book Review: The Search by Suzanne Woods Fisher

I was so excited when I saw that Suzanne Wood's Fisher was doing another blog tour because I enjoyed the last book of hers that I read so much.

I will admit, when I read the back cover, I was a little disappointed to learn that the main character was only 15 years old.  However - if this would normally throw you off, don't let it deter you from reading this - it was so great.

Bess Reihl is shipped off by her widower father to spend the summer with a sick grandmother she hardly knows. A very large, intimidating grandmother. Very quickly, though, Bess sees that there is nothing weak and sickly about this lady - a lady who seems to have a very different reason for bringing Bess to the farm. It seems like a very long summer of hard hard work looming ahead, until Bess meets Billy, her grandmother's help.

Lainey O' Toole grew up very near the town where Bess will be staying the summer, and it seems as if God is drawing her back. Here she learns how her past choices have affected the town and now will affect her own future.

When all these fabulous characters come together, you get a story full of secrets, hope and love.

Such a great book. The characters are wonderful and the plot and storyline had just enough twists and turns that it's not one you can easily predict! I highly recommend Fishers books to anyone!

Available January 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Thank you so much to Revell for a free copy of another great book to review!

Saturday, January 01, 2011

A Modern and Historical Fiction: Two Great Reads

I wanted to put these two reads in a post together because although they are in different time periods, I enjoyed reading them both very much.

First, the historical fiction:

Nancy Moser's Masquerade was one of my favorite reads in quite a while. The story follows a wealthy girl and her maid in 1886 as they switch places to start new lives in America. Charlotte Gleason finds herself somewhere she never thought she would be and finds her heart and life changing as she finds out how the other half really lives. Dora, her maid, is living the dream of every girl - new clothes, lavish lifestyle, and everything whim granted, but finds it might not really be what her heart desires after all.

Although, the "prince and the pauper" story has been told many times, I really enjoyed how this gave a glimpse into the lives of people during the time period, especially how the immigrant society lived. It was heartwarming and sobering at the same time. Although this might not be a part of the story line, Moser gets huge props from me for adding illustrations of the clothing in her book in the back. I usually look up the time period on the internet when I read stories like this to get a better picture of what they were wearing, and I LOVED that the pictures were right in the book!

Thanks so much to Bethany House for a free copy of this book to review.

Next up, the modern fiction:

I have been kind of disappointed by the last few modern fictions I have read, but I thought this book was a really good one. A Rush of Wings by Kristen Heitzmann is about Noelle St. Claire who is running away from all she knows. Although she can't quite put her finger on what the problem is, she feels she is in real danger, surrounded by a mixture of terrifying dreams and vivid memories of recent events. She flees to the Rocky Mountains, where she is taken in by two completely different brothers. As she begins to let them past the walls she has put up to protect herself, she has to finally face the dangers she has been hiding from.

I have to say, that my favorite thing about this book was that the characters were so human. Romances, especially tend up idealize at least one person in the story, but even the most godly person in this story makes mistakes and has to deal with the consequences of those mistakes. I also enjoyed that the relationships took time to build, I didn't feel like it was rushed. Definitely the best modern story I have read for a while.

Thanks again to Bethany House for a free copy of this book to review.