Book Review: Surprised by Love by Julie Lessman

When Megan Mc Clare returns from Paris she is so transformed that even those closest to her barely recognize her. Truly blossomed into a beautiful young woman, Megan has big plans for her life. Accepting an internship at the DA's office is more than she could have hoped for until she realizes she will have to work along side the one man who has inflicted the most pain on her life and yet the one whom she was so attracted to - Devin Caldwell

Bram Hughes has always been Megan's best friend, confidant and rock of support. When Megan turns to him for advice about working with Devin, he is surprised by his jealous reaction and strong feelings toward this woman who has always been like a sister to him. 

As everyone tries to sort out their feelings, more than one person will be surprised by love! 

This was probably one of my favorite stories that Julie Lessman has written. I usually am not a huge fan of her works because they seem to focus so much on the physical attraction between people. While this story does still have a lot of that, I think there seems to be a lot more to her story this time and I enjoyed the back and forth and twists and turns in the characters feelings and actions. I also really liked that it followed more than one person and you felt like you got to know a little more of the family and not just the main characters. 

Thank you to Revell Publishing for a free copy of this story to review. 

Book Review: A Mom's Prayers for Her Son by Rob and Joanna Teigan

Rob and Joanna Teigan have created this amazing resource for praying through every area of your son's life (or really you could use this for anybody). Each "chapter" contains a part of life to pray through for your son, i.e "When he needs self-control," "When he needs to find rest," When he has enemies," "When he needs a good friend." Pretty much any area you could think of is in there!
Each section includes Scripture that talk about that area of life and then a prayer that Joanna has written and prayed for her sons. I do read those, but then I find that I just want to pray through that Scripture in my own words after. I just love having this resource. It will even come in handy as I am choosing Scripture when I need to talk to the boys about a specific area.
I would definitely recommend this to parents of boys (I notice there is also one for daughters too if you don't have boys).

A big thanks to Revell Publishing for a free copy of this book to read and review.

Book Review: Deceived by Irene Hannon

This third book in the Private Justice series follows the third member of the Phoenix Inc. private investigation team, Connor Sullivan. And the lady who comes to him for help seems to have a hopeless case. Kate Marshall has been grieving for 4 years after her husband and son were killed in a boating accident. But when she sees a boy who looks exactly like her son at the mall, she cannot shake the feeling that he is still alive even when all the evidence seems to point to the contrary. The further Connor digs into the case, the more it seems that it could be possible that Kate's son was not killed and that whoever has him will go to any length to keep him out of her hands.

I thought this was a good story and I finished it pretty quickly. While I do enjoy reading Hannon's books, I always have to laugh at how quickly the characters in the story are attracted to each other. I also thought it was so funny that for having a no dating the clients rule, EVERY partner ends up liking a client. I don't mind romance, but I think I might have enjoyed the mystery better without it.  Though this book could probably stand alone pretty well, I still recommend reading the first two books in the series just to get more background on the characters.

Thank you to Revell Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.

Book Review: Love's Fortune by Laura Franz

Love's Fortune finds us following the third generation of the Ballentyne line. Rowena "Wren" Ballentyne grand daughter to the wealthy and extremely successful Silas Ballantyne has been sheltered away in the Kentucky hills since birth. She has lived a simple and peaceful life, only knowing her rich relatives by name. But her life is turned on end when her father is summoned back to his family.
Suddenly, simple "Wren" must become the lady Rowena and do it quickly. As Wren is ensconced with rules, and dresses and dances she feels she will never truly be at home in this place and with these people. Will she ever be able to find her place in this new world?

I thought this story was a lovely end to the Ballantyne Legacy. I would definitely recommend reading the first two books in the series though. It had been a while since I read the second one and I kind of wish I had gone back and re-read it before I started this one, because there is a lot of background history that helps to fill out the story. I have truly enjoyed following this family and I love that you get to see how everyone from past stories are doing. If you like historical fiction - this is a series for you!

Thank you to Revell Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.

Just for fun, instead of posting a picture of the cover like normal - I saw this on YouTube and thought it was so cool - how the cover art for the book was done :-)

Book Review: With Every Breath by Elizabeth Camden

Trevor McDonough was the bane of Kate Livingston's childhood. A fierce competitor all through school, Trevor took the one thing that was most important to Kate.
Year's later, when Kate agrees to team up with Trevor in his work to find a cure for Tuberculosis, she discovers that there is so much more to him than then mean competitive boy she knew in school. Just as Kate is really finding herself devoted to the cause, a shadow from the past causes danger to everything she knows. Trevor and Kate must be willing to face insurmountable obstacles to rise above the danger and continue the work which could save so many!

I LOVED this book! Camden is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I love how much history is behind her stories. It really makes me so interested in the events of the past. I also love when love stories have more to them than boy meets girl, the fall in love and end up together. A good story has more depth than that and Camden does a great job delivering that depth! This is going on my keeper shelf for sure!

Thank you so much to Bethany House Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.