Filled with Mystery and Suspense

The Stars Shine Bright
by Sibella Giorello

The author has dramatically written the mystery and suspense of an unusual undercover FBI assignment - but then goes so much deeper as the main characters personal problems and despair are expertly interwoven into the story and the plot. I loved it!

I am lover of books in a series so I was excited to learn that this is the 5th book in a series. Unfortunately I did not have time to read the other books before this review was posted but I was still able to thoroughly enjoy this book without reading the others in the series. I loved the book and the author so much that I soon want to go back and read the other four books. I think there is probably some background character development that would make the book even more enjoyable to read in sequence.

Although I really love this book, there is one drawback - it is listed as "Christian Suspense". I have a pretty big problem with that listing description because I did not see any Christian writing in this book. There are no inspiring moments where a character suddenly sees and understands that it is God at work. There are no dramatic moments where characters come to know Jesus and their lives are changed. There are no story lines that develop the spiritual growth of a character. If you are expecting any of this type of Christian writing then this book will disappoint you, but if you are wanting a well written suspense you will stay up late with this one and will run out and get the other four books as soon as possible!

Disclosure: Litfuse Publicity Group provided me with a complimentary copy of this book as part of their blog tours program.
Check out the cool trailer here! and Buy the book here.


GIVEAWAY!!!

Novelist Sibella Giorello is celebrating the release of the latest book in her praiseworthy Raleigh Harmon series by giving away a Kindle Fire! 

Find out what the reviewers are saying here!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A brand new Kindle Fire
• The entire 5-book Raleigh Harmon series.

Hurry, the giveaway ends on 8/25/12. The winner will be announced on 8/27/12 on Sibella's blog!

Just click one of the icons below to enter. Tell your friends about Sibella's giveaway on FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.

Light on the romance, Heavy on the intrigue

Love Finds You in Mackinac Island
by Melanie Dobson

The storyline twists and turns with hidden identities, discoveries, and emotional upheavals.  Even more than that, blended into this darling story was a historical mystery that the author used to draw all of it into a neat, tidy bow.

The author wrote so beautifully that it was easy to visualize the island, the surroundings and also to be drawn into the emotional ups and downs and desperate situations of the characters.  Although the book is classified as a historical romance, I found the romance storyline to be rather light.  The more interesting storyline was the character development and the meetings of the two main characters at the lighthouse when they didn't know who the other person was.  The intrigue of the story was trying to figure out how the author was going to reveal the characters identities to each other and then how the emotional mess would be resolved.  This was a fun read! 

Disclosure: Litfuse Publicity Group provided me with a complimentary copy of this book as part of their blog tours program. Find out what other reviewers are saying here!

Buy the book here.

Melanie Dobson's "Mackinac Island' Kindle Fire Giveaway! Celebrate with Melanie by entering her Kindle Fire Giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A brand new Kindle Fire
• Signed copies of Melanie’s Love Find You books: Love Finds you in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, Love Finds You in Amana, Iowa, Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa, and Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana.

But hurry, the giveaway ends on 8/4/12. The winner will be announced on 8/6/12 at Melanie's blog!

Just click one of the icons below to enter! Tell your friends about Melanie's giveaway on FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.

More about Love Finds You in Mackinac Island, Michigan:

As the Gilded Age comes to a close, Elena Bissette's once-wealthy family has nearly lost its fortune. The Bissettes still own a home on fashionable Mackinac Island, where they will spend one last summer in the hope of introducing Elena to a wealthy suitor. But Elena is repulsed by the idea of marrying for money.

Quickly tiring of the extravagant balls, Elena spends most evenings escaping back into Mackinac's rugged forest. There she meets Chase, a handsome laborer who shares her love for the night sky. The two begin to meet in secret at an abandoned lighthouse, where they work together to solve a mystery buried in the pages of a tattered diary.

As Elena falls in love with Chase, her mother relentlessly contrives to introduce her to Chester Darrington, the island's most eligible bachelor. Marriage to the elusive millionaire would solve the Bissettes' financial woes, and Elena is torn between duty and love.

not laughing so much

Usually my kids make me laugh with some of the things they say...these not so much.

I stepped on the scale recently and my darling daughter peeked around me and said...wow Mama that's a BIG number.

A few days later she was looking at my hair and said...hey Mama you sure do have a lot of pretty white hairs on your head.


Then there was the day that I was lying in bed with a sore back and I asked one of the boys to bring me a Pepsi.  The little brat said "No Mama, you said you have put yourself on a diet and you prolly shou'nt have one so I am not gonna bring you one".  Then he walked out of the room and never did bring me one!

Has a message

The Messenger is a captivating story set during the Revolutionary War and revolves around a Colonial spy and a Quaker woman who helps him.  Their determination to do what is right is inspiring, but the deeper message lies within the courage to go against the laws and expectations of your religious community.  When we are so bound by traditional and legalism of our denominations we cannot accomplish the will of God and truly serve Him.

Historical fiction fascinates me and so I appreciated the information at the end of the book detailing some of the relevant history of the period and the people.  But long before the end of the book I was easily drawn into the story and had a very hard time putting it down.  The author did a wonderful job of seamlessly integrating writing for two characters in the first person.  The ability to write in first person and develop the main character is difficult when writing as one voice, but Siri Mitchell did it beautifully for two very different characters. Well done!
   
Disclosure: Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group provided me with a complimentary copy of this book as part of their book reviewers program.

Nice light read

This was a nice light read that was perfect while I was at the beach.  If you are looking for a fictional story written from a Christian perspective, this book will disappoint you.  Although it is an inspiring story the inspiration for the characters was not found in a Christian way. 

The characters are interesting - stubborn meets feisty - and the situations are entertaining enough to make this book a quick read.  The circumstances create an environment that develops a deep friendship between two women who would otherwise never have met.  How people meet and develop relationships is fascinating and thought provoking.

Although I did end up enjoying the book, I was bothered by the snowglobe storyline and found it distracting and unnecessary.  It nearly made me put the book down a few times because I found it disturbing and is why this book is 3 stars instead of 4.

Disclosure: WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group provided me with a complimentary copy of this book as part of their BloggingForBooks.org book review program.

Memorable character

Lucy Come Home
by Dave and Neta Jackson

An intriguing story of how one person came to be homeless and lived her entire adult life on the streets.  Truly fascinating.  It is a story told from two perspectives - from before she was homeless and from when she is 80 years old after being on the streets for more than 60 years. The biggest downfall of the book is that those 60 years are essentially missing from the story.  After I read the last page I was still left wondering what happened during those 60 years. Surely with a main character this interesting there was a lot of story left to be told!  I wanted more...

Generally books that flip back and forth from past to present tend to annoy me and this book was no exception.  Instead of using interesting links or obvious memory flashes to ease back and forth between the stories it was more like two seperate stories that started and stopped every other chapter.  I had the image of two seperately written books that were fanned together like shuffling a deck of cards.  For me, the book would have read so much better if it had been written chronologically along with more storyline from the missing 60 years.

With all that being said, I do recommend this book because I did enjoy reading it and will definately read more from these authors.  The two stories were well written and certainly kept me entertained.  I was competely and emotionally drawn into the younger girls story and found myself cheering for the old bag lady and her antics.  This is not a character I will soon forget!!

Disclosure: Litfuse Publicity Group provided me with a complimentary copy of this book as part of their blog tours program. See the blog tour details here

Visit http://www.daveneta.com for more info about the authors.


About the book:
Fifteen-year-old Cindy worked long days beside her migrant worker family in Michigan's sugar beet fields in the early 1940s -- the "war years" -- until she met a dashing young man from a traveling carnival, bringing some joy and fun into her hard-scrabble life. But a tragic twist of fate -- and a dead field boss-- sent the two young people on the run, leaving behind family and everything she'd ever known.

Lucy Tucker, the crotchety old bag lady from the popular Yada Yada House of Hope series, is a veteran of Chicago streets and not about to give up her independence, even as she approaches her 80th birthday. Until, that is, a young displaced woman with her gentle aging mother and a dog named Dandy seem to need her -- unsettling the secretive Lucy, who doesn't let anyone get too close. But just when it seems her past is catching up with her to bring her in out of the cold... Lucy disappears again.

How these two tales intersect and intertwine between past and present gradually shines light into the dark corners of Lucy's murky past. But... why won't Lucy come home?

Wheat Class Recipes

Tonight I am honored to be introducing the benefits and ease of grinding your own wheat to a local group of women, at least I don't think there will be any men there.  But if there are that is awesome!  The more people I can share this with the better!!!

First, for those that were not able to attend let me share how I got into all this in the first place...

My husband is what I call a survivalist, others would call him a prepper.  He insists we need to be prepared in case the world as we know it comes to an end. So when he started talking about storing wheat I asked him what he planned to do with it. He said that I was to bake bread with it. Of course I laughed and told him he was crazy!


About the same time I met my friend Melissa (click here for her blog) who I soon found out grinds her own wheat and bakes bread with it! Interesting that I was more easily convinced by my friend than my husband!!!  Anyway, Melissa gave me her old Bread Beckers recipe book and I immediately ordered the free CD from their website.

One of the sections of this CD made a huge impact on my view of this whole grinding wheat idea.  It quickly went from just being able to use the wheat we have stored to changing to a more healthy eating lifestyle and avoiding processed foods as much as possible.


Almost 4 years ago I made an investment in our health and bought a WonderMill and a Cuisinart. Then I had my husband bring me a couple buckets of the wheat he had stored and started baking bread. Yes, it really was that simple.  I started with the bread, and also muffins, waffles, and homemade instant oatmeal. Click on the links for the recipes.  The oatmeal does not use the wheat mill, but it was a big part of the change we made so I included it here as well.

Here is my detailed blog post on the steps I follow to making bread.  The post really did take longer to write than it does to mix the dough!
 
Recently I have expanded and have made Ezekiel bread, where I used the bread recipe but substituted Ezekiel mixture flour for wheat flour.  I also made some Oatmeal Cookies and my hubby experimented with Wheat Chips.
 
Here are some other links:
 
Other blogs I like:


http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/

http://www.simplylivingsmart.com/

http://paulasbread.blogspot.com/



Where I have bought wheat, other ingredients & supplies:


Bread Beckers Co-op
http://info.breadbeckers.com/coops/

Honeyville
http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/

Emergency Essentials
http://beprepared.com/