"Prophet" Book Review

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Prophet Bethany House Publishers (April 1, 2012) by R.J. Larson

MY REVIEW:
Whoa! That is how I was left standing when I finished this book. It was a whirlwind of adventure, mayhem, travels, tales, kings and queens and warriors and in the middle of it all - one prophet and her little sister. I haven't been this transported by a book like this in awhile. I was so sad when it was over - I'm just glad that there is a second book coming and I have that to look forward to!

The best thing about this book for me, was that as Ela submitted to the voice of God and listened and obeyed, it really stirred up in me the desire to have that same kind of relationship with the Infinite One. And I know it is possible today as it was long ago. So I finished this fictional fantasy book with a deeper desire for stronger relationship with God - that is a great Christian fiction book!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

R. J. Larson is the author of numerous devotionals featured in publications such as Women's Devotional Bible and Seasons of a Woman's Heart. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her husband and their two sons. Prophet marks her debut in the fantasy genre.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Close your eyes, Ela of Parne. Close your eyes and you will see.

Ela Roeh of Parne doesn't understand why her beloved Creator, the Infinite, wants her to become His prophet. She's undignified, bad tempered, and only seventeen--not to mention that no prophet of Parne has ever been a girl. Worst of all, as the elders often warn, if she agrees to become the Infinite's prophet, Ela knows she will die young.

Istgard has turned their back on me. See the evil they do.

Yet after experiencing His presence, she can't imagine living without Him. Determined to follow the Infinite's voice, Ela accepts the sacred vinewood branch and is sent to bring the Infinite's word to a nation torn apart by war. Here she meets Kien, a young Traceland ambassador determined to bring his own justice for his oppressed people. As they form an unlikely partnership, Ela must surrender to her destiny . . . and determine how to balance the leading of her heart with the leading of the Infinite.

Will you accept the branch and speak my will? Will you be my prophet?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Prophet, go HERE.

"Moonblood" Book Review

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Moonblood Bethany House Publishers (April 1, 2012) by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

MY REVIEW:
I read the first book in this series when it originally came out and I knew we had a new speculative fiction/fantasy voice on our hands. Somehow I missed the second one in this series and then picked up the third book. Alot has happened since the first book ended and it took me a little while to figure out who everyone was again and what was going on. That is to be expected anytime you pick up in the middle. I don't recommend doing that, it is much smarter to start at the beginning and just go straight through enjoying everything as you go. Despite my rebellious nature of skipping around in the series, I was still able to meet back up with the characters and enjoy this story of love lost, love found, dragons and knights, evil and good... it is quite wonderful. I just suggest you start at the beginning and go in order!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she enjoys her profession as an art teacher, giving private lessons from her personal studio, and teaching group classes at the Apex Learning Center. She is married to the handsome man she met at fencing class and lives with him and a gaggle of cats. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. Heartless is her debut novel.

Anne Elisabeth is also the author of the Tales of Goldstone Wood, a series of fantasy adventure novels told in the classic Fairy Tale style.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Moonblood Draws Near, and Soon the Dragons Will Wake

Desperate to regain the trust of his kingdom, Prince Lionheart reluctantly banishes his faithful servant and only friend, Rose Red. Now she is lost in the hidden realm of Arpiar, held captive by her evil goblin father, King Vahe.

Vowing to redeem himself, Lionheart plunges into the mysterious Goldstone Wood, seeking Rose Red. In strange other worlds, Lionheart must face a lyrical yet lethal tiger, a fallen unicorn, and a goblin horde on his quest to rescue the girl he betrayed.

With the Night of Moonblood fast approaching when King Vahe seeks to wake the Dragon's sleeping children, Lionheart must discover whether or not his heart contains courage before it's too late for Rose Red . . . and all those he loves.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Moonblood, go HERE.

"The Fiddler" by Beverly Lewis

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Fiddler Bethany House Publishers (April 10, 2012) by Beverly Lewis



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Beverly's first venture into adult fiction is the best-selling trilogy, The Heritage of Lancaster County, including The Shunning, a suspenseful saga of Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman drawn to the modern world by secrets from her past. The book is loosely based on the author's maternal grandmother, Ada Ranck Buchwalter, who left her Old Order Mennonite upbringing to marry a Bible College student. One Amish-country newspaper claimed Beverly's work to be "a primer on Lancaster County folklore" and offers "an insider's view of Amish life."



Booksellers across the country, and around the world, have spread the word of Beverly's tender tales of Plain country life. A clerk in a Virginia bookstore wrote, "Beverly's books have a compelling freshness and spark. You just don't run across writing like that every day. I hope she'll keep writing stories about the Plain people for a long, long time."



A member of the National League of American Pen Women, as well as a Distinguished Alumnus of Evangel University, Lewis has written over 80 books for children, youth, and adults, many of them award-winning. She and her husband, David, make their home in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, and spending time with their family. They are also avid musicians and fiction "book worms."



ABOUT THE BOOK

Come home to Hickory Hollow, Pennsylvania--the beloved setting where Beverly Lewis's celebrated Amish novels began--with new characters and new stories of drama, romance, and the ties that draw people together.



A wrong turn in a rainstorm leads Englisher Amelia Devries to Michael Hostetler--and the young Amishman's charming Old Order community of Hickory Hollow. Despite their very different backgrounds, Amelia and Michael both feel hemmed in by the expectations of others and struggle with how to find room for their own hopes. And what first seems to be a chance encounter might just change their lives forever.



If you would like to read the first chapter of The Fiddler, go HERE.



Watch the book video:

"A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island" Book Review

A WEDDING TRANSPIRES
ON MACKINAC ISLAND
BY
CARA C. PUTMAN

Available from Barbour Publishing in April 2012

Attorney Alanna Stone has never forgotten Jonathon Covington--or the pain of his betrayal. In fact, he's why she's avoided returning to Mackinac Island. But an exhausting, high profile case and an urgent plea from her parents bring her home. She immediately finds herself thrust into controversy as an unsolved murder once again turns public opinion against her family. Jonathon has been waiting for her return, but the woman he sees now has little in common with the one who left. Will they be able to lay aside the past and let God heal their hearts, or will reconciliation come too late?

MY REVIEW:
Alanna vows never to return to Mackinac Island after the death that her brother was blamed for. She leaves and doesn't come back... until her parents need her and she takes a break from her successful career as a high profile attorney to run their art studio until they can come back. From the minute she is back she is haunted by the past even though most people seem to have let it go. Alanna runs into Jonathan as soon as she is back and she quickly realizes that her high school romance may be why she has never married. In the middle of the past resurfacing she is also confronted by mystery at every turn. Can she figure things out so that she can finally move on with her life? Another murder speeds up the need for solving the questions of the past and unraveling the questions of the present before its too late.

I expected a contemporary romance (not my favorite genre of all time, but I don't mind it) and was surprised to find that this book was more mystery/romance than contemporary romance. I didn't want to be interrupted as I raced to the end of this book. A wonderful read that I highly recommend!

"Masquerade Marriage" Book Review

MASQUERADE MARRIAGE
BY
ANNE GREENE

A SECRET LIST
To protect his loved ones and escape the dark fate of his brothers, a noted warrior abandons his identity. Hiding from relentless soldiers who want him dead, Brody MacCaulay vows to protect the woman he loves more than life, more than freedom, more than Scotland. But his presence throws her into danger.

A VOW HONORED
To escape an arranged marriage to an abusive noble, a Lowland Lady weds a stranger to save his life. But vows spoken do not make a marriage, especially when Megan MacMurry holds a different love inside her heart.

A SACRIFICE MADE
Outlawed, and with a price on his head, Brody condemns himself to a life of heartbreak without Megan. Wanting her desperately, knowing he can't have her, he heads alone to certain death...

MY REVIEW:

This book was an amazing surprise to me - I loved it! It took me back in time to 1746 in Scotland and transported me to a place where Scotland and England were at war and sadly, Scotland was losing. After a brutal massacre there are few Scotsman left and they are injured and in hiding. If the English find them they will be killed and one priest has an idea to save one man. A woman with a broken heart has agreed to marry one man to save him from the English, those willing to get married in order to be spared write their names on a list. She then chooses her husband from that list and then the charade begins...

I was riveted by this book and it reminded me of another book that I enjoyed tremendously ("Brigid of Ireland" by Cindy Thompson) and everything that I liked about that book. Settings, characters and even the language and clothing of those times that made the story come alive. I was sad when this book ended but very satisfied in the ending. I look forward to seeing more from Anne Greene.

"Sarai" Book Review

SARAI
BY
JILL EILEEN SMITH

Sarai, the last child of her aged father, is beautiful, spoiled, and used to getting her own way. Even as a young girl, she is aware of the way men look at her, including her half brother Abram. When Abram finally requests Sarai's hand, she asks one thing--that he promise never to take another wife as long as she lives. Even her father thinks the demand is restrictive and agrees to the union only if Sarai makes a promise in return--to give Abram a son and heir. Certain she can easily do that, Sarai agrees.

But as the years stretch on and Sarai's womb remains empty, she becomes desperate to fulfill her end of the bargain--lest Abram decide that he will not fulfill his. To what lengths will Sarai go in her quest to bear a son? And how long will Abram's patience last?

MY REVIEW:

I have never read Biblical fiction books quite as engrossing as the books that I have read by Jill Eileen Smith. Her series on the wives of King David was just riveting and now she has started off with the Wives of the Patriarchs and who better to start off with than Sarai, wife to Abraham. She has done it again by sweeping me away to the past and thrusting me in the middle of the scenario that Sarai lived in. Jill has a gift for recreating the setting and times of that era in such a way that you would think she had lived at that time herself, which would of course be impossible but I would believe it. I honestly don't know how she does her research but I will just sit back and enjoy her bringing the Old Testament to life for me as I eagerly anticipate her next book in this new series.

"The Discovery" Book Review

THE DISCOVERY
BY
DAN WALSH

Gerard Warner was not only a literary giant whose suspense novels sold in the millions, he was also a man devoted to his family, especially his wife of nearly 60 years. When he dies he leaves his Charleston estate to his grandson, Michael, an aspiring writer himself. Michael settles in to write his own first novel and discovers an unpublished manuscript his grandfather had written, something he'd kept hidden from everyone but clearly intended Michael to find. Michael begins to read an exciting tale about Nazi spies and sabotage, but something about this story is different from all of Gerard Warner's other books. It's actually a love story. As Michael delves deeper into the story he discovers something that has the power to change not only his future but his past as well.

MY REVIEW:
I have been drawn to Dan Walsh's writing because he seems to me like a Christian version of Nicholas Sparks. His writing doesn't shove the Gospel down your throat but it sure does weave itself into his story lines. I'm not sure that for me personally he will ever be able to top The Deepest Waters - that story blew me away. Now Dan brings a new story with a new twist. In The Discovery we have Michael, an aspiring author who's grandpa is a NYT bestselling author and when he passes away he leaves a mystery behind him for Michael to solve. A completed manuscript that he never had published... why? So this book follows part of the story in the present and part of the story in the manuscript that Grandpa Gerald left behind. It is an interesting scenario and makes for a good read. I look forward to seeing what Dan writes next, he always has a fresh take on the stories he weaves.

****Thanks to Revell publishing for a review copy of this book.****
Available April 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

"Always The Designer, Never The Bride" Book Review

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Always The Designer, Never The Bride Abingdon Press (April 2012) by Sandra D. Bricker
MY REVIEW:
This book may be one of the most pleasant surprises I have read in awhile. Once I picked it up I was so drawn into the characters that I couldn't put it down. It isn't a mystery or suspense, it's not like I was trying to figure out whodunit, I just had to find out what was going to happen in the lives of these great characters. I also have to point out that I have not read the other books in this series and it didn't hold me back at all, but now I can't wait to go back and read them now so I can revisit these characters. Sandra has created an incredible cast and a setting that brings them all together with the Tanglewood Inn. What I expected to be a simple, fun chick lit turned out to be a character feast that I couldn't read fast enough!


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

For more than a decade, Sandra D. Bricker lived in Los Angeles. While honing her chosen craft of screenwriting in every spare moment, she worked as a personal assistant and publicist to some of daytime television's hottest stars. When her mother became ill in Florida, she walked away from that segment of her life and moved across the country to take on a new role: Caregiver.

The Big 5-OH! was released by Abingdon Press in the Spring of 2010, and the novel was very well-received, garnering a couple of nibbles from Hollywood.

Always the Baker, Never the Bride was released by Abingdon Press in September 2010. With its phenomenal reviews, the novel spawned a series of three more books based on the popular cast of characters at The Tanglewood Inn, a wedding destination hotel in historic Roswell, Georgia. The series cemented Sandie's spot in publishing as a flagship author of Laugh-Out-Loud romantic comedy for the inspirational market.

"Being allowed to combine my faith and my humor with my writing dream," says Bricker, "well, that's the best of all worlds, as far as I'm concerned!"



ABOUT THE BOOK

It’s taken Audrey Regan years to establish herself as a wedding dress designer, and to date she’s been roped into creating dresses for nine of her girlfriends. Request #10 follows her vow to “Just say no!” and comes from her very best friend. She can hardly turn Carly down!

Audrey arrives in Atlanta early to perform all of her maid-of-honor duties along with final fittings for a one-of-a-kind dress. But Carly’s wedding is nothing short of an event, complete with Prince Charming, and the festivities make Audrey question whether there’s a prince of her own anywhere in her future.

Enter the groom’s brother and best man. Shaggy-haired, tattooed bad boy J.R. Hunt couldn’t be any more different from Prince Charming if he rode in on a Harley Davidson. Oh, wait. He actually did ride in on a Harley!

If you would like to read an excerpt of the first chapter of Always The Designer, Never The Bride, go HERE.

"The 13th Tribe" Book Review

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The 13th Tribe Thomas Nelson (April 3, 2012) by Robert Liparulo

MY REVIEW:
I am always looking forward to seeing what Robert Liparulo will come up with next, I have read almost every book he has written and his Dreamhouse Kings series is absolutely amazing. This book does not disappoint me at all! A Biblical fiction type scenario that is brought into the present and is then racked with espionage, danger, assassins and mystery. Oh, and I can't even begin to hint at the twists and turns in it - no way - you have to experience them yourself! If you like speculative fiction (a little fantasy, a little sci-fi and a lot of interesting) then you must read this book. For me it is a keeper - I was discussing it with my husband and told him I now want to go back and read the account of the golden calf in the Old Testament. That is a good book, one that drives you into the Word.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Best-selling novelist Robert Liparulo is a former journalist, with over a thousand articles and multiple writing awards to his name. His first three critically acclaimed thrillers—Comes a Horseman, Germ, and Deadfall—were optioned by Hollywood producers, as well as his Dreamhouse Kings series for young adults. Bestselling author Ted Dekker calls The 13th Tribe, released in April 2012, “a phenomenal story.” Liparulo is currently working with director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive, The Guardian) on the novel and screenplay of a political thriller. New York Times best-selling author Steve Berry calls Liparulo’s writing “Inventive, suspenseful, and highly entertaining . . . Robert Liparulo is a storyteller, pure and simple.” Liparulo lives in Colorado with his family.

Visit Robert Liparulo's Facebook Fan page: http://www.facebook.com/LiparuloFans, or at Twitter @robertliparulo.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Their story didn't start this year . . . or even this millennium.


It began when Moses was on Mt. Sinai. Tired of waiting on the One True God, the twelve tribes of Israel began worshipping a golden calf through pagan revelry. Many received immediate death for their idolatry, but 40 were handed a far worse punishment-endless life on earth with no chance to see the face of God.

This group of immortals became the 13th Tribe, and they've been trying to earn their way into heaven ever since-by killing sinners. Though their logic is twisted, their brilliance is undeniable. Their wrath is unstoppable. And the technology they possess is beyond anything mere humans have ever seen.

Jagger Baird knows nothing about the Tribe when he's hired as head of security for an archaeological dig on Mt. Sinai. The former Army Ranger is still reeling from an accident that claimed the life of his best friend, his arm, and his faith in God.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The 13th Tribe, go HERE.

"Cooking The Books" Book Review

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Cooking The Books Abingdon Press (April 2012) by Bonnie S. Calhoun

MY REVIEW:
This book is so much fun! It has a fast paced scenario backed by a fun, quirky leading lady who is full of flaws which just makes her fun to root for. Somehow she has ended up at danger's door, or rather danger has come knocking at hers - she just isn't sure why or who is behind it all. The unexpected death of her mom a few months ago has left her to run the bookstore/coffee shop that her mom had owned... but she really knows nothing about books and doesn't really care for them. She is grieving, trying to move on romantically from a failed, abusive relationship (but he won't take a hint) and now her life is in danger. What more could go wrong? Well, Sloane Templeton is about to find out! There were a few things that I felt got wrapped up really quick at the end when I thought they would unravel just a little slower, but overall this was just a fun book with a fun main character that I hope to see more of!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

As the Owner/Director of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Bonnie has helped use the 220+ blogs of the Alliance to promote many titles on the Christian bestseller list. She also owns and publishes the Christian Fiction Online magazine which is devoted to readers and writers of Christian fiction. She is the Northeast Zone Director for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). At ACFW she was named the ‘Mentor of the Year,’ for 2011, and she is the current President of (CAN) Christian Authors Network. Bonnie is also the Appointment Coordinator for both the Colorado Christian Writers Conference and the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference.

In her spare time she is an avid social media junkie, and teaches Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and HTML as recreational occupations. She also has a novel coming out in the Abingdon Quilts of Love series. Her novel Pieces of the Heart will publish August of 2013.

Bonnie and her husband Bob live in a log cabin on 15 acres in upstate area of Binghamton, New York with a dog and cat who consider the humans as wait-staff.



ABOUT THE BOOK

After her mother dies from a heart attack, Sloane Templeton goes from Cyber Crimes Unit to bookstore owner before she can blink. She also "inherits" a half-batty store manager; a strange bunch of little old people from the neighborhood who meet at the store once a week, but never read books, called the Granny Oakleys Book Club; and Aunt Verline, who fancies herself an Iron Chef when in reality you need a cast iron stomach to partake of her culinary disasters. And with a group like this you should never ask, “What else can go wrong?”

A lot! Sloane begins to receive cyber threats. While Sloane uses her computer forensic skills to uncover the source of the threats, it is discovered someone is out to kill her. Can her life get more crazy?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Cooking The Books, go HERE.

Watch the book video:







If you'd like to read interviews with Bonnie, try these:

Everbody Needs A Little Romance

A Christian Writers World

Novel Rocket

ACFW - Fiction Finder