Secretly Smitten

                                                     

Secretly Smitten by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt & Denise Hunter

Summer, fall, winter, spring—Smitten, Vermont, is the place for love . . . and mystery!

There’s a secret in Grandma Rose’s attic—a forgotten set of dog tags belonging to her first love. But David Hutchins was killed in action and never returned to Smitten. How did the dog tags end up in the attic?

The mystery intrigues Rose’s three granddaughters—Tess, Clare, and Zoe—and they decide to investigate, though their mother, Anna, warns against meddling. But as the seasons turn and the mystery unravels, the three young women and their mother encounter some intriguing mystery men of their own. Has a sixty-year-old puzzle sparked something new for this close-knit family of women?

Join popular romance novelists—and real-life BFFs—Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter for four delightful intertwined tales of mystery and sweet intrigue.

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I had not read the first book in this series but this book can stand alone in reading. 

I chose to read this book for several reasons.
     1. I enjoy each of the authors that contributed to write this book.
     2. I was looking for some light reading with a little meat.
     3. I enjoy the mix of romance and mystery.

It was so good to read a book about several generations of women in the same family.  I found each character to be fresh and interesting.  Anna and her daughters, Tess, Clare and Zoe, were dealt a blow when the man in their lives leaves to start another family.  How the abandonment  affected each one is shown in their relationships with the men who are brought into their lives.  To add to the mix, there is Anna's mother and three aunts who each brought something to the story.

The downside to this book, it was extremely predictable.  Woman and man connect, woman pushes man away, woman regrets that move, woman and man reconnect.

While I did enjoy this book, I was disappointed that the synopsis on the back of the book hyped up a mystery, which to me, was really just a blip on the radar in this book.

Should you buy the book?  Yes, if you want some very lighthearted reading.


I was given this by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Come to the Table by Neta Jackson

Kat Davies is suddenly wondering if her good deed was a bad idea.

Kat may be new in her faith, but she’s embraced the more radical implications of Christianity with reckless abandon. She invited Rochelle—a homeless mother—and her son to move in the apartment she shares with two other housemates. And she’s finally found a practical way to channel her passion for healthy eating by starting a food pantry at the church.

Her feelings for Nick are getting harder to ignore. The fact that he’s the interning pastor at SouledOut Community Church and one of her housemates makes it complicated enough. But with Rochelle showing interest in Nick as a father-figure for her son, their apartment is feeling way too small.

But not everyone thinks the food pantry is a good idea. When the woman she thought would be her biggest supporter just wants to “pray about it,” Kat is forced to look deeper at her own motives. Only when she begins to look past the surface does she see people who are hungry and thirsty for more than just food and drink and realizes the deeper significance of inviting them to “come to the table.”

I had read some of the Yada Yada series and thoroughly enjoyed them.  I was slightly skeptical that she could continue to stay fresh in her writing.  I had not read book 1 of this series but found I could pick up much of the story line as it continued and yes, Neta Jackson continued to stay fresh.

What captivated me most was the realism of each character, many relatively new in their Christian walk.  She captured the enthusiam of new believers, that zeal that can be either contagious or alienating. And alongside those new believers, are the seasoned Christians, helping to guide them.

I could relate to Kat as she has a damper put on her enthusiam regarding a food pantry. How many times have we had a really great idea only to have others shake their head or complacently say, "Have you prayed about it?  Or, how something God has put on our hearts, we want the people we love to be a part of, yet, they do not show any enthusiam?  Kat's friends and mentor encourage to pray and seek the direction God has for not only the food pantry but for the church's part in it.  And Kat does.

Not only is this a feel good book, but a book to remind us all of when we were young in our faith and high in enthusiam to serve the Lord.

Should you buy the book?  Yes!

I received this book from Booksneeze in exchange for an honest review.

The Reason by William Sirls

When facing the impossible, will you believe?

Storm clouds gather over a small Michigan town. As thunder shakes the sky, the lights inside St. Thomas Church flicker . . . and then go out.

All is black until a thick bolt of lightning slices the sky, striking the church’s large wooden cross—leaving it ablaze and splintered in two.

When the storm ends—the search for answers begins.

James Lindy, the church’s blind minister, wonders how his small congregation can repair the cross and keep their faith in the midst of adversity. And he hears the words “only believe.”

Macey Lewis, the town’s brilliant young oncologist, is drawn to Alex, a young boy who’s recently been diagnosed with an aggressive leukemia. She puts her hope in modern medicine—yet is challenged to “only believe.”

And Alex’s single mom, who has given everything she can to her boy, is pleading with God to know the reason this is happening . . . to save her son. But she only hears silence and wonders how she can possibly “only believe.”


As I read this book, I found myself likening it to bits and pieces of other books and movies.  Kenneth reminded me of Joshua, a character in a book and a movie by the same title. I believe the concept could have been derived from the book/movie.

The characters were not fully developed.  It was as if each character were its own jigsaw puzzle and there were missing pieces so you never saw the complete picture. Put all those puzzles together to make one and you still have an incomplete picture.

While circumstances and miracles cause the characters to ask very good questions, the answers were questionable. As a believer, this book did not bode well in my spirit. I do think this book could be misleading for non or new believers.

Sad to say, I really felt like I was watching an old time soap opera.

Should you buy the book?  No!

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Cruel Harvest by Fran Elizabeth Grubb

Fran Grubb's was a horrific childhood.  The fifth of seven children born to a vicious alcoholic who beat his wife and children.  Fran spent her early years in a series of rattletrap cars and ramshackle huts as her family followed the seasons as migrant farm workers.  The children worked the fields from sunup to sundown, crawling into the dusty cotton sacks to hide from the truant officers, for fear of a a beating from their father if they were caught.

It was a hollow existence:  nomadic, extreme poverty and deprivation, with no comfort.  Fran's father sold her older brother for five dollars, murdered her infant sister and sexually molested his other other daughters.

Fran could be excused if she were bitter.  But she is not.  Even as she watched her mother and older sisters run away from the family, disappearing one by one, even as she sought ot make sense of her circumstances, even as she struggled to get her young adult life on track, Fran was able to dow what her father could not - love, enjoy life, embrace God.

There is more, much more, to this story.  There is wickedness and despair.  But there is also courage and hope. And a happy ending too.

This was a hard book to read but it is also one I did not want to put down.  Fran Grubb handled the telling of her story with grace and dignity.  Even without graphic details, one could envision the horrors of her life. 
I am in awe that in spite of her tragic circumstances, she kept clinging to hope; believing in a God that did not seem to answer her prayers.

I was not ready for the book to end and hope she plans to share more of her life and that of her siblings as they one by one removed themselves from the monster they called "daddy".  I hope that one day she is able to find Mary Anne and Millie.

While the book is filled with horrors, Fran's ability to love and forgive is the real story.

Should you buy the book?  Without a doubt!!


I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Richard Paul Evans, The Walk Series

I just finished reading book 3 of "The Walk" series by Richard Paul Evans.  I went back and read the first 2 as I wanted to read them all together.  Not sure I will do it again when book 4 comes out, however, due to memory failure, I just may have to just that.  OK, so I know I will enjoy going through each part of Alan's journey again.

I found myself engaged in the books and then asking myself some tough questions when I put them down.  I so enjoy thought provoking books.

"My name is Alan Christoffersen. You don’t know me. ‘Just another book in the library,’ my father would say. ‘Unopened and unread.’ You have no idea how far I’ve come or what I’ve lost. More important, you have no idea what I’ve found." —Prologue

 

What would you do if you lost everything—your job, your home, and the love of your life—all at the same time? When it happens to Seattle ad executive Alan Christoffersen, he’s tempted by his darkest thoughts. A bottle of pills in his hand and nothing left to live for, he plans to end his misery. Instead, he decides to take a walk. But not any ordinary walk. Taking with him only the barest of essentials, Al leaves behind all that he’s known and heads for the farthest point on his map: Key West, Florida. The people he encounters along the way, and the lessons they share with him, will save his life—and inspire yours.

Richard Paul Evans’s extraordinary New York Times bestsellers have made him one of the world’s most beloved storytellers. A life-changing journey, both physical and spiritual, The Walk is the first of an unforgettable series of books about one man’s search for hope.

This is Book 1.  I got so caught up in the characters, I could not put this book down.  It is a quick read and well worth it.  While the writing is simple, the story is not.

Alan Christoffersen, a once-successful advertising executive, wakes one morning to find himself injured, alone, and confined to a hospital bed in Spokane, Washington. Sixteen days earlier, reeling from the sudden loss of his wife, his home, and his business, Alan left everything he knew behind and set off on an extraordinary cross-country journey. Carrying only a backpack, he planned to walk to Key West, the farthest destination on his map. But a vicious roadside stabbing has interrupted Alan’s trek and robbed him of his one source of solace: the ability to walk.Homeless and facing months of difficult recovery, Alan has nowhere to turn—until a mysterious woman enters his life and invites him into her home. Generous and kind, Angel seems almost too good to be true, but all is not as it appears. Alan soon realizes that before he can return to his own journey, he must first help Angel with hers.From one of America’s most beloved and bestselling storytellers comes an astonishing tale of life and death, love and second chances, and why sometimes the best way to heal your own suffering is by helping to heal someone else’s.Inspiring, moving, and full of wisdom, Miles to Go picks up where the bestseller The Walk left off, continuing the unforgettable series about one man’s unrelenting search for hope.

 

This book did not disappoint as so many sequels fail to live up to the original. 

 

Join one of America’s beloved storytellers on a walk like no other: one man’s unrelenting search for hope.

 

Reeling from the sudden loss of his wife, his home, and his business, Alan Christoffersen, a once-successful advertising executive, has left everything he knew behind and set off on an extraordinary cross-country journey. Carrying only a backpack, he is walking from Seattle to Key West, the farthest destination on his map.

Now almost halfway through his trek, Alan sets out to walk the nearly 1,000 miles between South Dakota and St. Louis, but it’s the people he meets along the way who give the journey its true meaning: a mysterious woman who follows Alan’s walk for close to a hundred miles, the ghost hunter searching graveyards for his wife, and the elderly Polish man who gives Alan a ride and shares a story that Alan will never forget.

Full of hard-won wisdom and truth, The Road to Grace is a compelling and inspiring novel about hope, healing, grace, and the meaning of life.

 

WOW!!  Talk about God using a book to address some issues in my life.  Another sequel that did not disappoint.

 

Book 4 comes out in spring of 2013.  Very sad:(  I am so ready to read it now.

 

Should you buy the books?  Absolutely.

Thunder and Rain by Charles Martin

Tyler Steele was a third generation Texas Ranger, and he wasn’t a baseball player. He wore a silver star in his chest, a white Stetson on his head and – like John Wayne – rode tall in the saddle. He wore starched jeans, polished his boots, and took his hat off when a lady – meaning any female – walked in the room. He was a real Texas gentleman. Which meant that – no matter how he was feeling – when he saw a lady lugging around a heavy load, he would take it from her and carry it himself.

The latest lady with a burden was Samantha – Sam – and her young daughter, Hope. He met them under the worst of circumstances; circumstances that would have made many people label Sam as ‘getting what she deserved’ and not worth being rescued. But years of training are not easily shrugged off; although Tyler was retired, he stepped in to help the stranger and her innocent daughter.

Despite his strong moral compass, Ty has trouble seeing his greatest weakness. His hard outer shell, the one essential to his work, made him incapable of forging the emotional connection his estranged wife Andie so desperately needed.

Now retired, raising their son Brodie on his own, and at risk of losing his ranch, Ty does not know how to rebuild from the rubble of his life. As his relationship with Sam and Hope unfolds, Ty realizes he must confront his true weaknesses if he wants to become the man he needs to be.

I am a big Charles Martin fan so when he decided to venture off his normal genre, I was a little concerned until he said it was going to be about a Texas Ranger.  I have met some Texas Rangers in my time so naturally, my interested was piqued.  While little girls may dream of a knight in shining armor coming to save them, I envisioned a Texas Ranger.  This book did not disappoint!

Let me tell you, Charles Martin had the character of the Texas Ranger pegged.  I have read many books by different authors using Texas as their location.  Authors, even those who live in Texas, can sure exaggerate how we Texans walk, talk and live but not Charles Martin.

 Do yourself a favor!  Buy the book!

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

"All I new was that I was flying through the night in a fancy car with a woman who showed up out of nowhere and offered to take me, messed-up life and all, to a place called Savannah"

Twelve -year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble.  For years, she bas been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille - the tiare-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town - a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen.  But when tragedy strikes, CeeCee is left to fend for herself.  To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt, Tootie Caldwell.

In her vintage Packard convertible, Tootie whisks CeeCee away to Savannah's perfumed world of prosperity and Southern exxentricity, a world that seems to be run entirely by women.  From the exotic Miz Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who skinny-dips in her backyard bathrub and uses garden slugs as her secret weapon, to Tootie's all-knowing housekeeper, Oletta JoVes, towViolene Hobbs, who entertains a local2Police officer in her canary-yellow piegnoiz, to the women of Savannah who keep CeeCee entertained and entralled for an entire summer.

I read the mixed reviews and decided this book was at least worth trying.  Put it on my wish list and then found it at a garage sale.

First, this is no Gone with the Wind or The Help.  I do believe there may be some error in authenticity for the time perioe] however, this is fiction.  I do not expect any fiction book to be 100% accurate but I do expect it to be believable.  While some reviews said this book was a Southern cliche', others disagreed.  I just enjoyed that fact that it was not dripping molasses on every page I read.

While many reviews said this should be geared toward younger women, I say, hogwash. 

Having been a foster parent,  my heart ached at CeeCee's story and her bag of emotions she toted around with her mother's name on it.    I fell in love with the women whose names became written in CeeCee's Life Book, so much so, that at times I felt like I was peeking through the hedges and into their lives.  In some ways, I wanted to hear more of each of their stories.

Please don't pick up this book to pick it apart.  Granted, it is not the best book ever written and as I said, there are probably some errors in the time period authenticity.  Do read this book just to enjoy getting to know CeeCee and the merry band of women who help her heal and grow.

Sorry guys, but this is definitely chick lit.