Synopsis

Death, discovery, and dilemma set the tone in the first three chapters of this fiction novel set in South Chicago, 1977–1979. The Williams family moves to Chicago due to a job transfer. Seth is a commercial airline pilot with a wife and two sons.

Bribes, greed, jealously, infidelity, and intrigue challenge this Christian family, who find out at closing that their house is in a homeowner’s association with rules which must be followed. The accidental death of a neighbor’s child and the murder of a volunteer board member keep Sally Williams busy after she becomes a board member and then president, by default.

Many homeowners do not know this neighborhood is built over one of many former garbage dumps from Chicago’s trash in the 1950s and ’60s. Follow this family through two years of mishaps, mayhem, and murder as they try to live a normal family life filled with school, sports, and home-ownership problems. Not all neighbors live a life with Christian morals–some of them leading sad and shocking lifestyles which create a challenging environment.

This novel is the first of a series.

Review

This is a nice clean book about a housing community and the lives of several families in the community. To top it off, the community was built on top of a garbage dump that had been closed.  It is supposed to be a Christian book, but there aren’t a lot of religious mentions in the book.  There are a few that reference bible verses, but nothing too heavy.  The characters are very realistic and since the book is set in the 1970’s, the author did a good job of setting the scene for that era.  The characters are likeable and while I have never lived in a community with a homeowner’s association, I felt like the author showed what a HOA can be like and the problems that can arise.

There were some interesting twists – long lost loves, murder and blackmail. I was surprised at a few of the twists and how the book ended but I felt like it didn’t really tie everything up, so perhaps that means a follow up book?  It does say that this is the first of a series so I guess time will tell!

I give this 3 1/2 paws.

About the Author

Sandee Martin Drake is a retired French and Spanish high school teacher. She received a BA in French from Florida State University and an EdM in education from Weber State University. She has four different stories published in four different books. The latest of these are Heavenly Company: Entertaining Angels Unaware by Cecil Murphy and Twila Beck and Northern Arizona Authors Association Collected Works: Volume 2.

Giveaway

I am giving away the print copy of this book that the author sent me.  Open to US residents only

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Title: Finding Daddy Warbucks
Author: David Hwa
Publisher: Wellworth, LLC
Pages: 180
Genre: Christian Fiction
Format: Ebook

Synopsis

We never know how God may lead us. The twists and turns of life often leave us confused and deflated. For 10-year-old Haley, the unexpected loss of her father was such a twist. When all is lost, a little light in the darkness can make all the difference. The world is a big place for a little girl. For that matter, it’s a pretty big place for anyone who has lost their way.

Hayley finds her solution in a modern day prince, but she can’t pull off this miracle by herself. Nick, an attorney struggling to save his job, wouldn’t seem to be much help to a little girl trying to create a miracle. But life has a way of bringing us the people we need most, at just the right time. Still, there is so much that could go wrong, especially when her headstrong mother doesn’t fall for the prince. But there’s something Hayley doesn’t see coming, something she can’t see. Something she doesn’t want to see, something that hides in the dark where she can’t go, something unspeakable.

Follow Haley’s journey into the light and see how redemption is there for anyone, even the condemned. And see how love can find you-even through the darkness.

Excerpt

Hayley steps out of the 7-Eleven into the morning sun. Dressed in her National Academy tartan uniform, her giraffe backpack, Stanley, dangling off her shoulder she looks very much like a lost prep-school munchkin. Stanley looks a little tired today, but that’s normal for him. He has a short neck, very un-giraffe- like, but that doesn’t bother Hayley. She fell in love with him the first moment she saw him. She circles around the store to the side parking lot where a group of high school boys mill around with their skateboards smoking and laughing. She approaches the tallest one whose hair looks especially chaotic.

Review

This is a fun fast read. What happens when 3 kids go looking for a husband for their mom? Craziness, that’s what! Hayley is the ring leader and is in the 5th grade. She has a younger brother and sister who go along with things but she is the one that finds Nick and “Daddy Warbucks” who is actually Sir John, a wealthy business man. Hayley things that Sir John is the answer to the problem, but is he really? and is he ready to take on 3 kids?

there were some very funny/cute parts in this book and while it is labeled as Christian, I only recall a few paragraphs near the end where it references the Bible and a few verses. This is a sweet and clean story that will have you shaking your head at some of the kid’s antics and even the adults!

We give this 4 paws up!

About the Author

David Hwa makes his literary debut with Finding Daddy Warbucks (2014) a tale of a little girl’s journey through loss, love and redemption.

David grew up in Kansas. He graduated with a music degree from the University of Colorado and went on to obtain a Master of Business Administration from Denver University, a law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law, and a Master of Laws from Georgetown University Law Center.

He practiced securities law for many years in Los Angeles, California with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. He later moved to Washington, DC where continued his securities practice with the Commission and later in private practice with the law firm of Bingham McCutchen LLP. Following the financial crisis of 2008, David moved back to Colorado and opened his own securities law practice.

David is single and lives in Aurora, Colorado with his two leopard geckos Gordon and Carlos. He spends his days writing, skiing, and occasionally dispensing legal advice, sometimes while on the ski slopes.

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Tour Schedule

October 6

Book featured at 3 Partners in Shopping

October 8

Book featured at Review From Here

October 9

Guest blogging at Bent Over Bookwords

October 10

Book featured at Queen of All She Reads

October 13

Guest blogging at Voodoo Princess

October 14

Book reviewed at Storeybook Reviews

October 16

Guest blogging at I’m Shelf-ish

October 20

Book featured at Melina’s Book Blog

October 21

Book featured at Book Nook Nuts

October 22

Guest blogging at The Revolving Bookshelf

October 23

Book reviewed at My Life. One Story at a Time

October 24

Book featured at The Literary Nook

October 27

Guest blogging at Literal Exposure

October 28

Book featured at Confessions of a Reader

October 29

Guest blogging at The Zen Reader

October 30

Book reviewed at Sincerely Stacie

October 31

Book featured at The Dark Phantom

Title: Faith Departed
Author: Elizabeth Maddrey
Genre: Christian Fiction

Synopsis

Starting a family was supposed to be easy.

Twin sisters June and July have never encountered an obstacle they couldn’t overcome. Married just after graduating college, the girls and their husbands remained a close-knit group. Now settled and successful, the next logical step is children.

But as the couples struggle to conceive, each must reconcile the goodness of God with their present suffering. Will their faith be strong enough to triumph in the midst of trial?

Review

I thought this was a good story of two sisters whose faith is tested when they try to conceive. I thought the names were interesting, June and July (pronounced Julie). I felt sorry for June in her work situation and having to deal with a vindictive coworker and HR person. I think that both June & Toby and July and Gareth all learned something in their situations and while there were times that it tested their faith and friendship, it was ultimately for the best.

We give this 4 paws and look forward to more book by Elizabeth!

Excerpt

“Stop stop stop stop.” June breathed the words as the digital readout on the bathroom scale flickered up. She cringed when the hateful thing finally followed her directions. One forty. One hundred and forty pounds. She stumbled backwards off the scale and dropped onto the cold edge of the bathtub. At five foot two, she was used to numbers much more in the range of one ten. But the last six months had added thirty pounds…that was five pounds a month. She buried her head in her hands. What was going on?

“Morning, baby.” Toby shuffled into the bathroom, rubbing his eyes. He stopped to give her an appreciative look and waggle his eyebrows. “Careful, you’re going to make me late for work.”

She chuckled in spite of herself. “You’re insane.” And blind. There was no point in drawing his attention to her ever expanding girth. She was on her way to being twice the woman he married four years ago. He hadn’t signed on for a two-in-one special.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her close, burying his nose in her neck. “I can’t help it if I have the world’s most enticing wife.”

He couldn’t possibly mean it. Her fat rolls squashed against his still-firm abs as he tightened his embrace. She fought the urge to push away and put on a robe. She forced her tone to be light. “Now, now. Didn’t you say you had a big meeting this morning?”

He pressed a kiss to her head and eased back, eyes still hinting at his interest. “I did…sadly, I did.”

She crossed her arms over her belly as he turned on the shower and tossed his towel over the door.

“Any news, June?”

She swallowed the lump in her throat and shook her head.

“We’ll just have to practice more.” He shot her a wicked grin and stepped into the steaming shower.

About the Author

Elizabeth Maddrey began writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never looked back. Though her practical nature and love of math and organization steered her into computer science for college and graduate school, she has always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity. She loves to write about Christians who struggle through their lives, dealing with sin and receiving God’s grace.

Elizabeth lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys.

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It is because we love them so much that we lay our heart in their hands. So when they do not treat it delicately, instead choosing to squeeze the life out of it, it becomes fractured. A fractured heart almost impossible to heal the pain etched into that tiny little organ.

But there is mercy…

My name is Katy. I have been ripped apart and torn to shreds by past and present circumstances. Everything that I am had been tested, and faith is slowly fading away. I try to forget the past. I try not to let those events define my life. But the past, she just walked through the door, and she is about to test every limit that I can handle, and push me completely over the edge.

My life…just got real

Krystle is a full time stay at home mom with a passion for reading and writing. Currently, she lives in Florida on an island with her husband and two young boys. Writing has always been something she loved to do, but she had to step away from it for awhile. Pursuing a career in Pharmacy was her dream. But, after five years working in a pharmacy, the pull to write was too great, so today she writes as if it were a living breathing part of her, and she loves every moment of it.

Fractured Heart is the first in The Redemption Series. It is also Krystle’s debut novel.

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February 10

Here is some of what I read / My Journeys Into Pure Imagination / Clutter Your Kindle

February 11

Zita’s Dream Writing / 2 friends, promote your books with us / Ramblings from Beneath the Sheets

February 12

Stormy Day Reading Books / Next Page Reviews / For the Love of Books

February 13

The Phantom Paragrapher / StoreyBook Reviews

February 14

Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews / Cant beat a good book

Tour Schedule

Stranded (Alaskan Courage #3)

When her friend vanishes from a cruise ship, reporter Darcy St. James isn’t satisfied with their explanation that she simply left her job of her own accord. Something isn’t lining up, and Darcy believes the only way to find the truth is to put herself in Abby’s position. Within days, Darcy learns her friend wasn’t the only person to disappear mysteriously. Last summer, a woman vanished under almost identical circumstances.

Gage McKenna has taken a summer-long stint leading adventure excursions for the passengers of various cruise lines that dock for a few days of sightseeing. He’s surprised to find Darcy working aboard one of the ships, investigating a troubling report. Something sinister is going on and the deeper they dig the more Gage fears they’ve only discovered the tip of the iceberg.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Excerpt

He answered his cell on the third ring, irritated at the intrusion. “This better be important.”

“We’ve got a situation,” Jeremy said.

He stood and stalked away from the bed. “I thought you were handling the situation.” Isn’t that what Jeremy had promised—to take care of his mistake?

“I was,” Jeremy mumbled. “I am, but . . .”
“But?”
“We’ve hit a complication.”
There’s a shock. It was always something with Jeremy.

Why he’d trusted him to run things this long . . . That was his mistake. “What kind of complication?” He retrieved his whiskey glass from the wet bar.

“Someone sounded the man-overboard alarm.”
“Where are you?”
“There’s no need for you to come. Just tell me what to do.” “Obviously following orders isn’t your strong suit.” He finished his drink in a single draught, the golden liquid burning its way down his throat and spreading across his chest.

“But, boss . . .”

“Give me your coordinates. Now.” He kept his voice even, tight. No sense losing his temper until the matter at hand was resolved.

Jeremy gave up the coordinates.
 “I’ll see you soon.” He cut off the call.

Review

This is the third book in the Alaskan Courage series and while could be read on its own, I highly recommend reading the first two books to get a sense of the characters and who they are and what they are all about.  I did not read the first two books and felt like I was missing some history of the characters.  I like Darcy’s character, she wasn’t willing to give up on her friend Abby and wanted to know what in the world happened to her and why she disappeared.  Gage has his own issues and those are conflicting with what he feels for Darcy.  There was quite a few references to prayer, God/being saved and other similar religious undertones.  IF this sort of thing would bother you, don’t pick up the book.  It didn’t bother me and was interesting to see how the beliefs of the different characters impacted how they acted and how they were portrayed.  The book does have quite a bit of suspense and you really aren’t sure who the “bad” guys are and I think some will surprise you!

Overall we give it 3 1/2 paws.  If you like romantic suspense, I think you might like this book.

Author Dani Pettrey

Dani Pettrey is a wife, homeschooling mom and author. She feels blessed to write inspirational romantic suspense because it incorporates so many things she loves–the thrill of adventure, nail-biting suspense, the deepening of one’s faith and plenty of romance. She’s a huge fan of dark chocolate, is always in search of the best iced mocha and her dream is to one day own a little cottage on a remote stretch of beach. She and her husband reside in Maryland with their two teenage daughters.

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Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 10/10/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Above Rubies

His chivalry was strangling her.

He thought he was helping her—and in truth, he was. She was in desperate straits. But as honorable as he was, he was also breaking her heart.

Her attraction was drowning him.

When World Champion rodeo cowboy Rossen Rockland and his friends rescue a young runaway who has been abused by her foster father and take her home to his parents’ ranch, he expects her to turn out to be a pain in the neck. And sometimes she is.

It doesn’t take him long to figure out that she has way more than her allotment of troubles—and far more than her share of gifts. Lovely, talented, and ravingly brilliant, Kit Star is too young, unbelievably humble, and oh, so loveable. Knowing that she needs his protection and time to grow into her potential, Rossen also figures out that what she really is, is a pain in the heart.

Watch for more of the Rockland Ranch Series!

Review:

I really enjoyed this book!  I did read Peace River first (I’m just funny that way about series) but this definitely could have been read on its own…some of it at the beginning just made a little more sense since I had just finished book 1.   These books are tied to the Mormon faith, but I found it interesting since I like learning about other faiths and what they believe.  I thought it was a good tie in because it showed that the Rockland family had high morals and ethics because of their faith and they didn’t mind sharing that belief with others, including those with no faith.  The only part I found somewhat unbelievable was all these creative talents that Kit has – she creates beautiful sculptures that amaze everyone, she can play anything on the guitar after hearing it once and has an amazing voice….and she is only 18.  Oh and a photographic memory.  But despite that, I still enjoyed these stories and can’t wait to see if writes a story about Joey, I’m almost willing to bet she is next!

We loved these books and give them 4 1/2 paws

Amazon

Peace River (Book 1)

The police didn’t understand the danger, but she did. Her father had always been abusive, but now, with a ten million dollar Thoroughbred farm on the line, and a powerful bookie leaning on him, her father had become out of control. But how do you get away and take a world famous stallion with you? Carrie was getting desperate when a handsome and honorable but thoroughly cynical rodeo cowboy from Wyoming happened to show up with a horse trailer. He didn’t ride a white horse, but he was definitely a knight in shining armor.

He’ll protect her from the mob, but can she survive falling in love with a bull rider?

 Review:

This first book in the series kept me on the edge of my seat!  A brilliant combination of romance and suspense.  I’d recommend reading this one before Above Rubies, but you don’t have to…..unless you like Above Rubies and then maybe some things will be given way if you go back and read this one afterwards.

Amazon

Author Jaclyn M. Hawkes

Jaclyn M. Hawkes grew up in Utah with 6 sisters, 4 brothers and any number of pets. (It was never boring!) She got a bachelor’s degree, had a career and traveled extensively before settling down to her life’s work of being the mother of four magnificent and sometimes challenging children. She loves shellfish, the out of doors, the youth and hearing her children laugh. She and her fine husband, their family, and their sometimes very large pets, now live in a mountain valley in northern Utah, where it smells like heaven and kids still move sprinkler pipe.

Website

  Blog Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 6/26/13

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Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Prize value $50 US. 

These books were given to me for an honest review.

Tour Schedule

Yesterday

Her yesterday was five years ago. What will her tomorrow bring?

When Hannah Kraeger saves a family injured in a car accident, she has no idea she has changed events in the past. Waking the next morning, Hannah discovers her yesterday was really five years ago.

Each trip Hannah takes through time changes the timeline and her own life. With help from Dr. Seth McAllister, Hannah must unravel the mystery of why she time travels and who she actually is before the strange ability costs her future, the man she loves, and even her life.

YESTERDAY is a thrilling Christian Romantic Suspense filled with unexpected twists, mystery, and romance.

Excerpt

Rounding the corner of the hallway to the medical offices, I stopped mid-stride.

“What’s wrong?” Seth asked, concerned.

I pointed. “The medical offices should be right there.”

Instead of a hallway that opened up to a reception area surrounded by doctors’ offices, I was pointing to a solid wall.

I turned around in a full circle. I had an awful sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I began to notice other differences. The paint on the walls looked dingy, the tile old, and the pictures on the wall cheap.

“Seth, none of this is right,” I mumbled, nervously fingering Mom’s locket clasped around my neck.

The feeling of dread was rapidly transforming into panic. Nothing was as it should be.

Then I knew.

My mind swirled with everything that had just happened. My eyes swung to Seth’s confused gaze and locked. In that instant, I knew two things. The man I loved, loved me back. And, wherever, whenever I was, he had come with me.

Amazon

The Locket

Hannah suddenly finds that she has time traveled once again, but this time is different. After helping save a woman’s life, Hannah discovers that she has completely altered the timeline and thrown her very existence into jeopardy.

Facing life-threatening effects upon returning to her own time, Hannah is then given a death sentence: if she time travels again, she will die. Now, Hannah must solve the clues to her own identity and find a way to save her own life before she is once again sent spiraling through time.

Will her mother’s locket hold the key to both her past and her future? Has she just found the love of her life only to lose him? Could God have a plan for Hannah amidst the chaos?

Excerpt

I opened my mouth to ask my guide a question, I wasn’t even sure what, but I felt like I didn’t even know which end was up. Before my mouth and my brain could connect, there was a loud buzzing noise and the double doors in front of us opened.

“Go ahead,” my guide said. “Dr. Blake will meet you down the hall.”

Shouldn’t I protest that there’d been some mistake? Shouldn’t I beg for her to please tell me what was going on? But, I didn’t. Completely dazed, I put one foot in front of the other and went through the doors.

“Oh, Hannah?” At the woman’s voice, I turned back around. She looked directly at me, and I saw a full view of her face for the first time. There was something about her that was familiar, as if I should know her but couldn’t reach back far enough to remember her name.

Her sad eyes were sparkling with what looked like a hint of amusement, and a smile was on her lips. “Say ‘yes.’”

Before I could respond, the doors automatically shut, separating us. Starting to continue down the hall, I suddenly whirled back and faced the doors. Hannah! She’d called me Hannah!

I wanted to run back and pound on the doors until they opened and the mysterious woman gave me some answers. I was instead distracted by footsteps coming from the other direction of the long hall. A small woman with bright red hair and dressed in a white lab coat approached me.

Extending her hand to take mine, she smiled, “You must be Esther Jefferies.”

I opened my mouth in denial, but, suddenly remembering the words of my mysterious guide, I found myself replying. “Yes . . . Yes, I am.”

Amazon

Review

I loved these two books!  I’m not 100% sure why they are categorized Christian because there is very little reference to religion or God in these books.  But that doesn’t matter because these were great stories!  I loved the time traveling aspect and how one little thing changed the past and Hannah’s life.  I liked all of the characters, although Seth could be a little over protective.  Sure Hannah is younger but she isn’t fragile.  I liked how the different supporting characters changed throughout the books based on where in time she went and what she changed.  I don’t want to give too much away!

When I finished the 2nd book I was hoping that wasn’t all and at the end I found a preview of the next book called Tomorrow….just what I need, another book on my TBR shelf!  But I have to find out how the story ends.

We give this 4 1/2 paws.

Author Amanda Tru

Although I loved my job as an elementary school teacher, I am now very blessed to be mommy to three adorable little boys and living my dream of being an author.
I have a vivid imagination and have always been easily entertained by the stories in my head. Fortunately, I also love to paint those pictures with words. I like writing a wide variety of genres, and my current book list includes everything from a Christian time travel / romance series, to an action-packed suspense, to a romance involving a woman who likes to anonymously play matchmaker.

Although I enjoy historical, Christian, paranormal, suspense, and everything in between, my books all have one thing in common–I love to surprise my readers with the unexpected. I currently have 7 books available for kindle, nook, and paperback.

My family and I live in a small Idaho town where the number of cows outnumbers the number of people.

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Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 6/17/13

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Faithful, Fit & Fabulous
Filled with humor and “I can relate” life experiences, Faithful, Fit, and Fabulous is the ideal 8-week life boost that will refresh any woman’s life. Create a personal and effective life plan, and learn how to readily apply it in your busy daily life. Establish holy habits, feel fit and fabulous, and get organized. Just one goal a week for eight weeks—it’s simple and fun.

Message from Connie

Hi Ladies,
This is the moment. This is the year. You can be your best self, your most beautiful self, your most faithful, fit, and fabulous self. Ever. Twelve months are before you-what will you do with them?

Years ago, after bearing several children and feeling overwhelmed, I created and lived my “Year of the Change.” During twelve months of taking life by the horns, I lost weight, got organized, and discovered more joy. Since then I’ve tweaked and taught the principles I have learned and now share them with you.

So make this your year of fabulous change by joining us on the “8-week Challenge” starting on January 8th! The 8-week Challenge is an online success program of “8 goals in 8 weeks in 8 areas of your life,” including fit and fabulous, get organized, balance womanhood and motherhood, and more. Using the Faithful, Fit and Fabulous book, each week you set and achieve a goal, with help from my podcasts, video segments, blog posts, and motivational emails!

Simple, fun, and productive. This program works (see testimonials below). And this year, we’re giving our new 2013 Fit & Fabulous podcast series FREE to those who sign up with a friend! Both of you receive weekly podcasts and posts on weight loss/energy gain tips and strategies. Jill Holmes, our online marketing director, has lost and kept off 50 POUNDS! She’ll share her personal tips and secrets to make weight loss work for you, even eating chocolate daily.

Here’s what women have said about the 8-week Challenge:

“I have learned so many things about who I am and what I want to do in my life. I have also gained a new sense of happiness. My husband and girls have noticed just in the last week the change in my attitude and they have told me that it is nice to hear me laugh again.” C.Adams

“Thank you so much for giving me the needed push to do something I’ve wanted to do for months & never completed. That has never happened for me with goal setting. THANK YOU!” B.Bird

“If I wouldn’t have been doing the challenge I never would have thought to [accomplish this goal]. I am so glad I did this 8 week challenge! I want to continue these small goals for the rest of my life.” C. Rose
So join us now and jumpstart your ideal life. Get that closet organized, start that exercise program going, find that joy in daily living!

Join now and, because you’re reading this blog post, receive your 8-week Challenge for only $29, thru Jan. 8th only!

http://8basics.com/store/books/start-the-8-week-challenge-refer-a-friend-discount.

Sign up a friend and BOTH receive the 8 podcast series of “Fit & Fabulous”.

Author Connie Sokol

Connie Sokol is a mother of seven, a national and local presenter, and a regular speaker at Education Week. She is a monthly contributor on KSL TV “Studio 5,” and regular blogger for KSL “Motherhood Matters.” She is a former TV and radio host for Bonneville Communications, and columnist for Deseret News and Utah Valley Magazine. Mrs. Sokol is the author of several books including the award-nominated romance Caribbean Crossroads, the 8-week Challenge program of Faithful, Fit & Fabulous, Life is Too Short for One Hair Color Series, as well as talk CDs and podcasts. Mrs. Sokol marinates in time spent with her family and eating decadent treats.

Joyce Magnin Moccero is the author of Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise which is the second in a series about Bright’s Pond which is somewhere in the Pennsylvania area since Charlotte moves to Paradise from a suburb of Pittsburg.  But you don’t have to read the first to appreciate the second novel.

Charlotte’s husband has recently died and she received (by  mistake) an ad for a trailer for sale in Paradise.  She puts it aside but once the activity surrounding the funeral has passed, she decides to purchase the trailer sight unseen.  Well as well all know, that isn’t necessarily a wise move, but this was about 40 years ago and things were a little different.  She arrives in Paradise and discovers the trailer is not what was pictured and is infested by raccoons and smells horrible.  Charlotte is discouraged but with the help of a few neighbors it becomes a habitable.

The trailer park has a wide variety of occupants including a wife-beating manager, the one armed maintenance man and a heavily tattooed woman with a large sculpture of a hand in her yard…large enough to climb up and sit in the palm.  Charlotte reaches out to befriend all of these people plus the remaining residents of the area and starts an all women’s softball team which she manages.

This story is about people banding together to right wrongs and to support each other in good times and in bad.  It is also about Charlotte finding her independence, becoming her own woman and not staying in the shadows.

I really enjoyed this book.  I will say that I wasn’t sure with the first chapter or two but am glad that I continued reading because I was inspired by Charlotte for leaving what she was comfortable with and starting over in a small town.  She even resists giving in to her overbearing mother who would love nothing more than for Charlotte to move to Florida with her.  It would have been very easy to give in, but that isn’t where God wanted Charlotte to be at that time in life.  He wanted her in Paradise to bring together this community.

Charlotte isn’t the only one that blossoms with the new friendships that are created.  Others become stronger with the various situations that they are faced with at the time.

I give this book 4 stars.

Sandra D. Bricker worked on her writing skills while working as a personal assistant and publicist to daytime television stars.  What I like about her is that she is an animal rights activist and is very involved in fundraising for Lost Angels Animal Rescue. 

Sandra says she is a Christian Woman and that clearly comes through in this novel without it being over the top.

Always the Baker Never the Bride is the story of Emma Rae (a good Southern name) who is a baker in Atlanta who has won the prestigious Passionate Palate Award for her crème brulee wedding cake (and it does sound yummy when she describes making it for a client).  The twist is that she is diabetic and cannot sample her creations without making sure she has eaten and then she can only sample a bite or two.   Emma is working at a bakery when she is lured away to work for the new Tanglewood Inn that is to become The Place to have a party or wedding.  She had met Jackson, the CEO, when he stopped in her shop but didn’t realize who he was when she accepted an interview at the inn and she certainly doesn’t expect to fall in love with him either after their first encounter in the shop.

There are also some other fun and quirky characters including Emma’s parents, Jackson’s sisters and most of all, Emma’s assistant Fiona.  All of these characters round out this story to make it fun and witty but still give the reader a message.

I really enjoyed this novel especially since it revolved around food and even more importantly, sweets!  Emma’s no nonsense attitude makes Jackson think twice in several situations and to make him realize that he can’t tip toe around his feelings.  I also like how Fiona appears to be the total opposite of Emma, at least in dress, but deep down they are really very similar.  There is a Christian theme running through the novel to put your trust and faith in God and what is meant to be will be.  This is laid out in several scenes in the book and fit in nicely considering the events that had just occurred.

Pick up this book when it comes out in September from Abingdon Press, you won’t be sorry!