Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Let's Get Ready for Bed | Book Review


Whimsical illustrations draw the young reader into this book and leads him through a bedtime story as Sleepy Puppy readies himself for bed. Normal bedtime routine is followed such as brushing teeth, putting on pajamas, and saying a bedtime prayer. The solution to Puppy's sleeplessness is his friends joining him for a bedtime song, which then lulls Puppy to sleep. The bedtime song fits well with a traditional nursery rhyme song, so is easy to follow along.

It's not my favorite children's book. It's written to be read in a rhyme, but it doesn't flow very well to me. I can't say anything specifically negative against it, it just wasn't my favorite.

*I received this book from Book Look Bloggers and happily provided my honest review*

You may purchase the book here.

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

"Finding Christmas Joy" is part of a Giveaway!

I know all of these authors in this fun five-EBOOK giveaway by Kaylee (her blog is here AND here!).



Enter the giveaway HERE.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Cozy, Snowy Cuddles | Book Review



My Review

Another adorable children's book by Tommy Nelson! I love this touch-and-feel. Sometimes, the touch-and-feel aspect of a book is all the same between the pages, but this one does a pretty good job having a soft yet different feel for each animal. The text is also very sweet. It can be read with rhythm, but the formatting makes it a little difficult (sometimes the last word of a cadence is on the next line). It's the perfect winter-time book about staying warm and cozy (just those words there give a certain appeal to me!) and concludes with thanksgiving to God for these things.

*I received this book from Book Look Bloggers and happily provided my  honest review*


About the Book

Winter is an exciting fun time of year for little ones, and Cozy, Snowy Cuddles Touch and Feel will help children thank God for all His wonderful wintry gifts. The soft art, touch-and-feel elements, and sweet message will appeal to the cuddliest little ones, making this the perfect holiday gift!

Little polar bear spreads joy and cheer to all the winter animals. He shares his thankful spirit with all he meets and leaves smiles and cuddles behind him. Cozy, Snowy Cuddles Touch and Feel is a great way to enjoy all the coziest aspects of winter with your little one—and thank God for the beauty and fun of winter.


Purchase the book here.

Friday, November 9, 2018

An Hour Unspent | Review and Giveaway


About the Book

Once London’s top thief, Barclay Pearce has turned his back on his life of crime and now uses his skills for a nation at war. But not until he rescues a clockmaker’s daughter from a mugging does he begin to wonder what his future might hold.
Evelina Manning has constantly fought for independence but she certainly never meant for it to inspire her fiancĂ© to end the engagement and enlist in the army. When the intriguing man who saved her returns to the Manning residence to study clockwork repair with her father, she can’t help being interested. But she soon learns that nothing with Barclay Pearce is as simple as it seems.
As 1915 England plunges ever deeper into war, the work of an ingenious clockmaker may give England an unbeatable military edge—and Germany realizes it as well. Evelina’s father soon finds his whole family in danger—and it may just take a reformed thief to steal the time they need to escape it.

Click here to purchase your copy!

My Review

Roseanna has done it again... an exciting tale filled with danger, hints of espionage, and Family. Definitely can’t forget the family. I have been waiting for Barclay’s story and wasn’t disappointed. The thief family is an even stronger thread in this book, which I enjoyed immensely.

Barclay being a new believer was a great asset to the story. I enjoyed reading about Barclay’s struggles and how he used a certain verse to bolster him up and keep him on the right track.

Lina was a sweet character and I enjoyed watching her growth throughout the novel. I was especially interested in how she went from trying to make a difference in a political realm to that which is more applicable to real life.

A good balance of Christianity, wit, romance (yeah, a few kisses), history, and adventure, like the rest of the books in this series. Great completion of the series… and I can’t wait until the next series that starts with Margot!!

*I received this book from Celebrate Lit and happily provided my honest review*

About the Author



Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.


Guest Post from Roseanna

Last year, as I finished up the writing of An Hour Unspent, my great-grandmother passed away at the age of 103. As I sat at her funeral service and listened to the heartfelt memorial raised up to her by her kids and grandkids, I realized anew that this woman had been a matriarch in the truest sense of the word. She’d taught my family for generations how to love the Lord and each other, how to serve the Lord and each other, and how to trust the Lord and each other. Grandma Seward was, in so many ways, the one who instilled in me my idea of what family really is. That idea—that it’s those knit together by love more than blood, and that faith is the strongest foundation—is what I built my unusual family of thieves upon in the Shadows Over England series. And strange as it is to liken my twenty-something reformed-thief hero to my 103-year-old-grandmother, Barclay Pearce is very much to his family what Maxine Seward was to mine. The founder. The caregiver. The leader. I knew as I began the series that I would write about Barclay in book three, and as I got to know him better throughout the series, I grew so excited to share his story! This is a man who led his family first into and then out of a life a crime, always for the right reasons—so he could provide for the children under his care. All he ever wanted to do was give them what he himself had lost. To show them love. To prove to them that they were worth any sacrifice. It was truly a blessing for me to get to write the story in which Barclay found someone to come alongside him, to appreciate and learn to understand him. To finally share what started him down this path. I loved the idea that only a reformed thief could steal the time another family needed to overcome their own trials. There are many historical items in the book that were such fun to explore—watchmaking of the era, the suffrage movement in England, technological advancements of the war—but at the heart, this isn’t a story about any of those. It’s a story about how far people should go for love. I hope you enjoy Barclay’s story as much as I did!

Blog Stops

The Avid ReaderOctober 30
The Power of WordsOctober 30
Back Porch ReadsOctober 30
Kat’s Corner BooksOctober 30
Faithfully BookishOctober 31
Genesis 5020October 31
Fiction AficionadoNovember 1
Among the ReadsNovember 1
The Lit AddictNovember 1
Just the Write EscapeNovember 1
MultifariousNovember 2
Godly Book ReviewsNovember 2
Madeline ClarkNovember 2
Christian BookaholicNovember 3
Bookworm MamaNovember 3
BigreadersiteNovember 3
Blogging With Carol , November 4
D’S QUILTS & BOOKSNovember 4
Life with the Tribe, November 4
The Becca FilesNovember 4
Kathleen DenlyNovember 5
Cordially BarbaraNovember 5
Simple Harvest ReadsNovember 5 (Guest Post from Mindy Houng)
All-of-a-kind MomNovember 6
Faery Tales Are RealNovember 6
Carpe DiemNovember 6
Margaret KazmierczakNovember 7
Blossoms and Blessings , November 7
Maureen’s Musings , November 8
Book by BookNovember 8
Just CommonlyNovember 8
cherylbbookblogNovember 9
Have A Wonderful Day , November 9
With a Joyful NoiseNovember 9
KarenSueHadley , November 10
Tell Tale Book ReviewsNovember 10
Baker kellaNovember 10
Bibliophile ReviewsNovember 10
Inklings and Notions , November 11
Two Points of InterestNovember 11
Henry HappensNovember 12
Texas Book-aholicNovember 12

Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Roseanna is giving away a grand prize of a signed book, a London mug, and a 48-pack Twinings tea sampler!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d570/an-hour-unspent-celebration-tour-giveaway

Friday, October 12, 2018

A Tale of Two Hearts | Review and Tour


You may recall my review of one of Michelle Griep's other books not too long ago. She is an author that I've enjoyed immensely this year, so when her new release came up, I was happy to jump on board!

About the Book
London, 1853: Innkeeper’s daughter Mina Scott will do anything to escape the drudgery of her life, for there’s nothing more mundane than serving customers day after day. Every minute she can, she reads and dreams of someday becoming a real lady—and catch the eye of William Barlow, a frequent guest at the inn.

William is a gentleman’s son, a charming but penniless rogue. However, his bachelor uncle will soon name an heir—either him or his scheming cousin. In an effort to secure the inheritance, William gives his uncle the impression he’s married, which works until he’s invited to bring his wife for a visit.

William asks Mina to be his pretend bride, only until his uncle names an heir on Christmas Day. Mina is flattered and frustrated by the offer, for she wants a true relationship with William. Yet, she agrees. . .then wishes she hadn’t. So does William. Deceiving the old man breaks both their hearts. When the truth is finally discovered, more than just money is lost. 

Can two hearts survive such deception?

Click here to purchase your copy!



My Review


I read this at the close of a long week and tiring weekend, and I found it to be just the book for a chill-out read. There was a great pace throughout the entire story, intriguing plot points, and great characters.

Okay, so maybe Mina annoyed me slightly. She was completely smitten with William from page one, which then led her to do things that her conscience doubted was the right thing to do. At the same time, her character being that was what made the story interesting and moving from the first chapter.

William was a little hard to figure out. He claimed to have reformed, but it was difficult to see it, shrouded by the deception he continued to live in. It worked very well to doubt him as a reader, though, as it strengthened the interest throughout the story.

I guess with both of these characters, there wasn’t a really strong Christian figure. Sure, they both had limits with what their consciences would allow and tried to give grace to other people, but as for just that strong Christian thread running through the book… it was more of an engaging read than a solid Christian doctrinal read.

The romance was well-paced and sweet. As I already mentioned, you know Mina’s feelings from chapter one, but there was a relationship apart from that infatuation which I found to be realistic and easy-going.

*I received this book from Celebrate Lit and happily provided my honest review*



To celebrate her tour, Michelle is giving away a grand prize of a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d4ef/a-tale-of-two-hearts-celebration-tour-giveaway





About the Author

Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She is the author of historical romances: The Captured Bride, The Innkeeper’s Daughter, 12 Days at Bleakly Manor, The Captive Heart, Brentwood’s Ward, A Heart Deceived, and Gallimore, but also leaped the historical fence into the realm of contemporary with the zany romantic mystery Out of the Frying Pan. If you’d like to keep up with her escapades, find her at www.michellegriep.com or stalk her on FacebookTwitter, or Pinterest.

Blog Tour
Creating RomanceOctober 2
The Avid ReaderOctober 2
Genesis 5020October 3
The Power of WordsOctober 3
Just CommonlyOctober 3
Baker KellaOctober 3
Among the ReadsOctober 4
Fiction AficionadoOctober 4
Godly Book ReviewsOctober 4
Inklings and Notions , October 4
MultifariousOctober 6
Texas Book-aholicOctober 6
RemembrancyOctober 7
Splashes of Joy , October 7
Back Porch ReadsOctober 8
A Reader’s BrainOctober 8
Simple Harvest ReadsOctober 9 (Guest Post from Mindy Houng)
Mary Hake, October 9
Carpe DiemOctober 9
Britt Reads FictionOctober 10
Luv’N Lambert LifeOctober 10
By The BookOctober 11
Book by BookOctober 11
BigreadersiteOctober 11
More Of HimOctober 12
Pause for TalesOctober 12
With a Joyful NoiseOctober 12
Have A Wonderful Day , October 12
Bibliophile ReviewsOctober 13
Vicky SluiterOctober 14
Daysong Reflections , October 14
Henry HappensOctober 15
All-of-a-kind MomOctober 15

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Kingdom Single | Book Review



Books on singlehood intrigue me, as I’ve read my fair share of them in years past. Usually, I read single-women books written by women, so seeing this by Tony Evans doubly intrigued me.

The first half of the book was spot on with things that I could personally apply to my life. A lot of reminders for focusing on God and using single years to minister, not wait (or, worse, mope). It was different than many single books that I’ve read and I liked the difference. Instead of a “how-to-get-a-spouse” manual or assuring the reader that they just had to wait long enough, pray hard enough, or do this or that right enough, they’d get a spouse, Evans drew inspiration from various figures in the Bible. He never assures the single that they’ll marry, but he definitely gives them plenty of food for thought in what to do while unmarried. There is a lot of reference to God's Word and how to get our focus there.

There are portions of this book that are definitely more suited for an older audience—unless the teen is already exposed to a bit of discussion on sex. I think it is beneficial for singles to be educated about it and discuss it, because in our world today, it’s not just reserved for those who are married (which Evans deals with very well—how to be forgiven, how to stay pure, how the Bible teaches about it being right only in the bonds of marriage, how our bodies and minds are affected by casual sex, etc.). At the same time, it would be TMI for a lot of younger singles. I advise parents or counselors to read the book before handing it off to a younger single.

The last couple of chapters weren’t relevant to me, as in Evans discussed the issues of divorced singles and single parents. Again, though, these are subjects that tend to be avoided in the Christian culture. In essence, “Kingdom Single” covered almost every base of those who are single, and I applaud that.

I didn’t quite agree with Evans’ perspective on 100% of everything, but as a whole, I found this to be a beneficial read.

*I received this book from Tyndale Publicity Team and happily provided my honest review*

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