Review: The Wedding Shop by Rachel Hauck

5 Stars! 

I have read and loved several of this author's books and I have been really looking forward to this one, and I can say that it is totally fabulous! I know that on the surface this book may appear to some as a shallow piece of fluff, and yes this book does contain two wonderful romances, but just like Rachel Hauck's other books there is an incredible amount of depth to the story, as a matter of fact the faith stories are my favorite part of this author's books, I'm always blown away by how God uses her books to remind of something I really need to know and how the stories draw me closer to Him! The Wedding Shop was no exception! 

I really enjoyed all the characters. And it was so cool to get to go back to the town of Heart's Bend, Tennessee. I don't want to risk giving anything away so I will just say that this is a fabulous book that everyone should read! 

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through the Booklook bloggers review program, in exchange for an honest review. The above review is my honest opinion and all thoughts and opinions are one hundred percent my own.

Bout of Books 17 Day One Update and Day Two Challenge!

Yesterday I read On The Fence by Kasie West from start to finish, it was fabulous, I loved it! And I read the first chapter of Everything Changes by Lauren Brooke, I could have read more but I got distracted because my mom and I watched the DVD of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which was really good by the way! My plan for day two is to finish Everything Changes and start The Ringmaster's Wife by Kristy Cambron

Day Two Challenge

The Nickster hosted at Bout of Books -- Mix 'n Match (instructions right below!)

Pick out 10-15 books from your shelf, from your local library, or from a local bookstore. They can be any genre, any language, and any length. In each book, flip to a random page and pick the 1st word (articles such as "the", "and", "an", "or", etc. don't count as the 1st word). Use all these 1st words to try to create an actual sentence. If the books are in different languages, feel free to translate them to all one language or leave them as they are! also, you can add in some articles, such as "the", "and", "an", "or", etc., if you want to make the sentence flow better.

Here is my sentence, not the greatest but it did make me laugh!

Riley shrugged as she approached the shallow farmhouse, okay, the informant had something yellow.

Bout of Books 17 Day One Chellenge!

Favorite book to movie adaptation

(I have several other favorites but I went with this one since it is my most recent favorite!)

Least favorite book to movie adaptation

(I love the book, it is one of my favorites, but I really don't like the movie.)

Review: Kate's Innocence by Sarah Holman

4 Stars!

This was a very interesting, enjoyable read. I was absolutely fascinated by the story of a young woman who has been accused of a horrible crime helping a team of FBI agents to prove her innocence. I really enjoyed this story, it had a good pace and interesting characters though I have to admit that for awhile I felt that there were so many characters that it was a bit difficult for me to keep track of them all, I believe that the reason for that was simply because I was listening to the audiobook version, and so was unable to easily turn back a few pages to remind myself who the different characters were, not any fault of the author's writing. 

I liked all of the characters (except the villain of course!) but I think probably my favorite character was Logan, she was just so quirky and fun! 

I have to admit that I wasn't crazy about the narration, the narrator seemed to have a tendency to rush when it came to the dialogue of a number of different characters which unfortunately made it a bit hard for me to follow and understand all of what was being said at times, though perhaps it may not have seemed that way to me if this hadn't been my first experience with this story. 

By far my favorite thing about this book was the faith story, I was incredibly impressed by the sheer depth of the spiritual thread, it was definitely a reminder that I needed right now in my life! 

I think one of my favorite parts of this book was the ending, I loved it! It was just such a cool ending, and left me very curious as to what will happen next! I will most likely read the next book in the series! 

I always love to read/listen to the author's note if there is one at the end of a book, and I just have to say that as a huge Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye fan myself I was beyond excited to hear at the beginning of her author's note that Sarah Holman is as well, and that was one of the things that inspired her to write this series! Very cool! 

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to this book, and very much look forward to reading more of Sarah Holman's books in the future!

Recommended!

Thank you to the author for providing me with an audiobook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Review: The Homegrown Historian by Sarah Brazytis

5 Stars!

I am a huge lover of history so when I I heard about this book my first thought was "Wow, that sounds like a book I would really enjoy." I am absolutely delighted to say that I loved this book even more than I had expected to! It is so good! I particularly loved that Sarah chose to present lesser known bits of history, I can't even begin to list the number of things that I learned from this book! Before starting this book I had planned to read it one or two stories at a time over several days, but after finishing the first few, I was so fascinated and enthralled that I couldn't stop reading! It is impossible for me to say which story was my favorite but it may very well have been that of "Dr. Lister and the Doll."  I just have to say that story moved me to the point that I was nearly crying (happy tears) by the end! I can't say enough how fabulous this book is, I highly recommend it! I look forward to reading future releases by this author!

Thank you to the author for providing 

me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Review: Without Warning by Lynette Eason

5 Stars!!!

I am a huge fan of Lynette Eason's books, I've read all of her Revell titles to date and all but nine of her Love Inspired Suspense titles. After really enjoying the first book in the series, Always Watching, earlier this year it is putting it mildly to say that I was eagerly anticipating the release of this second book! And I was most definitely not disappointed, this book was phenomenal! 

Katie was my favorite character in Always Watching so I was so excited to get to read her story, my heart broke for all that had happened in her past. Being a hands-on renovation/construction guru myself I loved that Katie had a passion renovating her house! 

Daniel was a fantastic hero, I loved his protectiveness, kindness, and determination, he was just an all around amazing man. I also loved the fact that he was a pilot and had his own plane, even though I myself am absolutely terrified of flying I always find it fascinating to read about characters that love to fly! I also loved Daniel's niece Riley, she was just such an awesome character, she reminded me a lot of myself at her age! 

One of my favorite things about Lynette's books is the suspense in them, and the suspense in this one was beyond amazing! I love to play detective when I read one of Lynette's books to see if I can figure out who the villain(s) is/are before it is revealed in the story and with this one I am delighted to say that I pegged one of the villains from the first time they entered the story (Love it when that happens!) but the identity of the other villain was a total shock to me, I did not see it coming! 

Everything combined to make this a story that I absolutely loved and hated to put down, this book has a permanent spot on my keeper shelf and will go down as one of my all time favorite books by Lynette! 

I highly recommend this book and cannot wait for book three! 

I was honored to receive a free copy of this amazing book from the author and Revell publishers in exchange for helping to promote it! 

Bout of Books 17 Sign Up!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Can't wait to participate in the read-a-thon again!

Review: A Heart Most Certain by Melissa Jagears

4 Stars!

After reading and loving the prequel novella, Engaging the Competition earlier this year I was eagerly anticipating this new book! And I am absolutely delighted to say that I was not disappointed, this is a fabulous book! The message touched my heart in so many ways, this is one novel that I won't soon forget! 

I have recently discovered that I tend to really enjoy stories of true love between a rich man and a poor girl, and Lydia and Nicholas' story was a beautiful example of loving someone for who they are rather than their money or lack thereof! I loved Lydia in the prequel and was really looking forward to her story, and it was a fantastic one! 

I can't say it enough, this is a phenomenal book that everyone should read!

The pace was slower than I had expected it to be but that actually worked out well as I was able to savor the awesomeness!

Overall, I loved this book and highly recommend it! By the way, Nicholas is one of swoon-worthiest heroes I've ever read about! I plan to reread this book and the prequel novella many times in the future! 

I was honored to receive a complimentary copy of this amazing book from the author and Bethany house publishers in exchange for helping to promote it! Thanks!