In the last day of the "Summer Things" giveaway I let you tell me some of your picks for this giveaway.
You made the call on these books!
As part of the blog "My Friend Amy"s Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I am hoping that this giveaway also shows my appreciation to you guys for reading my blog!
Here are the books that you can win based on at least one pick from everyone who commented up to this point.
1. Post a comment and indicate which of these books you would like to be entered for. Answer this question too: Which of the books in this giveaway would you like to win the MOST? Why?
2. Check back for reviews of these books over the next few weeks.
3. Check back to see if you win: the drawing will be held October 5. So enter on or before OCT. 4!
Here are the books:
1. Faking Grace by Tamara Leigh
Description: All she wants is a job. All she needs is religion. How hard can it be?
Maizy Grace Stewart dreams of a career as an investigative journalist, but her last job ended in disaster when her compassion cost her employer a juicy headline. A part-time gig at a Nashville newspaper might be her big break.
A second job at Steeple Side Christian Resources could help pay the bills, but Steeple Side only hires committed Christians. Maizy is sure she can fake it with her Five-Step Program to Authentic Christian Faith–a plan of action that includes changing her first name to Grace, buying Jesus-themed accessories, and learning “Christian Speak.” If only Jack Prentiss, Steeple Side’s managing editor and two-day-stubbled, blue-jean-wearing British hottie wasn’t determined to prove her a fraud.
When Maizy’s boss at the newspaper decides that she should investigate–and expose–any skeletons in Steeple Side’s closet, she must decide whet her to deliver the dirt and secure her career or lean on her newfound faith, change the direction of her life, and pray that her Steeple Side colleagues–and Jack–will show her grace.
2. Riven by Jerry Jenkins
Description:
When a condemned man with nothing to lose meets one with nothing to gain, everyone washed by the endless ripples of that encounter will forever recall the day a little bit of heaven invaded a whole lot of hell. Brady Wayne Darby and Thomas Carey could hardly have been more disparate individuals. Yet when Darby, a no-account loser raised in a dingy suburban trailer park, encounters Carey, a weary man of God, an entire--state indeed, a nation--is affected. Embark on a wondrous journey where death, guilt, and despair are unfathomably trumped by rebirth, forgiveness, and hope.
3. Hood and Scarlet by Stephen Lawhead
Description:
For centuries, the legend of Robin Hood and his band of thieves has captivated the imagination. Now the familiar tale takes on new life, fresh meaning, and an unexpected setting.
Hunted like an animal by Norman invaders, Bran ap Brychan, heir to the throne Elfael, has abandoned his father's kingdom and fled to the greenwood. There, in the primeval forest of the Welsh borders, danger surrounds him—for this woodland is a living, breathing entity with mysterious powers and secrets, and Bran must find a way to make it his own if he is to survive.
Like the forest itself, Hood is deep, dark, and at times savagely brutal—yet full of enchantment and hope. Internationally-acclaimed author Stephen R. Lawhead has created a lyrical rendering of a time-honored story that will lead you down strange pathways into another time and place.
Scarlet: King Raven Trilogy: Book IINow, however, Will is in prison for a crime he did not commit. His sentence is death by hanging—unless he delivers King Raven and his band of cohorts.
That, of course, he will never do.
Wales is slowly falling under the control of the invading Normans, and King William the Red has given his ruthless barons control of the land. In desperation, the people turn to King Raven and his men for justice and survival in the face of the ever-growing onslaught.
From deep in the forest they form a daring plan for deliverance, knowing that failure means death for them all.
Scarlet continues Stephen R. Lawhead's riveting saga that began with the novel Hood, which relocated the legend of Robin Hood to the Welsh countryside and its dark forests. Steeped in Celtic mythology and the political intrigue of medival Britain, Lawhead's trilogy conjures up an ancient past and holds a mirror to contemporary realities. Prepare for an epic tale that dares to shatter everything you thought you knew about Robin Hood.
4. A Passion Most Pure and A Passion Redeemed (The Daughters of Boston book 1 and 2) by Julie Lessman
A Passion Most Pure Description:
Refusing to settle for anything less than a romantic relationship that pleases God, Faith O'Connor steels her heart against her desire for the roguish Collin McGuire. But when Collin tries to win her sister Charity's hand, Faith is not sure she can handle the jealousy she feels. To further complicate matters, Faith finds herself the object of Collin's affections, even as he is courting her sister. The Great War is raging overseas, and a smaller war is brewing in the O'Connor household.
A Passion Redeemed Description:
Graced with physical beauty, though shallow of heart, Charity O'Connor is a woman who knows what she wants. She sets her sights on the cantankerous Mitch Dennehy, editor at the Irish Times, who has unwittingly stolen her heart. And although the sparks are there, Mitch refuses to fan the coals of a potential relationship with his ex-fiancee's sister. But Charity has a plan to turn up the heat and she always gets what she wants--one way or another. Is revenge so sweet after all? Or will Charity get burned?
5. Ransomed Hearts and Healing Promises (Defenders of Hope Series) by Amy Wallace
Ransomed Hearts Description:
Gracie Ann Lane is being watched by a man who will stop at nothing to hide the truth from her. Having lost the only man she ever loved and the children who were her world, the truth is all Gracie wants, an explanation for what really happened. She longs to move forward but is bound by chains of fear. Then she meets Steven Kessler, an FBI agent assigned to uncover an international plot to kidnap the British Ambassador s daughter. Steven awakens more than memories; he revives the possibility of a life Gracie desires. A life where healing and peace crowd out the nightmares. But his case and her past are dangerously connected. Suddenly, Gracie must decide if she's able, let alone willing to pay the required ransom to redeem dreams and restore hope.
Healing Promises Description:
When FBI Agent Clint Rollins takes a bullet during a standoff, it might just save his life. But not even the ugly things he's seen during his years working in the Crimes Against Children Unit could prepare him for the overwhelming powerlessness of hospital tests revealing an unexpected diagnosis. If only Sara weren't retreating into doctor mode.he needs his wife now more than ever.
Sara Rollins is an oncologist with a mission-beating cancer when she can, easing her patients' suffering at the very least. Now the life of her husband is at stake. She never let the odds steal her hope before, but in this case, the question of God's healing promises is personal. Can she hold on to the truth she claimed to believe?
As Clint continues to track down a serial murderer despite his illness, a past military incident haunts his nightmares, pushing him beyond solving the case into risking his life and career. Clint struggles to believe God is still the God of miracles. Especially when he needs not one, but two. Everything in his life is reduced to one all-important question: Can God be trusted?
6. Whispers of the Bayou by Mindy Starns Clark
Description:
What Mysteries Lie Hidden Beside the Dark Water of the Bayou?
Swept away from Louisiana bayou country as a child, Miranda Miller is a woman without a past. She has a husband and child of her own and a fulfilling job in a Manhattan museum, but she also has questions—about the tragedy that cut her off from family and caused her to be sent away, and about those first five years that were erased from her memory entirely.
Summoned to the bedside of Willy Pedreaux, the old caretaker of her grandparents' antebellum estate, Miranda goes back for the first time, hoping to learn the truths of her past and receive her rightful inheritance. But Willy's premature death plunges Miranda into a nightmare of buried secrets, priceless treasure, and unknown enemies.
Follow one woman's search through the hidden rooms of a bayou mansion, the enigmatic snares of an ancient myth, and the all-consuming quest for a heart open enough for love—and for God.
7. Dying to Decorate and Crime and Clutter (Friday Afternoon Club Mystery Series) by Cyndy Salzmann
Dying to Decorate Description:
Meet the Friday Afternoon Club, a band of feisty mothers who, when they're not busy with carpools, music lessons, and never-ending laundry, try their hand at sleuthing and solving mysteries. When one of the members inherits an old mansion, the rest are just Dying to Decorate it---and in the process uncover a shocking surprise!
Crime and Clutter Description:
A storage unit, a 1963 Volkswagen minibus, and tattered letters...reveal shattering secrets from the 1960s.
It has been a year since Mary Alice lost her father, the father she never really knew. Now she is stuck cleaning out his rubbish from a storage unit. Just when she would rather it all go away from her well-ordered life, her long-held secret is discovered by the feisty Marina, one of the six members of the Friday Afternoon Club. When these friends make it their mission to help Mary Alice tackle her stash, they arrive at the storage unit, prepared to clean. But what they discover takes them on a riotous ride through the crime and clutter of the sixties, the angst and betrayal of those caught in The Revolution, and the forgiveness that can only come through acceptance of a different kind of Cause.
8. Whirlwind by Cathy Marie Hake
Description:
Widower Daniel Clark needs a nanny for his 18-month-old son, Arthur. Governess Millicent Fairweather is without a job. When the two meet on a ship to America, things come together---and fall apart---very quickly! What with illness, thieves, and secret codes, how's a person to know what's real and what's not?
9. All three of The Restorer books by Sharon Hinck
Book 1 Description:
Susan Mitchell is wondering what happened to God's plan for her. Her life can't just be about cleaning, organizing her family, and being involved in damage control for her four rambunctious children, can it? When Susan opens a box in labeled "Dress Up" in her attic, her question is answered.
Upon opening the box, Susan finds herself thrust into a parallel universe where she must help bring heathens and warring territories "back to the Verses." Susan is a Restorer, a prophet like the Biblical Deborah. Together with an unfamiliar sword, it is Susan's job to show the inhabitants of this new world how Jesus can save people. This universe will forever change how Susan looks at life, love, and family.if she can get out alive.
Book 2 Description:
Plunged again into the gray world of Lyric and Hazor, Susan and Mark search frantically for their teenage son, Jake, as all signs hint that a trusted ally has betrayed them and threatens their son. Assassins and political intrigue, false leads, and near misses beset their path, which will lead them into the dark prisons of Hazor before the One's purpose is revealed.
Cast out by those he trusts and preferring to cross swords with the One rather than submit to His will, Kieran flees to enemy Hazor, only to find that the One knows no borders. Pursued by his calling, Kieran journeys to Sidian, where he finds a boy without a home, a king with burning questions, and a nation torn by darkness. As he embraces the tasks the One has set before him, this new Restorer learns that the One requires his all-perhaps even his life.
Book 3 Description:
From the innovative Sword of Lyric series comes an all-new fantasy adventure. Susan Mitchell and her teenage son Jake find themselves drawn through a portal to the world of the People of the Verses. As Susan struggles to love her captors, Jake suffers a tragic betrayal and discovers his destiny as the next Restorer.
10. My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay
Description:
Cori signs up to take a mission trip to Indonesia during the summer after her senior year of high school. Inspired by happy visions of building churches and seeing beautiful beaches, she gladly escapes her complicated love life back home. Five weeks after their arrival, a sectarian and religious conflict that has been simmering for years flames to life with deadly results on the nearby island of Ambon. Within days, the church building the team had constructed is in ashes, its pastor and fifty villagers are dead, and the six terrified teenagers are stranded in the mountainous jungle with only the pastor's teenage son to guide them to safety. Ultimately, Cori's emotional quest to rediscover hope proves just as arduous as the physical journey home.
11. House of Dark Shadows and Watcher in the Woods (Dreamhouse Kings Series) by Robert Liparulo
House of Dark Shadows Description:
When the Kings move to a new home in a new town, the house seems odd at first; but things get really strange when they realize that some rooms are portals to other worlds.
The Kings face terrifying dangers within the rooms of their home, but it still seems like an adventure until people start coming out of the rooms and into the house. When one of the intruders kidnaps their mother, they must find a way to rescue her-but who would believe such a fantastical story?
The King Family begins their search, quickly realizing that they must learn more about the worlds in order to find their mother. But they also must pretend that all is well at home. When a stranger appears and tries to force them to sell the house, their desperation reaches new heights.
Watcher in the Woods Description:
In Watcher in the Woods, the King Family begins their search, quickly realizing that they must learn more about the worlds in order to find their mother. But they also must pretend that all is well at home. When a stranger appears and tries to force them to sell the house, their desperation reaches new heights.
12. When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin
Description:
In a small town square of a sleepy Georgia town, seven-year-old Annie sits at her lemonade stand, raising money for her own heart transplant. At a nearby store, Reese flips through the newspaper, thinking about the latest boat he’s restoring. As a beat-up bread truck careens around the corner, a strong wind blows Annie’s money into the road. Reese looks up in time to see Annie’s yellow dress fluttering in the wind as she runs into the road. What happens next will change both of their lives forever.
13. Blessed Are the Meddlers by Christa Ann Bannister
Description:
Freelance writer Sydney Alexander has given up her serial dating ways to marry Gavin. When she's offered an advice-to-the-lovelorn column at the local newspaper, she's convinced it's a way to help everybody---including her sister Samantha---find true love, too! How could something so right go so very wrong?
14. Dogwood by Chris Fabry
Description:
In the small town of Dogwood, West Virginia, Karin has buried her shattered dreams by settling for a faithful husband whose emotional distance from her deep passions and conflicts leaves her isolated. Loaded with guilt, she tries to raise three small children and "do life" the best she can. Will returns to Dogwood intent on pursuing the only woman he has ever loved--only to find there is far more standing in his way than lost years in prison. The secrets of Will and Karin's past begin to emerge through Danny Boyd, a young boy who wishes he hadn't survived the tragedy that knit those two together as well as tore them apart. The trigger that will lay their pain bare and force them to face it rather than flee is the unlikely figure of Ruthie Bowles, a withered, wiry old woman who leads Karin so deep into her anger against God that it forces unexpected consequences.
15. In High Places by Tom Morrisey
Description:
After the death of their mother and wife, 16-year-old Patrick Nolan and his dad relocate to West Virginia and open a rock-climbing shop. But when grief drives the elder Nolan to try increasingly dangerous feats, Patrick and the local pastor's daughter realize they must act. Will they be in time?
16. The Whole Truth by James Scott Bell
Description:
At the age of five, Steve Conroy saw his seven-year-old brother kidnapped from the very bedroom they shared. His brother was never found. And the guilt of his silence that night has all but destroyed Steve’s life.
Now thirty years old with a failing law practice, Steve agrees to represent convicted criminal Johnny LaSalle, an arrangement sweetened by a lucrative retainer. It’s not long until he discovers that this con man might just be his missing brother.
Desperate for his final shot at redemption, Steve will do anything to find the truth. But Johnny knows far more than he’s telling, and the secrets he keeps have deadly consequences. Now Steve must depend on an inexperienced law student whose faith seems to be his last chance at redemption from a corrupt world where one wrong move could be his last.
17. The four books in Karen Kingsbury's Sunrise Series: Sunrise, Summer, Someday, Sunset
Book 1: Sunrise: Description:
In preparation for their long-awaited wedding day, Dayne and Katy are determined to keep the ceremony a secret from the paparazzi. Their relationship grows closer and stronger as they plan together, but in the end it takes the help of the Baxter family and many of the CKT kids so that they will even have a chance at a private wedding. John Baxter is thrilled that his oldest son will be settling down a few miles away, but he's not sure how any of his kids will handle a situation he can no longer run from--the feelings he is having for his friend Elaine. In the meantime, the Flanigan family is struggling with their young boarder, Cody Coleman, Jim Flanigan's star receiver. After an alcohol overdose, Cody fights for his life. Only the grace of God and a miracle can bring him back from the brink of death--physically and spiritually.
Summer, Book 2: Description:
Hollywood actor Dayne Matthews and Katy Hart are married and living in Bloomington, Ind., where Dayne has found a solution to his on-camera love scenes---he wants Katy to star in his next film. Katy wins the part and is cast opposite her super-star husband. The story of a small town girl's dream come true is too much for the press to resist, and in an effort to appease them, the couple agrees to a 12-episode reality show. It seems like the perfect compromise but by the time they finish filming the movie, they feel cracks around the edges of their marriage. Now they face an uncertain future, and possibly the end of everything that truly matters to them.
The Baxter family learns that Ashley and Kari are both pregnant, but an ultrasound reveals that something is wrong with one of the babies. As the summer progresses, the sisters pray for a miracle while trying to face the unthinkable. It's in this trying season that they must all learn the lesson God has been trying to teach them---He is still in control, and He will be with them regardless of the outcome.
The Flanigans continue to draw closer to their only daughter, yet Bailey struggles to find her way amidst the turmoil of adolescence. She has always made good decisions, but she wants to experience more of life. Her friendship with Cody Coleman---the young border staying with the Flanigans---continues to blossom in this summer after his graduation. But when Cody decides to enlist in the Army, he'll have to say goodbye to the family he's come to love and the girl he'll never forget.
Someday, Book 3: Description:
Pressures of the celebrity lifestyle weigh heavily on Dayne and Katy Matthews as they take on separate movie projects. Tabloid rumors talk of trouble and unfaithfulness between the two, but finally something drastic catches Daynes attention and makes him realize the destruction theyÂ’re playing with. But will it be too late? The Flanigan family recognizes the deep loss of the Christian Kids Theater program, and they lead a final effort to keep the theater from being torn down. Meanwhile, John Baxter takes the next step in his growing relationship with Elaine, giving him a season to contemplate selling the Baxter house and, along with it, losing a lifetime of memories made there. As the rest of the family considers the future and what may lie ahead, they must pull together like never before. Only their undying love for each other can help the Baxters get past the trials of today for a life they know is possible . . . someday.
Sunset, Book 4: Description:
As John Baxter makes plans to marry Elaine, one of the Baxters enters into the most trying season of all. During a time of renewed love and hope for the future, the Baxters try to come together to establish the sacred ground of marriage and to chart a course for the future. Memories of times gone by meet with the changes of today in a story that proves only the support of faith and family can take a person into the sunset years of life.
18. The Pawn and The Rook (The Bower Files Series) by Steven James
The Pawn: Description:
Special Agent Patrick Bowers has met only one person he's feared---until now. Working on a North Carolina serial murder case, he's caught in a macabre game of cat-and-mouse with a cunning killer called the Illusionist. The pieces of the puzzle don't add up. Can Bowers unravel the pattern in time to save the next victim?
The Rook Description:
While investigating a series of baffling fires in San Diego, FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers is drawn into a deadly web of intrigue where nothing is as it appears to be. With his own criminology research being turned against him and one of the worlds most deadly devices missing, Bowers is caught up in a race against time to stop a criminal masterminds trap before it closes around him and the people he loves.
19. Sinner by Ted Dekker
Description:
It's been predicted that Christians will soon not be tolerated in America. That day has arrived---with the returnof Marsuvees Black! When the government classifies religiousspeech as "hate" crimes, believer Johnny Drake refuses to remain silent. This exclusive edition features Dekker's signature on the cover, his letter to CBD customers, and an interview.
20. Tracy Bateman Drama Queen Series: Catch a Rising Star, You Had Me At Goodbye, That's (Not Exactly) Amore
Book 1 Description:
Former daytime diva Tabby Brockman is back on the #1 soap in the country! But are second chances all they're cracked up to be? Faced with a vicious writer, obnoxious stage dad, and a fawning ex-boyfriend, she wonders . . . can't she take things into her own hands, or must she surrender everything to God?
Book 2: Description:
Everything is on the line for aspiring editorial diva Dancy Ames when she's fired by her publisher. Could this be the time to risk it all on her writing career--and maybe even love?
Dancy Ames has an enemy: Jack Quinn. The man who swoops in, steals her dream job at Lane Publishing, and fires her, saying she just doesn't have what it takes to be an editor. Now that she's unemployed, Dancy must find a new career. Coffee barista, English teacher, literary agent. Hmm. Maybe she'll write a novel--a nasty invective, featuring a relentless job-stealing, coffee-drinking stalker who falls in love with a coffee barista. She's got time on her hands, so when her friends dare her to send Jack a proposal, under an assumed name, she takes them up on it. If he likes it, she'll have her ultimate revenge. But what will she do when it turns out that Jack is interested in her book--and maybe more?
Book 3 Description:
When Laini Sullivan lands a job designing Nick Pantalone's coffee shop, there are two problems: one, Nick's nephew Joe hates all of her ideas and two, Laini has to admit he's right--she's a disaster at design. Still, she can't risk losing the job. To compromise, Joe brings in help on the project, while Laini continues to bake the goodies that keep his customers lining up.
Their relationship is moving along, so when new guy Officer Mark Hall implies that Joe's family is tied to the mob, Laini doesn't want to believe it. But things spin out of control when she meets the family, including "the uncles," who seem to confirm Mark's suspicions. To make things worse, Nana Pantalone makes it clear Laini isn't the kind of girl she has in mind for her grandson. Laini's not sure if she should give Joe the benefit of the doubt or just set her sites on Mark and fuhgetaboutit.
