Tree Swing Reading

New Suspense from "Must Read" Author Kathy Herman: Not by Sight

Kathy Herman is one of my favorite suspense authors! Excited to read her new series!

Title: Not by Sight

Released:
April 2013

Publisher: David C. Cook

Genre: Suspense Fiction

Series: yes, Ozark Moutain Trilogy Book 1

Publisher's Description

Her Sister Couldn’t Be Alive … Could She?

 

It had to be Riley Jo. She was certain. . .wasn’t she? But when Abby Cummings tells her mother she thought she saw her sister at the store, her mother quickly dismisses the idea. After all, Riley Jo and their father had been missing for years. Presumably dead. Yet Abby cannot ignore her intuition. Telling her friend J. D., they investigate. But J. D. may know more about the disappearance than he’s telling, or even realizes. And as they work to uncover what happened, all they have to go on is blind faith. Will it be enough. . .especially considering what the truth might be?

To find out more about Kathy Herman, check out her website.

New from Ann Tatlock: Sweet Mercy

Prohibition….Gangsters….Bootleggers….Al Capone….and a 17-year-old girl named Eve Marryat who, in the tumultuous summer of 1931, learns the meaning of….Sweet Mercy

Title: Sweet Mercy

Released:
April 2013

Publisher: Bethany House

Genre: Historical Fiction

Series: no

Publisher's Description

 When Eve Marryat's father is laid off from the Ford Motor Company in 1931, he is forced to support his family by leaving St. Paul, Minnesota, and moving back to his Ohio roots. Eve's uncle Cyrus has invited the family to live and work at his Marryat Island Ballroom and Lodge.

St. Paul seemed like a haven for gangsters, and Eve had grown fearful of living there. At seventeen, she considers her family to be "good people." They aren't lawbreakers and criminals like so many people in her old neighborhood. Thrilled to be moving to a "safe haven," Eve is blissfully unaware that her uncle's lodge is a transfer station for illegal liquor smuggled from Canada.

Eve settles in to work and makes new friends, including an enigmatic but affecting young man. But when the reality of her situation finally becomes clear, Eve is faced with a dilemma. How can she ignore what is happening right under their very noses? Yet can she risk everything by condemning the man whose love and generosity is keeping her and her family from ruin?

To find out more about Ann Tatlock, check out her website.

Review of "It Had to be You" by Janice Thompson

This series was laugh-out-loud funny for me!  I really enjoyed them!

Description:

Bella couldn't be happier that her long-feuding Aunt Rosa and Uncle Lazarro have finally admitted their love for one another and are getting married. Their forties-style wedding is sure to be a night to remember. But when the Rossi house begins to fill up with family from Italy--and an old mobster from New Jersey--life starts to get complicated. Will Lazarro's friend from the past drive the happy couple apart once more? And will Bella ever have time to think of her own rapidly-approaching wedding amidst the chaos?

Full of laugh-out-loud humor, plenty of Italian passion, and a bit of Texas gumption, It Had to Be You is the satisfying conclusion to an entertaining series.

 

My Thoughts:

This series was great fun!  If you are looking for something to smile about, be sure to pick these up.  Perfect for a summer read or for anytime you want a feel good story.  Loved it!

Book Bullets:

• My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
• Genre: Contemporary Romance Fiction
• Part of a Series: yes, Weddings by Bella book 3
  
• Publication year: 2010
• Publisher: Revell
  

Book winner

Congrats to Anita Y.!  You are the winner of the book Invisible!

Thanks for entering!

New in the Quilts of Love Series: A Healing Heart by Angela Breidenbach

I love to quilt!  I love to read!  What can be better than reading books about quilts?!  Loving this series!

Title: A Healing Heart

Released:
April 2013

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Series: yes, Quilts of Love series book 6

Publisher's Description

 Mara Keegan is an uber-successful mother and a widow of three years. She's been chasing success and all the "good things in life" for her family to make up for the cruel whim God played on them by taking her husband. In an effort to be the perfect mom, she decides to make a photo memory quilt, a graduation present for her daughter, Cadence.

She’s not yet finished when she experiences a heart attack. While Mara recuperates, she revisits the choices she's made that led to this physically and spiritually broken heart. The memory quilt must be finished in time for Cadence's big day, but Mara struggles with her burgeoning feelings for the man who must keep Mara's business going during her recovery, Joel Ryan. Can Joel find his way into Mara's heart and onto Cadence's quilt?

To find out more about Quilts of Love books, check out the website.

New for Cat Lovers! "The Cat That God Sent" by Jim Kraus

Any cat lovers out there?  Find out how a cat is on a mission from God.

Title: The Cat That God Sent

Released:
April 2013

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Series: no

Publisher's Description

 Jake Wilkerson, a disillusioned young pastor who is an expert at hiding his fears, takes on a new assignment at a small rural church in Coudersport, Pennsylvania--which is a far piece from anywhere and full of curiously odd and eccentric people. His first day on the job, he is adopted by Petey--a cat of unknown origins and breed--but a very sentient cat who believes that he is on a mission from God to redeem Jake and bring him back to the truth.

Jake must confront his doubts early on when he meets Emma Grainger, a single woman and a veterinarian who dismisses all Christians as "those people." Then, Tassy, a young runaway with a secret, arrives at the door of the church looking for a place of refuge. How does Jake deal with this runaway and his interest in Dr. Grainger? More importantly, can Jake rekindle his faith? Petey does his best to lead all people to the truth, in a most subtle and feline way.

To find out more about Jim Kraus, check out his website.

Dog lovers should check out his other book too!

New Amish Fiction from Leslie Gould: Adoring Addie

A New Amish Romance from Christy Winner and Bestselling Author Leslie Gould!

Title: Adoring Addie

Released:
April 2013

Publisher: Bethany House

Genre: Amish Fiction

Series: yes, Courtships of Lancaster County #2

Publisher's Description

When Addie Cramer's mutter and daed decide Phillip Eicher is the man for her to marry, they claim she must honor them by obeying their wishes. But then she falls in love with Jonathan Mosier--part of the family with whom the Cramers have a long-held grudge.

With the help of others in her community who long to see the quarrel healed, Jonathan and Addie struggle to continue their relationship against both sets of parents' wishes. But when one of Addie's vengeful brothers harms a member of the Mosier family, Jonathan intervenes and is banished from Lancaster County.

A distraught Addie determines to find the true reason for the grudge between the two families, hoping to tear down the animosity of the past. Can their love for each other bridge the divide between their families? Or are they destined to remain apart forever?

To find out more about Leslie Gould, check out her website.

Also, be sure to check out book one in this series, Courting Cate.

One Year Ago: Books that helped with grief

 

A year ago today my Dad died.  It was the hardest day of my life.  It was unexpected in a lot of ways.  It was heart-wrenching to stand by his bedside and see his oxygen and pulse drop lower and lower. I have learned that grief is a strange thing.  It ebbs and flows and hits you when you least expect it.

There are two books that have come to be a great comfort to me in dealing with my grief.  They are actually formatted like children's books, but the message is deep and strong and powerful.

The first is Tear Soup. The authors describe the grieving process as making soup and use that as an allegory.  The recipe for the grief is different for everyone. I love the pictures and comfort that it offers for those who are working through their own recipe of grief.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other book is called The Secret of the Dragonfly. The concept of this book has a story like the one below. Though, I think the book tells it better.  I love the idea of my Dad now flying around in a better place!  Now I have a kit to make a dragonfly quilt and I can't wait to do that project in memory of my wonderful Dad!

   The Dragonfly Story

Down below the surface of a quiet pond lived a little colony of water bugs. They were a happy colony, living far away from the sun. For many months they were very busy, scurrying over the soft mud on the bottom of the pond. They did notice that every once in a while one of their colony seemed to lose interest in going about with its friends. Clinging to the stem of a pond lily, it gradually moved out of sight and was seen no more.

“Look!” said one of the water bugs to another. “One of our colony is climbing up the lily stalk. Where do you suppose she is going?” Up, up, up she went slowly. Even as they watched, the water bug disappeared from sight. Her friends waited and waited but she didn't return.

“That's funny!” said one water bug to another. “Wasn't she happy here?” asked a second water bug. “Where do you suppose she went?” wondered a third.

No one had an answer. They were greatly puzzled. Finally one of the water bugs, a leader in the colony, gathered his friends together. “I have an idea. The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk must promise to come back and tell us where he or she went and why.”

“We promise”, they said solemnly.

One spring day, not long after, the very water bug who had suggested the plan found himself climbing up the lily stalk. Up, up, up, he went. Before he knew what was happening, he had broken through the surface of the water and fallen onto the broad, green lily pad above. Weary from his journey, he slept.

When he awoke, he looked about with surprise. He couldn't believe what he saw. A startling change had come to his old body. His movement revealed four silver wings and a long tail. Even as he struggled, he felt an impulse to move his wings. The warmth of the sun soon dried the moisture from the new body. He moved his wings again and suddenly found himself up above the water. He had become a dragonfly!!

Swooping and dipping in great curves, he flew through the air. He felt exhilarated in the new atmosphere. By and by the new dragonfly lighted happily on a lily pad to rest. Then it was that he chanced to look below to the bottom of the pond. Why, he was right above his old friends, the water bugs! There they were scurrying around, just as he had been doing some time before.

Then the dragonfly remembered the promise: “The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk will come back and tell where he or she went and why.” Without thinking, the dragonfly darted down. Suddenly he hit the surface of the water and bounced away. Now that he was a dragonfly, he could no longer go into the water...

“I can't return!” he said in dismay. “I tried, but I can't keep my promise. Even if I could go back, not one of the water bugs would know me in my new body. I guess I'll just have to wait until they become dragonflies, too. Then they'll understand what happened to me, and where I went.”

And the dragonfly winged off happily into its wonderful new world of sun and air.......

Thank you, God, for the story of the water bugs and the dragonflies. By Doris Stickney

New Amish Fiction from Cindy Woodsmall: "The Winnowing Season"

Cindy Woodsmall is one of the best!  Check out her books if you haven't already!

Title: The Winnowing Season

Released:
April 2013

Publisher: Waterbrook Press

Genre: Amish Fiction

Series: yes, book 2 Amish Vines and Orchards Series

Publisher's Description

 The tornado that devastated Kings’ Orchard pushed Rhoda, Samuel, and Jacob to make a new start in Maine. Are they strong enough to withstand the challenges of establishing an Amish community—and brave enough to face the secrets that move with them?
 
On the eve of their departure to begin a new Old Order Amish community outside of Unity, Maine, Rhoda Byler is shocked to discover that choices made by her business partner and friend, Samuel King, have placed her and her unusual gifts directly into the path of her district’s bishop and preachers. She is furious with Samuel and is fearful that the Kings will be influenced by the way her leaders see her, and not what they know to be true—that Rhoda’s intuition is a gift from God.
 
Jacob King won’t be swayed by community speculation. He loves Rhoda, believes in her, and wants to build a future with her in Maine. But when the ghosts of his past come calling and require him to fulfill a great debt, can he shake their hold before it destroys what he has with Rhoda? Samuel has a secret of his own—one he’ll go to great lengths to keep hidden, even if it means alienating those closest to him. Throwing himself into rehabilitating the once-abandoned orchard, Samuel turns to a surprising new ally.
 
Book 2 of the Amish Vines and Orchards series asks: can the three faithfully follow God’s leading and build a new home and orchard in Maine? Or will this new beginning lead to more ruin and heartbreak?

To find out more about Cindy Woodsmall, check out her website.

Check out book 1 in the series too!

New Release from Sandra Byrd: "Roses Have Thorns: Elizabeth I"

Sandra Byrd is one of my very favorite authors! This looks very good!

"A rich, tautly woven tale of love, deception, and grace, Roses Have Thorns vividly conjures the years leading up to the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots and is a brilliant exploration of treason, both to the realm and to the heart."

Title: Roses Have Thorns

Released:
April 2013

Publisher: Howard Books

Genre: Historical Fiction

Series: yes, Ladies in Waiting Book 3

Publisher's Description

 In 1565, seventeen-year-old Elin von Snakenborg leaves Sweden on a treacherous journey to England. Her fiancé has fallen in love with her sister and her dowry money has been gambled away, but ahead of her lies an adventure that will take her to the dizzying heights of Tudor power. Transformed through marriage into Helena, the Marchioness of Northampton, she becomes the highest-ranking woman in Elizabeth’s circle.

 

But in a court that is surrounded by Catholic enemies who plot the queen’s downfall, Helena is forced to choose between her unyielding monarch and the husband she’s not sure she can trust—a choice that will provoke catastrophic consequences.

To find out more about Sandra Byrd, check out her website.

Other books in this series: