Over the Edge, Mary Connealy

Over the Edge by Mary Connealy
The Kincaid Brides #3

From the Publisher: Seth Kincaid survived a fire in a cave, but he hasn't been the same since. Then he fought in the Civil War and returned to Colorado crazier than ever.
Somewhere along the line, it appears Seth got married. Oh, he has a lot of excuses, but his wife isn't too happy to find out Seth doesn't remember her. Seth is willing to make amends. Callie is more interested in shooting him. Can they rekindle their love before one of them goes over the edge?

 

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From Pebblekeeper:

Mystery, Adventure, Family, Villains, Diamonds, Caves – Oh ya – I really enjoyed this story!  I had no idea it was a Book 3 until the final page when I looked for more books available from the author. It definitely stands alone.  I liked the idea that the two involved in the romance part – were already married.  It is fun to walk with these two fireballs as they figure out why they got married in the first place.  I really like Callie – she has a wonderful combination of courage and strength, and yet, traveled from Texas to Colorado to be with her married family.  There is a story line through their discoveries of the caves that I found fascinating.  Mentions of the flood and the wonderment of how the animal fossils came to be lodged in this area of the Rockies. You will not be disappointed with this book – I recommend Over the Edge!

I received this book for free from Bethany House in exchange for reading it and sharing with you!

Brush of Angel’s Wings, Ruth Reid

Publisher’s Book Description

Rachel and Jordan's feelings for each other are hostile at first, but angelic intervention helps the two discover peace . . . and perhaps love.

The youngest and last unmarried of four sisters, Rachel Hartlzer spends most of her time helping with barn chores. Her role abruptly changes when her father hires Jordan Engles, the son he always wanted.

As Jordan takes on brotherly roles around the house, like escorting Rachel to the youth singing, the enmity between the two grows. Besides, Jordan has one foot in the Englisch world and is determined not to get involved with an Amish girl.

Neither realizes that God has sent an angel, Nathaniel, to help mend their hearts. The angel’s intervention helps them find peace and healing in accepting God's will for their lives.

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Pebblekeeper’s Review:

This one is a hard review to write – The story of Jordan and Rachel is a good one. Good enough, that I did enjoy reading to the end of the book – and did want to see how their story turned out.

However, there is a huge “Angel” theme throughout the book, which I should have known from the title, but didn’t realize how far it would go. There is an evil angel and a good angel. They have full conversations. The evil angel is intent on the two not getting together and on making sure they are all in sour moods. The good angel keeps thoughts in their heads, flips pages of the bible and is waiting on cue for the characters to call on God so he can directly intervene.

I flipped through many passages of the angel babble.

So – Story wise – it is a pretty great Saturday afternoon read.

Theology wise – it rubbed me the wrong way.  I do believe, because I’ve seen my 11 year old boy get out of scrapes that he should have never come out of alive as if an Angel were holding him up, that there are angels  - but I do not know their direct role in our lives.  I do believe, because the bible makes it clear, that there are evil angels – that we do not fight against flesh and blood but against the rulers of this dark age.

What tripped me up – was the absence of the Holy Spirit or Christ throughout the entire book.  Call on His Name – Jesus Christ.  These characters do not seem to have a personal belief in God or Christ Jesus. Just a head knowledge that one should read the bible, and one should call out to God when trouble comes. 

Many books come across this way – especially Amish – but this one – well, It was just weird having so much angel interaction without any cries to Christ or the Holy Spirit. Seemed a bit to mystical weirdo to me. Like that for a discription?  However, as I said before, it wasn’t enough to make me stop reading the book – which was good.

See how this is hard to explain?

I received this for free from BookSneeze as an eBook in exchange for reading it and sharing it with you. Many of my friends enjoy Angel’s and feel very connected to them. If this is you – you will adore this book!

How Do You Do It? Is Your Answer Faith?

I just closed the last page of the book – The Fourth Fisherman.

First off – since this is a review – before I get into the meat of it – in a world that is cutting corners, publishing cheap books, and pushing towards $.99 e-books, This book is Fantastic. Hard bound with a wonderful finish. Cloth Binding. Thick Linen Pages.  Beautiful Jacket with a description that pulls one in. Gripping the book – it feels like a treasure. Like you should also use the nicer tea cup, use a prettier quilt, nibble better licorice. What you’ll find though, as you grip the pages, is that you are reading a journal, of a personal story, one I invite you to read.

I will let you know that from the first page, the book pulled me in. Don’t start this on a Monday Morning when you have laundry and school work. Save it for when you’ll have the whole day  and the wee hours of the night to finish it.  He once told his story in a church 45 minutes before first service, ended an hour after church was out, and had to come back for 2 hours on another session to finish.  That’s what it will feel like.  He’s telling this insane story. He leaves room at the end to tell how the story developed into the pages you are reading, and the toil and faith it took to get to this point – And that is all of the story I can give you.  I have to let you have your own ride, into this story of lives that will make you ponder if it is fiction or non fiction. It made the media and governments and citizens declare that it was false.  You’ll be hard pressed to believe it – but you will.

I was on page 135 before I needed a book mark – only to take a break to do some mom things.  On page 186 – I had my first post it note –

“For many, the fishermen’s experience is beyond any realm of understanding, and because it doesn’t fit into a compartment we can fathom, we question what is true. When you haven’t experienced the miraculous, it’s hard to get your arms around it. We are pretty wired to the ordinary. That’s sad, because it leads us to dismiss the remarkable, the triumphant, the extraordinary, the supernatural. Those are compartments many of us don’t have. As a result, we dprive ourselves of these dimensions to life.”

My second post it note is in the Epilogue –

“The realization that there was a finite amount of time left for them set in. That happens when death stares at your every day. Making every moment count becomes a lifestyle.”

Joe Kissack told this story many times before writing the book.  People tried to convince him he was The Fourth Fisherman – but he didn’t want the story to be about him. 

As I write this blog – this year – I feel more compelled to bring in more of our faith journey with you. Not just how we learn, the unbelievable environment we live in, or how crazy my boys will be in front of the camera.  When people ask – How do you homeschool high school? I want to say  - Because I have Faith and my Bible.

I don’t hare a lot about my family-  mostly, my hubby’s job has mentioned they don’t want to show up in Social Media. So his name isn’t mentioned.  I see a lot of my hubby in Joe. The hurt.  The relationship with his father. Just this morning, hubby was praying about a hard situation at work. We received an e-mail from a past youth pastor. I read it to him. It was urging us to remember that we are to please God and not Man. That our humbleness will be our guide instead of pride. (You may read it here.) I  identified with Joe’s wife, Carmen.  Joe being the kite, and Carmen holding the string on the ground.  Joe dealing with his ‘stuff’ the only way he knew how and Carmen taking charge of the home and children. It’s hard to relate here – without you having read the book – but the dynamic really spoke to me. Page 211:

“I see desperate hope in the eyes of women who have remained strong for so long that they have forgotten what it’s like to breathe a sigh of relief from it all. I want them to know that God rescues men and brings them back.”

After hearing this crazy story of transformation- redemption – faith – hope – strength – humility – my favorite pages were 208-2011 – hearing a few more personal paragraphs about the people. After turning that last page, I just clung to the book and let the tears fall just a little bit.

I confess, looking into high school – looking into the what ifs for the boys’ futures – wondering daily about employment and transportation and bill money – I have to give it to the Lord. I walk today – by faith and my bible. Claiming what I can do right now, what I have right now, what I know to be true – right. now.  And give the rest to God.  Oh how I want to talk about this story to you – but you’ll have to flip each page on your own – and then call me.

 

 

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Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books  / WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for reading it and sharing it with you. I am SO glad I did.

Through Rushing Water, Catherine Richmond

From the Publisher:

Sophia has her life all planned out—but her plan didn’t include being jilted or ending up in Dakota Territory.

Sophia Makinoff is certain that 1876 is the year that she’ll become the wife of a certain US Congressman, and happily plans her debut into the Capitol city. But when he proposes to her roommate instead, Sophia is stunned. Hoping to flee her heartache and humiliation, she signs up with the Board of Foreign Missions on a whim.

With dreams of a romantic posting to the Far East, Sophia is dismayed to find she’s being sent to the Ponca Indian Agency in the bleak Dakota Territory. She can’t even run away effectively and begins to wonder how on earth she’ll be able to guide others as a missionary. But teaching the Ponca children provides her with a joy she has never known—and never expected—and ignites in her a passion for the people she’s sent to serve.

It’s a passion shared by the Agency carpenter, WillougIhby Dunn, a man whose integrity and selflessness are unmatched. The Poncas are barely surviving. When U.S. policy decrees that they be uprooted from their land and marched hundreds of miles away in the middle of winter, Sophia and Will wade into rushing waters to fight for their friends, their love, and their destiny.

From Pebblekeeper

I really enjoyed reading Through Rushing Water.  I read it some time back, and forgot to write out a review. This afternoon – I was looking through my Kindle and saw the book there  - and started reading.  I was taken back to Sophia’s shock when she realized it would not be her that would be the congressman’s wife. I was quickly swept to her decision to not go to China – but to the Dakota Territory and quickly realized I had read this fine story before.  It is such a great read – that I will continue this evening, and re-walk her journey with the Ponca People.  I really loved her relationship with the people, and her struggles as she grows and matures as a young lady.  Her prayer book always just out of hand when she needs it most, she learns how to communicate with Christ in her own words.  How many of us rely on resources and tools to be able to communicate with our Lord? Strange that the author was so honest with this missionary character – letting her be walking out of duty and distance, and the joy of growing with her as she develops her own walk.  This is well worth the purchase – reads well on the kindle, a light read, but a heart felt story.  Wonderful Historical Fiction.

I received a copy of this book for free from BookSneeze as a part of their book review team in exchange for an honest review.

 

Through Rushing Water

By Catherine Richmond
Published by Thomas Nelson

From the Library of C.S. Lewis

 

I heard a phrase recently - "Do you want to learn from a great man, or from the sources from which the great man learned?"  I am speaking about C.S. Lewis.  Many people read the works that he wrote and recommend them. Now there is a book available to read "Selections from Writers Who Influenced His Spiritual Journey" compiled by James Stuart Bell and Anthony P Dawson called "From the Library of C.S. Lewis".

Sections of the books help a reader see inside different areas such as page 55, Chapter 4, I Will Seek You, Knowing God.  Sir Thomas Aquinas, John Donne, Richard Hooker, Edward Young, George Herbert, Dorothy Sayers, Saint Augustine, George McDonald, Beowulf, Anicius Boethius and Thomas Traherne share short thoughts of knowing God.

I must confess that I have not read the book in entirety – as it is summer and we have been in the water just about every day – however, I have it on my side table next to my chair and read tid bits here and there and look forward to reading it this winter when the storms come.

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• Author Bio

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from Waterbrook Multnomah  / Blogging For Books, in exchange for an honest review.

The Deposit Slip, Todd M. Johnson

Wow! What a ride! 

It has been a long time since I’ve read a legal thriller.  Am I GLAD that I took a chance on this book!  The Deposit Slip starts quickly as Erin looks through her father’s safety deposit box and finds a Deposit Slip for over 10 million dollars.  A small town farmer – where would this have come from.  The bank is refusing to acknowledge the receipt, and the more that Erin looks into the matter, the more harm comes to her farm. People in town are not talking – and blame her for even wanting to pull 10 million dollars from the town bank.  I’ll save the story for you to read, each page builds on it’s characters, broadens the story, piece by piece – I LOVED it! 

Although there is a part in the beginning where you might think there is a cross with a romance fiction – that is not the case. You do get to hear what the attorney thinks of his client and legal assistant, but that is never the focus of the story – once you know how he feels, the story moves on. I really enjoyed that part – just enough for us to know about the characters, but this story is all about the case – and not about romance.

Very Well Written, I already have it loaned out to the next person to read it – and it will be my ‘must read’ recommendation for the rest of the summer!

 

I received a free copy of The Deposit Slip from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.

The Deposit Slip by Todd M. Johnson
Erin Larson is running out of options. In the wake of her father’s death, she found a deposit slip for an unbelievable ten million dollars. But the bank claims it has no record of the deposit and stonewalls her attempts to find out more. Her lawsuit only leads to intimidation and threats.
Lawyer Jared Neaton is her last chance. But when digging deeper unleashes something far more dangerous than threats, they will both have to decide how far they are willing to go to discover the truth.

The Fiddler, Beverly Lewis–a review

The Fiddler by Beverly Lewis
Home to Hickory Hollow

A wrong turn in a rainstorm leads Englisher Amelia Devries to Michael Hostetler--and the young Amishman's charming Old Order community of Hickory Hollow. Despite their very different backgrounds, Amelia and Michael both feel hemmed in by the expectations of others and struggle with how to find room for their own hopes. And what first seems to be a chance encounter might just change their lives forever.

 

I was drawn in quickly to the story – Amelia’s story captivated me. Character built up on character, all believable – all feeling like friends. People you would want to know and hang out with. And that’s the key for me in  a story – do I want to join them in their daily lives – for The Fiddler – I say yes. I felt like Beverly showed balance in the families, both English and Amish, of the expectations given by parents, the disappointments when legacies are not lived out, and the mercy and grace to live your life for the Lord. If you are looking for an encouraging time in a fictional book – I highly recommend The Fiddler.

I received a free hard copy from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for reading the book and sharing it with you.  I do highly enjoy Beverly Lewis and Bethany House, however, I am encouraged to share with you even if I really dislike the story.