Time for another review everyone, and I will start off saying that this has become one of my new favorite books on my growing bookshelf!

Overview:

Alice Chesterfield is a woman pursued. Having survived an attack that left her scarred and her father dead, she is never free from the fear and memories of the man who is responsible.  Texas seems to be an answer to Alice's prayers, and when she has the opportunity to relocate to a ranch near Dallas, Robert Barnett captures her attention. Unlike any man Alice has ever known, Robert doesn't worry about the obstacles that stand in their way--and he hardly seems to notice the scar she bears. But there are storm clouds gathering; devastating information about her family comes to light, threatening Alice's peaceful sanctuary. Disillusioned, Alice must learn to place her trust in God as she seeks a measure of peace for her future...and for her heart.


Alice has not had an easy time of it in the past. After her house being robbed and her father killed in the attack she was left to face the world with little money to her name and a scar on her face that bares the constant reminder of all she had lost and for everyone to see.

We all have scars from our past, some are invisible and others like Alice's can be seen clearly. Alice kept her head down in hopes to hide her scar, and thought that no decent man would want her with such flaws. Such as the cook where Alice worked part time tried to ask her out in a not so nice way, and when she said no he used her scar to hurt her feelings. Have you ever had to deal with that?

Alice also had her share of blessings, her friend Marty gave her a job helping around the house. Marty is the female lead from the previous book, and she and her husband bring humor and a lot of thought to the book, you'll love them

In my personal opinion the story is some ways seemed a little rushed, I wish the other had gone a little more into Alice's past, and the romance formed between Alice and Robert took hardly any time at all, I wish there had been a bit more between them. Now when I started this book I didn't know it was book 2, and that it does connect to the book before it, but it wasn't to hard to put the pieces together and that did explain some of what happened in the first book later on.

I would tell all of you more but i find that spoiling too much of the book in a review takes away the fun of reading a book, so I will leave all of you here. I highly suggest picking up this book series and nice cup of whatever your favorite drink is and just enjoy!

For the First time in...well Ever! A book Giveaway!

Hey all my wonderful blog followers, I've got something special for my 50th post just for you! thanks to the Blogging for Books program I give you my very first giveaway! and the book will be none other then Through the Deep Waters by Kim Vogel Sawyer.

To enter all you have to do to enter the contest is follow the link below and fill out the web form. So now's your chance to read this book as well! The contest started on July 31, 2014 at 6:00am EST and ends on August 20th, 2014 at 11:59pm. One winner will be chosen at random on August 21st, 2014 and will be alerted by email. For a complete listing of the rules, please see below.

                              Enter Contest

      Good luck in the Contest ans may God bless your day!

Seagrass pier, a review for a great book

Book description
In a secluded corner of Hope Beach, one woman must decipher a stranger’s memories . . . before they cost her everything. Elin Summerall was one of the lucky ones. Not only did she get a heart transplant, but the donor was a perfect fit. A miraculously perfect fit.
But when Elin begins having violent flashbacks—and vivid dreams of being strangled—she realizes that she has been the recipient of more than just a new heart . . . Elin is remembering her donor’s murder. Her strange affliction has attracted some unwanted attention: from the press, from the authorities . . . and from the killer himself. Now, living alone with her young daughter and aging mother, Elin is being stalked—by a man she’s only met in her nightmares.
The police are dubious of her story, but one off-duty FBI agent is eager to help her: Agent Marc Everton, the father of Elin’s daughter. Of course, he doesn't know about that. Yet. Now, in a remote cottage on Hope Island, Elin and Marc must probe the secrets buried in her borrowed heart. And there’s no time to waste. One man is desperate to silence her—before she remembers too much.

Seagrass pier is one of Colleen Cobble's many romance and suspense novels, and it's book three in her hope beach series. Now I do recommend reading them in order, but you can read them out of order (I have done that with many of Colleen's book series) Now onto the real review!

Unexpectedly Colleen jumped right into the story, most times we get a little background before going into the main story, but it was very being thrown into the fray of this marvelous story! and it makes one think of the possibilities that must of us write off as pure craziness, such as inheriting the memories from another, such as the previous owner of Elin's new heart. These memories are of Laura's murder, and Elin relives it all each night. Scary right?

Now most people thought this was crazy, and i admit I've heard cases of this on the news and thought it was impossible, but we all need to keep this verse in mind when we hear about these sort of things.
"For nothing is impossible with God" Luke 1:37

Now Colleen made a point that Laura's soul had passed on, so I was happy to see that pointed out when Elin started to fear she was becoming more and more like the true owner of her heart.

I found the full cast of characters a great mix, switching from the intense mystery of Laura's murder to the romance between two couples, and many other twist throughout the book. Colleen has once again brought us another great thought provoking novel. I highly suggest finding a big comfy couch to sit on and read this book!

I got this book from the booklook blogging program in exchange for an honest review, which I have given

Hacking into the unseen, a Review for Ted Dekker's Hacker

For all those action lovers out there then Ted Dekker is the author for you! His book Hacker is one of his latest books, and I say one of his best books yet.

Hacker in a way reminds me of the TV show 24, my family loves this action packed show, and even though i don't care for it myself I think people who do will love this book.

Nyah is smart, far beyond the normal means of the world, she could have graduated collage at the age of twelve, but her parents wanted her to have a semi normal childhood. But Nyah's world gets turned upside down when she and her family end up in a car crash. Her father and her brother dead, while her mother suffered serious brain damage that is slowly killing her, leaving only a shell of the woman she use to be. Nyah will do anything to save her mother, and that includes hacking into a huge company to get a job there, but when she sees pictures that were never meant to be seen, well, lets just say Nyah's life just got a little more complicated.

The book theme's around surrendering. It's hard to surrender when it has become our nature to want to be in control of everything and have all the answers at our fingertips. And how do we know we've truly surrendered it to God? it's hard to say. Sometimes it seems we're just doing everything we can to protect the people we love, to fix the problems around us we believe no one else can fix, and even though we pray and say we give it over to God do we truly we mean it? or are we fighting His will because we are scared to let go of what we love? We need to remember the promises God gave us to help through these hard times ahead of us.

"He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever." Revelation 21:4

Be prepared for the tears, laughs, suspense, and the many promises God to be in this book. I loved adding this book to my growing Ted Dekker collection, and I can't wait to see what will happen in the Outlaw chronicles, and so you other readers know you don't have to read the books in any order, but if you want to know more about the character in the book called Outlaw then read the book titled after him. I plan on picking it up from the store soon!

Getting the Devil off your shoulder; Take two!

Okay, the devil is getting on my last nerve this week! just when I thought things were going to calm down and even get a little better he rears his very ugly head and tries to take away the happiness my family and I have found, again using people that are near and dear to my heart

He managed to get me down, but I knew he had to be laughing somewhere cause he knew that he had taken my joy. Well I am sick of him and his very annoying smirk (sorry i'm ranting a bit but dang it doesn't he get on your last nerves too?) Well I preyed that God would fix this once again, and I brought out the Bible (AKA the bug spray for the devil if you have read my post Getting the little devil off your shoulder) and I found peace with Him. God would not give me more then I can handle and I know there is nothing He can't handle. So I have given it over to Him, and I will continue to live my life in the love and joy he pours into me daily. So if the darn devil is trying to climb back onto your shoulder just remember to ask for God's help and grab the old Bible, that will knock him a few inches down and send him running!

The Family of Jesus by Karen Kingsbury

Okay, this was my first book by Karen Kingsbury I've ever read before, and I admit I was a bit weary of it. When some author is super popular it tends to turn me off a little, this little fact about myself was true with Karen's books, but I decided after reading about this book I would give it a try.

I was blown away.
The book takes place from when the angel Gabriel visited Zechariah in the temple to give him the news of John, to before the birth of Christ, and ending just after Jesus returns from the dead. The six short stories are of Joseph, Zechariah, John, Elizabeth, James, and Mary. All of which will turn your soul to the love of Jesus Christ and will make you weep with joy and understanding.

The story line was beyond amazing, and as Karen had hoped it drew me as a reader and fellow christian closer to the people of the bible, it made a connection I had never felt before with them, except for maybe Mary. The others, like John the baptist, I had a hard time understand what their roles were, and why such sorrow was brought upon them. Karen did an amazing job filling in the blanks with fiction she studied long and hard for to put into place, making sure it would all fit even if it may not have really happened, Karen did her best. For hours I cried and prayed, for my family, for myself, and even for these people who have long been in heaven! They now have peace and they are together, and i felt my heart rejoice for them at having the happiness we will all have with our Savior one day.

The study guide in the back of the book is great for groups or just for yourself, it is great for any type of bible study you might be apart of. I could not recommend a better book for anyone to read, and i know I will be getting this for my friends and family this Christmas season!

A Review for Fair Play by Deeanne Gist

It's time for another review folks. But i'm afraid to say it won't be as jolly as my other reviews.

When I read fair play I was prepared for a good christian book, but i was kinda disappointed with this book. The story line as a whole was good, don't get me wrong about that, the author made a good wholesome story with humor and wit, what I didn't like so much was that there seemed to be little to do about God, even though this is a christian fiction book.

The story reminds me a little of Doctor Quinn, medicine woman (If you haven't watched the TV show then you are missing out on the greatest show in TV history, at least that's my opinion). Billy (our female lead) Is a woman doctor trying to work her way in a man's profession, and with so many not even giving her a chance it's hard to do her job. But she asked to work at the women's building at the world fair, and makes more then she ever could. And she also meets a rugged and sweet cowboy from Texas. Their first meeting was awkward, their second time even more so, but I won't spoil that for y'all.

As their relationship grew so did their troubles. Now a lot of these troubles are of an extreme personal and mature nature, and while it is a shame that these things have happened and continue to do so I believe the author could have backed off it a bit. It made me think too much of the teen fiction novels you find on the bookshelves nowadays, and again this is suppose to be christian fiction, she didn't go into any detail but the most people can put two and two together, and there is too much of it. I think the envelope was pushed a little too much for me.

All in all I would give this book three out of five stars, the story line was great, the writing even better, but I was put off by the mature subjects popping up all over the book.

Table by the window, what a lovely view, now it's time for the Review

Book Description 

Heirloom recipes, family secrets…and a chance for love
The youngest heir to a French-Italian restaurant dynasty, food writer Juliette D’Alisa has spent her life negotiating her skill with words and her restaurant aspirations. When her brother Nico offers her a chance to open a restaurant together, she feels torn—does she really have what it takes? Should she risk leaving her journalism career? After the death of her grandmother, Juliette discovers an antique photograph of a man who looks strikingly like her brother. As the truth behind the picture reveals romance and dark secrets, Juliette struggles to keep the mystery away from her nosy family until she can uncover the whole story.

Inspired by her grandmother’s evolving story, Juliette resolves to explore the world of online dating. To her surprise, she finds a kindred spirit in Neil McLaren, a handsome immunologist based in Memphis, Tennessee. With a long-distance relationship simmering, Juliette faces life-shifting decisions. How can she possibly choose between a promising culinary life and Neil, a man a world away in more ways than one? And is it possible her Grandmother’s story can help show the way?


"You cause grass to grow for the cattle. You cause plants to grow for people to use. You allow them to produce food from the earth -- 15 wine to make them glad, olive oil as lotion for their skin, and bread to give them strength." Psalms 104: 14-15

Okay, I will start out my actual review by saying this; have a snack near by or lock your fridge when reading this book, you will be hungry after reading the recipes at the end of almost every chapter of this book. I know I will be trying out a few of them! Now Juliette was youngest in her family, something I can relate to, and her family of cooks was...how to put this nicely...pushy. Some had expectations of her and thought they should be met, and that can put a lot of stress on someone. And stress is all Juliette seem to have for company when returning home to her empty apartment. But God changed that for her.

Hillary Manton Lodge did a good job making you feel the emotions Juliette was experiencing at the time, the confusion, the hurt, the joy and laughter, all of it. Though some parts were a little slow they usually picked right back up. And most girls will probably fall for Neil (he is such an awesome character!) and I say he is the kind of guy I would be looking for in real life. Hillary also makes many good points in the book about finding yourself, what you want, and what God wants for you. There is so much clutter and noise in this world sometimes we forget to listen for the little voice inside us whispering the way to Him. This is a good book and I will be getting it for some of my friends

Now at the end of the book you'll think that is the end, do not be fooled! There is a book two coming out called Reservations for two, and I look forward to seeing what is to come.

I was given this book for free from the blogging for books program in exchange for an honest review, which I have given

Thanks to you!

Well, everyone i just wanted to say Thank you. Because of all you amazing people I was able to get into some awesome book reviewing programs, and yesterday I was accepted for Booklook! So from now on you will see this badge at the end of each review I do for BookLook

Thank you all soooooo much! My first book has been requested and should be here in the next two or three weeks.

Time for more Crochet patterns

I haven't done anything about Crocheting in a while, so I thought I would come back and give y'all a little come back and show off some great patterns!

This adorable collection of pokemon is done by an amazing Devianartist who goes by the name of Aphid777. I couldn't help showing off some of these awesome patterns made public for all us crazy crafters. All the pokemon you see in the picture above you will be able to make for yourself and your friends! and here are a few more I am sure you will love!

You can get these and other patters following this link:  Aphid777's Patterns and tutorials

Hope y'all enjoy!