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!

Meant to be Mine

Meant to be mine was a book I looked forward to reading very much. It sounded amazing, and again my sense of good books did not fail me!

We are started out this story with Celia Park and Ty Porter meeting for the first time since high school, and the spark Celia felt then was stronger then ever. A few days spent in blissful love Ty prepose's to Celia and the elope in one of those shabby little places in Vegas. Celia couldn't be happier, she is married to the man of her dreams, but the next morning her world comes crashing down. Ty is in love with someone else, only this other woman wasn't ready for marriage just yet. Heartbroken, Celia vows never to see the man who took and shattered her heart. But God had a much larger plan for these two.

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:31-32

Becky Wade focused on forgiveness in this book, when you have someone hiding something like that and then confessing he truth after you're married it takes a lot of strength to forgive them. Now Celia made her share of mistakes too. She let her pride and her pain cloud her good sense, she did not tell Ty he had a daughter, even when he came to see her she tried to hide it from him. She did not want to share her little girl. I understand her feelings, but she needed to have thought of what her daughter would want, and what was the right thing to do.

Now there is one thing I did not think was right is that Ty's money got him too much, even when Celia told him he couldn't buy love it still seemed to get him just about whatever he wanted. I think Becky Wade should have addressed this a little more. Other then that i have nothing else negative to say about this book.
I look forward to more of her books, and I want to read the one that came before this one called Undeniably Yours.

It's the first book in this series so I recommend reading it first.
Well folks this is all for today, I hope your day is full of good blessings and good books!

Beaches and Brides romance Collection Review

As you all know from former posts I am now a member of Netgalley, and with them I am able to give you this review! Let us begin.

The beaches and Brides collection was a fun read for me. I am a huge fan of these collections and i can't get enough of these amazing short stories. My favorite story in this books would have to be The Captain's Wife by Mary Davis. It begins not at all how i expected it from the sounds of the title, and as i read along I became more impressed with this story of Christ's forgiveness, and also as human beings how stubborn we are. I liked how the friend of our female lead used the verse John 8:1-11 to knock a bit of sense into our male, writing it upon a stone and putting it in front of him. Oh how many times I would have loved to do that in my life! But I also felt the inner struggle he felt after she left him with those verses, that upon reading them his life would forever change, and he didn't want to let go of the hatred he felt. I too have been in that position and I am slowly learning to humble myself. We as sinners have no right to judge others for the sins they have committed, only God has that right.

Now another one of the interesting stories would have to be The Castaway's Bride by Susan Page Davis. Being shipwrecked on a deserted island for five years can change anyone for the worse, but our main character Edward Hunter managed to stay on the path of God in those fives years, and helped those with them to see The lord as well. But upon finally returning home things were not all what he expected them to be. But even though life threw every curve it had at Edward he still kept to The Lord, and he was rewarded well indeed. This story was a true inspiration to the hardships we wall face, and that with the word of our Lord we can get through the strongest tempests.

All the other stories in here were great as well, though I had already read the Lightkeeper's daughter by Paige Winship from another book i had bought earlier this year. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs a bit of fun and laughter, but most of all Love. I hope you all enjoy this book.

A review for Gathering Shadows by Nacy Mehl

When I read the back cover of this book i was sure it would be an amazing book, and I was right! Gathering Shadows by Nacy Mehl is about a young woman named Wynter (I love that name) a reporter with a haunting past. Her little brother was taken when she as only nine, and after that horrible day her family fell to pieces. She hardly recovered from it, and somewhere inside she knew her little brother was still alive. So when she sees the picture of a young man that shockingly looks exactly like an older version of her little brother she doesn't hesitate to set out to find him. But the town that he calls home has a bigger population of secrets then it does people!

I didn't expect this to be written in first person, but when i began i found it more then enjoyable. It gave me plenty of detail without going too fast or too slow. The author gives you clues about who it was who took Wynter's brother, but I still found it impossible to put all those little and weird little pieces together, so you probably won't find out either unless you have superpowers. And like any good mystery anyone could be the suspect, even with the town of Sanctuary seeming to be the perfect little country town, but some people there are just what they seem. I will leave it to read the book and find out the truth.
The cast of characters was amazing too, they were all so amazing. My favorite would have to be the cameraman who joined Wynter, i found him easy to relate to and very funny! The book also made me find this verse, which is somewhat fitting to the book.

"Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." 1 Corinthians 13:7

Never give up hope, no matter what you go through, no matter if you are lost while others have been found, Love is with you for God is love and he will never leave you to face these challenges alone.

It's time to start the Spark...well at least the review for it anyways!

The LORD is my light and my salvation -- so why should I be afraid? The LORD protects me from danger -- so why should I tremble? When evil people come to destroy me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will know no fear. Even if they attack me, I remain confident. The one thing I ask of the LORD -- the thing I seek most -- is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD's perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. Then I will hold my head high, above my enemies who surround me. At his Tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the LORD with music. Listen to my pleading, O LORD. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me." And my heart responds, "LORD, I am coming." Do not hide yourself from me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don't leave me now; don't abandon me, O God of my salvation! Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close. Teach me how to live, O LORD. Lead me along the path of honesty, for my enemies are waiting for me to fall. Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I've never done and breathe out violence against me. Yet I am confident that I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD." Pslam 27:1-14

I know i don't normally start out with so many verses, an entire chapter in fact. But I feel this Pslam written by David fits the book Spark by Evan Angler so perfectly I just had to share it with all of you! Now i don't want to spoil too much of the book for all of you since it is book four, and I haven't had time to tell you all about the amazing other books in this series (Since I haven't read book 3 yet) But I will say that you could read this book without reading the first three, but it wouldn't make as much sense if you didn't read them.

Now for those of you who have read the books, this fourth one is about a whole new character Ali, a beggar living in the Dark Lands city of al-Balat. When a little device in the shape of a rat leads her into a whole lot of trouble this little beggar is brought into a world she never knew. Ali herself is a interesting character, how Evan Angler came up with her I would love to know, but I think he's still in hiding (For those of you who've read the book you'll get this, for these who haven't don't worry he hasn't done anything bad!) and I found it funny how the very author of these books managed to put himself in the story, though only in mentioning, so seamlessly, it was very funny and a great little perk in the book.

Now as I said I can't tell too much or i might get in trouble with newbies to this series but I would like to say that Evan Angler has once again made a book that has captured my attention, and kept me hooked on it. So I can't wait to see what will come next in the swipe series, i must be off with The Dust, the end is coming! (Again if you have read the books you will get this)

Liebster award.....I've been nominated!

Hello everyone! I address you today because I have been nominated for the Liebster Blog award by the creator of one of my favorite blogs: Victoria W. of Miss Tadoodles Corner. Thank you so much!

What is this award you ask? Well it's an online only award for bloggers! Now it's not a chain award, or like the contests of figment for whoever has the most hearts (oh so very annoying) anyways I am honored to be nominated for this award!

Now as or the Rules, here they are:

1. Post the award on your blog

2. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog

3. Write 11 random facts about yourself

4. Nominate 5-11 bloggers you feel deserve this award and have less then 1,000 followers

5. Answer the 11 questions posted b your presenter and ask your Nominees to answer  11 questions.

Here are eleven random fact about myself!

1. Everything about World War II freaks me out beyond normal reason, don't ask me why I still haven't figured it out!

2. I read probably 200 pages of a book each day.

3. I. LOVE. COFFEE!!!!! a lot...

4. When I get really really tired on Christmas eve I wake up my sister and annoy her with lots of crazy things I see in Disney movies.

5. I'm trying to learn to knit...it's not going very well.

6. I actually don't like being on the computer for long periods of time.

7. I watch old Disney movies more then anything else!

8.  I use to hate reading Ebooks, now I'm actually starting to like it.

9. When my family and I went to Disney World for the first time ever I went on a Lilo and Stitch craze, most of the stuff i got was of the awesome little blue alien!

10. While in Disney World a duck stole my ice cream cone, no joke, has to be one of the funniest moments of my life.

Here are my answers to Victoria's questions!

What's your favorite time of the day and why?
Okay, I am 100% a night owl (Though I am trying to change that lol) The night is so peaceful, there's little noise and I just feel closer to God at night.

How would you describe your eye color in a book?

Oh geez, you aren't going to make this easy for us are you? well if I had to describe them I would say... Deep brown, and in low lighting hard it's hard to see, but they have tiny specks of light brown closer to the Sclera then the Iris.

If you had three wishes from a Genie whay would you ask for? (And the three rules apply: you cannot make anyone fall in love with you, You can't bring someone back from the dead, and you can't kill anyone)
Okay,  wish 1: world peace! (It may sound cheesey but I am tired of chaos!!! Let peace reign!) Wish 2: start up a church in Texas Wish 3: I wish I had wings so I could fly!

What's your favorite Band and why?
Hm, I have so many. But if I had to settle on one it would have to be FireFlight. They are one of the best Christian bands ever! They always manage to come out with something new that speaks to my heart, and makes me want to dance and sing at the same time. I never get tired of their music

Favorite childhood memory?
Playing Baseball with my two older sisters has to be one of my very favorite memories. Playing with them outside in the warm sunshine and chasing after the ball when it went out of m reach, the one time I actually managed to hit a home run, I will never forget those times.

Would you marry someone twice your size?
If it was God's will and I loved him then there would be no doubt about it; I'd marry him!

What's your top six food/drinks that you couldn't live without?
Okay. My favorite drinks are Diet soda, milk, and sweet tea. My top three foods would have to be fried chicken, chocolate chip cookies, and black olives.

Okay, now cut that in half! Which three of the six would you live without forever!?
This question is hard!!!!!! (cries in corner for ten minutes, then returns with all the strength I can muster) I would have to live without sweet tea, diet soda (Though I love it oh so much) and black olives......I don't like this question

Which do you like better, heat or cold?
I like cold better, it's easier to warm up then to cool down, and it's just easier to breathe with cool air!

When was the last time you had peanut butter?
Last week....I had chocolate chips with it too....so yummy....

Do you Love/Follow Christ?
Yes I do! and I am proud to be one of His many followers!


Here are my Nominees!

Sabrina Giles at Sabrina Giles

God Girl at Forever changed Network

Brianna at Bri's literary Giants

EEB at EEB writing

Ashlyn James at Busy Bee



Now for my questions for the nominees....hehehehe...



1. If you had three wishes from a Genie what would you ask for? (And the three rules apply: you cannot make anyone fall in love with you, You can't bring someone back from the dead, and you can't kill anyone)

2.  What's your favorite time of the day and why?

3. Favorite childhood memory?

4, Which do you like better, heat or cold?

5. If you could any one superpower what would it be?

6. which do like more paperback books or Ebooks?

7. Out of the three which piece of technology which one do you think you could live without, TV, smartphone, or computer?

8. Why did you start our blog?

9. If you inherited 20 acres of land and a million dollars what would you do with it?

10. What's your goal in life?

11. Do you love/follow Christ?