Animal Heroes

Animal Heroes; War Stories,NONFICTION - JUVENILE: Biography, Autobiography & History:written by Jane Bingham.
There have been many animals used in fighting wars for thousands of years. Elephants, horses, rats, dogs,pigs, pigeons, camels and even glow worms are among the heroes.
Most recent are the bomb sniffing dogs used to detect  explosives in Afghanistan.
Dolphins have been trained to detect mines at sea.
During World War 1 people gave up their horses to help the soldiers and in World War 2 families gave their dogs.

The Lowdown on Denim

The Lowdown on Denim is written by Tanya Lloyd Kyi.

Did you wonder how "jeans" came into being? In the 1860's 24 year old Levi Strauss came from New York to California to make it rich selling supplies to the gold miners. One of his biggest selling items was heavy duty pants. The miners needed something that would hold up under stress. By the time the gold strike was over Levi had gotten well on the way of making his fortune.
In the 1870's silver had been found in Nevada and Jacob Davis was trying to figure out a way to make the work pants wear longer. He came up with the idea of putting rivets at the pockets seams. He was afraid some one would steal his idea and he did not have the money so he  talked to Strauss and together they  got the patent . They were called waist -High overalls.In 1890 they sold for $1.50 a pair.In 1891 the patent ran out and other companies started giving them competition. Among them was Lee, In 1911 Lee started making Jackets and dungarees similar to overalls today. He them made Lee Union alls. A shirt and pants together. During WW1  the soldiers were shipped out with Lee union-alls. After the war Levi came out with the  101 Cowboy pants. In 1926 they started putting zippers in the pants instead of the button fly. They call them Whizits
In 1930's John Wayne came into view and people wanted to dress like him.
Through out the years jeans have came in many styles and are still a popular item in peoples closets

Healing is a Choice

Healing is a Choice; Ten decisions that will transform your life and ten lies that can prevent you from making them written by Stephen Arterburn.

Mr Arterburn makes it clear that God wants to heal you but the choice is yours to make. He includes a workbook to help you work through your choices.
Whether you are suffering from abuse from your childhood or a divorce God wants you to be healed.
 I received this book free from booksneeze.com to read and review. Opinions stated are my own.

City of Whispers

City of Whispers;FICTION - ADULT: Mystery, Detective, Suspense & Thrillers written by Marcia Muller.
Sharon McCone is a P.I. married to Hy. They live in San Francisco. Sharon had been injured and required a year of physical therapy and is just now getting back to work regularly.
Sharon's birth Mom, Saskia Blackhawk  was an attorney in Boise, Id. Sharon called her when she received a strange e-mail from her half brother Darcy needing help. Darcy was a troubled young man  on drugs and often living on the streets. Sharon had not known he was in S.F.
Sharon starts the wheels moving to try to locate Darcy. She locates the place where the e-mail was sent from.When she spoke to lady working there she found Darcy was with another lady and mentioned  " The palace and Coral Tree".
When Sharon finds Laura dead from drug overdose at the Palace of Fine Arts she tries to figure out her connection to Darcy.
Darcy is being kept drugged. The people who have him are trying to get information from him but he doesn't know anything.
They find Gaby's tombstone under a coral tree. Gaby was murdered at age 18. Case unsolved. Gaby had been a heiress and left money to homeless shelters. The overseer was Clarence Drew a man who was thought to have molested Gaby as a child.

As they hunt for Darcy they were trying to find Lady Laura, Tic-tack Jack, & Nobody.When they realized Laura was dead and Nobody was killed soon after they headed to Jack's but he and his family had disappeared.
Sharon went back to speak to Mr Drew and found him hanging from the ceiling with a suicide note nearby.

Read this book to solve the mystery and locate Darcy.

Hurt Machine

Hurt Machine; A Moe Prager Mystery; Adult,Mystery, Detective, Suspense & Thrillers: written by Reed Farrel Coleman.
Moses Prager is an ex-cop, now P.I. who has just discovered he has gastric cancer. His daughter, Sarah  is getting married and he plans to wait till after the wedding to start treatment and in mean time keep the diagnosis a secret.
Sarah's Mom ,Katy had died several years before because on an investigation he was on. Sarah was their only child.
 His second wife,Carmella had looked him up to ask him to investigate the murder of her sister, Alta. Carmella had been raped &molested as a young child and then sent away from her family. She had been a cop also and married Moe when she was pregnant and he gave her son his name. She had took the boy and left him 9 years before.
Alta was an EMT and she and a partner Mae had let a man die in  a restaurant. A few weeks later Alta was murdered and police were not trying to get to the bottom of the case.
Moe tells her he will try to see what he can find out and he starts trying to get old friends from the force to help him. The more he digs the more people start threatening him. Why?
There are lots of dark secrets in this book. Read it to help unravel the mystery.

Best Friends with God

Best Friends With God; Falling in Love With the God Who Loves You is an adult nonfiction written by Christy Bower.
Christy  Bower tells us how God sends His Love to us and uses the Emmaus Travelers in the Scriptures to bring this point home.
She helps us understand the times of  wondering if God Loves us or not. Does He love us individually or just as a world? She uses the Prodigal Son  for an example.
She explains how we can be transformed by Love, as Paul was.
Mary of Bethany decided to go for the desires of her heart and spend time at Jesus feet even when it wasn't usually done that way.
David danced before God even when his wife Michal was opposed because of the love he felt for God.
Job , who God talked to Satan about knew he was loved even though all his Children and livestock had died. God greatly blessed him in the end.
Peter who denied Jesus three times knew that he and Jesus were best friends and they loved each other.
These are all the kind of examples we need in our lives because Jesus does love each and every one of us. We need to love Him in the same way.

Hook, Line and Sinker

Hook, Line and Sinker is a Deep Haven Novella written by Susan May Warren.
 Abigail,  a graduate in college.She has been in love with Ross,  since they were teenagers. She had dated his older brothers and everyone thought she had been in love with him. Scotty had died while on a ski trip and Ross was trying to take over his place.
 Ross had hurt Abby's feelings when he has questioned  if she had been in love with Scotty and they had never gotten past that.
Ross was the leader of a New Life group and Abby was leading The Sojourners.
Ross's group was going bankrupt and he was trying to figure out a way to raise money. Ross is flunking Greek in his senior year and this is Abby's major.
The New Lifers decide to have a fishing contest to raise money and enjoy the lake. Abby's group joins in to try to beat them fishing.
When Ross apologizes to Abby and she still avoids him he gets desperate and snags himself with a fish hook. Abby helps get it out and they talk.
It was not an easy book to get into but if you like romance you will like it.

Marian's Christmas Wish

Marian's Christmas Wish is an Adult  Fiction story written by Carla Kelly.
Marian is almost 17 year old. Her father is deceased and she lives with her Mom, sister, Ariadne, and brother ,Alistair. Their older brother, Percy works away from home. He has been asked by their mom to bring a suitor home for Ariadne as they are about to loose the home place if she  does not marry someone with some wealth. Ariadne is in love with the  Reverend Beddoe but he has no money.
Marian and Ariadne are  getting the Christmas decorations out preparing for the holidays. Alistair has been kicked out of the school he was attending because of his pranks. Marian has hid him in a spare room because she does not want her mom to know just yet.
Marian loves animals and has several that she has rescued and placed in the barn.
When Percy arrives he has brought two guys home with him. One a short, fat,balding guy and a handsome tall guy. The short one was here to meet Ariadne and ask for her hand in marriage. 
Marian and Alistair set out to prevent this marriage from taking place. Then they plan a way to get the other guy to go to his home for the holidays.
Read this book to see all the excitement that happens to this group of people.
I enjoyed the book even though it had a lot of big words I had never  read before.

Beyond The Valley

Beyond the Valley is a NONFICTION - ADULT: Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality: written by Dave Branon.
This book is written to help us get through the valleys that come our way in life. Mr Branon's valley was when his 17 year old daughter, Melissa was killed in an automobile accident. He speaks of the questions we ask God such as Why?, What do we do now?,
He went from the traumatic experience of  preparing the memorial  service to the years later . His son,then 15 had walked away from God after the accident and they also caused great pain.
He wrote about: The Lord Is My Shepherd;
                          I Shall Not Want
                          He Leads Me
                          He Restores My Soul
                          Fearing No Evil
                         You are with Me
                          My Comfort
                          Goodness and Mercy Follow
                          Forever
He tells of how he dealt with this death and what it meant to him to know she was now with God. He does not have answers to the questions we may speak at these times but he does show where our comfort and guidance comes from




                         

The Next Door Boys

The Next Door Boys is an Adult Christian Fiction story written by Jolene B Perry.
Leigh is a young lady who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer just after she graduated from high school. After a year of surgery, chemo and treatments she is now in remission and enrolled in BYU. Her brother, Jaron is already attending there and his job is to keep a watch on his sister and take care of her. They living next door to each other. Leigh has two girls living with her and Jaron has a guy and another couple with him.
Leigh is trying to become something different than Jaron's sister, the girl with cancer , etc. She is attending 4 classes this semester and trying to get enough rest.
Brian, the guy next door is a desert storm veteran,divorced and dad to Nathan. Brian has Nathan frequently and Leigh watches him when needed. Leigh likes to sew and she starts sewing for the theatre class. Brian tries to watch out for Leigh too and she thinks of him like he was a big brother.
She meets Noah who is in theatre and trying to be an actor. He starts asking her out and she really likes him. She is spending a lot of time with him and when he proposes she says no because she did not think it was what God would want her to do.
Read to find out what happens to Leigh.
The book was ok.

Angels

Angels is written by Robert Morgan. It is a book about what the Scriptures have to say about angels as well as personal stories from those who have encountered them.
Angels are mentioned in 39 chapters of the Bible  in both  Old and New Testament.
I found the book interesting and if you are interested in Scripture and learning about angels I would recommend you read it.

The Case of the Missing Deed

The Case of the Missing Deed: Teaspoon Detective is a FICTION - JUVENILE: Action & Adventure written by Ellen Schwartz.
The family is in two cars each one trying to be first to get to Grandmothers house. When they get there another car is leaving. It turns out they are from a mining company who is trying to buy out every one's land. 
Grandmother does not want to sell but they tell her if she cannot come up with a deed to the property she will loose her land. Grandfather had told her where he had hidden the deed before he had passed away but grandmother could not remember.
After searching the house and out buildings and not locating anything they decided to fix something that Grandmother liked because she was not eating. When they looked through the recipes they found little notes that Grandfather had written, clues as it was.
They  hunted for more clues and tried to find out what they meant.
They weren't sure who they could trust and who they couldn't.
I enjoyed this book and I think other children will like it too.

Lassiter

Lassiter is a FICTION - ADULT: Mystery, Detective, Suspense & Thrillers: Suspense written by Paul Levine.
Jake Lassiter is a lawyer in Florida. He is defending a hispanic man on DUI charges when a nice looking lady walks in the courtroom and gets his attention.
After court his goes and speaks to the lady  and finds her name is Amy Larkin and she came looking for information about her half sister Krista who had disappeared 18 years before. She had a picture of Krista with Jake. It was taken on Jakes birthday in a strip joint and Krista was one of the strippers.
Amy's dad had told her Krista had died in a boating accident and she had only discovered that it was a lie after his recent death when she found the picture someone had sent him.
The last time Jake had saw Krista was when he dropped her off at her apartment and a man named Charles was waiting on her. Krista had been making porn films and prostituting for Charles. Jake had been a football player . He was friends with the states attorney because he had worn a wire for him once to get information and felt like he owed him.
Jakes starts trying to find out who this Charlie is and if he is still alive. When he starts digging the excitement happens. People are following Jake, threatening him,trying to snatch his young nephew, shooting his tires and more.
If you like mystery/suspence read this book. I found it kept me interested but was too much Adult for me.

Winter in Wartime

Winter in Wartime is written by Jan Terlouw.
It is a story about World War ll and the lives of some people affected by it. These people lived in Holland. They were under curfew and to be inside their home by 8PM at night and all lights were to be out. People put black paper at their windows and burned candles or carbide lamps. They were hungry because most of the food stuff was taken by the German army. They had dug 1 man fox holes along the roads so that if planes flew over shooting they could jump in them. They either walked everywhere or rode bicycles with wooden tires.
Michiel was a 16 yr old boy whose father was the Mayor. Their house was always full of people as if they were going from one town to another and could not reach it before curfew they knocked on the door and came in and slept on floor and were given shares of what ever food they had. He had a little 6 year old brother and an older sister.
Get the book to learn how Michiel's father and 4 others were killed and how Michiel and his sister tended to a British Pilot's wounds and kept him hid for months. Read how Michiel smuggled two men across the river and how he found out  who was giving information to the Germans.
I really liked this book since I like historical novels and would recomend it to others.

A Cowboy to Marry

A Cowboy to Marry ; Texas Legacies;. The McCabes is a Harlequin American Romance written by Cathy Gillen Thacker.
Libby Lowell is a widow woman and owns a farm equipment store passed down by her late husband's family. She has no children  and both her parents are deceased so she is alone. Her husbands best friend Holden McCabe promised her late husband he would see she was taken care of. Holden  is divorced.
Truth is both are interested in each other but the guilt they both have keeps them from acting on it.
Libby is thinking of selling the business. Jeff Johnson is interested in buying it.
Libby and Holden decide to have  some rebound dating to see if they could get their lives straightened out. They are an on  again off again couple.
The town has some problems with the library and Libby tries to help them with the problem.Holidays are coming and they aren't sure what to do.
Read the book to see what happens.

The Mighty Quinns: Riley

The Mighty Quinns: Riley is a Harlequin Romance written by Kate Hoffman.

Tiernan Galvin, usually called Nan, a librarian is going to Ireland. She has always been interested in learning about her ancestors. She has saved her money and  is now able to go there for 10 days.
She has arranged to stay in a small cottage and it supplies one meal a day. Her mom went to  the same area about 28 years before. Nan is very alone since her mom died when she was 8 and her dad died last year.
When she arrives at the airport in Ireland there was supposed  to be a driver to meet her but the flight was over 2 hrs late so she was afraid the driver would not be there. She is trying to find a cab when she  meets Riley who was looking for an old lady that had rented their cottage and requested him to pick her up at the airport. When they discover the mistake Riley takes her to the cottage but kisses her a couple of times and she likes it.
Riley takes her to the cottage and goes to the pub his family runs. He works in the pub with his two brothers and sings and plays music.
Riley and Nan  fall in love. Nan finds out that she has a grandfather who lives near there and now she has to go back home.

All That Remains

All That Remains is a Harlequin Romance written by Janice  Kay Johnson
It is a story about Domestic Violence.

Wren is a young woman who is pregnant and running away from her boyfriend James. She is headed to Alabama is hopes of finding her friend, Molly who she attended school with. She has not saw Molly in years. She is driving through terrible storms and the rivers are raging.
James was very controlling and would not allow Wren to have a job, cell phone or bank account. When she had tried to leave the month before he beat her and kicked her in the stomach  hoping to kill the baby.
Suddenly Wren cannot see the road but she hears the splash of water and knows her car is in deep water. She tries to open the door but they won't open. She eventually crawls out a window loosing her purse and suitcase. The water is waist deep but she manages to reach the road on the other side. She knows she must find shelter or she will freeze. She keeps walking until she sees a driveway. She finds an old house  and no lights. She knocks but no answer and breaks a window to get inside.
She finds dry wood and matches in side and starts a fire in the stove. She looks around and finds a blanket and a mans flannel shirt. She strips off her wet clothes and puts on the shirt and snuggles on the couch in the blanket.
When she awakes she hears the stove making a funny noise and when she sits up she realizes there is water knee deep in the floor. She immediately starts hunting for steps to attic and find a pull down step and climbs to the attic. She finds more clothes and fastens a white cloth  outside the attic window. By now she realizes she is in labor!

Alec is a police detective who is searching by boat for people who are stranded from the flooding. As he passes the old house he sees the white cloths and discovers Wren. She tells him she is in labor and he knows it would be too dangerous to try to get her in  the boat so he lets the boat go and climbs in the attic with her.


Read the book about the rest of the story. I enjoyed this book.

One Brave Cowboy

One Brave Cowboy is a Harlequin Romance Fiction written by Kathleen Eagle.
Cougar, an Native American, decorated and medically dismissed M.P. has came to Double D Wild Horse Sanctuary in S.D. He thinks he wants to work with the wild horses and see if it will help get his life straightened out. He still finds himself waking in sweats from the dreams and having flash backs.
When he arrives at the Sanctuary a little boy runs across the road in front of him and terrifies him. It is Mark. Mark is blind in one eye and doesn't talk or seem to hear. He was chasing a mama cat. His mom, Celia volunteers at the sanctuary and teaches school. She is divorced. Her Ex is interested in Mark now that there is a possibility or getting a big settlement from the accident that cost Mark his eye and possibly his hearing and ability to speak. He is very controlling of both Mark and Celia.
Cougar's friend Mary Tutan WolfTrack is in the military and she trains dogs. Her husband writes books and trains horses. Mary's husband takes Cougar to the Sanctuary to see if he can get a horse and tells he him can bring the horse to his place.
After a few days there he goes back and sees Celia and she tells him she needs some work done and that he can park his camper at her place. He decides he needs his horse there too so brings him there and spend half a day working with the horse and the other half working on Celia's house.
Mark likes Cougar and helps him with the repairs and the horse. He did does not like Cougar being there and tries to cause trouble for Celia.
Mark is allowing himself to hear Cougar and whinnies at the horse. He does not like to go for visits with his dad and he finally tells Cougar Don't make me go. Cougar tells him he must tell his dad and he tells his dad no.

I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to others.

Waiting for Dawn

Waiting for Dawn in a prequel to Team Hope Series written by Susan May Warren.
 High School friends Micah and John are in the military. Micah and two others get captured and the others can't seem to find them. The have a Raptor with them.
Lacey is worried about Micah and so she flies to Turkey and winds up at John's base. She persuades him to go with her to look for Micah. One other guy goes along.
All Micah can think about while being held prisoner is Lacey and God. He remembers scriptures he had been taught.
Lacy and John locate where Micah is being held and manage to get them out. Micah is worried about Lacey.After debriefing Micah is planning to tell Lacey how much he loves her. Just as he starts to tell her John walks in and asks if Lacey told him that they were engaged.

The Habit

The Habit is written by Susan Moore. It is a story about her Ma. It starts in Sept.2007 and tells about her Ma's driving skills and the fact that she had to give up driving. Suasn has a brother who is not married and lives a couple hours away and a sister who lives in England. Susan has a daughter and twin sons and an actor husband.

Her Mom get sick and diagnosed with colon cancer. She under goes radiation and chemo before the surgery of a colostomy. During this time her mom decides to become a Nun connected with an Orthodox Christian Church. Her name is Mother Brigid.
After her surgery Susan  had to move her into an assisted Living Home.She liked it there ok.However she ran Susan crazy as she had to have a certain toilet paper, kleenex,and wipes and very frequently. She tells of all the problems with HMO's, Medicare ,hospital and Dr.'s.
Susan does a lot of remembering as does her mom. Her Mom was and artist,so is Susan.
The story goes on through 2010 and tells of Mother Brigid's broken hip and arm, rehab, moving to another facility.
This book was not my kind of reading.It wasn't a bad book in spite of 1 bad word but just not what I like to read.

The Wounded Heart

The Wounded Heart is an Amish Romance written by Adina Senft. It is about Amelia  a young woman whose husband was killed in a buggy accident and left her with a business of making pallets and two sons. She has two friends who work with her on making quilts Emma and Carrie. Carrie is married but has no children and Emma has never married.

Amelia is having trouble with her hand going numb and she is dropping stuff. She finally goes to a Dr. and after a MRI is told they think it is M.S. She is told there is no cure but they can give her medication that may help. It is very expensive.She goes to another Dr. for a second opinion and is told the same thing except this Dr. tells her there are some shots offered in Mexico that may really help but that too is expensive. The Elders in their community tell her they will help with the cost if she dors not go to Mexico for treatment. If she does go they may bann her in the community.

A man from a nearby community approaches her about buying her business and he also wants to court her but she does feel it would be right if she has M.S.

Read to see what happens to her and what her choice is.

I really like this story and recommend it to others.

A Talk with God

I had a talk tonight with God. I have attended our Church since we moved back to Illinois 3 1/2 years ago. I dearly love the people we fellowship with and they are family. However I have not always felt like I belonged or was included it what goes on . I'm sure self esteem plays a big part here because I'm old, fat and disabled. I have voiced that I am the hang nail as far as my place in the body of the Church. Just the little irritating part. When the have work days at Church I stay home as I  am not able to do any work. When the ladies so to ladies retreat I stay home because I would need my electric power chair to get around  and no way to transport it or if the get together to go shopping I can't go because I can not walk enough to do that. So,yes, I sometimes feel left out. It has bothered me  and I have cried out to God "I want to be a part of the Church". Tonight He made me realize thats not what I want. I want to please Him and go to heaven and be with Him. It's not about the cliques and groups that I feel left out of. They really don't matter I need to see it is all about Him.

Avery's Crossroad

Avery's Crossroad Book 2 written by Deanna K. Klingel  is written about event and people during Civil War and after.It is written in 3 parts.

Part 1: 1863 Not How it Should Be ,But How It Is.
It is about Avery Bennett who is a 16 year old Medical School Student. He tells of his experiences. His Graduation.

Part 2: 1864 Rainbows and Cannon Fire
Avery is a soldier working in a military hospital in Alexandria. He tells of experiencing Baseball and bees.

Part3:1865 Going Home
The war is over and Avery  marries Claire and takes her back home to W. Va. He starts his own practice.

I really enjoyed this book. If you like reading about the Civil War or just like romance stories  I would recommend this book.

The Silent

 

 

 

 

The Silent

The Silent Is written by Rebecca Kenney it is FICTION - JUVENILE: Action & Adventure .
  It is a diary written by Nikki a 17 year girl who attends school in Mourning. Nikki is a Christian and her Dad is also. She attends school with two other kids who are Christians and they sit at the same table in the cafeteria . The other kids call it the prayer table.
  One day when  the bus arrived at school there were cops everywhere.They talked to all the teachers, principle, and students because some one had made e-mail threats against some teachers and students.
   That night the principle found a roadkill cat on his patio.
   A detective contacted Nikki and asked her to listen around and watch the students and see if she could get any information to help figure out who was making the threats.
   Nikki and her dad attended Church meetings at other Christian's homes. Her Mom did not like them being Christians and left her dad. Nikki was devastated and her dad had to start working extra hours to make up for the loss of her mom's paycheck. Her brother Taylor had dropped out of college and was trying to find a job but not having any luck.
   Two more cats were found around the school a few weeks later and they were roadkill too.No one had any idea who would do these things.
   On Halloween , Haley ,Nikki's best friend called to say she was sick with the flue and would not be at school and Justin was leaving school at noon so Nikki  was left at the prayer table alone. In one of the afternoon classes a boy stands and points a gun at the teacher.
Read the book to see what happens.
I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others.

Book, Books and more Books

I have been posting all these reviews and reading books like crazy for past few months in hopes of making a little extra to help our income but after months of doing it I haven't make one red cent so I will cut back on reading and posting the review on the blogs. You will still see some as I get e-books but have to agree to blog a review about them to get the books free.

No Wonder They Called Him Savior

 I have read other book by Max Lucado and really liked them but this was not one of those. I had a hard time getting into it so was not eager to finish it. I was disappointed. I did stop and think about What Counts? What Really Matters? I'm not sure that it was actually the cross but rather the fact that He willingly died for me and arose again on the 3rd day and I'm not sure if it mattered whether it was on a cross or not. I received this book free from Booksneeze to read and review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Belonging

Felicia Kristofferson is a teacher for a small town in Idaho. She had had her teaching credential for several years but the people who had taken her in when her mom died were in bad health so she stayed to help them. She had thought they had adopted her after her brother, sister and herself had arrived in Montana by rail car with other orphans but after their death she discovered that had not. Everything except her clothes  belonged to a  "cousin" who wanted his son to marry Felicia. She wanted no part of that so had found this job.
Charity and her father ,Colin lived in the back of the store her father ran.Her mom had died several years before. She really liked her teacher Miss K.
 Miss K was liked by all the students and all of the parents but Mrs Summerfield (SR.) who had the idea that  Charity's father should marry her daughter-in-law Kathleen. Kathleen lived with her Mother and Father-in -law since her husband had died leaving her with 2 daughters and no income.
Mrs Summerfield had told Felicia that it was a secret but Colin and Kathleen were engaged. Felicia was starting to find herself caring for Colin but Kathleen was her best friend.
I really liked this book and had a hard time putting it down. I would recommend it to others.

It's a Wonderful Life

It's A Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life is a Juvenile Fiction novel by Jesse Goossens.
 Anne is taking a trip from Netherlands to visit family in America. The story tells of her few weeks in America and all the people she meets while she is there. She had recently discovered that she had been adopted and at 17 she wonders why no one had bothered to tell her before now.
 Anne stays at what had been her grandparents house before they died and has a job working in a second hand store that turns out to be very profitable because Anne has a sales knack.Anne has watched lots of movies and can quote lines from them. She dresses up in old clothes from years past and invests stories to go with items that are for sale in the shop.
As Anne learns to try  the different types of food in America and to converse with different people she realizes how much she likes being in America. She makes plans to return next year and possibly go to college.

Shadows on the Sand

Fiction author Gayle Roper begins a new adult fiction series. In the sleepy little New Jersey town of Seaside, lots of dangerous undercurrents are swelling among its inhabitants. Carrie Carter, a single, 30-ish victim of childhood abuse, runs a cafe with her younger sister, Lindsay. Carrie also does a mental "happy dance" in her head every time widower Greg Barnes comes in for breakfast. Barnes, a former police officer, is tending his own emotional wounds, trying to get past the guilt of not being able to save his wife and children from a violent death. Greg has a problem with Chaz when he has to evict him and Chaz tries to kill him. When Carrie's dishwasher is killed , her waitress disappears, and her former alcoholic mom and husband shows up there is plenty of drama. What is the connection between Jase and  Andi? Why is Andi hiding? Greg and Carrie set out to solve the mysteries with help from the twitters and texters.

I found this book to worth my time to read and I would recommend it to others who enjoy Fiction/Suspense.

If I Tell

If I  Tell is FICTION - JUVENILE: Family & Everyday Life: Love & Romance book by Janet Gurtler
Jazmine  is a 17 year old girl who works in a place that sells coffee and other similar drinks. She lives with her grandmother and has all her life. Her mom was 17 when she was born and did not feel she could take care of Jazmine so she allowed her parents to do it for her. Her grandfather has died. Jazmine is bi-racial. Her mom  is white and though she has never met her dad , he is black.

Her mom has a black boyfriend named Simon. Jazmine gets along good with him until she goes to a party and sees him and her best friend Lacey kissing. When her mom calls and wants her to go shopping with her she figures it will be a good time to tell her what she has seen. Instead her mom tells her she is pregnant. Now She can't tell her.
There is a new guy starting to work at The Grinds named Jackson and Jazmine thinks he is HOT. He has just moved to town after a stay at a school for delinquent Boys for selling drugs.
A girl named Ashley had transferred to her school. She is a lesbian.She and Jazmine strike up a friendship since Jaz is upset with Lacey. Ashely is a swimmer and is always trying to get Jaz to go swimming. Jaz is afraid of water since she almost drowned in 4th grade when the other kids surrounded her and would not let her out of the water. The life guard had to give her mouth to mouth.
Read the story to see what happens when her mom has a baby, Jackson tries to be Jazmine's friend,Lacey tries to make up.
I found If I Tell to be a good story  and would recommend it to others.

The Damascus Way

The Damascus Way, Acts of Faith #3 is a Christian Romance written by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke.
This book continues on in the lives of Jacob and his sister Abigail. Abigail and her daughter Dorcas plan to leave Jerusalem and go to live in Nain where she will take care of a merchant stall. Alban had wanted Jacob to do this but he refused. They decide to go by the way of Samaria. They find people there who are followers. The people are concerned because Saul, of  Tarsus is trying kill all of the  followers of the Way like he did Stephen, Abigail's husband.
 Julia becomes one of the followers of The Way. Her father Jamal is a wealthy merchant and Jacob works for him. Julia discovers that Jamal has a wife and another family in Damascus  she is upset with him because he never married her mother, Helena. Julia has also learned he is trying to arrange a marriage for her against her will.
Jacob discovers that Jamal traffics in frankincense which was contraband.
Julia is asked by Nathan to do some secret work for the followers and she reluctantly agrees. Julia meets Jacob in this way.
Jamal decides to use Julia and Helena as a distraction to allow Jacob bring back another shipment of contraband.They get caught in a sand storm and have to stay in caves.
I enjoyed this book. Read it for yourself to see what happens.

Kelsey's Song

Kelsey's Song is a Adult fiction,contemporary romance by Lanie Kincaid. It is first in a Series.
Kelsey is a young single mom who lives in Nashville,Tn. She has a daughter Allie and  has raised a nephew, Daniel. He brother Andrew who had some problems with mental illness had brought him home to her. She works from home  writing home loans.
She meets JD and Andie at Target when Andie is throwing a temper tantrum because JD wants to buy her some clothes. JD explains that her mom, Stephanie had died of cancer and  CPS had contacted him because his name was listed as Andie's dad. Andie is 5 and he never knew she existed. She is not his daughter but he don't want her in foster care. She does not trust men but takes up with Kelsey.
Kelsey and JD discover they are neighbors so she offers to try to help him with Andie. JD is in a band with his brother and two other guys. So far the haven't  had much luck getting gigs. JD plays the stock market to keep an income and a place to live.
Kelsey tries to figure out how to develop trust between JD and Andie. Andie will not lot him brush her hair or bathe her. Kelsey has him to brush her hair a few times to see if that will work. They spend lots of time together and both start falling in love. Kelsey thinks she is too old for JD and he think she is still in love with her husband.
Read the book to see how it all comes out and whether the band makes a go of it. I enjoyed the book but it does have some adult language and sex in it.

A Stranger at Home

A Stranger at Home

A Stranger at Home is a true story about an Eskimo girl who had gone to "Outsider School".Her name is Olemaun and Margaret to the outsiders.It is NONFICTION - JUVENILE: Biography, Autobiography & History: Biography & Autobiography written by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak -Fenton.

Olemaun has came home from school where they had chopped off her hair and taught her English. Her Mom did not recognize her and she had forgotten how to speak their native language. Her sisters and brothers were afraid of her. Her Dad came and called her name and hugged her and takes her home. She is hungry but finds she is unable to eat the blubber and other native dishes.
She discovers they are going to remain in the village instead of returning to their old home. None of the people in the village will have anything to do with her and she is very lonely.Everyone seems to be scared of her. They try to talk to her but she cannot understand them.
Olemaun does not want to go back to outsiders school so she hides when the boat comes to take kids . Her friend from school also hides so she does not have to go.
She helps her Dad with the logs for their cabin, cutting ice blocks and hunting. He slowly teaches her their native tongue again. Her Mom wants her to teach her to read.
This is a good but sad book. Read it to find out what happens to Olemaun.

Beside Still Water

Beside Still Water is an Amish Romance Novel by Trisha Goyer. It is the first book about Marianna Sommer and Aaron Zook. It takes place in Montana.
Marianna Sommers and her family except Levi her brother who has let the Amish faith have moved from Indiana to Montana. Her family wants to get away from memories of the night Marianna was born. They were traveling home in their buggy when it was hit by a semi and her two older sisters were killed instantly . Her mom went into early labor and Marianna was born.
Marianna always felt like she had to try to make up for the two sisters that died. She worked hard to help her parents.She felt  like she could not replace the two lost.
When her parents decided to go to Montana Marianna did not want to go. Aaron Zook was just starting to pay her attention and was building  a cabin for her but her mom was expecting a baby and she knew they would need her to help with the other children. She agreed to go and stay 6 months out of honor to her parents. Aaron was not happy about this.
They travel to Montana by train and then  by van the rest of the way. Marianna finds it to be a beautiful place. Different from Indiana in the way the Amish live among the Englisher.
Marianna  spend lots of time with Ben Stone  a driver for the Amish. She works in the store for an Englisher. She is very confused as far as her feelings for Aaron and for Ben.Will Aaron wait for her?
I enjoyed this book even though I had read the 2nd book first.

The Wonder of Your Love

The Wonder of Your Love is an  Amish Romance story by Beth Wiseman.
Katie Ann lives in Colo. with her 2 month old son Jonas. Her husband Ivan had died in an auto accident after he had left Katie Ann for an Englisher woman, Lucy who lived in Lancaster Co. Pa. Katie Ann had no family  and lives next to Ivan's brother and family.
David and Emily another Amish couple are getting married. David is Ivan's nephew. Emily's uncle ,Eli Detweiler  has came for the wedding. He has been a widower for 17 years and raised 6 children by himself and now that his youngest daughter has married  he plans to travel. Everyone is trying to be match maker and get Eli and Katie Ann together.
 Lucy shows up at Katie Ann's and Katie discovers Lucy is pregnant with Ivan's baby.
Martha, a Englisher who lives near Katie Ann who is also a good friend helps her with the baby. Martha invites Eli to supper at Katie Ann's. He comes and enjoys the meal but is determined not to get involved though he enjoys holding Jonas. He come almost every day to visit and invites Katie Ann and Jonas to go sightseeing with him and they go two times. He is getting more and more hung up on Katie Ann.
Eli gets ready to leave and decides to ask for Katy Ann's address and phone number so he can write and call her once in awhile. He calls her almost every night and writes too. Katie finds that she has fallen in love with him but don't think he is interested.
Martha tells Katie Ann that she is going to have surgery and will probably die. Katie Ann calls Arnold, Martha's friend and tell him with out Martha knowing. The day of the surgery Arnold shows up at the hospital and finds that Martha is doing fine and will be released the next day. Danielle , Martha's room mate has been badly beaten but she refuses to tell who did it. The dr's are wanting to release her too.
Martha thinks she is loosing her mind as things start disappearing at her home but finds Danielle has been hiding upstairs.
The Wonder of Your Love is a very good Amish Romance. Read it to find out what happens.

Saving Hope

Saving Hope

Saving Hope  is a Men of the Texas Ranger Series , a Western Romance by Margaret Daley.
Wyatt Sheridan is a Texas Ranger who lives on the Lone Star Ranch with his 14 year old daughter Maddie and his mom Catherine.
Kate Sheridan runs the Beacon of Hope a place where young girls who have been forced into prostitution to come to receive help.There are several young girls there, some sent there by a judge and others voluntary.
Wyatt has been assigned to work on those cases connected to the young girls being forced to sell their bodies. A young girls body is found not far from Wyatt's ranch .Near her body was a white van from Beacon of Hope that had been missing since Rose ,another girl had disappeared.Rose had left to help a friend who had called her.Her name was Lillian and her body was the one they found but no sign of Rose.
At Beacon of Hope  another girl, Zarah  is seen getting into a white Chevy .She is found later shot in the head.

Kate's parents have been providing 75% of the funding for Beacon Of  Hope even though they have been wanting it to fail.  Her mom comes to Beacon of Hope to tell Kate that she was withdrawing the funds. Kate's family carries a lot of weight with other influential people and Kate is having a hard time finding someone to fund them. Kate know how much Beacon of Hope has helped the girls who want to get a new start on life and is desperate to find more funding. A congresswoman tells her that they will provide 65% of the funding she needs.
Catherine  has been married 3 times and involved in several relationships.  Maddie has asked about getting a temporary tattoo of a dolphin. Wyatt says no. Catherine goes against Wyatt and takes Maddie to get the tattoo without Wyatt knowing. While they were out at the mall Maddie bumps into a young guy who tells her his name is Tyler Collins and that he is 17 and a junior in high school. He asks Maddie to help him choose some things for school.
Wyatt discovers that Maddie has the tattoo and he grounds her. She arranges to meet Tyler at the back of their property. She sneaks out the bedroom window and takes her horse. When she gets back Wyatt is waiting on her and extends her grounding.
Catherine meets a man who says his name is Jack Reagan and that he is staying at a motel while there on business.
On the first day of school Tyler calls and asks Maddie to skip school and meet him at the mall. She waits till Wyatt leaves and pretends to catch the bus and hides until Catherine leaves. She then takes the keys to the old farm truck and heads to the mall. As she gets to the mall parking lot the truck dies and will not start. She is blocking cars that are parked there . She panics and calls Kate. Kate tells her she will be right there and call a tow truck if it won't start. When  Kate arrives she has brought the nurse with her and tells Kate to go with the nurse and change clothes and then the nurse will take her to school. Kate will wait for the tow truck.
On Maddie's way home Tyler calls and wants to know where she is. He is mad when he hears she is headed home. She explains that the truck broke down and she called Kate and Kate is waiting for a tow truck. Tyler was supposed to kidnap Maddie so he calls his boss and is told to take  Kate instead. He goes out and is buddy pulls his car up near the truck and he grabs Kate and puts a cloth with chloroform over her face.
Grab the book, Saving Hope and find out who is behind the prostitution ring and see what happens to Kate. I really enjoyed the book and was surprised at the ending.

Long Trail Home

Long Trail Home is a western Romance, A Morgan Family Series, written by Vickie Mc Donough. It is set in Waco, Texas 1858.
 Annie is a small girl who is being forced to be a pick pocket by her dad who is a  thief and gambler. Her dad had told her she had to steal a watch from a young man. His grandfather had lift it  to him when he died.  Annie  acts like she accidentally bumped into him and took the watch and ran and hid because the young man was chasing her. She hides in back of the blacksmith shop and falls asleep. When she awakes and starts looking for her dad he is gone. Annie is alone with no money. She walks out to edge of town and found a big house like she has dreamed about. It is a school for the blind so she pretends to be blind so she can stay.
Laura, the  lady who runs the school for the blind realizes she isn't blind but tells her she has to pretend she is to stay there as one of the rules by the owner of the school is that no one who is not blind can stay there other than Laura who teaches the kids. Laura had been in love with Sean but he had asked her to choose between the school or him.
The young man  was Raleigh Morgan. His parents had a small ranch out side town where they raised Morgan horses. His younger brother had gotten bit by a snake and died.Raleigh felt like he was to blame so he left home and joined the Army.
Seven years pass and Raleigh comes home to discover Indians had attacked his parents home and killed both of them. He found also that his fiancee had gotten married while he was gone. He winds up at the school and asks for something to eat and offers to do repairs to pay for meal. Laura tells him he can sleep in the barn and make repairs but she can only pay him by feeding him. He agrees.
One day a man shows up and says the owner of the school has died and the school belongs to him and Laura and the kids have 30 days to leave. Annie finds a little boy , Josh whose mom had died and he has no where to go but he was not blind.
What will they do? No Money! No where to go ! Read this good book to see what happens to Laura, Annie and the rest.

Treasuring Emma

Treasuring Emma, A Middlefield Family Novel is an Amish romance written by Kathleen Fuller.
   Emma Shetler has just lost her Mamm to cancer. She lives with her Grandmother. Leona. The day of the burial her Sister Clara's husband, Peter King asked Emma about her and Leona moving in with them. Emma tells him they don't have enough room and besides they want to remain in their home. Clara makes it known she don't want them any way. Emma is upset because Clara never helped when her mom was so ill. Emma  misses Adam , the guy who grew up next door but left the faith 2 years before.
  Adam left the area and was banned from the Amish faith. He gets  a letter from Leona telling him about Emma's mom and telling him he needs to come home because his mom is acting funny. He packs his bags and brings his truck back to Middlefield. His mom seems glad to see him but not his dad. Emma is glad to see him but figures he will just leave again.
  Clara is wanting to use the shed at Leona to open a fabric and yarn shop. Emma is not wanting to do this. They squabble over this until Leona says for them to do it.
 Peters cousin shows up and stays with Paul and Clara. He wants to try to get Emma to marry him so he can get the house and land. Adam don't like him and he don't like Adam.
  Leona gets pneumonia and is in ICU. Adam is there with Emma. They start working out their differences.
Read the story to find out what happens with the fabric store and to see if Adam decides to stay.

Along Wooded Paths

 Along Wooded Paths is an Amish romance by Tricia Goyer.

Marianna, her parents and all the siblings except Levi who had left the Amish faith had moved from Indiana to Montana. Marianna had left her boyfriend, Aaron Zook behind and when she was to return to Ind. she got off the tain at the first stop and returned home.
Aaron had built a cabin for him and Marianna and now her mom has contacted him to come to Montana to see her.He is getting on a train headed that way.No ne but her mom knows he is coming.
Marianna has made a few new friends since she started working at the store, some are Amish and some Englisher. One of them is Ben Stone an Englisher who drives Amish and makes deliveries. They are starting to fall in love with each other and people are talking about how they look at each other.
Aaron gets to the train station and finds a driver that Marianna's Mem had arranged to bring him to their house. On the way the driver looses control of the vehicle and Aaron gets a leg broken. Marianna hears about the accident at work and learns that it is an Amish guy from Ind. named Aaron Zook.
When she gets home her parents have brought Aaron there to recouperate. She finds herself with Aaron and starts to wonder who she loves. Ben decides to go away and work on his music career. Maryanna decides to go back to Ind with Aaron.

Tall, Dark and Determined

Tall, Dark and Determined is the 2nd book in Husbands for Hire  Series by Kelly Eileen Hake. The Story takes place in Hope Falls, Colorado Territory  June 1887.
 Chase Dustan is trying to find out about a mine cave in that had killed his brother-in-law. He hears that 4 women were running the town of Hope Falls and were planning to start a saw mill. The ladies had placed an ad looking for men to work the mill and possibly be brides for them. Twenty Four men had showed up.
Lacy Lyman is one of the four ladies. Her brother Braden was the only survivor of the cave in and is  crippled.
 Creed who has been looking after the ladies has captured Corbin Twyler.Corbin had killed Creeds brother at a gambling table and Creed is taking him back for trial. He asks Chase to watch after the ladies till he gets back.
 Chase and Lacy have lots of disagreements as he searches for information about the cave in.
  I enjoyed this book and  recommend it to others.

Love Finds a Way

 Love finds a Way is 3 short stories in one book written by Wanda E Brunstetter.

 Blueberry Surprise is about  a young lady named Lorna who is a widow who has decided to finish getting her degree in Music so she can teach at a local school. She meets a young man, Evan Bailey who is finishing his education to be a school guidance counsellor. He is also taking on line cooking classes but failing at that miserably.
 Evan is interested in Lorna but will she give in to date him?

Grandma's Doll is about a young lady named Sheila whose Grandma has moved to a retirement center and called Shelia to come and pick out  something from her old house's attic. Shelia knows what she wants as her Grandma had a doll that she has always dreamed of owning. Shelia goes and hunts for the dolls but cannot find it. Grandma said she had sold it to an antique store a couple years before. Shelia  goes to locate it and meets a young man who has just bought the antique store. The man cannot find a receipt  or anything to tell what has happened to the doll. Will Shelia ever find the lost doll?

Matchmaker 911 is about a young lady who runs a barber shop. Her dad has arthritis and is disabled. He thinks she needs a husband so he calls 911 at lunch time to encourage his daughter with one of the paramedics. Will they fall in love?

A Stranger's Gift

A Stranger's Gift is written by Anna Schmidt. It is a Amish/Mennonite romance.
  John Steiner has moved to Fla. after his parents died and he was banned from his Amish faith. He owned land on the bay and was trying to have  a citrus orchard. He stays away from most people and is quite a loner.
   Hester Detweiler is a young single woman who works with a foundation that helps people during hurricanes and flooding. Her dad , Arlen is the pastor of a Mennonite Church.
   Hester meets John when she went to his place to try to get him to go to a shelter before Hurricane Hester had landfall. John refuses to leave. When the hurricane was over John was alive but all his building and house was destroyed. His wrist was broken and he had other cuts and bruises. Hester and Arlen get a helicopter to transport John to the hospital.
   Arlen offers to let John spend the night at their house. John reluctantly agrees but the next morning he woke to find his coffee and breakfast on the table but everyone else is gone. By the time he finished his meal  Margery  hollers for him to come help at Hester's Grandma's as the place is flooding. John gets there and they all help get all the older people out of the flooded houses and take them to the church.
   John meets a homeless man named Zeke during the evacuation  and spends time with him at the shelter. Zeke tells  John that he can get him back to his property. Zeke arranges to get a boat  and take John back . When they get there they find a mess but John wants to stay and work at getting things fixed. While they are gathering what few items they can find that may be useful they hear heavy equipment coming down John's road. John lets them know he does not want their help.
    Samuel Brubaker, a Mennonite man from  Pa. has moved to Fla to help Arlen in his wood shop. Arlen also hopes  Samuel will marry Hester. Samuel meets Roslyn at the shelter. She is single with some scars from being in a burning house which killed all the rest of her family and is good friends with Hester.
    After a few weeks Samuel realizes he is falling in love with Rosalyn. He talks to Arlen and finds he will not loose his job.
    Zeke helps John by getting wood and stuff that has been discarded and rebuilding some of the house and other buildings. Samuel brings his camper out for John  to live in until the buildings are livable. When Zeke does not show up for a few days John  goes hunting him and finds him very sick near the bridge where John lived. He gets him to hospital and find that there are other homeless people who are sick. He and Hester go find them and get them help.
     The homeless shelter in town has closed down and Hester has an idea for reopen one that could harvest fruit and make marmalade to sell. She needs money and a place to do it.
      Read the story to see how Hester's dream to get a homeless shelter started as well and get married comes about.

The Healing

  The Healing in a book of Amish romance written by Wanda E Brunstetter.
    Samuel Fisher's pregnant wife, Elsie has fallen down the steps and died leaving Samuel with 4 small children. When  Samuel is buried in grief he decides it will be best for him and the children if he moves away from memories. Samuel decides to leave. Pa. and move to Ky. where his  brother Titus lives. Titus has a wood working shop and plans to marry Suzanne Yoder in the fall.
     Esther Beiler has been working at her parents store in Ky. when her parents get word that her brother Dan has MS. Her parents sell the store and move to Pa. to help Dan. Esther decides to stay in Ky. This means she will need a job.
     Titus's friend Alan  Walters , an Englisher is a contractor who buys  older houses and remodels and then resells them offers to buy a house from Bonnie Taylor . Bonnie was willed the house by her grandparents when they died. She decides to not sell and instead open a bed and breakfast.  The house requires some repairs and Alan tells her about Samuel looking for work. Bonnie hires Samuel and he needs a sitter for his little ones . Esther is free and takes that job also agrees to help Bonnie in the B&B.
 If you want to know what happens in the lives of these people grab the book and enjoy.