Review on Stand By Me by Neta Jackson

Have you ever had that situation where you were reading a book and you find yourself just plain irked with the characters?  I mean they were really getting under my skin, their choices, what they say, how they are treating the people in their lives, etc.  As I started reading  Stand by Me by Neta Jackson I gotta say, I was feeling a little irked.

 If you have read any of the other novels by Neta Jackson , then you will see yourself once again returning to Chicago and once again you will  see some of her Yaya Yada prayer group characters in this novel, mainly Avis Douglass and her husband Peter as the novel opens with them celebrating their 6th anniversary. Sadly Avis’ daughter Rochelle is in a tough spot as she tries to make things work in her life,  a single mom, HIV positive, an abusive ex-husband, and now she has lost another job and shown up on her Mother and Step-Father’s doorstep once again. Peter takes a stand and recommends using tough love with Rochelle in not letting her stay with them indefinitely. But the rub is that Rochelle has Conny- Avis’ 6 year old Grandson in tow, so poor Avis is conflicted in what the right thing to do is. Rochelle leaves with Conny and  no word and no contact. 

 Enter in Kat Davies, a college student who is new to the Souled Out Community church that Avis and Peter are long time members and leaders of  as well. Kat saunters in one Sunday with many friends in tow and sort of plops herself among them rather like a bull in a china shop. She is so eager to make a difference in an Urban experience program that she sometimes fails to see the people and their real needs. One of her counselors at her college urged her to “talk less and listen more” which she got a little bit better at as the book went on, but it was a real struggle for her. She is a relatively new Christian with lots of zeal but little discernment. 

Kat and friends end up renting an apartment below the Douglass’ and Kat proceeds to rub Avis the wrong way again and again. This is where the irksome moments come into play as I kept getting mad at these characters for how they were treating each other, Avis’ constant irritation with Kat, Kat’s impulsiveness and tendency to run off at the mouth, Avis’ daughter continually shying away from getting help, etc.  But as the story played out, as the character’s were honest with each other, etc. I realized that all this frustration with these characters was a good thing as it revealed to me that these characters read as real people. They all had their own inward motivations as to why they responded as they did and Neta Jackson does a great job with this storyline in making you really connect and care about these characters.  I was irked because I really wanted the best for them. You see people are rarely what we take them as at face value, in that there is usually a lot going on and if we take the time to stop, care, listen and truly find out what their needs are, then amazing relationships are formed and especially with those people that we maybe didn’t like at first.

Great read! 4 stars

A free copy of this book was provided for me through the Booksneeze program through Thomas Nelson. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Review on Not this Time

I have to be honest; I prefer that my fast paced suspense novels come served with a bit of romance on the side.   With Vicki Hinze’s novel Not this Time, you get both served in pretty much equal portions-a very nice meal so to speak.

 The opening of the novel is fast paced and starts off right away with a terrorist act at a wedding where all the guests are completely knocked out and sadly, one is dead.  As I had not read the previous two novels in this series I had a tough time keeping everyone straight as there are many characters in this novel, but things do get clearer as you read on, so I urge you, read on!  Two women Sara and Beth are multi-millionaire co-business owners with a bit of strife popping up in their longtime friendship as sadly Beth has some pretty strong negative feelings towards Sarah’s husband. To make matters worse Sarah’s husband winds up kidnapped and Beth jumps to the top of the list of suspects. Talk about putting a strain on a friendship. Then there is the matter of a certain guy that Sarah just can’t get out of her mind named Joe.  He is everything she is not looking for in a man- charming, handsome and women flock to him like a moth to a flame.  Beth, having been badly burned in a previous relationship is guarding her heart a little too well as she really, really does not want to let Joe in, but Joe is a persistent guy and just won’t go away.

This novel explores themes such as betrayal and how we move through it and learn to trust again to how we can heal from our bad decisions in the past and let God work in our lives.  Vicki Hinze maneuvers her characters through many situations to get to these points and the reader will enjoy how this comes to a conclusion in several of the character’s lives.
I feel this novel can be read as a stand- alone novel, but I would highly recommend that you read the other novels in this series entitled “The Crossroads series” first, as I feel that things would be less confusing for the reader. Those novels are Forget Me Not and Deadly Ties.

4 stars

I was graciously  given a complimentary copy of this novel through the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Review on Illusion by Frank Peretti

You know that feeling  you get when you see an old friend  that has been so special to you in the past, and you haven’t seen them in ages, but you just fall right back into conversation with them as if no time has passed at all, instant re-bonding.  That is my feeling when I picked up Illusion by Frank Peretti. I thought- “Ah, he’s back!” ;  and the book is great, filled with all the adventure, intrigue, and suspense  of a great  Peretti book, take those components and combine them with a story filled with relationship, spiritual allegory, a bit of time travel/sci-fi, and literary and literal magic and you get the gift that is the book Illusion. Forgive the wordiness here, but I found this book to be a very special one.

 Two magicians- Mandy and husband Dane have lived a life together filled with relational magic as well as stage magic  and seem to find their life together at an end when the book opens with Mandy suffering fatal wounds from a horrific car accident and you the reader  surmises that Mandy is gone from Dane forever.  But is she?  Because it is rather unexplainable when  a young 19 year old suddenly surfaces in Idaho ,where Dane has relocated to start a new life, that looks remarkably like his own wife Mandy when she was younger, and guess what? She happens to be an up and coming magician.  How can this possibly be happening, and why are their paths crossing as Dane is 60 years old?  As this story unravels and shows a fascinating plot outlining a love that will never let go , one of sacrifice, intrigue , and of course plenty of great magic, I was enthralled with it from beginning to end.

I have come to expect a great story from Peretti as I have greatly enjoyed his writing over the years and his amazing attention to detail and imagination have always left me in awe.  His praise for being a master storyteller I never find to be an exaggeration.  I would say the added element to this story is heart- tenderness, relationship, longing for connection and with that there will always be an element of sacrifice and intense love which shows the strong allegory of God’s love for us, a love that will not let go as you see throughout the thematic elements in Illusion. 

I highly recommend this book to those tried and true fans of Peretti as well as to those that have never cracked open one of his books.  I think that you can’t help but be moved by this powerful story and you will love the magic that is the book   Illusion

5 stars

I was graciously provided a review e-copy of this book from the publisher through via the Netgalley program.  I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Review on Heart of Gold

Well we have all had that feeling like a fish out of water, right?  Like for instance you have just moved to a new place and everything just seems foreign, the people, the places, the way they do things. Well that is how the poor heroine Shannon Adair of Heart of Gold by Robin Lee Hatcher feels as she is starting a whole new life with her widowed father Reverend Delaney Adair as they are trying to get settled in Grand Coeur, Idaho, this rather –rougher –than- what -she’s- used –to- type of place, so much different than where she was raised in Virginia. The setting is 1864 smack dab in the middle of the civil war and her Southern allegiances are strong.   Her father feels firmly called to this new community of less refinement and sentiments both towards the union and the confederacy, but people he feels called to minister to; Shannon is not so sure.  Thus begins her struggle to surrender to God in this new place.

  Shannon soon finds purpose to her time in the gold mining town of Grand Coeur by drawing on her nursing skills honed back home in Virginia while tending to many wounded soldiers. But as there is no battlefield here, just a critically ill woman who has recently arrived in Grand Coeur herself, seeking to reconnect with her brother Matt Dubois and with her young son in tow, she is in need of much care and help caring for her son. Shannon immediately has compassion on this woman and a friendship is forged.  Not at all impressed by her brother Matt Dubois at first, as his political views did not line up at all with hers, she is not immediately inclined to pay much notice of him, but as time goes on, her interest in Mr. Dubois grows as does his interest in her. 

 I enjoy books in the civil war era for sure- such a confusing, complicated time for our country at war against itself.  I really enjoyed this book and especially liked the character of Reverend Adair as he was a man who really loved God, and although a southerner at heart, he still took a stand with regards to the South’s view on slavery and how he did not feel it was right.  He also was very in tune to the prejudice in this small town towards the Chinese population and was taking steps to try and remedy that.  I just enjoyed that the character was able to look beyond what the North thought, what the South thought and try to be more concerned with what God thought concerning, people, politics and the church. I thought that was very well done.  The romance between Shannon and Matt had a good flow to it and even that moment of crisis (a couple of them) where you hoped that all would turn out right in the end , but you weren’t sure to which I will not divulge how that ends up!

For those that enjoy a good civil war, historical fiction read, this one is for you. Robin Lee Hatcher delivers a lovely read once again.

4 stars

I was graciously provided a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through the Booksneeze program. I was not required to write a favorable review.  All opinions expressed were honest and my own.

Review on The Shadow of your Smile

Imagine you wake up to find yourself in a hospital room with the memories of 25 years of your life just missing, gone, kaput. In your mind you are a college student at the beginning of your life ready to pursue your dreams and make a difference.  You prefer diet Coke to coffee and want your parents to come to the hospital to see you, not this 50 year old stranger who keeps holding your hand telling you he is your husband. And let’s just say that the shock of seeing your reflection in the mirror is a bit jarring.   This is the predicament of Noelle Hueston, the main character in The Shadow of Your Smile by Susan May Warren. Only Noelle isn’t a college student, she is a married woman with children and a husband and some tough memories that she cannot recall. 

  The struggling marriage of Noelle and her husband Eli is simply forgotten by Noelle after suffering an accident where her head is hit incredibly hard causing her to lose all memories from the last 25 years.  So while she is struggling to remember her past and the people closest to her, she also discovers that things have not turned out for her as she thought they would.  She was an aspiring artist that all but gave up her dreams for others and she feels a bit disappointed to see what her 40-something self did with her life in comparison to what her 20-something self thought she would be doing.  What a fascinating perspective for her to see.  She’s not too happy with her waist size either.  (But then again, who is?)  Her husband Eli seeks to have a brand new start with this new wife who doesn’t remember all the heartache of their past and wants to build forward from there.  They both learn though that it’s impossible to divorce our past from our present, it’s what grows us and something we need to make peace with in order to move forward.  It cannot be ignored.  There are some other family dynamic stuff that comes into play with the sons that shows some pretty realistic moments, I believe- people placing blame, the importance of honesty and forgiveness. Very well done here.

 I thought the pacing of the novel was good, enjoyed the character development and storyline.  I actually thought the ending was good, realistic, although I might say that part felt a little rushed.  Overall, I enjoyed what this novel explored, the whole idea of are you happy where you are, is it what you imagined and if not, what can you do to change it?  I think we all have that question in our mind to a certain extent.  Is my life really what I pictured it would be?  My answer is no, it’s not, but I think this alternate route, personally, is better than what I had planned.

4 stars.

I was graciously provided a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Review on Eye of the Sword

I don’t know about you, but I tend to be that reader that likes a little variety in genre in her reading. I like a good suspense book, love some historical fiction a funny contemporary and yes even a good fantasy book filled with swords, princes and even a bit of magic thrown in.  Karen Henley’s offering Eye of the sword- Book two in the Angelaeon Circle definitely satisfied my hankering for a good fantasy story quite well, and even though I had not read Book one in this series, I was still able to follow along just fine and understand what was going on. 

 Our imperfect hero is Trevin who is revealed as being a “Nephili” or half angel, half human is on a quest.(There is always a good quest involved in a great fantasy book) to serve his King, King Laetham of Camrithia. His mission is to find the missing comains –the captains of the king’s army- and bring them back to Camrithia as they are needed because there is evil and rumblings happening in Camrithia.  Another part of his quest is to find 2 missing harps and bring them back to the princess Melaia who needs them to restore the stairway to heaven.  Trevin of course has an emotional attachment to Melaia and wants to prove his worth as well.  It is a dangerous mission with a time limit of one season in which to complete it.  Add in a dark and evil prince bent on wanting to marry Melaia to form an alliance between 2 kingdoms and you have an exciting fantasy book filled with angels, evil workings and interesting secrets that pop up to truly show the true worth of Trevin.

Strong points in this book really touched on Trevin’s identity, and struggling with his past decisions and mistakes and how that guilt impacted him now.  It begged the character to explore the question- “Am I the sum of my mistakes or am I able to be redeemed, move beyond them, learn and become someone with noble character?” I thought that was very well done and even encouraging if the reader goes deeper and asks themselves the same question.  I also have to say that I appreciated at the front of the book how the author had an easy referral guide, explaining each character and even the hierarchy of the different angels as it really helped me keep track.  I enjoyed this book very much and am definitely going to read the first book as well.

4 stars

I was given a free copy of this book from the blogging for books program in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Review on First Date by Krista McGee

Isn’t it always a wondrous thing to behold a shooting star as it crosses the sky? It’s something special and new each time and sort of a thrill to get to see. Those are my thoughts in meeting this new author Krista McGee.  Her first novel entitled First Date is a charming novel. I love the creativity behind it. I mean who would have thought to cross the ages old Esther story with a little contemporary reality TV show ala “The Bachelor” style and oh yeah, let’s make it a YA book making it G rated and appropriate for a great teen read. (Although I am not a teen and enjoyed it very much.)

 Meet teenaged Addy Davidson singularly focused on her studies and getting into an Ivy League University, hand selected to represent her small Christian school as their representative on a reality TV show called “The Book of Love”. On this show the “Bachelor” or rather Prom date seeker is none other than Jonathon Jackson, the movie –star looking ,son of the leader-of-the-free-world, which makes him sought after by teenage girls all across America…but not by Addy. Being on this show is not on her list of things to do and she makes her feelings known…in front of millions of viewers.  But somehow this very fact endears her to Jonothan and to America and as Addy goes on this little adventure filled with all kinds of challenges ranging from athletic prowess on the golf course to academics to good manners and etiquette, she finds herself making friends and a few enemies and also becoming more than a little enthralled with this Jonothan Jackson guy.

Krista McGee does a great job with her first novel.  She makes Addy a very likeable heroine and does it by giving her that perfect balance of spunk and vulnerability. Her back story is heartbreaking as she lost her missionary parents when she was a young child and this very fact drives her to succeed in her studies and life. Addy is not perfect and makes mistakes along the way, but the reader sees that she truly allows God to guide her path and trusts Him with the outcome.

To sum up, I think the premise is fun, characters interesting and pacing just right.   I really enjoyed this story and am always on the lookout for great YA Christian fiction for my own daughters and am very pleased to be able to recommend this one without reservation. I look forward to seeing more novels by this author !

Great book!- 4 stars.