The Charm School

The Charm School by Nelson DeMille
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great book, very suspenseful and full of unsuspecting twists and turns. It was brutal, sad, and unbelievable. Of course it was fictional, but wow, sure was realistic sounding.

I love the narration of Scott Brick but I found myself not liking the main female character and I think it was because of the way he portrayed her voice. I kind of felt like routing against her sometimes.

Nelson DeMille continues to amaze me with his writing and thought process. Crazy guy but he sure knows how to stretch the could-be-truth of the human psyche and conspiracy theories.

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Been a Long Time

Clearly I haven't kept up with this blog for a long time. With a crazy, busy, tragic, sad summer, I couldn't focus on this. I have a new job and things are starting out great in 2014. I am crazy blessed and even though last year was like Friday the 13th nearly all year, I wouldn't have changed a thing. I truly grew from all the hardships, especially in my relationship with Christ. Hopefully I can get back on track with posting my reviews again for 2014!

The Falcon and the Sparrow

The Falcon and the Sparrow by M.L. Tyndall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved it! Mary Lu Tyndall writes books the way I like them. Darn near perfection in my mind. I read this book in a single day it was that good.

Again, cheesy book cover but she has no control over that one, so no fault there Mary Lu! Glad they are improving her covers these days.

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Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't realize this was YA, but once you got past the quirky little teenage talk of some characters, it was really a very darling book. It was fun to read and a real page turner. A nice light read.

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Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Unbroken, perfectly titled. But I think forgiveness should have been in the book title too.

I found this book to be the most eye opening book reading experience ever. It's so hard to try to imagine the horrors the Pacific theater POW's experience yet alone read it. You can't make this stuff up. It's so, so sad that I found myself getting a little down. But I was pleasantly surprised by the end that that is where I ended up in tears. I think I was just too shocked for tears before the end.

I'm so glad I finally read this book. I've wanted to since it came out. I think everyone should read this book to obtain a great understanding of the WWII POW experience. They and other war veterans deserve more respect than our government has given them. WAY more.

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Forsaken Dreams (Escape to Paradise #1)

Forsaken Dreams by M.L. Tyndall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really liked this book though it seemed a little different than her other books. I liked all of the characters, even down to the "bad guy" who was just straight CREEPY!

This book really was about escaping. These war-exhausted southerners are ready to leave their roots in the south after the civil war. They seek to start a new colony in Brazil where they can start fresh and away from the Union.

Ms. Tyndall is a talented author (my favorite) but this book really shows her growth I think. It's beautifully written, it was seamless to me.

As always, I love her journey into faith for the characters, though the journey for each of them was not quite as powerful as I have read in some of her other books. But that did not take away from it at all.

I am so very excited to read more in this series and see what lies ahead in Brazil!



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Fly Away

Fly Away by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'll call this a 3.75 rating. :)

I do not recall much about Firefly Lane except that I liked it. I'd almost like to reread it to see how the characters early days were as I'm drawing a complete blank.

Kristin Hannah can either blow my mind or I can feel a little disappointed. This one was a little disappointing only because it is not a writing method that I love. It switches points of views so much, and the same character can be first or third person. It was easy to follow but I simply don't favor this method.

That being said, it was still a great story. It was incredibly sad and very moving as are most of her books. The character development in this book was major and I really enjoyed seeing each of the characters grow and move on from tragedy at their own pace.

I love Kristin Hannah's story telling. She is a master and I will eagerly await each and every book she writes! They are all SO different, you never know what you are going to get.

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The Restitution

The Restitution by M.L. Tyndall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I forgot to mark that I finished this book, I've been so busy I haven't picked up a book other than the Bible in a few weeks.

I don't remember all the detail of this book but I know I loved every second of this pirating adventure written by MaryLu Tyndall. I think there is only one book I have left of hers to read and then I can say I've read every one. By far, she is my favorite author.

Her amazing ability to combine real life emotions, battles, adventure, and Christianity into one fantastic book makes her undeniably talented. I look forward to keep reading her books as she publishes them!

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Highlander Most Wanted (The Montgomerys and Armstrongs #2)

Highlander Most Wanted by Maya Banks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this one, but not as much as the first. It's a sad story of an abused woman who is rescued by a handsome Scot. It was sweet and intense like the first book, but didn't quite have "it", whatever "it" is. Good read though.

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Surrender the Dawn (Surrender to Destiny #3)

Surrender the Dawn by M.L. Tyndall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I will never tire of reading her books. I cannot say enough how fun, adventurous, and romantic they are! The spirituality of these books make them that much better. Books you can totally feel good about reading.

This was the final book in this series and it wrapped up nicely. All of the books are loosely connected and this and the book preceding it are definitely tied together during a particular event.

This was so, so good. Can't wait to read every single book she publishes!



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The Madman's Daughter

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I should start off saying the low rating is my own fault! I'm not sure why, but I did not read what this book was about. I saw it was a "mover & shaker" so I put a hold on it at the library. NOTE TO SELF: Read the summary of the book first! This book was a gothic, science fiction horror yet it was labeled young adult. I wouldn't want my teen-aged kids to read this.

Again, not the authors fault, she is a storyteller and I'm sure a good one, I just didn't like this story. I did not like thinking of the grotesque images of animals cut apart to create half human/half animal aberrations. It felt wrong, wrong, wrong to read, just so unnatural and disturbing. It totally grossed me out and honestly I skipped the third quarter of the book and read the last quarter. I was fine with the ending and really didn't give two thoughts to the cliffhanger. It was over for me.

I also did not realize this was a series, DUH, of course it was. Is there any young adult books that aren't series these days? (I find that incredibly annoying.) Needless to say, I will not continue with this series. It simply is not a genre that interests me in the least.

Again, my own fault and I'm sorry if this offends anyone, especially the author, but I gave my honest personal perception of a story I never should have started in the first place.

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Surrender the Night (Surrender to Destiny, #2)

Surrender the Night by M.L. Tyndall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another fantastic book by MaryLu Tyndall. The very first book of hers I read was the first book in this series, Surrender the Heart. Unfortunately, The county library didn't have the rest of the series so I nearly forgot there was more. Yes, I could have bought the book but I contacted the library to see if they could purchase the final two books to complete the series and they did! Now other readers in the area can be blessed to read the complete Surrender to Destiny series.

Her books are fantastic. She sure knows how to write an excellent historic, faith based, romance. While this book was not a sea faring adventures like so many others, there was a strong connection to the water once again. I loved the quick interaction with Dolly Madison, the first lady at the time. Great stuff.

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Between Sisters

Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ahh, Ms. Hannah, you've pulled at my heart strings yet again. Her books always are an emotional read, tears and laughter every time!

Two sisters who had a tough up bringing and drifted apart struggle to connect when life brings them back together many years into their adult life. Meghan is an emotionally detached divorce lawyer who sees the worst of the worst in life and it skews her thoughts on marriage. Claire just wants to be loved and finds a man whom she quickly decides is the one and wants to marry now! Meghan wants to be there for her sister but struggles to keep her jaded view on marriage to herself. Meghan finds something in a mysterious man in town to whom she feels a connection and it scares her to death. Running away seems the easiest thing to do rather than get hurt like she has seen happen so many others so many times before.

Tragedy strikes one of the sisters and they realize that they need to confront their past, forgive, and catch up on the years of sisterly love they missed out on. To learn that past hurts cannot continue to define who you thought you were. Love and forgiving others and especially yourself is the main theme in this book.



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The Cinderella Deal

The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was so cute! Yes, this fake marriage story line has been told before, but I really, really liked this one. I've said so many times before that I'm not a huge contemporary romance fan, but every once in a while a cute, sweet, little gem pops up and I can appreciate the genre again.

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Vision in White (Bride Quartet, #1)

Vision in White by Nora Roberts
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Cheeeeeese. That has a double meaning. The main character in this book is a slightly neurotic wedding photographer who is also emotionally abused and manipulated by her extremely neurotic mother, and is kept company by her mousy new boyfriend. I didn't care much for her or her cavity sweet boyfriend. This book was not my cup of tea. These are the types of books that make me hate contemporary romances. I like conversations in a book, but this was too much. No prose, no purpose on my shelf.

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Love's Reckoning (The Ballantyne Legacy #1)

Love's Reckoning by Laura Frantz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Honestly I struggled with this book a little bit in the beginning. I just couldn't connect with the language or the story, I have no idea why. However a quarter of the way through the book I was hooked except for one little thing...

I have a family member struggling with a past and when something heart breaking happened in this book that reminded me of this person, it hit me really hard and I had to let the book sit for a while. It disturbed me and made me so sad and ask, "why did this have to be in the book? Why does such evil have to happen to people?" I'm not sure I felt the book dealt with it well, but it was the late 1700's and those things were not discussed.

I am glad I picked the book back up and was able to finish reading what ended up being a gloriously happy ending.

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Never Seduce a Scot

Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Good and enjoyable read. Title doesn't match the book though. The title might lead one to believe its your typical cheesy romance, but it's not. I was pleasantly surprised by it's plot and look forward to reading more by this author.

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Blue Moon Promise

Blue Moon Promise by Colleen Coble
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sweet Christian romance read. Maybe more like 3.5 stars but it's a good, clean read so I'll give it 4 stars.

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To Whisper Her Name

To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really sweet, endearing Christian love story set in post civil-war Tennessee. I felt the first quarter of the book was boring but it picked up from there and was a very enjoyable read.

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A Week to Be Wicked

Abandoned. Was about half way through it. I just couldn't read this. It was okay, thin plot, very cheesy. I had a horrible time sleeping last night thinking about the evils of life and decided I would give up this book for some sleep. I didn't get the sleep as I had wished, but I will follow through on my vow to stop reading it.

A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare




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