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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Central Park Rendezvous

Central Park Rendezvous by Ronie Kendig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Easily the best four-author book I've ever read. The stories were of four generations of the Wolfe family, each written by an incredibly talented Christian fiction author. Each of the men and women were a part of a war, from the war in Afghanistan to the Civil War. All of the stories are tied together by a coin which is inscribed with "Love Never Fails". There is more meaning to the saying than just romance, it also speaks of God's love never failing too.

MaryLu Tyndall is the author for the Civil War story and she is one of my favorite authors, but this book has led me to discover the wonderful talent of the other authors as well. I'm looking forward to reading other works by these lovely ladies!

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Redeeming Love

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an amazing book. It was sad, it was beautiful, it was haunting, it was lovely. It was powerful !

This brings love and forgiveness to a level that not many people would possibly consider these days. To be broken in so many ways, body and soul, unable to see that there is a higher power who can cleanse you entirely. To go through hell and think you cannot be loved and be told again and again that there is One who can cleanse you, love you, cherish you. Trying to find a purpose in life when all you have to do is believe. It may take time, it may be hard, but in the end, there will be peace.

There were times I would get a little irritated with the dialogue, but it was minor. The ending was moving and brought me to tears. I even loved the authors note at the end. I was very happy to read that finding Christ for her was not a mountain top experience, but a journey.

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Short-Straw Bride

Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cute and clean Christian romance set in the late 1800's Texas. Fun, sweet story with cowboys, love, and faith in the Almighty.

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Veil of Pearls

Veil of Pearls by M.L. Tyndall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been wanting to read this for so long and it was worth the wait. This was an excellent book! Taking place in 1800's Charleston, SC, it had a lot to do with slavery. A hard subject to tackle but Ms. Tyndall handled and delivered it with grace.

As with most, if not all, of her books, many lessons were learned and souls were changed by accepting the Lord as their savior. Of course there was an incredibly sweet romance plot that I think may be one of my favorites. It was a hard one to read, thinking about how the southern culture existed before slavery was abolished, but like I said, she did a great job with this book!

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The Doctor's Lady

The Doctor's Lady by Jody Hedlund
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and was tickled to read this book was loosely based on the travels of the the Whitman's, a married missionary couple heading west in 1836. The route they took would later become the Oregon Trail. The historical portrayal was very interesting but the authors fictional spin was great!

My first Jody Hedlund book...but not the last.

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The Inn at Angel Island

The Inn at Angel Island by Thomas Kinkade
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

By the ratings, I thought this would be a nice, pleasant, easy read. It was easy all right, but not pleasant. It was so incredibly boring. So simple, so mindless and was written at what felt like a second grade level. The dialogue was shallow and lacked effort or meaning, utterly uninspiring.

I am in no way dissing this because it's Christian, I read a fair amount of Christian fiction, but never anything this dull. And that's the thing, Christian fiction doesn't have to be a wet blanket, just read any MaryLu Tyndall book!

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The Reliance

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

Oh, just another fantastic MaryLu Tyndall read! Her books are so exciting and deal with Christ in such a realistic way. This book points out that even as Christians, we can fall from our ways but we can always be forgiven when we repent and truly mean it. God is wonderful and will forgive us our transgressions. Amazing.

Captain Edmund Merrick and his wife, Charlisse are quickly separated in this book when the town they are visiting is raided by pirates. Edmund thinks his wife has died in an explosion and is completely devastated. He blames God and turns from Him and starts to turn to his old sinful ways from before he accepted Christ. But God isn't so easily willing to let Edmund turn Him away.

Meanwhile, Charlisse must face that fact that her husband may never find her since he believes her dead. She is in fact imprisoned on a pirate ship along with Lady Isabel Ashton. The two become quick friends in their struggles and make a plan to escape the evil clutches of Captain Carlton. Captain Carlton is infatuated with Isabel and provides her many comforts but he cannot seem to win her affections.

When Charlisse and Isabel are able to escape, they face a reality that life may not be the same as when they were first kidnapped. Charlisse dresses up as a pirate to head into town where she thinks her husband may be. She see's what she thinks is her husband’s deviant new ways and tells herself she no longer needs him. While she is witnessing this in town and bears the heart break, Isabel is once again kidnapped by Captain Carlton. After discovering her friend is missing, Charlisse takes command of her husband’s ship with the help of some of her husband’s loyal friends, who are disappointed to see him turn away from his good ways, and embarks on a mission to rescue her new friend again.

Once Edmund discovers his ship missing, he is determined to find his so-called loyal friends and try to figure out how and why a tiny new pirate could take over his ship. It isn't until he comes upon the ship that he discovers who this new pirate is and why this pirate gives him such a steely look of hatred that makes his stomach do flips. Could it be.......

I'll leave it at that. Very good book!!

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Love Will Find You in Snowball, Arkansas

Love Finds You in Snowball, Arkansas by Sandra D. Bricker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was cute yet very predictable. The main character was a bit shallow but adorable. Quick, easy read.

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The Screwtape Letters: First Ever Full-Cast Dramatization of the Diabolical Classic [With DVD]

The Screwtape Letters: First Ever Full-Cast Dramatization of the Diabolical Classic [With DVD] by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow wow wow! Whether or not you have read The Screwtape Letters, you have to listen to this audio production. It was fantastic! The music, the different voices for each character, the drama, all so, so good. The book itself is amazing too of course, with it's reverse teaching method.

Andy Serkis, who is the voice of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings movies, voices Screwtape, a demon mentor. His nephew, Wormwood, is trying to turn his "patient" away from the "enemy", which is God with the guidance of Screwtape.

Screwtape tells Wormwood how to get ideas into the patients mind to turn him away from God by basically turning him into a cynic. Screwtape says that their jobs are to make spouses into a relationship of anger and sarcasm. To turn fear and anxiety to a hatred of God. To not let patients have too many lows in their life because that is how the "enemy" reaches His people. He, being God, wants people to be like Him through the bible and learn from Him. The devils want patients to rely on earthly goods and turn to sexual immorality and the like because it feels good, because it is selfish.

There was so much to this short book but the reverse learning was amazing. I found myself realizing that I fall into a lot of the traps that are set to turn away from God. It's just a complete eye opener!

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A Heart Revealed

A Heart Revealed by Julie Lessman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book, but not as much as the first one. It seemed almost to get a little too carried away with drama this time.

The story was supposed to be mostly about Sean and Emma and their love story but it felt overshadowed by a few other dramatic sideshows like Sean's sister Charity and her issues with her husband Mitch. That seemed a bit too dramatic. I'm not quite sure I agreed with how Mitch handled the situation to begin with or how he dealt with it when Charity lost her temper.

Sean and Emma's love story didn't even really begin until more than half way through. I was irritated at Sean's stupidity with Rose, I mean really, can a guy really be that blind to not see Rose's ploy or how incredibly immature she was? The fact that he blamed growing up with sisters for not being able to handle Rose's tears seemed a bit ridiculous.

Then the ending was way too fast. It was a great story but I would have liked to spend more time on the Sean and Emma story line.

Anyway, other than that the book was great. I liked being able to catch up with Luke and Kate. Sean and Emma's conversations were great. I don't want to bash the book but it easily could have been five stars if the water and fire works were a bit more tamed! I would still recommend it though!

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A departure from books, for THE book...the Bible

I'm committed to reading the whole Bible this year. From start to finish. I get daily emails from Biblegateway.com. I'm not good at doing it every day, but between every book I read I'm trying to catch up on the daily readings. I feel bad that it's taken me this long to read the whole bible, every single word. I have tried before, but have failed. 2012 is the year, I'm going to do it! I'm still in Genesis and Mathew. Tis good news, really good news I read!

The Raven Saint (Charles Towne Belles #3)

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

Loved it! The Raven Saint had me from the beginning and I couldn't put the book down. The best in the series. This is why MaryLu Tyndall is one of the greatest authors in my book! If I had to make one silly little complaint, it's the cover again. Grace has long raven hair and green eyes, the publishers missed that one. Okay, on to the review now...

I loved that Grace, the third sister in the Charles Towns Belles series, learned so much in this book about her faith. She was a Christian woman that often admonished others for their choices. After being kidnapped by the French rogue, Rafe Dubois, she felt abandoned by God. She felt sure that she must have done something wrong in His eyes and this was how she was being punished.

As circumstances change over and over aboard the ship, Grace starts to wonder if God sent her on this mission to teach these rogue pirates about their faith and relationship with God. Nearly every soul she comes across either doesn't believe in her God or they are running away from Him. Her biggest challenge is of course, Captain Dubois. While he is mercenary and claims he works for whomever can pay him the most, he has a grand secret. Captain Dubois gives his money to the poor of his home island. Grace is shocked to learn of this and feels that hint of attraction growing more and more as she is aboard his ship.

Captain Dubois had intended to sell Grace to a Spanish man who had a score to settle with her father and Grace was the pawn in that game. The money would be enough to build a hospital on his home island, to save the scores that were dying every day. However Captain Dubois had assumed that Grace Westcott would be a spoiled brat, a shrew. She was everything he had not expected. She was beautiful and strong and his once cold hard was warming at her daily presence. He is cornered into finding where his heart really is, with Grace Westcott or with saving people's lives. Is it possible for both to happen?

Is it possible that God creates miracles? :-)

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