Just a Kiss by Denise Hunter

Just a Kiss by Denise Hunter is the next installment in the Summer Harbor series.  Riley is returning home from his stint in the marines in Afghanistan.  He returns with many things he didn't expect, new muscles, experiences in new places, and oh yes nightmares.  He also left behind his leg along with his self confidence.  He had planned to return home to win his best friend's love when he heard that she and his brother had broken up.  Now he is holed up in his best friend, Paige's, house and unable to tell her that he loves her.  How can he saddle her with a cripple?  How can he earn a living for himself let alone a family?  Then the kiss happened.  But he said that it was just a kiss, probably didn't mean anything.  He took a job helping Paige out at the animal shelter which she was trying to save from being closed.  But then he borrowed a vehicle from his brother on a rainy night which stalled and he couldn't get restarted and called his brother to come get him.  His brother's wife answered the phone and instead of telling his brother called Paige to come rescue him.  Paige ran to talk to him in the vehicle and when he scooted over the prosthesis didn't scoot as smoothly as the rest of him did and Paige got tangled and fell over it and him.  Then the real kiss happened.  Then a more deeper and meaningful kiss happened.  How will Paige and Riley live with this? Will Riley run like he usually does?
I loved this book.  It has many twists and turns as Riley learns to live with life after the war zone.  He doesn't just have the missing leg and the many problems of learning to live with the prosthesis he has to live with the nightmares, the memories of everything that happened that he has no one to talk about to.  Riley has not only the problems of his memories but the dreams he had of continuing in the family lobster business is now just a pipe dream.  Lobstering  is a tough business with two legs let alone one.  What if he got tangled up and lost a hand?  How would he live then?  Paige though is just as saddled with her past.  She grew up with a disinterested father and her mother never loved her though she kept trying to get her attention as she grew up.  Paige found out the reason why at the funeral though--she wasn't her real mother.  Paige's father had an affair and Paige was the result of that.  Paige's mother had to raise her but never loved her.  How can these 2 broken people learn to live with life as it is dealt out to them?  I would recommend this book for any one who loves Christian novels.
I received this book from Booksneeze for this review.

Answers to the Most Important Questions about the End Times by Dr John Hart

Answers to the Most Important Questions about the End Times by Dr John Hart is a book which helps explain what is to come according to the Bible.  Dr. Hart does a great job of referencing the Bible in various translations as to what not only the book of Revelations reveals but also throughout the Old and New Testaments.  It is said that the book of Revelations is the most difficult to understand of all the Bible but Dr. Hart explains Revelations in easy to understand language and format throughout the book.  Dr. Hart does not use scare tactics to force the reader into the same belief as he has but rather used easily defined and well referenced resources to allow the reader to draw their own conclusions.  He explains in simple language what the rapture and the tribulation are and then he explains certain controversial concepts such as is the rapture going to take place before or during the tribulation and why he believes as he does.  He never assumes the reader knows what he is talking about he explains the concept first.  He also doesn't try to make himself appear smarter than he is by making the concept difficult--if his belief is simply what the Bible says he says so.  If a concept is symbolic he says so and then explains why he believes that it is not exactly as printed in the Bible.  He approaches the Bible teachings as something that can be understood rather than the Bible can only be understood with Dr. Hart's help. 

I liked Dr. Hart's simple Bible study helps book.  He has made the study of Revelations and easy and fun read.  Dr. Hart must be a very popular professor at the Moody Institute.  It seems so many writers of prophecy must use scare tactics beyond what is already printed in order to foster belief.  I would recommend this reading especially for women who have never found an interest in prophesy--it seems that men always find this subject interesting!
I received this book from BethanyHouse for this review.

Home on the Range by Ruth Logan Herne

Home on the Range by Ruth Logan Herne is the second in the Double S Ranch series by this talented writer.  Nick Stafford is the last son to have stayed with his father to run the ranch.  His father raised his motherless children with a hard hand.  Nick had been all set to best his father in the husband and father category as well as do a good job running the ranch.  Well that is until his wife left him for a flashier rodeo cowboy with not nearly as much money.  Nick had spent all his married life doting on his wife and children then one day she just left.  She just left her home in town--the one that Nick as purchased for her because she hated the ranch.  She just left her husband--who had always deferred to all her wishes even if it caused conflicts with his family.  But what Nick couldn't understand at all was she just left her beautiful little girls just like Nick's mother had left him and his brother.  How could she do that?  None the less Nick was raising the children as best he could and it seemed good enough for his youngest, 6 year old Dakota, but older Cheyenne was a different story all together.  Cheyenne was mad, defiant, and had neglected her school work until the school was threatening to fail her.  The school had recommended that Nick take her to a counselor, Dr. Elsa Andreas.  Nick had been ignoring the recommendation for months but now that she was failing, he could ignore it no longer.  Nick and the girls drive out to the woodsy bungalow half hidden by the hill it was built into which is where the doctor lived with her dog and her free flying talking bird. Though at first the girls both thought the doctor odd they both learned to appreciate her and Cheyenne was making good healthy strides in both her school work and her attitude towards life.  That is until her mother breezed back into her life and started trying to make her believe that life could go back to the way it was.

I loved the twists and turns of this new Christian love story.  It has a real plot and one that the writer can't quite figure out until the end.  Though it is the 2nd of a series it is easily understood by readers who have not read the first one.  It brings out the loss that children experience in divorce especially divorce that is handled by attempting to bring the children into arguments that the adults are facing.  This story tells about a how Nick and his family learn to live with the twists and turns of life without his wife--its been 3 years so it was time-- and the girls to live without their mother and learn to trust again the adults in their family and become well adjusted girls.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

An Amish Harvest

An Amish Harvest by Beth Wiseman, Amy Clipston, Kathleen Fuller and Vannetta Chapman is a collection of fully developed novellas by these well known Christian writers.  Under the Harvest Moon is by Ms Wiseman and features Naomi Dienner who is in a marriage with an abuser husband.  When her husband meets an early death in an accident she is dealing with the guilt of the relief of not being beaten instead of the grief that everyone around her expects.  Her father has hired an older man, Brock from an English family to complete her harvest for the year.  Unexpectedly she finds herself falling in love with him and her children just want them to kiss and make a baby.  Naomi knows it is too early and she also knows her father would never allow her to get close to an Englisher.  What is a girl to do?
Love and Buggy Rides is by Amy Clipston and features Janie who has just secured a job at the local souvenir shop and on her very first day witnesses one of the Amish drivers of the wagons that they use to carry visitors through the Amish country side get rear ended by a young man that Janie sees is looking down (she thinks he was texting).  The young man blames the Amish wagon driver and threatens to sue the souvenir shop.  Janie's dad says she cannot tell the police what she saw because the Amish do not believe in letting the law of the land handle their disputes.  But how can Janie let the innocent get blamed for what the guilty have caused?
A Quiet Love by Kathleen Fuller is the story of Amos Mullett who is a farmer who is autistic but who desperately want to find a woman to marry and love.  He has always been sheltered by his family but they really won't let him grow up.  Dinah is his stepmother, Judith's niece who has reluctantly come for a visit.  Dinah's mother wants the quiet shy girl who stutters to get out more and thinks that Judith who Dinah is close to will help with that but no one expects Amos and Dinah to fall in love.
Mischief in the Autumn Air by Vannetta Chapman is the story of Eli Wittmer who is an auctioneer who is selling the household items no longer needed by an older couple who are downsizing in response to the stroke of Jacob the husband.  He has been a furniture maker and does beautiful work but still for some reason there were 3 large pieces of furniture that sold for well over what they were worth.  Eli and his bookkeeper Martha go visit the older couple to discuss this and find out that there are parts of a map drawn on hidden parts of each of the furniture pieces.  The map is in 7 parts and this is parts 4,5, and 6.  What does all this mean and how did the buyer know about this?  Could it be about Peter who left years ago after an argument with Jacob?
I liked this collection and especially enjoyed Kathleen Fuller's continuation of the Amos story.  I would recommend this book for good reading by anyone who enjoys reading the Amish love stories and those who are still living the Good Ol Days.
I received this book from Booksneeze for this review.

Jesus Talked to Me Today compiled by James Stuart Bell

Jesus Talked to Me Today compiled by James Stuart Bell is the next collection of person's memories of talking to Jesus.  These are true stories as told by the person who experienced them and all of them had Jesus speak to them as a child.  Many of these children were from a Christian background but some were not.  Some of them are remembrances of miracles which happened of healing or deliverance from an evil thing but some of them are feelings of peace that though the person was afraid of what was going to happen Jesus gave them peace and walked along side the child when it happened.  This book is not a, "I asked for healing and so I was healed" book.  For instance one child was going to her physical exam to get into nursing school and was rejected.  Jesus told her to be a teacher audibly.  She didn't want to be a teacher but she listened to the voice that she knew was Jesus. and became a teacher.  She loved being a teacher and was glad that she followed what she knew that Jesus had told her to do.  The common thread through all of these stories is the peace that floods their soul when they listen to Jesus and do as he commands them.

I loved this book because it is so encouraging to the believer.  It reminds us just how important each of us are to Jesus and not only that but that we are important to Jesus from the very beginning of our life.  The Bible tells us that Jesus loved the little children and we all know that but this is just one more reminder of our importance to Him.
I received this book from BethanyHouse for this review.

A Tapestry of Secrets by Sarah Loudin Thomas

A Tapestry of Secrets by Sarah Loudin Thomas is the next novel in the Appalachian  Blessings series by this author.  The books in this series center on life in Laurel Mountain, where Ella had grown up on the family farm.  Ella had always had dreams of marrying the man of her dreams and coming back to the farm to create her artwork.  Now she had just broken up with Mark, the biggest mistake of her life, and her mother was calling her back home because her grandmother had had a stroke.  It didn't take long to figure out pack quickly and leave the apartment where her lawyer former boyfriend wouldn't leave her alone and kept wanting her to reconsider.  Ella just wants to escape.  She knows that Mark will always be trying to get ahead in his field even if he has to embellish his accomplishments to do so.  None of this is making Ella comfortable and she slowly realized that Mark is just the wrong person for her.  She wants a Christian man that she can build an equally yoked partnership and love.  She wants a family much like what she grew up in.
 Her family had taught her so much about the art of quilting and her grandma was very much a part of that.  Ella willingly moves into Perla's house and to  help her to recover from her stroke.  Grandma Perla is improving and doing so much better and Ella is finding out some of the secrets of her grandmother's past.  Ella's aunt and Perla's daughter, Sadie, had been born before Ella's grandma and grandpa married.  Sadie had never before wanted to know who her biological father was because she didn't want to hurt the memory of her father who had died 30 years ago.  Everyone in the family still grieved the loss of Casewell though it had been 30 years now--even Ella though she had not even been born when he died.  She had grown up hearing what a good man he was and she wanted her future husband to be like that. 
Ella finds out that there is a rich man buying up a lot of the land in the Laurel Mountain area surrounding Wise.  Ella had been surprised when she went to church and saw the attendance was so much less than she remembered.  Her dad had said that the church might not last much longer if something didn't change. Now she was hearing rumors that this new man was looking to maybe buy the church and the land surrounding it.  Maybe Ella hadn't been here in a long time but she felt like the church shouldn't be sold but no one else seems to care as much as Ella except Mavis the pianist at the church. Should Ella move back here?  Could she build her life in Laurel Mountain as her family had done for generations before?
I loved this story and plan to buy the rest of the series now that I know it is a series.  The reader does not have to have read the rest to enjoy reading this novel.  In fact I didn't know until I was completely through the story and reading the back of the book.  This novel holds the readers interest and I think would be good reading for woman or older girl.
I received this book from BethanyHouse for this review.

The Drawing Lesson by Mark Crilley

The Drawing Lesson by Mark Crilley is a new graphic novel centered on learning to draw.  I love that this book is done in graphic format.  David is young and has no money to buy the art book at the used book sale.  Well he has $1.19 but the seller is not interested in cutting him a break so off he goes to the park.  Who should he meet in the park but Becky.  Becky is a real artist and she is good--better than Ryan Pasternak, who can draw a Lamborghini without even looking.  Becky may not be interested in teaching David to draw but David has persuasive powers and convinces Becky that teaching David could be interesting (or at least easier than convincing David to quit pestering her).  Becky walks David and the reader step by step into drawing.  David gets better and better beginning with drawing Becky's watch and ending with working with David's drawing in the art museum and in nature.  David practices and practices his skills as daily Becky works with him on new techniques to improve his drawings.

I loved how the author teaches drawing through the graphic medium.  How intuitive of him to know that young budding artists may be more involved with pictures than words.  I love the way that David persists in convincing Becky, who any adult could see was busy with her own artistic endeavors and thought that David was a pesky little kid, to teach him to be a real artist.  Becky doesn't cut him any slack but takes David along for the artistic ride of his lifetime into the world of art.  She teaches him sketching, shading, proportions, and finally creating a whole composition.  THEN she leaves him to create on his own.  Becky sadly must move away but before she leaves she gives him a tearful hug and tells him he can do it because he is so talented. 
 I received this great book from Blogging for Books for this review.