Vendetta by Lisa Harris



Back of book: 

No one needs to push Nikki Boyd to excel on the Tennessee Missing Person Task Force. The case of her own missing sister, still unsolved after ten years, is the driving force in her work. When a Polaroid photo of a missing girl shows up at a crime scene, Nikki quickly recognizes similarities to the past. The closer she gets to the abductor, the more she feels that this case is getting personal, and that she is not the hunter at all–but actually the one being hunted.

With this explosive first book in the new Nikki Boyd Files, Lisa Harris takes readers on a fast-paced pursuit of justice that will have them holding their breath until the heart-stopping finish.

5/5 stars

My review: 

                 Vendetta by Lisa Harris has become one of my all time favorite reads. It’s phenomenal. The story line, the characters, the writing, it’s all wonderfully put together. Lisa Harris done a tremendous job at writing this book, she made you feel as if you were right in the Smokey Mountains with the characters!  

                  Another thing I enjoyed about this book was that the story was so real. The story was fast passed and full of action. I honestly couldn’t solve the mystery until it was solved in the book! I loved that about it because it made me read the book in one sitting! Nikki was a very well developed character, yet she still had her flaws. Although the story ended well, it left you craving for the next installment to the series. I cannot wait to read the other books and go on more adventures with Detective Nikkie Boyd! 

I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

A Reason To Stay by Kellie Coates Gilbert

  

Back of book: 

As the host of her own television news show, Faith Marin works to expose the truth for her viewers. But in her personal life, she’s anchored her world with firm boundaries in order to hide a family history she’d like to forget. Her pro bass fisherman husband Geary’s life is an open book, and unfortunately his busybody family doesn’t know the meaning of boundaries. Deception and crippling differences soon derail their tender relationship, leading Faith to believe her only option is to end the marriage. But while divorce papers sit on her desk waiting to be signed, tragedy strikes and her heartrending decision is interrupted. With her life in the balance, Faith finds that the one she has been shutting out may be the very one she cannot bear to lose.
Kellie Coates Gilbert takes readers on an emotional roller coaster as she weaves themes of unexpected trial, self-discovery, and forgiveness in this profoundly honest portrait of the tensions that can break a marriage–and the ultimate healing power of love.

4/5 stars  

My review: 

There’s no need to fix something that isn’t broken.”
That’s the very first line in this book. 
“Sometimes broken things get fixed.”
That’s the very last line in this book. 
A Reason To Stay is a story of love, hope, trial, & faith. Faith Marin has a troubled childhood, a very successful career, and a broken marriage. She is completely broken, and despite the fact that she desperately wants to be cherished, she is scared to allow someone in that deep. This is such a powerful story of how God can fix any broken thing. The author uses her amazing writing to captivate the reader with every single word. An honest and true story of a broken women’s life & how love transformed it. 
Let me just talk about the main make character, Geary Marin. He is so incredible! The way he loves faith & shows his love to her, really reminds me of how God loves us. The author created such a perfect husband for this story! Such an emotional story! 

I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review. 🙂

Stronger By Your Side by A. Hart

You can purchase Stronger By Your Side here!
Don’t forget to read the first book in the Great Love Series!! 

  

Back of book: 

Megan Maxwell is left pregnant, widowed and alone. Her late husband’s best friends step up to the plate to help take care of her and her baby girl. Year’s later Megan ventures back to her husband’s home town in search for a little piece of him. Instead of finding a part of him in the small town, Megan finds a part of her that she never thought she would have to face again. In a twist of events Megan is face to face with both her past and future. She is forced to look deep inside of herself for strength and maybe, just maybe, she can be strong enough to let herself love again. 

Fire fighter Sawyer Prescott has spent the last eight years working around the clock so that he had no time to think. Time to think would mean time to remember and he doesn’t want to remember . Not his parents dying or the only girl he ever loved leaving him unexpectedly. Suddenly he comes face to face with the very reason why he worked the time away, and is forced to decide what to do next. Scared to lose the one that got away again, Sawyer must devise a good plan to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself. When the past comes between them…can they have a future? 

Stronger By Your Side is a heart-thumping, page-turning, romance that is riddled with questions about love, loss, hope and fate.

5/5 stars 

My review: 

May contain spoilers if you haven’t read the first book… You totally will not regret reading it! 😉

This book could not have been more perfect. An amazing addition to this wonderful series. This book takes off from Megan’s, the wife of Charles Maxwell, point of view. She has a young daughter and she is trying to raise her as a single mother. Megan moves back to Charles’s hometown to be with his friends & family. I loved that we got to see how Cal & Emerson were doing, yet still got to see Megan’s side of the story. 
As in the first book, Amanda’s writing was nothing short of amazing. She writes with such a passion, she makes you feel like you are right there with each of the characters! Besides her writing, she crafted another beautiful story of love & hope. And it was filled with romance & secrets & omg I’m getting all the feels just thinking about it! The book ended so much differently then I expected, and I love how she held me to the very end. Such a wonderful novel of true love and true friendships! Every person who loves a good story will enjoy this book! 

Proverbs Prayers by John Mason

My rating: 4/5 stars

My review: 

This was a beautiful book featuring thirty-one prayers to pray after you read each chapter in the book of Proverbs. It was beautifully crafted & I honestly felt my walk with the Lord grow stronger while reading it. There was so much wisdom contained in the pages of this book! Don’t get me wrong, the book of Proverbs is amazing on its own, but the author worked with The Author to create a wisdom filled book that I believe every Christian should read and will throughly enjoy! 

I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review. 

On This Foundation by Lynn Austin

For some reason the bold & italics aren’t working… So sorry loves  

  
My rating: 4/5 Stars 

Description: 
The Powerful Concluding Novel

to The Restoration Chronicles
When news that the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire, Nehemiah, Jewish cupbearer to King Artaxerxes in Persia, seeks God’s guidance. After fasting and prayer, he’s given leave to travel to Jerusalem and rebuild the city wall, not anticipating all the dangers that await him on his arrival.
The leaders of the surrounding nations become his fierce enemies, plotting to assassinate him and halt the work. A drought, meanwhile, has left the country impoverished, many families resorting to selling their children as bondservants just to keep from starving.
Capturing the rebuilding of the wall through the eyes of a number of characters, On This Foundation is a powerful exploration of faith in the midst of oppression, and hope that, in spite of appearances, the gracious hand of God is upon those who believe.

My review: 

This was a very, very good & interesting read. The author is a very skilled writer & I found it a true account according to history & most importantly the Bible. I was nervous about starting it, because the size of the book kind of intimidated me (I know, lame lol. But I could feel a reading slump coming on!) Thankfully, this book helped to pull me right back into reading again! The characters were so well developed! Even though I have already read the story of Nemimiah, this novel was just so captivating & kept me entertained the whole time. I recommend anyone whole loves a good biblical story or a novel on history to read this incredible book! 

I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review. 🙂

Truest by Jackie Lee Sommers

Get Your copy of Truest here! 🙂
  

My rating: 5/5 stars

Description: 

Silas Hart has seriously shaken up Westlin Beck’s small-town life. Brand new to town, Silas is different than the guys in Green Lake. He’s curious, poetic, philosophical, maddening– and really, really cute. But Silas has a sister– and she has a secret. And West has a boyfriend. And life in Green Lake is about to change forever.
Truest is a stunning, addictive debut. Romantic, fun, tender, and satisfying, it asks as many questions as it answers.
My review: 

I swear that description just doesn’t do this book justice.
 Ya know when you read a great book, & it just changes your life completely? That’s what Truest done for me. It’s like John Green & Nicholas Sparks got together & created a beautiful work of art, except better. I know, how could it possibly be that good? Just read it for yourself & you will see. 
The characters were so complex & the love story between West & Silas was adorable. Silas is the most amazing guy, he is quite near perfect. The book was a quick & easy contemporary novel, but yet at the same time it was so poetic & deep. Sommers is literally a genius for writing a novel as amazing as this one. I can’t find enough good words to actually describe it. It had me laughing, crying, feeling all the feels. I’m actually on my second time reading it, that’s just how good it was! 

I was sent this book by the author in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. 

The Memory Weaver by Jane Kirkpatrick

   

My rating: 4/5 stars 

Description on book cover: Eliza Spalding Warren was just a child when she was taken hostage by the Cayuse Indians during a massacre in 1847. Now the young mother of two children, Eliza faces a different kind of dislocation; her impulsive husband wants them to make a new start in another territory, which will mean leaving her beloved home and her departed mother’s grave–and returning to the land of her captivity. Eliza longs to know how her mother, an early missionary to the Nez Perce Indians, dealt with the challenges of life with a sometimes difficult husband and with her daughter’s captivity.

When Eliza is finally given her mother’s diary, she is stunned to find that her own memories are not necessarily the whole story of what happened. Can she lay the dark past to rest and move on? Or will her childhood memories always hold her hostage?
Based on true events, The Memory Weaver is New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick’s latest literary journey into the past, where threads of western landscapes, family, and faith weave a tapestry of hope inside every pioneering woman’s heart. Readers will find themselves swept up in this emotional story of the memories that entangle us and the healing that awaits us when we bravely unravel the threads of the past.

My review: 

What really interested me in this book was the beautiful cover! Yes, I know, “don’t judge a book by its cover” but we all do it. I had a rough start with this book. It was interesting at times, then it got boring. I almost put it down but made my self stick it out till the end. & grateful I am that I did. I couldn’t really connect with the character, Eliza the daughter. Nor Eliza the mother. But the writing was very good & that kept me intrigued. By the end of the book, I could see huge character development in Eliza the daughter. However, I don’t see this as a book I will read again. Historical fiction is my thing, but I just sadly didn’t enjoy this book. 

I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review. 

Bathsheba by Angela Hunt

  

Is that not the most beautiful cover?! 

Rating: 5/5 Stars 

About the book: 

After sending his army to besiege another king’s capital, King David forces himself on Bathsheba, a loyal soldier’s wife. When her resulting pregnancy forces the king to murder her husband and add her to his harem, Bathsheba struggles to protect her son while dealing with the effects of a dark prophecy and deadly curse on the king’s household.
Combining historical facts with detailed fiction, Angela Hunt paints a realistic portrait of the beautiful woman who struggled to survive the dire results of divine judgment on a king with a divided heart.

My opinion/review: 

To be honest with you, I usually do not read “biblical fiction” or “biblical biographies”. Most of them I find are inaccurate, or just not as interesting as reading the Bible itself. However, Bathsheba was such a powerful, amazing story due to the characters, the writing style, and the biblical accuracy.

The story was told in the perspective of both Bathseba and Nathan, the prophet. At first, I didn’t really like the idea of it being from Nathan’s perspective because I was hoping for King David’s perspective. But the author done a wonderful job portraying Nathan. One thing I didn’t like about him, was his attraction to Bathseba. Not sure why, but I just didn’t really enjoy that. People are always saying how Bathseba was a terrible lady. I never believed that, honestly, and reading about how someone else felt she was was really wonderful. I loved this new outtake on Bathsheba very, very much. 

The writing style was organized and so compelling. It captivated me from the very beginning and held my attention the whole entire book. 
Thankfully, this book was very biblically accurate.  It’s quite obvious the author spent much time on research. 

This book definitely earns 5/5 stars! 

I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review. 

The Mistress Of Tall Acre by Laura Frantz

  

Rating: 4/5 Stars 
About the book: 

The American Revolution is finally over, and Sophie Menzies is starved for good news. When her nearest neighbor, General Seamus Ogilvy, finally comes home to Tall Acre, she hopes it is a sign of better days to come. But the general is now a widower with a small daughter in desperate need of a mother. Nearly destitute, Sophie agrees to marry Seamus and become the mistress of Tall Acre in what seems a safe, sensible arrangement. But when a woman from the general’s past returns without warning, the ties that bind this fledgling family together will be strained to the utmost. When all is said and done, who will be the rightful mistress of Tall Acre?

Triumph and tragedy, loyalty and betrayal–readers find it all in the rich pages of this newest historical novel from the talented pen of Laura Frantz. Her careful historical details immerse the reader in the story world, and her emotional writing and finely tuned characters never cease to enchant fans both old and new.

My opinion/review: 

         Although I didn’t enjoy this book entirely, I am so glad I didn’t put it down. It had a great start, but I found myself getting bored some parts. However, by the middle of the book I was completely and utterly in love with this story. Definitely added to the list of my favorite books (that doesn’t actually exist, but if it did, this book would be close to the top). The writing was excellent. Even though I don’t favor third person, Laura Frantz done a wonderful job with it. So many unexpected plot twist! I cried with Sophie & Seamus, laughed with them, & loved with them. Their romance was so so sweet & beautiful. It was adorable how Seamus’s daughter, Lily Cate, brought them together. The main thing I disliked & at the same time loved, was the ending. Right down to the last sentence. I even cried. No lie there lol. Such an amazing story that every historic fiction lover will enjoy! 

I was send this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review. 

God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew

  

My rating: 4/5 Stars

Description on back of book: 

     As a boy Brother Andrew dreamed of being an undercover spy working behind enemy lines. As a man he found himself working undercover or God. His was a mission filled with danger, financed by faith, and supported by miracles. 

     In this expanded edition, Brother Andrew’s electrifying real-life story of smuggling Bibles into the most dangerous places on earth will grip readers all over again and inspire a new generation to step out on their own journeys of faith. Plus, a brand-new interview with Brother Andrew reveals behind-the-scenes information and fascinating insights into current events that are riveting the world. 

     Sixty years after his first perilous trip, Brother Andrew’s legacy continues, making him one of the all-time heroes of the faith. This harrowing account of his narrow escapes and amazing adventures will bring you to the edge of your seat… and to a bold new level of faith. 

My review: 

     I don’t like biographies. I just do not like them, they bore me. But, this book was amazing. I cannot think of enough words to describe it. It had me hooked from the very first chapter. Brother Andrew’s faith was so so inspiring and encouraging. The miracles that God preformed in his life literally brought tears to me eyes. I believe every Christian, young or old, should read this captivating story.  

     On the book cover, it says “more thrilling than a spy story.” That could not be more true. From Brother Andrew’s time in war, to smuggling a Bible bedtime the Iron Curtain, it was all way more thrilling than any spy story I have read. 

     His story proves that no matter what your past, what you have done, God still loves you and He wants to use you. God can and will forgive you. The description says it will “inspire a new generation to step out on their own journeys of faith.” That’s definitely what this book done for me. 
***I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.