Aiming for Love - Mary Connealy

Jo Nordegren and her sisters have lived on Hope Mountain their whole lives, having only each other for company once their grandparents have passed on.  They know nothing of the real world, except that their grandmother was terribly afraid of it and told them it was full of sickness and death.  Now, Dave Warden and his family have appeared on their mountain, and the sisters must decide how to handle these strangers from below.

This book was just not for me.  I found the characters to be unbelievable and bordering on preposterous.  Jo and her sisters did not ring true as women who'd lived sheltered from real life their whole lives; their naivete felt forced, convenient to the plot in some sections, yet oddly missing in other situations.  The most interesting character for me was Wax Mosby - the hired gun whose men ran the Wardens off their ranch and into the mountains.  His determination to finish out the job, while not crossing his own pre-determined lines regardless of his ruthless boss, and begin a new life for himself was intriguing, and I wish he hadn't disappeared from the storyline halfway through the book.

So, while I found the idea of this book interesting, and I am curious to know how Wax extricates himself from his situation, I do not foresee myself reading the rest of this series.  I have read other works by this author, however, and I would likely pick up something else of hers in the future.

You can find Aiming for Love HERE.
You can find the author's site HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publishers, in exchange for my honest review.

Honeysuckle Dreams - Denise Hunter

Brady Collins is already struggling to find his footing as a single dad after the death of his ex-wife.  Then, his ex in-laws sue for custody...on the grounds that he isn't Sam's biological dad.  When his attorney suggests that a stable two-parent household might be the thing to sway the judge to award custody to Brady regardless of biology, he and his long-time friend Hope concoct a plan to give Sam a family.  Can they make a marriage of convenience based on friendship and necessity work?  What if they find out they want something different once they've already committed to this arrangement?

I have to say I didn't love this book.  The marriage arrangement deal has been done before, but I knew that plotline going into the book.  However, both partners had some big issues that they were working on separately, and I didn't feel like they did a good job seeking help from each other, or even outsiders (other than a brief mention of therapy for Hope).  Rather, it seemed to be mostly internal dialogue that moved them to their individual conclusions.  Overall, I felt like there could have been more there - more talking to each other to grow closer, more seeking help from friends or pastors to get outside perspectives, and more prayer and seeking God for healing and direction. 

I also didn't realize that this was the second book in a series, so some of the side characters clearly had backstories that weren't filled in during this book.  Those bumps could be solved by paying attention to series order.  Oops.

I give this book 2 stars.  I didn't even find myself rooting for these characters to come together, and that's not a good sign in a romance novel.

You can find Honeysuckle Dreams HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.  (There are several other books from this author that I have enjoyed!)

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

The Glass Castle - Trisha Priebe and Jerry Jenkins

On her 13th birthday, Avery is out playing in the woods when she finds herself captured.  The next thing she knows, she's living behind the castle walls within a community of other 13-year-old orphans who are secretly performing all the work for the castle.  Why are they all here?  Who has ordered the 13-year-olds captured, and why?

The premise of this story was intriguing enough for me to choose it to review; but I had a hard time accepting the world once I tried to enter it.  Why are all of the kids 13?  Why does nobody question this?  Who's in charge?  While I wanted to like these kids, and root for them, I wasn't even entirely sure what I would be rooting for.  In order to feel invested in these characters, I felt like there needed to be more background to the world within which they were living, and I needed more life stories to get to know them as characters.

Also, from the ending, this is clearly the beginning to a new series, but nowhere within the description was that made clear.  It is a pet peeve of mine to start a book not knowing it is not going to come to a satisfying conclusion.

I give this book 2 stars.  I don't even know if I care about these characters enough at this point to follow up if and when the next book is released.  That's unfortunate, because I thought the plot sounded fairly original, and I was interested to see where it could go.

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

You can find The Glass Castle HERE.
You can find Jerry Jenkins' website HERE.
You can find the publisher, Shiloh Run Press - an imprint of Barbour Publishing, HERE.

Not by Sight - Kate Breslin

Grace Mabry is filled with patriotism for her native England during WWI; having a twin brother serving in the war, she is certain that other able-bodied men should also be doing their part to help win and end the war.  Her passion results in her being sent to assist the war effort in a manner she did anticipate, as she serves on a farm with the Women's Forage Corps.  While there, she finds that everyone has secrets, and some are more dangerous than others.

While there were several intriguing components to this story - spies, the Women's Forage Corps, the care Grace put into showing compassion to the other women - it just didn't come together for me.  The storyline of seeing past a man's blindness and scars to see to his heart and convince him he was worth loving again should have been refreshingly different, but still somehow fell a bit flat.  Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for this novel at this time, or maybe the story was trying to go too many places at the same time that none of it felt well-developed, but something was missing.

Even though I didn't love this story, I did appreciate the theme of not making assumptions about others, both for the good and the bad.  Everyone has secrets, but there is a story behind everyone's past, and a future even when there have been mistakes that seem unforgivable.

I give this book 2 stars, for my own personal tastes and lack of excitement about the story.

You can find Not by Sight HERE.
You can find the author's site HERE.

I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers, in exchange for my honest review.

Taken - Dee Henderson

Shannon Bliss has been missing for 11 years, having disappeared at the age of 16.  She has managed to free herself from an incredibly complicated and violent family associated with a shockingly vast array of crimes, and she has chosen Matthew Dane to help her sort through the ramifications of her life in captivity and her escape.  Matthew is a retired cop, current private investigator, whose own daughter had been kidnapped and recovered, and Shannon needs his sensitivity and skills to return to a normal life.

Taken is loosely connected with several of Dee Henderson's previous books, including Full Disclosure, Undetected, and Unspoken.  Characters from each of these previous books assist in Shannon's reappearance - some through law enforcement assistance, and some through personal experience and relationships.  My opinions of this string of books has been all over the place; I loved Undetected and Unspoken, and was not thrilled with Full Disclosure.  Unfortunately, Taken fell on the side of Full Disclosure for me.  Shannon was not a very lovable character; she survived what appeared to be a horrible ordeal, but she played it so close to the vest and had such an in-depth collection of knowledge on this complicated crime family that she came across pretty cold and calculating.  Matthew fell into a weird place of being a father figure to her as he related her to his daughter who'd been kidnapped, but then there was clearly a bend towards bringing them together romantically, which seemed messy.  He was a compassionate and safe relationship for her, but he had none of the strong characteristics that Henderson's main characters usually have.  Even the story of the kidnapping and the thieves and criminals involved got too complicated and drawn out to keep me invested as a reader.

Overall, I felt that this story dragged a bit.  There were no great characters for me to latch onto and love, and there was no romance to root for.  I just couldn't love this book.  I give it 2 stars.  I'm STILL hoping for the 3rd brother from the military novels to get his own book!

You can find Taken HERE.
You can find Dee Henderson's site HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Critical Condition - Richard L. Mabry, M.D.

Shannon Frasier has spent 10 years trying to overcome the tragedy of her almost-fiance dying in her arms after a gunshot.  Now, on her front lawn, another man dies in her arms, leaving a cryptic message and a trail of danger to her door.  While Shannon works through the ramifications on her emotions from this event, her sister calls on her for help, her parents battle bad news, and suddenly she's no longer who she can turn to to keep her life in order.

There were a few strong points to this story line - I appreciated Shannon's boyfriend Mark's attempts to draw Shannon back to God, but without pushing her too hard, or trying to manipulate her into dependence on him for her welfare, spiritual or physical.  Shannon's own need to work through her past and how it affected her present was honest and I appreciated her realization of her own weaknesses.  However. the rest of the book felt very scattered.  There were so many tangents and extra characters that they couldn't possibly be all tied together.  The book tried to cover Shannon's past, her family, her career, her sister, her relationships, and her faith, and it was just too much for one book to handle.  Every scene should move a story along in some way, whether directly tied to the plot line, or serving to give development to a character.  This book had too many extraneous scenes to flow well, and the resulting impression was of bits and pieces that had no bearing on the story.

I give this book 2 stars.  I felt too disconnected from the characters, due to the scattered story pieces, to really feel drawn into the book.

You can find Critical Condition HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson, as part of their BookLook Bloggers program, in exchange for my honest review.

A February Bride - by Betsy St. Armant

Allie comes from a long line of women who believe in breaking a man's heart before they can get hurt.  As much as Allie loves Marcus, she believes that her family history proves that she is incapable of a stable, loving marriage.  So rather than go through a messy, painful divorce later, she chooses to leave him at the altar, for his own good.  A short time later, however, her best friend and ex-fiance's sister, Hanna, brings Allie back into her life, and consequently back into Marcus's.  Can they find a new normal during this time of celebration for Hannah? Can they be friends?

I should have known that a book about a bride, set in February, would lend itself to be sappier than others.  A Valentine's wedding?  Couple's showers?  The book opening with a bride running away?  I found this novella to be the least believable of the Year of Weddings series so far.  With the premise already set in the title, the book only has so many directions it could go, and so it's rather predictable from the outset.  There were just too many convenient twists in this short story for me to get past to enjoy it.  I wish that the aspect of getting past your family's mistakes and generational legacy could have been built up a bit more; I think that could have made for a deeper story, with more room for growth than occurred in this one.

I give this novella 2 stars.  It had potential, but fell a little short for me.

You can find A February Bride HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Eyes Wide Open - by Ted Dekker

Christy and Austin are not your average 17-year-olds, but not for the reasons they think.  Neither one of them have memories of their childhoods before they met four years ago in an orphanage.  Now, at 17, they're each living on their own, with very few real connections to anybody other than each other.  One day, they stumble into a situation so strange that they can't even trust what they thought to be true about themselves or each other.

This was not the book for me.  I don't mind the occasional thriller novel, or a good mystery, but I do not enjoy psychological mind games; especially when the plot gets so twisted that even the reader can no longer tell what is real and what is delusion.  And in no scenario do I find a story that includes convincing a young girl that her worst self-image is not only true, but that she's uglier than she thinks, and then using horrific cosmetic surgery to alter her body, in no way do I think that's an enjoyable storyline.  No matter the lessons that she supposedly learns at the end, the ends did not justify the means in this story for me.

I give this book 2 stars.  It was not badly written, it was just not, in any way, the type of book I enjoy.  If you enjoyed Dekker's Showdown, then you may enjoy this.

You can find Eyes Wide Open HERE.
You can find Ted Dekker's site HERE.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

The Wishing Tree - by Marybeth Whalen

Ivy Marshall left Sunset Beach, North Carolina, five years ago, turning her back on everything that her family expected of her, and assuming they slammed the doors behind her.  Now, the husband she left everything behind for has cheated on her, and so Ivy decides to use the excuse of helping her sister, Shea, with her televised wedding as a reason to run away from Elliott and return home to her family, her childhood memories, and...her ex-fiancee.  Can she mend fences within her family while she's here?  Can she re-fan an old flame?  As she is asked to work on Shea's Wishing Tree, an old family wedding tradition, Ivy is forced  to face her own wishes for the wedding she never had, and try to figure out what wishes she has for her future.

This book did not wow me.  Ivy, as the main character, drove me a little crazy.  For most of the book, she is so focused on reconnecting with Michael, her ex-fiancee, and ignoring Elliott, that she's not even trying to evaluate how she's gotten where she is.  She unceremoniously dumped Michael 5 years ago for Elliott, and now she's equally quick to want to switch back.  There is no sense of her even wondering if this is the right thing for her to do.  She eventually comes to realize that she needs to be forgiven as much as she needs to extend forgiveness, but it was hard to care about things working out for her when she seemed to care so little for the lives of the people around her.  While some of the other characters in the book were more likable, none of them were really given enough depth to save the book.  The theme of forgiveness and family, and looking to make a better future, no matter your mistakes in the past, could have been hit a little harder and made this book much richer.

I give this book 2 stars.  I kept hoping that Ivy would get beyond herself to make some changes, and so I kept reading, but I wish there had been more.

You can find The Wishing Tree HERE.
You can find the author's blog HERE.

I received a copy of this book from Zondervan, in exchange for my honest review.

Perfecting Kate - by Tamara Leigh

Kate Meadows may not be living the "perfect" life, but she has always been fairly confident with who she is.  Even though she struggles with her frequently renewed vow of "Thou shalt embrace singledom and be unbelievably, inconceivably happy," she continues to search for "the One."  When she and her fashionable housemate, Maia, are approached to be part of a roommate makeover article, she gives in, and finds herself enjoying not only the attention from the makeup artist, Michael Palmier, but also the attention she gets from the makeover.  However, as Michael continues to suggest additional things she should fix, and her client Dr. Clive Alexander continues to express doubt over her "improvements," she starts to wonder whether there's something deeper she needs to work on perfecting.

This book started out rough for me.  The character's description of herself as "twenty-nine years young (and holding, five foot seven (on tiptoe), 110 pounds (wrung out)...." felt so unrealistic that it immediately turned me off to the story.  (Seriously, 5'7" and 110 pounds would put her BMI at 17.2 - Underweight).  She later admits that those measurements were a stretch, and she's more like 5'3" and 125 pounds, much more realistic, and still healthy.  But the damage of her initial self-assessment was already done for me.  I couldn't get past her, and by extension the author's view of what constitutes beauty.  Kate does eventually realize that no matter what she does to change her appearance, that it can't change her heart, and she takes on a different project "Perfect Faith," which helps elevate the book to where I at least managed to finish it.

I give this book 2 stars.  I liked Kate, and wanted her to like herself - without all the crazy surgeries and cosmetic changes.  There's nothing wrong with wanting to be healthy, and pushing herself to exercise was a noble goal, but I couldn't get on board with the overall focus of the book on unrealistic outward appearances.

Please consider rating my review (NOT the same as rating the book!)


You can find Perfecting Kate HERE.
You can find the Tamara Leigh's website HERE.

I received a copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah, in exchange for my honest review.

Grave Consequences - by Lisa T. Bergren

Grave Consequences is the second book in the Grand Tour series.  This installment picks up after the Kensingtons and Morgans have survived an apparent kidnapping attempt in Paris.  The group has decided to continue on their tour of Europe, along with their guides and added security.  Pierre plans to meet up with them, to continue his pursuit of Cora's heart.  Have they lost their kidnappers?  Can they trust their own traveling companions?  And can Cora's heart decides whom it wants - Will, the faithful, steady, "normal" man who fits her old life, or Pierre, the dashing, wealthy, powerful man who epitomizes her new life?  Which life does Cora even want for herself?

I have to say that I was disappointed in this sequel to Glamorous Illusions.  When I read the first book, I was able to enjoy the story with the caveat that I wanted more - I wanted Cora to search harder for what this new life adventure meant for her and her relationship with God.  If possible, this book had even less of that - it was really about Cora deciding which suitor she wanted to accept.  There was a little bit in there of how this Tour had changed her life and changed who she was, but it didn't seem to be for the better, except that it made her richer and made her lief easier.  Her continuous doubts over whether to choose Will or Pierre felt very shallow.  It took her maid, Anna, talking about how working for the Kensingtons changed her own life, for Cora to even really evaluate whether she could make something good of the changes that had been forced upon her. And as much as Will fell in love with Cora for her intelligence and lack of airs, it didn't take long for her to become at ease with the grand dresses and to become more interested in Will instead of the lessons and education he was presenting on the tour.

Overall, I did not enjoy this book, even as much as the first.  I can only give it 2 stars.  It felt drawn out, and even the descriptions of the cities and sites were languorous.  Too much shallow pursuit, and too little internal soul-searching or depth of relationship made this book a rough read.  I will probably still read book 3 to see how it finishes, and I will continue to read Ms. Bergren's other works, as I have found them to be much more enjoyable, but this one was not a favorite.

You can find Lisa T. Bergren's site HERE. (I adore her children's books, and her River of Time series was a really fun Young Adult set!)
You can purchase the book or read an excerpt HERE.

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Home Run - by Travis Thrasher

Cory Brand has been swinging a bat his whole life.  As a child, he swung to protect himself and his younger brother.  The practice garnered by necessity has exposed a talent that becomes a means to an escape.  But how does he escape the nightmares and the broken dreams unrelated to baseball that he has had to leave along the way?  Now that the baseball life is falling apart, where can he turn to heal the broken parts inside of him that baseball never really fixed?

I was unsure how to feel about this book.  The story of a childhood of abuse turning into the dream of a professional sports career was intriguing.  Yet, I had a hard time with Cory’s journey; because he seemed to not be able to look past himself to see the people he was hurting.  It rang true for a while, but his downward spiral seemed to continue too long without any hint of redemption.  I began to wonder whether there would be any change at all by the book’s end. 

I give this book 2 stars.  There was change in Cory’s life, but there was just so much damage and so little restoration that the story didn't balance out for me in the end. 

You can find the book HERE.

The author's website is HERE.

The book is "based on" this movie being released in April.  I think I'd be interested in seeing how this story translates to the big screen.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

The Scent of Rain - Kristin Billerbeck

Daphne Sweeten has been Paris-trained to be a professional "nose," someone who can recognize over 5,000 different scents.  Dreaming of a job in the French perfume industry, and with ambitions to create her own fragrances, she instead finds herself left at the altar and heading to Dayton, Ohio to work in a failing household goods department.  As if that doesn't seem drastic enough of a change, she now finds herself without the one thing she prides herself on - her sense of smell is completely gone.  How will she find herself and her true worth without being able to do what she does best?

The Scent of Rain had an intriguing premise - who are we if we lose our most identifying feature?  Daphne had to deal with unexpected turn after unexpected turn, and she couldn't even rely on the self she knew.  While I enjoyed the idea of the story, and I cheered for the Daphne who kept trying to make the most of the situation, this book fell a little flat for me.  There was the letter from the ex-fiance, Mark, which Daphne never found time to read, and nobody explained to her.  Wouldn't it be natural to read it immediately?  Or have someone leak the information in it if it's that juicy?  It just felt like a plot hole to me.

Also, the relationship between Daphne and her boss, Jesse, didn't ring true.  (Possible spoilers here!) While it seemed natural for them to be drawn together, and I actually enjoyed the idea of them falling for each other, it happened too quickly to feel real.  There was just no transition between them both saying they needed time, or refusing the idea of the relationship, to being committed to each other.

I liked the idea of the story, and I liked most of the characters, but I really feel this story could have been done better.  So, I feel that I can only give this book 2 stars.  I have read other books by Kristen Billerbeck and have enjoyed them more, so I can still recommend this author!

I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson, in exchange for my honest review.

What Your Husband Isn't Telling You - David Murrow

In What Your Husband Isn't Telling You: A Guided Tour of a Man's Body, Soul, and Spirit, David Murrow walks the reader through the three areas of a man's life (body, soul, and spirit), and discusses the reasons that men struggle and what about his nature causes those struggles.  He defines the two driving forces in a man's life to be Provider and Protector, and then explains how those affect everything a man thinks and does.

This book left me conflicted.  While on one hand, I can foresee situations that will make me reflect on this book and how the author addressed it, I felt let down by his cynicism on both men and women.  He makes a point at the beginning of the book to acknowledge that not all men struggle with the same things, and that some of the points in the book may not apply to the reader's husband, but he doesn't seem to give the same leeway to women.  He seems to assume that that majority of his female readers will fall into all of the same pits when it comes to understanding their men or handling their struggles.  The other disappointment comes from how much emphasis he puts on the nature of men as a reason for their behavior.  He does occasionally say that men shouldn't be given free reign to act on these excuses, but by the end of the book, it begins to feel like an awful lot like a free pass for men's behaviors, and women are just supposed to understand why they happen without being able to change anything.  In addition, the author sprinkles in enough scripture to make his reasons seem Biblical, but he leaves God out of several lines of reasoning.  He talks a lot about "culture" and "society" driving the definition of a man, and leaves out that God created men to be different than women.  He even mentions Joshua from the Old Testament "dismissing the cautious advice of ten spies but accepting the counsel of two risk takers," as if Joshua was merely acting as a "manly man" instead of trusting God's provision and protection in taking the Promised Land.

My rating of the book started to fall the further I read.  In the end, I give it 2 stars.  I think it could have been much better, but I did still take a few points from it that I hope will help in my relationships with the men in my life.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.