I Do Again by Cheryl and Jeff Scruggs (Book Review)

Title: I Do Again
Author: Cheryl and Jeff Scruggs
Publisher: Waterbrook Press
Genre: Christian Living/Love and Marriage

First sentence: A man I know was walking to his car after a golf tournament when he realized the remote trunk opener wouldn't work.

This is the true story of Cheryl and Jeff Scruggs. When they met, the attraction was instantaneous, but Cheryl would not go out with Jeff as she was in a relationship with someone else. Jeff did not give up though and eventually Cheryl broke up with her boyfriend. So the next time Jeff asked, she said yes.

After about a year of dating, Jeff was being relocated from Memphis to California. He asked Cheryl to marry him and she immediately said yes! They were the golden couple in California - attractive couple, good careers, beautiful home - but they could not have children. Their twin daughters were born after successful in vitro. But still there was something missing.

Cheryl began to feel like their life and relationship was shallow, so unfortunately she began to look outside of her marriage for her emotional needs. As the next couple of years passed - she continued to tell Jeff she was fine, when in reality, she was far from it. She eventually asked him for a divorce. Jeff was devastated - he did not see this coming at all. He begged Cheryl to work on their marriage so they could fix it. They even went to see some counselors, but Cheryl's mind was made up. She wanted out. Eighteen months later, they were divorced.

About this time Jeff started to get more involved with the youth ministry at his church. Cheryl's friends were encouraging her that she needed to find a new church. She couldn't continue to go to the one that her and Jeff had attended. She eventually found one. Cheryl had been raised Catholic and couldn't understand how she had never heard or learned some of things she was learning at her new church. Like the promises and plans God has for us and our marriage in the Song of Solomon. Or that she could have a personal relationship with Him.

I do not want to tell you anymore about the book (but you can probably guess from the title). Please come along and read about how Cheryl and Jeff learned to forgive each other and trust in God and the miraculous changes this made in their lives.

This book was somewhat hard for me to read. I became a believer when I was 13, but fell away from God at 17 when my dad passed away. In the following years I went to college and got married at the age of 21. Eight years and two daughters later I also asked my husband for a divorce - for many of the same reasons that Cheryl did. It was a little scary to read my thoughts and actions in print as someone else's life! It also took us about 18 months to get divorced, as my husband did not want it, and I was content (and couldn't afford it) to just let things stay how they were. I remember when the judge asked me if I felt we had done everything to save our marriage and even though I answered "Yes" - in my heart I knew that I had done nothing. My story takes a different turn here from Jeff and Cheryl's though. God led me to a wonderful man just when I was considering quitting my job and moving back to my childhood home. We have now been married 8 years and have added a son to our mix. I am still very much in love with him!

Age Before Beauty by Virginia Smith (Book Review)

Title: Age Before Beauty (Book 2 in the Sister to Sister Series)
Author: Virginia Smith
Publisher: Revell (Baker Publishing Group)
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Christian

First sentence: The mirror had to be warped.

How many times have we said that to ourselves? Or moved the bathroom scale because it must not be level to read that much? This book touched home with me greatly - as I became a stay-at-home mom after my third child (current ages 16,14,and 4). I kept telling myself - why did I work so hard to get those A's? Why did I go to college if I was just going to stay at home? Like Allie from the book, I researched some work-from-home "deals". I even cross-stitched for a company out of New York and was paid as an independent contractor. So after 4 1/2 years of being at home - what do I do? I love every minute with my son and I blog about books! :)

Allie helped to drive the point home with me, that staying at home was me doing my part for our own little team. I had struggled with the some of the same issues - losing that post-baby weight, earning my share, being okay with someone else watching my baby, and wondering if my husband was trustworthy. I have conquered some of these, still struggle with others but daily have been learning that if I trust in God, my Father, that the worries seem less and the blessings more.

Hmmm.. this has turned into not so much a book review but a review of my past 5 years! To the book - Allie and her husband Eric are parents to 2 month old Joanie Leigh (named after her two sisters Joan and Tori - and this is where it gets weird - my oldest daughter's name is Tori Leigh. . .). Allie is due to go back to work in a few weeks and is struggling with the decision to put her daughter in daycare. She attends a Varie Cose party and thinks she has found the answer to her problems - she will start her own Varie Cose business! (Think Amway). About this time Eric's mother, Betty, shows up on their porch needing a place to stay as she has moved out on her husband because "he did not appreciate her" anymore. Not what Allie needed - she dislikes her mother-in-law as much as her mother-in-law dislikes her.

Come and see how Allie progresses with her business, deals with her mother-in-law, and makes it all work - and who helps her in the end!

This was a quick read that I really could relate to and enjoyed immensely. Even though it is the 2nd book in the Sister to Sister series, it read absolutely wonderfully as a stand alone. Highly recommend this book for any new mom!

Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunee (Book Review)

Title: Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love and the Search for Home
Author: Kim Sunee
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir

First sentence: Let me start by saying where I am.

From the cover: Kim Sunee was abandoned in a Korean marketplace at the age of three and raised by adoptive parents in New Orleans. But by the age of twenty-two, her life was totally transformed - she found herself the companion of a French mogul, and mistress over his homes in Paris and Provence. Yet despite the glamorous trappings, Kim never felt quite at home. It was only in the kitchen, where she encountered exotic ingredients and fed crowds of friends, that she felt she truly belonged. Trail of Crumbs is a compelling personal narrative of the search for home pursued among the tastes, aromas, and sensuality of food across three continents.

This book was beautifully written! It led you through Kim's life - most of it centered in her 20's after she had moved out of the United States. It showed such a deep yearning to try to understand where she fit in, where she belonged, that you just wanted to reach into the book and take her in your arms to let her know that it would all be okay. By being "lost" by her mom, she grew up always searching, never quite feeling "at home."

I interpreted the title "Trail of Crumbs" to be a metaphor for two things. First, she used to have a dream about her and her brother as Hansel and Gretel, just waiting for the moon to come out so they could see the trail of crumbs - only to find out that they had been eaten by the birds. Secondly, how she seemed to feel most comfortable in the kitchen, regardless of where she was, cooking wonderful dishes for friends. So as she traveled, she left her own 'trail of crumbs'. Her book is doctored with tales of wonderful foods in exotic (to me) places. At the ends of many of the chapters are recipes of what sound like delicious dishes. I hope someday to have the courage to try some of them. (There is an index in the back of the book listing these recipes.)

You must read Kim's story of loss and loneliness as she loved, in her way, Olivier, but could not come to accept the life he created for her.

"Somehow, I thought, he'll never realize that the everything he wants to give me will never take away the nothing that I've always had." (p66)

Join her as she searches for acceptance and family and discovers a strength to let go of what cannot be changed and move forward.

About the author: Kim Sunee has been featured in the New York Times, Ladies' Home Journal, People, Elle, and Glamour. She is the founding food editor of Cottage Living and the host of "Local Flavor with Kim Sunee" for MyRecipes.com. You can visit her website at http://www.kimsunee.com/.

The Spring of Candy Apples by Debbie Viguie (Book Review)

Title: The Spring of Candy Apples (Book 4 in Sweet Seasons Series)
Author: Debbie Viguie
Publisher: Zondervan
Genre: Teen Fiction/Christian

First sentence: Candace wondered how every couple of months she managed to wind up seated across the desk from a Zone executive.

The Spring of Candy Apples is the 4th book in the Sweet Seasons series, but it read well as a stand alone, as I have not had the opportunity to read the first three books.

We catch up with Candace during her interview for The Zone's college scholarship to Florida Coast College. The interview is with John Hanson, the owner of The Zone, an amusement park in California. Candace was entered into the running by her friend, Josh, for her rendition of a new amusement park ride called Balloon Races. During the interview, Candace also gets promoted from a seasonal employee to a regular part-timer working at The Candy Counter.

Candace's life is getting busy. She enjoys working at The Zone and is also involved in a talent show that is coming up there. Add to that the lead in her school play, Man of La Mancha, boyfriend, best friends, and her church youth group.

Over the course of the book we meet Tamara, her best friend and fellow castmate in Man of La Mancha. She and Tamara have been best friends for a very long time and have planned to go to UCLA together. Candace does not know how she is going to tell her friend that she is considering going to Florida Coast.

Kurt is her boyfriend whom she met after she started working at The Zone. He used to be Lisa's boyfriend, another Zone employee, and this has brought out a host of problems and animosity in Lisa.

She also met Josh working at the Zone and he quickly became a good friend. It also benefited her friend Tamara as she is seriously dating Josh's brother James. Josh always seems to be around when Candace needs reassurance or someone to talk to - and he is also a Christian.

Join Candace as she decides if Kurt is "the one", which college to choose, and how Josh figures into all this!

This was a very cute story and a quick read. It was definitely not preachy, but was able to get across the story of salvation through it's characters. It was a light read but covered romance, touched on family issues, values, and handling important choices. I would recommend for girls 14-18 years old.

Simple Wishes by Lisa Dale (Book Review)

Title: Simple Wishes
Author: Lisa Dale
Publisher: Forever/Hachette Book Group
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Available: Now

First Sentence: For her twelfth birthday, a classmate gave Adele a book of New York City in photographs.

Adele Matin is a woman with a problem. She made a careless mistake that cost her job in New York City at an art gallery. Without a job, her apartment soon followed. She returned home to Grumble Knot on Notch Lane (don't you just love these names!), a house which her mother Marge had left to her in her will. She hadn't been back to rural Pennsylvania since she was seventeen - when she had left with these thoughts - to make it in New York City and be rid of her past and her demanding and unloving mother for good. So her return to Grumble Knot seemed to her the worst possible thing that could happen, but she had no where else to go.

Jay Westvelt had been taking care of the cabin in the years since her mother had died. He was a recluse and an artist who lived in a cabin called Tarpaper - next to Grumble Knot. He and Adele soon become close, even though they both seem to have issues from the past that are threatening their future.

Beatrice is Adele's Korean neighbor who was also Marge's friend. She knows the secret that Marge did not want her daughter to find out. She also has a secret of her own. She does her best to keep Adele from digging into the past.

As Adele and Jay grow closer, Adele also begins closing in on the secrets that she is sure everyone is keeping from her. When she finally uncovers the truth, will it send her back to New York City where a new job in a new art gallery awaits? Or will she finally learn to trust and believe in love?

I enjoyed this book very much. It had conflict, romance, mystery, heartache. The characters were great and I felt like they were people I could actually meet! They were dealing with issues that are relevant today - conflicts between mothers and daughters, teenage sex, family skeletons. As for the romance factor, I enjoyed reading a book that wasn't "love at first sight - sparks flying" and then "happily ever after". Jay and Adele had to learn to trust each other and had fights and misunderstandings along the way. This was a good read for right before Valentine's Day!

John's Quest by Cecelia Dowdy (Book Review)

Title: John's Quest
Author: Cecelia Dowdy
Publisher: Heartsong Presents
Genre: Christian Fiction/Contemporary Romance

First sentence: The loud banging at Monica Crawford's front door awakened her.

Monica's life changed when her younger sister Gina dropped off her seven-year-old son Scotty in the middle of the night. She claimed she was going on the road with her circus boyfriend and needed Monica to take care of him while she was gone.

Monica didn't have a choice. She was a Christian and had always been the more responsible sibling. She had thought that at her age she would be married with children of her own - but it hadn't worked out that way. Kevin, her last boyfriend, had dumped her 2 years before, and was already married to someone else and had a baby.

Scotty, her nephew, was blind and Gina hadn't made it a priority to see that he attended school regularly. Monica soon found out that he was behind. She promptly hired a tutor.

John was an agnostic, but had spent most of his free time during the last 10 years working with blind children. Scotty immediately took to him and Monica also felt a pull towards him.

As their friendship grows, Monica is torn as she knows she cannot date a non-believer. John is struggling with his beliefs also. His parents had raised him to be an agnostic, but then they had accepted Christ six months before they were killed in an auto accident. He had never gotten to talk with them about why they changed their beliefs.

Can Monica handle raising a blind child? How will she deal with her growing attraction to John? Will John come to understand and accept Christ? And when Gina comes back in the picture, will she take Scotty and run?

I liked this book and it was very quick to read. I wish that it would have dug deeper into John's issues with Christianity and how/why things ended the way they did with him (not going to spoil it for you!) It was fun to read a Christian romance though!

The Valentine Edition by Robin Shope (Book Review)

Title: The Valentine Edition (2nd book in Turtle Creek Edition series)
Author: Robin Shope
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Available: Now
Genre: Christian/Romantic Fiction

First sentence: Jodi Williams sighed for the hundredth time as she waved goodbye to the Chicago skyline, catching the last of the city in her rearview mirror.

Robin Shope has done it again with The Valentine Edition(and I just love the cover!) It follows on the heels of The Christmas Edition which came out last fall (see my review here). We get to travel to Turtle Creek, Wisconsin and visit the Turtle Creek newspaper staff. In addition to Lucy, Joe and Ullila - we are introduced to Jodi - a new reporter from Chicago, Josh- the town's veterinarian, and Della - Josh's secretary/assistant.

On Jodi's first day in town, she stops to assist what appears to be an abandoned dog, just in time to see him get hit by a car! As luck would have it, the next vehicle by is the town vet, Josh. He helps her take the dog (which she names Cupid) to his office. Thankfully, he is not seriously hurt (Cupid - not Josh), but does need some recovery time. Well, actually Josh needs some recovery time also because he is instantly smitten with Jodi!

As the sparks fly, Jodi helps the Turtle Creek newspaper plan their first matchmaking Valentine's Day dance, Cupid continues to recover, and Della puts her "make Josh mine" plan into motion!

Can Jodi get over past heartbreaks to let Josh in? Can Josh stay strong and win Jodi over - or does Della get her man? You have to read The Valentine Edition to find out! Great read just in time for Valentine's Day! You can read the first chapter here!

For the Love of Pete by Julia Harper (Book Review)

Title: For the Love of Pete

Author: Julia Harper

Publisher: Hachette Book Group

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Fiction

First Sentence: Things finally came to a head between Zoey Addler and Lips of Sin the afternoon he tried to steal her parking space.

Special Agent Dante Torelli (Lips of Sin) has been assigned to watch over mob informant Ricky Spinoza and his family, which consists of girlfriend Nikki and baby daughter, Pete. Zoey Addler is Nikki's sister, and though she isn't supposed to know where the family is hiding, has moved into the same apartment building to be close to her niece.

When the FBI agents on duty are killed and baby Pete is kidnapped, Zoey and Dante team up to find the little girl. Throw in the Gupta sisters, some grade 1A very, very fine mangra kesar, a mob hitman and his baby son and what you have is a fast read with lots of adventure and some romance.

For me, this book was just okay. I didn't feel the chemistry between Dante and Zoey, some of their thoughts and actions seemed a little immature. Their characters also seemed a little flat. I was put off by the language of the hit man -- I get it, he is a hitman -- but in one paragraph it seemed like every third word was **** this or that. I felt it just went a little overboard. The Gupta sisters did grow on me as I read on, and their bickering and stubbornness provided some comic relief. It was a cute story and had some twists, especially near the end, but it wasn't one of my favorites. Since this is a new author for me, I will try her again.

Scream for Me - Karen Rose (Book Review)

Title: Scream for Me

Author: Karen Rose

Genre: Romantic Suspense Fiction

Publisher: Hachette Books - Thanks Renee and Hachette!

First sentence: A bell dinged.

This was book 2 in a series with Agent Daniel Vartanian, but it read well as a stand alone. The first book, Die For Me, I have on reserve at our library, so that should tell you that I really enjoyed this book!

Daniel Vartanian is a Special Agent with the GBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He has just returned from a case which involved his parents and his brother (I have a sneaky suspicion that this is what Die For Me is about...) He isn't even home a day before a murdered girl is discovered in a ditch and the investigation lands in his lap. It appears to be a copycat murder from 13 years earlier.

Alex Fallon is the twin sister of Alicia Tremaine, who was killed 13 years ago. She has received a call that her stepsister, Bailey, is missing and she is listed as the emergency contact for her 4 year old niece, Hope. This comes as quite a shock, as she didn't even know she had a niece. The last time she saw Bailey was to get her into a rehab program 5 years earlier.

Daniel's investigation and Alex's missing stepsister lead them on a collision course to each other - and the sparks start to fly. As the bodies pile up, will Alex ever find Bailey? Can Daniel catch the murderer? And can they both confront the ghosts of their past so that they can move into a better future?

This was a quick read for me, even at 569 pages! It was great the way all the suspects fell into place one-by-one. It was like watching dominoes fall in slow motion. I almost just typed a spoiler here - so I will just end on that note! Great book!

Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates (Book Review)

Title: Black Water

Author: Joyce Carol Oates

Genre: Fiction

First sentence: The rented Toyota, driven with such impatient exuberance by The Senator, was speeding along the unpaved, unnamed road, taking the turns in giddy skidding slides, and then, with no warning, somehow the car had gone off the road and had overturned in black rushing water, listing to its passenger's side, rapidly sinking. (Wow, that has to be the longest first sentence!)

Joyce Carol Oates has taken the Chappaquiddick incident and evolved it into this bold novel set in the 1990's. For me, it did not bring the focus on the tragedy of the car crash and innocent death, but rather on how quickly your mind covers ground and how many different thoughts you can have in the space of a few moments. In the time that Kelly has, as the car is filling up with black water, we visit most of her life, but mostly the last few years.

She does remember a memory as a little girl with her grandpa, but it seems as if she is reliving all those moments - those choices - that brought led her to being in The Senator's car at that particular moment. "She was the one he had chosen."

I have had two near death experiences, where I actually stopped breathing, and I can vividly remember those things that I was thinking right before I went out, and it wasn't anything like Kelly was thinking - but at the time, I did not think that dying was a possibility. I believe this is because when we are young, we tend to believe that we are immortal. So Kelly, being in her 20's, kept hanging on to the hope that there was someone coming to get her out of the car - she even thought she saw them through the windshield, or felt them pulling on the door handle.

I can't say that I enjoyed this book - due to it's nature, but is was definitely thought provoking and wonderfully written!

The Red Siren by M.L. Tyndall (Book Review)

Title: The Red Siren (Charles Towne Belles/Book 1)

Author: M.L. Tyndall

Genre: Christian fiction/Romance

Publisher: Barbour Publishing Inc.

Available: January 2009

First sentence: This was Dajon Waite's last chance.

I thought twice about giving you more than the first sentence - but I want you to read the book! So now you are thinking... last chance for what? Love? Life? the Lottery? (ok.. so that last one is a little corny.. I was going for some alliteration.. )

The Red Siren is the name of a pirate ship, and also the lady pirate that commands her. She has a dual identity as the daughter, Faith (1 of 4) of an Admiral by day - and the captain of the Red Siren whenever there is a ship to plunder.

After her father married off her older sister Charity to a vile man, and Faith's mother died, Faith vowed to protect her 2 remaining sisters Hope and Grace from the same fate. She feels that she needs to acquire enough wealth, so that they will not need to rely on men to take care of them. So Faith becomes a pirate.

One of her first conquests is a ship captained by Dajon Waite. Not only does she take all of his goods, but his ship as well. This changes the course of Dajon's life and puts them back on a collision course 5 years into the future.

Can Faith save herself and her 2 sisters from Charity's fate? When Dajon reenters her life, as a captain in the British Royal Navy, will he be forced to arrest her for being a pirate? Or can the God-fearing Dajon Waite help the faithless Faith Westcott rediscover the God she thought had abandoned her?

I really liked the way the author named the daughter's Charity, Faith, Grace and Hope. We don't learn a lot about Charity in this book - just that she has been married to someone the other sisters do not like (for good reason.. ). Faith is the main character in The Red Siren, and is the one that has lost her faith. Grace is full of God's grace and does much to help the less fortunate. Hope is the youngest, and though she has been through some terrible travesties, she still has hope that there is love for her - either the love she is yearning for from her father, or from Lord Falkland.

I enjoyed reading The Red Siren - it grabbed me quick, kept up the pace throughout the book and wrapped the main story up nicely, but also left a hanger for the second book - The Blue Enchantress coming in the fall of 2009! For a peek at the cover of the Blue Enchantress - visit the author's blog here.

Come back on Monday, Jan 19 for the First Wild Card Tour!

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (Book Review)

Title: The House on Mango Street
Author: Sandra Cisneros
Genre: Fiction/Short stories

I didn't know whether or not to include the first sentence here, as it is a short book with short stories - but it seemed appropriate given the title of the book. So here it is: We didn't always live on Mango Street.

I am not a short story lover, and probably would not have read this book other than I needed a quick read for the New Classics Challenge which ends in a few weeks. I am not even sure that these would classify as short stories. They brought to mind journal entries that a young girl/teenager may make. Does anyone remember back to a time in school where you had to keep a journal that you wrote in daily as an assignment, but the subject matter was your choice? Then think of having it published - and you would have a book of this type. There is a progression through the book though, and you begin to see how the author is maturing -- even as the stories begin to get slightly longer and subject matter of some of them more serious. The book also showed me a different perspective than the one that I had growing up in predominately white, small-town Iowa.

Esperanza (narrator of stories) lives in a small red house on Mango Street with one bedroom and one bathroom for her Mama, Papa and 3 brothers/sisters. Even so, you see that it is an improvement over their previous homes, as this is not an apartment and they do not have a landlord. This home is theirs. I am just going to share with you a couple of stories that stuck with me.

The Family of Little Feet - A family gave Esperanza and her sisters/friends a bag of shoes. These were lemon shoes, red shoes, and dancing shoes that were pale blue but used to be white. The little girls pranced all over the neighborhood taking turns with the different shoes until an old bum tells them they are pretty. He asks one of them, named Rachel, if she will kiss him for a dollar. Esperanza grabs her hand and they run all the way home. They hide the shoes and don't play with them again.

Louie, His Cousin and His Other Cousin - Basically about a boy who shows up with a Cadillac. He gives all the neighborhood kids rides in it. The police show up and he makes them all get out and then tries to get away. But the police catch him and arrest him. They all wave to him as he is being driven away.

And now, here is what it says in the book: Ostensibly, The House on Mango Street provides a framework for the first tentative writings of a young girl finding herself by recording her own feelings about the world around her. But in a deeper sense, the book chronicles in a highly poetic style, the psychological and social development of a writer who struggles to derive emotional and creative sustenance where material and educational resources are absent. Her sensitive portrayal enchants us and reaffirms our belief that art and talent can survive, even under the most adverse conditions.

Like I said in the beginning, I am not a lover of short stories. I am sure there is much that can be gleaned from these, but I was not reading them critically, to obtain any higher meaning. They tended to be depressing, showing the not so savory side of (assuming) Chicago. The last few stories showed a desire on the part of the narrator to want to get out of Mango Street, but she always knew that no matter where she went, she would come back for those who were not as lucky as she, and were not able to get out.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Book Review)

Title: The Lovely Bones

Author: Alice Sebold

Genre: fiction

First sentence: My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.

This was the most original book that I have read in quite awhile. The narrator of the story, Susie, is the murder victim. We see her family, her friends, and even her murderer, Mr. Harvey, in the days and years after her death through her eyes.

She leads us down that road as her friends and her 'crush' Ray try to understand and come to terms with her murder. As her family disintegrates, she begins to see them as individuals - even as those around them on Earth only see them as shadows of Susie.

Her father is convinced he knows who committed the crime and one night he follows a light into a neighbor's cornfield, only to be clobbered with his own baseball bat by some innocent high school kids. This is the last straw for Susie's mother. Her mother's loneliness is only amplified with Susie's death and she seeks comfort away from her husband. This eventually leads her to the other side of the country where she tries to forget.

Grandma Lynn moves in with her dad, brother Buckley and sister Lyndsey to try to help them cope with Susie's loss and their abandonment by their mother. The police have pretty much told the family that they have no leads and they are closing the investigation so Lyndsey decides to go looking for evidence herself. She watches Mr. Harvey's house, and one afternoon when he leaves, she breaks in and actually finds some evidence. She barely gets out of the house in time, but Mr. Harvey has seen her so knows that he needs to leave.

Come and read this book and follow her family as they move from her murder and their isolation as they come together year's later and are finally able to say out loud 'Susie is not coming home again.'

This novel was wonderfully written and gives us a picture of one little girl's heaven, which, while not always joyous, is stable and safe. Susie's heaven allows her to mature and move on in much the same way that her family does.

Be Strong and Curvaceous by Shelley Adina (Book Review)

Title: Be Strong and Curvaceous (an all about us novel)
Author: Shelley Adina
Publisher: Faith Words a division of Hachette Books
Genre: YA/Christian Fiction
Available: January 2009

First sentence: Be careful what you wish for.

I read this book for First Wild Card Tour and I loved it! I am hoping (and praying) that my daughters will read these books. I have requested the first one in the series from our public library's interlibrary loan service. But I am getting ahead of myself - let me tell you a little about this book.

Be Strong and Curvaceous is the third book in the 'all about us' series - but it was also very good as a stand alone. The hardest thing about reading it first was just getting the cast of characters set in my mind. Carly, Lissa and Gillian are all students (juniors) at Spencer Academy in San Francisco. They have just started the spring term and upon arriving back at school, Carly discovers that she has a new roommate - "Mac" who we later discover is Lady Lindsay MacPhail, daughter of the Earl of Strathcairn. Mac isn't at the school long before she publicly humiliates Vanessa Talbot (the "it" girl at the school) and puts up a wall that Carly isn't sure she wants to negotiate. Adding to Carly's confusion is that she just became a Christian and is sure that this isn't the Christian thing to do! Mac could also help her reach her goal of designing a dress in the Design Your Dream Event - if only she hadn't taken on Vanessa. To make matters worse, in seems like Mac also has her eyes on Brett, Carly's crush!

This book has romance, rivalry, responsibility, friendship, adventure, and most importantly God! I want my daughter to read it so that she can see that she can talk with God in any and all circumstances - even boys! This would be a great read for a teenage girl. I can't wait to get the first book!

Gatekeepers by Robert Liparulo (Book 3 in Dreamhouse Kings series) - Book Review

Title: Gatekeepers (3rd book in the Dreamhouse Kings series)
Author: Robert Liparulo
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: YA fiction

First Sentence: Xander's words struck David's heart like a musket ball.

I am so very glad that I was able to read the first three books in this series so closely together. My only gripe is that I have to wait until July for Timescape - the 4th book in this series!

In Gatekeepers, we again join Xander, David, Toria and their father, Edward, in the search for their mother, G(ertrude). As they discover more rules about the portals, they also encounter more danger - both in their own world and the world behind the antechambers. Men - warriors - are now coming through the portals and are after the children! Come see how Xander, David and Toria fight off three of these men in the mysterious clearing in the woods - how they are able to fly out of the way of danger!

We also meet Jesse, a very elderly man who has a gift of "feeling" when history has been changed. He also has a link to the mysterious King house, as well as to the King family themselves. He is able to help the children with their knowledge of the portals - but will he have the time to share all of his secrets, or will "time" want him back.

The children may not be able to rescue their mother during this book - but come and find out who they do meet in the other worlds along the way. I guarantee you will not want to put it down!

See my other reviews for the first two books in the series: House of Dark Shadows and Watcher in the Woods.

Watcher in the Woods by Robert Liparulo-(Book 2 in Dreamhouse King series)- (Book Review)

Title: Watcher in the Woods (book 2 of Dreamhouse Kings series)

Author: Robert Liparulo

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Genre: YA

First sentence: At twelve years old, David King was too young to die.

Ok - how can you not want to keep reading with that first line. This was book 2 in the Dreamhouse King series, and it kept me as riveted as book 1 did (House of Dark Shadows - see my review here). I was able to devour this book in one day. In melded seamlessly with book 1, and as I have already started book 3 (look for my review tomorrow!) I can tell you that it was the same with it also.

Book 2 picks up with the King children and their father wondering how to go about searching for their mother - and if they find her - how to get her back. Now their mother has not just been kidnapped - she has been taken through one of the portals of the house into another world - the doorways to these worlds change, seemingly without rhyme or reason and in all worlds but one, danger is around every tree, bush, or building!

Since Edward and Gee (parents) have known each other, they have doodled a cartoon figure they called 'Bob'. Edward comes up with the plan that they would leave pictures of 'Bob' in all the worlds they visit, to let Gee know that they are looking for her. They leave the first picture in the one world that is peaceful - Edward carves it in a tree.

But lets not forget that the King family must also maintain an outward appearance of normalcy - this means going to work/school and making everyone believe their mom just went back to Pasadena to close up the sale of their old house. Add to that - David falling out of a "tree" and breaking his arm, being chased by bullies at school and a mysterious stranger trying to get them evicted from their house!

I was so glad that I had gotten the third book for First Wild Card Tours because that meant I could start it immediately! Can you tell I loved this book!

A to Z Challenge

I am signing up for a bunch of challenges that start the first of the year -so as I get the chance I will be blogging about them.





The first one will be the A to Z Challenge. You can see all the options and sign up for the challenge by clicking the name. I am going to try for option C which is to read both titles starting with A through Z and Authors starting with A through Z. I think that for the authors I will use either first or last names - I am not going to specify. As for the list, I am going to leave it open and see how my books fit as I read them!

Titles

• A - Age Before Beauty - Virginia Smith
• B - Boneman's Daughter - Ted Dekker
• C
• D - Diamonds in the Shadow - Caroline B. Cooney
• E
• F - Fruit of My Lipstick, The - Shelley Adina
• G - Gatekeepers - Robert Liparulo
• H
• I - I Do Again - Cheryl and Jeff Scruggs
• J - John's Quest - Cecelia Dowdy
• K - Kiss - Ted Dekker and Erin Healy
• L - Lovely Bones, The - Alice Sebold
• M - Murder, Mayhem and a Fine Man - Claudia Mair Burney
• N - New York Debut - Melody Carlson
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S - Scream for Me - Karen Rose
• T
• U
• V - Valentine Edition, The - Robin Shope
• W - Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
• X
• Y - Yesterday's Embers - Deborah Raney
• Z

Authors

• A - Adina, Shelley - Be Strong and Curvaceous
• B - Burney, Claudia Mair - Deadly Charm
• C - Cisneros, Sandra - The House on Mango Street
• D - Dale, Lisa - Simple Wishes
• E
• F
• G - Gustafson, Eleanor - The Stones
• H - Harper, Julia - For the Love of Pete
• I - Ione, Larissa - Pleasure Unbound
  
• J - Jones, Jenny B. - So Not Happening
• K - Kingsbury, Karen - This Side of Heaven
• L - Liparulo, Robert - Watcher in the Woods
• M - Mansell, Jill - An Offer You Can't Refuse
• N - Nimmo, Beth and Scott, Darrell - Rachel's Tears
• O - Oates, Joyce Carol - Black Water
• P - Perry, Kate - Marked by Passion
• Q
• R - Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
• S - Sunee, Kim - Trail of Crumbs
• T - Tyndall, M.L. - The Red Siren
• U
• V - Viguie, Debbie - The Spring of Candy Apples
• W - White, Karen - The Lost Hours
• X
• Y
• Z