It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 1-18-2010

What are you reading on Mondays? is hosted by J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog. If you would like to participate, please leave your link with Mr. Linky at J.Kaye's blog - but you can also leave me a comment - I would love to know what you are reading!

Old books waiting for review:
1. What Your Mother Never Told You: A Teenage Girls Survival Guide by Richard Dudum
2. Angel and Apostle by Deborah Noyes
3. Bear Portraits by Jill Greenberg
4. Chocolate: A Love Story: 65 Chocolate Dessert Recipes from Max Brenner's Private Collection by Max Brenner

Read last week waiting for review:
1. Veracity by Laura Bynum

Read and/or Reviewed Last Week:
1. Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson
2. Terror By Night by Terry Caffey
3. Blind Sight by James Pence
4. The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Children's Books Read and Reviewed:
1. B is for Bufflehead by Steve Hutchcraft
2. Big Bugs by Catherine Ipcizade
3. Big Trucks by Catherine Ipcizade

Current audio books:
1. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

Books currently reading:
1. Samson's Walls by Jud Niremberg- Would like to finish this one, but I still seem to be able to find others I would rather be reading. . .
2. A Hope and a Future: Overcoming Discouragement by Don Wilton
3. The Swan Thieves: A Novel by Elizabeth Kostova
4. Hearing from God Each Morning: 365 Daily Devotions (Faith Words) by Joyce Meyer
5. Knit, Purl, Die (Black Sheep Knitting Mystery) by Anne Canadeo


Still waiting to be started:
1. Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients by Dr. Jeff Hertzberg
2. The Sacred Cipher: A Novel by Terry Brennan
3. The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Kidnapped by Yxta Maya Murray
4. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
5. All About Us #6: The Chic Shall Inherit the Earth: An All About Us Novel by Shelly Adina

New books this week:
1. Thicker than Blood by C.J. Darlington
2. A Black Tie Affair by Sherrill Bodine

Ready - Set - Read!

Audiobook Giveaway -Marriage and Other Acts of Charity by Kate Braestrup

Marriage and Other Acts of Charity: A Memoir
by Kate Braestrup

Kate Braestrup has been married and widowed, betrayed and betrothed, her personal spirituality constantly evolving along the way. How do God and love figure in our everyday lives and bonds with others? In MARRIAGE, AND OTHER ACTS OF CHARITY, she tackles these big questions with stories from her own relationships--romantic and familial, platonic and professional--much as Anne Lamott weaves her spirituality through her tales of parenthood.

With the same compassion and warmth that made Here If You Need Me a New York Times bestseller, Braestrup engages readers fully, regardless of their path in life. She tells us about teaching sex education for her daughter's eighth-grade class, and the welcome embrace extended toward her adopted nephew from Africa. She introduces the essential concept that charity--the key to all relationships--is a whole-hearted selfless emotion, which is but a hint of God's immense devotion. Kate Braestrup's very human outlook gives anyone seeking to understand human relationships a fresh perspective on what it is to love and be loved.

Listen to an Excerpt.

Giveaway

I have three copies of this audiobook to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) please tell me where you listen to your audio books and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 8th! Good luck!

Win The Crazy School by Cornelia Read

The Crazy School
by Cornelia Read

From the acclaimed author of A FIELD OF DARKNESS comes another compelling novel featuring the acerbic and memorable voice of ex-debutante Madeline Dare. Madeline Dare has finally escaped rust-belt

Syracuse, New York, for the lush Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. After her husband's job offer falls through, Maddie signs on as a teacher at the Santangelo Academy, a boarding school for disturbed teenagers. Behind the academy's ornate gates, she discovers a disturbing realm where students and teachers alike must submit to the founder's bizarre therapeutic regimen. From day one, Maddie feels uneasy about smooth-talking Dr. Santangelo but when she questions his methods, she's appalled to find that her fellow teachers would rather turn on each other than stand up for themselves, much less protect the students in their care. A chilling event confirms Maddie's worst suspicions, then hints at an even darker secret history, one that twines through the academy's very heart. Cut off from the outside world, Maddie must join forces with a small band of the school's most violently rebellious students-kids whose troubled grip on reality may well prove to be her only chance of salvation. (Hachette website)

Link to the Reading Group Guide

Giveaway

I have five copies of this paperback book to give away courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) tell me about something you remember from high school and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 8th! Good luck!

Mailbox Monday/In My Mailbox 1-18-2010

Mailbox Monday is hosted at The Printed Page or In Your Mailbox at The Story Siren on Sunday. Please stop by those posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!

I had a super fantastic week!




Burn
by Ted Dekker & Erin Healy

What if the past you thought had burned away long ago were to suddenly rise from the ashes?

From Ted Dekker and Erin Healy, the dynamic writing team behind the bestselling Kiss, comes the new supernatural thriller Burn. The story of one woman's ultimate betrayal of friends and family and the far-reaching consequences of her actions, Burn features overarching themes of good vs. evil, guilt and regret, and the grace of second chances.

In Burn, young gypsy Janeal Mikkado's world is turned upside down when she finds herself faced with two choices: will she save her best friend who is about to be consumed by a fire or disappear with a million dollars? Her decision will alter the course of her life forever.

The sudden reappearance of the people Janeal believed to be dead threatens the lavish existence she has made for herself far away from her gypsy home. There's a debt to be paid for the stolen money: she must make a new life-or-death choice -- but this time, escape is not an option. (Phenix & Phenix)




Crave: The Seduction of Snow White
by Cathy Yardley

( This was a win from J.Kaye's Book Blog)

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the hottest of them all?

When a woman is ripe for the picking. . .
Beth Cordova's life is no fairy tale. Having barely escaped the evil grasp of her wicked stepmother, this "missing princess" seeks refuge in a strict commune where carnal pleasures are forbidden.

Sometimes just one bite of the apple. . .
Her world is lonely and void of intimacy, until the charming Stephen Trent arrives at the commune. Suddenly Beth yearns for a man's touch, the feel of his lips on hers. . .and Stephen is eager to show this pure-as-snow princess that she can still be the sensual woman she was once upon a time.

Is all it takes to unleash her desires. . .
But all is not what it seems, and the stunning beauty finds herself again in danger, her stepmother hot on her trail. The commune's founders will not tolerate the pair, yet fleeing its walls could prove fatal. Trapped in a world where passion is outlawed, can Beth live happily ever after? (back cover)





Beautiful People
by Wendy Holden

A witty, utterly addictive novel from bestselling author Wendy Holden, Beautiful People is a tale wicked in its observations yet buoyant at its heart: an irresistible confection you'll want to devour immediately.

Darcy's a struggling English rose actress when The Call comes from L.A. An Oscar-tastic director. A movie to make her famous. The hunkiest costar in Hollywood. So why doesn't she want to go?

Belle's a size-zero film start but she's in big, fat trouble. Hotter than the earth's core a year ago, she's now Tinseltown toast after her last film bombed. Can she get back to the big time?

Emma's a down-to-earth, down-on-her-luck nanny trying to weather London's cutthroat childcare scene and celebrity mom whirlwinds. What will it take for her to get back in control of her own life?

Jet to London, Hollywood, and Italy; toss in a passionate star chef, a kind-hearted, disillusioned paparazzo, and a reluctant male supermodel; and find Wendy Holden at her best -- a smash international hit. (back cover)


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A Certain Wolfish Charm
by Lydia Dare

He gets crankier and crankier as the moon gets full. . .

The rules of Society can be beastly -- especially when you're a werewolf and it's that irritating time of the month. Simon Westfield, the Duke of Blackmoor, is rich, powerful, and sinfully handsome, and has spent his entire life creating scandal and mayhem. It doesn't help his wolfish temper at all that Miss Lily Rutledge seems not the least bit afraid of him, and in fact, may be as untamable as he is. . .

A woman whose charm is stronger than the moon. . .

When Lily's beloved nephew's behavior becomes inexplicably wild, she turns to Simon, the boy's cousin and guardian, for help. But Simon's idea of assistance is far different than hers, and Lily finds herself ensconced in his house and engaged to the rogue.

They both may have bitten off more than they can chew when each begins to discover the other's darkest secrets. . . (back cover)


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My Own Personal Soap Opera
by Libby Malin

Is life stranger than fiction, or vice versa?

Frankie McNally has found the perfect solution for life's perplexing problems: as head writer for the daytime soap Lust for Life, she works them out on the air!

Meanwhile, Frankie's being courted simultaneously by the dashing older man sent in to save the show's sagging ratings and by the soap's totally hot leading man. And just when Frankie thinks the plot couldn't get more complicated, a jewel thief starts copying the show's storyline -- a development that could send the show's ratings soaring, if it doesn't get Frankie arrested first.

Can Frankie writer her way out of this one? And can she put make-believe aside long enough to discover the truth of her own heart?

In her signature blending of the hilarious with the poignant, Libby Malin's latest light-hearted novel combines the best of life and of fiction into an entertaining and incredibly satisfying read. (back cover)


Veracity
by Laura Bynum

When language is a crime, only the truth can set you free.

In the tradition of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Laura Bynum has written an astonishing debut novel, a bold and incendiary vision of a chilling, all-too-plausible future in which speech is a weapon and security comes at the highest price of all.

Harper Adams was six years old in 2012 when an act of viral terrorism wiped out one half of the country's population. Out of the ashes rose a new government, the Confederation of the Willing, dedicated to maintaining order at any cost. The populace is controlled via government-sanctioned sex and drugs, a brutal police force known as the Blue Coats, and a device called the slate, a mandatory implant that monitors every word a person speaks. To utter a Red Listed, forbidden word is to risk physical punishment or even death.

But there are those who resist. Guided by the fabled "Book of Noah," they are determined to shake the people from their apathy and ignorance, and are prepared to start a war in the name of freedom. The newest member of this resistance is Harper -- a woman driven by memories of a daughter lost, a daughter whose very name was erased by the Red List. And she possesses a power that could make her the underground warriors' ultimate weapon -- or the instrument of their destruction. (inside cover)



A Highlander's Destiny
by Melissa Mayhue

Jesse Coryell, a descendant of the Fae, is a man in search of his destiny. He's tried to lose himself in his work, taking on the worst mankind has to offer, but what he really needs to find is his true love. When he sets out to help a mysterious woman find her sister, what he gets is much more than he bargained for: battling an undeniable attraction to his sexy new client while fighting an ancient evil to keep her safe.

Destiny Noble, abandoned by everyone she's ever loved, will stop at nothing in her desperate quest to find her sister. Authorities have declared Leah a runaway, but Destiny knows better. Her dream visions have shown her the frightening truth. They've also shown her Jesse. But finding her Soulmate could result in the most painful loss of all, when she's forced to choose between loving Jesse and saving Leah.

Jesse and Destiny race against time to save an innocent girl from a powerful ancient evil. Is true love their best weapon. . . or will they be required to sacrifice their own destiny? (back cover)


Knit, Purl, Die
by Anne Canadeo

Counting on each other...

Meet the Black Sheep knitters--five smart, funny women who love to knit, gossip, and solve crimes.

Gloria Sterling had it all--money, looks, and a new sexy young husband. So when she's found floating face down in her own swimming pool, shock waves ripple through tiny Plum Harbor. At the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, Maggie Messina and her circle are devastated to lose their dear friend--a woman as colorful as her fabulous yarn creations.

The police are quick to call it an accident, but sorting out Gloria's final hours leaves too many loose ends to satisfy her friends. The vivacious, fifty-something cougar had her French manicured tips in more than a few pots, and the threads of some inside deals stashed in her chic knitting tote.

Who was the last person to see Gloria alive on that quiet summer night? Two empty wine glasses suggest she wasn't home alone knitting the entire evening...The Black Sheep need to know the truth and set out to unravel--stitch by stitch--the weighty secrets that pulled poor Gloria under. (back cover)



Forbidden Passion
by Rita Herron

She sees him in her dreams...

Fueled by her family's murder years ago, Dr. Marlena Bender has devoted her life to understanding violent criminals. But when a serial killer in this small Southern town starts taking the lives of women in diabolical ways--leaving trophies of his kills on Marlena's doorstep--it all hits too close to home. Terrified, Marlena turns to the only man she can trust...the man who saved her life.

But his secret is her worst nightmare.

Sheriff Dante Valtrez would move heaven and earth to keep Marlena safe, but he's not the savior she thinks he is. A dark legacy runs through his blood and a dangerous secret lies within him. Now a fierce, hot, ruthless desire draws Dante and Marlena together--as a demonic force from his past threatens to rip them apart, destroying everything they hold dear. (back cover)


Dark Deceptions
by Dee Davis

A-Tac is an elite CIA unit masquerading as faculty at an Ivy League college. Brilliant, badass, and seemingly bulletproof, the members of A-Tac are assigned to the riskiest missions and the most elusive targets.

Torn between duty and desire.

Covert operations expert Nash Brennon has spent the last eight years trying to forget Annie Gallagher, his former field partner and the only woman he ever loved. Annie betrayed him when he needed her most, then vanished without a trace. Now suddenly she's back in the game--this time as a suspected traitor and threat to national security.

Annie's son has been kidnapped by political terrorists. The price for his life? Assassinate a UN ambassador. When Nash and his group find her, the smoldering passion between Annie and the man she swore she'd never contact again blazes out of control. But can Nash trust her? The stakes couldn't be higher: Their enemy's endgame is personal, and one false move could cost them their lives. (back cover)



A Touch of Scandal
by Jennifer Haymore

The last thing Garrett, Duke of Calton, expects to find while tracking his sworn enemy is the delectable, mysterious Kate. This beautiful servant girl rouses a longing the battle-scarred ex-soldier had never hoped to feel again. But when she turns out to be the sister of the man he seeks, he's convinced he's been betrayed.

Kate knows her duty to her family, yet how can she ignore Garrett's powerful pull on her heart? Or the heady temptation of his stolen--and sizzling--kisses? Scandal has followed the duke since the war. Now the greatest shock of all is on its way--the one that can separate Garrett and Kate forever. (back cover)



To Sin With a Scoundrel
by Cara Elliott

A widow known for her scientific scholarship, Lady Ciara Sheffield is shadowed by rumors that she poisoned her husband. A rogue notorious for his rakehell antics, the Earl of Hadley is not accused of murdering anything--save for the rules of Polite Society. The only thing they have in common is seeing their names in the gossip columns of London's newspapers. Or is it?

Ciara needs a titled finace to quell the slanderous speculations that may send her to the gallows. Hadley needs a brilliant scholar to decipher a mysterious manuscript in his possission. They agree on a temporary alliance. And so begins a seductive dance of sinful pleasures and hidden desires as they waltz through the mansions of Mayfair. . .with red-hot passion -- and danger -- at every turn. (back cover)



Montana Legacy
by R.C. Ryan

They're the McCords...three rugged, sexy cowboy cousins who'll inherit the family range--if they seek the treasure hidden on it. But even more presious are the women who can tame their wild hearts...

She was the one person who shook Jesse McCord's quiet determination. She was the only one he ever let in, body and soul. Then suddenly Amy Parrish was gone and the oldest McCord cousin devoted his life to the family ranch. Now Amy is back, offering to help Jesse find the McCord gold. Yet Jesse's not about to give her a second chance, and he hopes his pride will protect him from her irresistible charms. But under the wide prairie skies a dangerous, unseen enemy is fast closing in, threatening Amy and Jesse's very lives and the promise of their...Montana Legacy. (back cover)



Jordan
by Susan Kearney

A Dangerous Mission

Vivianne Blackstone devotes herself to her career, putting her love life on hold. Her latest project is a spaceship designed to protect Earth from the deadly Tribes. But its engineer, the aluring Jordan McArthur, now threatens both her job and her wary heart...

An undeniable desire

Jordan's past goes back to King Arthur, and he must find the ancient artifact that can save the galazy. Vivianne's ship is his best hope, but convincing the fiercely independent beauty won't be easy. Especially when the passion flaring between them burns through their defenses--and love is the last thing they need to survive. (back cover)


101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle:
A Cheeky Book with Tidbits of Advice for a Glamorous Lifestyle
by Dawn Del Russo

Dawn Del Russo, accomplished fashion stylist and owner of BellaDawn.com, is now adding author to her list of accomplishments with the release of her highly anticipated quick tip style book, 101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle. Packed with realistic and practical tips as well as cheeky colorful illustrations, looking put together 24/7 is easily achieved after flipping through the pages of this little fashion bible. The pocket-sized fashion and beauty guide was created for women searching for budget-friendly glamour and easy ways to update their everyday style. Not only does Dawn set the fashion bar, but she raises it time and again with her eye for spotting new trends long before they go mainstream.


What books showed up in your mailbox this week?

Ecstasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione - Giveaway!

Ecstasy Unveiled - A Demonica Novel
by Larissa Ione

Lore is a Seminus half-breed demon who has been forced to act as his dark master's assassin. Now to earn his freedom and save his sister's life, he must complete one last kill. Powerful and ruthless, he'll stop at nothing to carry out this deadly mission.

Idess is an earthbound angel with a wild side, sworn to protect the human Lore is targeting. She's determined to thwart her wickedly handsome adversary by any means necessary-even if that means risking her vow of eternal chastity. But what begins as a simple seduction soon turns into a passion that leaves both angel and demon craving complete surrender.

Torn between duty and desire, Lore and Idess must join forces as they battle their attraction for each other. Because an enemy from the past is rising again-one hellbent on vengeance and unthinkable destruction.


Giveaway

I have five copies of this book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) just tell me if you have read one of the previous books in this series (Pleasure Unbound, Desire Unchained, Passion Unleashed) and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Feb 5th! Good luck!

The Dead & the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Book Review)

Title: The Dead & the Gone
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Publisher: Harcourt

My synopsis: Alex is 17, a junior in high school, and living in New York City when the moon is hit by asteroid and knocked off it's axis. His mom is called in to the hospital she works at to help deal with the emergency and his dad is in Mexico attending a funeral. Alex does not realize it at the time, but neither parent will return and he is left to care for his 2 younger sisters, Briana and Julie.

Where Life As We Knew It was a teenager's perspective of the catastrophe in a smaller, more rural area - The Dead and the Gone deals with a teenager's perspective in a large city. As the realization that everything has changed becomes evident, Alex decides to send Briana to the country to live and work at a convent. She will be helping with the farming, but she will also have food to eat everyday, which will mean the food supplies he has for himself and Julie will last longer.

Even with Briana gone, things are still tough. Alex becomes hardened to seeing dead bodies everywhere and soon is taking things off the bodies to trade for food. As the weather becomes uncharacteristically cooler, Julie and Alex continue to live alone and attend school in order to get the free food at lunch. They return home one day to find Briana home, suffering from asthma. She was sent home because she could no longer work outside. Now the food that was in short supply already just became more meager. How much longer can they survive like this?

My thoughts: This book also had an underlying theme of hope in a hopeless situation - and of a family growing closer together and overcoming adversity together. Alex already seemed to be somewhat mature and ready for responsibility. I think the real growth came from Julie though. She was the youngest and as all younger children tend to be, a little spoiled. Alex did not get along with her at all, so was happy for Briana's interference. It was hard for him to send Briana away because that meant he would have to deal with Julie alone. Julie quickly grows up though, and becomes a big help to Alex, hardly ever complaining and joining Alex in caring for Briana when she returns. I am looking forward to the next book The World We Live In to see where things will go from here.

The Dead & the Gone
Publisher/Publication Date: Harcourt, 2008 (though a paperback version was just published this month from Graphia)
ISBN: 978-0-15-206311-5
321 pages










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Blind Sight by James Pence (Book Review)

Title: Blind Sight
Author: James Pence
Publisher: Tyndale

About the book: Remember the promise. . .Save my children. . .

All Thomas Kent wants is to die. . .but a mysterious e-mail and a voice from the past stir him to fight for his life and the lives of a family he doesn't know.

The leader of a powerful and dangerous cult threatens the country's future, and Thomas holds the only evidence for its destruction.

As the cult's plan enters its final phase, Thomas must cast his fear aside and act before it's too late. (back cover)


My thoughts: This was definitely a page turner and was hard to put down. When a college friend contacts Thomas and asks him to deliver his children to his wife, who had defected from the cult, Thomas has doubts that he can follow through. These doubts are because of tragedy in his past that he has not been able to deal with. When he sees how desperate these people (cult) are to get to the kids though, he makes the decision to try and help them.

The story is told from many different points of view ranging from Thomas' to the kids he is helping, Michelle and Micah, to their mother Justine. This really added to the story and made it feel complete.

If anyone read my review earlier today on Terror By Night, I think it is amazing that the one page that Terry Caffey found from this book was so applicable to his life. Where this book is fiction, and Terror By Night is non-fiction, I felt they both centered around the fact that God is sovereign and He is in control - even though we may not understand why events are happening. I believe that when James Pence wrote this book in 2003 that God knew that one page would be influencing a man in 2008. Both books are must reads!

~This book was provided to me for review by Kathy Carlton Willis Communications.~

Blind Sight
Publisher/Publication Date: Tyndale House, republished Aug 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4143-3479-0
416 pages

Terror by Night by Terry Caffey (Book Review)

Title: Terror By Night
Author: Terry Caffey
Publisher: Tyndale

About the book: In one evening, Terry Caffey lost everything. His wife, Penny, and his sons, Matthew and Tyler, were brutally murdered; his home was burned to the ground, and his sixteen-year-old daughter, Erin, was in jail, charged with three counts of capital murder.

In one year's time, God would restore it all.

At 3:00 a.m. on March 1, 2008, Terry Caffey awoke to find his daughter's former boyfriend standing in the bedroom doorway with a gun. An instant later the teen opened fire, killing Terry's wife and wounding Terry six times. As he slipped toward unconsciousness, Terry heard his son crying upstairs. More gunfire followed. When he regained consciousness, he felt the searing heat of his burning house.

Terry knew it was too late to save his family, but he had one thing to do before he died. He fought to stay awake and escaped the burning house through a bathroom window. As terry stumbled and crawled four hundred yards through pitch darkness, he asked God to keep him alive long enough to identify the killer, and then to let him die.

God allowed Terry to identify the murderer, but He didn't let Terry die.

What happened next is nothing short of miraculous.

Terry by Night is the emotionally gripping story of a daughter's ultimate betrayal, a father's unfathomable forgiveness, and a miraculous discovery that would restore one man's faith, spare two young lives, and restore peace to a small Texas town. (back cover)

My thoughts: Terry Caffey thought that things were going well with his family. They were having some trouble with his daughter, and the boys she had been choosing to date, but he felt like this was under control and he was preparing to be ordained by his church in a month. Erin had broken up with her last boyfriend about a month before and there hadn't seemed to be any repercussions - until the night of March 1.

As it states above, on March 1, 2008, Terry's wife and sons were murdered, he was shot and left for dead, and their house was burned to the ground. He survives, but for months doesn't want to face up to anything or anyone - he even decides how and where he is going to take his own life. He passes the nights away with the front door barricaded and The Discovery Channel on and spends his days in a medicated stupor.

At the end of his rope, he goes to the spot where his house used to stand and cried out to God that he needed to know why he was spared. It is at this time that he sees a piece of paper leaning against a tree. This paper was scorched around the edges, but despite having been outside in the elements for three months, was readable. The first complete sentence on the page was incredible - "I couldn't understand why You would take my family and leave me behind to struggle along without them. And I do believe that You're sovereign; You're in control." Talk about a message from God.

It doesn't happen overnight, but Terry slowly makes his way back to God and begins to witness and tell his story. Everyone should read this book and see how even in the worst of life, God is there and does have a plan. He is in control.

The page that Terry found was from a book called Blind Sight by James Pence. Please stop by later today to see my review of that book also.

~This book was provided to me for review by Kathy Carlton Willis Communications.~

Terror By Night
Publisher/Publication Date: Tyndale House Publisher, Sept 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4143-3476-9
288 pages

Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson (Book Review)

Title: Fools Rush In
Author: Janice Thompson
Publisher: Revell/Baker

My synopsis/thoughts: Bella Rossi has just taken over the management of her family's wedding planning business. After changing the name to Club Web, she begins advertising themed weddings. Her first such affair is to be a country western theme with yellow roses, cowboy boots and country music.

Problem is, being Italian, Bella doesn't know a lot about country music or cowboy boots! Her brother, who usually runs the soundboard, is in Houston because of his latest love and is not available to deejay the event. Will Bella be able to find a deejay in two weeks?

God must have been listening because Bella overhears a gentleman at her Uncle's pizza parlor talking about a deejay - so she gets his number. Problem is, he is not a deejay, but a D.J., Dwayne Neeley, Jr. - and a drop-dead handsome cowboy at that!

Filled with lively and outrageous characters from both Bella's and D.J.'s families - rounded out with a new neighbor's obnoxious son and a parrot that only seems to know foul-language (not fowl language. . .) that belongs to a mobster - and faith that could move mountains and you have Fools Rush In.

The Rossi family seem like a wonderfully close Italian family that worship Methodist style - while the Neeley's are good old-fashioned independent charismatic. Will the Italians and the Texans be able to share their faith, blend their families and survive the fireworks? Gotta read it to find out!

This is the first book in the Weddings by Bella series and I can't wait for the second book - Swinging on a Star which came out this month!

I had to request this one through my library's interlibrary loan department!

Fools Rush In
Publisher/Publication Date: Revell/Baker, September 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3342-1
330 pages

Kid's Korner: Two Book Review - Big Trucks and Big Bugs

Title: Big Bugs
Title: Big Trucks
Author: Catherine Ipcizade
Publisher: Capstone Press

My thoughts: I had a lot of fun reading these with my son. I thought that Big Trucks would be his favorite - as he is usually playing with anything with wheels - all the time! Guess what? I was wrong. He loved the Big Bugs book and asked me questions all the way through! Why did the water bug trap the frog? and Did the Goliath bird-eating spiders really eat birds? He also loved trying to guess the names of the different bugs. He did enjoy the Big Trucks book also and knew the names of all the trucks except for the logging truck. When he found out the name though, he did tell me it was because they carried logs!

These books have Big pictures - which he enjoyed, but in the bug book - eww - I didn't enjoy so much. I have a very strong fear of spiders, and the pictures of the tarantulas and the Goliath spider gave me the creeps! For early readers there are very few words with each picture and a nice glossary in the back for any words that they may not know. I have a feeling we will be reading these alot!

Other books in this series include Big Predators and Big Roller Coasters.

~I received these books from Capstone press in exchange for my honest review.~