Friday, August 5, 2016

Modern Potluck


Uncover the best dish

Modern Potluck is a cookbook and guide for today’s potluckers that delivers Instagram-worthy dishes packed with exciting, bold flavors. These 100 make-ahead recipes are perfect for a crowd and navigate carnivore, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan preferences gracefully. With beautiful color photographs and lots of practical information such as how to pack foods to travel, Modern Potluck is the ultimate book for gathering friends and family around an abundant, delicious meal.

My thoughts: What a fun cookbook! I love that it is all about recipes to make and share with friends and loved ones. I picked this book up since we do a weekly potluck at my church, complete with themes, and needed some new recipes to try out. This book is chock full of interesting, different recipes. Some of them are a little to unusual for our group, or will need to be modified, but I love the versatile nature of the recipes. The strawberry cream cheese bars look amazing, as do a lot of the casseroles.
I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Monday, August 1, 2016

Take Ten

Top ten books I would buy if someone handed me a fully loaded gift card. Somehow, this is not a hard one.;)

1. I'll Be Yours by Jenny B. Jones
I love this author, even if it has been a while since I read her books. Sadly, the library doesn't have this one.

2. The Lady and the Lionheart by Joanne Bischof
I've heard a lot of good things about this book! I'm also in love with the cover.;)

3. Close to You by Kara Isaac
Okay, so I have read this one, but only have it on my Kindle, so I would like to have a paper copy. I'm weird in that I love having hard copies of my favorites.;)

4. Can't Help Falling by Kara Isaac
She's a new favorite author, so it stands to reason that I need this one too.;)

5. Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel
I've read some of his stuff and it's wonderful!

6. Give them Grace by Elyse M Fitzpatrick

7. Bound Heart by Dawn Crandall
I read the first book in the Everstone Chronicles, and it was well written, so I would love to finish the series!

8. Captive Imposter by Dawn Crandall
The third book in the Everstone Chronicles.

9. Fierce Women by Kimberly Wagner
This one looks amazing!

10. Men Who Love Fierce Women
I know it's geared towards men, but I would need the set.;) This one for my hubby.;)

A Beauty Refined


Phoebe Von Bergen is excited to accompany her father when he travels from Germany to purchase sapphires in Montana. Little does she know that her father's plans--for the gemstones and his daughter--are not what they seem.
Ian Harper, a lapidary working in Helena, finds the young woman staying at the Broadwater Hotel more than a little intriguing. Yet the more he gets to know her, the more he realizes that her family story is based on a lie--a lie she has no knowledge of. And Ian believes he knows the only path that will lead her to freedom.

Meeting Ian has changed everything. Phoebe is determined to stay in America, regardless of her father's plans. But she may not be prepared for the unexpected danger as the deception begins to unravel.

My thoughts: While I didn't read the first book in the Sapphire Brides series, I feel like it didn't hinder me from enjoying this story. Tracie does a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life and drawing readers into the story. I like that she tackles hard issues with her stories, such as domestic abuse in this one. While it isn't an easy topic to read about, she does a wonderful job of weaving a sensitive subject into her story and creating awareness.
I also like that her stories have a strong Christian message.
I look forward to reading the other books in this series!
I received this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

If My Husband Would Change, I'd Be Happy


Like most brides on their wedding day, you no doubt were filled with love for your husband and the hope of a happy life together. But perhaps today, as the realities of life together have settled in, those happy expectations are going unfulfilled. And it's tempting to think, "If only my husband would change, I'd be happy."

That myth is but one of many that Rhonda Stoppe dispels in her easy-to-read exploration of what it takes to experience a truly happy marriage. In the process, she addresses such important topics asunderstanding your husband's need for your unconditional respectrekindling the love that drew you to your husband in the first placerefusing to believe the lie that you'd be happier married to someone elselearning to be content in the midst of financial strugglesthinking about sex from a biblical worldview

If you desire to rekindle the love and hope you felt on your wedding day, this book will go a long way toward making that dream come true.

Contains discussion questions and personal reflections at the end of each chapter.

My thoughts: This is an excellent book on marriage! So often, as women, we focus on the things we would change about our spouse or buy into the lie that we would be happier with someone else. Rhonda does a wonderful job of encouraging women to put their focus on Christ and making Him the center of their marriage.
I liked that Rhonda was easy to relate to and included notes from her husband on each chapter. This is a great book for newlyweds and those of us who have been married for a while. I think it would be great to study as a group too!
I received this book from Lit Fuse in exchange for my honest review.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Mommy Needs a Raise


Goodbye, Board Room and Legal Briefs--Hello, Dimples, Diapers, and Destruction
Women know that raising children will be different from climbing the corporate ladder. But nothing can truly prepare them for the mind-muddling world of motherhood. It doesn't take long for a new mom to question whether her tyrannical, diapered boss really understands her value to the organization. Because honestly? She's not always sure herself.
With her signature wit, lawyer-turned-full-time-mommy Sarah Parshall Perry says what all new moms are thinking when they trade annual reports for homework help and yoga pants. Perry invites moms to laugh alongside her amidst the "Are you kidding me?!" moments that come with the job of raising humans. This book is story of every mother who gives up one thing to get something better--and ends up finding out what she's worth along the way.

My thoughts: While I didn't give up being a professional to be a stay at home mother, I do appreciate a lot of the thoughts in the book. Sarah is a very engaging writer as she shares her journey from board rooms meetings to play dates. While the whole book is excellent, filled with humor and keen insight, I especially appreciated the last chapter and the reminder to live in the moment, since raising children can seem like you are stuck in the same place for eons, but it really does go quickly. It's deceptive that way.
I received this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.

Rise and Shine


Shannon Malone thought she’d found her happy ending when she married Edmund Ridgeway, but a diving accident on their honeymoon left her in a coma. Waking up to the news that she’s thirty years old would have been daunting enough . . . but she also learns that Edmund has lost his interim battle with cancer and the world has marched on without her. Her gorgeous doctor, Daniel Petros, seems to know everything about her and becomes Shannon’s tour guide into a whole new world of madness where reality television has taken over the planet and everyone’s life appears to revolve around a tiny screen on their cell phones!

As Shannon struggles to navigate through the changes—both in the world and in her—she also must discern real memories from imagined ones. Did she really ever wear capris pants and entertain in her living room, or was that Laura Petrie from her favorite classic TV show' And where is her beloved dog, Freeway' Oh, wait! That was Jonathan and Jennifer Hart’s dog, not hers.

Shannon’s three elderly aunts flit through her life in true Sleeping Beauty style with her well-being always a priority. And Edmund’s sister Millicent descends like the Evil Queen she is, trying to extract Shannon from any claim on the Ridgeway family fortune. When a tornado moves through town and Shannon is knocked unconscious, will Daniel’s kiss awaken her once and for all'

My thoughts: This us such a cute story! I love retellings of fairy tales, so I had fun reading this book. Sandra does a fun job of bringing the story of Sleeping Beauty to life, with a modern twist. So much could change in ten years! I loved reading about Shannon and how she handled those changes.
I received this book from Moody in exchange for my honest review.

Evil Forebodings

Evil Forebodings: Tiffany Rodgers is the kind of danger that she never dreamed could happen to her in the quiet little town of Newville. She is being stalked and having strange visions. The animals even seem different of late, somehow affected by the changes in the air. Officer Allen Lawrence is drawn to Tiffany, but he has reservations. Is she losing her mind, playing games, or are the things that she is seeing more than just evil forebodings?



My review: This was an interesting story! I thought that the story line was fascinating and unique. I loved that Tiffany could communicate with animals and that spiritual gifts and warfare are such a huge part of the story. I look forward to reading more by Carol!
I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.

About the Author: Carol E. Keen currently resides in Alabama with her husband and family. She spends her time writing, reading, working on photography, and working with her much loved critters. She started creating stories to share with others at the age of two years old. She was published for several years in FAMA magazine (Freshwater And Marine Aquarium) as a contributing editor. She published her first book on CD, called Simply Seahorses. She is overjoyed to be publishing her fiction to share with you now. Carol currently has more books in the “works”. Please feel free to follow her for updates.

On a personal note: Carol really enjoys coffee and a good book!

Guest Post from Carol E. Keen

Well, I know it isn’t lady like or proper to squeak or go “Eeeeeee!” with excitement, but it’s so hard not to do so. I’m past excited to be on this tour with Celebrate Lit! First I have to say, these are wonderful folks who I’m so very blessed to get to work with!

Now, today I’m doing happy dances over your being here for the kick off for my book, Evil Forebodings. It’s my second published book, and my first full-length fiction novel. This book took eight, yes that is 8, long years to complete. What on Earth could take me that long to write one book?

It started with my first event called, NanoWriteMo. In my case, it was NanoWrite-less! Who had the “brilliant” idea to have a huge writing contest smack over Thanksgiving and two major birthdays in our family? It was a disaster. It was as bad as saying a night person like myself has to function at 8:00am and be good at it. I was alone in my endeavor and didn’t get far at all.

A few years later, I went back to working on this book. This time I had a huge emotional backset from an incident that was just traumatic. I was told, in essence, that I wasn’t good enough to write for a career, and that my focus was on all the wrong things in my life. This came from a published author, who really didn’t know me. I was weighed and judged unfairly, and it was devastating. I learned a great deal though, and pretty much gave up on doing things the way I had been.

Forging ahead anyway, my first book, Beauty For Ashes, was published. Then I got to work on Evil Forebodings. This story and its characters have never left me, and I knew I had to finish this book. I’m really pleased with how it turned out, and I hope that you will enjoy it. While I believe all authors put some of themselves into their work, this book had a heavy dose of my heart infused into it in several places.

Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure, and please feel free to ask questions!

Blessings, Carol



Blog Stops


July 31: Mary Hake
August 2: Bukwurmzzz
August 4: Petra’s Hope
August 5: Carpe Diem

Giveaway

 

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