The Simple Soul of Susan review and giveaway!

Susan Combs had long ago found the love of her life. The only problem was the other party still didn’t know he had been found.
Every day Susan saw Calder Hurtz, her next door neighbor and childhood best friend. They always enjoyed the short drive to school down the dusty streets of their small Texas town. She was happy in those perfect moments, for her life at home was most imperfect. The challenging homestead she inhabited was also the favorite subject of local gossip.
But one autumn day she overhears Calder and another boy having a conversation. This occasion of accidental audience sets Susan’s life on an unforeseen path. In the seasons to come, her future will be changed by two hospitalizations, two confessions of love, and one betrayal.
Compulsively readable, The Simple Soul of Susan is an engaging, soul-endearing romance and a mesmerizing debut.

My thoughts: While I enjoy a good romance, I do get a bit annoyed with just how predictable a lot of the stories are. I loved that this story was unique and was a lot like life. Set in a small town with the quiet Susan as the heroine the story moves both gently and swiftly. I love the underlying messages of real love and not just following your feelings. This is a wonderful, sweet story to pick up this summer! I look forward to reading more by this talented author!
I received this book from Celebrate Lit in exchange for my honest review.


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About the Author:
Born and raised in a small Texas town, Noel Branham started her career in digital communications after graduating with a degree in English. An award-winning communicator, she now writes from her residence in Florida about things closest to the heart: home, family, and love.

Guest post from the author:
Fictional Romance: A Real Relationship Killer?
You’ve heard it before… All romance novels give readers unrealistic expectations of relationships. Yep. They totally do. But I think most of the time, with life in general, we have unrealistic expectations not only of others but of ourselves. We live in a world where there is always something else to try, buy or satisfy our ever-evolving aspirations of happiness and fulfillment. So here are three things to remember while reading romance novels that will lead to having deep, meaningful, romantic, relationships in real life:
Happiness isn’t fulfilled expectations. When you expect yoursignificant other (SO) to see you and romantically sweep you off your feet while pulling flowers from behind your back and force feeding you chocolates… you may have some unrealistic expectations. Would it be nice? Sure! But there is always something more they could do to make you happy, feeling loved, satisfied, etc. It’s a bottomless pit of desire and implied anticipated actions. We have to realize that no matter how many things we want out of a relationship, we can never receive them all… because realistically, we could never live up to the things expected of us either. Romance is a two-way street.
Happiness is the unexpected, fulfilled. Wait… how can you fulfill something that isn’t expected? You can’t. And that’s what makes it so great. Your SO fills your car up with gas, takes you out for a date for no particular reason, watches that Victorian-era PBS drama with you even though they can’t understand the accents… When we get rid of expectations for ourselves and others we are able to really enjoy the things and people we already have and anything else is simply adding to lovely life that we already possess.
Happiness in relationships is what you make of it. Just not feeling the love anymore after five years together? Was it that you chose the wrong person? Was it something they did? Something you did? Love can be a feeling and an action. Your relationship doesn’t have to be defined by feelings. Feelings fade. They aren’t realistic. They change with time as people change with time because all people change. But actions… actions are what you choose to do on a regular basis. They are a daily intentional choice (made by you) to care for another person. You can control your actions, but not so much your feelings. Funny thing is often times your actions create feelings you never thought you could have.
If you are looking for a romance novel with a bit more realism to test out these principals, check out The Simple Soul of Susan. You can have the realistic expectation that you won’t be disappointed.

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Giveaway!
Grand Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card
First & Second Place Prize: eBook copy of the Simple Soul of Susan
Be sure to comment on this post to claim more entries on the giveaway!

Blind Betrayal

Deputy U.S. Marshal Casey Sloane has worked at the St. Louis Marshals office for two years and is given a routine assignment to help transport a reporter to D.C. to testify before a grand jury. Valerie, the reporter, was writing a story about an up-and-coming environmentalist who suddenly disappeared and, she later discovered, whose backers purportedly have ties to a terrorist.

When the seemingly ordinary assignment suddenly takes a shocking turn, Casey is forced to put aside her own feelings about the unexpected reappearance of a man from her past as she and two other Marshals take Valerie on the run. And as it becomes dangerously clear Valerie's testimony has even bigger implications than they knew, they'll do whatever it takes to make it out alive.

My thoughts: At first glance, this story seemed pretty cut and dried, though it was turned on it's head and full of suspenseful turns right away, so it wound up being more than I thought it would (which shouldn't of surprised me, since I have read most of Nancy's other stories and they are all excellent with a wonderful depth to them). I thought that Nancy did an excellent job of bringing modern struggles up. The twists to the story were well played. I highly recommend this book and the previous ones in the series!
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.



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A Defense of Honor

When Katherine "Kit" FitzGilbert turned her back on London society more than a decade ago, she determined never to set foot in a ballroom again. But when business takes her to London and she's forced to run for her life, she stumbles upon not only a glamorous ballroom but also Graham, Lord Wharton. What should have been a chance encounter becomes much more as Graham embarks on a search for his friend's missing sister and is convinced Kit knows more about the girl than she's telling.

After meeting Graham, Kit finds herself wishing things could have been different for the first time in her life, but what she wants can't matter. Long ago, she dedicated herself to helping women escape the same scorn that drove her from London and raising the innocent children caught in the crossfire. And as much as she desperately wishes to tell Graham everything, revealing the truth isn't worth putting him and everyone she loves in danger.

My thoughts: I adored this story! It was well written an grabbed my attention from the get go, with Graham bored in a ballroom and a mysterious woman with a mission. I thought that Kristi did a fabulous job of bringing the characters to life, as well as some difficult situations in the Regency period. I am so excited about this series and look forward to reading the next book! In my haste to start this one, I skipped over the novella introducing the series, so now I will be going back to read the short story. The novella is free, so I highly recommend your going to download it.;)
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.



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Top ten books that have my favorite color in them

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1. Matchmaking for Beginners

This one popped up and looks quite adorable, since I love stories that have to do with matchmakers!

2. Reclaiming Shilo Snow

This one is on my TBR list, since I read the first one and am curious to see what happens with the characters. It's an interesting dystopian style series.

3. Unraveling

I recently finished this fantasy style series. The covers were just gorgeous!

4. The Love Letter

This is another one I have yet to read, but I was just drawn to the vibrant color on the cover!

5. Oath of Honor

This one is an amazing start to a series about a family involved in the police force. I am really looking forward to reading the next book!

6. Formula of Deception

I just downloaded this one to my kindle, and I am quite excited about starting it! Carrie's mysteries are always hard to put down.

7. Blind Betrayal

I just received this mystery and look forward to starting it!

8. Beneath the Surface

I feel like I need this series on my kindle, since it looks like one I would enjoy!

9. Falling for You

I love the color of the dress on this one!

10. For Love and Honor

I like the cover on this one, but I loved the story even more, since it explored what it might of been like to be disfigured in the Medieval times.

Can you guess what my favorite color is? I actually have more than one, so it was hard to just stick with it.;)

Unbreakable

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"An exquisite conclusion to the thrilling Unblemished trilogy." —RT Book Reviews
Sara Ella masterfully takes readers to new worlds in the jaw-dropping finale to the Unblemished trilogy. With the fate of the Reflections at stake, Eliyana must destroy the Void . . . but at what cost?
Eliyana Ember is a reluctant queen. As vessel of the Verity—the purest of souls—only she can lead the fight against the wicked magnetism of the Void. If she fails, the paths between Reflections will cease to exist, and those she loves will remain plagued by darkness.
After falling through a draining Threshold and suffering near-death, Eliyana awakens to a Shadowalker-ridden Venice, Italy. From there, she must learn to navigate mysteries of time and space. Traveling across the seven Reflections, Eliyana seeks one thing: the demise of the Void.
But something else is at stake—the fate of her heart. Kyaphus Rhyen and Joshua David, brothers in arms, duel to win her hand. Ky remains ensnared and tortured by the Void. Joshua, though well-meaning, harbors dark secrets. Meanwhile, Eliyana finds herself torn, her mind and memories leading her in one direction, but her heart pulling her toward a man she knows she shouldn’t trust.
How can she discern whom to believe when she cannot even depend on her own fragmented memories?
Traversing the realms of fantasy and reality through a labyrinth of plot twists, Unbreakable delivers a thrilling conclusion to Sara Ella’s Unblemished Trilogy.

My thoughts: I have mixed feelings about this book, as I did with the second one in the series. I really enjoyed the first one and how unique it was, but then felt like the second and third books spend a lot of time in the characters heads. I do like that it was told from different view points, since then you get to know more than just Eliyana and you get to see what is going on in the various regions in this story. The different Reflections and how they interact and influenced one another was brilliant, and movie and music fans will enjoy the quotes and references in the story. The only thing I would of liked to see more of is a little faster moving story and less of the thought process of the characters. That said, it was still enjoyable to get to know the characters and see how their story concluded, especially since it has some fun twists.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

The Theory of Happily Ever After

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According to Dr. Maggie Maguire, happiness is serious science, as serious as Maggie takes herself. But science can't always account for life's anomalies--for instance, why her fiancé dumped her for a silk-scarf acrobat and how the breakup sent Maggie spiraling into an extended ice cream-fueled chick flick binge.

Concerned that she might never pull herself out of this nosedive, Maggie's friends book her as a speaker on a "New Year, New You" cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. Maggie wonders if she's qualified to teach others about happiness when she can't muster up any for herself. But when a handsome stranger on board insists that smart women can't ever be happy, Maggie sets out to prove him wrong. Along the way she may discover that happiness has far less to do with the head than with the heart.

Filled with memorable characters, snappy dialogue, and touching romance, Kristin Billerbeck's The Theory of Happily Ever After shows that the search for happiness may be futile--because sometimes happiness is already out there searching for you.

"Billerbeck has the most delightful voice I've ever read. I adore her stories, and she returns with an enchanting new novel, The Theory of Happily Ever After. I laughed, cried, and rejoiced with her wonderful characters and was sad when the story ended. Highly recommended!"--Colleen Coble, USA Today bestselling author

My thoughts: It has been a while since I last read one of Billerbeck's books. Something about this one just jumped out at me though. It was a fun, light hearted read that had some surprising depth to it. I would of liked a bit more to her best friends, but I did enjoy Maggie and the adventure she went on with the cruise. It was fun to see the different experiences and characters that she came across! This one is a fun summer read.
I received this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.

Storm Front

A tornado has destroyed a small Minnesota community and among the missing are not only a group of students but PEAK Rescue team leader Chet King. Ty Remington will stop at nothing to rescue his mentor, not even when the girl he loved--and lost--walks back into his life. But Brette needs his help more than he knows, despite her stubborn determination to push him away. And when he gets a second chance, loving her just might cost him more than he can imagine.

A blogger for Vortex Storm Chasers, Brette Arnold didn't expect her adventures to land her in the same place as Ty, the guy who she walked--no, ran--from over a year ago. She had her reasons--good ones. The kind that tell her that falling for him again would only lead to heartache. But Ty isn't the kind of man to give up--not on the missing students, or on her.

Life and love hang in the balance in Susan May Warren's breathless story of holding on to hope during a deadly summer of storms.

My thoughts: The Montana Rescue series has been an interesting one to read, with the variety of disasters that strike and how the team has to over come them. I have also enjoyed the ongoing mystery surrounding Ian Shaw's niece, which has been left as a bit of a cliff hanger in several of the books. (be warned, if you don't like cliff hangers in series yet to be completed. lol) I highly recommend reading the whole series in order, since the characters are intertwined. This is an easy series to get through that is quite enjoyable.
I received this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.