When Through Deep Waters

Rachelle Dekker's newest release, When Through Deep Waters is my first by this author and it was very interesting.  Alicen McCaffrey has it all..a beautiful home in Santa Monica, successful husband, and an adorable daughter.  Tragedy happens and Alicen feels responsible and sinks into severe depression until a childhood friend invites her to Red Lodge Montana.  They spent summers together at the Lodge as kids. Alicen relives peaceful memories with Grandma Josephine and feels and hopes that things could be different here.  It has it all, mountains with lush forests and small town charm. Then, just as she is starting to forgive herself, she starts seeing mysterious figures and hearing voices near the river in the woods.  Has she gone insane?  Her grandmother Josephine did and now Alicen struggles to bring any sense into what she sees and hears. A gentle tap pressed against the back of her right shoulder, and simultaneously the giggling changed to a single voice..Alicen. Alicen whipped her head to the right to find nothing.  Alicen, do you hear us?  As the story progresses Alicen must discern from her mental health and her spiritual health.  Can she be forgiven and can she forgive herself?

Interesting read because the author pits mental illness and spiritual vision and how can Christians approach the subject of mental illness with dignity and respect.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for this free copy just for my honest opinion.
 https://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/firstChapters/978-1-4964-1712-1.pdf

Lone Witness

Lone Witness is book two in the Atlanta Justice series by Rachel Dylan.  Having read the first one..Deadly Proof which I found incredible, I couldn't wait for number two and was not disappointed as this author has a gift for Christian suspense.

What if..you are the only witness to a brutal crime and there is a target on your back, how do you outrun the evil ones? Sophie Dawson is a prosecutor in the DA's office and her first case involves a local bank employee who may be cheating customers.  She is determined to bring justice to those who lost their savings.  All is going good for Sophie until she witnesses a double homicide involving a vengeful gang. She needs protection and security guard Cooper Knight is hired as a bodyguard. She is being warned by many that retaliation by the gang is a real possibility. "Don't give it a second thought.  They're not going to come after me. It'd be too risky.  Everyone's watching." "Watch your back, and I'll be in touch about the schedule."  A chill shot down her arms at his words. Was she really in danger? Between the bank scandal and the gang after her..who will win and take Sophie out before she can testify or prove the bank employee was guilty?

A gritty, well written suspenseful book with two story lines set in Atlanta with female lawyers with some romance thrown in.  Since the author has practiced law, those elements add to the intensity of the book. You will find a new author in Rachel Dylan that you love, just like I did.

Thanks to Bethany House for this free copy just for my honest opinion.

Before I Saw You

Amy Sorrells does it again!!. She has created a masterpiece in her latest book, Before I Saw You.
I was blessed to read and review her third novel, Lead Me Home and loved her writing so much that I read her first two also. Was thrilled when this came out and was able to read and review this one.  I guess you could say..I love her writing!!. This book in one word for me is..Heart warming.
The cover really catches your eye plus what is written on it.  The world is trying to break her, but grace will set her free.

Hope means everything when you've got nothing, and  hope's all I have when I leave my brother, Jayden, to check on the baby rabbits.  The first sentence pulled me in and I found this story tugged at my heart and how friends come alongside when your family is non-existent.  Jaycee Givens lives in an area most people would call "trailer trash", but she makes the best of it. Her mother is ravaged by the heroin epidemic and ends up in prison so Jaycee is all alone.  Add to this, is an unplanned pregnancy and the baby's abusive father is not happy about it. Her neighbor, Sudie is her refuge and helps her see the greater purpose in choices she needs to make for her unborn child.  There is also  Gabe who is new to town and is kind to her, only wants to help her..but her walls are up and she trusts no one. Can she trust the friends closest to her to help her reconcile with her mother and the hard choice she needs to make of hanging on or letting go?

The characters in the story were the kind you laughed with and cried with which made me fall in love with her writing again with this book.  This is one book I will read again because it was that Good!!
Make sure you pick up Amy Sorrells books and you will say that they are that Good!!

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for my free copy to review with my own opinions.

Masterpiece

Francine Rivers newest release Masterpiece is truly a MASTERPIECE!!!!. I will admit that I am a huge fan of Francine Rivers and have read everything she has written.  Needless to say, I could not wait till this book came out.  Cleared my calendar, along with the freezing weather outside, it was a perfect novel to curl up with.  I tried to pace myself reading, but it was too hard.  The story
line of Roman Velasco and Grace Moore pulls you in more and more with each page, making it a page turner till the very end. 

The ghosts of his past hold him captive.  Her missteps bring her to his door.

Lets start with Roman..a man that has women, money, fame and is truly unhappy.  He is always looking for that next high.  He is a sought after artist and his paintings bring in more money than he needs. So to find that high he reverts to his past as a graffiti artist and goes out at night to tag buildings as the "Bird". This alter ego could destroy his career and land him in prison, but he doesn't care.  His life is a mess and needs a personal assistant to help him and Grace Moore enters the picture. Grace needs the money so she takes the job, but finds Roman has demons from his past that threaten their working environment.  Grace has demons of her own..a failed marriage, an unhappy childhood mixed with tragedy, and a son to raise with little support.  She needs the job so desperately that when Roman suggest she live in the guest cottage , she accepts but wonders how this will affect their working relationship.  Grace is a believer and Roman is not. When Grace asks Roman what he believes, he says,"We're born. We survive the best we can.  We die.  End of story"  As you continue reading, you realize that if Roman can't let go of his past, he will never reach his full potential, and Grace knows the same applies to her. Throughout the story there are highs, lows but always showing the Lord at work in each of their lives. God had been drawing Roman and Grace to Him from the time they were children, both desperately in need and longing for a father.  Long before they knew Him, He'd been at work in their lives.  The Lord had promised those who believe that He would take away the stony, stubborn heart;give them a tender, responsive heart; and put His Spirit in them so they could follow Him.

When you pick up one of Francine Rivers books, you will always have the gospel presented in various ways and this book was a fascinating story of how God is always after His children and how His love and mercy cover us, even when we are like Roman Velasco was. If you read just one book this year, please make it this one!. Loved, loved, loved the story and the amazing characters that Francine put together to weave and unforgettable story.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for this free book just for my honest opinion.

http://mediacenter.tyndale.com/downloads/press_kits/The%20Masterpiece%20Author%20Q&A.pdf
https://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/firstChapters/978-1-4964-0790-

Under a Cloudless Sky

There are some authors that you wish could write a new book every month. Chris Fabry is the author I wish could write faster!. He is a masterful storyteller that engages you in his characters and plot. I always wish I could read his books slower so there won't be such a long time before his next one.
Under a Cloudless Sky has everything you want in a book..characters that are memorable, time frame of seventy years that encompasses generations and a surprise ending that I never saw coming.

Under a Cloudless Sky explores the well kept secrets of a lush and storied coal mining town-and the good people who live there-in danger of being destroyed for the sake of profit. The mining town of Beulah Mountain, West Virginia Ruby and Bean form a unique friendship.  Ruby is from the right side of the tracks and Bean the other. Ruby's father is a mine owner and Bean's daddy is a drunken disgruntled miner. This takes place in 1933 and the story focuses on the simpler times and how friendships are formed.  Ruby and Bean discover secrets about the town and a tragedy comes and threatens to tear them apart forever. Ruby struggles to understand the inequalities of life, asking "Why do some have it good and some have it bad?" Bean answers, "Some say it's the luck of the draw.  Some call it Gods will.  I think it's somewhere in the middle.  You got to take the good with the bad." The storyline jumps from 1933 to 2004 and how one man..Hollis Beasley is holding out from selling his land to Coleman Coal and Energy. His families legacy is on Beulah Mountain and he is taking his last stand.  The town is dying and Coleman wants to open the Company Store Museum to pay homage to the past-even the massacre of 1933.
Enter the star of the story..Ruby Handley Freeman. She is a feisty octogenarian that is invited to the Company Store Museum since she was a part of the history.  She lives hundreds of miles away and decides to drive herself to Beulah Mountain.  Except her kids have taken the keys away from her. The fun begins with the harrowing tale and as she begins the journey, she needs to face a decades-old secret that will change everything for her and those she meets.

This story will stay with you long after you turn the last page.  How secrets can destroy you and relationships like Ruby found out. Loved the two different time periods and how the story intersected each period. Will the truth about the town's past be its final undoing or its saving grace?  Please pick up this masterful story and find out for yourself.  You will be like me, can't Chris write faster.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for this free copy just for my honest opinion.
 https://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/firstChapters/978-1-4964-2828-8.pdf
 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35754710-under-a-cloudless-sk

The House of Foster Hill

Sometimes you try a new author and are impressed and sometimes the book just doesn't connect.  I can say that Jaime Jo Wright's debut novel..The House on Foster Hill was an outstanding read that had me thoroughly involved throughout the story. I really enjoy the story lines that span history and entail two different time periods that the story weaves around. This story spans over a hundred years to the present and the author redefines historical suspense with a house and the women it touched.

Starting out in Oakwood Wisconsin in 1906, Ivy Thorpe felt that death had a way of creeping up on a soul, and Ivy Thorpe was determined that when it visited her, she would not be surprised.  Her story would be recorded and remembered. When a body is found in the Foster Hill oak tree, Ivy sets out to find out her story and what happened to her and her baby. The House of Foster Hill has always had a reputation of sinister happenings and now this.
Kaine Prescott is heading to the Foster Hill house from California after she purchases her grandfather's house sight unseen. Her husband died two years ago and she believes it to be suspicious and keeps trying to get the investigation reopened. When Kaine sees the abandoned house, she realizes her decision was foolish to try to compensate for her husbands death. She wants to redo the house because he wanted to always do that. Now she is learning the dark history to the house and someone is out to keep her from continuing to find out the the truth.  She finds small treasures in the house from Ivy and Kaine is trying to put together the same story that Ivy was putting together about the strange house on Foster Hill.

This storyline has it all...suspense, romance and intrigue that will keep you turning pages to find out what Ivy and Kaine find out about the House on Foster Hill and just how the two stories are stories of legacy and loss. The characters were very well crafted along with twists that surprised me and hope that tied it altogether. Please pick up and read, you will not be disappointed.

Thanks to Bethany House Publishers for this free copy just for my honest opinion.

The Delusion

I was very intrigued by Laura Gallier's new book called The Delusion after reading a short synopsis of the story line. I love Christian suspense and thought this was right up my alley of reading. Come to find out it was a young adult/fantasy book.  I left it on the table for quite a while before tackling the book. As I read  and read, I just was not getting the gist of the story and figured I would give it to page 100 to see if I could finish it. Around page 85, I got it! The author completely has me engrossed in the story and it became a page turner for me.

Owen Edmond had to move in the middle of his senior year of high school.  He is now the new guy at Masonville High School where eleven students have committed suicide.  They may have died by their own hands, but their deaths were provoked and he is the only one who could see what tormented them. Owen has endured a near death experience and wakes to a distressing reality. The people around him suddenly appear to be shackled and enslaved. He thinks these are crazed hallucinations but his delusions become more evil. He is the only one who can see these hideous beings that are preying on his girlfriend and classmates. Is Owen imagining the evil or is everyone blind to its reality?  How can Owen convince anyone to believe him before it is too late. An interesting paragraph in the story. "People are enslaved by their own evil attitudes and impulses-their hard hearts. Dark forces exploit that.  Prey on people's brokenness.  Thrive in a culture of unbelief. What do they want from us?  Surely you know by now..our souls.  Cut off from the light.  For eternity.
Can Owen find the truth and what he believes before it's too late?  You have to read this  story for yourself to find that answer.

This is one book I am so glad I read.  I always loved Frank Peretti's books on spiritual warfare and  this author writes an amazing book on the supernatural.  Please read..you will not be disappointed.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for this free book just for my honest opinion.https://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/firstChapters/978-1-4964-2236-1.pdf
 http://www.lauragallier.com/