The Last Operative

When I received this book from Tyndale Publishing I thought I was getting a new book by Jerry Jenkins. I found out this was a retelling of his standalone book. I did go in with an open mind and what I found in reading this book went from intiguing to boring back to intriguing and back to wanting to skim the pages to get to the end but I actually did finish it. The story deals with Jordan Kirkwood as an NSA inteleligence operative. He is an absentee dad and husband but that is about to change. He is meeting his wife in London for a time away when the stakes have changed. The threat to the USA is grave and who can Jordan trust since someone seems to a mole in this mission. He is on his own to try and find out who and what is behind the terrorism. Tack on a love interest from his earlier carreer who he never got over and still wants to find her and can she even be trusted.
It is one of those books that I enjoyed, but didn't, if that makes sense. I usually love the endings especially of suspense books but this one left me thinking it was just finally over and that made me glad. Not what I expected from a well know author.

Kiss and Burn

I read Erin Healy's book-Never Let you Go and was impressed with her writing so I got both Kiss and Burn from the library. I was interested to see how her writing style and Ted Dekker's writing style would come together. So amazing how their styles blended so well together.
Kiss:
This had it all-suspense, romance, action and drama!!!. Shauna was in a car accident and lost six months of her memory. That is bad enough but then she has the ability to steal memories from other people. She struggles with if she was responsible for the accident that maimed her brother and estranged her father and stepmother from her. This is the classic-good guys verses bad guys and who can Shauna trust. This is a superb book with twists and turns and a page turner. I saw Ted's interesting style but Erin's touch of suspense.
Burn:
Second book by these two authors and another WOW. I thought Kiss was good but this hits a home run. This is a storyline that is so different from any I have ever read before. Janeal is trapped in her father's gypsy culture when a powerful man, Salazar Sanso, promises her the life she longs for-but for a price. Will she sell her soul for money? Janeal escapes the fire but not the effects of the burn. What an interesting plot and what a twist halfway thru the book and then what an ending-never saw it coming. Janeal learns that their are two chambers in every heart, one for Judas and one for John-which one will she go after.
I highly recommend both of these books for suspense lovers-hope these two authors write more books together.

Deliver Us From Evil

Picked this title up from the library and it "knocked my socks off". It was a SUPERB read. This is the first of three books and I cannot wait till number 2 and 3 come out. The book deals with a tough subject-human trafficking. I started the book and was unsure I could go on but she painted the grim picture with the tragedy that it is. She deals with the tough world of law enforcement, the Great Smoky Mountains, romantic tension and lots of plot twists along with a lot of faith elements woven into this story. I highly recommend either buying or renting this book. I seldom reread books but this is one I probably will buy so I can read it again
This book was by Robin Carroll. Needless to say, I am trying to find anything by her and # 2 should be out in August-yea

Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson

I was blessed to receive this book from Tyndale Publishers free for my review of this book.
Since Bringing Up Boy came out and was so powerful and insightful for all that read it, everyone has been waiting for the sequel for the girls. Finally after three years Bringing Up Girls hit the shelves and it was definately worth the wait.
Since I am a grandmother now, I so wish I had this book when I was bringing up my daughter but I gleaned insight for my own granddaughter who is 5. What a different world these young ladies are growing up in with so much technology, obsession with beauty, bullies, and a culture that is influencing their hearts and minds. The chapters are full of wisdom and encouragement that are biblically based with foundational truths. The challenges girls are facing today-peer pressure, eating disorders, love, romance, sex, school demands are coming at younger ages than in the past. This book helps parents in guiding their daughters to make wise choices.
My favorite chapters were"Young women talk about their Fathers" and how a girls
sense of self-worth and personal dignity are linked to what she believes her father thinks of her and how important the father plays in a girls life. There are great stories and heartbreaking stories of fathers being and connecting as the "first man" in her life. I also enjoyed the chapter Fathers to Daughters. They are great quips and suggestions on how to raise a girl for both mothers and fathers-they will bring a lump to your throat for sure.
This is a "must read" for every parent or grandparent that will help the family to raise our daughters right.

Winner of the Heart Mender

Amy G has won the copy of Heart Mender-congrats and enjoy

The Heart Mender

I received The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews from Thomas Nelson free for my review of this book. This was a FANTASTIC read!!!. I was able to read The Noticer by him earlier from Nelson also and was hooked on him as an author. Picked up everything he has written so I was really excited when this came up to get to read.
It reads like a history book with suspense, love interests, life, loss, reconciliation and the power of forgiveness all rolled into one book that will hook you from the first page to the last page. He is a powerful storyteller and weaves a story where he finds Nazi artifacts on his property and then begins an investigation that unlocks a story that took place in his backyard. He takes you back to 1942 and WWII and finds that German subs were in the Gulf of Mexico waters and sinking US vessels carrying goods and fuel for the war. What happens next is amazing to think-a woman whose husband has been killed by the Germans now helps a German survive being shot. Their story continues and what an ending!!. You can tell by his writing that this book was very close to his heart and the story will stay with you a long, long time
Thomas Nelson graciously gave me another book to share so if you leave me a comment on what your favorite book has been, I will pick the winner on May 28.

Never Let You Go

I love suspense books so I was thrilled to get this book from Thomas Nelson for reviewing it. This book hooked me from the first chapter-so much to digest and where was the story going from here. Needless to say, Erin Healy hit a home run with this book. Captivating to read with a storyline that keeps changing and the characters and situations get more complicated. The story revolves around Lexi Solomon and what the last seven years have done to her family and her life. She has a husband that abandoned her and her daughter, a sister that was murdered, her dad that ended up in a mental health hospital, a mother that left her dad and she doesn't stay in contact with plus she works two jobs just to keep a roof over their heads. She is being tormented by two thugs who want her to do things their way or her daughter Molly will be a victim just like her sister. Her estranged husband has returned to make matters worse and situations from her past are haunting her. So many things in her life are making her question reality or imagination-this was so interesting how the author pulled it altogether.
This was one great page turner and how choices come back to haunt us but good will prevail over evil. Can't wait for her next novel--please hurry Erin.