Books

A Heart’s Disguise by Colleen Coble

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A Heart's Disguise

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program.  To find out how you can become a book reviewer, click here.

USA Today bestselling author Colleen Coble has written several romantic suspense novels including Tidewater Inn, Rosemary Cottage, and the Mercy Falls, Lonestar, and Rock Harbor series. Visit her website at http://www.colleencoble.com Twitter: @colleencoble Facebook: colleencoblebooks

A Heart’s Disguise by Colleen Coble is the first book in the “Journey of the Heart” series.  It takes place in the tiny town of Wabash, Indiana just after the Civil War.  Sarah Montgomery harbors a deep sadness in her heart because the man she loves with every ounce of her being, Rand Campbell, has not returned from the battle front.

With her father’s health failing, he and her brother encourage Sarah to marry Ben Croftner so that she will be settled before her father’s death.  However, when she finds out that Rand is still alive and that Ben knew it, she breaks off the engagement.

Ben doesn’t take the rejection lightly, and he plans to abduct Sarah.  Then Rand comes to her aid, but informs her that he is leaving, as he is still in the Cavalry and has been posted at Fort Laramie, Wyoming.  He asks Sarah to go with him as his wife.

What will Sarah do?  Will she be able to leave her dying father’s side to travel west with the man she has always loved?

This book grabbed my emotions from the first page.  My emotions ranged from sympathy, to anger, to pain and hurt.  The characters in the story grabbed my heart and I cheered them on throughout, except for Ben Croftner who simply made me angry, and I wanted someone to teach him a lesson.  Of course, Sarah’s brother, William, isn’t very likeable either.

The story was romantic and sad.  It is an easy read at just 90 pages, and it left me wanting more.  I cannot wait for the second book in the series.  This is the first book I have ever read by Colleen Coble, but it won’t be the last.  I will anxiously await A Heart’s Obsession, and I’m sure I’ll look for other books she has written as well.

If you love a good romance story with a bit of danger, you’ll enjoy Colleen Coble’s Journey of the Heart.

River’s Edge by Terri Blackstock

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This is Book #3 in the Cape Refuge Series.  If you remember, I already reviewed Book #4 of this series here.  I know, I seem to be reading this series in reverse, but it still makes sense and is still very suspenseful and enjoyable.  I received a copy of River’s Edge free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program.  I am not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Official Book Description

The man Lisa Jackson loved most may have betrayed her.

Another used deception to manipulate her.

But did one of them kill her?

Ben Jackson is sure to defeat Jonathan Cleary in Cape Refuge’s mayoral race, until his wife turns up missing the day before a major debate. Suspecting foul play, Police Chief Cade launches an island-wide search. But it takes a psychic’s “vision” to point police to the riverside-and Lisa’s body.

The evidence implicating Ben in his wife’s murder is convincing. But as a local scandal escalates into a national media circus, Cade’s instincts tell him to dig deeper. And he’s not the only one. Blair Owens of the Cape Refuge Journal is using her investigative skills to uncover a rat’s nest of dirty secrets-and more than one person with a motive for murder. But Blair’s methods are jeopardizing her relationship with Cade, and an unsolicited prediction from the psychic only adds to her troubles. Is the man’s so-called gift truly from God, as he claims?

Did Lisa’s murder have anything to do with the mayoral race, her husband’s alleged affair, or her decade-long struggle with infertility? Whoever the killer is, he’s about to take his evasion of justice to the next, lethal level. And someone else is going to die.

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This story is well-written and deals with some difficult issues like infertility.  It is realistic and the characters are people who will draw you into the story and make you care about them from page one.  The suspense of who killed Lisa Jackson will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end, and there are enough suspects to keep you guessing.  I love to read suspenseful novels and try to solve the crime and figure out who the guilty party is before it is revealed, but Terri Blackstock in the Cape Refuge series (the two that I have read so far) always surprises me, and to me, that says the author did a great job with the story because it was intricately woven in a way that I thought I knew who dunnit, but I didn’t.

This series also includes a recurring group of townsfolk who keep you coming back to each book of the series.  Their storylines include suspense and romance as well as real-life issues.  Blair Owens’s walk of faith is a joy to watch as it grows and she faces some of the spiritual struggles we all deal with.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves a well-written story about realistic characters dealing with realistic issues.  I also recommend this novel to anyone who loves a fast-paced suspense novel, as well as a mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end.

Love Unexpected by Jody Hedlund

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I recently read Jody Hedlund’s ebook Out of the Storm.  It is a novella and I enjoyed it very much.  Included at the end of that ebook novella were the first five chapters of Love Unexpected by Jody Hedlund.  I read those first five chapters and couldn’t wait to get my hands on the book so that I could read the rest of the story.

My friend Lisa, Living Echoes, read the book and did a review on it, and last Saturday, she asked me if I would like to read it because I had commented on her review that I had never read a book by Jody Hedlund (I had read the ebook novella since making that comment).  I was so happy, when she handed me the book.  I couldn’t wait to dig into it.  I began reading it that evening and finished it this afternoon.

Love Unexpected by Jody Hedlund is about a young woman who is traveling on a boat with her brother.  Pirates attack the boat and Emma, the young woman, and her brother, Ryan, are rescued by the Presque Isle lighthouse keeper.  Presque is a remote place in Michigan.  There are only two other woman on Presque Isle when Emma and Ryan arrive, an older woman and her daughter-in-law.

Ryan is taken in by a family because he can work for the man, but Emma is not really welcome to stay with them.  An unlikely solution presents itself when the lighthouse keeper arrives in town.  His wife has just passed away and he is having difficulty caring for his two-year-old child and the lighthouse.  A traveling preacher suggests that Emma marry the lighthouse keeper as a solution to both of their problems.  She hastily agrees and finds herself unprepared for parenting an exuberant toddler and managing a household.

The story is suspenseful and romantic.  I fell in love with Emma and Patrick, the lighthouse keeper, quickly and longed for them both to find happiness with each other.  Jody Hedlund created such rich characters in Emma and Patrick that I couldn’t help but love them and route for them throughout a well-written plot; a plot that constantly created problems and emotional upset in their lives.

The story was spiritually inspiring, as Patrick lived a life of faith and had already learned some difficult lessons in his life.  I was challenged by something that Patrick shares with Emma on page 94. (You’ll have to read the book to find out what those words are.)

This is the first book in a new series by Jody Hedlund; a series called “Beacons of Hope” and I look forward to reading each one as it becomes available.  I highly recommend this book to adult women who enjoy well-written historical fiction stories that include good, clean romance.

I wrote this book review on my own.  I did not write it for a publisher and I did not receive a free copy of the book.  I simply borrowed the book from a friend, but I enjoyed it so much and loved the characters so much that I wanted to write a review and encourage others to read it.

Those of you interested in writing may also want to check out Jody Hedlund’s blog:  Jody Hedlund.  She does a great job encouraging writers.  I’ve been reading her blog for months.

A Special Giveaway!

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Hello everyone, I hope you are having a blessed Christmas.  I am having a quiet, relaxing Christmas at home with my family.

I am having a special giveaway because this post is my 100th post on this blog, AND today is Christmas day, therefore I am giving away two books!  They are older books, but they are good stories with a Christmas theme.  One is All Through the Night by Mary Higgins Clark and the other is Dashing Through the Snow by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark.  I enjoyed them both, but Dashing Through the Snow is my favorite of the two.

I would have liked to give away a writing resource since I am a writer and that is the main focus of this blog, but I really didn’t have anything to offer at this time.  Maybe I can do that for a future giveaway.

To be the recipient of these two books, please leave a comment in the comment box below and tell me how long you’ve been following my blog, what you like about it and what you’d like to see here.  Those comments will be greatly appreciated and considered as I begin a new year of blogging here.

I will determine a winner by December 31st and announce the winner of this giveaway here on the blog in my New Year’s Day post.  That gives you one week to decide on a comment to post here to take a chance at winning two good books by a well-known author.  I can’t wait to read what you have to say!

What Do I Read? Who are My Favorite Authors?

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What do I read?  I read my Bible and some inspirational nonfiction books.  My favorite books to read are fiction and of those I prefer mystery/suspense, mystery/romance, general or mainstream fiction, Christian romance, classics and a very few horror/suspense.

Now, I will clarify my answers to the previous question by listing my favorite authors and/or the book they wrote which is my favorite, for some of my favorite books are the only book I read by that author:

Danielle Steel

Jeanette Oke

Frank Peretti

Dee Henderson especially her O’Malley Series

Charles Dickens

William Shakespeare

Maeve Binchy

Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mysteries

Terri Blackstock

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights

Jude Devereaux’s A Knight in Shining Armor

Nicholas Sparks

Dean Koontz (I like a lot of Dean Koontz’s books, including the Brother Odd books, but Watchers is my absolute favorite)

This is not an exhaustive list by any means.  I read A LOT of books, but I don’t often read many books by the same author unless I really like something that I read by that author, or unless it is part of a series.  Lately, I have taken to downloading free e-books and reading them on my tablet.

I believe every author I read has an influence on my writing, especially the authors I read a lot.  I enjoy reading as much, if not more, than writing and I look forward to one day being able to put more hours in the day into these two activities.

What authors and books do you like to read?  How do you think they influence you?