What am I reading?

A New Road Home--or Another Dead End? Within the course of a week, marriage expert Natalie is dumped by her husband, receives an urgent call home from her father, and discovers her estranged sister, Lindsay, is pregnant. A road trip on Route 66 may not help, but it sure couldn't hurt. Or so Natalie thinks, until Lindsay's boyfriend starts stalking them. Will their trip down the Mother Road bring the two sisters closer together, or turn out to be the biggest wrong turn of their lives?

I'm about halfway through the book and am enjoying it!

One woman, an impossible dream, and the faith it took to see it through. German immigrant and farm wife Hulda Klager possesses only an eighth-grade education—and a burning desire to create something beautiful. What begins as a hobby to create an easy-peeling apple for her pies becomes Hulda’s driving purpose: a time-consuming interest in plant hybridization that puts her at odds with family and community, as she challenges the early twentieth-century expectations for a simple housewife. Through the years, seasonal floods continually threaten to erase her Woodland, Washington garden and a series of family tragedies cause even Hulda to question her focus. In a time of practicality, can one person’s simple gifts of beauty make a difference? Based on the life of Hulda Klager, Where Lilacs Still Bloom is a story of triumph over an impossible dream and the power of a generous heart. “Beauty matters… it does. God gave us flowers for a reason. Flowers remind us to put away fear, to stop our rushing and running and worrying about this and that, and for a moment, have a piece of paradise right here on earth.

Will start this one today, I've not read any of Kirkpatrick's books before so I'm anxious to start.

Some great books!

These are not review books but I had to comment on how fantastic they are, if you haven't read them do so! Both are 5 star books!

About the book:

"I collect words. I keep them in a box in my mind. I'd like to keep them in a real box, something pretty, maybe a shoe box covered with flowered wrapping paper. Whenever I wanted, I'd open the box and pick up the papers, reading and feeling the words all at once. Then I could hide the box. But the words are safer in my mind. There, he can't take them." Ten-year old Kaylee Wren doesn't speak. Not since her drug-addled mother walked away, leaving her in a remote cabin nestled in the towering redwoods-in the care of a man who is as dangerous as he is evil. With silence her only refuge, Kaylee collects words she might never speak from the only memento her mother left behind: a dictionary. Sierra Dawn is thirty-four, an artist, and alone. She has allowed the shame of her past to silence her present hopes and chooses to bury her pain by trying to control her circumstances. But on the twelfth anniversary of her daughter's death, Sierra's control begins to crumble as the God of her childhood woos her back to Himself. Brought together by Divine design, Kaylee and Sierra will discover together the healing mercy of the Word-Jesus Christ.

About the book:

One dress. Four women. An amazing destiny. Charlotte Malone is getting married. Yet all is not settled in the heart of Birmingham's chic bridal boutique owner. Charlotte can dress any bride to perfection-except herself. When she discovers a vintage mint-condition wedding gown in a battered old trunk, Charlotte embarks on a passionate journey to discover the women who wore the gown before her. Emily in 1912. Mary in 1939. And Hillary in 1968. Each woman teaches Charlotte something about love in her own unique way. Woven within the threads of the beautiful hundred-year-old gown is the truth about Charlotte's heritage, the power of faith, and the beauty of finding true love.

Finding Our Way Home by Charlene Baumbich

About the book...

When principal ballerina Sasha Davis suffers a career-ending injury at age thirty-eight, she leaves her Boston-based dance company and retreats to the home of her youth in Minnesota. But Sasha’s injuries limit her as much as her mother’s recent death haunts her. Concluding she can’t recover alone, Sasha reluctantly hires a temporary live-in aide. Enter the übercapable Evelyn Burt. As large-boned as Sasha is delicate, Evelyn is her employer’s opposite in every way. Small town to Sasha’s urban chic, outgoing to Sasha’s iciness, and undaunted where Sasha is hopeless, nineteen-year-old Evelyn is newly engaged and sees the world as one big, shiny opportunity. Evelyn soon discovers Sasha needs to heal more than bones. Slowly, as the wounds begin to mend and the tables tilt, the two women form an unlikely alliance and discover the astounding power of even the smallest act done in the name of love. Finding Our Way Home is a story of second chances and lavish grace.

My thoughts...

I found the story to be decent but slow paced and predictable, the author took her time in getting to the point. The characters are likeable, however, I felt like I never really got to know them. There was no suspense, no thrilling moment, just a story about the ups and downs in the lives of normal people. The friendship between the main characters is sweet and nurturing.
I received an ecopy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Harriet Beamer Takes The Bus by Joyce Magnin

About the book...

Aging and widowed Harriet Beamer insists she’s getting along fine with her dog Humphrey in Philadelphia … until she falls for the fourth time, injuring her ankle and causing her son and daughter-in-law to cry foul.

Insisting Harriet move in with them in California, they make a bet that her ankle is broken and she foolishly promises to move if they’re right.
Four X-rays later, Harriet’s ankle – and her heart – are broken. She packs up, ships her huge salt-and-pepper-shaker collection to California, and prepares to move away from the only life she knows.

The catch? She’s doing it her way. Just wait until her daughter-in-law hears Harriet will travel cross-country only by public transportation and alternate means. What follows is a hilarious, heartwarming journey by train, metro bus, taxi, and motorcycle. Along the way, Harriet discovers that although her family thinks it’s time for her to be put out to pasture, God has a different plan. You can read Harriet's blog on her journey.

My thoughts...

This is the second Joyce Magnin novel I've read and I totally enjoyed this book as well as the first! Such a delightful story that combines quirky characters and humor. I will be looking for more by this author.

Harriet Beamer has gumption and is determined to get to her son's home in California by public transportation! It isn't always possible to take the bus all the way across the country though and this precious lady's journey is one that will keep you cheering her on and anxiously awaiting what will happen next!

Harriet loves people and strikes up a conversation with anyone that will... you will get a kick out of the characters that share a part of her travels.

Harriet Beamer is one lady I would love to meet!

I received an ecopy of this book free in exchange for an honest review.

About the Author:
Joyce Magnin is the author of five novels, including the popular and quirky Bright’s Pond series and the middle grade novel “Carrying Mason.”
She is a writing instructor and frequent conference speaker. Joyce lives in Pennsylvania with her son, Adam, and their crazy cat, Mango, who likes to eat nachos.

WildFlower From Winter by Katie Ganshert

About the book....

A young architect at a prestigious Chicago firm, Bethany Quinn has built a life far removed from her trailer park teen years. Until an interruption from her estranged mother reveals that tragedy has struck in her hometown and a reluctant Bethany is called back to rural Iowa.
Determined to pay her respects while avoiding any emotional entanglements, she vows not to stay long. But the unexpected inheritance of farmland and a startling turn of events in Chicago forces Bethany to come up with a new plan.

Handsome farmhand Evan Price has taken care of the Quinn farm for years. So when Bethany is left the land, he must fight her decisions to realize his dreams. But even as he disagrees with Bethany’s vision, Evan feels drawn to her and the pain she keeps so carefully locked away.

For Bethany, making peace with her past and the God of her childhood doesn’t seem like the path to freedom. Is letting go the only way to new life, love and a peace she’s not even sure exists?


My thoughts...

I absolutely loved this inspiring book! From the first page to the last I didn't want to put it down. An amazing story of grief, love. There are twists that keep you guessing, this is the type book I enjoy. The characters are realistic and likeable, you will feel their pain. Bethany has a hidden past that she must deal with, there are tears and pain as she heals.

I'm very much looking forward to the next book and sad there aren't any already out there by this writer!

I received a copy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Covenant Child by Terri Blackstock

Amanda’s heart broke as she watched them drive her beloved twins away. She resolved to hope . . . and to fight for them to her last breath.

Kara and Lizzie are heiresses to one of the largest fortunes in the country. But when their father dies suddenly, the toddlers are ripped from the arms of Amanda, their loving stepmother, and given to their maternal grandparents, who only want the children’s fortune for themselves.

While even the stipend their guardians get for supporting them is squandered, the children are left to raise themselves. Kara and Lizzie grow up believing they are worthless . . . until the day when they learn the truth.

My thoughts...

This is the story of salvation, a beautiful story of how Jesus is waiting for us to come to Him. Blackstock has written another fast paced page turning novel, I read it in one afternoon. A story of love, faith, trust, very encouraging.

What the twins go through is absolutely heart breaking. Too much for anyone to have to go through. The grandparents are pure evil and then when Kara thinks she is leaving their filth and control she walks right into the arms of evil again. It's sad what she must endure before she opens her eyes to the truth.

I received an ecopy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Sacred Path of Tears by M.B. Tosi

The Sacred Path of Tears is a journal written by a young Cheyenne Indian woman, nicknamed Mokee, during the Indian Wars in Kansas in the late 1860s. After Mokee and her companion observe the Sand Creek Massacre, they warn the other Indian camps along the Smoky Hill River. They take cover in a barn near Salina, Kansas, where they are discovered by a widow and her two sons. Mokee’s companion leaves to join the fight against the white soldiers but hating war, Mokee, with her lighter coloring, gains a safe haven with the widow’s family. She finds a mentor in the well-educated widow and embraces the opportunity to read and write English. As her life unfolds, Mokee is torn between two worlds at war and the two men she loves, one a white settler and the other her companion, who has become a Cheyenne Dog Soldier. Though war is her constant shadow, Mokee tries to find the purpose for her life and a path of peace in her war-torn world.

My thoughts...

There's not much about this book I liked. I did finish reading it but it wasn't easy. The writing style was poor, I don't feel the writer did enough research and nothing felt real about the details or the characters, they just didn't come alive. The plot was a good one. I give it two stars.

I received a ecopy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.