HOW SWEET THE SOUND

From a distance, the Harlans appear to be the perfect Southern family. Wealth and local fame mask the drama and dysfunction swirling through their family line. But as the summer heats up, a flood tide of long hidden secrets surface.

Devastation from a rape followed by the murder of two family members brings three generations of the Harlans together on their pecan plantation in Bay Spring, Alabama. Chief among them is Anniston, who by the time she turned thirteen thought she’d seen it all. But as her heart awakens to the possibility of love, she begins to deal with her loneliness and grief.

This tender coming-of-age tale, inspired by the story of Tamar in 2 Samuel 13, shows how true healing and hope comes only from God. Though our earthly family can wound and disappoint, our heavenly Father brings freedom to those long held captive through His mercy and grace.

My thoughts...

The story of a young girl whose life is filled with horrors and their aftermath. Things no child should have to go through. My heart went out to Anniston and her friend, Jed. Though the grandmother had gone through similar things when younger I found it hard to sympathize with her. That old cliche is true...hurting people hurt people.

I like how the book ended...giving hope to a young girl whose life had none. A talented writer with a wonderfully written book. 5 stars.

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

THE VICAR'S WIFE

A New Yorker all her life, Jane Hatton loved her job as the head of a charity championing women's rights, but her fourteen-year-old daughter, Natalie, had fallen in with the wrong crowd at her Manhattan school. So Jane and her British husband, Andrew, have decided to move their family to the English countryside.

The Hattons have bought the large old vicarage in a small village on the Cumbrian coast, near Andrew's new job. The silence and solitude of a remote village is quite a change. Natalie hates her new school, and eleven-year-old Ben struggles academically. Only seven-year-old Merrie enjoys country life. Has Jane made a horrible mistake? What of her career? Her own identity?

Putting on a brave face for the family, Jane tackles renovating the rambling, drafty old house. When she finds a scrap of a very old shopping list, she grows curious about Alice, the vicar's wife who lived there years before.

As the twin narratives unfold--of Jane in the present and Alice in the 1930s--we discover that both are on a journey to discover their true selves, and to address their deepest fears.

My thoughts...



It was easy to get drawn into the lives of these two women...one from the past and one modern day. Women searching for their place in the world. One of them needed to get over her pity party but I guess she isn't the only one that has those. A charming story that keeps you reading to see how things are worked out in the end.

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

A PROMISE KEPT by Robin Lee Hatcher

Tony Kavanagh had been Allison's dream­ come­ true. They were in love within days, engaged within weeks, married and pregnant within a year. Her cup bubbled over with joy . . . but years later, that joy had been extinguished by unexpected trials.

The day Allison issued her husband an ultimatum, she thought it might save him. She never expected he would actually leave. She was certain God had promised to heal; it was clear that she'd misunderstood.

Now, living in the quiet mountain cabin she inherited from her single, self ­reliant Great Aunt Emma, Allison must come to terms with her grief and figure out how to adapt to small town life. But when she finds a wedding dress and a collection of journals in Emma's attic, a portrait of her aunt emerges that takes Allison completely by surprise: a portrait of a heartbroken woman surprisingly like herself.

As Allison reads the incredible story of Emma's life in the 1920s and 1930s, she is forced to ask a difficult question: Does she really surrender every piece of her life to the Lord?

Drawing from her own heart­wrenching story of redemption, A Promise Kept is Robin Lee Hatcher's emotionally charged thanksgiving to a God who answers prayers­ in His own time and His own ways.



My thoughts...

I loved this story, loved how the two women's lives were weaved together though they were years apart, you can't help but become emotionally attached to them. Allison's healing from the resentments of years of hurt and shame is touching. Emma's story is a sad one as well but both women are strong and with God's help make it through the hardships.

Robin's writing style draws you in. That's what I love about her books!

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

WILDWOOD CREEK by Lisa Wingate

Allie Kirkland has always heard the call of her father's unfinished destiny. When she's offered a production assistant's job on a docudrama filming in the hills near Moses Lake, Texas, the dream of following in her director-father's footsteps suddenly seems within reach. The reenactment of the legendary frontier settlement of Wildwood is a first step into the film industry. A summer on set in the wilderness is a small price to pay for a dream.

But in 1861, the real Wildwood held dangerous realities. Town founder Harland Delavan held helpless residents, including young Irish schoolteacher Bonnie Rose, in an iron grip. Mysterious disappearances led to myths and legends still retold in the region's folk songs. Eventually, the entire site was found abandoned.

When filming begins, strange connections surface between Allie and the teacher who disappeared over a century ago, and everyone in Wildwood--including Blake Fulton, Allie's handsome neighbor on the film set--seems to be hiding secrets. Allie doesn't know whom she can trust. If she can't find the answers in time, history may repeat itself...with the most unthinkable results.

My thoughts...

Stories about pioneer life really interest me, I loved this book because of that and the way the author brought in a modern day character as well. Their storylines are not all that different but they are... yeah that makes sense, right?

A reenactment that effects the lives of the actors...unique...touching...a treasure. Loved this book!

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

BLOSSOM STREET BRIDE Review & Giveaways!

#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber has won the hearts of millions of readers with her moving and inspiring stories. Now wedding bells are ringing in the tight-knit community that gathers around A Good Yarn, a store in a pretty Seattle neighborhood. Knitters come to the store to buy yarn and patterns but somehow they leave richer in friendship and love.

Lauren Elliott has waited years for her long-term boyfriend, Todd, to propose, yet he seems more focused on his career than their relationship. When Lauren learns that her younger sister is pregnant before she herself even has an engagement ring, she feels overjoyed yet disheartened. Knowing she can’t put her future on hold, Lauren prepares to make a bold choice—one that leads her to a man she never dreamed she’d meet.

Newly married to her second husband, Max, Bethanne Scranton is blissfully in love. But with Max’s job in California and Bethanne’s in Seattle, their long-distance marriage is becoming difficult to maintain. To complicate matters, Bethanne’s cunning ex will do anything to win her back.

Lydia Goetz, too, is wonderfully happy with her husband, Brad, though lately she worries about the future of A Good Yarn. As she considers how to bring in business, she discovers that someone has beaten her to the punch. Baskets of yarn are mysteriously popping up all over town, with instructions to knit a scarf for charity and bring it into Lydia’s store. Never before has her shop received so much attention, but who hatched this brilliant plan?

As three women’s lives intersect in unexpected ways, Lydia, Lauren, and Bethanne realize that love heals every heart, and the best surprises still lay ahead.



My thoughts...

We're back on Blossom Street with Debbie Macomber who has written another fun, feel good novel with happy endings. I love the characters this author creates... so real and likeable... well... most of them. Interesting people with real issues living in a town that makes you wish you could be one of its citizens.

I read it in one afternoon as I do with most of Debbie's books. You won't be disappointed in this delightful yarn.

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



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EYES WIDE OPEN

My name is Christy Snow. I'm seventeen and I'm about to die. I'm buried in a coffin under tons of concrete. No one knows where I am. My heart sounds like a monster with clobber feet, running straight toward me. I'm lying on my back, soaked with sweat from the hair on my head to the soles of my feet. My hands and feet won't stop shaking. Some will say that I'm not really here. Some will say I'm delusional. Some will say that I don't even exist. But who are they? I'm the one buried in a grave. My name is Christy Snow. I'm seventeen and I'm about to die.

My thoughts...

The storylines this guy comes up with for a novel are unbelievably good! "Eyes Wide Open" is a thrilling suspense novel about two friends who get lost in a mental institution. The story takes you on an adventure with twists that leave you wishing you were a speed reader, lol! There's a lesson learned in all of Ted's books which I enjoy. Definitely a great read!

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

THE PAINTED TABLE ~ Enter to Win!

A beautiful heirloom ingrained with family memory has become a totem of a life Saffee would rather forget---a childhood disrupted by her mother's mental illness.

Saffee does not want the table. By the time she inherits the object of her mother's obsession, the surface is thick with haphazard layers of paint, and heavy with unsettling memories.

After a childhood spent watching her mother slide steadily into insanity, painting and re-painting the ancient table, Saffee has come to fear that seeds of psychosis may lie dormant within her. But as an adult with a family of her own, Saffee must confront her mother's torment if she wants to defend herself against it.

Traversing four generations over the course of a century, The Painted Table is an epic portrait of inherited memory, proclivity, and guilt. It is a sprawling narrative affirmation that a family artifact---like a family member---can bear the marks of one's entire past . . . as well as intimations of one's redemption.

My thoughts...

This is a wonderfully written tender story that will touch the hearts of its readers. Mental illness carries such a stigma in our society, I think this book will give insight into the pain of the illness and the lives of those close to the person. Powerful, emotional, complex... and sad.

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

Suzanne Field is celebrating her novel The Painted Table with a beautiful hand-painted table giveaway!

One winner will receive:

• A beautiful hand-painted table (see it here: http://etsy.me/15L90cD)
• The Painted Table by Suzanne Field

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on January 18th. Winner will be announced January 20th on Thomas Nelson's Facebook Page.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by the TNZ Facebook Page on the 20th to see if you won.