Abiding Mercy by Ruth Reid

This is such a great story. I laughed and cried. It would be very hard to find out that the people who raised you your whole life weren’t your real parents. Your sister isn’t your blood sister. These would be so unusual to find out. Ruth Reid handles these problems so well. I did not want to put this book down. I look forward to more in the Amish mercies series. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

Faith faces an impossible situation: Should she do the right thing and bring heartache to nearly everyone she knows or deny her true self and always wonder . . . what if?

Sixteen-year-old Faith has worked full-time in her parents’ restaurant since she finished eighth grade. She loves her Amish community—and the romantic attentions of her longtime friend, Gideon.
When her sister seems to be getting too friendly with Englischers, and her parents are in a buggy accident, Faith wants to escape into her dream of joining the church and getting married.
But then a local newspaper runs a story about a child named Adriana who was kidnapped fifteen years earlier, and everything Faith has held true comes into question.

Suddenly the community Faith has known her whole life seems unreal. Can she even trust her own family? And how will she ever find home again if she no longer belongs in the world she knows best?

The Road to Paradise by Karen Barnett

I loved everything about this story. The characters were so much fun. There was laughter and crying. There was a bit of suspense also. I did not want to put this book down. This really kept me wanting more. I enjoyed learning about the national park system and a bit about how it worked in the beginning. I received a copy of this book from bloggingforbooks for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

An ideal sanctuary and a dream come true–that’s what Margaret Lane feels as she takes in God’s gorgeous handiwork in Mount Rainier National Park. It’s 1927 and the National Park Service is in its youth when Margie, an avid naturalist, lands a coveted position alongside the park rangers living and working in the unrivaled splendor of Mount Rainier’s long shadow. 

 

But Chief Ranger Ford Brayden is still haunted by his father’s death on the mountain, and the ranger takes his work managing the park and its crowd of visitors seriously. The job of watching over an idealistic senator’s daughter with few practical survival skills seems a waste of resources.

 

When Margie’s former fiancé sets his mind on developing the Paradise Inn and its surroundings into a tourist playground, the plans might put more than the park’s pristine beauty in danger. What will Margie and Ford sacrifice to preserve the splendor and simplicity of the wilderness they both love?

 

Karen Barnett’s vintage national parks novels bring to vivid life President Theodore Roosevelt’s vision for protected lands, when he wrote in Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter: “There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children’s children forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred.”

Publish and Perish by Anna Castle

This is a fun historical cozy mystery starring Francis Bacon. This was a fun read and I learned some things that I hadn’t known about before that took place during this time period. I would not have wanted to chance living at this time with all the restrictions on people. I really enjoyed this story. I received a. Loy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

It’s 1589 and England is embroiled in a furious pamphlet war between an impudent Puritan calling himself Martin Marprelate and London’s wittiest writers. The archbishop wants Martin to hang. The Privy Council wants the tumult to end. But nobody knows who Martin is or where he’s hiding his illegal press.
Then two writers are strangled, mistaken for Thomas Nashe, the pamphleteer who is hot on Martin’s trail. Francis Bacon is tasked with stopping the murders — and catching Martin, while he’s about it. But the more he learns, the more he fears Martin may be someone dangerously close to home.
Can Bacon and his band of intelligencers stop the strangler before another writer dies, without stepping on Martin’s possibly very important toes?

None So Blind by Chautona Havig with a giveaway

This was a fascinating story. I loved the characters. I don’t know how I would have handled losing all my memories. It would be so hard to wake up one day and not recognize anything about yourself. I don’t know how I would reinvent myself or if I would want to. This was very hard for everyone in the family. This book fascinated me. This book makes you really think. I received this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

None so blind FB Banner copy

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About the Book
nonesoblindcover
Book title: None So Blind
Author: Chautona Havig
Release date: September 29, 2013
Genre: Contemporary
Dani and Ella Weeks–two women who share one thing in common. The same life, the same family, and the same body.
When Dani wakes with no knowledge of who or where she is–no memories of her life at all–David and Dani Weeks discover that “til death do us part” takes on an entirely unexpected meaning. Practically speaking, Dani died. But she didn’t.
What’s a gal to do?
In a desperate attempt to separate the old life from the new, Dani insists on a new name, a twist of her old one–Ella.
Ella’s doctors can’t explain what happened. Her children can’t understand why she doesn’t know them. David, her husband, finds himself torn between admiration for the “new” version of his wife and missing the woman he’s known for over fifteen years.
Will Ella ever regain her memory? Why does their pastor suspect it’s one great hoax?
 
About the Author
media-headshot-smChautona Havig lives and writes in California’s Mojave Desert with her husbnd and five of her nine children. Through her novels, she hopes to encourage Christians in their walk with Jesus.
Guest post from Chautona Havig
“Who are you, again?”
“I’m Joe’s, daughter. Vyonie.” My sister pointed to me. “This is Chautona.”
For some odd reason, the niece she spent the least amount of time with, Aunt Doris remembered—somewhat. But she didn’t remember Vyonie from what I could tell. She smiled at me, that amazing, sweet smile I’d never forget. She asked how I was. I always thought that Mrs. Sanderson—mother of John, Alicia, and Carl on the TV show, Little House on the Prairie—looked and sounded like Aunt Doris. Of course, that memory of me didn’t last. A minute or two later, she gave me a big smile and asked if she knew me.
It gave me a picture of what it must have been like for my character, Ella Weeks—to wake up every day with these children there—children who knew her, but she didn’t remember. The hurt she caused every time she had to struggle to admit she didn’t know something she probably should—again. So, I thought I’d ask her to tell us about it.
Ella: People often assume that the worst part of losing my memory are the memories that disappeared, too. But it’s not. A much as I’d love to remember my wedding day, my daughter’s first steps, my son’s first words, or that moment I realized I was pregnant with my third, those are blessings that I don’t think about often. No, what hurts most is seeing the pain in my children’s eyes when they need me to remember something and I can’t. For me, not remembering their first day of kindergarten is an inconvenience. For them, it’s a further reminder that if they didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t know them. That without them pushing themselves into my life, I wouldn’t care about them any more than any other human in my path. I do now, of course, but not at first. I hate that they heard David say once, “…she doesn’t know me. She doesn’t trust me. She doesn’t know our children. She tries, but she could walk out of our lives tomorrow and never miss us.”
Living so close to it every day, I missed those little bits of pain that I inflicted without meaning to, but when I went with our Bible study to a nursing home and visited with the residents, then I saw it. Women with tears running down their cheeks as loved ones patted their hands and tried to comfort. I heard one man offer to find a woman’s father. She squeezed him close and whispered, “It’s okay, Daddy. I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The man promised to try to find her father in the meantime.
Those people there—most of them didn’t realize they didn’t remember someone important. They didn’t struggle to remember this or that. Their dementia had gotten bad enough that their lives had gone from constant frustration to, by comparison, blissful oblivion.
And their families withered with each forgotten face, name, moment.
That’s what my “episode” did for my family. It caused them pain that just resurfaced every time something new happened. Pain that I didn’t know I inflicted. And since that visit, I have a greater compassion and awareness of just how amazing and powerful memories are.
I also have a greater appreciation for those beautiful words in Isaiah when the Lord promised… “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.”
You see, there’s a lifetime of the sins that Jesus died for buried somewhere in my brain—or, at least at one time there was. I know that those sins were in there, because the ones I committed yesterday are there today. The ones I’ve already confessed and been forgiven for—I beat myself up for the next morning. A week later. A month. But the Lord has wiped them clean. I just keep smearing them back out there again as if to say, “But You don’t get how BAD I was.” Yeah. The arrogance, right? Because an almighty, holy God can’t possibly understand how sinful a sinner that He had to DIE to save from those sins… is. The arrogance? That’s an understatement.
But all those years before that horrible morning… gone. Maybe I stole something. I don’t know. It was forgiven, wiped clean, and then wiped from my memory. I can’t rehash it with the Lord over and over. I can’t drag it back up like a wife who won’t let her husband forget the one time he forgot her birthday. I can’t use it as a whip to beat myself up with. And I think there’s something beautiful in that.
Do I wish I could stop hurting my family with my blank past? Of course. But am I also grateful for a living picture of the fresh start the Lord gives His people at salvation? Definitely. I hope I never take it for granted again.
Blog Stops
June 15: Blogging With Carol
June 15: Genesis 5020
June 15: Lane Hill House
June 16: Red Headed Book Lady
June 16: The Scribbler
June 16: Moments Dipped in Ink
June 17: Back Porch Reads
June 17: The Power of Words
June 17: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations
June 18: Carpe Diem
June 18: A Baker’s Perspective
June 19: Christian Bookaholic
June 19: Quiet Quilter
June 20: The Fizzy Pop Collection
June 20: Mommynificent
June 21: Seasons of Opportunities
June 21: Truth and Grace Writing and Life Coaching
June 22: Pursuing Stacie
June 22: Remembrancy
June 23: Pause for Tales
June 23: Avid Reader Book Reviews
June 23: Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses
June 24: Bigreadersite
June 24: CAFINATED READS
June 25: Lots of Helpers
June 25: Ashley’s Bookshelf
June 26: Blossoms and Blessings
June 26: A Reader’s Brain
June 27: Margaret Kazmierczak
June 27: His Grace is Sufficient
June 28: Just Jo’Anne
June 28: Henry Happens
June 28: Reader’s Cozy Corner
Giveaway
 bf3041c3-aba6-432d-bade-2a2bc46cd775To celebrate her tour, Chautona is giving away a grand prize that includes:
1 $25 Amazon Gift Card

1 Paperback Copy of None So Blind

1 Paperback Copy of Will Not See

1 Lampwork Necklace

1 Cool denim mini-backpack (to hold your stuff!)

1 Custom Travel Mug (with quote from book)

1 FREE eBook code to share with a friend!
Check out this cool video from Chautona: https://youtu.be/5K_cTjlg4S8
Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/ba35

A Deadly Game by Gary M. Lepper

This was a new author to me and I hope to read many more books by him. I really enjoyed this story. There was a lot of action and suspense. Who knew that fantasy sports could turn so dangerous. I loved the characters. I would love to see more of David Kennuir. I received a copy of this book from Smith Publicity for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.  

A fantasy baseball league commissioner for 23 years, author Gary M. Lepper brings his love of America’s favorite pastime to an addictive narrative that quickly becomes complicated by professional crime. Professional baseball players in multiple cities have been injured inexplicably–and two have died. When former police detective David Kenmuir becomes embroiled in the investigation, he realizes that in order to escape it, he must end it. 

Unsub by Meg Gardiner

This story kept me on the edge of my seat. I did not want to put this book down. There were so many twists and turns. I wanted to tell Caitlin to give up and stay safe but you knew she couldn’t do that. This definitely did not disappoint me. I look forward to many more of Meg Gardiners books. I received an ebook copy from Firsttoread for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

A riveting psychological thriller inspired by the never-caught Zodiac Killer, about a young detective determined to apprehend the serial murderer who destroyed her family and terrorized a city twenty years earlier.
Caitlin Hendrix has been a Narcotics detective for six months when the killer at the heart of all her childhood nightmares reemerges: the Prophet. An UNSUB—what the FBI calls an unknown subject—the Prophet terrorized the Bay Area in the 1990s and nearly destroyed her father, the lead investigator on the case.

The Prophet’s cryptic messages and mind games drove Detective Mack Hendrix to the brink of madness, and Mack’s failure to solve the series of ritualized murders—eleven seemingly unconnected victims left with the ancient sign for Mercury etched into their flesh—was the final nail in the coffin for a once promising career.
Twenty years later, two bodies are found bearing the haunting signature of the Prophet. Caitlin Hendrix has never escaped the shadow of her father’s failure to protect their city. But now the ruthless madman is killing again and has set his sights on her, threatening to undermine the fragile barrier she rigidly maintains for her own protection, between relentless pursuit and dangerous obsession.
Determined to decipher his twisted messages and stop the carnage, Caitlin ignores her father’s warnings as she draws closer to the killer with each new gruesome murder. Is it a copycat, or can this really be the same Prophet who haunted her childhood? Will Caitlin avoid repeating her father’s mistakes and redeem her family name, or will chasing the Prophet drag her and everyone she loves into the depths of the abyss?

Love’s Winter Hope by Naomi Rawlings

I did not blame Jessalyn for her reaction at seeing her long, lost husband. It would have been hard to be alone as long as she was with three children to raise and little money. It would take Thomas a lot of begging for me to have even wanted to talk to him. This made me laugh and cry. This had a great story to it. I look forward to more books by Naomi Rawlings. I received this ebook from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

Journey back to a time when neighbors knew each other’s names, and a handshake meant a person’s honor. The bestselling Eagle Harbor Series continues with Book 5, Love’s Winter Hope.
When Jessalyn Dowrick’s husband left her and their three daughters to head west five years earlier, she had no choice but to pick up the pieces of her broken life and continue without him, eventually supporting herself as Eagle Harbor’s seamstress, and secretly hoping her husband would return. But days soon slipped into months, and months into years, all without word of Thomas or a cent of the money he’d promised to send.
While working day and night to build a new life that his wife would be proud of, Thomas wrote Jessalyn every week, asking her to come to South Dakota. But she never arrived. In fact, she never answered a single one of his letters. When he returns to Eagle Harbor in search of answers, he finds a woman who thought him dead . . . and soon regrets he didn’t come after her earlier.
As winter closes in and storms trap Thomas in town until the harbor opens in the spring, will he be able to convince his wife he’s worth a second chance?
Come visit the historical town that readers can’t get enough of.
Eagle Harbor Series–Where Love Finds Its Anchor 

Book 1: Love’s Unfading Light (Mac and Tressa) 

Book 2: Love’s Every Whisper (Elijah and Victoria) 

Book 3: Love’s Sure Dawn (Gilbert and Rebekah) 

Book 4: Love’s Eternal Breath (Seth and Lindy) 

Book 5: Love’s Constant Hope (Thomas and Jessalyn) 

Book 6: Love’s Bright Tomorrow (Isaac and Aileen–winter 2018)

Prequel Novella: Love’s Violet Sunrise (Hiram and Mabel)

Short Story: Love’s Beginning (Elijah and Victoria)