Reclaiming Nick~ by Susan May Warren

"For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found."

~Luke 15:24

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award winning author SUSAN MAY WARREN recently returned home to her native Minnesota after serving for eight years with her husband and four children as missionaries with SEND International in Far East Russia. She now writes full time from Minnesota's north woods. Visit her Web site at http://www.susanmaywarren.com/.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

RECLAIMING NICK is the first of The Noble Legacy series. Book Two, Taming Rafe, will be available January 2008.
A Modern Day Prodigal Comes Home...
NICK NOBLE HADN'T PLANNED ON BEING THE PRODIGAL SON.
But when his father dies and leaves half of Silver Buckle--the Noble family ranch--to Nick’s former best friend, he must return home to face his mistakes, and guarantee that the Silver Buckle stays in the Noble family.
Award-winning journalist Piper Sullivan believes Nick framed her brother for murder, and she’s determined to find justice. But following Nick to the Silver Buckle and posing as a ranch cook proves more challenging than she thinks. So does resisting his charming smile.
As Nick seeks to overturn his father’s will--and Piper digs for answers--family secrets surface that send Nick’s life into a tailspin. But there’s someone who’s out to take the Silver Buckle from the Noble family, and he’ll stop at nothing--even murder--to make it happen.

Reclaiming Nick was a great book. It was a gripping story of how we can let anger consume us and the power of forgiveness. I really enjoyed the characters as well. None of them were perfect and they often let their own perceptions and past experiences cloud their judgement, but when they truly learned to lean on the Lord they were able to see past their pain to the blessings God had in-store for them.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/141431017X

Next on my reading agenda~ Lions of the Desert~by Linda Chaikin

First Impressions~ by Debra White Smith

"Love has been perfected amoung us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgement; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us."

~ 1John 4:12-19

First Impressions is another book in the Jane Austen series that I have been reading. This story is the modern day telling of my all time favorite Jane Austen story Pride and Prejudice. If you haven't seen the Pride and Prejudice movie staring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle STOP NOW AND GO RENT IT!.......I'll wait :)

Anyway, this book is set in London, Texas and the story is about a lawyer Eddi Boswick who is cast as Elizabeth Bennet in a community production of Pride and Prejudice. And ironically the handsome, arrogant, and unpredictable Dave is cast as Mr. Darcy. And the story follow closely with the original initially but has enough twists that even I (who can probably recite the entire script of Pride and Prejudice from memory) wasn't sure how every thing was going to come together.

Next on my reading agenda~ Reclaiming Nick~ by Susan May Warren

Twilight~ by Kristen Heitzmann

"God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend."

~Job 37:5

I know I haven't posted what I have been reading for a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been reading. Don't worry I will spare you the details about why I haven't posted but let's just say that in the passing weeks due to my truly heinous schedule madness has ensued upon my life. Onto the book....

Cal and Laurie were high school sweethearts but their differences kept them from staying together. Laurie wanted nothing more than to leave behind her small town life and all Cal wanted was to stay in the town and become a fireman. Now years later Laurie comes back with her two kids after a discovery shatters the life of wealth and affluence she was a part of after getting married.

Cal once the best firefighter in his town is left with a debilitating fear when a rescue goes wrong. When Laurie returns old feelings start to resurface, but something dangerous followed Laurie. Will Cal be able to conquer his fear and rescue Laurie before it is too late?

I really enjoyed this book. It was suspenseful and an interesting look into the life of a firefighter. It also was interesting to get a peak into what people are willing to do to ensure their comfort. Read it and you will see what I mean.

~Next post First Impressions~ by Debra White Smith

It Happens Every Spring~by Dr Gary Chapman and Catherine Palmer

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

GARY CHAPMAN is the author of the New York Times best seller The Five Love Languages and numerous othe rbooks. He's the director of Marriage & Family Life Consultants, Inc., and host of A Growing Marriage, a syndicated radio program heard on over 100 stations across North America. He and his wife, Karolyn, live in North Carolina.
CATHERINE PALMER is the Christy Award-winning, CBA best-selling author of more than forty novels--including The Bachelor's Bargain--which have more than 2 million copies in print. She lives in Missouri with her husband, Tim, and two sons.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

IT HAPPENS EVERY SPRING is the first of The Four Seasons fiction series, based on the ever-changing cycles of relationships detailed in Gary Chapman's nonfiction book The Four Seasons of Marriage. The novels will focus on four couples, each moving in and out of a different season.

Word travels fast at the Just As I Am beauty shop.
So when a simple homeless man appears on Steve and Brenda Hansen's doorstep, the entire shop is set abuzz, especially when Brenda lets him sleep on their porch.
That's not all the neighbors are talking about. Spring may be blooming outdoors, but an icy chill has settled over the Hansens' marriage. Steve is keeping late hours with clients, and the usually upbeat Brenda is feeling the absence of her husband and her college-age kids.Add to that the unsavory business moving in next to the beauty shop and the entire community gets turned upside down. Now Brenda's friends must unite to pull her out of her rut and keep the unwanted sotre out of town. But can Steve and Brenda learn to thaw their chilly marriage and enjoy the hope spring offers?

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1414311656

The Reliance~ by Mary Lou Tyndall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

M. L. (MARYLU) TYNDALL grew up on the beaches of South Florida loving the sea and the warm tropics. But despite the beauty around her, she always felt an ache in her soul--a longing for something more.
After college, she married and moved to California where she had two children and settled into a job at a local computer company. Although she had done everything the world expected, she was still miserable. She hated her job and her marriage was falling apart.
Still searching for purpose, adventure and true love, she spent her late twenties and early thirties doing all the things the world told her would make her happy, and after years, her children suffered, her second marriage suffered, and she was still miserable.
One day, she picked up her old Bible, dusted it off, and began to read. Somewhere in the middle, God opened her hardened heart to see that He was real, that He still loved her, and that He had a purpose for her life, if she's only give her heart to Him completely.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A YOUNG BRIDE separated from her husband just as a child has been conceived...
A GRIEVING HUSBAND tempted to take his anger out through the vices of his past...
A MARRIAGE AND A SHIP threatenend to be split apart by villainous Caribbean pirates...
In THE RELIANCE, Edmund Merrick tormented by the apparent demise of his pregnant wife Charlisse, sails away to drown his sorrows. He turns his back on God and reverts to a life of villainy, joining forces with the demented French pirate Collier. When his mind clears from its rum-induced haze, will Edmund find the will to escape?
Seemingly abandoned by her new husband, Charlisse battles her own insecurities as she is thrown into the clutches of the vengeful pirate Kent, who holds her and Lady Isabel captive.
Will she be swept away by the undertow of treachery and despair? Can Edmund and Charlisse battle the tempests that threaten to tear them apart and steer their way to the faith-filled haven they so desperately seek? Or will they ultimately lose their love and lives to the whirlpool of treachery and deceit?

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1597893609

Georgia on Her Mind~ by Rachel Hauk

"Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, To practice wicked works With men who work iniquity; And do not let me eat of their delicacies"

~Psalms 141:3-4

Macy Moore has it all, a great job, great friends, and the perfect boyfriend. In one day two of those things fall apart and Macy is left wondering what went wrong. As she struggles to pick up the pieces Macy figures out what is really important and that although she may have neglected her relationship with God He never left her side.

I loved this book. I loved the characters and all of the encounters Macy had were funny and entertaining. I also like that Hauk focused on Macy's relationship with God, so often that is only mentioned or glossed over in chick lit books, but it was an integral part of this one which made Macy even more likable and easy to relate to.

Next on my reading agenda~ First Impressions~ by Debra White Smith

The Watchers~ by Mark Andrew Olsen

"Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."

~Matthew 25:13

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

MARK ANDREW OLSEN whose novel The Assignment was a Christy Award finalist, also collaborated on bestsellers Hadassah (now the major motion picture: One Night With the King), The Hadassah Covenant, and Rescued. The son of missionaries to France, Mark is a graduate of Baylor University. He and his wife, Connie, live in Colorado Springs with their three children.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Just below the surface among the family of God lives another family tree--one traced in spirit, invisible and ageless, known as the Watchers. For two thousand years they've seen beyond the veil separating this world from the next, passing on their gift through a lineage mostly overlooked. Throughout history they've scouted the borders of the supernatural frontier, but now their survival hangs by a thread. And their fate lies in the hands of a young woman, her would-be killer, and a mystery they must solve....

"Congratulations. You just reached my own little corner of cyberspace.
Who am I?
Abby Sherman, that's who.
Who are you? And why are you checking me out?
Drop me a few pixels, and let's find out!"

With that innocent invitation, Abby Sherman unwittingly steps in the crosshairs of history, and thus begins her harrowing tale--taking her from ocean-front Malibu to the streets of London, the jungles in West Africa, the Temple Mount, Jerusalem, and to the very gates of heaven itself!A sneak preview of eternity becomes her one-way ticket to danger--and discovery….Two lives collide in a globe-circling adventure involving both peril and discovery: Abby, a young woman whose visions of heaven turn her into a Web-celebrity; and Dylan, a troubled young man sent by an ancient foe to silence her. From California beachfronts to Nigerian rain forests to Jerusalem and back again, THE WATCHERS is high-octane blends of action, mystery, and spiritual battle spanning centuries.
A woman's awe-inspiring vision launches her on a quest through distant lands and ancient history, face-to-face with eternity and into the arms of a family line on the brink of annihilation...A man who is hired to exterminate her discovers the folly of blind loyalty, then learns how to wage war in a realm he never believed had existed...An extraordinary saga of the unseen war against evil, the reality of the supernatural, and the transforming power of forgiveness.

ENDORSEMENT:
"A writer who can take your breath away with a single sentence. A welcome, fresh voice that must be read!"--Ted Dekker