The Healer of Fox Hollow by Joann Rose Leonard

I honestly don't know what I expected this book to be when I heard about it.  I had never heard of Joann Leonard so I didn't know for sure if I would even like this book or not.  However, I decided to chance it, and am glad to have discovered a new author that I really enjoyed reading.

Set in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Layla Tompkin faces many big life-changing events in her short 5 years of life.  Her mother has died, a snake has bit off her tongue, and she has been labeled as mute.  She then goes to a snake-handling church where the pastor tells her that she has a gift of healing.  Once people learn of this wonderful gift Layla has, she starts to get people coming to her to have their illnesses cured.  She seems to have many ups and downs in her life, but just like us, those downs usually lead you to discover yourself and who you are and what really matters in life.  Those trials force you to look at yourself closely and deal with what you see. 

Layla questions herself, questions her beliefs, and uses those very difficult experiences in life to propel her forward in her healing. 

Set in the 1950s, this book captures the culture of the Smoky Mountains very well.  It also highlights the Southern lifestyle in a way, as well.  The pages are filled with a story that is absolutely unlike any you have ever read before, which is a good thing!

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I received this book free from Vantage Point Publishers and from Joann Rose Leonard in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

The Haven by Suzanne Woods Fisher

I was hooked on this new series by Fisher, the Stoney Ridge Seasons, from the very first book which was The Keeper.  I had been looking forward to the rest of the series because I loved the characters from the first one! I was so excited when I opened Book 2, which is The Haven, and saw that I got a quick update on how life was going for a certain married couple and then it focuses in on Sadie Lapp and home life back on the Lapp farm.

Amos is doing well with his heart transplant, Sadie has brought home something that has caused people to have a certain opinion of her, and M.K. and Fern are still battling with their personalities. 

Sadie has just returned home after an extended stay away from Stoney Ridge.  Thanks to the package she brings with her home,she gets a lot of unfair judgment when people perceive the gift to be something of the reason why she left a few months back.  Before she left, Gideon Smucker thought he might be getting somewhere with his relationship with Sadie.  He loved her and even demonstrated honor and responsibility when Sadie brings her package home.  He still wants to marry her and soon.

Will Stoltz, and Englischer, is now living on the Lapp farm so he can watch the endangered peregrine falcons to make sure that no birdwatchers would disrupt them.  He has had some difficult things happen over the last 6 months and his father has arranged for him to learn hard work and stop being so lazy.  He doesn't want to do either, but he especially doesn't want his father to find out a little secret....so he carries on.  As he becomes better friends with Sadie, sparks start to fly.  This makes Gideon a little uneasy, but makes Will quite happy. 

Will Sadie learn to love Gideon again after his distrust of her, or will she be swept away by Will?

This book was just as good as the first book!  I loved the ending, because I wasn't quite for sure which way she would go.  I'm so glad she ended up with who I wanted her to end up with.  Now....when does book 3 get released?!

To read more reviews, go to: http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/13530005/thehaven

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I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity Group in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

Cradle My Heart by Kim Ketola

I have never personally experienced an abortion but I felt that this book did a wonderful job of ministering to women who have walked down that road and are hurting.  Throughout the entire book, Kim shares her story in snippets of her abortion, what led her to her abortion, and then the emotional turmoil that she later faced.  She also includes stories from other women who have had abortions but have come to know the forgiveness of Christ and have let Him change their hearts and have let forgiveness comfort them.

Filled with reminders that God loves us, even after an abortion, is what I grasp might be a hard thing to understand after you have an abortion. Not only that, but knowing that you are forgiven for what you have done and you are set free.  She does a wonderful job, in my opinion, of reminding her readers of these facts and reaching out to them in a way that you know Kim has walked this road, too.  She is not a harsh writer, but is very sensitive to her wording and to her message.  However, she doesn't back down from the fact that you need to share it with someone.  Satan loves for us to not tell anyone and hide in our anguish.  When you tell someone, it is so freeing and you feel that you can move forward.  She gives you guidelines of who to tell, etc.  I also loved how you could feel her love through the pages when she discussed whether abortion is a sin and how other people could  also be held accountable for it too, if they had given you no choice about it.  You could tell she was not condemning, but was staying true to what God has said in the Bible about abortion.

Not only would this book be good for a person who has had an abortion, I think it would be good for the men who have expressed remorse over an abortion, a parent who is or has strongly considering the abortion of their grandchild because of their child's actions, a counselor, or any friends of someone who has walked this road.  This book is a great support tool to be able to reach out and help someone take their first step of healing. 

To read more reviews about this book, go to http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/13531421/kimketola.

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Meet Kim: Kim Ketola is a sought-after writer and motivational speaker with the Ruth Graham and Friends conference. After thirty years in the broadcasting industry, she founded a nonprofit organization through which she presents professionally accredited conferences to equip counselors and help individuals recover from the emotional and spiritual wounds of abortion. Kim lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Visit her website: www.cradlemyheart.org

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About the Book: Abortion continues to be a hot topic in politics, women’s rights, and medical practice. But for the eight to ten million American Christian women who have had one, abortion is a spiritual issue as well, raising questions of life and death, heaven and hell, grief and loss.

Writing from her own experience, Kim Ketola sheds light on one of the darkest and most neglected personal issues of our time: the widespread need for healing and spiritual recovery after abortion. “After abortion brought the worst trouble into my life I had ever known,” writes Ketola, “I just couldn’t see my way free to believe in God’s love.”

With a compassionate heart, Ketola offers ten true stories of healing promise from the Bible to help women answer the most common spiritual torments they face: Is abortion a sin? Does God hate me? Where can I turn in my shame and distress? How could I ever tell anyone the truth? And more.

Inspired by Romans 6:4--“just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life"--this is a definitive resource to help women see themselves and God anew and--finally--to find spiritual healing.

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I received this book free from Litfuse Publishing Group in exchange for my honest opinion.

Live to Give by Austin Gutwein

As I was reading this book, I found myself forgetting that a teenager wrote this book and was impressed at what this young man has learned in such little years in his life.  He has grasped something that many people have yet to grasp about Christ, sadly.

Austin talks about who we were made to give.  He reminds his readers that God didn't have to use us.  He is very capable of fixing things and doing things on His own.  However, He doesn't want to.  He WANTS to use us to accomplish His goals.

At the end of each chapter, there are study questions that can be used in a group setting or individually.  Reading through the questions, I was impressed with the thought that went through these questions.  They weren't cheesy questions, but questions that were well-thought out and were written with the intention of you really thinking about it and figuring out for yourself what God is asking for you to give.

The readers of this book will be asked over and over to answer two questions..."What is it that you HAVE been giving" and "What is it that you were meant to be giving?"  He challenges age because he, too, is a young man who founded Hoops of Hope and has already written a book.  His gift was playing basketball and he used that to raise nearly $3 million for AIDS relief in Africa. 

Encouragement is all throughout this book, as well as things to watch for when you give.  You can see Austin's sweet spirit of giving in the pages as you're reading.  You can tell that he really does enjoy giving of his time, his talent, and himself.

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To read more reviews on this book, visit http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/13528976/livetogive

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I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Bride Wore Blue by Mona Hodgson

I am a fairly new reader to Mona Hodgson.  I only discovered her less than a year ago, I think, but I thoroughly have enjoyed her books.  I love the step back in time and the I honestly think her covers to her books are appealing.  (I'm a cover person and although I know not to judge a book by its cover, it sure does to help when a book has an appealing cover!)

This is the third book in the Brides of Cripple Creek series.  I have not read all of the books in this series, but I don't feel like I missed out on anything.  I am definitely going to buy the rest of the series so that I can feel in some gaps where I'm sure the extra information would be nice. 

Vivian wants to be a good girl, like her sisters, and takes steps to try to put her "badness" aside.  However, things seem to keep tripping her up.  Who knew decision making could be so hard!  For some reason, she is attracted to making the wrong decisions where she feels a spiral down to where she feels worthless.  Will she finally realize once and for all the key behind making wise decisions?  Will she give her heart to Him? 

I love the plot to this book because it is so realistic and deals with things we deal with everyday.  Not necessarily in the sense of the time period, but we deal with these same issues in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones.  I love the honesty, frustration, and at times, the heartache, that Mona leads her readers to experience as they turn the pages in the book. 

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I received this book free from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble

Just to clarify from the beginning, I am not a suspense reader.  So why am I reading Colleen Coble?  Great question!  Because she's so much more than just a suspense writer.  She delicately weaves suspense with romance and mystery that makes me forget at times that I am actually sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the plot to play itself out. 

I have come to expect only the best from Coble because all of her other books are such great reads.  I knew from the beginning and even from the cover that I was going to like this book.  The cover was eye-catching and captures the intrigue that the readers experience when they are reading her books.

The first book in the Hope Beach series, it takes place at Tidewater Inn where your only entrance onto the island and your only exit is by boat.  Libby Holladay suddenly finds her friend missing and watches on webcam as her friend is enduring a needle and an attempt at kidnapping.  Why would these men want Nicole and would Libby want Tidewater Inn after all of this?

For more opinions on this book, check out http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/13526905/tidewaterinn

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I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity in exchange for my honest opinion.

Cottage By the Sea by Robin Jones Gunn

I have read all of Robin Jones Gunn's Sisterchick novels and fell in love with her writing style through those books.  She has such a wonderful way of taking you to the country in those novels and leaving you feel like you have been there and seen the same things that she has seen.  Not many other writers leave me actually thinking that I've traveled the world!  With that said, I was interested to see if this book would leave me with the same feeling.  In my mind, I traveled to the cottage by the sea and traveled the highs and lows with Erin and her family.  I struggled with my emotions of anger when Delores walked out on her husband when he was at his worst.  I never thought that she might be going through something herself perhaps, so that was a surprise. 

I felt as though I struggled with Erin on how to balance life in her new business, as a new mother-in-law, and then as a daughter to a father who has had a massive stroke and now can't speak and must be in her care.  I could see the cottage in my head and picture her standing there and some of the feelings they must have felt.  I've never been to a cottage by the sea, but if it's anything like my imagination has led me to believe, then I want to go!

This book, like most of hers, are light, fun books.  This one deals with some heavy issues, but is still a book that is easy and fast to read and that you could easily read on the beach.  In fact, she is one of my favorite authors to take along with me to the beach because of her style of writing.  If you've read and liked any of her previous books, you'll want to read this one for sure.  If you've never read anything by her, take a chance.  You won't be sorry!

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I received this book free from Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, in exchange for my honest opinion.