A Bond for the Holidays, book #91

If you will remember, I just finished A Christmas Bond, a prequel to this series, last week.  I decided since I already has this one I'd go ahead and read it fast since it was 12/31 and since this book only had 86 pages! :)  Other books that I have read in this series are here and here.

A terrible secret revealed... Emily and Robert have been happily married for eighteen years, but a secret stands between them... and just before Christmas, the truth comes out. Their comfortable family blows apart, and it takes a Christmastime trip to the Covenant School's new farm--and a whole lot of praying--to keep them together for the holidays, and just maybe, to find a new level of happiness and meaning forever. (Picture and description at Amazon)

Wonder what all exciting books I'll break into in 2021!  I know for sure there will be a boatload Tamara Alexander! :)
 

The Wedding Dress Christmas, book #90

 

Ahhh but this book was a sweet read!  I'm a little irritated at myself now because I can't find here on the blog where I read the other books in this series, but it may have been when I wasn't keeping track of them here.  This is the last in a cute little series about a mysterious wedding dress that magically fits whoever is supposed to wear it, starting in 1912 all the way to modern day!  The other books in the series, in order, are The Wedding Dress, The Wedding Chapel, and The Wedding Shop.  I highly recommend all these!!! 

December comes to quaint Hearts Bend, Tennessee, with a blanket of white and the glitter of Christmas lights.  For JoJo Castle there is no place like home. Her onetime love of adventure ended when her life in the big city came crashing down. Now that she’s home, she never wants to leave again. Country music sensation Buck Mathews has charmed the world with his smile and his music. However, news of his mother’s illness brought him home to Hearts Bend for the holiday season.  Working with her cousin Haley in The Wedding Shop, JoJo has no aspirations of love. But when her high school crush returns to town, her buried feelings surface.  Busy with his career, Buck hasn’t had time for family and friends, much less love. Seeing JoJo in The Wedding Shop reminds him there are things more important than his career. But JoJo and Buck have opposing life goals, and there’s no middle ground. Can love, especially the kind that touches hearts at Christmas, overcome her fears and his quest for greatness?  With the help of a very special wedding dress, there just might be a Christmas miracle. (picture and description at Amazon)

Luckily I was able to squeeze in ONE MORE before the new year ...

O:)

Melissa

The Bible, books # 41-89

Revelation 19:1 Hallelujah!

 

If you remember, I have been reading through the Bible with Roger and Katie this year, along with some members of our church.  I was excited to do it with Katie since she had never done this before and I loved hearing her questions, comments, inspirations, etc.  

Roger is close to finishing as is Katie.  

Back in June I posted here and here about the first 17 I read, and here we have the final 49.  I was really thinking I might hit 100 books again this year like I did in 2015 (where I also read the Bible through in a year)

Not sure I am going to fit in 11 more books before Thursday night, but I did start a short one this morning.  

Despite the diversity of the Bible books and their separation in time, there are several unifying themes that run through both the Old and New Testaments:

• There is only one true God. He created all that is the universe and takes an active, ongoing and loving role in its maintenance.
• God loves His people of all races, nationalities and religions, and seeks their love in return.
• God created men and women with the power to choose between good and evil. We are called to do good by serving God and respecting our fellow human beings of the world. Evil is a constant temptation that we must do our best to resist.
• God seeks the salvation of all people, individually and collectively, from the power of sin and evil. God has intervened directly in human affairs and has also sent the prophets and, finally, His Son Jesus, the Messiah or Christ, to help us with that salvation.  (pictures mine, description from here)

Of all the books I have ever or will ever read, this one will ALWAYS be my favorite!

Keep Reading!

O:)

Melissa

 

The White Christmas Inn, book #40

 

This was our delightful pick for our January Book Club.  We always read two Christmas books, one picked for December and one picked for January since we still have half of December to read the one for January!

It was a quick read, mainly because I read most of it while I was in bed with a migraine all day Sunday.  That part wasn't fun, but I just transported myself to this lovely place as I was writhing in pain and couldn't sleep anymore.

It reminded me of where I want to spend next Christmas.  Christmas at home is fun, don't get me wrong, but I have washed more dishes and made more messes in the last week than I want to again, for, say, another year!  

A New England inn seems like the picture-perfect place to spend the holidays. But when a snowstorm shuts the roads and keeps them all inside, the guests find themselves worrying that this Christmas may not be exactly what they dreamed of. Molly just needs to keep her head down and finish her latest book, but her writer’s block is crippling. The arrival of Marcus, a handsome widower with two young girls, is exactly the distraction she doesn't need. Hannah was hoping for a picturesque winter wedding, but her plans come crashing down when her fiancé calls everything off. She reconnects with her childhood friend, Luke, when he comes to check on his grandmother before the storm. Jeanne and Tim don't know how they're going to keep the inn open another year—or how to bridge the distance between them in their marriage. With a flurry of unexpected guests, they'll have to work together to fix all the problems that crop up. But will it be enough to rekindle their relationship? As the characters’ stories intertwine, they start to find hope where they thought it had been lost. With faith, and a little bit of Christmas magic, the inn—and its inhabitants—might just make it through the holidays after all.  (picture and description from Amazon)

Luckily, since it it still Christmastide and I have a few more days off I'm hoping to squeeze in another Christmas book before the season ends.

Happy Reading!

O:)

Melissa

A Christmas Bond: Sacred Bond Series Prequel, book #39

 

This is a fun little series I forget about, but the books are quick to read and interesting.  To sum it up, the Sacred Bond is a group of troubled boys who get a second chance at life.  They have had rough times growing up and end up in a group home together.  Through the encouragement of their "house dad" John they form a bond to take care and be there for each other no matter what.  I have read one book here  and I think another one as well that I need to go back and find :)  

In this Christian romance, war hero John Moretti sees the delinquent boys he mentors as the sons he never had, and he wants to give them every opportunity to reform. Crime victim Annie Bauer views them as dangerous threats to her elderly grandma, who lives next door to the boys’ residential school. When the Baby Jesus is stolen from Grandma’s yard nativity scene, the boys’ potential involvement may send them straight to hard-core juvie, and break the fragile connection that’s building between Annie and John. Until the so-called delinquents join together to make a sacred bond… Christian romance fiction isn’t often gritty . . . especially Christian Christmas books! But A Christmas Bond takes place in an inner-city neighborhood and features angst-ridden characters who aren’t typical of more lighthearted Christian fiction—they have serious problems to deal with. With the help of a strong faith, the hero leads the boys in his care toward a commitment to use their considerable strength to help others who are weaker or in need. (picture and description at Amazon)

Merry Christmas!!

O:)

Melissa

Catching Christmas, book #39

I have been wanting to read this book for a very long time.  I would see it (in the good old days!) at the bookstore and think, "I should buy that book!" but for some reason I don't.  Then I would see it on Kindle and think, "I should get that, but did I buy the book somewhere?"  So finally I broke down and got the Kindle version.  This year, now that I am done with work, I had time to read and was looking for Christmas books.  Hooray!  Finally I can read this book!  It was well worth the wait!

As a first-year law associate, Sydney Batson knows she will be updating her resume by New Year’s if she loses her current case. So when her grandmother gets inexplicably ill while she’s in court, Sydney arranges for a cab to get her to the clinic.  The last thing cab driver Finn Parrish wants is to be saddled with a wheelchair-bound old lady with dementia. But because Miss Callie reminds him of his own mother, whom he failed miserably in her last days, he can’t say no when she keeps calling him for rides. Once a successful gourmet chef, Finn’s biggest concern now is paying his rent, but half the time Callie doesn’t remember to pay him. And as she starts to feel better, she leads him on wild-goose chases to find a Christmas date for her granddaughter.  When Finn meets Sydney, he’s quite sure she’s never needed help finding a date. Does Miss Callie have an ulterior motive, or is this just a mission driven by delusions? He’s willing to do whatever he can to help fulfill Callie’s Christmas wish. He just never expected to be a vital part of it. (picture and description at Amazon)

Happy Christmas!  Enjoy this season, however it looks for you!

O:)

Melissa

 

 

The Christmas Remedy, book #38

 

Sweet little book that kept me on the edge of my seat.  Love quick books for Christmas that have just a little something different ...

When an Old Order Amish woman takes a job at a small-town pharmacy struggling to survive in a world of "big box" stores, her motive is to help her Plain community. But the advent of the holiday season brings an unusual mystery to the surface--and possibly love.  Twenty-four-year-old Holly Zook lives a unique life for a young Amish woman. Years ago, her bishop allowed her to continue her education and become the lead technician for Greene's Pharmacy, an old-timey drugstore that looks out for the Amish community--a group largely without secure healthcare plans. She knows she can't marry and hold onto her professional job. She's Amish, and she can only have one or the other, so she spurns love and works toward addressing treatable diseases--like the one that claimed her father's life.  As long as Holly continues to avoid Joshua Smucker, the one man who draws her like a warm hearth in winter, she should be fine. When something unexpected threatens Greene's Pharmacy, Holly and Joshua must work together to unravel what's happened and find the "missing" patient before the Board of Pharmacy shuts them down. As the snows of December arrive, with Christmas in the air, will Holly succumb to the generous spirit of the season?  (picture and description at Amazon)

Now to find another one to read this next week!

Happy Reading!

O:)

Melissa

Shattering Secrets, book #37

I have to admit, when I saw this book my friend picked out for Book Club this month, I wasn't convinced I would like it.  We are supposed to be reading a Christmas book this month and this poor girl on the front, with no Christmasy looking decorations on it did NOT look like something I was going to enjoy.  Well, I thought, at least it only has 289 pages so maybe I can suffer through.  But with reading the Bible through this year as well I have been pretty picky about fiction books I pick up.  Once I went back to work in late June I've had to make hard decision with my time reading.  Ugh!  Sigh .... Since I got caught up on my Bible reading I decided to plunge in and get it over with.  

It took a while to get into, mainly because the only time I had to pick it up to read was about 10:30 at night in bed ~ where I would read about 5 minutes and fall asleep.  But once I really got into it, I was hooked!  

But then ~ THIS HAPPENED in the plot!!  (not giving it away!)

And then ~ THAT HAPPENED!!

And then  ... and then .... well, you know how it goes.  Even though my heart was grieving for the characters, I had to keep going.  Forget wrapping presents, going shopping, etc.  I HAD to stick with these guys to see how it was all going to end!  

An annual Christmas project sends a professional blogger in search of a little boy's one and only Christmas wish--his father--and unearths a story with the potential to rip apart a family forever.  

It’s a truth universally unacknowledged that sin will hunt you down and advertise its presence the moment you try to hide it.  

Davia Cordell came to Rockland for one purpose–find her son’s father before she dies. An ex-prostitute, she’s well aware that the news will cause waves, but what’s a mother to do?  As these women join forces to search for Joey’s father–a Rockland area pastor, no less– Emily learns compassion for a woman who just wants the best for her son and can’t quite imagine that Jesus wants anything to do with her.  

Each day, Davia weakens until Emily isn’t confident that she’ll find the boy’s father in time–if at all.  Doubts form. Should she even look?  Is it right to risk destroying a family like this? What about what this will do to the father’s church? 

 A mother’s love. A boy’s confidence. A family’s faith. A preacher’s failure. Is redemption even possible anymore? (picture and descripton from Amazon)

You will want to read this book.  Trust me on this.  It will make you think long and hard about what decision you would make for yourself.

Keep Reading, even when you can't judge a book by its cover!

O:)

Melissa