A Distant Shore, book #21

 

My mother in law was kind enough to let me borrow this so I wanted to read it before I started our next book club book.  When I first started it I did not like it at all, the story was just so sad.  But it was more like a flashback ~ you had to understand what happened to see where they were in modern times.

I feel like the description on the back did not truly define what the book was about, so I felt disappointed and confused.  In the end, it was a good book, just that it all wrapped up in a pretty little bow, almost too perfect.

She was a child caught in a riptide in the Caribbean Sea. He was a teenager from the East Coast on vacation with his family. He dove in to save her, and that single terrifying moment changed both their lives forever.  Ten years later Jack Ryder is a daring secret agent with the FBI and Eliza Lawrence still lives on that pristine island. She’s an untainted princess in a kingdom of darkness and evil, on the brink of a forced marriage with a dangerous neighboring drug lord, a marriage arranged by her father.  This time when Jack and Eliza meet, there’s a connection neither of them can explain. Both their lives are on the line, and once again, the stakes are deadly high. Can they join forces in a complicated and dangerous mission, pretending to have a breathtaking love…without really falling?  Sometimes miracles happen not once, but twice…along a distant shore.  (picture and description from Amazon)

So excited to get started on our new book club book!!

Keep Reading!

Melissa

Secrets of Willow Springs (book 1) , book #20

 

Read this for book club.  No one liked in especially.  Don't waste your time.  

Why?  Well, the story line could have been really great but it was not developed out enough.  The amish names were too generic and similar and I kept getting confused about who was who.  I had to make a cheat sheet.  There is one in the front of the book, but it would have been tricky to go back and forth on the paperwhite.  You already know how it is going to end ~ in general ~ by the middle of the book, but I stuck with them thinking the how they got there would be better, but it was not.  

And the end?  It just stops!  No closure, no ~ so what happens?? This is book 1, but I got the idea book 2 was just going to start up a few years later and not even go back to cleanly wrap up the mess left at the end of book 1!!

Secrets from the past come to light in this Amish Fiction Book. Her family’s hidden history could destroy her. Will forgiveness set their future free?  Emma Byler can’t wait for her sixteenth birthday and to experience a taste of freedom. With her Amish Rumspringa relaxing some of her usual restrictions, she’s desperate to spend time with a special boy. But she fears tensions at home and her father’s increasingly short-temper could make him pull back the reins.  Sixteen years ago, Jacob Byler made a promise. But as his daughter’s celebration draws near, he dreads the emotional upheaval she’ll go through when she learns the truth. And all he can do is pray that God will grant him the courage he needs to come clean.  As Emma tries to deal with her father’s worsening behavior, she’s forced to keep her own confidences. And Jacob reaches the breaking point when his son befriends a youth who could topple the whole house of cards.  Will honesty shatter the close-knit family, or will their faith help them open their hearts?  (picture and description from Amazon)

Nothing to see here ... just keep going ...  :(

Doing Life with Your Adult Children : Keep your Mouth Shut and the Welcome Mat Out; book #19

 

This book has been sitting my by bedside for a while and I decided it was time to pick it up and read it.  Luckily, we haven't had too much trouble yet, but its good to be prepared.  Most of it was basic stuff, but still good.

If you have an adult child, you know that parenting doesn't stop when a child reaches the age of eighteen. In many ways, it gets more complicated. Both your heart and your head are as involved as ever, whether your child lives under your roof or rarely stays in contact.  In Doing Life with Your Adult Children, parenting expert Jim Burns helps you navigate one of the richest and most challenging seasons of parenting. Speaking from his own personal and professional experience, Burns offers practical answers to questions such as these:

Is it OK to give advice to my grown child?

What's the difference between enabling and helping?

What boundaries should I have if my child moves back home?

What do I do when my child doesn't seem to be maturing into adulthood?

How do I relate to my grown child's significant other?

What does it mean to have healthy financial boundaries?

How can I support my grown children when I don't support their values?

Including positive principles on bringing kids back to faith, ideas on how to leave a legacy as a grandparent, and encouragement for every changing season, Doing Life with Your Adult Children is a unique book on your changing role in a calling that never ends.  (picture and description from Amazon)

Now that I have a REAL job where I get up and leave by 6:30 I'm not sure if I'll be able to read as much as I like to, but you can't keep a good reader down! :)

Keep Reading!
O:)
Melissa