Secrets over Sweet Tea, Book #12

Like my new, catchy title?  Original, hunh?  Looks I only have about 113 books left for this year to make it to 125...


Instead of reading the book I needed to about how to deal with crazy teenagers I decided to jump into this one since once again Book Club was sneaking up on me.  Man, oh man, again Denise caught me off guard, made me laugh, cry, and do some soul searching for myself.  I know this book was probably hard for her to write with her history, but it was so very powerful!!!  Again, highly recommend!!!  


Secrets can be funny things. We think they keep us safe, but more often than not, they spill out when we least expect and make a mess out of everything. It’s a truth Scarlett Jo Newberry knows all too well—a truth Grace Shepherd and Zach Craig are about to learn the hard way. As the lives of this boisterous pastor’s wife, polished news anchor, and beleaguered divorce attorney intersect in the tree-lined streets of Franklin, Tennessee, scandal threatens to topple their carefully constructed worlds. Grasping at survival, they embark on a journey of friendship and courage, desperate to find a way back to laughter, love, and life. (picture and description from amazon.com)

O:)
Melissa

Books #11

Wowzee wowzee wowzee is all I can say about this!!!  I actually started this book several months ago after hearing the author on the radio with Chris Fabry.  When I started it, I was bored out of my mind and thought it was going to be a yuck book. 

But, we ended up picking this for our March book club so I decided to start over and push through.  And am I so glad I did!!!  This book is now up in one of my favorites!!!

When a brilliant surgeon undergoes a heart transplant, her life transforms as she begins experiencing memories of a murder she never witnessed.

 

The residents worship her. Nurses step out of her way. Her colleagues respect and sometimes even fear her. But surgeon Tori Taylor never expected to end up on this side of the operating table.

 

Now she has a new heart. This life that was formerly controlled and predictable is now chaotic. Dr. Taylor had famously protected herself from love or commitment, but her walls are beginning to crumble.

 

And strangest of all, memories surface that will take her on a journey out of the operating room and into a murder investigation.

 

Where there once was a heart of stone, there is a heart of flesh. And there is no going back.

 

(picture and description from amazon.com)

Books #10

This book was  fun one!  The author is a local girl here in Spring Hill so it always makes it more fun to read.

She moved to Sandwich, Illinois, in search of a new life, but ended up in a giant pickle.

Sandwich represents hope for twenty-year-old Maddie Buckner and Kyle, the eleven-year-old brother Maddie wants to spring out of foster care. Then she loses her new job after less than a day. It’s all Reuben-the-Jerk’s fault, and she’s determined to make him right the wrong.  

He does so, reluctantly, by giving her a job at his restaurant, The Sandwich Emporium. Then crazy things start happening at the restaurant, and Kyle’s foster parents apply to adopt him. To stop it all, Maddie must learn the art of humbling herself and accepting the help God has arranged, risking her heart to Reuben in the process. 

And she’d rather eat a million corned-beef on rye sandwiches than do that.

(picture and description from amazon)

We picked out a new book for Book Club, but I'm feeling a strong need to instead start on another one beside my bed, Moms Ultimate Guide to the Tween Girl World, although a certain someone assures me she has moved on from being a Tween and is now a full blown teenager. Hhm...

O:)
Melissa

Book #8

In a word, exhausting.  But a good exhausting!!  This book has been on my bedside table for a very long while, but I have not been able to get to it.  After finishing "Love's Sacred Song" I had planned to pick this one up, but thought it might be a bit heavy.  (hahaha .... bibliomaniac humor!)  Then when I was talking to my mom she raved about "The Bridge" and this one both.  I decided to read "The Bridge" to bring me back around, then get started on this.  I was a little concerned I might not have time to finish this and our Book Club Book for February, but I should have known better.

The first night I read about 6 pages before I fell asleep.  (Not because the book was boring, but just because I was exhausted!)  The next night I read half of the book.  Yes, me who goes to bed at 8:30 at night was up until 3:00 in the morning.  It was turning into "Redeeming Love" all over again!  I finished the book the next day. 

As usual, Robert Whitlow does not disappoint.  Think of him as a Christian John Grisham and you've pegged him.  I love how he ties in all the legal jargon without you feeling like you have no idea what he is talking about.  He is a detail person, but these details are important, and to me it puts me right in the room with the characters. 

If you or someone you know has ever had an unplanned pregnancy as a teenager, this book is for you.  If you love thrilling legal fiction taken right off the newspaper headlines, this book is for you.  If you love Robert Whitlow or John Grisham, this book is for you.  Trust me, this book is for YOU!!!

One young woman. Two very different roads. The choice will change everything.
Even as a pregnant, unwed teen in 1974, Sandy Lincoln wanted to do the right thing. But when an ageless woman approached her in a convenience store with a mysterious prophecy and a warning, doing the right thing became even more unclear. She made the best choice she could . . . and has lived with the consequences.
More than thirty years later, a pregnant teen has come into her life, and Sandy’s long-ago decision has come back to haunt her. The stakes rise quickly, leaving Sandy with split seconds to choose once more. But will her choice decision bring life . . . or death?  (picture and description from amazon.com)

Book #7

Whew but this book was a nice reprieve after the last one!  And it only took me two days to read it. 

 

Number one New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury delivers an instant classic with this heartwarming Christmas story about a hundred-year flood, lost love, and the beauty of enduring friendships. 

 Molly Allen lives alone in Portland, but she left her heart back in Tennessee with a man she walked away from five years ago. They had a rare sort of love she hasn’t found since. 

Ryan Kelly lives in Nashville after a broken engagement and several years on the road touring with a country music duo. He can still hear Molly’s voice encouraging him to follow his dreams; Molly, whose memory stays with him. At least he can visit The Bridge—the oldest bookstore in historic downtown Franklin—and remember the hours he and Molly once spent there. 

For thirty years, Charlie and Donna Barton have run The Bridge, providing the people of middle Tennessee with coffee, conversation, and shelves of good books—even through dismal book sales and the rise of digital books. Then in May, the hundred-year flood swept through Franklin and destroyed nearly every book in the store. 

Now the bank is pulling the lease on The Bridge. Despondent and without answers, Charlie considers the unthinkable. Then tragedy strikes, and suddenly, everything changes. In the face of desperate brokenness and lost opportunities, could the miracle of a second chance actually unfold? (picture and description from christianbook.com)

What I liked about this book, among many things, is that it is set in Franklin, TN which is right up the road from us.  Karen has now moved here so I wonder if that is what made her want to write about her new home.  Of course I also love the description of the bookstore, which is speaking my heart language!!  I have not been a fan of Karen for awhile, simply because she writes so many series and I don't have time to get involved in a series right now, but this was a nice little stand alone that is a great read for a rainy or snowy day.  You know, assuming you don't have kids running around demanding things of you every 20 seconds. Unless you have arrived at the point, like me, where you can lock yourself in your bedroom.  Yeah.

O:)
Melissa

Book #6

Finally, finally, finally finished this book.  It was a long, hard one that I wasn't sure I would ever complete.  

Standing in the massive shadow of his famous father, young king Solomon wavers between fear and bravado, wisdom and folly. In the uncertain world of alliances and treachery, Solomon longs for peace and a love that is true and pure--a love that can be his cornerstone.

A shepherdess in the northern city of Shunem, Arielah remembers the first time she laid eyes on Solomon in Jerusalem when she was just seven years old. Since then she has known that it was her destiny to become his bride. When her father, a leader of their tribe, secures a promise from King Solomon to marry Arielah as a treaty bride to help unite the kingdom, it seems her dreams may come true.

But how can this simple shepherdess live as part of Solomon's harem? Can Solomon set aside his distractions to give himself completely to just one woman? Or will he let duty, deception, and the daily routine divide his heart?

Mesu Andrews expertly weaves the words of the Song of Solomon into this touching story of the power of love. Readers will be transported from the glowing fields of Shunem to the gleaming city of Jerusalem as they experience this rich and textured novel from a master storyteller. (picture and description from amazon.com)

Once I finally got about 3/4 of the way through it, I was ready to see what was going to happen, but those first tons of pages were challenging.  The author is very detailed in her writing and researched for years to make sure each detail was completely historical and exact.  I can usually appreciate that, but in this book it seemed to weigh down the story.  Also, I always have a challenge with reading books set in Bible times about stories from the Bible.  Francine Rivers does a pretty good job of it, but I always get uncomfortable ~ feeling as if I'm cheating about making some of these people more down to earth.  I'm sure they probably were, but still. 

So, I'm ready for some fluff after that!

O:)
Melissa

Books, #5

I seriously need a new post title for these.  Alas, to the book!  This one I actually finished earlier in the holidays, but travel and illness has kept me from posting. 

Welcome to Appleseed Creek, the heart of Ohio’s Amish Country, where life is not as serene as it seems.

While her Cleveland friends relocated to Southern California and Italy, 24-year-old computer whiz Chloe Humphrey moves with some uncertainty to Appleseed Creek to direct technology services at a nearby college. Her first acquaintance is Becky, an ex-Amish teenager looking for a new home.

While driving Chloe’s car, Becky collides with a buggy, killing an Amish elder. But what looks like an accident is soon labeled murder when police discover the car’s cut brake line.

Now, Chloe must take on the role of amateur sleuth to discover who the real intended victim was before the murderer makes a second attempt. Becky’s handsome Amish-turned-Mennonite brother, Timothy, a local carpenter, comes in handy along the way. With God’s help, they’ll solve the mystery that’s rocking this small community. (picture and description from Amazon)

This is our Book Club book for January and I THOROUGHLY enjoyed it!  Enough Amish to keep it interesting, enough modern day tied in to make it more real.  It really me realize how the Amish still do function in the world today with us "englishchers" and yet still hold to their beliefs and orders.  Highly recommended!!!

 Now I am working on a book set in Bible times and they are always more challenging, but I think if I can stick with it another chapter or two I'll be hooked...

O:)
Melissa