Why We Fought by Jerry Borrowman

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This is a really great WWII resource. I enjoyed every chapter, because they taught me things I didn’t already know in a way that was easy to absorb the information. The author voice was great and easy to understand. Overall, this book was fascinating and absorbing.

Here are my personal summaries of each chapter’s heroes:

Virginia Hall, amputee spy who defied the odds as well as the Nazis.

William Sebold, a double-agent who took down several German spy rings.

Marlene Dietrich, an actress with a knack for boosting morale.

Juan Pujol, a writer and his make-believe spy ring fooled high-ranked Nazis.

Carl Lutz, risked his life to save 72,000 Jews.

The Ghost Army, diversion tactics made a huge difference.

The Battle for Castle Itter, WWI veterans hold the fort.

Read more on my new website.

The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book wasn’t what I was expecting. At all.

Yet, it was still beautiful and deep and touched every emotion inside of me.

When I first heard about this book, I was thrilled that I had finally found a Vietnam story. Only, it kind of isn’t. It touches on the Vietnam War, but it doesn’t show the war itself. In fact, it never actually steps one foot into that country.

That was disappointing.

However, I’m a sucker for an emotional adoption story, so this little birdie wriggled its way into my heart once I found my rhythm with the three time periods, all of which were written in first person. That took some getting used to, but I’m glad I stuck with it. The story was so amazing. Little Minh was so adorable! I couldn’t get enough of her, truly. The emotional punches and tension-filled adoption story reminded me so much of Susan Schoenberger’s A Watershed Year, a favorite book of mine that I’ve read at least three times already. If you love that one, you’re going to absolutely want to find a copy of this one… and vice versa.

I’m still not sure what I think of the ending of each of the three storylines. There was resolution in some ways, but so much was left open… but I think it was in a good way. I need to mull it over more and possibly give it another read or two before I fully make up my mind.

The Nature of Small Birds + Other News

The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

I’ve been looking forward to this book since I first saw the cover and glimpsed the blurb. Listen, I think the Vietnam War is under-represented in Christian fiction. The thing is, this book isn’t about the Vietnam War exactly… it’s more of an adoption story, about a little girl that escaped the war. While it isn’t exactly what I was expecting, it’s turning into quite the wonderful story. It’s heartfelt and emotional, for sure, and you know those are a couple of my happy places. I’m about halfway through the book already, and I’m loving it so far. The characters are amazing, the plot wonderful, and the split time aspect is done pretty well. It took me a few chapters to really settle in and feel grounded in each of the three threads, but I’ve found my rhythm with it and expect to finish it in time to bring you my full review next week, if all goes well. This is my first book by Susie Finkbeiner, but if it holds out to finish as well as it’s begun, it likely won’t be the last.

Other News

For a while now, I’ve wanted to have a dot-com website. When Blogger decided to discontinue the follow-by-e-mail feature, I knew it was the right time to make the big switch. So my breaking news is this:

Summer Reading List

One of my favorite things about summer is working through a summer reading list. I don't always stick to my list, as I'm a pretty moody reader. This month, though, I'm trying hard to stick to a specific reading list. I do love a good challenge!

Here are a few books I'm reading this summer.

The Strength in Our Weaknesses by Kellyn Roth {At Her Fingertips Launch Tour} + Giveaway!

Friends, today we have a special guest. Kellyn Roth is the author of The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy series, a series which I have had the pleasure of copy editing for her. The latest Alice & Ivy book, At Her Fingertips, released on July 17, 2021, so is now available.

Be sure to stay tuned after the guest article, because Kellyn is hosting a giveaway.

The Strength in Our Weaknesses

by Kellyn Roth

Hello everyone!

I’m Kellyn Roth, a historical women’s fiction and romance writer who loves filling my novels with Christian themes. Today I’m here to talk about one of the themes in my novel, At Her Fingertips.

This book is practically brimming with ideas—and I never planned for any of them! God just likes to toss random things into my novels, and this was one I hadn’t planned at all.

You see, my idea was to write a novel in which my main character, Alice, struggles to release her plans to Christ. As the Bible notes, “[God] knows the plans [He] thinks toward you.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Our end is “expected” to Him—He’s already got it all figured out!

So with a control freak like Alice (sorry, girl—it’s true!), I had a lot to work with!

However, one day, I was writing along, minding my own business, and suddenly, this happened:

“She was doing it again—letting pride and stubbornness pull her away from those she loved. She’d rather appear strong and reject vulnerability than have a close relationship with her family. But she wasn’t strong; she was weak, and every time she failed to show her weakness, she became weaker.”

After this happened, I had to go back through the rest of the novel during rewrites and think over what I really meant and do some serious Bible research.

Here’s what I arrived at.

Bridge of Gold by Kimberley Woodhouse {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book was pretty wonderful. There were buckets of things to adore about it and only a couple of reasons why I docked a single star.

Mrs. Woodhouse has improved so much in her writing. I’m growing fonder and fonder of her stories as time goes on, and this book is a prime example of why. It’s a time-slip story that features a murder mystery that revolved around the discovery of a ship buried beneath the streets of San Francisco, California. While it might not all be factual (I hope the murders didn’t actually happen!), I was intrigued to learn that there really were ships that were sunk and used as landfill to expand the growing city of San Francisco during and directly after that California Gold Rush. So neat! It was great to see Mrs. Woodhouse expanding her abilities by dipping into the time-slip genre. She’s long been growing as a historical author, but now she’s added the dual-timeline style to her repertoire.

Anything Release Tour {my debut book}

Friends, my debut book is here!

Anything features short stories and a poem by thirteen Christian women (including yours truly), so you're in for quite a treat. I hope you will consider purchasing a copy for a friend, family member, or yourself. Summer is coming soon, and Anything is a great book to add to your summer reading list.

I've already heard from some of you that you've purchased a copy. THANK YOU! Your support and encouragement are greatly appreciated. If you enjoy reviewing books, please consider leaving an honest review on retail sites and/or Goodreads.

About the Book:

He was willing to do anything.
Talk about anything, they said.
She hadn’t ever done anything.
You can do anything.

 

In this heartwarming collection, thirteen Christian authors weave tales both historical and contemporary in a variety of imaginative settings. Anything features characters stretched to their limits: a pencil and a crayon who are best friends, a Tea-Dragon with a mischievous and mysterious habit, a terminally ill child with a lovely wish. In these pages, you’ll discover an eccentric gentleman who never stops reading, a foster boy who makes up in appetite what he lacks in conversational skills, and a single mother with a fault-finding mother-in-law and five rambunctious children who haven’t learned respect for a living room.

 

Watch as a couple sacrificially prays for a lost and dying sister-in-law, a young lady tearfully talks her best friend through a coma, a courageous brother offers to lay down himself for others, a camera-shy teenager faces her greatest fear, and a music camp applicant struggles mightily with writing an interesting bio. Warmth, hope, and encouragement pervade the pages, echoing the theme of “anything” from a refreshing variety of angles both insightful and entertaining, spiritually profound and eternally valuable. These short pieces will delight and encourage the whole family.

Summer Favorites

Hello, friends! Let's talk books.

What are your favorite books you've read so far this summer? (Yes, I'm looking for your recommendations!)

Here are a few of my favorites. Each of these received five-star ratings from me.

The Lost Lieutenant by Erica Vetsch {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and JustRead Tours. These are my honest thoughts.

How do I even begin?

I was a little nervous going in to this one. See, I’d only read a couple of westerns by Mrs. Vetsch. Sometimes the quality of books, the attention to detail, lags a bit in the first book exploring a new genre for an author. Rest assured, my friends, that was not at all the case with this author. This Regency era novel perfectly captured the time period, including the settings, costumes, and the hierarchy of the British nobility.

The people populating this fictional world Mrs. Vetsch created were fantastic, even those I found rightfully abhorrent. From the leads (Diana and Evan) to the supporting characters (Louisa, Shand, Marcus, Cian, and Beth) to the antagonists (who I’ll keep secret for you to discover for yourself), they each brought something important and unique to the story. Because their personalities popped off the page so well, I was completely engrossed in their journeys, good and bad and every twist and turn in between. Of course, the hope for certain somebodies to find their fictional comeuppance kept me flipping those virtual pages quickly. But it was the hope strung throughout that kept my heart so intimately connected to the journey of the leads to the very end.

Never Say Goodbye by Sarah Grace Grzy {book review + giveaway}

Graphic Credit: Victoria Lynn Designs

Y’all, let me catch my breath!

Sniffle, sniffle, dry my eyes.

All right.

Ahem. This review may be a hot mess. Why? you wonder. I’ll tell you.

This book wrecked me.

Oh, it’s in a great way, believe me, but I’m still wrecked! You see, this book sort of sneaked up on me. It was gallivanting along in a lighthearted, contemporary romance kind of way… and then BOOM! All these emotional things started happening, and they all made sense in the plot and everything, but they blindsided me. Completely blindsided me.

They shouldn’t have. I should have seen them coming. I’m a writer too, for goodness’ sake! But I did not see a certain couple of plot twists coming at all, and they waylaid me. Hard!

Even as it was happening and tears were gushing out of my eyeballs, I was happy about it. Truly, I was. Even as I was fretting for the beloved characters who’d crept into my heart when I wasn’t looking, I was grateful that a talented author had dug in deep and delivered the tough but very good stuff.

Characters Who... Get Married in the Story

For June's reading challenge, we'll be getting in the mood for weddings!

This month, we'll be reading stories in which weddings take place. They could be traditional church weddings, destination weddings, outdoor weddings, beach weddings... The list really could be limitless. Have fun with it!

Remember to share what type of wedding it was (see above list for examples) when you post your books.

Happy wedding hunting... er, reading!

Things I Never Told You by Beth K. Vogt + GIVEAWAY

Beth Vogt recently switched from writing contemporary romances to penning women's fiction. She's talented at both genres, but I think she's found her niche. I guzzled her latest story, Things I Never Told You, in only three days.

Here's my review, as published on Goodreads. The pictures here are new for your benefit, friends. They include a few of my favorite quotes from the book. Stay tuned for the giveaway at the end.

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy of this book. A positive review was not required. What follows are my honest thoughts and opinions.

This five-star, page-flying book felt very much like a soul-deep, sister-love letter to Ms. Vogt's own sisters, which enhanced the emotional aspect of this story for me. Surprisingly, I only teared up a couple of times in this maiden read. I have a feeling that will change in future readings. This is an amazing and deeply emotional story.

One thing I really enjoyed about it was how the mood reminded me of one of my favorite movies: Collateral Beauty. Both that movie and this book feature journeys toward accepting the realities of loss and grief. That's a journey that's crucial to our existence, because nothing lasts forever here on Earth.

The pace of this story was super fast. I flew through over 400 pages in only three days. Three days, y'all! That's pretty epic for me and that many pages. The content of the story -- all the ups and downs, drama, misunderstandings, love, passion, and heart of the Thatcher sisters' lives -- wasn't always easy to read about, but the toughness of this story is handled with such exquisite grace and redemption and humor that I couldn't help but become completely immersed in the story world Ms. Vogt had created. Of course, her characters helped out a lot, because they were very realistic and, quite frankly, studies in human nature. I admire how Ms. Vogt was able to craft such true-to-life perspectives and draw out the inner thoughts that make familial relationships so tricky to navigate.

Let Them Eat Cake

by Andrea Renee Cox

Have you ever read a book that made you crave your favorite dessert?

Let Them Eat Cake by Sandra Byrd was one of those books for me. Just thinking about it now, months after I read it, has me wishing I had some crème brûlée or some red velvet cake (two of my favorite desserts). Maybe I'll bake something delicious this afternoon.

Be My Guest: Kristy Cambron and *GIVEAWAY*

by Andrea Renee Cox

Hey, friends! Please welcome Kristy Cambron, author of The Butterfly and the Violin, as she talks about one of our favorite things: BOOKS! Stay tuned till the very end. There's a sweet surprise waiting for you.

When Books Have a Story to Tell

by Kristy Cambron

I remember the day my parents bought me my first art history book.

That was in fourth grade– many, many years ago. And today, it holds an important spot on the favorites bookshelf of this thirty-something wife, author, and momma of three.

I still have the very first copy of Pride and Prejudice (and Jane Austen book period) that I’d ever read. My high school Bible is tucked away – no longer in use because the spine is falling apart. It’s marked up, inscribed with dates and prayers in the margins, chronicling my first decade as a believer. And around my home office as I write this? You’ll find copies of Elie Wiesel’s Night stashed here and there. A stack of Dr. Seuss books occupies a toy basket in the corner. Art history books are shelved in a rainbow of spine colors. And eighteen copies of Jane Eyre are within arm’s reach of my desk.

Almost Like Being in Love by Beth K. Vogt

by Andrea Renee Cox

Has life gone the way you planned?

Almost Like Being in Love by Beth K. Vogt brought laughter to my lips and tears to my eyes. It was a beautiful look at how wrong “perfect” can be… and often is. Though this novel didn’t beat out Wish You Were Here as my favorite Vogt book (must be those llamas!), it did rise to the top in her Destination Wedding series. This book captured a sweet complexity that intrigued me at every turn. If you like a good, clean romance with lots of humor and some “accidental” dates, Almost Like Being in Love is the summer read for you!

What's On Your Summer Reading List?

by Andrea Renee Cox

What’s on your summer reading list?

There are so many good books releasing this summer. The only thing that saddens me about that is that my schedule is keeping me too busy to enjoy all of them. Here are a few that I’m really excited about. Be sure to let me know in the comment section which books have you eager to read during these hot months of the year.

Can't Buy Me Love by Beth K. Vogt ***GIVEAWAY***

by Andrea Renee Cox

Another charming eNovella is now available to own. Can’t Buy Me Love introduces the new Destination Weddings series written by Beth K. Vogt. It’s the perfect way to kick off the series, if you ask me.

This bite-size book features dog groomer Bellamy Hillman, who has pinched pennies her entire life. She’s engaged to Reid Stanton, who has led a very privileged life. When Bellamy ends up with two wedding gowns, will their dreams of a Manhattan wedding combust before they even reach their destination?

No Place to Hide by Lynette Eason

by Andrea Renee Cox

What if you were running for your life and only had a brief encrypted message for a clue as to why bad guys and law enforcement were hunting you down?

Jackie Sellers and Ian Lockwood are on the run with no place to hide. It seems like everyone on both sides of the law are tracking them. And all they know is they're being blamed for a terrorist plot ... but they're completely innocent. Will they find someone to trust before they find themselves arrested or buried? Will they be able to untangle the only clue they have before the terrorist plot becomes a terrorist act?

A Broken Kind of Beautiful

By Andrea Renee Cox

After reading Katie Ganshert’s first two novels, I’ve come to expect brilliance in the form of broken characters struggling to discover a way to live life again. What took me by surprise in A Broken Kind of Beautiful was the new depth Katie found. Her characters weren’t only broken; they’d been completely shattered like a dropped snow globe. Ivy Clark in particular was lost and desperate for everything that was wrong for her. The journey she had to take to climb out of the dark, cold cave was beautifully written and so true to life. Figuring out that you’re broken and alone is sometimes the hardest, most frightening process, and Katie captured that with such raw vulnerability that I often found myself either breathless or in tears. Not many books have moved me so powerfully lately, but that might be because I could identify so much with the tagline of the book: “Sometimes everything you ever learned about yourself is wrong.” My own situation isn’t nearly as bad as all that, but I did discover something along the way that changed my perspective on my life.

Even though figuring out how broken and alone you are is so difficult, once you discover the God who can mend you and breathe new life into you… there’s no other feeling in the world like it, and there aren’t enough words for me to describe the freeing joy that comes with it. There’s not a safer, more comforting place to be than in God’s arms. He’s big enough and loving enough to take every shattered person and heal them until they’re better than they were before. He loves us so much. If you haven’t yet discovered His love, I hope you’ll dive into His Word and find Him. He’s calling you now. Won’t you answer Him?

“It took darkness to show me truth.” Sara’s words from chapter twenty-two couldn’t be more true. As sinners, we live in darkness. It isn’t until we realize how big we’ve messed up that we can appreciate and find the truth of God’s love and sacrifice. It’s books like A Broken Kind of Beautiful that remind me just how huge Jesus’s dying on the cross was. He freely forgives our worst mistakes when we ask Him. He mops up and erases our biggest messes. His forgiveness and grace overwhelm me because I know I don’t deserve them; no one does. That’s why they’re free gifts. There’s nothing we can do to earn them. But if we ask for them with honest, humbled hearts, God gives them to us, adopting us into His family and assuring us eternal life on the other side of this mortal one we’re living now. It is my prayer that you will discover the beauty in His gift. It’s quite amazing to behold.

About the book: A Broken Kind of Beautiful tells the story of Ivy Clark, an out-of-work fashion model who must go back home to a small town that holds her haunting past, and Davis Knight, a man who set aside his dream of being a fashion photographer to live a quiet life in that same small town. When they join forces to create multiple advertisements for a relative’s wedding dress boutique, will they help each other heal from their broken pasts? Or will they continue to live with the shards of mistakes and regrets poking them at every decision? Will God’s truth reveal that each of them is a broken kind of beautiful?

Thank you to Blogging for Books, who provided this book to me for free in exchange for my honest review.

Readers, how do you deal with your brokenness? Do you try to make up for it? Do you play the martyr and punish yourself, when no one asked you to? Or do you accept God’s forgiveness and move forward, toward His calling on your life?

Would you like to be my guest? Here's how to submit an article.

Do you need a proofreader? Here are the services I offer.

A Spunky Adventure -- Awakening by JoAnn Durgin

Spunky adventure.

That’s the only way I know how to sum up JoAnn Durgin’s Awakening. Her witty sense of humor shines in the banter between Sam Lewis and Lexa Clarke, two characters I know you’ll love getting to know. This book is a refreshing read that will have you believing TeamWork is a real organization . . . and you’ll want to join their next mission!

Lexa Clarke may be running from her past, but it might just catch up to her while she’s helping as a volunteer for a two-month summer mission with TeamWork. As she assists in rebuilding houses destroyed by flooding in San Antonio, trouble seems to follow her around in all shapes and sizes. Sam Lewis quickly realizes he’s got to keep his eye on Miss Lexa Clarke if he’s to keep trouble from interrupting his work as director of this TeamWork mission. Watching the petite woman with the long blonde braid proves to be a challenge worth accepting, even if it means facing his own haunting past. Will Sam and Lexa let the problems they’ve never dealt with drive a wedge between them as they discover a passion for serving the Lord in new ways? What will become of the TeamWork group when trouble turns combustible?

Sam tells Lexa in chapter two, “I’m saying He [God] allowed it to happen. He has His reasons. It’s up to us to try and figure out what He’s trying to tell us.” It’s neat to see how Sam’s and Lexa’s differing levels of faith play such huge roles in their lives during their work with TeamWork and in the other parts of their lives, as well. Each character has their own trials to face, and they depend on their faith in God in such unique ways that it really does inspire the reader to take a good look at their own faith life and reconsider where they are with God. Are we following His will for our lives? Are we making a positive difference in the world around us? Is there something more we can do to better serve the God who loves us so completely? Is there something from our past that we need to face in order to be a vessel God can use to spread His message?

JoAnn Durgin

Awakening is a book worth reading for its sense of adventure, plot twists, witty humor and a glimpse at what it means to live what you believe. It’s the first in JoAnn Durgin’s The Lewis Legacy Series. I’m eager to add to my collection, and I have a feeling you will be too, after reading this first adventure. JoAnn sure has a knack for storytelling, and her pacing is spot-on. Just when I thought everything was wrapped up, she brought back yet one more loose end . . . and another one . . . and left me wanting to read the second book in the series to find out what adventure the TeamWork crew will find themselves in on their next mission.

Thank you, JoAnn, for sending me a complimentary copy of Awakening for my honest review. I enjoyed it immensely and hope those reading this will also find a little adventure when they pick up their copy of Awakening.

When was the last time a book took YOU on an adventure? What was it about the book that transported you to a different time or place? Is adventure something you look for when reading for pleasure?