The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox

The atmosphere was superb in this one. That was the most mesmerizing thing for me while I was reading this book. I also thought the author nailed the dialect of small-town Southern United States. The way these characters spoke and thought made them come alive for me.

The cover was amazing… until I realized there were only two letters mentioned in the story instead of the hefty stack shown on the lower portion of the cover. Now that car… I’ll take one of those, please! So gorgeous, those curves. And I still love the tone that’s set by the cover. That was totally spot-on.

Clarence was a completely compassionate gentleman. I couldn’t get enough of this guy and his love for “his girls” (his wife and daughters). His protective spirit and encouraging nature were amazing, and I wish he could have been in several more scenes.

Read more at my new website.

Hostile Intent by Lynette Eason {review}

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

This book started off with the potential to become my new favorite Eason book. The action was fast-paced and came often, which made for a great suspense formula. The characters were intriguing, which added richness to the story being told. The settings were very well used, which increased the depth of the tale. Overall, this was a fantastic series finale, capping off one of the best series Mrs. Eason has produced to date.

Read more on my new website.

Dinner Guests {short story}

The table was set for seven, but not a single person had arrived. The round twinkle lights still glowed, but they illuminated only dried-up hopes and empty chairs. The hostess had retreated to the deck, and she’d likely leave the mess until tomorrow. She’d worked so hard to pull this dinner together.

Yet no one came.

Perhaps it wasn’t their fault. Maybe something truly had come up. An emergency, perchance? Something dire that would give solid footing for their excuses?

Or maybe they were just all running late.

Continue the story on AndreaReneeCox.com.

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.

Writing Update + Setting Goals

July was another successful writing camp for me. Since I was (and continue) dealing with post-WuVi symptoms such as short-term memory loss, sudden fatigue, and severe lack of focus, I set a small (for me) goal of 25,000 words for the month.

Last week's article told you about some timely reminders I'd received. Friends, these reminders helped me vastly. I was able to zoom right past my word count goal as well as a secondary goal. I nearly reached my third goal of 50k words, coming just short at 48,101 total words for the month.

While I didn't reach the 50k I'd hoped for, I have exited July with great satisfaction that I was able, by God's sweet grace, to push through the severe lack of focus and short-term memory loss in order to pen a plethora of words. There were many late nights and last-minute pushes to claim those words, but they have been logged in despite the slight sleep deprivation I may have imposed upon myself in order to do so.

August will likely not see me writing quite as much, but I have new goals I'm setting and striving to accomplish.