Liz and her sister Julie are two Americans that live in Lebanon. When the building that Julie was attending a party at is destroyed by a bomb, Liz goes on a mission to find her after finding evidence that she may still be alive. Meanwhile John is a member of a special ops team sent to Beruit to find Palestinian extremists who have discovered a new way to threaten terror in the region. John and Liz’s lives intertwine as they try to find Julie and prevent the terrorists from instigating more fear into the lives of the people there. The story is non stop action throughout, an edge of your seat reality read.

While reading this book, I felt like I was watching the evening news. Everything seemed so real and action packed. The situations the characters got themselves in could be ripped right out of the headlines. At first John’s story felt a little boring to me with all the military talk and I wanted to get back to Liz’s and Julie’s story. However as I got more into the book, I enjoyed reading from both angles. I thought it was very interesting learning more about the Arab and Muslim culture. Many Americans don’t really understand the religion and get only a one sided view on it. By explaining customs and rituals, the reader is able to have a better understanding of that side of the world. I also liked how the explanation of the way women are viewed in that world. As westerners, it’s hard to understand why women would allow men to treat them the way they do in Arab countries. I appreciated that while Liz is an American, her character is used to the customs of the country because she grew up there. She does not act like a fish out of water or have scenes displaying ignorance. This book is recommended for those who like action stories, stories that could have happened, or interested in what life is like in the Middle East.

I read the book before watching the movie so I went to the film knowing a lot of what was going to happen. If I thought the movie made the familiar characters more human and real, the book does even more so. The book adds to the movie script and includes more scenes that help to develop the characters. Mary is seen as caught between childhood and becoming a married women. We feel her struggle as she has to leave her old life behind. The reader is taken to understand what she went through after the angel told her what was going to happen to her. Since in the Bible, we don’t hear a lot about Joseph what is written here shows him as an understanding and devout man. He loves Mary and wants to take care of her and the baby even though it will not be his completely.

I enjoyed the research that went on towards the writing of this book. It’s full of historical detail and knowledge. You get a feel of the time, from Mary and Joseph’s perspective, from Herod’s, and the Wise Men. I know there is much debate about when the Wise Men showed up or even how many there are. I just find it amazing that any persons would come, near or far, to see a baby being born. Imagine how the shepherds felt when they saw Jesus, their Messiah had finally come. I also liked the prologue, which showed a modern view on the Nativity which is what most people believe in and have become immune to.

The Christmas season should be remembered in the way Hunt portrays the first Christmas. Very simple, with lots of faith and belief. The book shows that these were real people who were struggling to understand why they were chosen, yet they believed without a doubt. We today should follow in their footsteps. Another powerful read from one of my favorite authors.

Tracie Peterson’s Alaskan Quest series reintroduces us to Jacob and Leah Barringer, first seen as children in her Yukon Quest series. Now grown up and independent adults, the two still live up in Alaska and have come to adore their new home. In Under the Northern Lights, the second book in the series, Leah has just married Jayce Kincaid and is ready to settle down and have a quiet life with him. Unfortunately for her, Jayce’s evil twin brother Chase kidnaps her and Helaina Beecher, the Pinkerton agent searching for Chase. While the two women have to fight for survival against Chase, Jayce and Jacob go out to search for the women they love in hopes of rescuing them. When something happens that nearly destroys Leah, the four have to to depend on faith in order to move on.

I love seeing characters reappear in books. I wanted to know what happened to Jacob and Leah at the close of the Yukon Quest series when they were children. Now as their adults, the pair have had to share their own hardships and triumphs. Alaska is always a great setting because it’s so vast and big and like Hawaii, familiar yet different at the same time. I’m glad that Helaina’s character changes throughout the story. In the first book, she is very stubborn and headstrong because she’s trying to prove to herself and others that she can survive on her own. In this book, Leah has to force her to realize that finding Chase is not the most important thing in the world. I also felt sorry for Leah with what she went through. The turn of the events at the end though are rather interesting and I bet her and Jayce would have appreciated modern technology for their situation! She rightly feels bitter and I believe that she is allowed to. The only thing I didn’t like was she felt guilty over feeling bitter but I feel that in her situation she had an absolute right to. I love when I feel like I’m drawn into a book and that happened several times while reading this one. I actually felt cold when reading certain scenes and had to get a blanket. Recommended for Peterson fans and anyone who enjoys a good historical fiction story.

Theo and Kevin have just gotten married and now are expecting a baby! Being pregnant isn’t all fun and games for the couple. It means Theo can’t stand the sight of chocolate! The couple are going through their first days of marriage and already they are having issues. From Kevin not wanting Theo to write in her diary to Theo leaving for a few days because Kevin wouldn’t fix the bathroom, the newlyweds sound like their having lots of fun in their new life. With Theo’s pregnancy comes cravings for weird food, having to wear Charity-like maternity clothing (gasp!), trying to find a job that will take her in her “condition” and her sister-in-law getting pregnant at the same time. Plus Declan keeps showing up. Thank goodness Kevin lets Theo have her diary back. She’d be lost without it.

Theodora is one of my favorite characters as of lately. I love everything that she goes through and how she handles situations. I thought it was pretty arrogant of Kevin to refuse Theo to write in her diary. His reason is that he wants her to talk to him instead of writing. Really though, guys stop listening after a while. If Theo had really stopped her diary and talked to him all the time, I guarantee Kevin would have gotten fed up and been like “why don’t you talk to you friends about this stuff?” I mean Theo gets frustrated with him and football but she never asks him to quit it completely. Arrgh, men. I do like how Theo and Jeremiah finally sort of get along. Although I really didn’t like his earlier viewpoint on her especially when he think they’ve gotten married after she got pregnant. I hate people who jump to conclusions and especially Christians who think they are better than everyone else. I’m glad she took a stand though and I’m glad they were able to make up. There’s not much Charity in this book but her and Theo have settled down and are more friendlier with each other. It’s also interesting to read how Charity’s oldest son has started to rebel against their conservative lifestyle.

I hope this isn’t the last we’ll hear from Theodora and her diary. I want more!

Ragni is fed up with her advertising job in Chicago. She’s also frustrated that her dad has Alzheimer’s making life for her mother extremely difficult. She also has to put up with her older sister complaining about her teenage niece going through a rebellious period. When her spa vacation is cut short due her mother wanting her to look at some old family property in North Dakota, Ragni and her niece Erika set out on a road trip. Their relationship gets off to a rocky start due their differences as they grew apart. When they get to the house, it’s in shambles and they have to work together to try to fix out. Out of their normal elements, the two soon find remnants of their ancestor Nilda who left her artistic touch around the house and in both of them. The story flips between Ragni’s story and Nilda’s, who was a housekeeper who came with her daughter to work for a man out west.

This was good compelling story. I love all of Lauraine Snelling books and this one disappoint. Ragni is your everday career woman who needs to take a break from work. Erika is the rebellious teenager who wants everyone to leave her alone. The two are forced to get along and it is interesting to see how their relationship changes throughout the story. I liked the going back and forth between Ragni’s and Nilda’s stories. Nilda’s story reminded me Janette Oke’s Love Come Softly. Very sweet and frontier-like. The only thing I wondered was it didn’t seem like Ragni knew about Nilda’s story. I didn’t see her reading a diary or hearing old stories from her mother. So I dont’ know if Ragni and Erika knew the whole story about why she lived in the house. The two though are reconnected with each other and their own selves after seeing their ancestor’s paintings. It was cool to read about Ragni’s inspirations and urges to want to paint. I really enjoyed this book. Who knew North Dakota could be such a scenic and adventurous place?

Jo Tulip has just been jilted at the altar and been involved in murder investigation, all in the same day. Her best friend Danny (who’s secretly in love with her) gets Jo to come to the crime scene of an elderly woman who turns up mysteriously dead in her own home. The police rule it as an accident but with Jo’s knack for household tips, she discovers it to be a murder. Theft, fraud, the deceiving of old ladies, and alchemy all come into play to as Jo and Danny try to discover the truth about really happened.

This was my first Mindy Starns Clark book and I really got a kick out of it. I loved all the household advice spread throughout the novel. Very interesting techniques given how to combat any home problem. I have yet to try out any but I may do so in the future. The murder investigation was really gutsy of Jo to do it mostly by herself. There were a lot of twists I wasn’t expecting. I really Jo’s character. I do hope we get a full confrontation with Bradford. The guy is a jerk. She should be happy she didn’t marry him, what a wimp. I also hope Jo can work out her relationship with her parents. It’ll also be interesting to see how Jo’s and Danny’s future will work itself out.

I really liked the letters from the advice column. I found it funny that the writers of the letters always seemed to be clueless about the situations they were writing about. I guess housewives from back then really were in the dark? Great book, great mystery, and good fun read.

Lily Traywick is the daughter of the owners of huge and famous department store in San Francisco. She is poised to inherit it in the future. However, Lily does not want to continue life working with clothes. She spends time with her two best friends and tries to figure out why she’s not able to get a boyfriend. After a makeover she meets Sam, another employee at the store. Soon they begin to date, and Lily starts to really enjoy life. Then Sam’s friend Delia comes to town, wrecking havoc into their relationship. Lily jots all these events in her blog, writing about everything that’s happened with Sam, her friends, her parents, anyone she’s come into contact with. When her blog’s secrets become public to those who are in it, it’ll take a miracle for her to recover.

I thought this was a fun and cool read. I really like this new Chick-lit genre and this book definitely fits in it. My favorite scene in the book would have to be the hockey game where she has to wear that shark head. I just about died laughing. I know how Lily feels about being one of the guys. It happened to me too, they are so used to hanging out with you that they don’t realize you’re actually a girl. I’m glad Lily kept rejecting Sam when he tried to come back to her after leaving Delia. He needed to suffer after what he had put her through. To be honest, if I had been in Lily’s shoes at that point, I would have been severely depressed. Everyone had turned on her even though she had just been telling the truth about them. To be fair though, I don’t know why Lily just hadn’t used code names when writing in her blog. If you plan on spilling out details of your life, you can’t use real names because you never know who will be reading about it. I did enjoy them though. (Although do you realize that fictional characters always get more hits than real people do?) I also appreciated how Lily is a Christian that is strong about her beliefs (she wouldn’t date Sam at first because she wasn’t sure) and wants her friends to become believers, yet she is not the pushy overbearing stereotypical Christian like other characters in the book.

Excellent book, one I would recommend anyone (Christian or non-Christian) to read. This is a fun read that everyone can enjoy because everyone know how it feels to be in Lily’s shoes.

First I want to say that I think that this book has one of the most beautiful covers I’ve seen in a while. I just love the waterfall and all the shades of blue in the scenery. And you notice how everyone always looks better when their hair is blowing in the breeze?

A mysterious girl who can’t remember anything about herself is found on the island of Kauai. Mysterious circumstances surround her and those who try to help her including Cameron, a lawyer who takes it into his hands to protect the girl. Bits and pieces of her memory begin to come back, and it is found that the girl is a famous award wining actress Gentry Fox. Gentry, had left her Hollywood life due to scandal, soon finds herself facing someone who is threatening her life and those around her.

I always think that Hawaii is always a great place to have a book setting. It’s exotic yet familiar at the same time. The descriptions of the places in the book are lovely and make you feel like you are really there. I liked the book and the suspense storyline, although I felt that the book summary played too much on the Jade/amnesia thing too much, as Gentry gets her memory back pretty quickly in the story. Cameron was a good male lead, even though I felt that his and Gentry’s relationship felt a little rushed. His ex-wife was annoying and actually reminded me of Addison from Grey’s Anatomy. This book gave an interesting look into the movie industry and what an actress really has to go through. It’s not all smiling for cameras and signing autographs. People will do anything to move up in the industry and they will pay any price to reach their goals. I thought it was interesting about how the young boy allowed himself to go along with the story about his “affair” with Gentry, never really thinking about how it really affected the both of them. I also liked the struggle with the kissing scenes that Gentry has while she is acting. They’re not “real kisses” but it’s very hard to not be involved when you are being intimate with someone. Maybe that’s why so many Hollywood couples break up. Very interesting when you think about how the lives of movie stars may not be everything that you see on TV or in magazines.

The story gets a little long near the end, but I still enjoyed it. Kristen Heitzmann has put out another great book.

A lot of times we like to play the what if question. This can lead to long drawn out debates on what could have happen if something had taken place. Sometimes we worry that things would have been radically different if things had changed. Other times times we speculate on the possibilities that could have taken place if only such and such had taken place. That is the premise of The Begotten. Paul had written many letters to churches. What if there had been another letter sent to a special group of people called The Gifted?

Set during the time of the Inquisition, the secret of Paul’s extra letter is trying to be kept hidden by the holy leaders. They are against females holding high authority and wish to keep any knowledge about it in secret. Years later however, individuals with secret powers find each other as they strive to help out those in need. They are Christians, strong in their faith, battling those who have turned to the dark side.

This book was a wonderful engrossing read. I love books about medieval times with knights and lords and ladies. The whole story was fascinating when you imagine a group such as the Gifted existing in today’s world or even the world back then. Daria was a very strong female character especially for that time period. She was highly respected by the people around her. The men are eager to protect her yet they do not see her as just a weak female or try to woo her. They are quick to defend her and risk their lives for not only her but anyone in their company. I felt this book in a genre like The Da Vinci Code, although far superior. Myth and legend are always interesting especially when you can incorporate scriptural truth with it. In my opinion, I felt the characters were like a middle ages version of X-Men or Heroes. Group of people with special powers that feel unwanted by the rest of the world.

I highly recommend this book for those who are fans of this genre, and for anyone who enjoys a really good story. If you have a good imagination, this book definitely makes good use of it.

In the third book of the Annie’s People series, The Brethren continues the story of Annie Zook and the people of the Amish community of Paradise. Annie has put away her paintings and is living with her friend Esther, who has been shunned for accepting Jesus and is worried about her husband Zeke who has accepted the responsibility of the death of his brother from long ago. Meanwhile Ben, the Englisher that stole Annie’s heart, finds a secret about his past and goes back to Paradise to find answers. His discovery shakes up the entire community and brings new meaning to his and Annie’s relationship.

i really liked this book yet I felt the book was a little rushed at the end. I want to know what will happen to Louisa and Sam in the future. Her story didn’t move that much in this book. It was interesting to find out about Ben’s past, yet it felt somewhat predictable once you found out he was adopted. I did finding out more about the culture and the customs of the people. It’s very interesting that the Amish can live in modern America and still have a completely different society. I’ve enjoyed reading all of Beverly Lewis’ Amish books and I had been waiting for the conclusion of this series. The Amish lifestyle has always fascinated me. They had been sadly brought into the limelight after the shooting a few months ago.

The thing that has always confused me about the Amish is what do they really believe in. After reading Lewis’ books and especially this series, it seems that to have a personal relationship and admit that Jesus is your savior is considered vanity and grounds for being banned. They seem to only read from the Old Testament and even then only the bishops are allowed to really study it. Another series of Lewis’ deals with a form of old medicine that can be considered as witchcraft. I understand most of their views about not conforming to the rest of the world and to keep life simple. What I don’t understand is that it seems that the Amish are not really Christians if they don’t believe in accepting Jesus into their lives.