Review of Love Everlasting

From the back cover:

Growing up in a Seattle bridal finishing school never prepared Abrianna Cunningham to become one of the brides, but now Wade Ackerman, who has always been the reliable boy next door, is indicating he wants to be more than friends. And even the people closest to Abrianna believe Wade is the man she should marry. So why is she having such a hard time choosing between Wade Ackerman and Priam Welby?

Watching Welby's relentless pursuit of Abrianna is making Wade's blood boil. Welby can offer her wealth and security, but what about character and integrity? Surely Abrianna can see past Welby's smooth tongue and fine clothes, can't she?

Caught between the devil and the boy next door, either choice she makes will change Abrianna's life forever.

My thoughts:

Congratulations fans! The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived! Abrianna Cunningham and Wade Ackerman are engaged! I don't want to give anything away, but despite Abrianna's apprehensions, the evil Priam Welby was never in the running.

Side note: Priam Welby? You know he's a bad dude just based on the name. What were his parents thinking?

I had some trouble with Abrianna Cunningham. The novel talks about her previous, "daredevil" exploits and I felt like the woman I was getting to know was rather flighty. While she asked a lot of interesting and thought provoking questions, it seemed to be the main focus for the first half of the book before we saw some action. Once the main conflict started to unfold, I was more engaged. However, once resolved, Abrianna was back to questioning everything again, and that frustrated me a little.

I liked Wade Ackerman. He was sweet, a little stubborn, and had that swoon worthy element we love in heroes. Wade's persona screamed. "I will always protect you. I will never leave you. I will always love you." Due to Abrianna's unexpected inheritance, he struggled with needing to provide for Abrianna himself before realizing that hello, they were going to be married. It was manly of him to want to provide for her himself, but also a good reality check that you work together in marriage.

I liked the ending, but really, who doesn't love a happy ending? *Sigh* Justice. A Wedding. Then flash forward to seeing the happy couple settled. That's what I like.

Truthfully, I haven't read very many of Tracie Peterson's books, but I had expected this book to be different. It wasn't bad. Just different. Not my favorite cup of tea. Perhaps it was simply the style of this series combined with the environment of the story? Regardless of my expectations, I know the author put a great deal of time and work into this story.

Love Everlasting is the third book in Tracie Peterson's Brides of Seattle Series. Fans of the series who followed the love stories of Abrianna's close friends, as well as watched Abrianna grow up and mature, will be very pleased with this final instalment.

I was given a copy of Love Everlasting by Tracie Peterson from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review, which I have given.

See you guys on November 1st! God bless your end of October! :)

V. Joy Palmer

The Pregnancy Ride

Currently, my husband and I are expecting our first child. Theorectically, we are due the end of November, but God only knows when this little one will make her appearance. Despite the fact that the nursery is not even close to being done - or built - I am ready for this baby to be here.

Mommas, you feel me. On a side note, who else is slightly disturbed by the use of that expression? Being pregnant, I don't really want extra people feeling me...

I know the baby needs to stay put for a while longer. I know it's for her health and benefit, but eight months into the pregnancy, you start to get antsy. Anybody who says otherwise is lying through their teeth. How do I know this? I'm pregnant. I know this.

Ah, to not have a watermelon gut. To not be throwing up all. the. time. To sleep through the night without a backache, hip ache, or rib ache. To be able to eat a turkey sandwich again. To not have to worry about my heart. To not have achy feet and swollen hands. To be done with contractions and hurting muscles. To not need to run for the bathroom every time I stand up. To not have heartburn anymore. To not feel sleepy all the time. To be done worrying about everything. Shall I go on?

On the plus side, I'll never forget the first time I felt my baby move one dreary morning. Or watching her wave to us during the ultrasound. Or looking at the pictures of her sweet face. I've spent so many hours watching my stomach bounce around. I love thinking about her, daydreaming about what kind of person she will be, imagining what she will look like, wondering if all my poking is giving her a complex.

Pregnancy is full of many exciting moments, woes, joys, difficulties, and blessings. It's like one of those awful fair rides that shoot you up in the air, and then drop you so fast you think you will go splat. Actually, I hate those rides, so that's a bad example. However, you get my point.

Terrifying. Exhilarating. Exciting.

It's like anything worth having in life. A career that God has given you. Marriage. Friends. Dreams.

And Just like everything in life, fear comes frolicking inside your comfy abode.

My biggest fear is "What am I going to do to screw this kid up?" That's an awful thing to think, isn't it? This hasn't been an easy journey, and while I would 100% do this again if given the choice, it's been hard. Parenting is hard, and parents make mistakes. There's just so much I could do wrong, and I think that's the driving force behind so many of our fears - "How am I going to mess this up?"

It's not that I haven't had an amazing example of mothering from my mother. It's not that I'm not equipped to take care of a baby. It's not that I'm afraid of my baby... well, not a lot. It's not like God has said, "Here's a kid. Good luck, fool." It's that it's new. It's scary. It's different. It's an opportunity for me to stumble and fall. It's that I look at the people who have hurt me and broken my spirit, and I worry that I'm just like them.

But despite all that...

"For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

God hasn't given me a spirit of fear. He's given me power over fear! He's given me all His love! He's given me a sound mind - something all parents need! He hasn't called me to any task, past, present, and future, that He hasn't enabled me to do. God hasn't made me in anyone else's image. He made me in His image.

And He's made my baby in His image.

Bottom line, even if I do mess up, God is holding my baby in His capable hands. He won't let her go. He will help her through anything that comes her way. He won't ever stop loving her.

Where I mess up, God cleans up. Thankfully, that will always be the case.

Thanks for letting me share my heart with you guys today! See you on October 20th!! God bless!!

V. Joy Palmer

The Benefits of Wrting Conflict

I might have mentioned this before, but I hate conflict in real life.

Hate it. I just want people to get along, work together, hold hands, and skip through life all merry while the sun shines above them. I utterly despise yelling, I avoid confrontation, and I hate that icky feeling when I succeed in delivering a scathing remark.

So, reading conflict can make me a bit crazy. As in the butterfly net definition of crazy. I will be the person screaming, "What is wrong with you? Tell the truth, and end up together already!"

Unfortunately, what I want is not realistic. People are people, and we attack each other's throats sometimes. You also can't have a realistic story without conflict.

The good news is that writing imaginary conflict is way easier, satisfying, and lets just say it, way more fun. I actually like writing conflict! It may seem a little strange, but it's really quite logical when you think about it.

1. You always get to use your zinger.

I'd like to point you to Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail. Meg's character in this popular rom-com stated that she hated conflict because she would become tongue-tied. In the heat of the moment she would say something lame and unimpressive. Later, when she was rehashing the fight, she would think of the perfect, scathing zinger, but by then it was too late. When you're writing a scene with conflict, you can always go back and add that perfect zinger to the conversation.

2. Redo's.

Have you ever noticed that when you are fighting with someone, the argument starts to mutate and segway off into other fights. Afterwards, you think, "How did we end up here?" If you start to segway in the writing world, you can just select, delete, and force your characters to stay on topic. Instant redo.

3. It's cheaper then therapy.

If you're like me, and you tend to hold onto stuff, you reach the point where you just blow up about anything and everything. Using your characters to vent some of life's everyday frustrations is much easier on the purse strings then court ordered therapy from demolishing the bathroom because your husband left the toilet set up again. Working out your feelings and aggression can make a big difference.

4. Quicker, more efficient fights in real life.

All the fighting we do on the pages teaches you how to fight in real life, and no, I don't mean that it helps you develop snarkier comebacks. I mean that it teaches you to keep your fights quick and to the point. What if we look at it like this? If the most frustrating thing for me in reading conflict is how the characters drag out the drama, how much more frustrating is it if I do that in my own life? I certainly don't want to become the thing that I mock, because then what would I mock?

"The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out." Proverbs 17:14

This is such a great verse! It teaches us to let go before the fight mutates and segways, before we say something we regret, before we smash the tub butter into the floor out of frustration, before we loose our minds and end up broken hearted. We are human, and we will always have some friction, but that doesn't mean we have to drag it out. We can learn to let stuff go, forgive, move on, make up, and end up together. Amazingly enough, writing conflict teaches you how to do this in real life.

See. I told you I had some logical points. ;) What about you guys? Have you noticed any real life benefit to writing conflict?

Awesome hanging out with you guys today! God bless, and I will see you guys on October 10th!! :)

V. Joy Palmer

Reveiw of Bathsheba

 

From the back cover...

 



One of Ancient Israel's Most Famous Women--As You've Never Looked at Her Before

One of the Bible's most misunderstood and misjudged women, Bathsheba comes to life in this new biblical reimagining from Angela Hunt. Combining historical facts with detailed fiction, this is an eye-opening portrait that will have you reconsidering everything you thought you knew about her.

After receiving God's promise of a lifelong reign and an eternal dynasty, King David forces himself on Bathsheba, a loyal soldier's wife. When her resulting pregnancy forces the king to murder her husband and add her to his harem, Bathsheba struggles to protect her son while dealing with the effects of a dark prophecy and deadly curse on the king's household.

My thoughts…

I absolutely LOVED this book! Out of all the books I’ve reviewed lately, this is my favorite so far!

As the story of Bathsheba and David can be somewhat controversial and hotly debated in the Christian world, I would recommend reading the author’s note at the end of the book, before diving into the story. Here Angela Hunt explains why she wrote certain aspects of the story the way that she did (I'm trying not to give away any spoilers, but if you've read the Bible, then you've already got a pretty good idea. ;) ). Bottom line to keep in mind with Biblical fiction is that we have no way of knowing the real thoughts, emotions, and driving forces behind their decisions. This is one person's take on the story, as well as the lessons God revealed. It's always best to keep an open mind with Biblical fiction unless the author is not following the Biblical account. That being said, anything that was told a specific way in the Bible was absolutely, 100% written that way in this story.

The story is told through Bathsheba's and Nathan the prophets perspectives, and it is written in first person, which I absolutely love! I think a part of me was expecting this story to be much sadder then it was, but despite the heavy subject matter, I found it to be quite uplifting. The pages overflowed with Biblical insights that just blew me away!

Personally, I think I've always romanticized the story of David and Bathsheba. In a, "the king falls in love with a peasant girl" kind of way, in an attempt to ignore the harsh reality of the story. I love what Angela Hunt said in the author's note at the end of the book: "Are we so enthralled with the man 'after God's own heart' that we cannot see that he was as fallible as any other human?" Angela did an amazing job of capturing David's imperfections, lusts, and failings, as well as his love for God, repentant spirit, and passion. I walked away from this book with a new look at David.

Nathan's story was very intertwined with not only David, but with Bathsheba as well. It was an interesting twist that added so much depth to the story. It was the perfect way to write some of the scenes instead of everything being from Bathsheba's perspective.

Bathsheba was an amazing character. I could relate with her, cry with her, and learn with her. As a baby, Bathsheba had a powerful prophecy spoken over her in the story. It made Bathsheba the perfect heroine who struggled with God's call, fought God's call, and worked towards God's call - something I think all of us can relate to ourselves!

I was desperate to read Bathsheba after reading Esther, book one in the Dangerous Beauty Series. This novel did not disappoint, and I can't wait to read the last book in the series, which is about Delilah. What else can I say? I loved this book! Before I even finished reading it, I was recommending it to friends and family. Buy this book!!!

I received a copy of Bathsheba by Angela Hunt from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

See you guys on October 1st! God bless! :)

V. Joy Palmer

Review of Last Chance Hero

From the back cover...

What happens when your heart is intercepted before you even know it's in play?

The folks in Last Chance, New Mexico, could not be more pleased. Dr. Jessica MacLeod has opened an office right on Main Street and Andy Ryan, the best athlete the little town ever produced, has come home from the NFL to coach the high school football team. Unfortunately, Dr. Jess immediately gets off on the wrong foot with this football-obsessed town when she admits that she's never seen a football game, isn't really interested in doing so, and in fact doesn't know a first down from a goalpost.

Despite having little in common, Jess and Andy find themselves drawn to each other. But when a disagreement over the future of an injured player puts them both on the defensive, it begins to look like this game is over . . .

My thoughts...

I really liked Last Chance Hero! It was easy reading and the pages flew by. I had a Mexican food craving for days after reading this book (But that could be the power of suggestion coupled with strong pregnancy hormones!). Regardless, the green chili sauce described in this book made me want to hit every Mexican restaurant within the state. The small town was charming, but the secondary characters did not overwhelm the main storyline.

I could relate to the heroine, Dr. Jessica "Jess" MacLeod, in that I've very little interest in football. (For those of you who have the urge to throw something at me because of that statement, please don't aim for the face. :) ) However, there is a Friday Night Lights/Facing the Giants/Remember the Titans quality to the story that will satisfy football fans, but isn't overdone for those of us who are "weird."

Andy Ryan was a sweet hero. He's the football hero from Last Chance's Glory Days. Due to injury, he retired early and is now coaching the high school football team. Between the town putting tons of pressure on him to reignite the Glory Days and demons he hasn't dealt with from his past, Ryan has quite a bit on his plate.

I was slightly surprised at how easy Jess and Andy's relationship seemed to go until they disagreed over the treatment of one of the football team's stronger players. Even that though seemed to be resolved relatively easy. In my opinion, it was mostly wounded pride that pulled them apart. Which isn't a bad spin because really, if we can get over our wounded pride, more rifts could be resolved.

My only real critique to the story is the spiritual journey for the characters. Most of the reviews that I've read where the reviewer complains about this, they says there was too much. I felt like it was the opposite. Andy's spiritual journey was good, but I just felt Jess' journey wasn't a complete look at the questions and struggles that Christians and non-Christians alike face. She's not a Christian when she comes to Last Chance, and despite the fact that Andy and the majority of her friends are, there are not a lot of conversations about God, and there's not a lot of soul searching on Jess' part regarding this. So it fell like all of a sudden at the end of the book, she understood without having the reflections or the questions that we all go through. A point in the pros column is that the story isn't preachy, which is great because who likes that? That is a helpful quality for new Christians or non-Christians.

Last Chance Hero is the fourth book in the A Place to Call Home Series, but you don't need to read the previous books to understand. The story works well on it's own. The bonus of reading the first three books is that you see the previous character's turn up, and that's always fun!

I received a copy of Last Chance Hero by Cathleen Armstrong from Revell Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

God bless you guys! See you on September 20th!! :) (Oh, my goodness! Where did September go???)

V. Joy Palmer

The Power of Fiction

You guys might have gathered that I read.

A lot.

I haven't counted in a few years, but back then I had well over 500 books. I have a personal goal to have a home library that rivals the Library of Congress. I know that's not really possible (did you know the Library of Congress has a copy of every book printed in the United States?). It's just my way of saying I want a big, huge, multi-level library.

And I love to read fiction.

A lot.

A high percentage of my book collection is fiction.

Here's the truth, I've felt some judgment from people about my love of fiction over nonfiction. I've been made to feel like the books I read are of lesser value because everything is fake. Like the importance of what I'm learning means nothing because it's "dumbed down" because of romance, sword fights, or imaginary places. Like it's just not as good.

I have nothing against nonfiction. Those of you who follow me know that I also write on Snack Time Devotions, a daily devotional blog. As a Christian, I spend a lot of time reading a nonfiction book called the Bible. ;)

The truth is, there is power in fiction. I have a collection of authors who write compelling/funny/realistic stories in such a way that I stop and am in awe of how profoundly they've hit exactly the issue I'm struggling with without having laid eyes on me. I love how God can use a fictional story to change someone's life!

I like this quote about books that I happened across...

If you can read a book that breathes God's love and life into you, then it's a good book. If you've found a story that speaks to the heartache in your soul, then keep reading. If you've got an author who understands the enormity of their ministry in linking words together in a way that makes you tear up in wonder, then who has the right to judge? If you can walk away from a story with hope, love, renewed purpose, vision, healing, joy, or a better understanding of our awesome God, then that book is phenomenal!

Different stories do it for different people. Don't ever let someone look down on you if you, like me, are a fiction fanatic. God created you to find purpose in the story.

God bless you guys! See you on September 10th!

V. Joy Palmer

Review of Not by Sight

 

 

From the back cover:

With Britain caught up in WWI, Jack Benningham, heir to the Earl of Stonebrooke, has declared himself a conscientious objector. Instead, he secretly works for the Crown by tracking down German spies on British soil, his wild reputation and society status serving as a foolproof cover.

Blinded by patriotism and concern for her brother on the front lines, wealthy suffragette Grace Mabry will do whatever it takes to assist her country's cause. When she sneaks into a posh London masquerade ball to hand out white feathers of cowardice, she never imagines the chain of events she'll set off when she hands a feather to Jack.

And neither of them could anticipate the extent of the danger and betrayal that follows them--or the faith they'll need to maintain hope.

My thoughts:

My expectations for a historical romance are different from that of a contemporary, young adult, or even a dystopian novel.

That being said, Not by Sight lived up to my expectations!

I had forgotten how much I enjoy historical romances. There's a certain amount of charm that comes from being swept to an enchanting era, while knowing full well that when you close the cover you still have access to modern plumbing.

It's the simple things in life. ;)

I really liked Jack's character, and I thought he was well developed. He was egotistical and wounded, with a touch of brooding. I love that combination for a hero! I liked Grace, too. She was obviously meant to be the strong, shining example, but there were times I wished she had been a little more reckless. That seems strange to say, but we are all human, and sometimes act rash. I think that would have made her a teensy bit more relatable, but I honestly thought the author did an excellent job with Grace's character.

While Grace needed to remain strong in her faith towards the end of the story when her world fell apart, it was really Jack who needed to learn to live by faith and not by sight. A few chapters into the novel, you learn that Jack has lost his sight while in service to his country. He truly has to live his life relying on everything but his sight. However, he has trouble living by a faith that's failed him. The title, Not by Sight, was quite fitting for this story!

Grace is an aspiring writer, and when Jack finds out during their time together, he uses Grace as his "eyes." Jack has an uncanny ability to navigate his surroundings despite his blindness. He hires Grace to be his driver, has her drive to the middle of nowhere, and then describe the scene to him. Long descriptions of their surroundings were instead used as dialogue. As a writer myself, I enjoyed this little trick that the author used. :)

Not by Sight was a very enjoyable story. While I still had some questions at the end, I quite loved the resolution between Jack and Grace. I highly recommend this book!

I received Not by Sight by Kate Breslin from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

See you guys on September 1st! God bless you guys!

V. Joy Palmer