Patchwork of Mystery Murder Plain and Simple by Isabella Alan Review

 

           Murder Plain and Simple by Isabella Alan

    When Angie's wedding is called off she is glad to move back to Amish Country in Ohio where her Aunt has left her Amish Quilt Shop to Angie. What she doesn't expect is to be in the middle of a murder and for it to happen in her quilt shop which makes her a suspect. Angie thinks she has to help Sheriff Mitchell find other suspects and the murderer to clear her name. She has to piece together the clues before he arrests her for the murder.

I love the book. Angie is smart, stubborn, inquisitive, and strong. Angie is starting a new chapter in her life by moving to Ohio and taking over her Aunt's Quilt Shop which takes strength and courage. She tries to shed light on other people who could be suspects in the murder of Joseph, who was murdered in her store and puts herself and her dog Oliver in danger.  The Author gives you several people who could have been the murderers which keeps you guessing. She has some really unique characters in the town that adds to the story. Who doesn't know someone like Willow, the teashop owner, who is a flamboyant whirlwind that never realizes how ridiculous she is at times. The book is a great read for those who love to read about the Amish, the Amish culture and community as well as those who enjoy a good mystery with twists and  turns. I love the setting in a small Amish community and the author paints a picture with her words so that you feel like you are standing on the sidewalk on  main street with all the Amish shops and buggies. I would give this book 5 stars and I can not wait to read more in this series. Besides we have to find out if there is romance in store between Angie and Sheriff Mitchell.

The quilting hints and how to at the end of the book was a big plus. Overall I think this was a great, enjoyable read and hope that you will read it when it releases Sept 3, 2013.

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP  for sending me a copy of this book to review and give my honest opinion and review.

The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask about Christianity: & How to Answer Them Confidently Book Review

The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask about Christianity: & How to Answer Them Confidently by Alex McFarland

This book is an excellent resource for parents, grandparents, Sunday school teachers and anyone who has asked or had children who have asked the tough questions about God. This is an excellent way to study and learn where to find the answers in the Bible and how to answer these questions. It is a good resource including good explanations and verses to help you to learn and equip yourselves for the inevitable questions that will or have been asked. I love how Alex McFarland says this isn't a book to read verbatim to answer your children but is a way to be ready for those questions. He wants you to delve into maybe why they are asking a question so you know what is motivating the child. Is it curiosity or something that has happened to cause them to question such as loss. It is a very informative and plain language book that helps in your quest to be able to help your children and others when it comes to questions about God and Christianity.

I would recommend this book for all households and church libraries. I wish I had this book when my children were younger and asking these questions.

This book is one that I would even think about giving to young adults and adults if they have  questions like Why does God allow evil? I found when reading this book that many of the questions were ones that we all at one time or another have asked and this is a good study book to help you with those  questions. I think this would be a good book to use in new Christian homes and bible studies.

I would give this book 5 stars and hope that everyone would read and put in the home and church libraries. I highly recommend this book.


Thank you to Tyndale Publishers for providing me this free copy of the book for my honest review.

Fugitive by Shirlee McCoy Review

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Fugitive by Shirlee McCoy is part of the Heroes for Hire Series. It is a fast but good read. Laney is hoping to move on from her past once and for all but that doesn't seem possible when Logan stumbles back into her life. In trying to run from her past Laney runs right into it. Now Laney is also running from a killer and the law.

 I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this book or not at first but from the first page I was glad I did and I truthfully enjoyed reading it. It is a book with a good plot and enough twists to keep you guessing, not only about who is behind the killing and trouble Logan is in, but also who is trying to kill Logan and Laney now, and on top of all that it is about both of them  facing the past head on. Mystery, suspense, and a little romance makes for a quick, good read. If you are looking for a book that is good, not too complicated, and a fast enjoyable read this is your book. I would recommend this book.

If you want to know more info about this book and Shirlee McCoy's other books you can check her out at http://shirleemccoy.com/

GRAB A CUP OF COFFEE OR TEA, SOME CHOCOLATE, AND A GOOD BOOK AND KEEP READING!

5 Stars for Though My Heart Is Torn by Joanne Bischof Review

    I give 5 out of 5 stars for Though My Heart is Torn by Joanne Bischof.  This is book 2 of  The Cadence of Grace Series. Gideon and Lonnie have overcome their rocky beginning and are now happy in their marriage and growing in both their faith and love. They have a son Jacob and life seems good. When they go home to what is suppose to be a family emergency Gideon is hit with the realization that he has two wives and he didn't even know it. His past has caught up to him and even though he isn't that man anymore he must face the past and find away, even though his life is being torn apart, to rectify this situation? What is God's plan in all of this? Whose heart will be broken? What will happen to Gideon, Lonnie, Jacob, and Cassie? Will they rely on their faith and make it through this situation? You will have to read this book to find these answers and more.

   I loved this book. It is an emotional roller coaster, but it is a ride you don't want to get off of till the ride is over. When I got to the last page I didn't want it to be over, I wanted more. You are torn, right along with Gideon, on doing what is right,  what he should do and what his heart is wanting.  It is a great read that has romance, love, heartache, faith, repentance, and forgiveness.

   Joanne Bischof weaves a story that keeps you in its grip and wanting more. I did not read the first in the series, but there is enough information about the first book that you aren't lost by just reading this book. She has a knack of taking you from happiness, to sadness, to forgiveness and love all at the same time. I would keep the Kleenex close when reading this. I will be reading the first book and the next one also.

   If you would like more information on this book and Joanne Bischof's other books please visit her website at:
http://www.joannebischof.com/

  You can get more information about this book here also
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?work=219084

   If you would like to read the first chapter of the book you can at
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/blog/2013/01/09/sneak-peek-though-my-heart-is-torn-by-joanne-bischof/

  

  About the Author from http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/author-spotlight.php?authorid=157548


"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review." The views in this review are my own.


Please take time and rate my review

End of The Spear by Steve Saint Story of Faith and Forgiveness

             A great book of faith and forgiveness. It is the story of Steve Saint who learns to love, forgive and help the Waodani people of Ecuador even though t...more A great book of faith and forgiveness. It is the story of Steve Saint who learns to love, forgive and help the Waodani people of Ecuador even though they had killed his father when he was a little boy. It is a moving interesting book.
           I can't imagine number one what it would be like to live and grow up in the Rain Forest of Ecuador, and number two then to have your father brutally killed by the very people you grow up around  and you forgive them and love them as your family, this is just  mind blowing. This truly tells a story of how this family not only believed and had faith in Jesus but truly lived their faith. Loving, teaching, forgiving, and living with the very men who were the ones who speared his father and 4 others to death is only possible through Christ and really knowing the meaning of loving others as Christ loves them.
        This is an interesting book of the story of Steve Saint and his family and the Waodani tribe of Ecuador.  When Steve's aunt who lived with the tribe dies they ask Steve to come live with them to teach them the ways of God and what they need to know to survive and not be dependent on the outside world. It is a remarkable journey, one that draws you in and makes you want to keeping reading. It is a wonderful story of God's plans being put into work and we come to love Mincaye and the Waodani people too. Steve is a man of faith but even more amazing is his wife and children being in tune with God's call on their lives and being willing to go where God leads them, leaving the modern world and all its conveniences behind. Praise God for this man and his family.
        I found this book both interesting and challenging. By that I mean it makes me look at how I live my life, could I forgive like Steve has and then follow God's calling to live with these same people in the jungle. I would hope I could, this book makes you think about this.
        I really enjoyed this book, and I hope everyone will take the time to read it.

       If you want to know more about this book and Steve Saint check out these links:

http://itecusa.org/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ITEC-Steve-Saint/41142728065
https://twitter.com/itecusa
http://www.youtube.com/itecusavideo

Another Big Hit Curse of the Holy Pail by Sue Ann Jaffarian

From my other blog mysteryreadingnook.blogspot.com

 The Curse of the Holy Pail (An Odelia Grey Mystery #2) by Sue Ann Jaffarian


I just have to say right up front I love this book and this series by Sue Ann Jaffarian. Last night I stayed up past midnight to finish this book because I just couldn't put it down, 4:30am came early this morning, but the book was well worth losing sleep over.

Odelia Grey is a plus size, smart, sassy, paralegal who seems to have a knack for getting into the middle of murder mysteries. Trouble just seems to find her even when she isn't looking for it. In The Curse of the Holy Pail a client for the firm she works for collects lunch boxes and when she goes to do some notary work for him he shows her his collection of lunch boxes, including his most precious one The Holy Pail.  Later that day he is found dead at his office and the pail missing and everyone assumes Odelia has the pail since he had sent her one from his collection earlier that day after their meeting. So again Odelia is thrown into danger while trying to solve this mystery that just happened to fall in her lap.

This book has a number of possible suspects and it keeps you guessing to the end who the murderer is. Odelia also goes through a range of emotions from fear, to anger, to sorrow and of course her love for her boyfriend Greg. It has everything mystery, mixed with a little romance and intrigue as well as giving us a look into the world of lunch boxes.  I think with this book we see even more into who Odelia Grey is and her character.


I can't say enough how good this book is and I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Thugs and Kisses (An Odelia Grey Mystery #3) by Sue Ann Jaffarian

 

 

The Fourth Fisherman by Joe Kissack Review

  The Fourth Fisherman: How Three Mexican Fishermen Who Came Back from the Dead Changed My Life and Saved My Marriage by Joe Kissack


     This is the story of Joe, he has money, a great job in the entertainment business, a wife and family and yet he is on a downward spiral into a dark hole. He had tried to fill this hole with things and prestige, but nothing was working. In the book Joe says, " I kept searching for more. More of what? I really didn't know. Something I couldn't put my finger on it, but it felt like it was out there, just around the corner. Something to fill the emptiness inside me." pg 41 This book is Joe's story of his struggles, searching, redemption, forgiveness, love and learning to rely on God and God's plan.

    This is also the story of the three fisherman from Mexico that get stranded at sea for 9 months with nothing put their faith in God and a Bible to sustain them. They were drifting aimless at sea and  they had God with them through the whole 9 months. This tells their story of struggle and rescue, hope and faith. It is a remarkable true story of strength that comes from God,  faith and  how they survived for those 9 months. It tells us how God would provide what they needed just in time and how He never left them. Just like He does for us in our lives.

      The book tells us  how God sends Joe to meet the fisherman after they are rescued to help them tell their story and in so doing Joe grows in his faith and reliance on God. You find that he has the same doubts and fears that we have when it comes to knowing if we are reallying doing what God wants us to or not. As Joe goes through the jungles  and obstacles in Mexico trying to meet the fisherman you see how God nudges him along and reassures him, as well as protects him, just as God does us in our lives. 


    When I first started to read this book I had already decided that it was just going to be another feel sorry for me book, but boy was I wrong. The more I read the book the more I realized this is a book of brokenness and faith. A book of hopelessness and hope. It is a true story of how one man has everything, but really has nothing, and three men who have nothing, but they have everything because they have God. It is a powerful, insightful, encouraging book that I think everyone should read once or twice.

This book is all this an more. As it says in the book, "And then my eyes were fully opened: God was present in all of it, speaking to me about what the story really was. No, this isn't my story. But it isn't the fishermen's story either. It is God's story, and all of what He has done needs to be told." pg 189
This book tells us that story and I hope everyone will take the time to read it.

For more information:
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/author-spotlight.php?authorid=150186
You can follow Joe Kissack on twitter at
https://twitter.com/jkissack
http://www.thefourthfisherman.com/
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9780307956279
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/blog/2011/08/22/video-the-fourth-fisherman/
Here is the link to read the first chapter of the book
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/blog/2011/11/15/sneak-peek-the-fourth-fisherman-by-joe-kissack/

"I received this book from WaterBrook Multomah for free in exchange for an honest review."