Hope Springs by Kim Cash Tate

Hope Springs is the epitome of small town life- a place filled with quiet streets where families have been friends for generations, a place where not a lot changes...until now.

Janelle Evans has not been back to Hope Springs since losing her husband. But when she arrives for Christmas and learns that her grandmother is gravely ill, she decides to extend the stay. It isn't long before she runs into her first love, and feelings that have been dormant for more than a decade are reawakened.

Becca Anderson is finally on the trajectory she has longed for. Having been in the ministry trenches for years, she has been recruited as the newest speaker of a large Christian women's conference. But her husband feels called to become the pastor of his late father's church in Hope Springs. Will small-town living affect her big ministry dreams?

Stephanie London is married to a doctor in St. Louis and living the ideal life. When her cousin Janelle volunteers to stay in Hope Springs and care for their grandmother, she feels compelled to do the same. It is a decisions that will forever change her.

As these women come together, they soon recognize that healing is needed in their hearts, their families, and their churches that have long been divided along racial lines. God's plan for them in Hope Springs - and for Hope Springs itself- is bigger than they ever imagined.

Hope Springs by Kim Cash Tate was an excellently fashioned novel overflowing with truths about God, love, forgiveness, and Christian unity. The plot line was well developed and clearly showed the characters' struggles, weaknesses, and growth. There was only a little suspense in the plot, but the novel was well crafted and did not need suspense and mystery to keep me tied to the book.

The characters were very realistic, and it was easy to identify with their realizations, flaws, and struggles. I enjoyed seeing Stephanie's growth into a woman with a servant's heart, Becca's understanding that humility and love are more important than an impressive ministry career, Janelle's acceptance of God's plan for her and her family, and the countless other lesser characters who still experienced growth and change as they grew closer to God and family.

The themes of Hope Springs were phenomenal. The need for a community living in God's word was palpable, and the characters' realization that all Christians are united in Christ, no matter the color of their skin, was beautiful to behold. Other important themes included forgiveness, faithfulness in marriage and relationships even when your spouse is unfaithful to you, love, and acceptance.

Overall, I highly enjoyed Hope Springs by Kim Cash Tate, and I highly recommend any of her books to any woman looking for a novel that is full of truth and clearly reveals the godly relationships that can exist between women.

I received this novel for free from Booksneeze.com with Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

The Janus Affair by Pip Ballentine and Tee Morris

The LONG awaited sequel to the Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel!

Certainly no strangers to peculiar occurrences, ministry agents Wellington Books and Eliza Braun are nonetheless stunned to observe a fellow passenger aboard Britain's latest hypersteam train suddenly vanish in a bolt of lightning. They soon discover this is not the only such disappearance ....and each case is being ignored by a fellow agent and the Ministry.

The fate of England and the suffragist movement is again in the hands of the ingenious archivist and the beautiful, fearless lady of adventure. And though their foe may be fiendishly clever, so then is Mr. Books . . . and Miss Braun still has a number of useful and unusual devices hidden beneath her petticoats.

The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris was an absolutely rollicking read, chock full of danger, disaster, and of course the devilish duo of Wellington Books and Eliza Braun. The mystery that these two agents are solving this time is, if possible, even more sinister and heart-troubling than the one found in the first Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences novel. This mystery is personal, potentially leading to the harm of someone well loved by Eliza, someone that was mentioned in the first podcast of the Tales of the Archives, The Evil that Befell Sampson by Philippa Ballantine.
Link to the Tales of the Archives: http://www.ministryofpeculiaroccurrences.com/short-stories/

The plotline of the Janus Affair is excellent, clearly showing the perspectives of both agents, and simply brimming with unexpected twists, characters, and events. There are several humorous exchanges between the characters which are probably one of my favorite things about the novel. There are also sad moments, but they are necessary to add to the urgency of the mission.

The characters of the novel are also extremely well developed. I enjoyed learning more about Eliza and Wellington as they worked together on this case.....and.....the expected and much awaited building in chemistry between them. There is an old love of Eliza's in this story, and he adds to the tension between Eliza and Welly in the most fascinating of ways.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the Janus Affair, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a rambunctious tale of mystery, comedy, romance, and, of course, steampunk!

Song Of My Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Sadie Wagner has always been devoted to her family. So when her stepfather is injured in a mining accident and is unable to work, she decides to leave home and accept a position as a clerk at a mercantile in Goldtree, Kansas. Goldtree also offers the opportunity for Sadie to use her God-given singing talent -though the promised opera house is far different from what she imagined. With her family needing every cent she can provide, Sadie will do anything to keep her job.

Thad McKane comes to Goldtree to investigate reports of an illegal bootlegging operation. Once he finds the culprits and earns enough money from his work as sheriff, he plans to use it to play for his training to become a minister so that he can clean up the reputation left by his alcoholic father.

Thad is immediately drawn to the lovely young singer who performs in Asa Baxter's unusual opera house. However, when he hears her practicing bawdy tunes, he begins to winder if she is far less innocent and godly than she seems. And when Sadie appears to be part of the very crimes that Thad has come to investigate, is there any hope for the Love blossoming between them?

 Song of My Heart was a well written and extremely interesting novel. The plot was well developed and progressed smoothly. It had many of the same characteristics as other Christian, historical romance novels, but it did have some unexpected twists. The characters were interesting and likable. Sadie's cousin, Sid, changes from a love besotted, brooding teenager to a responsible and smart man during the novel. Sadie and Thad also grow during the novel and understand more about grace, forgiveness, and trusting God as the book progresses and as they face trials they cannot master alone. Both characters, but especially Sadie, have to deal with significant flaws in their own characters and only come to a proper understanding of their failings when they come before God. The growth that these characters experience was my favorite portion of the book. I enjoyed seeing the characters' development, and many of the lessons that they learned can easily be applied to our everyday lives. Overall, the novel was well written, the characters were dynamic, and the themes were clear and applicable. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new novel to read.

I received this novel for free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan

Sam Hopkins is a pretty good kid. A preacher's kid, aka a PK. However, he has found himself mixed up with the wrong crowd. Hanging around with car thieves and delinquents, Sam knows it is only a matter of time before he makes one bad decision too many and gets into real trouble.

But one day, Sam sees these thugs harassing a troubled schoolmate named Jennifer. Finding the courage to face the bullies down, Sam loses a bad set of friends and acquires a very strange new one.

Jennifer is not just weird. To Sam, she seems downright crazy. She has terrifying hallucinations involving demons, the devil, and death. And here's the Really crazy part: Sam is beginning to suspect that these visions may actually be prophecies -prophecies of something terrible that is going to happen very soon. Unless he can stop it.

With no one to believe him, with no one to help him other than one crazy girl, Sam is now all alone in a race against time. Finding the truth before disaster strikes is going to be both crazy and very, very dangerous.

Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan was an extremely quick yet enjoyable read. The book is clearly directed toward young teens, and it only took me a couple of hours to read. Despite that, I enjoyed the book a lot. The plot moved rather quickly, and I was actually surprised when I reached the end of the book. I felt like the book was weighted too heavily in background information and once it reached its climax it ended too quickly. Overall though the plot was interesting and kept me glued to the novel. The tone and language of the book were very well done and fit the age and character of the narrator, Sam Hopkins. The supposed supernatural element of the novel was fascinating and added to the spooky tone of some portions of the book. Even once the true cause came out, there were still frightening elements that were made even scarier by their validity.

The characters of this novel were well developed and had both their strengths and their quirks. The true enemy in this book turned out to be quite the shock and clearly shows how well some people can hide their true nature. I really liked both Sam and Jennifer, and I enjoyed their interactions, as weird as they turned out to be.

Overall, the plot was pretty good, the characters were well developed, and the tone and language were well written. Crazy Dangerous is certainly a novel directed to teenagers, and I would not recommend it for really young children because of the violence. However, despite the age group that this novel was directed towards, I still enjoyed it as a quick and distracting read.

I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson Publishers through Booksneeze.com in exchange for an honest review.

Wildflowers from Winter by Katie Ganshert

Like Winter, grief has a season.
Life, however, returns with Spring.

As a young architect at a prestigious Chicago firm, Bethany Quinn has built the life she dreamed of during her trailer-park teen years. An unexpected call from her estranged mother reveals that tragedy has struck in her hometown and a reluctant Bethany is called back to rural Iowa.

Determined to pay her respects to her past while avoiding any emotional entanglements, she vows not to stay long. The unexpected inheritance of five hundred acres of farmland and a startling turn of events in Chicago forces Bethany to come up with a new plan.

Handsome farmhand Evan Price has taken care of the Quinn farm for years. When Bethany is left the land, Evan must fight her decisions to realize his own dreams. But even as he disagrees with Bethany's vision, Evan feels drawn to her and the pain she keeps so carefully locked away.

For Bethany, making peace with her past and the God to her childhood doesn't seem like the path to freedom. Is letting go the only way to new life, love, and a peace that she is not even sure exists?

Wildflowers from Winter by Katie Ganshert was a sweet, quick read that portrayed clearly the importance of forgiveness, God, and love. The plot line was straightforward and somewhat predictable, but it still held my interest for the entirety of the novel. It was a great read for a quiet evening after a long and exhausting day.

Wildflowers from Winter also had some important themes and topics that it explored. The novel clearly showed the effects of closing oneself off from God and others because of harsh circumstances. It in turn revealed the changes that love and turning to God can bring to relationships, character traits, and the quality of life in general. Another theme that became clear throughout the novel was the pattern of grief that a person experiences after the death of a loved one. Katie Ganshert did a wonderful job outlining the struggles that grieving people experience and how they are able to find solace and peace in God and those He places in their path.

The characters of Wildflowers from Winter were developed well and each was very different in their characteristics and flaws. The flaws of the characters were clearly evident, and it was easy to relate to the struggles that each character experienced in some way.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wildflowers from Winter. The plot line was fairly simple but still enjoyable. The themes and characters were well developed and really portrayed realistic situations and characteristics.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

My Own Worst Enemy by Janet Davis

Sometimes your biggest obstacle is yourself.
You know you do great things if you must stopped getting in your own way. But most days, self-doubt, fear, and the seductive whispers of insecurity have you second guessing yourself -before you have even started.

Writer and speaker Janet Davis shows you how to break the destructive cycle of shame and self doubt to achieve your full potential. Through lessons from her own life and examples of modern and biblical women, she reveals that every woman is called to shine, and you are no exception.

Learn how to break destructive patterns in order to live out your purpose in God's kingdom, bringing the sense of fulfillment you've been longing for.

My Own Worst Enemy was a wonderfully reflective read that I spent a couple of weeks using as part of my quiet time reflecting and with the Lord. I loved how Janet Davis intertwined stories of herself or other women that she knew with the women of the Bible and displayed clearly how both modern and biblical women struggle with the same issues of insecurity, pride, etc.

Each chapter was clearly and concisely written and included wonderful discussion and contemplation questions before and after the chapter. I was able to create quite a bible study for myself with this book. I think that this book would make an excellent book club read for women or even a bible study group.

Overall, I thought this book was excellently written and both motivating and convicting as I absorbed each chapter. I would highly recommend it to any woman, whether she is struggling with emotional/self esteem issues or not.

I received this book from Bethany House Publishers for free in exchange for an honest review.

Garden of Madness by Tracy L. Higley

For seven long years Babylonian princess Tiamat has waited for the king Nebuchadnezzar to recover from his madness and return to his family and his kingdom. Driven from the throne to live as a beast, her father prowls his Hanging Gardens, hidden away from the world.

Since her treaty marriage over seven years earlier, 'Tia' has lived an rich yet oppressive life in the palace. However, her husband has died, and she relishes her new found independence. When a nobleman is found murdered in the palace, Tia must discover who is responsible for the gruesome death, even if her own freedom is threatened.

As the queen plans to wed Tia to yet another prince, the powerful mag Shadir plots to expose the family's secrets and set his own puppet on the throne. Tia enlists the  help of a reluctant Jewish captive, her late husband's brother Pedaiah, who challenges her notion of the gods even as he opens up her heart to both truth and love.

In a time when few give their hearts to to the true God, Yahweh, Tia must decide if she is willing to risk everything -her possessions, her gods, and her very life -for the Isrealites' one God. Madness, sorcery, and sinister plots mingle like an alchemist's deadly potion as Tia has to choose whether to risk all to save the kingdom -and her family.

The Garden of Madness by Tracy L. Higley, is, as author Tosca Lee put it, "an exquisite story of intrigue, elegantly told and rich with all the flavors of ancient Babylon." This novel was extremely well written and researched. I could easily imagine myself in ancient Babylon along with the Daniel, Tia, and Pedaiah. Even though the book was based on the biblical story of Nebuchadnezzar, the plot line was still wonderfully woven with secrets, intrigue, and unexpected twists which kept me glued to the book. The tone of The Garden of Madness was also well developed. For example, at times when Tia was struggling with the spiritual battle she felt around her, the tone was extremely oppressive and dark, and the reader actually felt the darkness and evil that surrounded Tia. At other points the tone was one of madness and actually made me feel dizzy.

The characters of the Garden of Madness were beautifully well written and developed as well. As a reader, I could easily identify with Tia and picture her in my mind. Her growth and development throughout the book were heartwarming to see, and her changing opinions as she learned more about God gave her new perspectives on life and relationships that brought an incredible turn in the story. Pedaiah was also an enigmatic and changing character. One was able to see his wisdom, love, and kindness as the story progressed, and it made him even more likable. I also enjoyed seeing Tracy Higley's perspective of Daniel as well as his wise words to both Tia and Pedaiah.

Some of the themes that I saw in the Garden of Madness were the importance of love, especially God's love for all people, Jews or Gentiles regardless. This novel emphasized the fact that God's love is not for one people group alone. Another theme was that a relationship with God affects all parts of that person's life: their love for others, their worldview, and their relationships with others. There are several parts at the end of this book where it was incredible to remember the power that God gives those who believe in Him against the evil of the devil.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel, and I cannot wait to read more of Tracy L. Higley's Seven Wonders of the Ancient World novels.

I received this novel for free from Thomas Nelson Publishers through Booksneeze.com in exchange for an honest review.