BLOGWORDS – Tuesday 31 August 2021 – TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – BOOK REVIEW – A SECOND CHANCE by WALT MUSSELL

TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – BOOK REVIEW – A SECOND CHANCE by WALT MUSSELL

THE BLURB

Kira Sakamichi is a career-driven woman, trying to achieve success before her mother’s constant interference sentences her to a relationship. But when a grudging drive to meet her mother’s latest “selection” ends in a lake accident, Kira wakes up lost in the past, the concubine of a 16th century samurai, and mother to his six-year-old son. When actions in battle lead to the samurai’s condemnation, Kira learns that she and her son will share the samurai’s fate. Only by understanding the importance of duty and family in both time periods can they survive.

THE AUTHOR

Walt Mussell lives in an Atlanta-area suburb with his wife and their two sons. He works for a well-known corporation and writes in his spare time.
Walt primarily writes historicals, with a particular focus on Japan, an interest he gained during the four years he lived there. He refers to his work as “Like Shogun, but the heroine survives.”
Outside of writing, his favorite activity is trying to keep up with his kids. As one is in college and the other is now out of college and looking for a position related to his major, this is proving more difficult each day.
Visit his website at waltmussell.com
Follow him on Twitter at @wmussell and on Instagram at @authorwaltmussell

MY REVIEW

Mr. Mussell’s Japanese historical novels are an automatic must-read! His books, so rich and full, never fail to hold the reader’s attention. And A Second Chance is no exception. The history of the 16^th century Samurai era comes alive as Kira lives an alternate life.

As with all historical fiction, the cultural differences can be staggering. I appreciated Kira’s confusion and puzzlement when she first awoke after her accident. Her slow grasp of where she was—and when. Her journey, though, was not just through time, but one of self-discovery [SPOILER.] She emerges confused, but with a shift in values and a new and deeper understanding of family and identity.

I look forward to more stories—travels—with Kira.

ROBIN’S FEATHERS

FOUR FEATHERS

I received a complimentary copy of this book, but was under no obligation to read the book or to post a review. I offer my review of my own free will. The opinions expressed in my review are my honest thoughts and reaction to this book.

#Blogwords, Tuesday Reviews-Day, #TRD, Book Review, A Second Chance, Walt Mussell, JustRead Publicity

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BLOGWORDS – Tuesday 17 August 2021 – TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – BOOK REVIEW – THE DECORATING CLUB by SUSAN M. MEYERS

TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – BOOK REVIEW – THE DECORATING CLUB by SUSAN M. MEYERS

Welcome to the Blog Tour for The Decorating Club by Susan M. Meyers, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

                                                                             

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Decorating Club

Author: Susan M. Meyers

Publisher: Just Food For Thought, LLC

Release Date: February 1, 2021

Genre: Women’s Fiction

THE BLURB

The Decorating Club shares the story of what happens when a group of women come together to help each other redesign their homes. In the process, they support each other through some of the challenges encountered by women today. While the primary focus is on identifying the best purpose and theme for each room they soon find themselves faced with the need to help one another determine life’s next chapter. The Decorating Club was inspired by true-life experiences with real neighbors and the friendship they shared.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookDepository | IndieBound

THE AUTHOR

Susan Meyers is an optimist who believes the world would be better served if everyone were more aligned with their greater purpose. The challenge as she sees it is not only to serve one’s purpose but also to adapt as it changes from time to time.

While Susan has worn many hats throughout her life, serving as CEO of her children’s business, 3 Sisters and a Brother, LLC is the role of which she is most proud. It began in the family’s basement when they were just 12, 12, 10, and 7 and soon expanded into two storefronts; within less than eight years, it became a well-known brand in the local community.

As time passed and each of the children began to take flight, Susan and her family made the decision to close the business. With each of her four children off pursuing their own individualized dreams and careers, Susan had to deal with a new title; unemployed CEO; as well as the closed doors that it represented for her more personally.

Finding herself questioning her own purpose and determined to regain it, Susan invested her time looking for answers. It soon became clear that none of the information she found talked to her concerns or even spoke the same language.

Eventually, Susan was reminded of what she already knew and in the hope of helping others facing similar challenges, was moved to write The Decorating Club.

Today, Susan makes her home with her husband and youngest daughter in Fairfield, CT. For more information, visit www.susanmmeyersauthor.com.

CONNECT WITH SUSAN: Website | Facebook | Instagram

MY REVIEW

When I saw the title of this book I knew I just had to read it – after all I’m an Interior Designer!

Where to start – so many wonderful elements in this book! Well, even beyond the design and decorating bit. From the beginning, when both Sarah and Tommy felt God’s nudge. Their obedience to follow the Lord’s leading. Setting into their new home, the questioning, and reaching out to their new neighbors.

This reader has some great neighbors who pitch in and help a gal out, so I know the depth of what Sarah was wrangling. Or, rather, what the Lord was wrangling through her.

I appreciated how Ms. Meyers revealed each character’s story, her needs and wants and desires. Even – most especially – those they weren’t aware of.

And the designs they achieved! Trés fantastique! I loved Sarah’s approach to designing. Reaching in to reveal the inner artist in each of us. And her concept of a home reflecting the personality of those who live there.

The dialogue was halting and contrived at times but the concept of what Sarah achieved, and the healing her friends found, far outweighed any shortcomings in conversation.

ROBIN’S FEATHERS

FOUR FEATHERS

I received a complimentary copy of this book, but was under no obligation to read the book or to post a review. I offer my review of my own free will. The opinions expressed in my review are my honest thoughts and reaction to this book.

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a $50 HomeGoods gift card, $10 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card, The Decorating Club travel mug & retractable measuring tape!!

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight August 17, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on August 24, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

#Blogwords, Tuesday Reviews-Day, #TRD, Book Review, The Decorating Club, Susan M. Meyers, JustRead Publicity Tours

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BLOGWORDS – Monday 9 August 2021 – TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – BOOK REVIEW – WRITTEN IN INK by SARA DAVISON

TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – BOOK REVIEW – WRITTEN IN INK by SARA DAVISON

THE BLURB

Everything he has built his life and future on has been torn away.
Cash McCall has loved Dr. Renee Dawson for half his life. Although they’ve talked about a future together, she has never believed it was the right time for them to get engaged. Now she has ended their relationship, and he has no idea why.
Everything Renee worked so hard for is in jeopardy. One agonizing decision has changed everything, and she has been forced to shatter the heart of the man she loves. And her own.
The extremist militant group The Arm is on a mission. Its leader doesn’t care how many innocent lives are lost in the pursuit of the group’s end goal, and Renee has seen something she was not supposed to see.
If Cash can’t get to her in time, Renee could end up in the crosshairs of the terrorists, and he may lose her—and any chance at the life he’d always envisioned—forever.

THE AUTHOR

Sara Davison is the author of three romantic suspense series – The Seven Trilogy, The Night Guardians, and The Rose Tattoo Trilogy – as well as the standalone speculative romantic suspense, The Watcher. She has been a finalist for a dozen national writing awards, including Best New Canadian Christian author, a Carol, a Holt Medallion, two Selah, and two Daphne du Maurier Awards for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She is a Word and Cascade Award winner. Sara has a degree in English Literature from Queen’s University. She currently resides in Ontario, Canada with her husband Michael and their three children, all of whom she (literally) looks up to. Her favourite way to spend the days (and nights) is drinking coffee and making stuff up. Get to know Sara better at http://www.saradavison.org and @sarajdavison.

MY REVIEW

Ms. Davison’s writing is no holds barred writing, filled with real-life trauma and tragedy and impossible situations. Impossible decisions. What we as believers take almost for granted—our moral compass, God’s Word—keeps us grounded and guides us in our decision making. (at least it should) But for unbelievers, that moral compass holds no weight, no value, and decision making becomes a matter of pros and cons, or what “feels” right. And how often do we, as believers, stop to consider that weight upon the nonbeliever’s life? It must be crushing.

Renee, living to prove herself, faces an impossible situation and decision. Second guessing herself, even as she moves forward with what she believes she must do, she is caught up in far more than [SPOILER.]

Cash. Crushed beyond belief, can he sit back and let her walk away? Or should he fight for her, try to win her heart back? And what of this faith his brother keeps talking about? How can Cash believe in something—some One—so intangible, so unreal? And yet… [SPOILER]

Page after page, Ms. Davison raises the stakes, urging the reader on, with challenges and danger—and faith.

The brutal honesty of the characters, the unpretty unpolished human factor. The steadfastness of Father God, ever faithful, even to His unbelieving children.

A powerful story of self-doubt and broken hearts, the depth of true love, and the reach of Divine love, and I look forward to the third book in the series.

ROBIN’S FEATHERS

ALL | THE | FEATHERS!

I received a complimentary copy of this book, but was under no obligation to read the book or to post a review. I offer my review of my own free will. The opinions expressed in my review are my honest thoughts and reaction to this book.

#Blogwords, Tuesday Reviews-Day-on-Monday, #TRD, Book Review, Written in Ink, Sara Davison, The Rose Tattoo Trilogy, Lost Down Deep

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BLOGWORDS – Friday 6 August 2021 – TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY-on-FRIDAY – BOOK REVIEW – BETRAYED by LISA T. BERGREN

TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY-on-FRIDAY – BOOK REVIEW – BETRAYED by LISA T. BERGREN

 

THE BLURB

They have gathered. And now others gather against them…

An illuminated letter, long buried by the Church—prophesying a fellowship of men and women possessing powerful spiritual gifts—is the catalyst for a profound war that will bring either a new age of enlightenment or a darkness the world has never before seen. As the Gifted gather, gain strength, and follow God’s clues, their enemies grow determined to control them.

Watching the Gifted from afar is Cardinal Boeri, who wants to use the blessed power of the Gifted to secure his own place in the hierarchy of the Church, while the duke of Venezia has reasons of his own to seize control. But the greatest menace is Lord Abramo Amidei, driven to turn the healer, Daria d’Angelo, to his own fold—or to destroy her. And as he schemes to tear apart the fabric of her faith by preying upon those she loves, Amidei knows that together the Gifted are undeniably strong and growing stronger. But if he can succeed in dividing them, the Gifted—and then the world—will be his.

THE AUTHOR

Lisa T. Bergren is Tim’s wife, Olivia, Emma and Jack’s mom, and an explorer of people, places and stories in many genres. She’s written over 60 books and sold over 3 million of them, with the help of some good publishing people and readers like you. You can find more about her at http://www.LisaTawnBergren.com.

MY REVIEW

This book, this series. The depth, the richness, the spiritual challenge.

Don’t we all have spiritual gifts? But how many of us truly embrace our gifting? How many of us dare to walk in the “shadows of death,” to truly trust Father to be who He says He is and do what He says He’ll do? Or do we run, as Jonah, in attempt to hide, escape our gifting? Do we stutter and tell Him, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ as Moses did? Do we doubt our ability? Or His ability to work in us? His faithfulness?

Ms. Bergren answers these questions, the ebb and flow, rise and fall of faith and determination in her characters. Each of the Gifted were rough and raw humans—God’s preferred vessels to manifest Himself. Humans with flaws and weaknesses and failures. As Father Pieri says, “I am a priest who believes in Saint Paul’s words—that we are all in the priesthood of believers, that we all share in Christ’s holy mission.”

Ms. Bergren depicts her characters with truth and honesty and depth. Hurts and fears and emotions. Her writing is so vivid and authentic it feels not only as though she has visited the Dark Ages herself but pulls her reader into the streets to walk alongside her.

Having read Begotten and now completed Betrayed (and eagerly anticipating Blessed) I have come to love the characters—Daria’s strength and courage; to embrace her gifting in an age when miracles were thought to be witchcraft. Gianni, oh, his vehemence against the darkness, the sorcerer. Father Pieri, quiet and unassuming, yet possessed of such a strong faith and commitment to his calling and mission. Sweet Tessa, clinging to the others as family while shaking in fear [SPOILER.]

Perhaps it’s the actress in me, but dialogue sets a story in its era and place more than any other factor, and the dialogue in this story is a banner waving at the pinnacle of a castle turret, so true and authentic is it. Yet Ms. Bergren has not overloaded her reader with too much dialect and ancient verbiage to the point of confusion.

Most of us don’t see (or perhaps acknowledge) the intensity of battle Ms. Bergren’s characters face—nay, endure—but her story reminds us oh! so vividly of the Truth of spiritual battle, and the sole purpose and intention of the enemy—and of God’s faithfulness.

ROBIN’S FEATHERS

ALL | THE | FEATHERS!

I received a complimentary copy of this book, but was under no obligation to read the book or to post a review. I offer my review of my own free will. The opinions expressed in my review are my honest thoughts and reaction to this book.

#Blogwords, Tuesday Reviews-Day-on-Friday, #TRD, Book Review, Betrayed, Lisa T. Bergren, The Gifted Series, Begotten, Blessed, JustRead Publicity

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BLOGWORDS – Tuesday 3 August 2021 – TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – BOOK REVIEW – A SWEETHAVEN SUMMER by COURTNEY WALSH

 

BLOGWORDS – Tuesday 3 August 2021 – TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – BOOK REVIEW – A SWEETHAVEN SUMMER by COURTNEY WALSH

TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – BOOK REVIEW – A SWEETHAVEN SUMMER by COURTNEY WALSH

 

 

THE BLURB

A faded scrapbook reveals secrets that reconnect old friends in a place called Sweethaven. Campbell Carter has come to Sweethaven in search of answers about her mother’s history. Just before losing a battle with cancer, Suzanne Carter sent letters to childhood friends from her hometown of Sweethaven, Michigan. Suzanne’s three friends — Lila, Jane, and Meghan — haven’t spoken in years, yet each has pieces of a scrapbook they made together as girls. Suzanne’s letters have lured them all back to the idyllic lakeside town, where they meet Campbell and begin to remember what was so special about their long Sweethaven summers. As the scrapbook reveals secrets from the past, old wounds are mended, lives are changed, and friendships are restored — just as Suzanne intended.

THE AUTHOR

Courtney Walsh is a novelist, theatre director, and playwright. She writes small town romance and women’s fiction while juggling the performing arts studio and youth theatre she owns and runs with her husband. Her debut, A Sweethaven Summer, hit the New York Times and USA Today e-book bestseller lists. Her novel, Just Let Go, won the Carol Award in 2019 and Just One Kiss was a 2020 Christy Award Finalist.

A creative at heart, Courtney has also written two craft books and several full-length musicals. She lives in Illinois with her husband and three children and a sometimes naughty Bernedoodle named Luna.

Connect with Courtney online at her website (courtneywalshwrites.com) or on any of these social media platforms:

Facebook.com/courtneywalshwrites

Instagram.com/courtneywalsh

Twitter.com/courtney_walsh

 

MY REVIEW

When things go terribly wrong do you tell your best friends? Or keep it from them, buried for years, decades? Withdraw from their lives completely, never to be seen again…

Betrayal is an ugly thing, creating rifts and scars that don’t always heal. And Suzanne chose to leave, her secret safely intact, saving her friends from grief.

But her sudden absence caused a different kind of wound. A wound they each carried with them for decades.

Until, dying, Suzanne set reconciliation into motion.

Ms. Walsh digs deep into the emotions of four teenage girls—and later, when those same girls are grown—with brutal force and honesty, the tumultuous teen years made more turbulent by circumstances and events.

Fast forward a couple of decades—Campbell is caught in the middle of her mother’s last wishes and the remnants of the former friendships. Page by page, Ms. Walsh unravels the tangled web of hurt and deceit and broken hearts, emotions raw and real and true.

As Lila and Jane work with Campbell to put the truth of the past together, one scrap at a time, the whole story unfolds, and when Meghan returns, scrapbook in hand, pieces fit together to complete Suzanne’s mission.

Ms. Walsh is a master at unfolding her story, one taunting piece at a time, shifting and twisting, holding the reader spellbound to the very end.

 

ROBIN’S FEATHERS

  FOUR FEATHERS

 

I received this book as a gift. I offer my review of my own free will. The opinions expressed in my review are my honest thoughts and reaction to this book.

 

#Blogwords, Tuesday Reviews-Day, #TRD, Book Review, A Sweethaven Summer, Courtney Walsh, The Sweethaven Circle Series, A Sweethaven Homecoming, A Sweethaven Christmas

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