A Review of Critical Reaction by Todd M. Johnson

I typically read historical romance novels, so this book was a new genre for me. This book is categorized as a legal thriller, so I was not sure how I would like it. It took a few chapters for me to get into it, but I did and I really enjoyed it. The plot was really interesting. We were given information from both sides in the story (Kieran and Hanford), but at the same there was enough mystery where I would want to keep on reading to find out what would happen next. I was glad that as the reader we weren't completely in the dark, but we were able to see what was going on through other character's perspectives. Even though this was not a romance novel, there was a small love story intertwined with the main plot, which I enjoyed. This story also had depth to it, dealing with the different personal relationships the characters had with each other. It was more than just the legal matters. The only negative I had was that there were many characters being introduced in the beginning. There would be a chapter about one character and the next chapter would be about someone else and I didn't know what was going on at first. There were a few different character perspectives in the book.  Once the story started to fall into place and everything made sense I truly enjoyed it. This was a book that I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next. I would definitely read another book by the author and I would recommend this book as well.


I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers for my honest review.

A Review of A Simple Change (Home to Amana #2) By Judith Miller

I began reading this book during the end of a semester of graduate school. Usually when I am reading a really good book, I cannot put it down and I will read it instead of focus on what I really need to get done. I guess I should be thankful that was not the case with this book. It was boring and it was easy to not read it every day. With that said, this was my first Amish book. I wanted to give it a chance and I read it with an open mind. However, it was not for me. I found it really simple, as the title states, and dull. It did not catch my interest and it is a story that I will quickly forget. First of all, I didn’t care for the main character Jancey. She actually annoyed me many times. She would make so many dumb choices and as a reader it would aggravate me. For some reason the way that Ritt was introduced made me view him as a teenager/young boy, not a man that could be a potential for Jancey. So after that it was weird reading about them having feelings for each other. I just didn’t believe the relationship.

There were a few things in the book that I did not like at all. I understand that the Amana Colony is a community of Amish people, but their lifestyle seemed very cult like and that bothered me. I do not like the fact that everyone has to follow all these strict rules. For example, there is a bell that rings constantly telling people when to eat and go to sleep. They also are not allowed to talk in the dining halls and men and women cannot sit together. I do not agree with these rules and I do not like reading about it. It would make me angry and it took away from the book. I also was angry when I read that Jancey could not be a teacher in the village because that is a job that men had. The people in Amana also had to ask the elders in the community for permission for many things and again this is something I do not agree with.

I am feeling generous with giving the book 3 stars. Technically I would say it is more 2.5 stars, but it wasn’t a horrible book. It was just boring and I didn’t agree with a few parts of it. Overall it was somewhat well written. If you love Amish books, you might enjoy it. If you do not read Amish novels, then I would not recommend it to you.

I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers for my honest review.

Review of Bride For Keeps by Melissa Jagears

I would rate this book a 4.5. It was a great book, but not quite a 5 quality. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It is Melissa Jagears’s debut novel, so I did not set my expectations high. I loved the story plot. This was a mail order bride story with a twist, the groom did not order the bride and he was not expecting her. Julia did not want to marry Everett and Everett did not want to be hurt by another woman and marry Julie. They both knew that they had to get married for convenience. Everett and Julia both started to develop feelings for each other, but they also both tried to ignore those feelings. Both of them had valid reasons for oppressing their feelings, but after a while I just wanted to yell at them to get over it and go tell the person how they feel. The reason why I did not give the book a 5 is because after a while it started to get old. There were times when I just wanted to tell Julia to stop being so scared to love her husband. Eventually things did turn around, but I had to wait until the end.  I liked Everett and Julie as well as Rachel. The characters enhanced the appeal of the book in my opinion. I look forward to reading future novels by Melissa Jagears. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.

I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers for my honest review.

Review of Made to Last by Melissa Tagg

My first impression of the book was that I didn’t really like it. It didn’t catch my interest right away. There were also a lot of new characters thrown at you: characters from Miranda’s life and from Matthew’s life. There was a lot going on. I kept on reading and eventually I was hooked. I actually really liked the book. I liked the characters and the plot. One thing I enjoyed is that the character Miranda is not perfect. Many Christian fiction novels that I have read have characters that are pure and innocent. It’s hard to relate to those characters. It was nice to see that someone who has made mistakes can be redeemed. It made her more human and easy to relate to. The ending was predictable, but it was interesting to read the journey of the two main characters. There will be a sequel coming out about Blaze and I look forward to reading about his story. Other than that it was a great book and I would recommend it.


I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers for my honest review.

A Review of Rebellious Heart by Jody Hedlund

This is my second book by Jody Hedlund. Rebellious Heart was better than I expected. It’s definitely not one of the best books that I have ever read, but I did enjoy the story. Technically I give the book a 3.75, it’s better than a 3 ½ rating, but not really a 4.  This rating is due to the fact that the main character annoyed me at times. I want to start with what I did not enjoy about the book. I didn’t really care for the character Susanna. She was portrayed as being intellectual, but to me she came off naïve and a little annoying. I didn’t hate the character, some of the things she said and some of her actions annoyed me.  One thing I do not like in books is when the characters love each other, but they make up excuses why they can’t be with the other person and then they are sad by their choice. It makes me want to scream at the character to stop being so dumb and just date the guy. The other thing that annoyed me was that Susanna felt bad about something she said to Ben when she was only 5 years old and Ben was still offended by it. Really? She was 5, I don’t even remember anything I said when I was 5. It just made me roll my eyes. It would have been more realistic if she had said that to him when she was 16. Then I would understand why he was offended still and she was embarrassed by it. Ok, now on to what I enjoyed about the book. I really did like the other characters: Ben, Tom, and Phoebe. I also enjoyed the storyline about the runaway indentured servant because it was original. Overall I found the book entertaining. Although it wasn’t one of those books that kept me up all night, I still liked it. So far it’s my favorite book by Jody Hedlund.

I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers for my honest review.

Review of Dragonwitch (Tales of Goldstone Wood, #5) by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

I was looking forward to reading this book because I enjoy fantasy novels. When I first started reading it I didn’t care for it. I found myself thinking things like “what just happened” “who is that” “this is weird.” At the same time the book was not boring, so it was easy for me to keep reading. The book has more than one storyline and it was hard to keep track of it at first. About half way through the book it started to make sense and I started to enjoy it. Because the book is based in a make believe world a lot of names and terms are made up, which also added to the difficulty in understanding what was happening in the book. The other complaint I have is that the story would constantly change whose point of view the book was from. Usually a book separates different character’s point of view by chapters. This book would say what one character was thinking and then the next page it was about someone else. It was annoying at first, but I got used to that as well. So, at first I thought I would give the book a 3 because some parts were confusing. By the time I was finished with it I decided to give it a 4. I found that I truly enjoyed the book. It always held my interest. I also enjoyed the fact that it was such a unique storyline and different from anything I have ever read. I liked the characters as well and I would read another book from the series. To anyone who wants to read this book I say don’t stop in the beginning because it does get better.

I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers for my honest review

Review of A Noble Groom by Judy Hedlund

This was my first book by Jody Hedlund. I really enjoyed the book. I liked the characters and was interested in their story. It was a great illustrations of immigrant's lives in America during that time period. I did think the book was a little slow paced. Although there was some drama, it wasn't exactly a book that I had to stay up all night reading. The book was a little cookie cutter historical Christian romance, but it had its own little twist that made it interesting. For example, I felt like I had already read a book where the cabin catches fire in the end and someone needs to save the damsel in distress. One redeeming quality is that some of the twist were unexpected, so it was a little different from other books. I also liked the way the author included God because it was done in a way where the book wasn't too preachy. There was still some passion between the characters, but it was done in a clean way. I don't need a book to be filled with sex, but it is nice to see that the main characters have an attraction. Because I was able to put the book down I gave it only 4 stars. It was still good, but it will not be one of my favorites. I would definitely purchase another book by the author. As my review title states, it was a good first impression of the author.

I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers for my honest review.

Review of Bamboo and Lace

I love Hawaii. I've been to Maui, Oahu, and Kauai. So, I am interested in books have the setting in Hawaii. When I read the description of Bamboo and Lace by Lori Wick I immediately bought it and couldn't wait to read it. I have read Lori Wick's "Californian series" and loved it. This book was very dull and boring. The characters were very unrealistic and the country that Lilly is from is also made up. I did not like how the characters felt that they had to apologize constantly for everything and anything. No one is that perfect! Also, Lilly is described very childlike and the other adults sometimes talk to her as if she were a child. So, when she and Gabe became involved it was weird to me. I felt like she was some little girl with an older man. It did not work. The end of the book did get a little better, but do you really want to read 200 dull pages for 20 mediocre ones? The book was also way too preachy and goody-two shoes for me. I'm a Christian and most of the books I read or Christian fiction, but this was just too much. After reading this book I have stopped reading books by Lori Wick.

Good Reads

I think Good Reads is such a fun website for book lovers, such as myself! I've already discovered new books that are similar to my favorites that I cannot wait to read! Here is my good reads profile if you want to see some of the books I've read, will read, and am currently reading. Who knows, maybe you will discover new books to add to your library of favorites!

http://www.goodreads.com/PurplePixie87

Review of Courting Morrow Little

So, I just finished reading this book yesterday, at 4am! It was one of those books that I just simply could not put down. What really drew my attention to the story was the love between Morrow and Red Shirt. Because he was Native American the love was forbidden at that time. It was also very unexpected. It was different than most books I read. I loved how Red Shirt was so connected with the earth and nature. It was a refreshing change in pace from the average romance novel. I also love how Morrow and Red Shirt married in the middle of the book and we were able to see some of their journey in life together. The book didn't just end at the proposal, like most do. I was truly sad when I finished reading. This is one of those books that I would have loved to have been in a series. I can't wait to read more books by Laura Frantz!

Why start blogging

Why start blogging? My answer: Why not! I don't know if many people will read this, but I thought it would be fun and an interesting experience to share my thoughts on life and reviews of products. So, time to experiment a little and see where this thing goes.