Firefly Summer by Kathleen Y'Barbo - REVIEWED

About The Book:
Artist Sessa Chambers may never recover from losing her prodigal son. Even as she grieves the tragic decisions that led to his death, and left her with a toddler to raise, she’s asked to work on her dream project—restoring carousel horses for the Smithsonian. But she can’t do it on her own… 

Dr. Trey Brown can’t pick up a scalpel again. Yes, he acted in self-defense, but the events of that awful night haunt him. He was trained to save lives, not take them. When he goes to the young man’s widowed mother to apologize, she’s not at all what he expected. For one thing, she’s not as alone as he thought—not with the fearsome ladies of the Pies, Books, and Jesus Book Club in her corner. For another, she’s beautiful, and being in her presence is more jolting than any eight-second bronco ride from his former rodeo days. Before he knows it, she’s captured his heart as easily as they capture the fireflies gracing Sessa’s Texas ranch. 

How can they overcome their past to embrace a future together?

My Thoughts:

“Lightning in a jar.” (p. 153)

Sessa Chambers’ memory of an earlier time in life, the memory of her son, Ross, catching a jar full of fireflies, begins one of the most poignant passages in Kathleen Y’barbo’s latest book, Firefly Summer. This book, although only a brief 205, is packed with well-developed characters and a plot that weaves these lives together in tender, unexpected ways!  What a joy this book was to read! 

I appreciate the fact that the relationships forged in this story are born out of realistic, and sometimes tragic, losses.  The circumstances surrounding Sessa’s granddaughter’s (Pansie) life just about broke my heart.  The fear of yet another loss in Sessa’s life was almost tangible at times!  Yet the scene I mentioned at the opening of this review tenderly gave us insight about the young girl who brought Pansie into Sessa’s life, and, at the same time, poignantly touched many tender places in the hearts of others in the story.  

I can’t forget to mention Dr. Trey Brown!  He sets up the perfect counterbalance to Sessa’s unexpected opportunity to play a role in her granddaughter’s life!  Between he and Sessa, forgiveness and mercy are modeled in unforgettable way!  Sessa wasn’t the only one who fell for Dr. Trey!  I imagine there will be many readers who hope to meet someone very similar!

This is a book the overflows with every emotion imaginable!  You will laugh, cry, become frightened, angry….Kathleen Y’Barbo doesn’t miss anything!  I am thrilled to recommend this book to anyone!  It is a touching story that will impact everyone who reads its pages!

About the Author:

Bestselling author Kathleen Y'Barbo is a multiple Carol Award and RITA nominee of fifty novels with more than one million copies of her books in print in the US and abroad. A certified family law paralegal and former literary publicist, Kathleen has been nominated for a 2013 Career Achievement Award as well a Reader's Choice Award and several Top Picks by Romantic Times magazine. 

A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and a former member of the Texas Bar Association Paralegal Division, she is a proud military wife and an expatriate tenth-generation Texan cheering on her beloved Texas Aggies from north of the Red River. 

To find out more about Kathleen or connect with her through social media, check out her website at www.kathleenybarbo.com.

Flames by Ginny L. Yttrup - REVIEWED

About the Book:

I preserve legacies.

So begins the story of Jessica Weaver—wife, mother, and fire archeologist. Preserving Yosemite National Park’s natural and cultural resources is Jessica’s job. Preserving her family’s legacy is her obsession. But when she discovers her husband’s infidelity, betrayal’s flames threaten her family and all she’s fought to protect.

Haley Weaver, a sophomore in high school, is a daddy’s girl. As she enters the throes of first love, timid yet intrigued, Haley also discovers her father’s affair. Stunned and broken, Haley flees into the wilds of Yosemite National Park. If she can’t trust her father, how can she trust her boyfriend—or even love itself?

When wildfire breaks out and Haley is missing, Jessica fears the worst. In a race against time, she searches for her daughter as she deals with the magnitude of what her husband’s affair may cost her family. How can she go on if she doesn’t find Haley in time?

And what will Jessica do to preserve the legacy that matters most?

My Thoughts:

“What once was, is no longer.” (p. 54)

Ginny Yttrup’s latest novel, Flames, deals with a tender subject, the complexities of life – seen from multiple angles and multiples generations, as the flames of infidelity burn through a family.  Jessica Weaver is a fire archeologist who preserves the effects of wildfire on all areas of life.  When infidelity blazes through her family, she is forced to take a close look at the motivations of her own life choices and examine the steps that brought her to this defining moment. 

The desire to preserve her family unscathed is thwarted when her teenage daughter, Haley, also discovers her father’s infidelity.  She chooses to run from the problem, creating another layer of firestorm that overlies the circumstances facing her parents.

While Haley flees to the wilderness, Jessica flees to her father, and Ted, becomes the lens through which we view the perspective of the parent who shepherds and supports his daughter through a trial not unlike one he walked through in his own marriage decades earlier.  The faith and grace displayed through Ted and his wife Cretia, is a poignant reflection of God’s grace and mercy to His children no matter what trial they are facing.

This is Ginny Yttrup’s first self-published novel, and it was written from a heart’s desire to help people take a long hard look at the destructive consequences of careless choices.  But, more than that, it is a novel that walks through the scorched earth of the heart and finds hope and healing through the searing flames of infidelity.

The words are rich, and carefully woven together so the reader is able to feel the pain, the terror, the hopelessness and the strength that is born out of such a trial.  I’ve walked this journey in my own life, and I’ll confess there were times I just snot-sobbed over my book and had to lay it down and physically grieve through the pain of my own life circumstances.  But, once on the other side of this novel, I felt stronger and more purposeful about my future than I’ve felt in years!  SUCH HEALING was found in the pages of this novel for me!!  This is a story birthed in love, and I am certain many lives will be saved and changed through reading this novel!

About the Author:

Ginny is the award-winning author of Words, Lost and Found, Invisible, and Flames which releases September 22, 2015. She writes contemporary women's fiction and enjoys exploring the issues everyday women face. Publishers Weekly dubbed Ginny's work "as inspiring as it is entertaining." When not writing, Ginny coaches writers, critiques manuscripts, and makes vintage-style jewelry for her Esty shop, Storied Jewelry. She loves dining with friends, hanging out with her adult sons, or spending a day in her pajamas reading a great novel. Ginny lives in northern California with Bear, her entitled Pomeranian. To learn more about Ginny and her work, visit www.ginnyyttrup.com.

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The Bones Will Speak by Carrie Stuart Parks - review to come

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Bones Will Speak Thomas Nelson (August 11, 2015) by Carrie Stuart Parks

I'm eagerly waiting to receive my copy of this book.  I will post a review as soon as possible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Carrie Stuart Parks is an award-winning fine artist and internationally known forensic artist. Along with her husband, Rick, she travels across the US and Canada teaching courses in forensic art to law enforcement as well as civilian participants. She has won numerous awards for career excellence. Carrie is a popular platform speaker, presenting a variety of topics from crime to creativity.

Animals have always been a large part of her life. Her parents, Ned and Evelyn Stuart, started Skeel Kennel Great Pyrenees in 1960. Carrie inherited the kennel and continues with her beloved dogs as both an AKC judge and former president of the Great Pyrenees Club of America. She lives on the same ranch she grew up on in Northern Idaho.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A killer with a penchant for torture has taken notice of forensic expert Gwen Marcey . . . and her daughter.
When Gwen Marcey’s dog comes home with a human skull and then leads her to a cabin in the woods near her Montana home, she realizes there’s a serial killer in her community. And when she finds a tortured young girl clinging to life on the cabin floor, she knows this killer is a lunatic.

Yet what unsettles Gwen most is that the victim looks uncannily like her daughter. The search for the torturer leads back in time to a neo-Nazi bombing in Washington state—a bombing with only one connection to Montana: Gwen. The group has a race-not-grace model of salvation . . . and they’ve marked Gwen as a race traitor. When it becomes clear that the killer has a score to settle, Gwen finds herself in a battle against time. She will have to use all of her forensic skills to find the killer before he can carry out his threat to destroy her—and the only family she has left.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Bones Will Speak, go HERE.

The Mistress of Tall Acre by Laura Frantz - REVIEWED

About the Book:
There can be only one mistress of Tall Acre . . .The American Revolution is finally over, and Sophie Menzies is starved for good news. When her nearest neighbor, General Seamus Ogilvy, finally comes home to Tall Acre, she hopes it is a sign of better days to come. But the general is now a widower with a small daughter in desperate need of a mother. Nearly destitute, Sophie agrees to marry Seamus and become the mistress of Tall Acre in what seems a safe, sensible arrangement. But when a woman from the general's past returns without warning, the ties that bind this fledgling family together will be strained to the utmost. When all is said and done, who will be the rightful mistress of Tall Acre?

Triumph and tragedy, loyalty and betrayal--you will find it all in the rich pages of this newest novel from the talented pen of Laura Frantz.

My Thoughts:

“Lord, I am Yours, Yours alone.  Not Seamus’s.  Not Lily Cates’.  Not but Yours.”  (p. 349)

Oh my goodness!  Sophie Menzies journey through this book is one I won’t soon forget!  The lady just about starved to death during the American Revolution because of her family’s association with the Tories, and when the war finally ends, she faces the battle for her very heart!!

Laura Frantz just about dealt me a fatal blow with the surprise she buries toward the end of this arduous journey!  Have mercy!!  She builds characters that capture my heart, lets me observe their tender, tender hearts and the way God gently woos them to Himself and to each other….and then….whammo!!  I just about had a heart attack!  It was hard to read the last two thirds of this novel.  As one who knows all too well the excruciating pain of betrayal and sudden, unexpected, unwanted changes in life, my heart was torn to pieces.  This was tough!!

I won’t dare spoil anything about this most amazing novel, but I will say that Laura Frantz is this BEST historical romance writer EVER!!  If her name is on the cover, read the book!! You will not be disappointed!!  AMAZING!!

About The Author:

Laura Frantz is a lover of history, is the author of The Frontiersman's Daughter, Courting Morrow Little, and The Colonel's Lady, and currently lives in the misty woods of Washington with her husband and two sons.

Thursday September 24th at 9 p.m. EDT UP Original Series "Last Hope With Troy Dunn" - REVIEWED

About the show:

As a child, Amanda suffered abuse at the hands her mother’s many boyfriends.  She longed for a father to protect her but didn’t have one…or did she?  After Amanda became pregnant with her first child, her mother revealed that the man she had believed to be her dad was not, in fact, her biological father.  Now Amanda’s on a mission to find her true father and the love she was missing all those years. 

My Thoughts:

Troy Dunn is a person who is the last hope some have for locating family members that have been lost to them through various life circumstances.  In this episode, an unwanted pregnancy in the life of an already married young person, resulted in over two decades of separation between Amanda and her biological father.  This is a touching episode that ends with a reconciliation that could have been avoided had folks made different choices.  Lies and deception are part of the story's beginning, but, thankfully, don't seem to be a part of the NEW beginning.

I was thankful to learn that Troy vets the folks he is looking for once he finds them.  I imagine not every introduction is as touching as this one. This episode gave me hope that redemption is, indeed, possible in the lives of some folks.  That makes my heart happy!  This show also made me doubly grateful for my loving family and the fact that I've not had to endure the abuse and neglect that has been meted out in the lives of others.

This is a good show. It's emotionally packed, and, I'm sure, sometimes, not so hopeful.  But I would definitely add this show to my evening schedule without hesitation.  I'm thankful for folks like Troy Dunn who walk that extra, and sometimes difficult path, with others.

Steady My Gaze by Jean Watson

Internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter and classically trained violinist Jean Watson has been hard at work in the studio prepping the release of her seventh full-length project,Steady My Gaze. The project, which is set to impact retail on October 9, 2015, will be released on the Shadowlands Music label and distributed to retail by New Day Distribution.

Steady My Gaze features an abundance of Celtic-infused violin, Watson's signature haunting vocals, along with the special treat of stellar fret-work from master guitarist, Phil Keaggy and guest vocals from Tree63's John Ellis. 

"I chose Steady My Gaze for the title of my new CD because it reflects my desire to keep my heart focused on the Lord, no matter what is going on," Watson explains. "The songs on this project express my love for God through passionate words and music! The arrangements are energetic and fresh, and Phil Keaggy's guitar playing is simply amazing. Having John Ellis of Tree63 sing on one of the songs was such an honor, and Billy Smiley did an amazing job as producer. I hope this new music is as encouraging and fun to listen to as it was for me to make!"

Listeners are immediately greeted by the album's opener, the joyful, exuberant pop confessional, "Overcome," as Watson's fetching vocals are embellished by understated beckoning drums and meandering electronic keys. The joy continues with the driving rhythms and uplifting message of "Together Now," which features Watson and Tree63's John Ellis playing tag-team on the lead vocals. The high energy subsides for the more subdued yet equally passionate, acoustic ballad, "Impossibly Beautiful."

The gentle, bluegrass-tinged title track gives Watson room to expand her emotion-laden vocals as she encourages listeners to allow Christ the freedom to live, move, breathe and come alive in their lives. "Steady My Gaze" segues effortlessly into the sweetly evocative piano ballad, "Speeding Train," which also features Keaggy's lush guitar. Watson downshifts to the haunting, introspective, yet encouraging, "I'll Find You There."

Watson's innate energy once again explodes with tightly-focused control on the rocking "Burning Desire." She continues to channel that control on the gently driving "Against Your Love." The music takes a delightful, unexpected turn as Watson wraps her signature vocals around the beloved classic hymn, "Be Thou My Vision." She imbues the song with rich textures and embellishments, making it truly her own.

Joy takes center stage on Watson's updated, up-tempo version of "Lord of the Dance," but it is peace that settles over the project's concluding contemporary hymn, "Trust His Hands." She closes the project with a lovely, worship-filled acoustic version of "Overcome" that features her own pristine violin and acoustic guitar from Keaggy.

Watson shared songs from Steady My Gaze as the musical guest for the Christian Retailing's Best Awards during the recent International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) in Orlando, Florida, eliciting an outpouring of accolades from fans and industry insiders alike.

"When Jean was performing/worshipping, I felt a very strong sense of the Holy Spirit," notedChristian Retailing's editor, Christine Johnson. "I was so glad we were able to have such a significant talent and worshipful artist play and sing so beautifully at this year's Christian Retailing's Best Awards."  

About Jean Watson: 
Internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter and classically trained violinist Jean Watson began her career as a Christian recording artist after having experienced the depths of brokenness and depression. It was her own brokenness that infused her music with such beauty and compassion. 

She has been honored four times as the Best Female Praise and Worship Artist USA by the UK Christian Music Alliance. Watson can be heard worldwide on UCB Radio Ireland where she hosts a daily inspirational radio show, and when she is not on the road she plays violin in the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Symphony. Watson has appeared on The 700 Club, TBN'sPraise The Lord, Cornerstone Television Network's flagship show, Real Life, LeSea TV'sThe Harvest Show, CTN's Bridges and many more media outlets across the globe. 
 
Watson is married to Mark Roberts, a chaplain in the United States Air Force. She lives in Lawton, Mich., and has four children: Charlie, Andrew, Grace, Katharine, daughter-in-law Emily, and grandson Chase.   

For more information about Watson and Steady My Gaze, visit jeanwatson.com or like on Facebook at Facebook.com/JeanWatsonMusic.

Only with Blood by Therese Down - REVIEWED

About the Book:

When dying Jack Flynn decides he needs a bride so that he can father a son, his young wife Caitlin proves far more than he intended to buy 

Jack Flynn, strong and aggressive but slowly dying of tuberculosis on his farm in Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland, decides to acquire--purchase--a young wife who can bear him sons to inherit his family's land. His choice, Caitlin Spillane, is less than half his age, attractive and intelligent, and resents bitterly the obedience that is forced upon her. 

When a young firebrand, a supporter of the IRA, arrives in the village, he and Caitlin are drawn together in their detestation of Flynn. Flynn, traumatized by his own insurgent IRA experiences twenty years earlier, is secretly convinced that Eamonn de Valera's more diplomatic, peaceful approach to Ireland's problems is the only sane one. 

Could Caitlin be won for the cause, and leave her unloved husband? 

A novel set against the struggle for the heart of Ireland in the Second World War, when the IRA notoriously sought assistance from the Nazis, Only with Blood explores flawed characters placed in extraordinary situations. 

My Thoughts:

Only with Blood tells many stories in one…stories of people struggling to be free – to become all that they long to be – no matter the cost.  Jack Flynn has been imprisoned by a life filled with misfortune.  Abandoned, mistreated, haunted by memories of war and death, Jack is able to recognize those around him who are also enslaved.  Jack knew his health was failing when he went to the matchmaker seeking a wife.  Though he had no idea where his request would lead, when he met Caitlin Spillane, he recognized a need in her life that he hoped to fulfill. 

Their marriage was arranged by Caitlin’s greedy father, but, after her marriage, she slowly comes to realize her full potential.  Her marriage isn’t something to further enslave her, it is the very vehicle that will carry her, ultimately, to freedom – a freedom she doesn’t even know she is longing for from the depths of her soul.

All of this tattered relationships are set against a background of war.  Germany is slowly gaining ground in Europe and the Irish are fighting for their freedom – from the world it seems.  Donal Kelly enters Caitlin and Jack’s world at a pivotal moment in Ireland’s history.  The second World War is just beginning, and it as if the entire world is trying to fight many forms of enslavement – political, physical, mental…the battle is raging on many fronts.

Therese Down has carefully woven historical events into a turbulent Irish tale whose character’s lives echo the fight for freedom.  It’s a dark tale for the most part, but the character development drives the story, and everyone will appreciate the conclusion for its strength and honesty.

About the Author:

Therese Down is currently working as the Head of English at a High School in England and has been teaching English Literature and Language for over twenty years in a range of schools and colleges. She holds a MA in Employment Law and is experienced in personnel management.