Long Way Gone

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: October 4, 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A fantastic, fast paced, emotionally gripping read! I couldn’t put it down until I knew what was going to happen next!

Cooper O’Connor knows how to make music. Not for personal gain or profit, but how to actually reach into people’s souls and touch them with his notes. But he also knows trials and tribulations. One day after playing an impromptu set up with an older man in Leadville, Colorado, Cooper sees a woman thumbing a ride down the road. He dismisses it, but as he arrives home in Buena Vista, he sees her again with a smashed guitar and a gash on her forehead. As he quickly gets out of his jeep to help her before she passes out, he realizes that it is a blast from his past. The one and only Daley Cross, who was once well known on the country music circuit, has just passed out in his arms. Now in the hospital, Daley wakes up and realizes that Cooper has been the one to rescue her. Cooper yearns to start over in a relationship with Daley, but also knows that the past twenty years has had other people spinning a few lies to Daley about why he left Nashville. The journey ahead dives back into the past with an accident that left Cooper with a gunshot wound and left in a burning building. Can Cooper tell Daley the truth? And will Daley believe him?

This is easily one of the top ten books that I have read for the year! I apologize if my synopsis is a little vague, but there is so much in this book that must be left for the reader to learn on his or her own. The way it is set up, I could easily spoil a large part of the story and I really don’t want to do that. However, I suppose that I could give you a little bit more.

The book is broken up into three parts. It begins is present day set mainly in Buena Vista, Colorado but also in Leadville, which are both mountain towns. I’m a big fan of each because my husband and I used to frequent Ski Cooper in Leadville and traveled through Buena Vista to get there, so I know a bit about the layout of both towns. I was a little saddened to see that the Quincy St. Steakhouse (located in both towns) wasn’t mentioned (really good filets at a great price). Back to the story, part one focuses on Cooper and Daley’s relationship after being separated for twenty years. This part only last for a few days. Then part two heads back to memory lane with Cooper’s upbringing as the son of a revival tent preacher through his journey to Nashville and eventual return to Buena Vista. Part three then picks back up where part one left off.

There is some parallel to the story of the prodigal son, but not identical. Cooper takes the inheritance he feels he deserves and insults his father and eventually returns home, but the journey and the return are not quite what you would expect from the story. I warn readers that this book has some very raw emotion in it that can easily get to you. A great story about unconditional love! Even so, I couldn’t put it down.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest and thorough review. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

The Devoted

the-devoted Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher

Series: The Bishops Family #3

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: October 4, 2016

Reviewer: Jennifer S. Roman

The latest installment of the Bishop’s Family focuses on the message that we need to give freely even we do not have that much to give. Bishop David Stoltzfus has noticed that even though his community has become prosperous, something is missing. People are not as available as they used to be; they are bending some fundamental rules; and volunteerism has fallen. Just recently, a barn-raising had to be rescheduled because the materials order was not placed and there were not enough hands available for assistance. While he is dealing with his community’s issues, his daughter Ruthie tries to reconcile her feelings for Luke Schrock. She thinks she loves him, but she knows he is the town troublemaker. Any time she opens up to him, he does something to hurt her. To take her mind off of Luke, she decides to tutor newcomer Patrick Kelly in Pennsylvania Dutch because Patrick wants to join the Amish. David’s sister Ruth, who has left the Amish to become a doctor, moves to Stoney Ridge to open a practice that caters to the Amish. So many things happening at once are sure to cause plenty of changes at the Amish community, some for the better, and some not.

As is typical of the previous two books in this series, Woods Fisher writes a story about a member of the core family, in this case the bishop’s family, and throws in some other characters and their stories. She has developed the characters from the very beginning; in fact, many characters come from her other series. New characters are added to provide more interest, and some move away once their story is told. I’ve enjoyed her books so far, and this one was no exception. There is usually someone struggling with a moral dilemma, and in this case, it’s the bishop himself. David notices that his parishoners are becoming complacent and even selfish, as they are not there to help and minister to one another as they have in the past. He notices that they are giving a lot less even though they have more; in the past, when they had less, they gave more freely. He has to come up with a way to address this without creating fractions within the community.

The book is written in a fairly simple style, yet the characters and plotlines are well-developed. It’s easy to conjure up a mental image of the community and the people, and that’s the fun of it. While I can’t personally see myself in exactly the same situation because I am not Amish, I can definitely relate the message to my daily life. Readers can easily come away with an important life lesson, yet it is entertaining and not preachy. The characters face many of the same struggles as we in the Englisch world do, and it’s interesting to see how they handle them.

This latest work from Suzanne Woods Fisher is heartwarming, uplifting, and entertaining. I enjoyed reading about her characters and their dilemmas, and believe that other fans of Christian or Amish fiction will as well. There is a nice mixture of romance, personal struggle, and acceptance that make it an engaging read. While there is mention of alcohol abuse and some mild violence, I believe this book can be safely enjoyed by mature teens and older readers.

Made Well

made-well Author: Jenny Simmons

Publisher: Baker Publishing Group

Release Date: October 4, 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

When life seems too much, we need to stop and remember that God is ready to Make us Well if we are willing to ask and receive.

We all go through struggles in life, from fighting cancer to losing a loved one and even battling depression. Life is hard and we long for healing. When Jesus walked the earth he asked, “Do you want to be made well?” This was an invitation from him beyond just physical healing, it went deep down to the soul of man. It is hard to wrap our minds around the fact that this invitation is still valid today. Jenny Simmons is a singer/songwriter who offers help to those of us struggling on the journey toward wholeness. With personal insight into emotional pain, she invites readers to encounter a God who is working to bring healing. Made Well is a tale of inspiration with humor mixed in for good measure that shows compassion in the midst of a messy life.

One of the benefits of Jenny Simmons being a songwriter is she has a way with words. She puts that to good use in her latest book, Made Well. Life really is hard sometimes. It can push even the strongest to their breaking point and it can be easy to forget that Jesus is there for us even when we don’t realize it. He has the invitation open for us to be Made Well, we just have to be willing to ask and accept. A few sections really stood out to me and resonated as what I needed to hear. Living with Limps was a chapter that I think everyone needs to read, even if they don’t read the whole book, this one chapter needs to be read. There are stories shared throughout, some deep down personal from Jenny herself and some from others she has encountered along the way that will make the reading resonate with readers.

I sometimes have a hard time reading non-fiction. For the most part it bores me. I haven’t been able to say that about either of the books Jenny Simmons has written. She writes with such raw honesty that you feel more as if you are sitting and chatting with a friend. It is a breath of fresh air to read about someone having gone through such hardships and struggles and find a way to come out the other side. Her faith played a large part in being able to overcome these hardships, and tacos. I highly recommend this book to anyone going through a troubling time, or having had experienced the toughness that is life. And let’s be honest, that is all of us.

I receive a complimentary copy of this book from Baker Publishing Group in exchange for an honest and thorough review. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Tangle Webs

tangled-webs Author: Irene Hannon

Series: Men of Valor #3

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: October 4, 2016

Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

As the Men of Valor series comes to a close, the last of the McGregor men fall in love in the least likely places with danger surrounding them at every corner!

Finn McGregor needs time to decompress after the disaster he was involved in overseas. He sets out for a peaceful month in the woods to enjoy the solitude and figure out where he wants to go next in his life. He enjoys the peace until he is awoken one night with bloodcurdling screams. He races across the woods and into the closest cabin to his to find Dana Lewis, a publishing executive who has escaped to the woods to deal with her own demons. As they become closer, someone else is trying to not only drive a wedge between them but also drive Dana out of her cabin altogether. Finn and Dana join together to figure out who is behind the pranks bent on pushing her from her safe haven. With danger at every turn, Finn finds himself back in the action sooner than he had planned.

I really enjoyed this series when it started out. In fact, I thought that Buried Secrets was the best book written by Irene Hannon that I had read, which made me look forward to the next book. Thin Ice didn’t hold up to the first in the series, but it was still really good and I kept looking forward to Tangled Webs. After all, the McGregor boys have been some of my favorite characters. Tangled Webs is a really good book, but I felt like it was more of an effort to complete the trilogy. It was a good read but there was a lot less suspense than what I was hoping for. It even had several places it could have been very suspenseful and just petered out. There just wasn’t much to draw me to it. I’ve not written a trilogy before, but am in the process of it and I am finding out how difficult it can be to continue a story along through three books.

I feel that if Dana’s backstory had been explored more as well as her situation that drew her to the woods put in at a different time and played up more it could have really helped the story. She came across more helpless than the typical female lead in a Hannon book, until the end. I did enjoy the way she came out of her shell when it really mattered. The characters themselves were good. The McGregor boys have developed over the series and it is always nice to see how they come out for each other when they need one another. Hannon is a very good romantic suspense writer and has great potential, I just didn’t feel this one lived up to that potential. I will however still be recommending to readers that enjoy romantic suspense as a quick, clean read!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Baker Publishing Group in exchange for an honest and thorough review. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Bad Magic

bad-magic Author: Pseudonymous Bosch

Publisher: Little Brown

Release Date: September 16, 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

The author of The Secret Series is back with a new series that will make you believe what you thought unbelievable.

Clay used to believe in magic, but now to him it is BAD, fake, as unreal as it gets. He has a journal he keeps and when words from his journal appear on the school wall tagged as graffiti, he is blamed. He is kicked out of school and his only hope of returning is to attend Earth Ranch, a camp for troubled young kids on a remote volcanic island. He isn’t happy about it but he goes. The longer he is there the less he can deny that the island has some interesting features. He doesn’t want to call it a magical island, but that is all he can think of to call it. Nothing is as it seems and he becomes more determined to find out the truth about the island than to find a way home.

When I read The Secret Series I was quickly intrigued by this new series for young readers. It was fun, witty, and totally out of the ordinary. I wasn’t very pleased with the way that series ended, which made me a little hesitant, only a little, to start this new series. I wanted to see what Bosch had in store for readers. At the beginning, it didn’t seem to be related to The Secret Series. (Small Spoiler, there is a connection to the secret series, Clay, the main character here, is the younger brother of Max-Earnest, one of the main characters of The Secret Series.) With that being said, I’m pleased to say that Bad Magic exceeded my expectations. The story goes in an entirely different direction than the previous series and didn’t lose me for a second. I read this very quickly and didn’t have any trouble keeping up with the characters or what was going on. There are other connections to a few YA/Children’s books here, such as Holes by Louis Sachar, kids being sent to a delinquent camp and Peter Pan, a group of lost boys/girls working together with types of magic. All that rolled into one make for a very interesting new series. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

The 7th Canon

the-7th-canon Author: Robert Dugoni

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Release Date: September 27, 2016

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

An exciting new legal thriller from one of the best! Robert Dugoni has written another that you can’t miss!

Father Thomas Martin has grand ambitions for his shelter for boys in the Tenderloin district in San Francisco. He wants to help those in need, but when a teenage street hustler is found murdered in the shelter, the bright hopes he has start to dim, especially when he is accused of the murder. He stands by his innocence of not only the murder but also more heinous crimes against the young boys he has vowed to help and protect. Then steps in his attorney, Peter Donley. Peter has only been practicing law for three years working in his uncle’s small firm and learning from his uncle that it’s not about the money, it’s about the people they are able to help. Father Thomas becomes one of those people right at the time Peter is getting ready to leave and go to work for a more lucrative firm. Peter doubts if he has the skills to work this case but is determined to give it his all, especially when he is up against a ruthless DA on a headhunting mission in order to get headlines as well as a deranged homicide cop on his own agenda. Donley finds he is going to do more than he ever planned when going into law school in order to save his client and get to the truth once and for all.

Robert Dugoni has become one of my favorite authors and I will not miss a single novel that the publishes. He got me hooked with My Sister’s Grave and I have immediately devoured anything since. I was curious to see how The 7^th Canon would be since it wasn’t a continuation of this Tracy Crosswhite series. The problem that I have is that Dugoni completely outdid himself with My Sister’s Grave and it is hard for anything to hold up to that standard. It has become one of my favorite books, I have probably read it at least five times.

Even so, while The 7^th Canon isn’t on the same level as his Crosswhite series, it is still an excellent read. I thought Dugoni did an excellent job with the combination of legal parts and thriller parts. It can be hard to get a good ratio when combining those but Dugoni is a master. His writing has gotten better with each book and this is no exception. The story flowed effectively and the characters were just right for each situation they found themselves in. Peter was thrust into some very interesting spots and was able to work through them in a believable and interesting way each time. Not much was a shocker, I would have liked a few more surprises, especially towards the end, but that is getting very picky to find something to complain about. This book does need to have at least a PG-13 rating for mature language and scenes. An excellent read that fans of Dugoni won’t want to miss.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest and thorough review. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Gilt Hollow

gilt-hollow Author: Lorie Langdon

Publisher: Blink YA Books

Release Date: September 27, 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A mystery of danger and intrigue that will leave you turning the page until the very end!

Willow Lamott has known since the day her best friend Ashton Keller was sent to prison that there was no way he could be guilty of killing one of their classmates. But with three eye witnesses, she was the only one on his side. Of course, when Ashton pleads guilty, it doesn’t help the case. He spent four years in juvenile hall before being released and allowed home to Gilt Hollow. His parents have moved away and haven’t spoken to him since he was convicted. Willow and her mom and brother have moved into his old house as the caretakers of the estate. Ashton is back at school determined to get revenge on those that sent him away. Willow watches him and sees he has changed over the years and starts to wonder if he really is as innocent as she has believed all along. Ashton came back to clear his name but seeing Willow again and being back in her life makes him want to be as innocent as she has always seen him as. As he finds clues to the truth of what happened to send him away, dark secrets come out and Ashton realizes his coming back to Gilt Hollow might have put everyone he loves in grave danger.

I rarely I cannot put a book down, but this one just might fall in that category. I picked it up thinking it looked interesting. I am always looking for a good YA story that I can recommend to entice young readers to give a try. This one fits the bill and then some. The story hooked me from the beginning and kept me from being focused on much else. The relationship between the characters was so enchanting that I couldn’t wait to see if they would end up together of if there was something deeper going on. Willow is the type of character that many young girls will easily be able to relate to. She is not very popular so she shuts herself away in her studies and tries to find solace in the things she can control. After her years of defending Ashton, she too has become an outcast. It would make it an easy transition that they would pick up their friendship right where they left off, but that’s not the case. I actually liked the way Langdon went with this. It would have been easy to have them back to being all buddy-buddy, but she didn’t take the easy way out. She let the relationship between Willow and Ashton develop as it rightfully should. The characters acted in a believable manner, not just in a way that has been overdone through the years in YA novels, and for that I am thankful. Ashton had years of angst built up inside him that could have led him down a horrible path, and almost did a few times. This is my first book to read by Lorie Langdon but I am positive it won’t be my last. I highly recommend this to readers young and old. It’s not just for young adults. Older readers will easily find themselves sucked into the story and enchanted by the characters.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blink in exchange for an honest and thorough review. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Life After Coffee

life-after-coffee Author: Virginia Franken

Publisher: Lake Union

Release Date: September 13, 2016

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Being a mom is hard! When Amy O’Hara loses her job and has to stay home with her kids, she finds out just how hard that life can be.

Amy O’Hara has been the bread winner for the family for as long as they have been a family. Just when she is on the verge of a breakthrough discovery that could save the coffee bean from extinction, she loses her job and her self-worth. Now her days are filled with carpools, PTA meetings, and cleaning puke off of everything. Her husband, Paul, locks himself away to write the next great screenplay and leaves her to figure out how to be a parent. It doesn’t take long for her to realize she has no clue what to do with her time with her children. As they are running out of money and options, Amy’s ex-boyfriend comes into the picture asking to give Paul a job with his movie company. This offer doesn’t come with no strings attached; her ex now wants to rekindle their past romance. The choice is even more difficult than trying to live without the caffeine she has come to depend on in so many ways.

Being a mom is one of the most difficult and rewarding jobs there is in life. I have two young boys and there are times I don’t know what to do to just make it through the day. Amy has never had to deal with that. Always rushing off to work and leaving Paul to handle the kids. I know a lot of working moms, some chose to go to work when they could stay home. Others it’s not a choice, they have to go to work in order for their family to make enough. I stay home, I’m one of those people that it is just who I am, I have to stay home with my kids. In that aspect, it was hard for me to relate to Amy at the beginning of the story. I found it difficult to believe that Paul would immediately go from 100% with the kids and doing things around the house to zero, only wanting to work on his screenplay and not do anything with the family or around the house. A transition period as Amy worked her way into finding her groove staying home and Paul working would have been a nicer way for the story to play out in my opinion. The dynamic with the kids and their mom played out nicely throughout. Amy herself had a nice transition from beginning to end.

There was some language throughout that could have been cut while keeping the story’s intent. With that in mind, I would recommend for mature readers only. It was a very quick read that I think working moms in particular will enjoy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from TLC book tours in exchange for an honest and thorough review. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Composing Temple Sunrise

composing-temple-sunrise Author: Hassan El-Tayyab

Publisher: Poetic Matrix Press

Release Date: June 1, 2016

Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

How one man’s writer’s block spurred a life changing journey through unknown terrain!

Hassan El-Tayyab has known his share of challenges. Being born with a cleft pallet left him with several painful surgeries throughout his first twenty years of life. Being an Arab-American in Massachusetts also didn’t help his social status at school, particulary after September 11^th. Having his family torn apart by his dad’s drinking when he was young and an abusive romantic relationship that recently ended didn’t help either. But now he has been laid off from his special education job in Boston. And to top it all off, he hasn’t been able to write a song in months. So, he decides to take a trip across the country and post an ad for a riding partner. A young woman named Hope Rideout agrees to split the gas and time with him and they embark on a journey to California. All too soon it is over and they part ways. Now Hassan is facing the reality of what to do with his life. He meets up with another young woman who posted to have him drive some stuff back to MIT. On a chance encounter, he winds up at a metal working shipyard in Berkley where he begins to find himself in metal working art on a piece called Fishbug that is going to be displayed at Burning Man in Nevada. They group appreciates Hassan’s help and work so much that they give him a ticket to Burning Man. There he meets many more colorful characters, sorts out the meaning of his life, and finally composes his first song in a long time!

This book was inspiring if not informative. I had never heard of Burning Man, so I had to look it up. Once I did and say the aerial photograph, it all made a lot more sense when he was talking about street layout and how it is a small city. It really is! Back to the book. The emotion that Hassan pours into this book is very evident. From his relationships to his physical pain. But he doesn’t let the story get the reader down. For every challenge, he has a humorous story that balances it out. I really enjoyed all the experiences and characters that he met at Burning Man. His story will be an inspiration to many.

There are some sexual encounters as well as occasional harsh language throughout the book; therefore I recommend this book to mature audiences.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Poetic Book Tours in exchange for an honest and thorough review. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Mattie’s Pledge

matties-pledge Author: Jan Drexler

Series: Journey to Pleasant Prairie #2

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: September 20, 2016

Reviewer: Jennifer S. Roman

Mattie Schrock and her family are on an expedition west to Indiana with two other Amish families in hopes of joining a new settlement there. Their current settlement is questioning Amish ruling and being more lenient about the ways of life, which is not sitting well with their beliefs. Mattie is thrilled that her childhood friends, whom she hasn’t seen in about ten years, are part of the journey. She is especially excited that Jacob Yoder is part of the group; she had a special connection to him years ago and still has feelings for him. Of course there are some causes for concern during this trip: Jacob’s mother, who is pregnant, is having complications from the pregnancy; a trio of horse thieves with Cole Bates as the leader follows the group to try to steal the Amish horses while Cole tries to steal Mattie’s heart.

The caravan starts in Brothers Valley, Pennsylvania, and works its way West to Indiana, where the group hopes to join a tiny Amish community already there. The group leaves in April and finds many adventures along the way; the early spring weather is wet and muddy, so wagons frequently get stuck in ruts. The sheep they are herding along with them want to veer off the path to find the fresh greenery before dropping the year’s lambs. Each wagon has to cross the swollen and dangerous rivers on rafts, risking tipping over and losing everything, including lives. The horse thieves are interested in the beautiful Amish horses, and additionally, Cole tries to win Mattie’s heart. He keeps tempting Mattie, who wants to head all the way west to Oregon, to run away with him and start a new life far away from her friends and family. As the group crosses dangerous and mosquito-infested swampland, the situation comes to a head. Mattie has made a promise to Jacob to consider his marriage proposal, but will she keep it?

Jan Drexler does a great job of describing the land and the people of the story; there is a brief mention on the author’s page about how she has followed the route that the Amish families took back in the 1840s. Because of this, she knows what encounters they likely had and how they had to overcome obstacles. Her ability to describe personalities and situations allows for the reader to conjure up everything as it takes place. I have read several Amish-themed books before, so I am familiar with a lot of their lifestyle and beliefs, but she is able to create a world that anyone who is not familiar with the Amish can understand. Her thoroughness in researching the travels of these people helps to bring the story to life.

Because this book is written in a time when traveling was a hardship, some events may appear harsh to readers. The horse thieves are violent and have no issue with killing someone who gets in the way. Compared to things shown on television today, however, they will appear mild. There is a slight bit of profanity throughout the book, but nothing overly offensive. For these reasons, I recommend the book for mature readers. Those who love stories about the Amish, a good historical novel, or a sweet romance will enjoy Mattie’s Pledge.