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A Candlelight Courting by Joyce DiPastena

Posted by Shanda Book Reviews, Shanda's Reviews

Nov 192012

A Candlelight Courting: A Short Christmas Romance

Author: Joyce DiPastena

Publisher: self-published

Published Date: October 2012

Kindle/Ebook; 46 pages

ISBN# 9781301290888

Genre: Historical Romance

Reviewed by: Shanda

FTC FYI: free digital copy in exchange for an honest review

Summary

When Burthred comes courting on Christmas Eve, Meg rejects his advances. She has her heart set on becoming a nun and insists that he call her Christina, the spiritual name she has chosen for herself. She tries to make him swear on her box of holy relics that he will not pursue her, but he carefully words his oath to allow him to stay in her candlelit chamber and try to change her mind.

What Meg does not confess is that her reliquary box holds a secret.

Burthred needs a wife, and no one will satisfy him except Meg. He swore on his father’s deathbed that he would marry her. But Burthred has a secret, too. When they come together before the Yule fire, their shared revelations will either join their hearts together or tear them apart.

Review

I am convinced that Joyce DiPastena can write no wrong. I have loved everything I’ve read from her, and A Candlelight Courting is no exception.

In the past I confess that I haven’t been a big fan of short stories, preferring instead to read longer, more detailed novels. A Candlelight Courting proved to me that short stories can be well-written, include characters with depth, and keep readers turning pages.

I loved both Meg/Christina and Burthred. I found myself rooting for them right away. I was torn when I realized that the possibility of things working out for them looked pretty bleak. How could there be a “happily ever after” if what each wanted most would leave the other ultimately miserable and unfulfilled?

I devoured A Candlelight Courting, anxious to see how things would turn out. I felt for Burthred and yet respected Meg/Christina’s determination to follow her desire to become a nun. I did not expect the turn of events near the end.

I happily recommend A Candlelight Courting to anyone who enjoys a good, clean romance. I look forward to reading it every year at Christmastime, and maybe a few times in between.

Visit Joyce DiPastena:

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Jeremy’s Christmas Journey by Scott A. Johnson – Blog Tour

Posted by Shanda Book Reviews, Shanda's Reviews

Nov 122012

Jeremy’s Christmas Journey

Author: Scott A. Johnson

Publisher: Sweetwater Books/CFI

Published Date: October 2012

Hardcover; 120 pages

ISBN# 978-1-4621-1122-0

Genre: Religious Fiction

FTC FYI: free digital review copy in exchange for an honest review

Summary

For Jeremy, Christmas is just another reminder that he’ll never be able to enjoy the things that come so easily to other children. Then one night he has a dream that will change everything. Accompanied by stirring music, this story of finding faith and discovering the power of the Master Healer is sure to be cherished at Christmastime and all year long.

Review

The story opens with Jeremy, a young boy crippled due to a car accident when he was a toddler, watching the neighborhood children play in the snow on Christmas Eve. He’s feeling sorry for himself and his situation, causing him to doubt his belief in the Savior.

After dinner with his family, Jeremy goes off to be alone and think. He soon finds himself in an experience that will change him forever. In an ancient courtroom, various witnesses of Christ’s ministry on the earth are called to testify to His purpose and divinity.

While Jeremy listens to the testimonies of each person his heart is touched by the Spirit and he experiences his own Christmas miracle.

As I read it was easy to picture Jeremy’s Christmas Journey as a musical production. It will surely become a yearly Christmas tradition for many families.

Most kids from early readers to teens will be able to relate to Jeremy. I was never certain about Jeremy’s age because although he watches the other children with envy and receives a football video game as a gift, later in the story his thoughts contain words and phrases that an adult or mature teenager would be more likely to use. The story is told mostly from Jeremy’s point-of-view, though it occasionally slips into a more omniscient or narrator point-of-view.

Those who appreciate music may enjoy the many songs used to help share the testimonies of each “witness” who knew Christ. The sheet music for these songs is included in the back of the book as well. If you have musical talent and the ambition, a family production of this could even make a good Christmas Family Home Evening.

Click HERE to listen to samples of the music and watch the book trailer for Jeremy’s Christmas Journey.

Find Scott online:

WEBSITE | GOODREADS | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

Find Jeremy’s Christmas Journey:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | GOODREADS

Everbound by Brodi Ashton

Posted by Shanda Book Reviews, Shanda's Reviews

Nov 062012

Everbound (Everneath #2)

Author: Brodi Ashton

Publisher: Balzer + Bray/Harper Collins

Published Date: January 2013

Softcover ARC; 368 pages

Genre: YA Paranormal

ISBN# 978-0-06-207116-3

Reviewed by: Shanda

FTC FYI: read a softcover ARC which was then passed on to another reviewer

****Summary contains possible spoilers for Everneath. Read at your own risk.****

Summary

Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity — a debt that should’ve been hers. She’s living a borrowed life, and she doesn’t know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away.

Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen — and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about Nikki, and he agrees to assist her in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself.

Nikki and Cole descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they’d anticipated — and more deadly. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack — even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own.

In this enthralling sequel to Everneath, Brodi Ashton tests the bonds of destiny and explores the lengths we’ll go to for the ones we love.

Review

Nikki is struggling. She puts on a good front, doing what she’s expected to, but her heart’s not in it. She’s desperately looking for Cole, the Everliving who fed off of her for a hundred years. He has the answers she needs. He knows how to help her. She doesn’t think he will, but she’s got to try.

Then Cole is there, standing right behind her, speaking her name. From that point on I was hooked, anxious to see what would happen, sure there was no way this would end well yet knowing there must be a way or what would be the point of these 300+ pages.

I loved Everbound. I was sucked into the story, surprised more than once by twists I didn’t see coming. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I’m glad to be part of the Everbound ARC tour, but now I’ve put myself in a torturous situation. Reading Everbound almost four months before it’s released to the public means that I have to wait that much longer, in suspense, for book three. Why do I do this to myself?

Well done, Brodi. P.S.- Type faster.

Content

Language- some swearing (no f-bombs)

Sexual- kissing, nothing graphic; no sex

Violence- some fighting; a few events that were a little disturbing but I didn’t find them excessively graphic

Drug Use- no illicit drug use; we learn one character had been drinking prior to the scene

Find Everbound:

GOODREADS | AMAZON (Pre-order) | KINDLE (Pre-order)

Paint Me True by E.M. Tippetts

Posted by Shanda Book Reviews, Shanda's Reviews

Nov 052012

Paint Me True

Author: E.M. Tippetts

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services/CreateSpace

Published Date: November 2011

Kindle/Paperback; 300 pages

ISBN# 978-1468002515

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Reviewed by: Shanda

FTC FYI: free digital copy in exchange for an honest review

Summary

Eliza Dunmar is about to turn thirty-one and fears her best days are behind her. Soon she’ll be too old to attend church in a singles ward, her career as a painter is no longer considered cool, and she feels too old to use the excuse that she’s “just starting out” to explain why she still can’t pay the bills. The only man interested in her is a scruffy, video game addicted nerd who is the first to admit that they are all wrong for each other.

When her beloved Aunt Nora calls from England and begs her to visit, Eliza leaps at the chance. Even better? Nora had the perfect romance with her late husband and is eager to share the tale. As Eliza sets out to immortalize this courtship in a series of paintings, she learns a lesson that will change her outlook on life and love forevermore.

First Line

“Six months isn’t a long relationship for normal people, but Len and I weren’t normal people.”

Review

Paint Me True is a story of people and situations that are not what they first seem. Not in a suspenseful, mysterious way, but in a perspective-changing, now-I-see-the-whole-picture kind of way.

Despite her reservations and intentions otherwise, Eliza somehow remains in relationship with her best friend’s nerdy, scruffy, video game-loving cousin Len for six months. The story opens as they arrive at a very nice steakhouse on a big date. Eliza expects to be turning down a marriage proposal and is instead dumped by Len.

Eliza is a talented religious artist who has watched all of her female family members but one waste away and lose their battles with cancer. She has a special relationship with her Aunt Nora, and doesn’t hesitate to hop on a plane to England when her aunt needs her help to recover from a fall, especially after the disastrous break-up date she had just experienced.

In England, Eliza meets handsome nurse Colin. They hit it off and start dating. During her stay with Aunt Nora, she agrees to paint several memories her aunt has with her deceased husband that are not recorded by photographs. Through her interactions with her late uncle’s family and some unexpected discoveries, Eliza learns that things are not always what they appear to be.

What I enjoyed most was experiencing Eliza and Len’s relationship through flashbacks as she painted. I was pleasantly surprised as I got to know Len better through her memories. He was still annoying in some ways, and I didn’t care for the video-game obsession, but I soon realized first impressions are often wrong.

I’m not going to give away any more of the story, but I will say that Eliza suffers heartbreak more than once and things are not easy for her. She has a lot to make up for and pays the price for her selfishness. She needed a wake-up call and she got it.

While Paint Me True started a bit slow for me, by the end I was involved in the story and stayed up after my family went to bed to find out how things would turn out for Eliza. I liked the ending and think that those who enjoy clean, LDS romance will like it, too.

Find Paint Me True:

GOODREADS | AMAZON | KINDLE

Season 6 Episode 4: Interview with author Gregg Luke & Giveaway

Posted by Shanda 2012 Podcasts, Contests, Podcasts, Special Features

Oct 302012

Sheila, Mindy and I had the privilege of podcasting with author Gregg Luke this past weekend. His latest medical thriller, Deadly Undertakings, was released in August 2012. In this episode of the LDSWBR podcast, Gregg shares his inspiration for Deadly Undertakings as well as how he came up with the creepy idea for his current work-in-progress. Let us help you get in the Halloween mood. (Don’t worry, it’s not TOO scary.) Enjoy! Don’t forget to visit www.ldswbr.com and enter to win a signed copy of Deadly Undertakings. (See podcast blog post for details. Contest ends November 7, 2012.) Music: Seeing The Future (Dexter Britain) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

[podcast]http://www.ldswomensbookreview.com/shows/2012-10-27/ldswbr_season6_episode4_10-27-12.mp3[/podcast]

Deadly Undertakings Giveaway

We are giving away a signed copy of Deadly Undertakings by Gregg Luke. To enter the giveaway, listen to the podcast and complete the form below. Contest ends Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 12:00 Midnight Mountain Time. See form below for complete rules and details for the giveaway.

Jack Be Nimble: Gargoyle by Ben English

Posted by Shanda Book Reviews, Shanda's Reviews

Oct 292012

Jack Be Nimble: Gargoyle (Book 1)

Author: Ben English

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: July 2011

Kindle/ebook/Paperback; 426 pages

Genre: International Intrigue/Suspense

ISBN# 1463680899

Reviewed by: Shanda

FTC FYI: free digital copy in exchange for an honest review

Summary

The boy came to her out of water, unexpected. He was smart and strong and goofy, as boys are meant to be, but peculiar – he remembered everything. In the span of a single summer, she made him fearless. Now, even as Mercedes Adams is at the height of her career, forbidding changes loom over the world. That night, in the hushed calm of a spring evening, two plain-faced killers watch her home, waiting to make their approach. A few hundred miles away, a brilliant technologist returns to his childhood home in order to begin a descent into darkness . . . in London, a military game theorist finds himself pursuing kidnappers . . . outside Prague, a hacker and a thief stumble upon plans for a weapon unique to the world . . . an FBI agent faces an unpredictable fugitive in Chicago, while in Germany, a sniper-turned-schoolteacher finds reasons to take up his ancient calling . . . and a sitting United States Senator finds his life and his work invaded to terrifying conclusion. In Paris, a widowed man begins to recognize the hints and patterns of a greater puzzle that will bring them together . . . or kill them all. Mercedes Adams is about to find herself at the center of a vast, tightening knot of mystery, intrigue, and globe-spanning terror borne of her family’s legacy. Rising to her aid is a small group of specially-trained men and women. And at their center? A man who remembers everything.

First Line

“She struggled through mountains of falling rain, until her own bright reflection resolved itself on the skin of the train before her.”

Review

Jack Be Nimble: Gargoyle is the first in a series of novels by Ben English. The book opens with Mercedes having an interesting discussion with a mysterious older gentleman who is more than he appears. That was enough to catch my interest and make me read on to find out if these two characters meet again.

The author has a talent for writing interesting characters of varying backgrounds. The first part of the book is a series of written snapshots of each character, giving the reader a peek into their current situations and the sequence of events that eventually lead them to meet up. Because there are several characters, this part seemed to drag a bit and it took a little while to get back around to the other characters. Jack is very likable if a bit too good to be true (a famous actor AND a champion swimmer AND an author AND a trained agent.)

The first half of the book was a lot of set up for the rest of the story so it was considerably slower than last section. Once I got past the flashbacks, introductions and history of the characters, I was pulled into the action and it was like watching an intense action film. The villain’s intentions were terrifying and immense. The scenes in the building were particularly suspenseful. There were some formatting issues in my version where a number of quick scene and point-of-view changes weren’t separated by asterisks or hard returns but I was able to figure it out by context. This issue may have been resolved by now as I have an older copy.

I haven’t read a lot of international intrigue or any books by Dan Brown and similar authors, so I’m not sure how well Jack Be Nimble: Gargoyle compares to other books like it. It is a longer read (about 456 pages) and yet there is so much story yet to tell, as evidenced by the three sequels currently available. Jack Be Nimble: Tyro is the next book in the series. If you like larger-than-life heroes, interesting characters, and international suspense then there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy Jack Be Nimble: Gargoyle.

Content

Language: a few swear words here & there (dang, heck) but nothing excessive & no F-bombs

Violence: some shooting, grenade use, and hand-to-hand combat

Sex: I don’t remember any graphic sexual content, though Mercedes’ body is admired more than once

Drug Use: not that I can remember, though a minor character may have had a drink or two

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