Ted Dekker

Dear Readers,
This review is about Sinner, due to come out Sept 3. If you order and prepay for your copy now, Baker has them at $14.97 in the pre-sale.

Sinner is the last of the Paradise series. It draws us closer to a complete circle of the three series he has been working on. I have to say that Ted is writing in his author bio that you can start this series at any book and follow what is going on. Well I believe you must follow the order and read them that way. I do believe that you can read the three different series in any order you want, but the books int the series must be read in order to understand what is going on.

Ok back to the review. There is going to be a showdown between Maruvees Black and the remaining kids from the monistary. He is forcing their hand, his assians are hunting them down one by one. Until only three remain. Billy, Johnny, and Darcy are the reason he exsist and he wants to rid the world of any threat that he can be destroyed.

In a world where Political Correctness has gone wild, Maruvees can manipulate the systems for his own good. He uses the goverment to make it impossible to talk about your faith. I am not going to tell you how he manages to do this, as it takes away an interesting part of the story.

Once again Ted packs a lot of action and adventure in to his 300 plus page book. He hold true to the story, even though I think he gets very preachy about the P.C. issue. I just enjoyed this story for the sake of the story. I know that if you like Ted's books you will want to read this book as it will help you continue the circle to completion.

Happy Reading

Ginger Kolbaba and Christy Scannell

Dear Readers,
I read the first on of this series only because of the title, Desperate Pastor's Wives. I am so glad I did. It took me a while to get around to reading book two, I am sorry it took me so long to read it. A Matter of Wife and Death picks up right where the first one leaves off. Which is nice if you can remember all that went on. Ginger and Christy do a good job of catching up on the "old" news by making it part of the story instead of just rehashing everything.

Mimi, Lisa, Jennifer, and Felicia are still meeting every other week at Lulu's Cafe to keep their sanity. They talk about family, both blood family and church families. They solve their "world" problems and keep each other accountable. But most of all they laugh... a lot.

Mimi is dealing with a new baby that she wasn't planning on. Milo cries with all the time and she is not getting enough sleep. Can you get a ticket for falling asleep at a traffic light?

Lisa's daughter Callie is rebelling against her family, the church and anyone within reach. Lisa is beside herself as to what to do. Not helping matters, the church is not happy with her pastor husband.

Jennifer still longs for a baby. Why would God not allow something that is so much her hearts desire. Does He maybe have other plans for her and her longings for a family?

Felicia -she is the hardest character for me to like. She is struggling with the working mother thing and a biting child. When headquaters offers her a job in Chicago what will she tell her husband?

Real life problems with the twist of being a pastor's family. How do you operate and deal with everyday normal things when the church your husband is in charge of expects you and your family to be perfect? I know when I read this it makes me stop and think about what I expect from my pastor and his family. Do I allow them to be normal? Do I have to many high expectations of what they are suppose to do or not?

Ok enough of that... I really did enjoy this book. It is funny and yet makes you think. I have said before it is very real. I can only imagine what some families go through. I know personally I wouldn't be able to not say something and would probably make a rotten pastor's wife. :-) Go out read this series it is a good one and I personally am looking forward to book #3.

Happy Reading

Sharon Hinck

Dear Readers,
I have just finished a book that was surprising to me. Sharon Hinck's newest Stepping into Sunlight is a very good and interesting read.

Her main character, Penny, moves from to Virginia from her home town. Her husband has just left on his first deployment with the navy and she has witnessed a murder and narrowly escaped with her own life.

This is a story of her journey back to normal. A new normal. She can't figure out why she can't just do normal stuff. Going out to the grocery store is an experience in terror for her. She runs out of gas for her car because she is unable to get gas. Her son is mad at her because she can't volunteer to help at the school play. Life is not what it is suppose to be.

I found this an interesting journey through any stress that can happen. Why do we assume that when we have large stresses and tramas in our life we expect ourselves and others to just go on normally? Penny could be any of us. I don't know about you, but if someone held a gun to my head, I may never leave my house again.

Sharon stresses several times, that there is no timeline to recovery. It can take years or not. It can be something that is gradual and sometimes it happens quickly. She just doesn't want you to think that the timeline in the book is the way it is. It is only that way because of the time constrants of the book.

I really did like this book. It was a really good way of looking at something like this. Sometimes we do ask to much of ourselves and sometimes it is hard to find God in all that is happening.
I liked all the different people Penny came into contact with. I loved the project that she started on her own to help her recovery. She tried to do one nice thing for somebody everyday. What fun & a neat thing to do. What a good way to help yourself. I know there were a couple of times I wanted to tell Penny to "just do something," but that is the same thinking of why we don't let people a chance to recover. There is a difference between recovering and holding on to something without a thought of ever letting it go.

Happy Reading

Susan Meissner

Dear Readers,
First, the important stuff, The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner. I loved this book. It might be her best one yet. Secondly, this book is releasing on Sept. 16th. But you can order your copy today, just let me know if you want one.

Last but not least, I have had a terrible time writing this review. It is me, not the book. Every time I start a review for it, I feel like I am not doing the book justice. There are several different storylines and each one is very different from the others, and yet, they are all tied together. If you have ever read Susan's books before you know she never has just one story line, some being funny with most being serious.

In The Shape of Mercy, Susan does just that. The story of Mercy's diary alone is amazing, the story of Abigail is fascinating , but the main character, Lauren, is the story that doesn't leave you when you are done.

Lauren wants to prove to everyone that she doesn't need her parents money to survive. She takes a job transcribing an old diary that has been handed down through Abigail's family. The diary is written by an family member during the Salem witch trials. I really didn't know that much about the Salem witch trials other than what the play/book the Crucible tells us. It is a very dark time in our history. Sometimes it is even hard to remember that it isn't a work of fiction, but real families were torn apart and very real people, innocent people, were killed on the will and whim of a few teenage girls. Peer pressure is a very powerful tool.

Back to Lauren. I loved her storyline. She is a very normal person with every day struggles. She is trying to make the right decisions and yet doesn't want to hurt anyone. Especially her family, and yet wants to stand on her own. Which is a fine and difficult line to walk. Sometimes things aren't what you think they are.

I can't stress it enough, read this book. It wasn't at all what I expected, it was better.

Happy Reading

Colleen Coble

Dear Readers,

"I always knew I was a Texan at heart..." So starts the author acknowledgements in the back. Colleen started her writing career by writing western romances, so she has returned to her roots in Lonestar Sanctuary.

Allie and her 5 year old daughter need a place to hide. A stalker is threatening them and they need to hide. The Bluebird Ranch seems to be the perfect place to do just that.
RIck Bailey works at the ranch and Allie's late husband told her " If you are ever in trouble, find Rick." Allie has no one else to turn to, so she takes a chance on Rick and the ranch that may help Betsy talk again.

It only took me one very peaceful day to read this book. Don' t get me wrong, it is a good read. It is a little lighter that her last couple, Abomination & Anathema. It does have a couple really good twist to it. It is just not as intense of a mystery as she usually writes. It does have a twist or two in it which is always fun.

This is a good hot summer day read. It won't keep you awake at night, but it will keep you interested.

Happy Reading