James Rubart

Dear Readers,
Rooms by James Rubart was advertised as My Heart Christ's Home meets Frank Peretti. Well Frank wrote that book with Ted Dekker a few years ago. House is freaky to say the least. This book isn't as creepy, but it doesn't make it any less of a good read.

Micah Tayler gets a letter informing him that his great Uncle had left him a house. A house that was built especially for him. It seems a bit strange to Micah and even a little creepy that a guy he had never met claims to know him well enough to build him a house that will be a perfect fit for him. Micah is intrigued enough to see what this is all about.

Micah returns to his favorite place on earth, a place he had vowed to never return to. At first visit it seems the house is a perfect fit, but yet something seems just bit off. He plans to see the house as quickly as possible and to continue his life as before, but something about that house keeps drawing him back. Is he willing to give up his life to live where his best and worst memories collide?
This is an interesting read. It made me wonder what the perfect house for me would look like. What kind of rooms would I have? I would have to guess that was the author's plan all along. I know I have said it before, this isn't as creepy as advertised (of course I like Ted Dekker and Steven James;-) I still found it interesting and it might be a good one for a book club to do together.
Happy Reading

Karen Young

Dear Readers,
After reading Karen Young's Blood Bayou, I could hardly wait for her next book to arrive. Missing Max came out just a few weeks ago and I finally had a chance to read it. I have to say that if you are a mystery reader who likes Colleen Coble, Terry Blackstock etc.. then you should definitely take a look at Karen.

Jane takes her teen step daughter, some friends and her young son Max to Marti Gras. She usually avoids Marti Gras, but Melanie wanted some of the junk food available and it sounded like fun. While Jane is in line to purchase food, Max disappears. Jane is frantic to find him and can't believe that someone would purposely take someone else's child.

The storyline jumps ahead 6 months and we are let into their house to see the effect this has had on the household. Everyone is holding on by their fingernails. Jane herself has become obsessed with helping at the local missing child charity. Kyle, her husband, had withdrawn from his family emotionally. Melanie blames herself and latches onto a solution to Max's disapperance that she thinks will solve her family's problems.

Then Jane starts getting strange phone calls and it seems to be leading to a reopening of the case. Does anyone dare think that Max is ok? Is it possible that someone did this just to toture Jane? Was it an act of revenge?
An interesting and good read. Karen's way of telling a story makes it very easy to disappear into the story. Her characters are easy to like or dislike as the case may be. Her mysteries are not easily solved and I like that. Now if I had to complain about something it is that this time she didn't actually give me the bad guy until the very end. But that is all I am going to say as anything else will help you figure it out quicker I certainly don't want to do that.
If any of you read my review from Blood Bayou you might remember that I said I didn't like the "preachy" pastor in the book. Well she didn't have such a character this time. The person doing the out reaching is just a friend trying to answer the questions the unbeliever has. It makes for a much better flow to the story.
Happy Reading

Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Dear Readers,
Heartless by Anne Elisabeth Stengl is not going to be for everyone because it is a fantasy. To narrow that reading field even more, it is a teen fantasy. For those of you that do venture forth and read it, it is fun and interesting read.
Personally I am always wary of fantasy as they can be kind of hokey and Christian fantasy can be even worse. The problem I find is that they are so determined to get their message across that they forget to write a good story to go along with the message.

Heartless is about Princess Una who is looking for her perfect prince. Will he be handsome? Will he be dashing? Funny? A knight in shining armor? She dreams he will be all of those things and more.
That is why when she meets Prince Aethelbald (Applebald as Una's brother call him) she is less than impressed and knows that he is not the one. He is much to plain and unnoticeable. But why does she always seem to think of him when she has a problem or needs an answer to a question? And what is with these dreams she is having? Why can't she remember them when she wakes up?
Like I said before, I did like this book. It is definitely a early teen book, which makes some of the plot lines seem simple, but it is a good book.
Happy Reading

Updates

Dear Readers,
I have been changing my blog a bit.  If you could let me know what you think of the changes.  Is it easier to read or harder.  I think I like this background, but if it isn't easier to read then I don't want to keep it.  Let me know what you think. 

Thank you
and Happy Reading.

J. Mark Bertrand

Dear Readers,
Back on Murder is written by Deeanne Gist's co-author J. Mark Bertrand. The styles of the stories are about a different as you can be and still be in the same genre. With Beguiled they wrote a light quirky mystery. In Back on Murder Mr. Bertrand writes a much more gritty mystery. The main character is much harder to feel sorry for as he writes him as a grumpy guy who can't figure out whether he wants to keep his job or just doesn't care anymore. Yes, I hear all you librarians asking, it is a good guy book. The main character, Roland, is a homicide detective that is barely holding on to his job. He has an unusual gift in being able to offend others without even really trying.

When a missing teen has everyone in town looking for her, Roland is convinced that it is connected with a multiple murder that happen just a few days before. The problem is nobody believes him and they are not really interested in his ideas that seem to point in that direction. He is not only fighting his own reputation he is fighting his own demons.

I was really caught up in the book as soon as I started reading it. Even though there was nothing about Roland to make me like him, I actually found myself hoping he was right instead of failing completely. I don't know what it was about him that I liked, but it was something. This is one of those good mysteries that has loads of threads to follow and yet it isn't so confusing that you forget who everyone is. I like that as it keeps me guessing to the end, even though I did have it figured out at one point, because of one of the clues Mark dropped in, I changed my mind. Rats. :-)

Happy Reading

Linda Windsor

Dear Readers
I can't tell you the last Linda Winsor book I read. Her newest, Healer, reminded me again why I love reading her books. This book is the first in her new series, The Brides of Alba. It is set in the 6th century in Scotland, which is somewhat during the reign of Arthur and his court. Now, there is an opening statement by Linda that explains a bit about the times, but also about some of the things that she includes in her story. Take the time to read it, I am glad I did, it helped with the story, but I also had a brief and not boring history lesson.

Joanna's last words to the man she refused to marry in favor of another were at curse and a blessing. Tarlock has attacked Joanna's home and she knows she must save her daughter's life, even at the cost of her own.

So starts Brenna's life. She is forever hunted by Tarlock so he can rid the world of her so the prophecy won't come true. Brenna has lived her life hidden in a cave, with her only friend of late being a white wolf. The locals have many stories of the wolf-woman living in the woods. They belive that she is able to shape shift into a wolf and then is able to avoid being found by Tarlock. Brenna just longs for compionship and when a man is badly wounded she believe God has bought him to her to be her spouse.
So to answer all the questions right away, yes there is a love story in the book. It isn't hard to figure it out either. But don't let that take away from the story which is very interesting and fun to read. I read it over the holiday weekend and enjoyed it a great deal. It was an easy read even if it isn't about a time in history that I was very familiar with. It did remind me a bit of a Stephen Lawhead book. It wasn't as dark as his can be and had a bit more romance that he ever has, but the time and overall feel of the story were the same. I would definitely recommend it to his fans if they are looking for somethng along those lines.

Happy Reading