This review is part of a book review program with Bethany House. The Bethany House book review program is simple: I request a book from the links from the links they send via email, then I read the book they send and write a review on this blog and a retailer's site (such as Amazon). If this sounds like something that interests you, you can get more information and/or sign up here: www.bethanyhouse.com/bookreviewers.
Mollie Knox has everything neatly lined up and a bright future ahead for her watch-making business until the night the Chicago fire burns up her entire world. As the flames die down, and the rebuilding of Chicago commences, Mollie will do whatever she has to do to rebuild her business. But when she locks horns with Zack Kazmarek, an influential attorney for one of Chicago's finest department stores, she finds herself pushed beyond her comfort zone. And Zack will do whatever it takes to win this beautiful and beguiling businesswoman's heart. With her heart on the line, will Mollie step out of her comfort zone to find her happily ever after? Or will all her dreams rest with her company's rebuilt future?
Camden has once again written a great story (see my Against the Tide review here). With each twist and new development in the story line, I was kept on the edge of my seat waiting for what happens next. Camden's characters, like in Against the Tide, are intriguing, headstrong, at times frustrating, and very believable and real. As is more historically accurate, some of the incidents, cultural oddities, and happenings in the book are very realistic to the historic setting.
Though there were some twists and turns throughout the book, I hesitate to say that it was fairly predictable... but I have to own up to that admission - I think it lacked that bit of surprise that I expect from a new book.
I would rate this (on a 1-10 low/high scale) at about a 6. Camden has a gift for storytelling and I was pleased with the result of the second book I've read from her. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes a love story and a story of new beginnings.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
Shattered, Dani Pettrey
This review is part of a book review program with Bethany House. The Bethany House book review program is simple: I request a book from the links they send via email, then I read the book they send and write a review on this blog and a retailer’s site (such as Amazon). If this sounds like something that interests you, you can get more information and/or sign up here: www.bethanyhouse.com/bookreviewers.
Shattered is the second book of the Alaskan Courage Series, and the sequel to Submerged, which I reviewed last year. Like Submerged, Shattered is a story of mystery and suspense with a side order of (clean) romance.
When Piper McKenna's brother, Reef, is charged with murder, she is determined to prove his innocence. Enter the love interest; Deputy Landon Grainger has been a part of the McKenna family forever. But when all evidence points to Reef, Piper can't understand why Landon doesn't believe in her brother's innocence. Charging off into the wilderness of Alaska and Canada, as well as the California coast, Piper and Landon launch their own investigation into what actually happened to cause a murder. But with so many things unsaid between them, how will Piper and Landon work together? And as the web of intrigue thickens and twists in a tangled knot, is it love or disaster that's brewing?
I have very mixed emotions about this book. I loved the intrigue and how many tangled threads were woven into the plot. I also loved the characters and how different they all were and how all of them together somehow make a wonderful, loving family. But the characters' reactions to certain events in the book were sometimes awkward or stifled, and the love story was sweet - but was it too sweet?
But the plot was the true driving point of the whole book. With so many twists, turns, and near dead-ends, I never would have guessed the ending. Pettrey's voice is still fresh and new. Her perspective is focused and she's amazingly detailed. Despite a few things I may have overanalyzed (again), I didn't want to put the book down.
So, enough said - I loved it. Overall, I would recommend this book and anything else Pettrey writes. She's fresh, distinctive, and has some major talent that I can't wait to see develop even more. If you want a good read, this is definitely the book for you.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
The Full Armor of God, Larry Richards
This review is part of a book review program with Bethany House. The Bethany House book review program is simple: I request a book from the links they send via email, then I read the book they send and write a review on this blog and a retailer’s site (such as Amazon). If this sounds like something that interests you, you can get more information and/or sign up here: www.bethanyhouse.com/bookreviewers
Covering spiritual forces from a Christian perspective; how they are at war against the world and how to fight back. Using Paul's letter to the Ephesians to help illustrate and guide his defense plan, Richards also covers how God can help us fight against such spiritual attacks.
I wasn't sure about reading this book at first, since it had been a long time since reading Ephesians. After a refresher in Ephesians, however, I found myself completely swept up in Richards' engaging and straightforward approach. Though I can't find enough words to say how interesting, helpful, and awesome this book is, I hope that all my readers put it on their must-read list.
Out of a 1-10 (low/high) rating, I'd rate this book at about a 7. I loved his perspective on this subject and particularly loved his use of Paul's experiences in Ephesians.
Covering spiritual forces from a Christian perspective; how they are at war against the world and how to fight back. Using Paul's letter to the Ephesians to help illustrate and guide his defense plan, Richards also covers how God can help us fight against such spiritual attacks.
I wasn't sure about reading this book at first, since it had been a long time since reading Ephesians. After a refresher in Ephesians, however, I found myself completely swept up in Richards' engaging and straightforward approach. Though I can't find enough words to say how interesting, helpful, and awesome this book is, I hope that all my readers put it on their must-read list.
Out of a 1-10 (low/high) rating, I'd rate this book at about a 7. I loved his perspective on this subject and particularly loved his use of Paul's experiences in Ephesians.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
The Tutor's Daughter, Julie Klassen
This review is part of a book review program with Bethany House. The Bethany House book review program is simple: I request a book from the links they send via email, then I read the book they send and write a review on this blog and a retailer’s site (such as Amazon). If this sounds like something that interests you, you can get more information and/or sign up here: www.bethanyhouse.com/bookreviewers
Emma Smallwood is (as the title of the book suggests) a widowed tutor's daughter. When her father receives a request from a noble family for private tutoring for the family's two younger boys, Emma packs her trunk full of books (and a few clothes, I suppose) and heads off to help her father in this new teaching enterprise.
But a stormy past with one of the two older brothers, a strange love interest (perhaps) with another of the older brothers, mysterious happenings, and ill-concealed secret keeping make Emma's time away from home more danger-fraught than she could possibly have imagined.
The back of the book ends its summary by saying "Filled with page-turning suspense, The Tutor's Daughter takes readers to the windswept Cornwall coast--a place infamous for shipwrecks and superstitions--where danger lurks, faith is tested, and romance awaits."
If you want to see the trailer to the book (though I do not recommend it, as it's rather badly put together and acted out in my opinion), you can find it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZi5NQbkb0A&list=UUOTCh77FT1ZAyg-Mrj97HWw&index=4
(Photo from Julie Klassen's website: http://www.julieklassen.com/Books.html)
But a stormy past with one of the two older brothers, a strange love interest (perhaps) with another of the older brothers, mysterious happenings, and ill-concealed secret keeping make Emma's time away from home more danger-fraught than she could possibly have imagined.
The back of the book ends its summary by saying "Filled with page-turning suspense, The Tutor's Daughter takes readers to the windswept Cornwall coast--a place infamous for shipwrecks and superstitions--where danger lurks, faith is tested, and romance awaits."
If you want to see the trailer to the book (though I do not recommend it, as it's rather badly put together and acted out in my opinion), you can find it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZi5NQbkb0A&list=UUOTCh77FT1ZAyg-Mrj97HWw&index=4
Okay, so maybe you've picked up on the fact that I wasn't overly thrilled with this book. I started reading and almost quit around page 90 or so. By that point, I had pretty much figured out what was going to happen at the end of the book with a few small, yet notable (and spoiler-ridden) exceptions.
I'm not going to post any spoilers here, but there was one piece to the puzzle I hadn't guessed at that surprised me (hint: it starts with an "A"). One point, out of the whole book = not impressed.
Klassen's characters are frankly uninteresting, semi-two dimensional, and not-very-real. I didn't really believe in the characters as "real" people, there was something missing ... there wasn't a lot of depth to them that intrigued me. They improved a bit as I kept reading, but not in any notable way, unfortunately.
The story line was predictable and tame - I expected a bit more from all the raving reviews I've heard about Klassen and the blurb on the back cover. Before I reached page 100 (as I mentioned earlier), I had figured out most of the book and any twists and/or turns Klassen could have thrown on the page (there was a sad lack of twists and turns, unfortunately). I was a bit disappointed on that front.
I'm not going to post any spoilers here, but there was one piece to the puzzle I hadn't guessed at that surprised me (hint: it starts with an "A"). One point, out of the whole book = not impressed.
Klassen's characters are frankly uninteresting, semi-two dimensional, and not-very-real. I didn't really believe in the characters as "real" people, there was something missing ... there wasn't a lot of depth to them that intrigued me. They improved a bit as I kept reading, but not in any notable way, unfortunately.
The story line was predictable and tame - I expected a bit more from all the raving reviews I've heard about Klassen and the blurb on the back cover. Before I reached page 100 (as I mentioned earlier), I had figured out most of the book and any twists and/or turns Klassen could have thrown on the page (there was a sad lack of twists and turns, unfortunately). I was a bit disappointed on that front.
I would rate this (on a 1-10 low/high scale) at about 5. Klassen has talent, but I didn't see her whole potential on the page with this book. Her developing lead female character gets her bonus points, but still isn't what I would call a strong character. The dialogue was intriguing at a few points in the book, but most of it was fairly ordinary and (dare I say it?) mostly dull. The plot was predictable, tame, and (again) fairly ordinary. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone looking for suspense, drama, romance, or a good mystery.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Against the Tide, Elizabeth Camden
This review is part of a book review program with Bethany House. The Bethany House book review program is simple: I request a book from the links they send via email, then I read the book they send and write a review on this blog and a retailer’s site (such as Amazon). If this sounds like something that interests you, you can get more information and/or sign up here: www.bethanyhouse.com/bookreviewers
I've been trying to write my own stuff more often lately, so I promised myself that I would start paring down on how many of these reviews I would participate in for a little while. But then I got the email notification that resulted in me reading this book and despite all my best intentions to write more, read a little less (just a little, mind you), I was hooked.
After tragically losing her parents and younger brother, immigrant Lydia Pallas has grown up from that young girl who was completely unable to speak English, and she's finally found her place in the world. With a stunning talent for languages, she has acquired a job translating intelligence for the U.S. Navy. Her ordered world is slowly jumbled when the ever-intriguing and mysterious Alexander Banebridge sweeps into her life and hires her as a translator.
Waging his own war against the opium trade, Bane will do whatever it takes to take the trade down. His past and the sacrifices made in his life, has left him with an iron will that refuses to bend under the sweet attention he craves from Lydia. But his own refusal to get her involved is overruled when his enemies in the opium trade gain a cruel upperhand over Bane. And this time, he knows he can't afford to keep Lydia out of the conflict and the danger involved in his life.
Finding a cause bigger than herself gives Lydia purpose, and though she wants absolutely nothing to do with Bane, she can't refuse his request for aid - the stakes are too high and too unusual to refuse. The mission set before her, however, will test her courage, determination, and her wits to the very edge.
Sounds good, right? I thought so too; but in reality, it was so much better than what I imagined it would be.
I started reading this one afternoon, thinking to get a few chapters out of the way and then get to writing after that. But I literally could not put this book down! One long (and very pleasant) afternoon-turned-evening later, and I was staring spell-bound at the very last page, unwilling to close the book and have the story end for real.
Camden's characters are intriguing, at times frustrating, and real. That's one of the first things I look for in a new book, and while you have to do a bit of imagining and history-minding in order to account for certain instances of naivete and/or cultural oddities, she was real to her historic setting.
And the story line was incredible. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, Camden hit me with a twist, and the race to the finish line was on again (so to speak). Without spoiling any twists or the ending, I can definitely say that despite how well I can normally predict what's gonig to happen in a book, I was caught pleasantly unawares several times (which is hard to do, actually).
I would rate this (on a 1-10 low/high scale) at about 8. Camden has talent and a natural ability to tell a good story. With a strong (but believable!) feminine character, strong supporting characters, witty dialogue, an intriguing plot, and brilliant twists, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of intrigue and (a little bit more than) a dash of romantic tension.
I've been trying to write my own stuff more often lately, so I promised myself that I would start paring down on how many of these reviews I would participate in for a little while. But then I got the email notification that resulted in me reading this book and despite all my best intentions to write more, read a little less (just a little, mind you), I was hooked.
(Photo credits go to: http://imgv2-4.scribdassets.com/img/word_document/110453310/255x300/164f01de0c/1350587760)
After tragically losing her parents and younger brother, immigrant Lydia Pallas has grown up from that young girl who was completely unable to speak English, and she's finally found her place in the world. With a stunning talent for languages, she has acquired a job translating intelligence for the U.S. Navy. Her ordered world is slowly jumbled when the ever-intriguing and mysterious Alexander Banebridge sweeps into her life and hires her as a translator.
Waging his own war against the opium trade, Bane will do whatever it takes to take the trade down. His past and the sacrifices made in his life, has left him with an iron will that refuses to bend under the sweet attention he craves from Lydia. But his own refusal to get her involved is overruled when his enemies in the opium trade gain a cruel upperhand over Bane. And this time, he knows he can't afford to keep Lydia out of the conflict and the danger involved in his life.
Finding a cause bigger than herself gives Lydia purpose, and though she wants absolutely nothing to do with Bane, she can't refuse his request for aid - the stakes are too high and too unusual to refuse. The mission set before her, however, will test her courage, determination, and her wits to the very edge.
Sounds good, right? I thought so too; but in reality, it was so much better than what I imagined it would be.
I started reading this one afternoon, thinking to get a few chapters out of the way and then get to writing after that. But I literally could not put this book down! One long (and very pleasant) afternoon-turned-evening later, and I was staring spell-bound at the very last page, unwilling to close the book and have the story end for real.
Camden's characters are intriguing, at times frustrating, and real. That's one of the first things I look for in a new book, and while you have to do a bit of imagining and history-minding in order to account for certain instances of naivete and/or cultural oddities, she was real to her historic setting.
And the story line was incredible. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, Camden hit me with a twist, and the race to the finish line was on again (so to speak). Without spoiling any twists or the ending, I can definitely say that despite how well I can normally predict what's gonig to happen in a book, I was caught pleasantly unawares several times (which is hard to do, actually).
I would rate this (on a 1-10 low/high scale) at about 8. Camden has talent and a natural ability to tell a good story. With a strong (but believable!) feminine character, strong supporting characters, witty dialogue, an intriguing plot, and brilliant twists, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of intrigue and (a little bit more than) a dash of romantic tension.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Over the Edge, Mary Connealy
This review is part of a book review program with Bethany House. The Bethany House book review program is simple: I request a book from the links they send via email, then I read the book they send and write a review on this blog and a retailer’s site (such as Amazon). If this sounds like something that interests you, you can get more information and/or sign up here: www.bethanyhouse.com/bookreviewers
Book three of the Kincaid Bride series, Over the Edge starts with a blazing gun fight between outlaws and a fiery woman. If that's not bad enough, her runaway husband rides to the rescue and even in her crystal-clear rage, she misses him with the bullet she intends to shoot him with.
Seth Kincaid doesn't remember his bride, or the child that inarguably inherited his eyes. Actually, he doesn't remember much of anything of the events that happened after he fought in the Civil War. All of a sudden, he has a family: a wife that's spitting mad, a loud yet adorable baby boy, and a surprise brother that finds him at the most unexpected (and opportune) moment. Needless to say, he has a lot to sort out. But while Seth is willing to make things work, his wife seems more intent on shooting him.
Check out the trailer for the book here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeSzqacHzQM&list=UUOTCh77FT1ZAyg-Mrj97HWw&index=2&feature=plcp
Even though I was hesitant to start a book without reading the first two of the series, I started in right away, highly intrigued by the plot line the summary on the back of the book promotes. But as I kept reading, the less interested I became.
I think it's more than some of the interesting quirks each character possesses, it's more that all of the characters seem very two-dimensional (only because there is slightly more than just one-dimension, but just the tiniest bit). Instead of reading about characters that are very real in spite of the fact that they live on the page instead of in reality, I read about characters that had a single-minded determination to stay flat on the pages rather than springing up and taking on a life of their own.
The male characters, in particular, seemed very unrealistic. Each had about one real character trait and there wasn't any depth to them, which is a shame because I felt they had so much promise. Rafe, the older brother, is a control freak that treats his wife like a child (and she lets him!); Ethan, the middle child, is a smiling guy, that's it; and Seth is reckless and crazy, with a strong attraction to his "scary" wife (I've never heard a guy admit that out loud about a woman they're supposedly in love with). There's promise in each character trait, but without fleshing it out just right, you get what you read in this book (unrealistic , frustrating, and boring characters).
The plot, too, seemed a bit scatter-brained. It wasn't very focused and I found myself wondering why certain scenes kept jumping around and why some were even included in the book. It finally figured itself out, but I wasn't convinced - it definitely wasn't believable to me at every turn, which lost my interest at times.
While parts of the book were intriguing, I wouldn't want to read it again. I find I'm not particularly inclined to pick up the previous two books in this series either. Maybe it's a one-time fluke, but I wasn't overly impressed. I would rate this (on a 1-10 high/low scale) about a 3-4. The author has promise, but I think the two major things she needs to work on are: 1) character development and believability, and 2) plot structure/organization.
Book three of the Kincaid Bride series, Over the Edge starts with a blazing gun fight between outlaws and a fiery woman. If that's not bad enough, her runaway husband rides to the rescue and even in her crystal-clear rage, she misses him with the bullet she intends to shoot him with.
Seth Kincaid doesn't remember his bride, or the child that inarguably inherited his eyes. Actually, he doesn't remember much of anything of the events that happened after he fought in the Civil War. All of a sudden, he has a family: a wife that's spitting mad, a loud yet adorable baby boy, and a surprise brother that finds him at the most unexpected (and opportune) moment. Needless to say, he has a lot to sort out. But while Seth is willing to make things work, his wife seems more intent on shooting him.
Check out the trailer for the book here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeSzqacHzQM&list=UUOTCh77FT1ZAyg-Mrj97HWw&index=2&feature=plcp
Even though I was hesitant to start a book without reading the first two of the series, I started in right away, highly intrigued by the plot line the summary on the back of the book promotes. But as I kept reading, the less interested I became.
I think it's more than some of the interesting quirks each character possesses, it's more that all of the characters seem very two-dimensional (only because there is slightly more than just one-dimension, but just the tiniest bit). Instead of reading about characters that are very real in spite of the fact that they live on the page instead of in reality, I read about characters that had a single-minded determination to stay flat on the pages rather than springing up and taking on a life of their own.
The male characters, in particular, seemed very unrealistic. Each had about one real character trait and there wasn't any depth to them, which is a shame because I felt they had so much promise. Rafe, the older brother, is a control freak that treats his wife like a child (and she lets him!); Ethan, the middle child, is a smiling guy, that's it; and Seth is reckless and crazy, with a strong attraction to his "scary" wife (I've never heard a guy admit that out loud about a woman they're supposedly in love with). There's promise in each character trait, but without fleshing it out just right, you get what you read in this book (unrealistic , frustrating, and boring characters).
The plot, too, seemed a bit scatter-brained. It wasn't very focused and I found myself wondering why certain scenes kept jumping around and why some were even included in the book. It finally figured itself out, but I wasn't convinced - it definitely wasn't believable to me at every turn, which lost my interest at times.
While parts of the book were intriguing, I wouldn't want to read it again. I find I'm not particularly inclined to pick up the previous two books in this series either. Maybe it's a one-time fluke, but I wasn't overly impressed. I would rate this (on a 1-10 high/low scale) about a 3-4. The author has promise, but I think the two major things she needs to work on are: 1) character development and believability, and 2) plot structure/organization.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Relentless Pursuit, Ken Gire
This review is part of a book review program with Bethany House. The Bethany House book review program is simple: I request a book from the links they send via email, then I read the book they send and write a review on this blog and a retailer’s site (such as Amazon). If this sounds like something that interests you, you can get more information and/or sign up here: www.bethanyhouse.com/bookreviewers
This book can pretty much be summed up on the cover, where it says: "God's love of outsiders including the outsider in all of us" and is accompanied by a cover with four sheep on it, one way off to the side and away from the other ones (a pretty great image, if I do say so myself).
Gire's approach kind of caught me off guard. I should just know by now, having read several books that have caught me in such a state, that I need to stop having preconceptions about the books I receive in this program. I don't really know what I expected, but I think it was something more along the lines of a manual.
I got a story book instead. Including several stories about C.S. Lewis, Francis Thompson, his own life, and many others, Gire writes with an engaging voice about relatable topic matter. He uses the stories he tells throughout each chapter in order to present a clearly understandable point to illustrate the titled theme of his book.
While I have to say that this isn't the best book I've ever read, it's certainly not on my list of bad ones either. Gire is engaging, humorous at times, clear about where his pursuit of the topic is going throughout the book, and interesting enough to hold my attention.
Out of a 1-10 (low/high) rating, I'd rate this book around 6. There are great points that Gire makes, and if you're feeling as if you're an outsider, this is definitely a good book to read to gain a (most likely) new perspective on things. I know I learned/realized a few things about myself when I read it!
This book can pretty much be summed up on the cover, where it says: "God's love of outsiders including the outsider in all of us" and is accompanied by a cover with four sheep on it, one way off to the side and away from the other ones (a pretty great image, if I do say so myself).
Gire's approach kind of caught me off guard. I should just know by now, having read several books that have caught me in such a state, that I need to stop having preconceptions about the books I receive in this program. I don't really know what I expected, but I think it was something more along the lines of a manual.
I got a story book instead. Including several stories about C.S. Lewis, Francis Thompson, his own life, and many others, Gire writes with an engaging voice about relatable topic matter. He uses the stories he tells throughout each chapter in order to present a clearly understandable point to illustrate the titled theme of his book.
While I have to say that this isn't the best book I've ever read, it's certainly not on my list of bad ones either. Gire is engaging, humorous at times, clear about where his pursuit of the topic is going throughout the book, and interesting enough to hold my attention.
Out of a 1-10 (low/high) rating, I'd rate this book around 6. There are great points that Gire makes, and if you're feeling as if you're an outsider, this is definitely a good book to read to gain a (most likely) new perspective on things. I know I learned/realized a few things about myself when I read it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)