The Flowering Cross by Beth Ryan

I am sooo happy to share this review with you! This book "The Flowering Cross" by Beth Ryan is one of the sweetest books with such a powerful message! The author was inspired by the book Won by Love in which God used a 7 year old little girl to win the heart of Norma McCorvey (Roe vs Wade). Beth shares the story of Katie and her family and how they love their neighbor even when no one else will. Along with the precious tale you have Scripture verses and a wonderful Easter story that will become a wonderful tradition to read in the years to come! She also shares how to make your own Flowering Cross if you so wish to. This book is great for elementary age children but can also be condensed with young ones as well! I highly recommend this and wish to thank Thomas Nelson for allowing me the complimentary issue in return for my humble opinion.

This Scripture comes to mind when I read this and one that is so important for young children to know!
1 Timothy 4:12
Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.

Love,
Loren

5 stars for "Once in a Blue Moon!"

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Once in a Blue Moon

B&H Books (March 1, 2010)

by

Leanna Ellis





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Leanna's sister recommended that she write, since she ‘wrote in her journal all the time.’ The idea took root and began to grow. So after five years of teaching, she quit and started writing, with no clue about the book business. Ignorance is bliss. If she’d known the odds against her, she might not have ever started writing.



For about three years, she wrote with a collaborator, but because she had so many ideas she began to write more stories on her own. She suffered numerous rejections. Deservedly so. But she was growing as a writer and learning. She went to as many conferences as she could manage. During that time, she met her future husband, fell in love and became engaged. She also began to final in contests and then actually began to win! The contests helped her get noticed by editors and agents. In March, the year Braveheart won the Best Picture Oscar, Victor/Victoria opened on Broadway, she sold her first book. It was her Cinderella year. She sold her book, got married and won RWA’s Golden Heart Award in Hawaii.



She wrote six books between her first baby’s birth and when the second baby turned one. Then she hit a wall. Not literally. But creatively. It’s not that she didn’t have any ideas, but her ideas didn’t fit the romance market. These new characters, random and weird as they were, began to take over the part of her brain that wasn’t domesticated. These stories were about all types of women, and so she began to let her writing grow in new and different ways.



Leanna Ellis sold more than 1.3 million romantic novels writing as Leanna Wilson, winning a Readers’ Choice award and the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart award for her work. Elvis Takes a Back Seat is the first book published under her married name, marking a new creative direction in her writing. Like Francine Rivers before her, Leanna has left behind a successful career as an author of secular romances to write novels of faith that glorify God. A former schoolteacher, Leanna is now a homeschool mom and lives with her husband and children in Keller, Texas.







ABOUT THE BOOK

Bryn Seymour was nine years old when her mother died under mysterious circumstances on the same day Apollo 11 made its historic lunar landing. Forty years later—divorced, working as an obituary writer, and duly cynical—she meets Howard, a conspiracy theorist who knew her mom and believes a small Texas town may hold clues to what really fueled her demise. Seeking closure, Bryn goes along for this men-in-black ride. But upon meeting Howard’s son Sam, an outspoken Christian, she can’t decide whose beliefs are more pie-in-the-sky.



The gravity of life has pulled Bryn down for decades. But a perfect love could be her first step to soaring. It only happens once in a blue moon.



If you would like to read the first chapter of Once in a Blue Moon, go HERE



Watch the book trailer:






I HIGHLY recommend this book!! Because I was on a trip with my Daughter and my MOM I was forced LOL to put it down but otherwise I would have read this book in one sitting!!! IT.WAS.THAT.GOOD! You will Laugh and find mystery in these refreshing characters and their funny ways! I found myself thinking of them during the day as I was out and that always tells me I have a really good book waiting on me to come finish it!
Brynn takes a journey to find her mom and she learns alot about herself and forgiveness as well. When an author can do that in this kind of story I know she is one that I will for sure be reading again and again!

Blessings ~
Loren

The Lord is my Shepherd Review

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

The Lord Is My Shepherd

Abingdon Press (March 2010)

by

Debbie Viguie





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Debbie Viguié has been writing for most of her life. She has experimented with poetry and nonfiction, but her true passion lies in writing novels. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing from UC Davis. While at Davis she met her husband, Scott, at auditions for a play.



Debbie's love for writing brought her from working as a church secretary to a successful career writing supernatural fiction. She is the author of Midnight Pearls, Scarlet Moon, and Charmed: Pied Piper, and the young adult Sweet Seasons series. She also is coauthor of the New York Times bestselling Wicked book series.



Debbie and Scott now live on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. When Debbie is not writing and Scott has time off they love to indulge their passion for theme parks.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Cindy’s church is getting ready to celebrate Easter, and Jeremiah’s Temple is preparing for Passover when Cindy literally stumbles over the body of an unknown man lying dead in the sanctuary. The church was locked, and a bloody cross necklace on the floor seems to be the only clue. The killer is likely a member of the congregation, but there are hints that similar deaths have happened in the past. Are Cindy and Jeremiah dealing with a serial killer? They have to unravel the clues before Easter Sunday arrives and more people die.



Cindy and Jeremiah come from two different worlds, even though they work right next door to each other. Cindy is a strong Christian who lives a normal but somewhat dull life, working as a church secretary. Jeremiah is a Reformed rabbi with a mysterious past full of danger and excitement. But one eventful Easter/Passover week, the two find themselves working together to solve a murder and stop a serial killer from striking again. Solving the mystery should put an end to their alliance, but the church secretary and the rabbi quickly find themselves enmeshed in another mystery. Soon the two form a friendly alliance and friendship, exploring personal history and faith and growing closer with each passing adventure. Despite their differences Cindy and Jeremiah find a lot of common ground.



If you would like to read the first chapter of The Lord Is My Shepherd, go HERE.


I enjoyed the suspense of The Lord is my Shepherd! I have never read a book with the theme being an Easter week full of suspense and mystery but this book does an excellent job! This is book 1 in the Series and I look forward to seeing what Debbie will share with us in the books to come!

Free Download for your Kindle!!

Hey all you Bookworms! I wanted to share this with you! If you own a Kindle you can get this book downloaded to your Kindle Free right here This is the first book in the Sequel




Here is the 2nd book that is out and available now




Now here is the 3rd book that will be out April 1st



The book is available for FREE DOWNLOAD for the month of march~ Enjoy!

Love and Blessings!
Loren

Hearts Awakening

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Hearts Awakening

Bethany House (March 1, 2010)

by

Delia Parr





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Delia Parr, pen name for Mary Lechleidner, is the author of 10 historical novels and the winner of several awards, including the Laurel Wreath Award for Historical Romance and the Aspen Gold Award for Best Inspirational Book. She is a full-time high school teacher who spends her summer vacations writing and kayaking. The mother of three grown children, she lives in Collingswood, New Jersey.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Two people in desperate circumstances. Life has left few choices for Elvira Kilmer. Her hopes for marriage and a family of her own have long since passed her by, and her arrival on Dillon's Island, nestled in the Susquehanna River, is not of her choosing, either.



She needs work. And Jackson Smith needs a housekeeper. Yet Ellie never imagined the widower would be so young...so handsome. Jackson, on the other hand, has never met anyone quite so...plain. But he quickly comes to realize that Ellie's presence may solve his own problems--both the rearing of his young boys and the scandal that surrounds his first marriage.



When Jackson offers her something quite out of the ordinary, will Ellie look beyond mere necessity and risk opening her heart?



Yet what options does she have? To marry would mean a home and stability. So despite the rumors circling Jackson and his first wife, Ellie accepts this unlikely proposal...



If you would like to read the first chapter of Hearts Awakening, go HERE.

Secrets ~ By Robin Jones Funn

Backcover:

Jessica Ran from her past but can she hide from Love?

Jessica Morgan wants desperately to forget the past and begin a new life. She chooses a small, peaceful town tucked away in Oregan's Williamette Valley as the place to start over --- Glenbrooke. Once there, Jessica conceals her identity from the intriguing personalities she meets including the compassionate paramedic who desires to protect her and the jealous woman who wants to nothing more than to destroy her.
Will Jessica's deceit ruin all hope for her future? Or will she find a deeper peace that allows her to stop hiding the truth from those who love her most of all?
This heartwarming best seller book One in the Glenbrooke Series introduces the fascinating people of Glenbrooke in a compelling tale of romance and Spiritual truth.

My Review:

This is the First book in the Glenbrooke Series and also the first book that I have read from Robin Jones Gunn. I have to say she did not disappoint. I enjoyed this book. Jessica learns many valuable lessons in life. Secrets take us places we don't want to be and cause you to go deeper and deeper into darkness. She strives to do things on her own and in time learns to depend on others and the Lord. Secrets is a book that would be great for new believers or even for those that aren't as it teaches truths that everyone can learn from.

If you would like to purchase this book please visit Multnomah Publishers here

I would like to thank Waterbrook Multnomah for providing me with a free copy of this book in return for my honest review.

Deep Harbor

The Northern Lights Series
Book Two

“Lisa Tawn Bergren has a straightforward, evocative style of writing that makes her characters breathe. They walk right across the page and straight into your heart.” –Francine Rivers, author of Redeeming Love

SOME TIES CAN NEVER BE BROKEN

As they build new lives in America, Tora, Elsa, Kaatje, and Karl each experience a personal tragedy that threatens to destroy everything they left Norway to find. Tora’s web of lies has cost her a successful future with the man she loves. When tragedy strikes, Elsa must draw upon her faith and the strength she can muster to discover who she is and the path she must follow. After her husband’s disappearance, Kaatje struggles to raise two young daughters and tend her farm, and Karl finds himself caught in a life of loneliness and emptiness. Only by placing their trust in God—and in each other—will they pass through these rough waters and find the safety of the harbor.

From the richly forested banks of the Washington Territory to the burgeoning city of Yokohama and across the turbulent, danger-filled waves of the open sea—experience the epic saga of perseverance, pain, faith, and calling in the Northern Lights series.

“I found myself immediately involved in the stories of Elsa and Peder, Kaatje and her wayward husband, Soren, Tora and her quest for wealth and power, and a host of other people who sailed with them to America to fulfill their dreams. Lisa Tawn Bergren has a straightforward, evocative style of writing that makes her characters breathe. They walk right across the page and straight into your heart.”
—Francine Rivers, author


“Pick of the month. 4 1⁄2 stars! Lisa Tawn Bergren is a rare talent in historical fiction, writing with exquisite style as she immerses lucky readers in the powerful emotions of her full-bodied characters. Stay tuned for the next book to continue this exciting trilogy.”
—Romantic Times


My Review:

I am soooo thankful to share this book with you all! I have been so encouraged by this book on a few levels ~ One being, Gods timing is perfect! He is with us even when we feel lost, alone and far from HIM. He waits like the loving Father that HE is, for us to seek HIM and HE is ready with Forgiveness when we humble ourselves and repent and have the desire to live life with HIM in all our endeavors.
Deep Harbor is set in the 1800's and is full of adventure for these characters, along with much heartache. You will fall in love with these strong women and men and learn from them as well. Deep Harbor shares examples of redemption, humility, and determination to go on despite some very difficult situations. I simply cannot wait until the 3rd book comes out!!

Thankyou Waterbrookmultnomah for blessing me with a complimentary copy of this book. In return I share this humble opinion.

To purchase a copy of this book please go here


Have a blessed Monday!

Loren