When A Secret Kills by Lynette Eason (Deadly Reunions Series - Book Three)

First there was When The Smoke Clears.
Then came When A Heart Stops.
This is the third book in this series - When A Secret Kills.

Jillian Carter saw something 10 years ago, and it changed her life. It put her on the run, and has kept her from moving forward or feeling safe for a very long time. Now is the time for that to change. Jillian has come home to deal with what she saw, to get the truth out there before people she loves get killed. What kind of secrete is this? The kind where Jillian saw a murder, a murder a Senator committed. The same man who is the Uncle to the man she loves, and her life is now in that nephew's hands. Coltan has plenty of reason to be drawn to Jillian, and a few reasons to not trust her too. This group has to decide who they love, who to trust, and do it fast because important things like friend's houses are being blown up just to silence Jillian.

Another good book in this series!
Carol :)

About The Book:
Investigative reporter Jillian Carter knows it's time to put the past to rest. She's tired of looking over her shoulder, letting a killer go free. She's no longer the scared kid who changed her name and disappeared. Now, no matter what the cost, Jillian must do what she is trained to do--ferret out the truth and expose it. Senator Frank Hoffman committed murder ten years ago--and Jillian watched it happen.

Didn't she?

Not even the enigmatic and attractive Colton Brady, her ex-boyfriend and nephew of the killer, will be able to make her leave this alone. Get ready for the spine-tingling, nail-biting conclusion to an explosive series.

About Lynette:

Lynette Eason grew up in Greenville, SC. Even as a young girl, she knew she wanted her life to reflect the love of Jesus Christ. After graduating from the University of South Carolina with a Business Degree she used for a very short time (sorry Mom and Dad), she moved to Spartanburg, SC to attend Converse College where she obtained her Masters degree in Education. During this time, she met the man she would marry—the boy next door! She is married to Jack Eason, who speaks, leads worship, and consults ministries around the country. They have been married for 15 1/2 years and have two children.

Her web site is here: 

http://www.infinitesuspensefromlynetteeason.blogspot.com/

The Book Link is here:

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Kills-Deadly-Reunions-ebook/dp/B00B85M0HM/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

Available May 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Wounds by Alton Gansky

Wounds is a very good, gripping read! The Mayan Apocalypse is the only other book I have read, and it was co-authored by Alton Gansky. This book FAR surpasses that one in about every way I can think of!

Detective Carmen Rainmondi was going to be a doctor when her life changed totally. Tragedy and emotions that she still hasn't sorted out altered her life when her beautiful sister was brutally murdered, and she became a Detective. Not just any detective, she is a homicide/murder detective with a bit of forensic insight in some ways as well. Her sister's death is personal, and deep and she hasn't totally recovered from it, and that has made all the murders she deals with rather personal to her.

Unknown to her, as she deals with two new murders that are brutal with really odd wounds on the victims, she is tied to someone else. This someone else is a timid, scared man, who happens to be Dr. Ellis Poe. Dr. Poe has not told about what he lived through, what he saw the night that Carmen's sister was murdered. Dr. Poe has spent his life burying himself in the Word, hiding in his boat when he can, and teaching Christian religion classes at the Seminary. His world is shaken when Carmen shows up in his office investigating a very painful and cruel murder. The victim happens to have been one of his students. This is followed up so fast by a second victim, one who has been beaten almost beyond recognition  A Jewish man, who held a position in the church, has been dumped on the law of the Rabbi under whom he served.

Yes, it is "Easter" week, Passover, Resurrection Sunday is coming, and leading up to this...each week another person dies. The crimes are connected, but the killer is smart. There are no easy clues like there are in most cases you read or might see on TV. The victims are being killed with an intent and purpose that you might not see coming. This is the time that is going to heal Carmen, and Ellis and the other people involved, or it will take them all down with them.

This was a super good book, the kind you don't want to put down when you have to. The ending and the details are well written and leaves a message worth reading. This book was written well enough to make me hope I get to read another one by this author later on.

Carol :)

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Wounds B&H Books (May 1, 2013) by Alton Gansky

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alton L. Gansky is the author of 24 novels and 8 nonfiction works, as well as principle writer of 9 novels and 2 nonfiction books. He has been a Christie Award finalist (A Ship Possessed) and an Angel Award winner (Terminal Justice) and recently was award the ACFW award for best suspense/thriller for his work on Fallen Angel. He holds a BA and MA in biblical studies and Lit.D. He lives in central California with his wife. In addition to his own writing, Alton Gansky has consulted and provided editing/ writing services to several CBA publishers and written copy, video scripts, and other works for the general business market. Through Gansky. Communications he has consulted with publishers and agents, as well as provided editing services. He is “the go to guy” for co-writing having been selected by Penguin, Waterbrook, Broadman Holman, and other publishers to work with their top tier authors. Gansky is in frequent demand at writer’s conferences having taught and keynoted in California, Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, Delaware, Washington, and Canada. He has also been guest lecturer on suspense writing at Taylor University in Indiana.


 ABOUT THE BOOK

A man’s lifeless body is found in the fresh soil of San Diego’s botanical garden. Cause of death is asphyxiation, an easy call for the medical examiner. More mysterious, however, are the tiny drops of blood on the victim’s skin, resulting from hundreds of punctures. A rabbi leaving his house for work expects a regular day at the synagogue. That quickly changes when he discovers a dead man on his front lawn, clearly beaten to death. Motorcycle riders racing along the empty streets of an abandoned military base stumble across another man’s corpse, its skin revealing long, red-purple marks of a thrashing given with wood dowels. The numbers mount. Each week another victim and another mysterious clue in a game of mass murder the police don’t want to lose. The solution rests with Dr. Ellis Poe, a religious professor who only wishes to be left alone with his books and classes. But evil must be faced, and the choice is no longer his own.

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

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1433677180

Past Darkness by Laurel Woiwode

Past Darkness is the story of much of the life a girl named Gabrielle. She grew up with her parents, both musicians, and she herself could sing. And then.... tragedy changed her life. Her parents have been killed, something that I could feel coming with some dread for a few chapters prior. 

With her closest family gone, Gabe winds up in North Dakota. It is quite a shock to her being a Chicago city girl and she is doing her best to avoid all her feelings, God and everyone around her as much as possible. Her precious Aunt and Uncle take her to raise as their own child, and one of the first things she does is close music out of her life completely.  It causes too much pain, and she is so angry with God. The other thing she does is fall in love with horses. :) (I do love the horses!) 

Gabe is alone, a social out-cast, mostly by choice, and mostly from her not dealing with her issues. She decides to be a veterinarian like her Aunt Bea, but even in that keeps her distance from her family as much as she can. That all changes one day during her college years. She has an encounter with music, and with God that breaks down those walls, at least for a little while. Now Gabe must choose what to do. To heal and move forward, to get some closure on the past, or to push it all back inside and go back to what she was. 

This was a nice short read, I loved the landscapes, the ranches, and the horses. I liked the power that music has in God's hands being show. I feel that the ending was good, and sweet, but it felt very abrupt to me. Rather like I had just been put down and walked off on with out the rest of the closure that I needed from reading the story. Maybe that is because the rest of the story hasn't yet been told, but I would have skipped this book had I know the ending was that abrupt. Something else that bothered me about this book is that Gabe had no counselling. Her Aunt and Uncle only knew to pray and let her be, so she suffered for years because she didn't have a pastor, friends, or councilors, even a secular one to help her deal with severe trauma and grief. 

Carol 

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Past Darkness Crossway (April 30, 2013) by Laurel Woiwode

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Laurel Woiwode graduated with honors from Jamestown College, earning a Bachelor of Arts in both English and History. She works with ESL students, writes movie reviews at reelquickie.areavoices.com, works on writing and editing projects, and is always ready for outdoor adventures. Laurel grew up in rural North Dakota, has had an avid interest in animals, nature, and literature since childhood, and she is the author of Past Darkness.




ABOUT THE BOOK

Gabrielle Larson is an average, 15 year old girl living in Chicago when tragedy strikes. In the aftermath, she is forced to relocate to rural North Dakota and henceforth spends the next chapter of her life learning to cope with trials involving everything from family to faith. Laurel Woiwode, daughter of critically acclaimed novelist Larry Woiwode, offers here a moving story that will be appreciated by female and male readers alike. Past Darkness is not preachy or heavy-handed, but rather a touching story about the importance of family, the power of music, and the ever-present mercy of God.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Past Darkness, go HERE,

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1433535181 

Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore (The Angel Eyes Trilogy) Third Post!

O.k.... Having eyes to see, I do see. And having ears to hear, I hear! But apparently like some other super great books, there are things people just don't understand. I stumbled across a few of those, and so I am going to address them in this post.

The Bible says, with a bit of paraphrasing  that one day people will say, when people finally see Satan as he is, this is it? This is all? This is who and what deceived us and terrorized the world? We have scriptural  reference to the Devil coming as an "Angel of Light". Shannon shows that in Broken Wings as well. The Prince of Darkness in her book has the form of an Angel of Light, which he once was, but is no more. Satan's main tactic in this book is fear. Frankly, that is just truth. Satan probably doesn't exactly "rule" Hell, but in a way, I am sure that he does because he has all his demons under his command. Pull any Bible version you like, but go read Ezekiel 28:13-19 AND Isaiah 14: 9-19. Satan, know as Lucifer before he was cast out of Heaven, had music embedded in him, as well as precious jewels. He was captivating enough to get 1/3 of the angels to leave God and follow him in his deception. (Revelation 12:4-9) Thus, I think what Shannon did was a wonderful job of portraying the Enemy of all man-kind.

A few people have issues with Sabers, and new class or names of demons, or even Pearla being a cherub who, instead of being baby faced and a cutie-pie is instead, dark haired, with dark wings. Pearla is an angel who can spy on the demons with less risk of being noticed. Frankly, I liked this! Don't you dare think for a moment in the real battle that rages over human's souls that Satan's ranks do not do all they can to follow us or "spy" when possible. Why not use this wonderful format to show that we do have an unlimited God and if He choose to have a group of angels that could infiltrate, they could. No... it's not listed out in any scripture, but I am glad that Shannon did this.

For anyone who is worried about the romance aspect, it is great! Nothing to worry about here. I worry  more about you if you aren't able to read these two books and have your eyes opened to a realm that is more real than the one you sit in now reading this screen. Brielle is not the only one who can see in the Spirit realm. It is just that Shannon has been strong enough to create her and bring her to us so that more people can be aware of the things happening around us, and the power we have in Him.

Carol :)

About the book:

Giant angels with metal wings and visible song. 

A blind demon restored from the pit of darkness. 

And a girl who has never felt more broken.

Brielle sees the world as it really is: a place where the Celestial exists side by side with human reality. But in the aftermath of a supernatural showdown, her life begins to crumble.

Her boyfriend, Jake, is keeping something from her—something important. Her overprotective father has started drinking again. He’s dating a much younger woman who makes Brielle’s skin crawl, and he’s downright hostile toward Jake. Haunting nightmares keep Brielle from sleeping, and flashes of Celestial vision keep her off kilter.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s been targeted. The Prince of Darkness himself has heard of the boy with healing in his hands and of the girl who sees through the Terrestrial Veil.

Brielle has no choice. She knows evil forces are converging and will soon rain their terror down upon the town of Stratus. She must master the weapons she’s been given. She must fight.

But can she fly with broken wings?

Here are the covers to the first and the upcoming third book! 

Book link - http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Wings-Angel-Eyes-Novel/dp/1401686370/
Author Website - http://www.shannondittemore.com/
Author Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/ShannonDittemore


In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book 
from the publisher.... AND I AM THRILLED I was able to do so! :D 

Participants’ links:
Gillian Adams
Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart 
Beckie Burnham
Pauline Creeden
Janey DeMeo
Theresa Dunlap
Emma or Audrey Engel
Victor Gentile
Nikole Hahn
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Karielle @ Books à la Mode 
Carol Keen
Emileigh Latham
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger

Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore (The Angel Eyes Trilogy) Second Post!

I can't just let the rest of this tour slide by with out taking about how nicely Shannon Dittemore covered Praise and Worship, and even prayer in her book Broken Wings!

Hopefully I am no the only one who found this beautiful and refreshing! :D
We have a group of angles in this book called the Sabres. While you will not find that name in the Bible, I do believe that some things like this we will see in Heaven that just weren't considered important enough to add in at the time. These huge 8-9 foot each group of angels, twelve of them to be exact are incredible. They have metal wings, wings that sing and create music along with their voices. These massive angels are dispatched from the Throne Room of God when some major spiritual warfare in an area is going down. They are strong and their adoration of their Creator is able to thin the veil between the Celestial and the Terrestrial. {In other words, the Spirit realm and the Physical one.} When these angels go to war singing, Brielle is able to see their worship headed towards Heaven. She can smell it, and it moves her like she has not been moved before.

I simply loved the way Shannon showed worship over and over in this book. Prayer too! Prayer and worship were sent up to God like the incense it is called in the Bible. Like the light swirling and bursting from our prayers and praise that so many who have died and come back from Heaven have talked about here on Earth. I was struck by how wonderfully she put detail in the Sabres.  Each time I read about them, I was reminded of how Lucifer was once the embodiment of music, and now how she shows him so fallen and separated from all that he was to be, and got to read and "see" her description of this class of angels who's original purpose had not been removed from them. It was wonderful!

I'm hoping in the third book that it will also show that even though Brielle isn't singing her Redemption song yet, that Shannon will also show that her dancing sends up praise as well.

You really should read this series!
Carol :)

About the book:

Giant angels with metal wings and visible song. 

A blind demon restored from the pit of darkness. 

And a girl who has never felt more broken.

Brielle sees the world as it really is: a place where the Celestial exists side by side with human reality. But in the aftermath of a supernatural showdown, her life begins to crumble.

Her boyfriend, Jake, is keeping something from her—something important. Her overprotective father has started drinking again. He’s dating a much younger woman who makes Brielle’s skin crawl, and he’s downright hostile toward Jake. Haunting nightmares keep Brielle from sleeping, and flashes of Celestial vision keep her off kilter.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s been targeted. The Prince of Darkness himself has heard of the boy with healing in his hands and of the girl who sees through the Terrestrial Veil.

Brielle has no choice. She knows evil forces are converging and will soon rain their terror down upon the town of Stratus. She must master the weapons she’s been given. She must fight.

But can she fly with broken wings?

Here are the covers to the first and the upcoming third book! 

Book link - http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Wings-Angel-Eyes-Novel/dp/1401686370/
Author Website - http://www.shannondittemore.com/
Author Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/ShannonDittemore


In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book 
from the publisher.... AND I AM THRILLED I was able to do so! :D 

Participants’ links:
Gillian Adams
Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart 
Beckie Burnham
Pauline Creeden
Janey DeMeo
Theresa Dunlap
Emma or Audrey Engel
Victor Gentile
Nikole Hahn
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Karielle @ Books à la Mode 
Carol Keen
Emileigh Latham
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger

Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore (The Angel Eyes Trilogy)

Broken Wings is the second book in this wonderful series! Angel Eyes is the first, and Dark Halo will be the third. Frankly, I wish this were not going to be *just* a trilogy! These books are great!!!
About 7 month later we pick Briell's story back up again. Her life has NOT returned to "normal" in any way that she thought that it would. In fact, it has gotten even more Spiritual than before! Oh, not spiritual in the way that religion has it, but in her day to day life is now starting to include seeing the Celestial, or the Spirit realm.

Briell is having nightmares, or are they nightmare? Even with the halo under her pillow at night, the dreams just so real that she is watching through someone else's eyes. Someone she feels she should know. A mystery that God must want to her to deal with or solve. But Briell doesn't know why and Jake doesn't have all the pieces to this puzzle either. Briell's Dad is drinking again, and then.... then there is what happens with her Mother's grave!

The most massive angels you can imagine are descending on Stratus and warfare and praise are falling and rising up in the most unlikely of places. Briell, Jake, and a few other people as well as several Angels are all smack in the middle of it all... fighting  Fighting and praying to find out what they are really fighting for, because when your eyes are really open, there is no going back. That leads me to wonder, what do other people see? I know what I see, and I can read about what Briell is seeing, but what do others see?

If possible you will see me run a three day post on this one!

Carol :)

About the book:

Giant angels with metal wings and visible song. 

A blind demon restored from the pit of darkness. 

And a girl who has never felt more broken.

Brielle sees the world as it really is: a place where the Celestial exists side by side with human reality. But in the aftermath of a supernatural showdown, her life begins to crumble.

Her boyfriend, Jake, is keeping something from her—something important. Her overprotective father has started drinking again. He’s dating a much younger woman who makes Brielle’s skin crawl, and he’s downright hostile toward Jake. Haunting nightmares keep Brielle from sleeping, and flashes of Celestial vision keep her off kilter.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s been targeted. The Prince of Darkness himself has heard of the boy with healing in his hands and of the girl who sees through the Terrestrial Veil.

Brielle has no choice. She knows evil forces are converging and will soon rain their terror down upon the town of Stratus. She must master the weapons she’s been given. She must fight.

But can she fly with broken wings?

Here are the covers to the first and the upcoming third book! 

Book link - http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Wings-Angel-Eyes-Novel/dp/1401686370/
Author Website - http://www.shannondittemore.com/
Author Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/ShannonDittemore


In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book 
from the publisher.... AND I AM THRILLED I was able to do so! :D 

Participants’ links:
Gillian Adams
Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart 
Beckie Burnham
Pauline Creeden
Janey DeMeo
Theresa Dunlap
Emma or Audrey Engel
Victor Gentile
Nikole Hahn
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Karielle @ Books à la Mode 
Carol Keen
Emileigh Latham
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger

The Gate by Dann A. Stouten

I have very mixed feelings about this book. In some ways I like it. I can take the "stretch" of a few things, and in other ways that same "stretch" brothers me. :/

First of all, this book is about a man who spends a week in Heaven. He went up to the family property, a bit confused about an add on the net by Paradise Reality, and Micheal DeAngelo. (Yes, Micheal the angel from the Bible.) There he can go spend time from "Angel's Gate - The back door to God's country." Sky just didn't know that he was going to spend a week in Heaven. With Ahbee (God), Josh aka Jesus, and Rea. In this case Rae is the FEMALE version of the Holy Spirit. (HUH!?!?!) O.k... artistic licencing I see. However, I am not sure that I am ok with this. Is Rea female - yes. Is that a Biblical term? I am told yes. Does the Bible also say the Holy Spirit is a him? Why yes.. it does! However, spirits aren't exactly male or female.

Back to Sky, he spends a week in Heaven. He rides around in cars. He goes fishing at Promise Point. Sky wrestles with his past, present and future. Sky enjoys Abhee cooking food, Josh working with lumber, mansions being build, the New Jerusalem that isn't on Earth yet. Most of all Sky gets little tiny sayings or sermon points, or platitudes of a sort emphasized  They are so emphasized that they are put up in special chunks on many pages of the book. Sky figures out what he has to deal with, and things are better.

What I got from this book is that I liked the part about saving people. I do work to do that daily, as is our goal in this life. People are who go with us to Heaven. I also can tell that this Pastor has a creative mind, and he tried really hard for his first novel. The food was nice, the scenery was ok. The constant flash backs into the past and un-dealt with problems got really taxing for me, and I did get a bit weary of the cars. That is just me! ;)

Carol :)

About the book:

When a planned getaway with his wife turns into a shopping trip for the girls, Schuyler Hunt finds himself looking for something else to do. An ad for a vacation cottage catches his eye, and he sets off in search of a much-needed break. When he arrives, he finds something far different from the typical summer home experience. In fact, he may have found a little slice of heaven.

The proprietor—along with a number of unexpected and yet familiar guests—welcomes him with food, rest, and conversation, until what started out as an escape from everyday life turns into something much, much more…

Visit DannStouten.com to download free book club and small group resources as well as sermons from popular ministry leaders.

About the Author:

This is his first book! Visit his web site for more information!
http://www.dannstouten.com/

Available April 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.