The Dream Dress by Janice Thompson (Weddings by Design book 3)

I have really enjoyed this series of books for many reasons! They are close to my heart, in some of my lines of expertise, and they are just plain fun! Gabi designs dresses, they are amazing. However, she longs for more. She wants some of her very own designs on the women of  Texas. Then comes her chance, or is it? This handsome man, Jordan Singer comes to her shop and guess what? He is a reporter for Texas Bride. This is big stuff folks, even bigger to the reader who knows this kind of industry! It is make it or break it time if this goes through!

Bella and her family are great, as always. When Gabi starts feeling like this might actually work and make her dream come true, she starts to wonder if she also falling for the dashing and humble Jordan as well. Could there be more than just one dream dress in her future?

There are a good many funny parts to this book that I am coming to love Janice Thomas for using. I also LOVE Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers. That was a lovely touch! So I say, Together we shall wait, cheek to cheek to see if there is a 4th book in this series or not!

Thank you Revell for my copy of this book for review! I loved it!
Carol :)

Big dreams take big leaps of faith . . . but what if you trip on the way?

A lowly seamstress at a swanky bridal boutique, Gabi Delgado dreams of doing more than ripping out seams and fitting dresses to doe-eyed brides. She wants to see her own original dress designs gracing the young women of Texas. But when Jordan Singer, reporter for Texas Bride magazine, visits the shop to do a feature, Gabi is humbled in his influential--and unnervingly handsome--presence.

Convinced she'll never get her dreams off the ground now, Gabi needs lots of encouragement--especially from her friend Bella Neeley--to take a chance and start her business. And as she gets to know Jordan, she discovers that she may have to take a chance on love as well.

The book link: 
http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Dress-Weddings-Design-Book-ebook/dp/B00DY9FNWY/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

About the Author

Janice Thompson is a seasoned romance author and screenwriter. An expert at pulling the humor from the situations we get ourselves into, Thompson offers an inside look at the wedding business, drawing on her own experiences as a wedding planner. She is the author of the hugely popular Weddings by Bella series and the Backstage Pass series, as well as Picture Perfect and The Icing on the Cake. She lives in Texas. Visit www.janiceathompson.com for more information.

My Amish Boyfriend by Melody Carlson

Shannon had her summer lined up. A job, her friends, a car, it was all coming together. Only, Shannon's Mom is sick. Her Dad has passed, he is in Heaven, and now with her Mom feeling bad this "average" teenage girl finds her entire life uprooted! She is having to be a Mother to her Mother. (I have walked that, but I was a bit older than Shannon when it happened.) Shannon isn't wild about that. It means a good deal of sacrifice.

To top that off, her Mom announces they are headed to the Amish in Ohio. Little did she ever expect to find out she has Amish Grandparents! Never did she think that her mother would take them there, or that her Mother has had living parents this entire time! It is hard, and she doesn't fit in, so she is working extremely hard to please these Grandparents she has never met in the last 16 years of her life.

But then again, there is Ezra. He stole her heart very quickly. He might be enough motivation to become Amish, though that might not be why you are suppose to convert. Deeper yet is the issue that if her Mother is to live, Shannon has to make some hard grown up decisions that will change her life forever. Shannon is indeed, "coming of age", but not in the way that most children do.

Melody Carlson did a wonderful job, yet again.
Thank you Revell for my copy of this book for review!
Carol :)

Sixteen-year-old Shannon McNamara has exciting plans for the summer, and she can't wait to get to them. Unbeknownst to her, however, her widowed and ailing mother has plans of her own--to relocate them both to the heart of Amish country in Ohio where she has relatives who can look after her. Shannon quickly learns that living a "simple" life is actually a lot of hard work. But when a hot young Amish guy named Ezra enters the picture, she's ready to get an Amish makeover and even consider making it a permanent change. But does Ezra share her attraction? Will Shannon really make the jump into this new way of life? And will it be for the right reasons?

Teen favorite Melody Carlson brings fans another sweet story of worlds--and families--colliding, exploring themes important to teen girls through an engaging tale.

The Book Link:

http://www.amazon.com/My-Amish-Boyfriend-A-Novel/dp/0800722264

Author Bio

Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of more than two hundred books, including the Life at Kingston High series, The Dating Games series, Double Take, and A Simple Song. She has received a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her many books, including the Diary of a Teenage Girl series and Finding Alice. Melody and her husband live in Oregon. Find out more at www.melodycarlson.com.

Dating, Dining and Desperation by Melody Carlson (Dear Daphne Book 2)

I think I have said before that I haven't read a bad book by Melody Carlson. Some of her series and books impress me more than others. This is one of those series. This is the second book in this series. In the first book was Lock, Stock and Over a Barrel. When we last left Daphne she had come to terms with her Grandmother's wishes to keep the house, the cat, and marry. She has a limited time frame in which to do so, and she has taken over her Grandmother's writing column. She has been dealing with the secrets she learned about her family, and now she has to find a husband.

Finding a husband on a deadline isn't the least bit easy! The search for a husband includes speed dating, and asking God to send the right guy, and working like a mad woman to find Mr. Right, or at least Mr. ok I can live with him for life? There are so many prospects to choose from, but that only tends to make things harder, not easier. With the one year marriage deadline looming over her, or loosing the house just months away, Daphne decides she is in need of help. She became instant friends with girl across the street who asked to borrow her shower, and totes about a Chihuahua who is quite loud and yappy. (That really is a fault in that breed!) Then there is the little girl with out a Mother who just tugs so at Daphne's heart!

Is she going to be able to find the right guy in time or will Appleton and all that is there be in her past soon? We will have to read the next two E-books to find out! Yes, that is correct. The next two books will not be in paper format. (Now we need to go get the first two in e-book to have a matching set!)

Carol :)

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Dating, Dining, and Desperation B&H Books (March 1, 2014) by Melody Carlson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Over the years, Melody Carlson has worn many hats, from pre-school teacher to youth counselor to political activist to senior editor. But most of all, she loves to write! Currently she freelances from her home. In the past eight years, she has published over ninety books for children, teens, and adults--with sales totaling more than two million and many titles appearing on the ECPA Bestsellers List. Several of her books have been finalists for, and winners of, various writing awards.

She has two grown sons and lives in Central Oregon with her husband and chocolate lab retriever. They enjoy skiing, hiking, gardening, camping and biking in the beautiful Cascade Mountains.

Melody can be reached through the Contact link on her Website 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Daphne Ballinger has learned to accept her deceased, eccentric aunt’s strange request that she marry in order to inherit her estate, along with taking over her aunt’s hometown paper’s advice column. But knowing and accepting that God’s will be done becomes harder when a new neighbor, a divorced socialite, learns of Daphne’s predicament and takes on the task of finding her the perfect man, even if it includes speed dating. When God does open Daphne’s heart, it is instead to take in a young girl left parentless and in the care of her dying grandmother. It may be a temporary arrangement until the girl’s uncle returns from the Marines, but God uses Daphne to speak His heavenly love and protection into the life of the child -- whom Daphne soon discovers has a very handsome and single uncle.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Dating, Dining, and Desperation, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1433679310 

The Ether: Vero Rising by Laurice E. Molinari

Vero Leland was adopted. There was always something that Vero believed he should be able to do. Vero was just certain he should be able to to fly. One day when he was 4, a mystery man shows up and saves him from certain doom as he was trying to fly, but frankly, falling. The man tells him to stop trying to fly until it is time. He doesn't fit in, at all. It isn't totally his issue with flying either. Then everything changes when he turns 12 years old.

Vero goes to Ether. Ether is a place between Heaven and Earth. Here guardian angels learn how they have been in training with humans up to this point. So now, not only is Vero not human, but he is an undercover guardian angel with gifts that surpass those of the renowned angel Michael. Because of this power, the demons and their leader (Lucifer as he was once called) are out to destroy the humans that Vero loves the most. He is going to have to be able to fly to protect them, and now the time has come to learn how to do that. It is not as simple as the feeling that you should be able to fly, and while Vero is working to make some new friends who can understand his mission, what and who he is, he is also in a race to be able to fight for those he loves before other things happen.

I will be waiting for the next book in this series! This was a very good start!
Carol :)

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

The Ether: Vero Rising

Zonderkidz (February 4, 2014)

by

Laurice E. Molinari

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Laurice Elehwany Molinari, a veteran film and TV writer in Hollywood for over two decades, has penned over thirty scripts for various studios and networks.  Her very first feature script, written while a fellow at the American Film Institute, became Columbia Picture’s critically acclaimed children’s classic, My Girl.  She went on to pen The Brady Bunch Movie and The Amazing Panda Adventure. Laurice lives with her husband and two children in Los Angeles, the City of Angels, where her lifelong love for our heavenly guardians inspired her to write a book about them in the ETHER series.

Laurice can be reached through the Contact link on her Website 



ABOUT THE BOOK

The Fiercest of Warriors? Vero Leland always suspected he was different from others his own age, ever since his childhood attempts to fly. But he never could have predicted the truth---or how much his life was about to change. Soon after his twelfth birthday, Vero learns he is a guardian angel and is abruptly transported to the Ether, the spiritual realm that surrounds the earth. Yet before he can be counted among these fierce warriors, Vero must learn to master his growing powers, competing with other angels-in- training and battling demonic creatures known as maltures as well as mythical creatures such as the leviathan. Until his instruction is complete, Vero needs to alternate between the Ether and his regular life. If he survives training and accepts his destiny---a destiny he did not choose---he must leave everything behind, including his family and the life he loves. Meanwhile, an evil is growing---the maltures are rising, and Vero appears to be their target.


Enjoy the book trailer!
 

If you'd like to read the first chapter of The Ether: Vero Rising, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0310735556 

Hidden Falls by by Olivia Newport

Hidden Falls is an e-book series. I haven't done that many e-books series, so I was interested in how this would work. Downloading was not a problem. The story started out a bit slow, but picked up some. This is about a group of people living in a place called Hidden Falls. Quinn was a teacher there for many years. He is retiring, and they are having a big party for his retirement where all his past students are coming. Some he sent letters to and asked them to come, others changed their mind and decided to come just because it is Quinn.

I was a bit frustrated with the way that Quinn was so detached. When Quinn started to come out of his shell some, it got more interesting. I was rather sad with the ending, because it was abrupt and the price of the next installments is an issue for me. Over all, I did enjoy it being a good start to make me curious, but unless I am able to review them, I will probably not be reading the rest of this series because of this.

Carol :)

Join the Hidden Falls community on Facebook here for some fun interaction, giveaways, and more. 

The Book

 Thirty years of small-town secrets--now the key to the mystery is gone. The small town of Hidden Falls is abuzz. Former students, friends, and loved ones are prepping for tonight's big event to honor Ted Quinn's many years of compassionate service. Quinn is reluctant about a night in the spotlight--but is tenderly prodded by Sylvia, mayor of Hidden Falls and Quinn's dearest friend and confidante. Ethan and Nicole won't let the shadows of their pasts stop them from returning to Hidden Falls--but only for Quinn--no matter how much it hurts. Liam, a former student, and Jack, a town newcomer, are both hoping the night works toward their own gain--or, if they'll admit it, their chance for redemption. Like Quinn, Dani and Lauren are mainstays in Hidden Falls. They keep close to home--and have secrets to keep close, too. Now it's time. The guests are seated, introductions are made, the spotlight shines on center stage...and the unthinkable leaves the entire town scrambling for the truth. 

A Sky Without Stars by Linda S. Clare ( Quilts of Love Book #15)

Frankie has a few problems, and a few prayers that have been answered. She doesn't know they are answered prayers, but they are. She and her son have come to another state after the death of her alcoholic husband. However, young Harold is a handful and a half for her with out some help. It is just not easy being a single mom, much less a Native American.

Frankie Chasing Bear soon finds that Federal Agent Nick Parker is extremely interesting to her. He is half Lakota, and she is Lakota. But is he a Christian, or a Native American? Her Grandmother was both, but Frankie is confused, and Nick is dealing with People who don't want to work with the government.

While Frankie starts repairing Nick's quilt, she frantically is working to make Harold his own quilt. With out it she fears that he will loose his footing and not know their ways, and to only have the way of the white man would mean he would loose all his history and heritage.

When things start getting stolen, is Harold behind it? Can Frankie learn to trust God, or even Nick? Things aren't what they seem, and as Frankie's Grandmother told her, a bed with out a quilt is like a sky without stars. And that just starts things moving from there.

Wonderful read!
Carol :)

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

A Sky Without Stars

Abingdon Press (February 18, 2014)

by

Linda S. Clare

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Linda S. Clare is an award-winning author and coauthor of several books and has also published many essays, stories, and poems in publications, including The
Christian Reader, The Denver Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Her most recent book is ASky without Stars, the newest release in Abingdon’s Quilts of Love line. Born in Arizona, Linda and her husband now make their home
in Eugene, Oregon, where Linda has taught college-level creative writing classes, and writes, edits, and mentors other writers. She also is a frequent writing conference presenter, a church retreat leader, and mom to four grown children and five wayward cats.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Frankie Chasing Bear is caught between cultures. She wants to raise her son Harold to revere his Lakota heritage, but she also thinks he will need to learn the white man’s ways to succeed. After the untimely death of her husband, Frankie joins the U.S. Government’s Relocation Program and moves to Arizona. There she begins sewing a Lakota Star pattern quilt for Harold with tribal wisdom sung, sewn, and prayed into it.
A bed without a quilt is like a sky without stars, but neither the quilt—nor her new life—comes easily to Frankie. Nick Vandergriff, for instance, is the last man Frankie wants to trust. He’s half-Lakota but Christian, and Frankie can see no good coming from that faith after her own parents were forced to convert at an Indian school. Can Nick convince Frankie that white men and Christians aren’t all bad? And will Frankie learn that love is the most important ingredient—for her son’s quilt and life itself?

If you would like to read the first chapter of A Sky Without Stars, go HERE.

Linda can be reached through the Contact link on her Website 

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1426752792

One Realm Beyond by Donita K. Paul

I dearly love Donita K. Paul's work! I am embarrassed to not have finish all of her last series, but I am scheduling in time for that coming up soon! One Realm Beyond is her newest series!

Cantor D'Ahma is just starting as a realm walker. He has waited for this day, in training from his mentors who have been like parents, for as long as he can recall. The first task of a realm walker is suppose to be to just find his dragon. The one dragon that will be his constant companion for life, a friend and a confidant. Having been told to not settle for the first dragon he finds, Cantor is quite put off with Bridger deciding to claim him. After all, Cantor plans to pick out his own dragon, he is 20 and he can make up his own mind thanks. Bridger is a Mor Dragon, he can shape shift. Shaking Bridger is harder than Cantor though it would be, and with in just hours of being in a new realm Cantor starts to learn all is not as it should be.

Rather off kilter from his first visit with a family living in this realm, Cantor is trying to deal with a dragon who seems to have picked him, and who has a "pet" or constant of his own, when he finds himself being chased!
(Dragons aren't suppose to have constants or pets in Cantor's way of thinking, but Bridger says otherwise.)
His escape, which you will have to read, finds him a very important new friend, Bixby D'Mazeline. She is a petite wood sprite looking young lady 18 years of age, who knows a great deal about realm walking, and has some interesting clothing and accessories. Her mentors have raised her differently than Cantor's have raised him.Cantor is agile body, but he is lacking in some training that his mentors felt was best for him to learn as he went. Now that lack of knowledge may be a serious issue.

We start to learn from Bixby and others, that The Realm Walkers Guild has been corrupted. Who can even say if it is safe to say you are a realm walker? This is a status that to us would be similar to being a knight, a high calling to serve, and now realm walkers and others are under a mind control spell. There is fear among the people, and a great amount of depict that puts lives in danger. This realm serves Primor, as do the true Real Walkers. (You can probably guess who Primor really is!) The Real Walkers have been being changed, and that change is deadly. Will Cantor, Bixby, Bridger and a few other close friends even survive this first real walk?

I am so excited I got to read this book thanks to CSFF toug group! I can't wait to read the next book in this series! Carol :)

One Realm Beyond -  http://www.amazon.com/One-Realm-Beyond-Walkers/dp/0310735807

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Donita K. Paul retired early from teaching school, but soon got bored! The result: a determination to start a new career. Now she is an award-winning novelist writing Christian Romance and Fantasy. She says, “I feel blessed to be doing what I like best.”

She mentors all ages, teaching teenagers and weekly adult writing workshops.

“God must have imprinted 'teacher' on me clear down to the bone. I taught in public school, then home schooled my children, and worked in private schools. Now my writing week isn’t very productive unless I include some time with kids.”

Her two grown children make her proud, and her two grandsons make her laugh.

Donita is an award-winning author of the Dragon Keeper Chronicle series including DragonFire and DragonKnight.

When not writing, she is often engaged in mentoring writers of all ages. Donita lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado where she is learning to paint–walls and furniture! Visit her website at www.dragonkeeper.us.

Web site – http://www.donitakpaul.com/
Blog – http://www.donitakpaul.com/author/blog.html

Participants’ links:
Julie Bihn
Keanan Brand
Beckie Burnham
Mike Coville
Pauline Creeden
Vicky DealSharingAunt
Carol Gehringer
Rebekah Gyger
Janeen Ippolito
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Emileigh Latham
Jennette Mbewe
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Melanie @ Christian Bookshelf Reviews
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nissa
Donita K. Paul
Audrey Sauble
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Jojo Sutis
Jessica Thomas
Steve Trower
Shane Werlinger
Jill Williamson
Deborah Wilson