Tag: four stars

Shackles: The Truth Will Set You Free

Posted on by Frances

It has been way too LONG since I’ve last written a blog post. The truth is, I’ve been wrapped up in finishing my next series that I’ve not had much time to read or post anything. However, I finally did finish a book I wanted to share with you all. It’s slightly different than I’ve read before: a Christian mystery thriller. Yes, those genres can certainly go together. Let me share with you the book’s information, and then let me tell you my thoughts…

 

 

Shackles: The Truth Will Set You Free

By: Dianne J. Wilson

 

 

 

 

 

Jason is not the kind of guy you would want to take home to mom. He’s foul tempered, a bit of a womanizer and has a conscience that has been collecting dust for years. All that is shaken up though, when he unearths a package of carefully preserved love letters and a portrait while diving off the coast of Africa. So many unanswered questions, the letters snag something inside of him. Intrigued despite himself, he begins to unravel the mystery caught up in pages. He finds himself tangled up in the life of a girl he’s never met… a girl who is in desperate trouble.

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free ~ John 8:32

 

 

What I really enjoyed about this book was that it had multiple stories intertwining toward one unique plot. How everything came together was miraculously written. Very well done. The author also did a great job of weaving in Christian themes that I believe are true to the Bible. I liked the depth of characters and scenery, and it was overall enjoyable.

 

Throughout this book there were a few mistakes, but nothing that made it difficult to read or understand. That paired with not being a book I couldn’t put down (it was enjoyable, but not something I had to keep reading) made me rate this four stars. Yes, I would recommend it. For those liking novels taking place in foreign countries, this is it for you. 

 

 

You can get it for FREE on Amazon at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015GB04IK

Her Big Fat Foxy Billionaire Best Friend

Posted on by Frances

If you are a fan of romance novels, you probably know of the newest fad: billionaire romances. I was actually intrigued with this myself, and decided to read one by a well-known author: Victorine E. Lieske! You may remember I have read many of her romances that are part of her Marriage series. Anyway, many billionaire romances won’t be clean by any stretch of the imagination, so this is nice that I can have a clean read and a billionaire romance in one. 

The first thing you’ll notice is the title. It’s actually a funny, interesting title. It’s called “Her Big Fat Foxy Billionaire Best Friend”. You’ll also notice this is book two in Victorine’s Billionaire series. They are all standalones so it doesn’t matter that I read this first. 

Let me share with you a picture and the blurb:

 

Miranda Moore is devastated when her fiancé dumps her right before her wedding. Luckily her best friend, Drew Tucker, comes to her rescue, agreeing to go with her on the Star Venture cruise trip she booked. But he’s changed, and strange new feelings towards him are making it hard for Miranda to stay focused. She needs to keep her friendship with Drew. Falling in love would ruin everything!

Drew’s been in love with Miranda since he could remember. But unfortunately, she only thinks of him as a friend. When she gets dumped right before her dream cruise trip, he agrees to go with her to get her mind off her ex. Too bad it kills him to be with her, knowing she could never return his affections.

 

The first thing I want to mention is that this book is right in line with what I would expect from Victorine. It was a sweet romance with a happy ending. Completely clean in every sense of the word. I enjoyed the cruise part of the book, and the “geeky” nature of it. I’d say it was fun and enjoyable.

However, I do want to say that it didn’t stand out to me as anything spectacular. There was no ‘wow’ factor. Basically, nothing that would make me remember this book years from now. It doesn’t mean this is necessarily bad, it’s just nothing awesome. 

For all the reasons above, I rated this book 4 stars. 

If you’d like to get a copy of Her Big Fat Foxy Billionaire Best Friend by Victorine E. Lieske, please go here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0781614VF/

Acting Married

Posted on by Frances

I bring to you another review installment from one of Victorine E. Lieske’s The Married Series books. This time I read the book ‘Acting Married’. It’s the fifth book in this series. If you recall, I’ve also read the second book called ‘Reluctantly Married’ and the third book called ‘Mistakenly Married’. You can find their respective reviews HERE and HERE. And, as you can see, The Married Series books do not need to be read in order. All of them are standalone sweet romances. 

Without further ado, here is the information on Acting Married, as well as my review!

 

ACTING MARRIED

By: Victorine E. Lieske

Tara McDermott needed a job, so she took the only thing available—cleaning house for the swoon-worthy actor, and Hollywood Bad Boy, Rick Shade. When he comes up with a crazy plan to tame his wild reputation by marrying her, she reluctantly agrees so she can pay off her debts and move her daughter back to the Midwest where life is simpler. If only he wouldn’t make her heart pound every time he kisses her.

Rick’s reputation is in the toilet and it’s affecting his job. In order to get a good role, he needs to show Hollywood he’s now a family man. After enticing Tara with a large sum of money to go through with the farce, he sets out to show the public he’s in love. But Tara’s soft lips keep calling to him and soon he doesn’t know what’s pretend and what’s real.

 

I have to admit that out of the three books I’ve read so far in this Married Series, I enjoyed this one the best. However, I think it fits right in line with the others. They’re sweet. They’re clean. They end happily-ever-after, the way a good romance should, in my opinion. Perhaps what made me like this one most was that it has some Hollywood-ness to it. 

The author did a great job writing this book. It flowed nice, and I loved how each character had the same amount of time devoted to them. It helped me to connect with them, and have a deeper grasp on how they felt towards the other. In my opinion, that just makes for good attraction, tension, and ultimately, a head-over-heels-in-love romance.

With all of this in mind, I rated the book four stars. It was one star away from perfect because of the ending. It’s not that the ending was bad. It’s just that I felt it lacked a punch or something. I can’t put my finger on it, so I apologize for being very vague. I still enjoyed the book very much, and would totally recommend to those looking for a clean, sweet romance to read. 

To get your own copy, you can go to this link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TKH2VK

Love & Respect

Posted on by Frances

Are you married? Engaged? Dating? Or someone looking to improve your relationships? I know there are a lot of great reads out there on how to do so, but here is one both my husband and I have recently read.

 

Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs

By: Emerson Eggerichs 

 

 

Here is the short blurb from Amazon’s website regarding this book: Reveals the secret to couples meeting each other’s deepest needs–without love she reacts without respect, and without respect he reacts without love, and a painful, negative cycle begins.

My husband and I actually got this book a long time ago, I think as a wedding gift. When we started reading it, we stopped after the first section because, quite frankly, we both felt that too much pressure was put on the woman in the relationship. It seemed like Emerson was saying that the woman needs to be more respectful, and because she isn’t, the man was unloving and it was okay to be so. We also saw at least one example that he clearly put the woman in the wrong, and we just felt it clearly wasn’t so. Needless to say, we donated the book without finishing.

Moving forward to 2018. Our church was offering a class called Love & Respect. We like finding ways to improve our marriage so we thought we’d take it. It never dawned on us that this might be related to the book that we once tried. The first day of class was slightly shocking because we got our book, and it was this one. We were not thrilled to even read it, but of course we would seeing as it was part of the class.

This time we finished it! Again, years later, we still didn’t like that first section of the book. However, it got so much better. I think that Emerson gave great examples later on, on how to energize your relationships and even gain rewarding relationships. And even though the book ended up being far better than we realized, the video series we did in the class was so much better! We found Emerson to be quite funny!

I decided to rate this book four stars. It’s one shy of perfect because of the first part we don’t care for so much. But if you get passed that, it’s actually really good. 

Love & Respect is geared toward married couples. However, do not hesitate to try it if you’re engaged or dating. It never hurts to start the relationship or soon-to-be married journey off on the right foot! There’s a lot of great things in here. And for those that are single and not looking to be a part of any relationship, it can still work. This can be beneficial for the relationship between co-workers, parents and children, any man-woman relationship really.

Bottom line, it helps you recognize why the opposite gender may act one way. It gives you tools to reverse it. And it gives hope that regardless of how the other responds, you can be rewarded for doing the right thing. See, good for anyone! 

Like I said, the video series is way better so I’d recommend that over the book, but this is easier to get a hold of probably so this works, too. To get your copy, please go to:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591451876/

 

Best Kind of Broken – A New Adult Romance

Posted on by Frances

For Thanksgiving last year, my family and I were able to visit my sister in the Washington, D.C. area. While enjoying our time together, she had mentioned she had some books that I might be interested in. I took a look at them, and noticing they were romances, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to read them. They are both paperbacks, which I have to get used to again, but she was willing to give them to me for free so that works!

The first book that I chose to read of the two was a book by Chelsea Fine, called Best Kind of Broken. It’s a new adult romance, a genre I don’t have a lot of experience with. I do know that this genre tends to be filled with a little more passion/sex so I hoped the book wouldn’t be bombarded with it. Thankfully, it wasn’t!

Anyway, before I share with you all my thoughts/review, here are the basics of this book:

Best Kind of Broken

By: Chelsea Fine

 

SOMETIMES MOVING ON MEANS MOVING IN

Pixie Marshall wishes every day she could turn back time and fix the past. But she can’t. And the damage is done. She’s hoping that a summer of free room and board working with her aunt at the Willow Inn will help her forget. Except there’s a problem: the resident handyman is none other than Levi Andrews. The handsome quarterback was once her friend-and maybe more–until everything changed in a life-shattering instant. She was hoping to avoid him, possibly forever. Now he’s right down the hall and stirring up feelings Pixie thought she’d long buried . . .

Levi can’t believe he’s living with the one person who holds all his painful memories. More than anything he wants to make things right, but a simple “sorry” won’t suffice–not when the tragedy that scarred them was his fault. Levi knows Pixie’s better off without him, but every part of him screams to touch her, protect her, wrap her in his arms, and kiss away the pain. Yet even though she’s so close, Pixie’s heart seems more unreachable than ever. Seeing those stunning green eyes again has made one thing perfectly clear–he can’t live without her.

 

What did I think?

This is a tale of two broken souls finding home in one another. After a tragic accident, two people are left scarred, guilty, and feeling like they’re left to blame. When they open up, both find acceptance, forgiveness, and the love they had before their worlds were turned upside down.

What I think worked well was the author did a fantastic job alternating between the male and female point of view, each chapter switching from one to the next. Writing in first person really helped me engage with the characters, feeling what they would/did feel. The storyline was well-written. I really felt like I was a part of the story. And reading the novel this way, it’s making me love first person point of view more and more. I might even try to write a novel this way!

The thing I didn’t like, which is why I only rated it four stars instead of five, was some of the language and scenes of sexual nature. Although, I don’t feel any of it was overdone, it was still enough for me to knock it down from perfect. New adult novels are known for this, as mentioned above, so if you’re interested in reading this, please do keep that in mind. And again, it wasn’t as bad as other new adult stories that are out there (from what I’ve heard).

Overall, yes, I rated it just four stars. It really was a great novel by a talented author. For those who like to read new adult romance, this would be perfect!

If you are interested in reading this book, you can find a copy of it here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EHMG34E/

 

 

A Christmas Romance With Dogs!

Posted on by Frances

Christmas may be over, but that doesn’t mean we need to stop reading holiday novels! I find novels of this type are heartwarming, happy, and magical. There’s always time for that. And seeing as it’s winter in half the world, there’s no better time to read a book that takes place during this time of year.

The book I am about to share with you is not only about Christmas. It’s also about dogs! Well, sort of. There’s a cute golden retriever that plays a very important role in the romance part of the story. Here it is:

 

NOELLE’S GOLDEN CHRISTMAS

By: Tamie Dearen

When it comes to the Christmas season, Noelle Holiday is a real Scrooge…

December isn’t filled with the magic of Christmas for Noelle, just the looming dread she’s about to lose something else dear to her. Will she ever be rid of her Christmas curse?

When she adopts an injured shelter dog, she discovers the love of her life… a Golden Retriever named Abby. Perhaps being single is God’s plan for her, but at least she isn’t alone.

Her meddling family, however, is convinced she needs a man in her life. They introduce her to two irresistible men who couldn’t be more alike. Or more different. Both men sweep into her life, testing her faith, and stirring up desire and confusion in equal measure.

If she can just get through this humbug holiday without another heartache!

This sweet Christmas Romance tells the story of a believer, struggling to implement her faith in her everyday walk and battling fear to find the agape love that drives it away.

BONUS: Within this book you will find a link to hear an original song, a replay of the event which takes place in the story. Enjoy!

 

Noelle’s Golden Christmas is the first book in the Holiday, Inc. Christian Romance series. If you remember correctly, you’ll know that I have already read book number two, Haley’s Hangdog Holiday, which you can find the review for at HERE. As you may have guessed, you can read out of order as these can be standalone. And, before I forget, book number three, Shara’s Happy New-foundland Year, is now available!! You can find that HERE.

 

Anyway, I have to admit that I liked Haley’s Hangdog Holiday better than Noelle’s Golden Christmas. However, Noelle’s Golden Christmas was pretty good. As typical with all of Tamie Dearen’s work, the writing is phenomenal. The characters are well-developed. The scenes are written so that you really feel like you’re in the novel. I also love the dogs in these novels. I think it’s neat to add this extra story to the romance.

What I didn’t particularly like this time around was that the romance was rushed in my opinion. There’s chemistry at first, but by the end of the novel, they’re so in love and are engaged, and it’s only been like a month. I know that sometimes that works for people, but to me, that’s not typical. So, I didn’t feel a connection like I had hoped.

It is a clean novel, and one that I would totally recommend. I’ll even be reading the third book at some point. But Noelle’s Golden Christmas didn’t totally do it for me. And I hate saying that because I really love Tamie Dearen’s work. Having said all this, I am rating the book four stars instead of five.

Of note, there is some tough issues mentioned – eating disorders and harming oneself. But it is done tastefully and there is redemption!

Plus, this book comes with a song!!! Go check it out!

To read Noelle’s Golden Christmas, you can download it at:

www.amazon.com/dp/B017JPAANK

 

 

 

 

 

Not What She Seems

Posted on by Frances

How about another thriller? I’ve been doing a lot of those lately, haven’t I. All for good reasons, as I’ve shared before. This one, however, isn’t quite a thriller. It’s more a suspense. There’s also a romantic element to it, which sweetens it up a bit. Would you like to know more about this book? Let me share!

 

Not What She Seems

By: Victorine E. Lieske

 

Steven Ashton, a billionaire from New York, and Emily Grant, on the run from the law…and when they meet he can’t help falling for her. What he doesn’t know is that interfering in her life will put his own life in danger.

When billionaire Steven Ashton couldn’t stand his high society social life anymore, he left the stress of New York on a vacation for his soul. The need to meet real down to earth people led him to a small Nebraska town. He didn’t want to lie about who he was, but he couldn’t exactly tell them the truth.

Emily could have easily fallen in love with Steven, under different circumstances, but her past was catching up with her and she needed a new life. If the authorities found out about her, she could lose the one thing that meant everything, her four year old son.

 

I have read other books by Victorine E. Lieske before. I figured this one would be a good one to try. After all, she’s great with her romance novels! So how does she do with suspense? Let’s find out. I’ll first share what I liked.

Not What She Seems is very well-written. I thought the storyline was enjoyable and easy to follow. I love that it’s a clean novel. Many books in this genre tend to be even just a slightly bit dirty. This one wasn’t whatsoever. So that’s a huge plus. Especially for those younger people who like to read suspense. Another huge plus was that you never find out the culprit until the very end. I have to admit that it wasn’t someone I had suspected so kudos to Victorine for keeping it a mystery!

Was there anything I didn’t like? There were a couple of things. The first was that toward the end, I had to reread some parts just to make sure I was following right. Overall, the book is very easy to follow and makes tons of sense. There was just a few parts at the end where I had to recheck. Another downfall is that much of the story was predictable. Not so much the biggest part of the book, but much of the rest was. Lastly, I wasn’t feeling the romance aspect of the story at all. It was cute, but didn’t do anything for me.

All in all, I rated this four stars! If you go to the Amazon page for this novel, which I have the link just below, you’ll see that it has tons of reviews all in favor of this story. It’s also a New York Times Bestseller so that says something, right? Okay. Now that I said my piece, go check it out!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003HS5LRO

Velocity by Dean Koontz

Posted on by Frances

I’m in the process of writing my first thriller novel, which I’m totally excited about. To do so, I want to prepare myself the best way possible. How do I do that? By reading thriller novels, of course! My sister recommended one, and upon reading the book’s blurb, I was hooked, and wanted to get my hands on a copy pronto. Thank goodness for libraries! (I say that because a book by a best-selling author costs more than I’m willing to spend right now.)

Let me first share with you a little bit about the book, including the cover and blurb, and then I’ll go into what my thoughts are.

Velocity

By Dean Koontz

If you don’t take this note to the police . . . I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. . . . If you do . . . I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have six hours to decide. The choice is yours.
  
The typewritten note under his windshield seems like just a sick joke. But in less than twenty-four hours, Billy Wiles, an ordinary, hardworking guy, is about to see his life take on the speed of a nightmare. Because a young blond schoolteacher is murdered—and now Billy has another note. And another deadline. This time he knows it’s no joke. He’s racing a killer faster than evil itself. And Billy must accept his terrifying challenge: The choice is yours.
 
Think fast. Fear never slows down. . . .

 

Sound goods, right? It did to me! And after reading it, I thought that it was amazing. That’s why I rated it four stars! Let me elaborate.

Dean Koontz did a wonderful job describing the story. There was never a dull moment. I thought it all came together rather nicely. Throughout, I was left wondering who could be the culprit. I also think that the whole premise is crazy! With these hard choices, there’s no way I could make a decision. What a creative thinker Mr. Koontz is. I applaud him for that.

If I liked it so much, why just four stars? Why not a perfect five? There are three reasons why I took this book off from the perfect throne:

  1. Some descriptions were too many, in my opinion. I thought there was information we just didn’t need.
  2. I felt the ending was too easy. Once we figure out things and the victim works his way to victory, it all just goes too quickly. There was barely a fight.
  3. I also didn’t like how the character was too “at ease” with everything. There is no way a person, going through what this character did, would handle it the way he did.

But overall, I liked the book. I’m glad my sister recommended it. I would recommend it as well. To warn you, though, it isn’t clean. But that shouldn’t really come as a surprise, seeing as it’s Dean Koontz and all.

Here is the link to the book’s Amazon page for you to check it out some more:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345533461

 

Reluctantly Married

Posted on by Frances

Reluctantly Married is the second installment of the Married Series by best-selling author Victorine E. Lieske. This is also the second book from this series that I have read. You can find my post about Mistakenly Married HERE.

Because these are all standalone novels, you can read them in any order. That explains why I have yet to read the first, lol! Someday, though!

Anyway, back to the review. Let me share with you the cover to this book, as well as its blurb, before filling you in on what I liked, didn’t like, and my overall rating.

 

Megan Holloway can’t stand her local morning show co-host, Adam Warner, even though he’s a total hunk. He goads her on-air until she says things she regrets. But since ratings increase each time they have an on-air fight, the producer encourages his behavior.

When a relationship specialist comes onto the show purporting that Adam has hidden feelings for her, she reluctantly agrees to go out with him—on camera. What starts out as one date turns into a viral dating show with Megan and Adam alternating between locking lips and knocking heads.

As Megan fights her growing attraction to Adam, their popularity increases and ABC takes notice, offering them their own program. Not a morning show like Megan is hoping, but a dating show in which she and Adam must marry at the end. With the promise of a hundred thousand dollars and the possibility of scoring what she really wants, her own national program, she signs on.

What she doesn’t know is that Adam has fallen in love with her, and his objective is to get her to do the same.

 

MY REVIEW

This book reminded me of two TV shows. One was Full House. There is an episode where Danny Tanner and Vicki Larson bicker on set. Maybe not exactly bicker, but you can tell there’s tension. Later in the season you see they end up dating and so forth. This is exactly the type of atmosphere you’ll find in Reluctantly Married. The two main characters are co-hosts. You can tell there’s tension. At first it’s for ratings, but things eventually get real.

Another show it reminded me of was The Bachelorette. The climax of this story is the two main characters doing a show pretty much exactly the way The Bachelorette goes. There’s more than one man trying to win the female’s heart. In the end they get engaged.

So having said that, I thought it was kind of cool to relate to some things I have seen before.

The storyline is clean and well written, and started out fun at first. I liked having the “war” between the two characters. There’s even this one date night activity I’d like to try with my husband. If I do, I’ll blog it so you can all know!

There were a couple of things I didn’t like. I didn’t think this was a comedy, even though that’s what the book’s page on Amazon stated. However, that’s just my opinion. I also thought that the storyline got old. Like I said, started out fun at first. After that, though, I just wanted them to move on with it. The whole dating dragged on.

One final thing was how it ended. For most of the book, we see the female’s view. She’s falling for the male. Occasionally you get a small idea that the male is falling for the female, but not enough to warrant the ending. Basically, at the end, it’s the male character declaring his “love”, but I just didn’t feel it. I would have thought the female would have.

All that said, the ending was still great. I always like happy endings!

I have rated this book 4 stars! If you’d like to read for yourself, please go to:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QEE7MHA

Water Under the Bridge

Posted on by Frances

When most people say the phrase “water under the bridge,” it’s to mean events or situations that are in the past, and therefore, are no longer important or needed to be concerned about. I’m not about to rehash any water under any of my bridges, but I do want to fill you in on a book that goes by this phrase. I’m talking about Water Under the Bridge by Britney King. Take a look:

 

As a woman who feels her clock ticking every single moment of the day, former bad girl Kate Anderson is desperate to reinvent herself. So when she sees a handsome stranger walking toward her, she feels it in her bones, there’s no time like the present. He’s the one.

 
Kate vows to do whatever it takes to have what she wants, even if that something is becoming someone else. Now, ten pounds thinner, armed with a new name, and a plan, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s created in her mind.

But Kate has secrets. 

And too bad for her, that handsome stranger has a few of his own.
With twists and turns you won’t see coming, Water Under The Bridge examines the pressure that many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a protagonist whose hard edges and cutthroat ambition will leave you questioning your judgment and straddling the line between what’s right and wrong.

 

First off, I want to warn you that this is a slightly dark fiction. Having said that, it’s not clean. As with many thrillers, there is some language. There is also very brief talk of sex, but nothing too graphic mentioned in that department. And there is quite a bit of violence. After all, the two main characters are murders for various reasons.

What I found fascinating about this novel is that it was laid out different than I have ever seen before. Each chapter went back and forth between the female’s point of view and the male’s. You’d think that would make for some possible confusion, but the author did a great job keeping things straight, having the stories match up, and keeping the dialogue flowing nicely so that the reader doesn’t miss out on anything.

I believe the author also did a fantastic job with details. How the characters connected, the chemistry and commitment they had for one another, was well woven in, and made for a great domestic/psychological thriller.

Although I enjoyed the book, I rated it one star shy of perfect…in other words, just four stars. I don’t think there are twists and turns as the book’s blurb indicated, at least nothing that caught me off guard. I also didn’t think there was a lot of depth. It was more following along with how the characters met, got married, and moved on from a possible divorce.

Before I go, I want to mention that this book is FREE. It’s also the first in the Water Trilogy series so there is even more to the story than just this book. To find out more, please visit here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M98YZWL