The Alchemyst - A Review

Two ordinary teens suddenly find themselves having to believe in the stories of myth and legend and magic. Twins Josh and Sophie Newman didn't think that their world would change drastically when they met Nick Flemming until his true identity is revealed as Nicholas Flamel. Magic exists. And that's just the beginning. Will the twins survive the fight and who can they trust?

I've read this book before. It's a fun read. Action packed and it leaves you longing for more. I was introduced to the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series in the aftermath of Harry Potter. I've been eagerly awaiting the 6th and final book in this series, but then realized that I needed to do a massive re-read before reading the 6th book.

I recommend this book and this series to Harry Potter fans, young adults, and anyone who loves to see myth and legend come to life.

Rating - 4 stars

Prize of My Heart Giveaway

I have two copies of Prize of My Heart by Lisa Norato to giveaway. I received both copies from the publisher, Bethany House. I know that this was recently free on the Kindle

One of my best friends took part in the Mary Kay Makeover contest. She had a lot of fun the night we did her makeover. She got to try all of the seasonal products for her after picture. If she makes it to the finals (only the top 100 vote getters will make it) then she will have a chance to be part of the private judging. If she's one of the 3 Grand Prize winners, then she will win a $2500 Visa gift card. And Mary Kay Corporate will donate $5000 to the charity of her choice. She really wants to make it to the finals. She's already chosen her charity - it's an organization that helps to provide medical supplies to children in countries without proper medical care. One of her friends is very active in that organization and I can't remember the name of it though.

How to enter:

1. Leave a comment on my blog telling me your favorite charity or non-profit organization.
2. Follow my blog (you can tell me you follow in the same comment as your favorite charity or as a separate comment).
3. You can get 5 entries for this part - visit the link below and vote for Lynnette P. (spelling counts on searching for her if the link does not take you directly to her picture). You can vote 5 times per day per email address. You need to leave a separate comment telling me how many times you voted. You can do this part daily until June 14th.

Lynnette P.'s Makeover Contest Entry 

Extra entries - send friends to vote for Lynnette and you let me know. Then you'll get one entry per friend you send (who actually votes). 

I will randomly draw two winners on Saturday June 16th. An email address must be included in one of your posts so that I can contact you. 

A Happy Friday

It's finally Friday. And it's been an insane week. At my work, for some reason, we've been very very busy for the past couple of weeks and that means I've been at work until 5:45 or so. Not very fun to come home exhausted and feel like I've only been home for an hour before I up and do something else. My poor Kiki is completely off her schedule. She doesn't know what time I'll be home to give her her dinner. But it's always sweet to get home and to be greeted by a sweet kitty. I pick her up and she purrs LOUDLY at the same time that she's trying to hurry me into the kitchen because she's hungry. Last night we had a thunderstorm pass through here. She darted off the bed and went to hide. Her spots of choice to hide in a storm - under the bed or behind the dryer. She cracks me up. The picture at the top is my sweet Kiki. On HER blanket at the top of my stairs.

The Best Friend - A Review

Lishia Vance went from being popular to being an outcast in a matter of days. Feeling left out at the closeness of the girl she thought was her best friend and a new girl, Lishia finds herself pulling away from her youth group friends and even from God. When she strikes up a conversation with popular, beautiful cheerleader, Riley Atkins, Lishia suddenly finds herself thrust into being a member of the "in crowd." But is the cost too much? Is Riley too good to be true or is she genuine? Lishia doesn't know and it's going to take some pretty interesting events for her to discover what exactly she's looking for.

This book is definitely targeted for teens and preteens. As I'm neither, it was a very quick read for me. Early on, I was able to see the direction that the events were heading, and I found myself hoping that Lishia would have some good Christian friends come to her and tell her that she's heading down a dangerous path.

While this probably won't make my read again list, I did get several important things from the story. The first that it's so easy to get caught up in the trappings of the world because it's "pretty". And to me, that reminded me of what sin looks like in our lives. The second thing  I got from this book is the value of being honest and telling the truth saves you a world of hurt. Also being willing to say you're sorry is another point that the author makes. Overall, this was a very entertaining book and I recommend it to teens and preteens.

I received this book for free from the publisher, Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group, for the purpose of reviewing.

Look for The Best Friend at your favorite bookseller in June 2012 from Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Rating - 3 stars, but it's really more of 3.5 star book for me.

Short Straw Bride - A Review

When Meredith Hayes ventures onto the forbidden Archer land to warn the Archer brothers of a threat, she had no idea that her life was about to change forever. Her message safely delivered, she becomes injured and her reputation in tatters. The four Archer brothers, Travis, Crockett, Jim, and Neill, have lived alone on the ranch since their father died. They don't leave the land. To save Meredith's reputation, one of them must agree to marry her. But which one? Straws are drawn and Travis ends up being the one to hold the short straw. When danger threatens the safety of all on the ranch, the brothers respond, yet will Meredith and Travis find a happy ending of their own?

Having discovered Karen Witemeyer's books last summer, I quickly read threough them. Needless to say I was thrilled when I learned that she had a new book coming out this summer. I'm a little impatient and didn't want to wait to be offered to review this book for the publisher, so I saw it at Lifeway yesterday and picked it up.

I loved the book. I loved how Travis's biggest fear is trusting in God to care for and protect his family. Something he should have been doing for years instead of shouldering the burden on his own. Crockett is a very loveable brother and I didn't want to have the story end as I wanted to know more about Travis's brothers.

I recommend this book to fans of humorous romance,  Mary Connealy fans, and anyone who likes a bit of spunk in their characters.

Rating - 5 stars

 The following is not part of my review on Amazon or Goodreads.

I read a blog post by the author the other day that told me a little bit of the background into this book. She based the book, in part, on the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. If I hadn't already known I was going to read the book, that clinched it for me. That musical is one of my all time favorites and ranks up there with Oklahoma!, Sound of Music, and Newsies. Here is a link to the full blog post. The contest giveaway she had on it is over now, but the post is still worth reading.

Thanks Karen for a wonderful book and I look forward to reading more of yours.

Too Many Thoughts in My Head

My head is full of thoughts today. More like questions really. Most of these questions have to do with writing and publishing so bear with me.

I have a story idea that will be based on what I know of how my grandparents got together. Since it's based on real people, do I sta as accurate as possible and use the real names of my grandparents, their siblings, and their parents? Or do I change the names to become fictional characters? I've got the title already figured out, The Sailor's Sweetheart.

I think that the story/book would be a good fit for the Love Inspired Historical Line, once I get it written that is. It's set around the time of WWII. But how do I make it "religious" when I don't know exactly how religious my grandparents were? I mean I know that they were Catholic, and I'm a born again believer. I know that I can't flat give the plan of Salvation when I'm not sure how "religious" they were.

I can already promise that my writing won't have anything in it that would make me ashamed or would give the wrong impression of the Christian I am. So nothing that will break my own moral code. It'll be clean.

I've got other stories in my head too, and I wonder how can authors keep characters, plots, etc straight for the stories they write or work on. If something is historical, how much research is needed into the time period? How would I submit a manuscript for consideration of being published? I'm one who would want a publishing house to publish it as opposed to self publishing and submitting it onto Amazon as say an e-book.

I follow a couple of really wonderful blogs that have helped me in some of my writing adventure. Seekerville is a blog that is written by several published authors. They always share tips and tell about contests and things too. Jody Hedlund, author of the Preacher's Bride & the Doctor's Lady, is another one I follow and have gained some insightful information.

So my head's full of questions and I have no answers.

Giveaway Winner

And the winner of the the book Love at Last Sight and a special Mary Kay item from my basket is....





SHARISA NELSON!!!!


Congratulations girl! I'll get everything sent out to you by next weekend.

Used random.org to determine the winner.