Christian faith

Tom Crane had it all – a success job in a law firm, the promise of a huge account that would surely make him partner, a girlfriend, pets … until his father died in a tragic fishing accident.  Suddenly losing everything he holds dear, Crane returns to his small Georgian hometown to close down his father’s law practice and bankrupt estate.  Nothing about his father’s country practice is as he expects, however, and Crane finds himself encountering God, old girlfriends, and government officials in a desperate search for truth.  Can he find it – and clear his father’s name at the same time?

As always, Whitlow writes in a clear, concise manner that is easy to read and uses very descriptive words.  The main character’s law specialty, however, is not so easy to understand.  I struggled with the specifics of offshore accounts and which sorts of rules apply to whom and finally just skipped the logistics.  It was enough for me that Crane understood it, and I was able to follow the story without having the technical details straight.  (If you’re a financial genius, I’m sure you’ll have no problems – I’m just more of a cash-on-the-barrel girl.)

It took me a bit longer to get in Crane’s head than it has in Whitlow’s other books, but by the third chapter I was hooked.  I couldn’t wait to find out how Crane would solve the mystery.  With mystery, intrigue, suspense, a bit of romance, and a search for God thrown in, this book is not your typical paperback.

If you’re a mystery lover, be sure to check out Water’s Edge!


I received a free copy of this book from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review.

Charlotte Graham is at the center of the most famous kidnapping in Chicago history. She’s never said a word about what happened. Eighteen years later, she’s still the only one who knows the truth. But, even now, can she risk sharing it?

As a kid I preferred to read books that were part of a series because most books ended long before I was ready to part ways with the characters in them.

So when I picked up Unspoken, Dee Henderson’s newest offering, I really hoped I’d like it – because while it’s not exactly part of a series, it is a hefty novel, and I knew I’d be spending some series time with the people inside its pages.

Fortunately, the only problem I had was being unable to put it down.  After reading the first few chapters in the car, I was quite frustrated with the darkening sky and subsequently stayed up waaayyyy too late to finish it after getting home.

Why?

Charlotte Graham is a fascinating character with a really tough question:  how do you trust a God who will forgive people who have hurt you in unspeakable ways?  Put her strength and intrigue, along with her secretive baggage, alongside Bryce Bishop, who must be one of the most patient and wise men on the planet, and you have a suspense-filled journey.

I really enjoyed seeing how Bishop tried to answer Graham’s questions about faith throughout the first part of the story and about how a marriage might work between them in the second part.  Bishop’s ultimate answer is the same as my husband’s:  “we have time.  We don’t have to be perfect today.  We’ll work it out,” and I think that many marriages would benefit from that same response.

Like Henderson’s other novels in recent history, Unspoken shares characters from her other books and features law officers working to solve a long-cold case.  Bishop and Graham take center stage as the main players in this book, but the added depth from the wide cast of characters makes the story even more interesting – and if you’ve read Henderson’s other books, it’s fun to find out what those characters are now doing.

Woven between the dramatic, emotional scenes that Henderson writes are the suspenseful action scenes that move along the crime drama inherent in the story.  This perfect blend creates a story that is not just blood and gore nor weeping and wailing but instead a gently-paced, hold-your-breath page turner – and turn them I did.  This story tops out at well over 300 pages, but I finished the whole thing in one day because I couldn’t sleep without knowing what happened to Graham and Bishop.

It’s that good.

I received a free copy of Unspoken from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.

When Meg Cole’s father dies unexpectedly, she’s forced to return home to Texas and to Whispering Creek Ranch to take up the reins of his empire. The last thing she has the patience or the sanity to deal with? Her father’s Thoroughbred racehorse farm. She gives its manager, Bo Porter, six months to close the place down.

Bo knows he ought to resent the woman who’s determined to take from him the only job he ever wanted. But instead of anger, Meg evokes within him a profound desire to protect. The more time he spends with her, the more he longs to overcome every obstacle that separates them and earn her love.

Just when Meg realizes she can no longer deny the depth of her feelings for Bo, their fragile bond is broken by a force from Meg’s past. Can their relationship-and their belief that God can work through every circumstance-survive?

Filled with page-turning suspense, The Tutor‘sDaughter takes readers to the windswept Cornwall coast-a place infamous for shipwrecks and superstitions-where danger lurks, faith is tested, and romance awaits.

When Dylan Taylor, a single, flirtatious cowboy begs for help with his blind horse, Annie makes a deal:  she’ll help train Braveheart if he helps her answer the letters.  Annie doesn’t expect problems on every homefront, however, especially not to have feelings for Dylan, an “unreliable cowboy.”  Can Annie overcome her past hurts and find love with this cowboy?

I’ve always liked to read books that have meaning and importance to them.  Ones that have drama and suspense and emotion and really tie you to your chair until you’ve turned the last page.

All that intensity, however, can be a little hard to handle – and now that I’m a busy mom, I appreciate switching up my reading style more than ever.

That’s why I loved The Trouble with Cowboys so much.  It’s a love story involving a cowboy (read: fun) and while there is action and drama and emotion, it’s more of the variety that any of us might face.  We all have to deal with childhood hurts and to face the fear of trusting our hearts to another, and Denise Hunter gives these issues the weight they deserve; at the same time, because you can see into each character’s heart, you have information that makes you omniscient, which keeps the tension resting solely on the characters’ shoulders and off of your own.

Besides all of that, the characters in this book have fun.  They ride horses.  They pretend their lives are Jane Austen novels and they mentally shop for Batman capes and have water battles.  They cry, but they laugh.  This book is just plain enjoyable.

Order a copy here.