Wednesday, May 27, 2020

A Nest Was Created....

I am truly amazed every time I see a bird nest. How they can create these little homes for their eggs is incredible. This one was clearly made with horse hair (it was near a barn), weeds, and grasses. How can they weave something like this so quickly? God's creation is something that never ceases to amaze me. 






Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Stay With Me Review + Giveaway

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

Stay with Me
(A Misty River Romance #1)
By Becky Wade
Christian Contemporary Romance
Hardcover, Paperback & ebook, 368 Pages
May 5th 2020 by Bethany House Publishers

Loving her is a risk he can’t afford . . . and can’t resist.

When acclaimed Bible study author Genevieve Woodward receives an anonymous letter referencing her parents’ past, she returns to her hometown in the Blue Ridge mountains to chase down her family’s secret. However, it’s Genevieve’s own secret that catches up to her when Sam Turner, owner of an historic farm, uncovers the source of shame she’s worked so hard to hide.

Sam has embraced his sorrow, his isolation, and his identity as an outsider. He’s spent years carving out both career success and peace of mind. The last thing he wants is to rent the cottage on his property to a woman whose struggles stir his worst failure back to life. Yet, can he bear to turn her away right when she needs him most?

(Affiliate links included.)

Other Books in the Series

Take a Chance on Me
(A Misty River Romance #0.5)
By Becky Wade
Christian Contemporary Romance, Novella
ebook, 97 Pages
February 25th 2020

When baker Penelope Quinn steps in to help her brother’s family through a medical crisis, she’s forced into close proximity with charming Air Force fighter pilot Eli Price.

Penelope has one iron-clad dating rule—she does not date airmen. Months ago, she relaxed her rule with Eli and immediately lived to regret it. After a long deployment, he’s now back in Misty River and, to her dismay, she finds him just as tempting as always.

Eli’s spent months thinking about funny, feisty, creative Penelope. He once leveraged his focus and drive to become a pilot, his childhood dream. Now he's set on leveraging that same focus and drive in order to convince Penelope to give him one more chance.

This romantic prequel novella introduces readers to the quaint mountain town of Misty River and a brand-new series from Christy-winning author Becky Wade!

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Currently FREE

About the Author


Becky Wade is the 2018 Christy Award Book of the Year winner for True to You. She is a native of California who attended Baylor University, met and married a Texan, and moved to Dallas. She published historical romances for the general market, then put her career on hold for several years to care for her children. When God called her back to writing, Becky knew He meant for her to turn her attention to Christian fiction. Her humorous, heart-pounding contemporary romance novels have won three Christy Awards, the Carol Award, the INSPY Award, and the Inspirational Reader's Choice Award for Romance. Becky lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband and three children.


Tour Schedule

There is also a bookstagram tour with its own giveaway. Follow on Instagram.

Tour Giveaway


One winner will receive:
- A $100 gift card
- A paperback copy of Stay with Me
- A hand-knit scarf
- A pair of earrings
- A package of “Georgia Blues” coffee
- A package of apple oatmeal muffin mix


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My Thoughts
I love Becky Wade's books and I am always eager to get my hands on her latest story. This book is the start of a new series so I really had no idea what to expect. I was NOT expecting a character like Genevieve Woodward and she certainly stands out. I liked the overall plot and the strong themes of forgiveness. The only thing I really didn't like is how much she writes about the physical aspect of the characters. I don't really care if his muscles are bulging or that she is perfectly thin. I don't like perfect appearance characters and the physical attributes of both main characters were way over done and brought up too often. 
That being said, Becky Wade takes on some pretty heavy life stuff within this book's pages and I am SO glad she does! Typically Christianity is portrayed as people being perfect in novels and that is definitely not the case in this story nor is it reality. There is one part that really stood out to me that is so true. She is explaining the life choices of an individual who is struggling with addiction. This person gets clean and starts going to church, awesome right? But she tells no one about her struggles. She goes to church and goes home without really connecting with anyone. This is where we often get it so wrong. Because she didn't let anyone in, no one was there when she relapsed. No one knew to pray for her. No one was there for her to confide in. There was no support. Christians can be very secretive perhaps even more so simply to keep up appearances. That is not the point of the church or being part of a church family. It is to help build one another up in Christ not tear each other down. Yes, even in addiction situations. Yes, even in secret sin situations. Here is one of my favorite parts of this book:

"Why was it so hard for Christians to come clean to one another about the sins that had them by their throats? Because of pride? Because every Christian wanted every other Christian to think they were doing it right? That they were strong and good? If so, that was idiotic. His pastor liked to say that the church wasn't about helping sick people become well. It was about bringing dead people to life.  Every single one of them was dead except for Christ. So what was keeping them from trusting other people with their deadness? Why so superficial? Everyone was messed up and hurting. It didn't help to pretend the opposite." (pg 125 Stay with Me)
There is so much to this story but this really stood out to me. She nails it right on the head with this paragraph. So all that say I really did enjoy this book. There were a couple of things that weren't my favorite that took it down a star but overall this was a good story! 
Four Stars. 
"I received this book from Bethany House for free. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review." 















Saturday, May 16, 2020

A Mosaic of Wings Review


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 About the Book

It's 1885, and all Nora Shipley wants, now that she's graduating from Cornell University as valedictorian of the entomology program, is to follow in her late father's footsteps by getting her master's degree and taking over the scientific journal he started. The only way to uphold her father's legacy is to win a scholarship, so she joins a research expedition in Kodaikanal, India, to prove herself in the field.

India isn't what she expects, though, and neither is the rival classmate who accompanies her, Owen Epps. As her preconceptions of India--and of Owen--fall away, she finds both far more captivating than she expected. Forced by the expedition leader to stay at camp and illustrate exotic butterflies the men of the team find without her, Nora befriends Sita, a young Indian girl who has been dedicated to a goddess against her will.

In this spellbinding new land, Nora is soon faced with impossible choices--between saving Sita and saving her career, and between what she's always thought she wanted and the man she's come to love. (Goodreads)





 My Thoughts

I saw the cover of this book and it immediately caught my eye. Then I realized that Kimberly Duffy was a new author and I love discovering new authors! My expectation was pretty high with this story and it didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed the different settings. India is not a common setting within Christian fiction and I found it to be refreshing. It took awhile for me to warm up to Nora as her character wasn't quite what I was expecting. I loved the science part even though that is not an area I am familiar with. For a debut author I found this story to be pretty well written. There were a couple of times I thought it moved a little slow but overall the story line was well done and kept me turning pages. There is a twist midway into the book that I thought added a lot and I also appreciated that the romance side of things wasn't the main focus. If you enjoy historical fiction I think you would like this novel.
I am excited to see what Duffy writes next and eagerly await the next release! 

Four Stars. 

"I received this book from the publisher for free. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review."