Five Star Review: Chasing Sunsets | Eva Marie Everson

When a mid-life divorce strikes control-freak Kimberly Tucker, she has trouble understanding how her perfect marriage with her perfect husband, that produced 2 such perfect boys, has gone so horribly wrong. She fights ex-husband Charlie at every turn.

When her boys leave to spend the first weeks of their summer with Charlie, her father sends her to the family's summer home in the Keys to keep her mind occupied.

Her trip to Cedar Keys is full of revelations...and full of her high school summer love, Steven Granger.

As she makes new friends, repairs old friendships, and rekindles her love with Steven, she finds a little of herself and lets go of a little, too!

This is a great read; another book that I had trouble putting down. Eva Marie Everson very nearly paints pictures with her words and I often felt I was watching a movie instead of reading a book with such vivid imagery!

With the hundreds of free books available on Kindle, and with my Kindle Unlimited subscription, I rarely spend money on e-books (if I must pay, I'd rather have a physical book) but I'm off to buy Waiting for Sunrise because I can't wait until I find it in a store or it gets shipped to me!

*this is not an author-sponsored review*

Four Star Review: Runaway Heart | Teresa Slack

Teresa Slack delivers a classic love story, though poor Kyla Parrish doesn't know her own worth. This novel is a perfect demonstration of how we let the "sins of our fathers" hold us back from the wonderful things God wants for us, the things he has in store for us.

I wanted to shake Kyla and scream at her and say, "Don't you get it?! You can seek forgiveness for HER sins and be set free and live in God's Grace and in Will's life!" But, that is just how REAL the characters in this story are!

Four stars instead of five, only because some of the conversion story felt contrived and because Brandon's conniving annoyed me and I think the story line would have played itself out just as well if he had just been a neighborly guy.

Great job, Teresa! This was my first read of one of your novels and I can't wait for more!

*this is not an author-sponsored review*

Five Star Review: Love by the Letter | Melissa Jagears

Love by the Letter is a novella by writer Melissa Jagears and, set in the late 1800's, is a fabulous yet atypical mail-order-bride story. I love that it wasn't chock full of the typical mail-order-bride bliss that we see in a lot of this type of story.

Dex has to overcome his embarrassment at being a poor reader & writer; and Rachel has to overcome her fears of being "too smart" for the one man she's ever loved. Their love story is endearing and Rachel's parents' interactions in it are cute & so relatable.

I must admit that novellas usually frustrate me because I always feel like they give you "just enough" to get you hooked and then just end without a resolution. Melissa Jagears does a fantastic job of holding my attention, giving me resolution, AND driving me to want to read more of what she has to offer!

I'm happy that my Kindle e-book edition included a sneak of A Bride for Keeps which promises more atypical mail-order-bride writing and I can't wait to purchase it & read more about how the lives of Rachel, Dex & their good friend Everett turn out!

Five Star Review: Crooked Lines | Holly Michael

First off, let me say... Please, Holly, don't let that be the end of their story!

Now then, Crooked Lines shares the stories of a broken teenage girl in America and a teenage boy in India destined for the Catholic priesthood. From the very beginning you get the sense that their stories are entangled. I like that each chapter parallels the life stages of Rebecca and Sagai.

I also appreciate that the players in this novel are relatable; they screw up and they make bad choices and they make good choices and they ask forgiveness and they move on with their lives and they love and they laugh and they cry. And, most importantly, they don't give up on their dreams; even when those dreams take years to discover!

I read a LOT of Christian fiction and I sometimes feel like the delivery of the gospel throughout is contrived. I am happy to say, Crooked Lines is not more of the same!

I give this book a hearty Five Stars and I can't wait to see how their story continues (*hopefully*)!