With This Ring by Karent Witemeyer, Regina Jennings, Mary Connealy, and Melissa Jaegears

I don't usually enjoy novela collections but when I saw that Karen Witemeyer, one of my favorite authors had a contribution I knew I had to check it out of the library.

The Husband Maneuver by Karen Witemeyer - was a cute little story. If you have read "A Worthy Pursuit" you will enjoy the story of Marietta Hawkins and Daniel Barrett.

Her Dearly Unintended by Regina Jennings - this one will make you laugh with the bickering between the two. They are trying to pretend they are married in front of a stranger but are they fooling him?

Runaway Bride by Mary Connealy - My least favorite of the four. I probably would have enjoyed it more had I read any of the Kincaid series.

Engaging the Competition by Melissa Jaegears - When I first started reading the first few pages I didn't think I would like it and thought it would be my least favorite but by the end I was hooked on the story and it was my favorite of the four stories.

The Made-From-Scratch Life: Simple Ways to Create a Natural Home

The Made-From-Scratch Life: Simple Ways to Create a Natural Home is chocked full of tips on the homestead life including gardening, raising livestock, preserving foods and cooking. I have followed Melissa's blog for a couple of years and always learn something from what she posts on her blog. She also does podcasts and persiscopes and those have been enjoyable also.

If you enjoy the homestead life you will definitely learn from this book; however if you are not a believer in Christ you may be put off reading how her faith works in her everyday homestead life. I am a believer in Christ so this was a great inspiration to me.

Thanks to Harvest House and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book to review. This book is due to be released on February 1, 2016.

Mermaid Moon by Colleen Coble

Mermaid Moon is the second in the series Sunset Cove. When you pick up and read a Colleen Coble novel you come to expect that it will be suspenseful and full of twists and this book did not disappoint. The book caught my interest from the first few pages when Mallory's father is found murdered on his boat. Mallory returns to the town and immediately her life and those she loves is in danger. She reconnects with a Kevin, a former boyfriend from her past. They have a painful history that they have to work through. He helps her in her quest to find out the truth and in the meantime old hurts are healed. I loved that part of the story and how it unfolded.

The theme of this book is second chances. I loved how Mallory and Kevin were able to work out their problem and got the opportunity for a second chance. There is some other characters who had second chances but to mention them would be giving away too much of the story line.

I loved the suspense and mystery in the story. I did not know who to suspect was behind all this until near the end. Sometimes you suspect one person and it turns out not to be the case. I like it when the author writes the story so well that you don't know who to suspect.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for providing me a copy of the novel to preview. Mermaid Moon is due to be released January 12, 2016.

Pure Soapmaking by Anne-Marie Faiola

I have several books on soapmaking in my collection of books and this one seems to be the best so far. I have always wanted to learn to make soap and despite my collection of soapmaking I have never attempted to make soap. This book gives clear instructions on making various kinds of soaps. The illustrations are the best I've seen in any of the soap books. This book may be the one to get me over my fear of making soap.

I'm thinking about getting rid of all my other soap books and get this one in a hard copy when it is released February 9, 2016.

Thanks to Netgalley and Storey Publishing for allowing me  to preview an e-copy of this book.

If I Run by Terri Blackstock

I have read every one of Terri Blackstock's suspense books and this is the first one I've read of hers that was told in the first person. It's told in the viewpoint of two persons. At first I didn't know whether or not I'd like reading it in first person but I quickly got into the flow and did not mind a bit. Having the story told in first person gets you into their mind. The firs person was Cassie Cox. She is on the run because her DNA is all over a murder scent. Her friend Brent was murdered and she knows she will be accused of this murder that she did not commit. Casey assumes the identity of a deceased woman who is approximately her own age. Casey is not a believer but the Lord throws people in her path who are and has an influence on Casey. The other person is Dylan Roberts a discharged military veteran suffering from PTSD. He has been hired by Brent's family to locate Casey. At first he believes Casey to be the killer but the more he studies her character doubts begin to formulate in his mind that she is a killer.

There is another mystery in the story, the story of a missing girl. This mystery is resolved but I will let you the reader know whether or not the girl is found dead or alive. Can't spoil it for you now can I?

I can tell you that if you read this book you won't be able to put it down. Gets really heavy on the suspense on the last few pages!

The only thing I did not enjoy about this book is that it left you hanging. Casey is still on the run. Hopefully, it will be resolved in the next book.

This book is due to be released on February 18, 2016. Thanks to Netgalley and Zondervan for allowing me to read and preview this book.

Nashville Eats by Jennifer Justus

Growing up in Nashville I was very interested in what was in Nashville Eats. I was pleasantly surprised to see some old family favorites. My mother rarely used a recipe so I didn't learn to cook some of these old southern favorites but this books clearly gives recipes for many of the favorites I grew up eating. It did not particularly read like a cookbook which I liked. I enjoyed the stories that went behind many of the recipes. I have several bookmarked that I'm wanting to try. Loved reading some of the history behind the recipes.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a digital copy of this book to review.

Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen

Playing with Fire is a stand alone novel by Tess Gerritsen.  This one does not have her Rizzio and Isles characters. I was not sure if I would enjoy this book with out Maura and Jane in it but this book did not disappoint. It kept me in suspense from the first chapter. Tess Gerritsen is a physician and has always had science behind her novel.  Until the very end I had thought she had gone the way of Stephen King with unexplained things happening to Julie Ansell. Julie was a gifted violinist and had purchased some unpublished sheet music while in Italy. Strange things started happening with her daughter every time she played the piece.

This novel has a dual storyline, the present with Julie and the past which is before World War II started with a Jewish family living in Italy. The father was a Luthier in Italy but the tragic story centered around Lorenzo and Laura. I can't comment too much on the past storyline as it will give too much of the storyline away. All I say is that the past and the future come together in the end.

I thought all the characters were well-developed. The characters were written in such a way that you started to care about them right away. The story was clean.  No sexual situations. Only some chaste kisses. The language was pretty clean also. Only three times where the character in the modern story used curse words.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballatine books for furnishing me an digital copy of this book to read and review. This book is due for release on Ocotber 27.