Love Story by Karen Kingsbury

Love Story is the 26th book Karen Kingsbury has written about the Baxter family. There are five in the Redemption series, five in First Born series, four in Sunrise, four in the Bailyey Flanigan series, and then there is Coming Home and A Baxter Family Christmas. You don't have to worry about getting lost and not knowing what is going on. Karen does an excellent job at the beginning of the book reviewing what has happened with all her characters. She names all the children, their spouses and all their children. She reviews events that has happened. So really you don't have to read all the previous 25 books unless you have plenty of time. Knowing more details about the history of the characters just would help you get inside their minds more easily.

In this book John Baxter's grandson Cole is doing a school project on family history. He wants to write about John Baxter and his first wife Elizabeth who is the mother of all John's children. Sadly she had died ten years earlier from cancer.  As John remembered back on his and Elizabeth's love story I knew there was sadness there. After all I had read the previous 25 books! I thought I was prepared but I still had wet eyes at one point in the story.

There is also a second story in the book which is about the on again and off again romance of Andi Elison and Cody. Some people reading these books were not happy that Bailey and Cody did not work out. Several books in the series were pointing toward they having their happy ever after ending but that didn't happen. She fell in love with an up and coming actor.  Reading Andi and Cody's story may make some people feel a little better about the  union that maybe they were meant to be together after all.

So all and all I liked this book but there is one thing that is bothering me that is inconsistent with the previous book.  In the previous book it was mentioned at the beginning of the book that John Baxter was 60 years old.  In this book he meets Elizabeth in 1967. She is 19 and John is five years older which would make him 24 years old.  If he was 24 years old in 1967 then he should be about 74-75 now. Also, when Ashley was talking with Cole about her mother she told Cole that her mother was barely in her 60s when she died of cancer 10 years ago.  John would have been 65 then and 10 years later would be 74 and not 60 in the last book, A Baxter Family Christmas. I guess some people don't notice details like this but I do.

Thanks Howard Books and Netgalley for providing me a digital copy of this book to review. This book is due to be released on June 6,  2017.

What the Bishop Saw by Vannetta Chapman

Henry Lapp is a widower in his mid 60s and the bishop in his close-knit Colorado Amish community. He is loved by his congregation and he is well-respected by the law. Henry has a God given skill that he has had since a child. He can re-create detailed drawings of things he has seen, things that are in his sub-conscious mind. When an unlikable person in the Amish community dies he decides to help the law to clear this man's name and then continues to help the law find the real culprit.

This book kept me guessing. I had no idea who it was until the suspect revealed himself. I loved all the characters and can't wait to visit with them again in more of the Bishop Mystery books. There was a touch of romance in this book but not a great deal. I saw on Amazon that the second one in the series, When the Bishop Needs an Alibi will be released on August 29, 2017.

What the Bishop Saw will be released on April 25, 2018. Thanks to Netgalley and Harvest House Publishers for providing me an digital copy of this book to review.

Moving Target by Lynette Eason

Moving Target is book 3 in the Elite Guardians series and focuses on Maddie McKay and Quinn Holcombe. We first learned of Maddie in the first book when she was critically injured in an attack. At that time her life was hanging on a thread but she survived. She has an on again and off again relationship with Quinn. Maddie and Quinn are kidnapped by someone evil wanting to involve them in a cat and mouse type of game. He traps them and then sets them free on an island but can they survive. Did Maddie survive being critically injured to die so soon? I loved how the story unfolded. It kept me in suspense. I wound up staying up late to finish reading it. I read some other reviews that compared it to be like a combination of Hunger Games and Survivor. I kept trying to guess who the villain or villains were but this book took me totally by surprise. I look forward to reading the next book in the series which is Chasing Secrets that is due out Summer 2017. I am sure that it will be as suspenseful as this one. Thanks to Netgalley and Revell for providing me a digital copy of the book to review.

A Note Yet Unsung by Tamera Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Note Yet Unsung is the third book in the Belmont Mansion series and I think it was my favorite. I loved the plot, the characters and how the story flowed. I fell in love with Tate and Rebekah as a couple about halfway into the book when Rebekah met Tate's family. I absolutely loved his family. They were the kind of people you love to be around. On the last few pages there was a twist that I was not expecting. I'm not even going to give you a clue. You will have to read all 400+ pages to find out! This book was really good. I am hoping this is not the last book in the series. I would love to find out what happens with Tat's illness.


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Raging Storm by Vannetta Chapman

Raging Storm is second in the Remnant series. I started this book and could not put it down. There is something constantly going on. Shelby is on a mission to find insulin for her diabetic son. He currently has some but his supply will run out soon and there is none locally so she must travel to Austin Texas to find some but she is not alone. She travels with four other friends. Along the way their lives are in constant jeopardy. It is a fight for survival. The world has changed and Shelby and her group find they must do things that no human should have to do in a lifetime. Along the way they meet new friends, people of the remnant who help them in their journey. There are some twists in the story but I don't want to give too much of the story away. The story left the reader with a cliff hanger. I can't wait to read the next story in the series to find out what happens. This book was a clean read with no sexual situations but there is a some violence.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harvest House Publishers for providing me a digital copy of this book to read and review. Raging Storm is available to purchase on February 1, 2017.

An Uncommon Protector by Shelley Gray

An uncommon Protector is book 2 in the Lone Star Hero series which centers around a brotherhood of men who became friends while prisoners of war during the War of Norther Aggression. These brotherhood of friends make a vow to be there for each other if every help is needed. This book features Thomas Baker one of the men. Thomas Baker has no family, his dying when he was just a lad. After the war was over he landed in jail because of gambling debt that he could not pay. He's hired on at Laurel Tracey's farm for a day. There is an instant attraction there between him and Laurel. He still has to go back to jail but when he is put up for sale Laurel purchases his release and he becomes an indentured servant for a year. He immediately goes into protective mode to protect her from all those wanting to harm her. There is no mystery as to who the bad guys are. You find out pretty early in the book. Thomas comes to realize that he has to call on the brotherhood of friends to help him confront the villains who want to harm Laurel and drive her off her farm.

I enjoyed reading this book better than the first one in the series. I think the characters and the storyline was developed better. I look forward to reading more stories in this series. Thanks to Netgalley and Zondervan for providing me a digital copy of this book to review. An Uncommon Protector is due to be released on February 7, 2017.

The Art of Stone Painting by F. Sehnaz Bac

After looking at this book I want to go out and find me some nice smooth stones to paint. Coloring books are currently the craze but the idea of painting stones pretty bright colors is appealing to me. Lots of great ideas in this book and simple instructions to get you started. I'm thinking about using some of the designs included in this book and maybe put a bible verse on the back.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dover books for providing me a digital copy of this book to review. This book will release on January 18, 2017.