When nurse Hanne Abrahamsen impulsively shields Steffen Petersen from a nosy Gestapo agent, she’s convinced the Lutheran pastor is involved in the Danish Underground. Nothing could be further from the truth.

But truth is hard to come by in the fall of 1943, when Copenhagen is placed under Martial Law and Denmark’s Jews—including Hanne—suddenly face deportation to the Nazi prison camp at Terezin, Czechoslovakia. Days darken and danger mounts. Steffen’s faith deepens as he takes greater risks to protect Hanne. But are either of them willing to pay the ultimate price for their love?

This book is based around the days of 1943, WWII, a Lutheran Pastor named Steffen, and a Jewish Nurse named Hanne.  Set in a time I have never known, other than through books, I found that this particular story at times took my breath away as I put myself in the characters world.   Steffen steps outside his comfort zone of “behind the pulpit” and the pages begin to turn…

Is it possible to love and hate a book?

Never a fan of war related stories, this one, held on to me.   I had no problem at all staying entirely engrossed in this fictional, historical, Christian read, that brought this horrible war and this incredible love to my home.

There  are so many things in this world that I have not lived or experienced, and author Robert Elmer, through a fictitious read about a true war, brought a piece of history to me that I had not really known.  I now feel in my heart – that I have a little of that fear, that “hold on to your faith” through everything knowledge, because of this book.

Robert Elmer is a former pastor, reporter and as copywriter who now writes from he home he shares with his wife Ronda in northern Idaho. He is the author of over fifty books, including eight contemporary novels for the adult Christian audience and several series for younger readers. Combined, his books have sold more than half a million copies worldwide. Like his popular “Young Underground” youth series, Wildflowers of Terezin was inspired by stories Robert heard from his Denmark-born parents and family. When he’s not sailing or enjoying the outdoors, Robert often travels the country speaking to school and writers groups.

To read the first chapter of Wildflowers of Terezin, go HERE.

My Amazon Rating

I received my review copy from Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

The year is 1945. The war is over and 21-year-old Betty Lake has been invited to Europe to sing in a USO tour for American soldiers who now occupy Hitler’s Germany. The first nights performance is a hit. Betty becomes enthralled with the applause, the former Nazi-held mansion they’re housed in and the attention of Frank Witt, the US Army Signal Corp Photographer. Yet the next night this songbird is ready to fly the coop when Betty’s dear friend, Kat, turns up missing.

Betty soon realizes Franks photographs could be the key to finding Kat. Betty and Frank team up against post-war Nazi influences and the two lovebirds’ hearts may find the answers…in each other.

But will they have a chance for their romance to sing? The truth will be revealed under a German moon.

I have read Tricia Goyer before and have enjoyed her writing style.   Under A German Moon is the first Historical Fiction read I have read by this author.

I found myself sitting back and enjoying this mystery suspense read.  Tricia has a knack of bring characters to life, and while her suspense is not “on the edge of your seat” style.… it is enough of an impact where you want to keep reading, you want to know what is going to happen.

As the novel continues on and Betty searches for her friend…. and somewhere in the midst of her searching – finds that she is also searching for herself.   Tricia Goyer puts historical details in place of building and scenery into this after WWII story.

This mystery part of the story I enjoyed more than the romance story between Betty and Frank.  As one who will choose a mystery over a romance read any day, that is just me.

Tricia blends the story together nicely and I came out the other side satisfied with the book.

About Tricia:

Tricia Goyer is the author of twenty-four books including From Dust and Ashes, My Life UnScripted, and the children’s book, 10 Minutes to Showtime. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer’s Conference in 2003. Tricia’s book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005. In addition to her novels, Tricia writes non-fiction books and magazine articles for publications like Today’s Christian Woman and Focus on the Family. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences, and has been a workshop presenter at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Conventions.  She and her family make their home in the mountains of Montana. Visit www.triciagoyer.com for more info!

What Era? Contest: Leave a comment on Tricia’s blog or send an email through her website CONNECT page and answer this question: What era in history do you wish you’d lived in and why? Earn extra entries by signing up for Tricia’s newsletter here, becoming a Fan on Facebook or Tweeting about the contest on Twitter (use hashtag #songbird)!

Winner’s announced here!

I received my copy for review of this book from Litfuse

On a stifling day in 1975, the North Vietnamese army is poised to roll into Saigon. As the fall of the city begins, two lovers make their way through the streets to escape to a new life. Helen Adams, an American photojournalist, must take leave of a war she is addicted to and a devastated country she has come to love. Linh, the Vietnamese man who loves her, must grapple with his own conflicted loyalties of heart and homeland. As they race to leave, they play out a drama of devotion and betrayal that spins them back through twelve war-torn years, beginning in the splendor of Angkor Wat, with their mentor, larger-than-life war correspondent Sam Darrow, once Helen’s infuriating love and fiercest competitor, and Linh’s secret keeper, boss and truest friend.

• •      • •       • •     • •

War. A book on war.  This is not exactly a topic I leap for when I see books like this hit the shelf.  But saying a book like this, isn’t a fair synopsis – because this book is a different book on war… and the draw for me to this book, like a month to a flame – was her.  Was Helen and her story.

Helen Adams is an American War Photographer and she finds herself in Vietnam, going to where her brother had died and getting a feel of what the soldiers like him experience on a day-to-day basis.

Helen steps into her role willingly and naively and as the book takes us through the eyes of a photographer.  I as a reader, and Helen as a person – grew…  Opening up this book I learn that we are beginning with the end in mind …. we know the outcome and then we are taken back into the war to see how we got there. And The Lotus Eaters brings you to the front line. I found the book to be engaging and I wanted to know how Helen and the man she comes to love, Linh, get to where the book begins.

The characters are well brought out and I quickly found myself becoming attached to several of them.  I wanted to know where they were going, and if they would survive.  Truly an author for detail, Tatjana Soli left nothing to the imagination as I experienced Viet Nam through her words.  At times my breath caught in my throat as the details unfolded.

The vivid images that author Tatjana Soli paints of a war will remain in my mind for a long time to come.  I will be holding on to this story that was heartwarming and heart-wrenching all rolled into the combined pages of The Lotus Eaters.

Tatjana Soli is a novelist and short story writer. Born in Salzburg, Austria, she attended Stanford University and the Warren Wilson MFA Program. Her stories have appeared in The Sun, StoryQuarterly, Confrontation, Gulf Coast, Other Voices, Nimrod, Third Coast, Carolina Quarterly, Sonora Review and North Dakota Quarterly among other publications. Her work has been twice listed in the 100 Distinguished Stories in Best American Short Stories and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She was awarded the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Prize, the Dana Award, finalist for the Bellwether Prize, and received scholarships to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She lives with her husband in Orange County, California, and teaches through the Gotham Writers’ Workshop.

I received my review copy from TLC Book Tours

America is on the brink of war with England, and Fin Button is about to come undone. She’s had it with the dull life of the orphanage, and she’s ready to marry Peter and get away from rules, chores, and a life looked after by the ever-watchful Sister Hilde. But an unexpected friendship forms between Fin and the fiddle-playing cook, Bartimaeus, which sets her on a course for revolution.

With Bart’s beloved fiddle and haunting blunderbuss as her only possessions, Fin discovers her first taste of freedom as a sailor aboard the Rattlesnake. She’s hiding some dark secrets, but there are bigger problems for the crew—they are on the run from the Royal Navy, and whispers of mutiny are turning the captain into a tyrant.

When Fin finally returns home, will she find Peter still waiting, or will she find that she’s lost everything she once held dear?

I have been a long time fan of The Rabbit Room.  I love everything it stands for, and the people who frequent it with delightful posts and quirky down to earth comments…. it is a luxury for me to lurk there… occasionally coming out of the shadows to post a comment on something I feel passionate about.

Who knew that passionate comment would be about a book…. a book called The Fiddler’s Gun?  Certainly not me.

When I initially read about The Fiddler’s Gun in a little post at The Rabbit Room something about the book called to me.  The title…. holds mystery.  What could the Fiddler’s Gun be?  Who is the Fiddler?

So my adventure began.  I entered totally unprepared for what I would find within the pages of this book.  If I should have brought a weapon (and in hindsight perhaps I should have) after all, was I not entering into a war?

And with that – I leaped into the book and met an unlikely lady, Fin, who was more tom boy than girl…. more so just one of the guys and liked it that way at the orphanage she called home.  Usually clad in dirty clothes with a dirty face and hair – I instantly took a liking to her… she reminded me of the tomboy I was growing up.  “Go Team Fin!”

Phineas Button is her full name and she is the 13th female born in a family where her father really really wanted a boy.  This is how we find Fin within a few pages of this read at the orphanage.  You can imagine what a chip this girl carries on her shoulders.

Along with Fin, entered her sidekick in all things prankish, Peter, a beloved friend and confidant Bartimaeus who hold secrets that reach beyond the pages of this book, and a couple of Nun Sisters who try as they may could not mold Fin into who they felt she should be.   And within this motley crew of character…. a story blooms…

I don’t want to give too much away so I am just going to tell you there is a lot of action, fantastic and well developed characters, pirates, and…. oops… I have said to much 😉

Written is an adventurous way, this book wove its way into my heart with a little bit of laughter along the way, and in the end, even a few tears.  I look forward with eager anticipation to the conclusion of this story and answering the questions I am so eager for answers to, in The Fiddler’s Green.

You can purchase your copy of this book here at The Rabbit Room

The Fiddler’s Gun is available to book clubs with some special bonuses. There’s a study guide for download on the website, each book club gets bookmarks specially printed with the name of the club, as well as free digital copies of the companion book The Fiddler’s Gun: Letters which is a compilation of letters, log entries, and other interesting items telling of further adventures of Fin and her crew during the storyline of the main book, there is also a special link where book club members can purchase the book for $4 off the cover price, or to save on shipping, clubs can order in bulk.

MY AMAZON RATING

I received my copy for review from the author

Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, a vibrant cast of colorful characters who navigate tricky family dynamics with hilarity and brio, from magical Manhattan to the picturesque hills of bella Italia. Very Valentine is the first novel in a trilogy and is sure to be the new favorite of Trigiani’s millions of fans around the world.

In this luscious, contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of exquisite wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village. The company is on the verge of financial collapse. It falls to thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli, the talented and determined apprentice to her grandmother, the master artisan Teodora Angelini, to bring the family’s old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century and save the company from ruin.

While juggling a budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother to learn new techniques and seek one-of-a-kind materials for building a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. There, in Tuscany, Naples, and on the Isle of Capri, a family secret is revealed as Valentine discovers her artistic voice and much more, turning her life and the family business upside down in ways she never expected. Very Valentine is a sumptuous treat, a journey of dreams fulfilled, a celebration of love and loss filled with Trigiani’s trademark heart and humor.

I first met author Adiana Trigiani within the pages of Viola In Reel Life.  I was reading the at book last fall in a group discussion and fell in love with her writing style.  When the offer came along to review Very Valentine, I was sold as soon as I seen the word Trigiani.

First off I have to say shoe lovers, this is a book for you!   Can you imagine making custom wedding shoes?  I would love to just tour a place like that!  And what is not to love about a large Italian family?  Just reading this I am filled with the visions of homes filled with laughter and love, and spicy scents of food always cooking.  Coming form a very small family – this scene in my head becomes very “Norman Rockwellesque”.

I mentioned food and I love a book filled with food.  These are the type of books I like for book club because we can then potluck around the food items.  Very Valentine not only fills my ead with delicious thoughts…. but also provides the recipes in the back of the book!  Right there made my decision to recommend this read for our next Book Club Meeting.

Truly an enjoyable read with wonderful characters.  Adriana has a gift with her writing and reading about her makes me think she would be just a wonderful full of life person who I would enjoy hanging out with.  These are my people.  🙂

Adriana was raised in a small coal mining town in southwest Virginia in a big Italian family. She chose her hometown for the setting and title of her debut novel, the critically acclaimed and bestselling Big Stone Gap, followed by the sequels Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon, and the fall 2006 release Home to Big Stone Gap. Lucia, Lucia, The Queen of the Big Time, Rococo and Very Valentine were all instant New York Times bestsellers. Adriana’s novels have been translated and sold in over 30 countries around the world.

Adriana also teamed up with her family in 2005 to pen Cooking With My Sisters, which was co-authored by her sister Mary, with contributions from their sisters and mom; the cookbook-memoir features recipes and stories dating back a hundred years from both sides of their Italian-American family.

Reading Group Guide

I received my review copy from TLC Book Tours

The first thing that drew me to this book was the cover.  I mean, look at it.  I will wait…….  The colors are eye-catching – bright and delicious… it reminds me of Skittles!  🙂

The second draw to this book was the back cover synopsis….. books about women friendships have always been a draw for me.  I know how important my friendships are to me and just love to read about others.

After that – cover love (yeah Skittles!) and synopsis (women friendships!) the rest was left up to what was between these two draws…. the story itself.

And I entered into the world of Charlie, who owns the Yoga store and I like her instantly.  As I am introduced in pretty much a rapid fire manner to the other characters I got a bit entangled in the who’s who….

Balancing Act is exactly what is taking place as these women evaluate their lives and build school acquaintances into important friendships.   Zoe Fisherman has a way with words and how she initially introduced each woman individually with their own chapter was refreshing.  Zoe has a way with words and I found the story line to be engaging.  While the book wasnt as deep as I had hoped, I was left with a good feeling as the last page was turned.

Yoga anyone?

My Amazon Review

Zoe grew up in Mobile, Alabama. As a wee one, she would walk home from school and talk to herself as she verbally mapped out Barbie and Ken’s upcoming altercation(s) with Skipper. She loved homework and cleaning. She was wild!

Later, she attended Boston University, where she spent her time destroying her teeth with Swedish Fish and explaining to her peers that people actually did wear shoes in Alabama.

After college, she arrived in New York with nary a clue and an inflated sense of self-importance. Her first apartment was dubbed ‘Wild Kingdom’ because of her mouse, roach and pigeon roommates. She took a job in book publishing and, despite a brief foray into the world of web writing – touting luxury goods out of a beige office with bad carpeting in Chelsea and writing horoscopes based on planet formations from Iceland (best job ever, by the way) – never looked back.

Today, Zoe is the Foreign Rights Director and an agent for The Nancy Yost Literary Agency. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, whom she met on the subway after four plus years of trying to get up the nerve to say hello to him. Balancing Acts is her first novel.

I received my review copy of this book from Harper Collins

**Note – there was some light language in the book

Rev. Denny Bellesi preached an ordinary stewardship sermon to his congregation at the Coast Hills Community Church in Aliso Viejo, Calif. But he followed the sermon with an extraordinary call to action: he handed 100 members of the congregation $100 each. Bellesi told these volunteers that the money was not theirs, but God’s, and that they needed to “invest” it in some way that would build God’s kingdom. In February, the volunteers reported back to a standing-room-only church (and, via a Dateline NBC segment, to millions of viewers), describing how the money had been spent to transform lives, build churches, feed the hungry and comfort the sick. More than anything, this book hammers home the message that the volunteers saw their $100 bills being multiplied into thousands as total strangers offered more money to help them undertake their charity projects. As in the film Pay It Forward (which is what gave Bellesi the idea in the first place), one good turn generated another and another. The book, a collaboration with his wife, Leesa, is not elegantly written, but then it doesn’t need to be; the story itself is front and center here. These invigorating real-life stories offer excellent examples of Christian faith in action, as church members were forced to leave their comfort zones and search for ways to bless others in the community.

I can’t say enough about this book.  The first time I read it I was so inspired by the trust and, no that isn’t the right word, the FAITH, Denny Bellesi put in to his congregations hands.  He gave it all to God and the result is this book of amazing testimonies.

I would not look at this book as a “look at me, look what I did” style of read.  For me, this book was a fine example of faith and what God can do.  The stories that fill these pages are of what happened as the result of this faith – and even in some cases, lack there of.  What really touches me heart is how many went out with the $100 and by sharing with others their Kingdom Assignment, how many wanted in… wanted to be a part of something bigger.  This book is the result of a Kingdom movement that has always effected me like someone pushing an ON button.  I feel charged up and get a little teary eyed when I imagine the possibilities of what could happen, what would happen, if each of us looked at the world this way.

This book has crossed my path several times now in my life.   Many years ago while researching information on the movie Pay It Forward I came across this book.  I ordered it, read it – and loved it.  LOVED IT.  Raved about it and passed my copy on to a friend at work to read.

Flash forward several years and it is 2005 and my Pastor had read about this on line and does this at out church.  I seriously got chills as he handed out envelopes with $50 in them to go out and build the Kingdom.  I came home so excited to look at the book, but couldn’t find my copy.  When I remembered that I had loaned it out I called the co-worker (who no longer worked with me) only to find out that she has passed it on to someone else.

*Sigh*

I ordered two copies that day, one for me, and one for my Pastor.  He loved it,  and after I read the book again I loaned out my copy to someone who also was excited to read it.

Flash Forward again. I read The Power Of Half recently and the book reminded me of The Kingdom Assignment.  I go through my books looking for my copy ad then remember – oh yeah, I loaned it out.  But to who?  I don’t remember… and so – I order two books again.  Why two?  We will get to that.

Both The Power of Half and The Kingdom assignment get my heart pumping a little faster with the possibilities.   I wanted to review this book now, because I love this book and because I have an idea brewing….. an idea that I will reveal on April 1st.

I purchased my copies through third parties through Amazon

Who returns your calls faster than a speeding bullet? Who will leap to your side in a single bound? Your mother…your dog…your hairdresser? No! It’s your girlfriend! Artist Monica Sheehan knows this and created Girlfriends: From Campfires To Crow’s Feet as the perfect tribute to the women in every female’s life. Through this collection of pithy anecdotes and too-funny illustrations, Sheehan reminds women young and old that: Girlfriend’s share their M&M’s, magazine’s and Xanax; Girlfriends know the best things in life are “flea.”; Girlfriends lie to your mother for you.

♦          ♦          ♦         ♦          ♦           ♦

This was such a fun read! I bought this book to share with those friends in my life that fall into this category. These are the friends I can call up at 2 am to cry if I need to, stay up at all night eating junk food and watching chick flicks, they go on ridiculously long bike rides with me, go to haunted hay rides, dress up in formal wear and go to mansions for sleep overs…..  and – AND when I say I want to go to New York in May to go to the book expo but hate driving in the cities to get to the airport….. they look at me without skipping a beat and say, “we’ll drive you.”

This book reminded me of those friendships and is one I hope to share around a campfire this year and read out loud as we laugh and remember those times – all the while creating new memories.

I highly recommend this read to share with the girlfriend (s) in your life!

I bought this book at bookcloseouts.com