… Reading this book I tried to imagine what this had to feel like for our main character Macy… for that matter, what is must have felt like to Finn and Wyatt…. and you just know that somewhere at sometime in this world, this has actually happened… ~ Sheila
Macy Lockhart’s life shattered in a moment with the news that her husband, Finn —serving in the military overseas — has been killed in the line of duty. Their ardent and devoted marriage is over, leaving Macy alone, empty, directionless. But while she tries to sustain herself with memories of Finn, the quiet, strong man who made her and their small Texas ranch the center of his life, it is wealthy Wyatt Clark who slowly brings joy back into her life. Her love for Wyatt may be less romantic than the breathless passion she’d once shared with Finn, but she vows to cherish him, and their marriage is happy and as solid as a rock. Until the day that Finn, miraculously spared from death, returns home to claim his bride….
Well, as the back of the book states? Whose wife was she?
I have never read a book on this subject line before and was surprised tor ead about the laws that go with such a situation…. still married to the first husband, would have to divorce him to make new marriage legal…. I guess that all makes sense, I had just never thought about this situation. Apparently, our author, Julia London had thought about this subject… and out of those thoughts, same this book, Summer of Two Wishes.
I have always had a heart for the under dog – but without giving too much away, I will let you know that this book holds a few surprises. I recommend this book for a late summer read with a touch of romance. I have never read Julia London before, but I will read her in the future.
Characters that feel as though they truly live and breathe, London has created a page turner that will leave you at times excited to see what the next page will bring.
A high-profile lawsuit erupts into chaos, revealing its place in a larger
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spree of violence in this scandalous tale of lust, lies, and vengeance. A brazen gunman is targeting prominent African American men on the streets of Los Angeles, and police are completely baffled. At the same time, savvy big-firm attorney Vernetta Henderson and her outrageous sidekick, Special, lead the charge for revenge against a man whose deceit caused his fianceé’s death. For Special, hauling the man into court and suing him for wrongful death just isn’t good enough. While she exacts her own brand of justice, a shocking revelation connects the contentious lawsuit and the puzzling murders.
Meet Pamela Samuels Young,
author of Murder on the Down Low
Pamela Samuels Young is a practicing attorney and author of the legal thrillers, Murder on the Down Low, In Firm Pursuit, Every Reasonable Doubt, and the forthcoming, Buying Time, A desire to see women and people of color represented in today’s legal fiction prompted Pamela to start writing despite a busy career as an attorney. The former journalist and Compton native is a graduate of USC, Northwestern University and UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. Pamela is the fiction writing expert for BizyMoms.com and is on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Master your craft! Take the time to study writing the same way you would study any other profession. Also, read like a writer. When you read a book you enjoy, study the author’s writing style and the book’s story structure. Ask yourself why the book was a great read. One of the most helpful things I did as a new writer was outline John Grisham’s The Firm and examine the story structure. It helped me tremendously in learning how to build suspense.
Pamela is the Fiction Writing Expert for BizyMoms.com. Her bi-monthly articles cover a range of topics on fiction writing. Here’s a link to Pamela’s article Keep your Readers Turning the Pages.
My thoughts: Not my normal style of read yet I dug in and found the book to quickly grab my attention and take me to a level of suspense that didnt really let go until the last page.
I enjoyed reading out of my genre style and found I was not disappointed.
Please leave a comment to be eligible to win an autographed book and a 25 dollar gift card from Pamela Samuels Young. One winner will be chosen each day of this Blog Tour for a total of FIVE winners.
(Be sure I have a way to email you if you are a winner and US entries only please)
I received this book from Tywebbin Creations
I would rate this book a PG13 rating for some sexual content
I began this book with a little knowledge about a Quinceanera… and ended with a much better understanding and appreciation of all that it means. ~ Sheila
All Ana Ruiz wanted was to have a traditional quinceañera for her daughter, Carmen. She wanted a nice way to mark this milestone year in her daughter’s life. But Carmen was not interested in celebrating. Hurt
and bitter over her father Esteban’s departure, she blamed Ana for destroying their happy family, as did everyone else. A good man is hard to find, especially at your age Ana was told. Why not forgive his one indiscretion? Despite everything, Ana didn’t want to tarnish Carmen’s childlike devotion to her beloved father. But Ana knows that growing up sometimes means facing hard truths. In the end, Ana discovers that if she’s going to teach Carmen anything about what it means to be a woman, it will take more than simply a fancy party to do it..
I struggled a bit in the beginning of the book with the Spanish words that were used in an otherwise english sentence. In many cases I did not know the words meaning or have a good guess so I had to skip over those parts. As the book moved forward and I became familiar with the characters and the rythym of the book it became easier not to be stumped by these words as I was already engrossed in the story line.
Author, Belinda Acosta puts together a wonderful read with a story of tradition that takes me out of my own corner of the world and places me in hers.
I have attended a Quinceanera in Honduras this past February, although until this book, I did not know that is what it was called. Ava had turned 15 and I was told that as Honduras customs this was a coming of age type event where a young girl steps out and is not introduced as a young woman and it is time to put away childish things. They dressed Ava up in a beautiful gown and did many of the things described in this book, such as replacing her flat shoes for high heels, taking away her teddy bed and replacing it with a beautiful necklace. It really was something to experience – maybe more so as Ava is a street kid – a child saved from abandonment of her own parents and brought to Manuelito (where I spend time each year) and has been given a life she would have never had.
For my story of Ava, this book had a special meaning for me and I am thankful that Belinda Acosta wrote of Quinceanera’s.
Me and Ava at her Quinceanera, Talanga Honduras, Feb. 2009
About the Author:
Belinda Acosta has written and published plays, short stories, and essays. As a journalist, her work has appeared in the Austin American-Statesman, The Austin Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News, The San Antonio Current, and AlterNet. Her short story Tortilla Dough appeared in Saguaro, a publication of the University of Arizona in 1992. In 1993, she produced, directed and performed in a multi-media dance-theater performance of La Llorona. National exposure came in 1995 when she read her personal essay Gran Baile, on Latino USA – the Radio Journal of News and Culture, carried on National Public Radio.
… At first glance I would not have thought I would enjoy this …and then I opened the book… ~ Sheila
The sleepy town of Newbury, Connecticut, is shocked when a little girl is found brutally murdered. With the murderer on the loose, the police desperately look for any clues to lead to his identity. Meanwhile, a psychiatrist in a nearby hospital is also in a desperate search to find the cause of seven-year-old Naya Hastings s devastating nightmares. Afraid that she might hurt herself in the midst of a torturous episode, Naya s parents have turned to the bright young doctor as their only hope. When these two situations converge, they set off an alarming chain of events. In this stunning psychological thriller, innocence gives way to evil, and trust lies forgotten in a web of deceit, fear, and murder.
I had a little road trip this weekend about a four hour drive from home in which my friend was the driver and I was designated reader. 🙂 Finally I had the time to pick up this book and dive in. And dive in I did as throughout the drive and then later in our hotel room I completed Preetham Grandhi’s book, A Circle of Souls.
While I admit I was a little nervous to what direction this book would take – I was impressed with Preetham’s writing which for a phychological thriller, drew me in to characters I enjoyed getting to know and a story line I fell right into and followed anxiously and excitedly to the very last page.
Most impressive I found was for this type of read, Preetham did not once use any foul language. In two occasions an obsenity is mentioned, but never verbalized. I was impressed that this route was taken as so often this is not the case and books of this nature can be overloaded with language that the authors must feel breathe more life into to their characters.
I have mentioned recently that I have been craving a good mystery/thriller. This book filled that hunger. I encourage readers who enjoy a good mystery/thriller to find your way to a copy of this book and make sure you have set aside several hours as you are not going to want to put it down.
Many books pass through my hands. I read I enjoy, I pass them on… few come in to my life and stay with me forever. This book is one of the few. ~ Sheila
The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Talibans backyard Anyone who despairs of the individuals power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistans treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools especially for girlsthat offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortensons quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, “Three Cups of Tea” combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.
In 1993 Mortenson was descending from his failed attempt to reach the peak of K2. Exhausted and
Korphe Bridge
disoriented, he wandered away from his group into the most desolate reaches of northern Pakistan. Alone, without food, water, or shelter he stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village where he was nursed back to health.
While recovering he observed the village’s 84 children sitting outdoors, scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The village was so poor that it could not afford the $1-a-day salary to hire a teacher. When he left the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school. From that rash, heartfelt promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time.
If you know me you know I love the idea of building schools for those in need in a impoverish country where things do not come as easy as they do for those us here. Of course, just because a book is about a mission does not necessarily make it a winner.
In Three cups of TeaI read about Greg Morenson’s climb of the k2. He was just another man with a lofty (no pun intended) goal. Yet due to circumstances that brought him to a small village in Pakistan, his life changed forever. I really enjoyed following Greg through his own impoverish life style of living in his car, bumming on friends couches – yet, trying to raise money for children, especially girls to have an education.
When the book ends, this man who should not have been a success except for the will of God – has built 25 schools so far. Tens of thousands of children have had an education because of this mans mission.
I will keep this book to refer to time and again. There were pieces I can take with me. Highly recommended read.
This book was purchased locally by me and it is part of my personal library
This giveaway is closed. The winner is DEBB 🙂 Thank you to all entrants!
Summary for The Friends We Keep
During a particularly painful time in her life, Sarah Zacharias Davis learned how delightful–and wounding–women can be in friendship. She saw how some friendships end badly, others die slow deaths, and how a chance acquaintance can become that enduring friend you need.
The Friends We Keep is Sarah’s thoughtful account of her own story and the stories of other women about navigating friendship. Her revealing discoveries tackle the questions every woman asks:
• Why do we long so for women friends?
• Do we need friends like we need air or food or water?
• What causes cattiness, competition, and co-dependency in too many friendships?
• Why do some friendships last forever and others only a season?
• How do I foster friendship?
• When is it time to let a friend go, and how do I do so?
With heartfelt, intelligent writing, Sarah explores these questions and more with personal stories, cultural references and history, faith, and grace. In the process, she delivers wisdom for navigating the challenges, mysteries, and delights of friendship: why we need friendships with other women, what it means to be safe in relationship, and how to embrace what a friend has to offer, whether meager or generous.
Summary for 40 Minute Bible Studies
The 40 MinuteBible Studyseries from beloved Bible teacher Kay Arthur and the teaching staff of Precept Ministries tackles important issues in brief, easy-to-grasp lessons you can use personally or for small-group discussion. Each book in the series includes six 40-minute studies designed to draw you into God’s Word through basic inductive Bible study. There are 16 titles in the series, with topics ranging from fasting and forgiveness to prayer and worship. With no homework required, everyone in the group can work through the lesson together at the same time. Let these respected Bible teachers lead you in a study that will transform your thinking—and your life.
Titles Include:
•The Essentials of Effective Prayer
•Being a Disciple: Counting the Cost
•Building a Marriage That Really Works
•Discovering What the Future Holds
•Forgiveness: Breaking the Power of the Past
•Having a Real Relationship with God
•How Do You Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk?
•Living a Life of Real Worship
•How to Make Choices You Won’t Regret
•Living Victoriously in Difficult Times
•Money & Possessions: The Quest for Contentment
•Rising to the Call of Leadership
•How Do You Know God’s Your Father?
•Key Principles of Biblical Fasting
•A Man’s Strategy for Conquering Temptation
•What Does the Bible Say About Sex?
My Thoughts: Friends We Keep is the type of book that spoke to me. I love my women friendships. I have always cherished the coffee meet ups and occasional dinners that are just catch up time. In Sarah’s book she discusses how to be a better friend not only to other women but also to yourself.
The book is a light read with easy chapters that have topics like the roles we play (the different “friend types” in this section I could put names to!) This book is a wonderful read about friendships and would work well in a small group setting to be discussed. Discussion Guide in back of the book.
Author Bios:
Sarah Zacharias Davis is a senior advancement officer at Pepperdine University, having joined the university after working as vice president of marketing and development for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and in strategic marketing for CNN. The daughter of best-selling writer Ravi Zacharias, Davis is the author of the critically-acclaimed Confessions from an Honest Wife and Transparent: Getting Honest About Who We are and Who We Want to Be. She graduated from Covenant College with a degree in education and lives in Los Angeles, California.
Kay Arthur, executive vice president and cofounder of Precept Ministries International has worked with her teaching staff to create the powerful 40-Minute Bible Studies series. Kay is known around the world as a Bible teacher, author, conference speaker, and host of national radio and television programs.
Ashley Boyer from Random House has given me an extra copy of this book to give away. To enter:
1. Leave a comment here with the answer to what qualities do you appreciate most in a friend?
2. For a “Bonus” chance, tweet or blog about this giveaway and on a separate commment, leave the link here
3. Comment on any non giveaway post and receive a third chance
USA addresses only please. No PO box numbers. This giveaway will end September 1.
Good Luck!
This book and the giveaway were given to me for review by Ashely Boyer at Random House
I got home from a great book club tonight. 14 of the Bookies made it to The St Mathias Bar and Grill for wonderful food (home apparently of the $2.50 Tuesday burger!). We had a couple newbies tonight – Sharon and Gabriele and that is always fun.
The review was on The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton, a book that I had read a couple months ago and loved. The discussion? Fantastic – everyone was so talkative and we discussed how these female characters of the 60’s were so different from the women of today. Newbie Gabriele shared that in 1967 she was a stewardess and at that time you actually could not gain weight over 5 pounds or you were not allowed to work. She also said once you turned the ripe old age of 32, you no longer could work for the airlines! WOW!
Overall the book rated an average read almost across the board. Most everyone thought while the book was good, it was much like other books on womens friendships they had read. A couple in the group found it did not grab them and rated it low. I came in as the high vote, having loved it when I read it and foudn the characters fascinating as well as the time period.
The Bookies read for September is Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross (YAY!!!) I am very excited to see what the girls think of this one. In September we are meeting at Laura’s home and we are having a bonfire potluck. Anyone have a great recipe to share with a historical fiction theme to it?
This giveaway is closed – congratulations winner! 🙂
Over this past weekend Al and I were traveling to a nearby town and on the side of the road an Amish woman was selling items with her horse cart parked behind her. It was such a beautiful site and I wished I could stop and take a picture. It reminded me of the warm feeling I got when I read The Hope of Refuge. ~ Sheila
Blog Tour
Raised in foster care and now the widowed mother of a little girl, Cara Moore struggles against poverty, fear, and a relentless stalker. When a trail of memories leads Cara and Lori out of New York City toward an Amish community, she follows every lead, eager for answers and a fresh start. She discovers that long-held secrets about her family history ripple beneath the surface of Dry Lake, Pennsylvania, and it’s no place for an outsider. But one Amish man, Ephraim Mast, dares to fulfill the command he believes that he received from God–“Be me to her”– despite how it threatens his way of life.
Completely opposite of the hard, untrusting Cara, Ephraim’s sister Deborah also finds her dreams crumbling when the man she has pledged to build a life with begins withdrawing from Deborah and his community, including his mother, Ada Stoltzfus. Can the run-down house that Ada envisions transforming unite them toward a common purpose–or push Mahlon away forever? While Ephraim is trying to do what he believes is right, will he be shunned and lose everything–including the guarded single mother who simply longs for a better life?
I really enjoy reading about other cultures. In The Hope of Refuge, I get a chance to walk among the Amish and the way they do life. This book is really about two women – Cara, trying hard to find a safe life for herself and her daughter, and then Deborah who has waited a long time to be with the love of her life, finds he is changing and it is out of her power to bring him back…
An enjoyable read. I love the flow of the words and the writing around the Amish community. I felt from this book I had a good sense of what that community life was like for them. Wonderfully developed characters and I found myself really thinking about the message Ephram had believed he had received from God about Cara, “Be Me, to her.”
Author Bio:
Cindy Woodsmall is the author of When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and The New York Times Best-Seller When the Soul Mends. Her ability to authentically capture the heart of her characters comes from her real-life connections with Amish Mennonite and Old Order Amish families. A mother of three sons and two daughters-in-law, Cindy lives in Georgia with her husband of thirty-one years.
An incredible summer read that I would recommend anyone going to the beach to bring this one along. I can still almost smell the ocean… ~ Sheila
Thirty-six-year-old Stevie Pollack has earned fame and praise for her landscape architecture projects, though critics complain she’s too formal, too rigid. When her lover abruptly drops her, and her Chicago lakefront development project is panned, Stevie seeks solace in her roots, among the calming waters, the vibrant flowers, and the comforting traditions of the islands. Still, in the back of her mind, Hawai`i holds troubling memories of a childhood with an emotionally distant father, Hank, and a reserved British mother.
The trip home promises Stevie a welcome departure from mainland trials, despite her irascible father’s presence. But the shocking news that Hank is dying forces the pair’s reunion into high gear. As father and daughter look to rekindle their bond, Stevie discovers sides of Hank she never knew, including family secrets that shaped their lives. And what started as a holiday escape for the beleaguered artist becomes a chance for transformation. Along the way in this shared journey of contention and transcendence, Stevie’s heart opens not only to her father, but to a man who challenges all her constricted notions of love and life’s possibilities.
My thoughts… This book is set much in beautiful Hawaii, and as I read this book on my deck with a tall glass of ice tea I found Author Randy Sue, really put me there. As I walked along with Stevie, the main character, I really found I enjoyed who she was. From the loss of a boyfriend (yet another relationship gone South) to finding herself taking a break (in this case, in a car heading home to Hawaii). As the book continues into working on repairing the relationship with her father, I found I liked her even more. Throughout this book as Stevie grows more comfortable in her own skin… I feel myself cheering her on.
Really a delightful read…. this is a book about rediscovery, a book that starts out in one direction and winds up in another… much more powerful, much more captivating.
Randy Sue Coburn began her career as a journalist whose essays and articles appeared in numerous national magazines and major newspapers. Her screenplays include Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, the 1994 film about Dorothy Parker that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won Jennifer Jason Leigh the National Society of Film Critics Award for best actress. Film work and teaching at The University of Washington subsidized the writing of Remembering Jody, (1999, Carroll & Graf), and Randy Sue’s second novel, Owl Island, was published in June, 2006 by Ballantine, a division of Random House Publishing Group. A Better View of Paradise, also from Random House/Ballantine, is being published in July, 2009. Born in Chicago and raised in South Carolina, Randy Sue is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The University of Georgia. She lives along the waterfront in downtown Seattle and relishes morning strolls through the Pike Place Market with Binx, a floppy-eared terrier known by name to many more vendors in the Pike Place Market than his mistress.
This book came from Dorothy Thompson from Pump Up Your Book Promotion
When I sign up to review a childrens read I am often surprised by what I get out of the book… in Fairy Hunters Ink I am reminded of the magic that is always around us – no matter what our age! ~ Sheila
Have you ever wondered why your child’s clothes, or
even your own, always end up on the closet floor? Or why your socks go missing from
your laundry? Or why ants inevitably show up at your picnics?
When I was Young, not very Young, but just Young Enough
and not too Old, I was given a Book, which had
photographs of places in the woods where fairies lived. I
spent many hours in the forest looking for fairies, dragging my Book with
me so that I could be sure I had the right plants. (My Book got very
ragged, but it was for a good cause, as you shall see). I found Jack in the
Pulpits, ferns, and running cedar, soft mosses and tall grasses and many
kinds of flowers. My favorite flower was the Ladyslipper, which really
looked like the softest, most dainty lady’s slippers.
After much practice, I became good at Seeing fairies.
Seeing fairies took a lot of practice because you had to do it in a
special way. The trick was to open your eyes very wide, while paying
close attention to what might move at the corners of your eyes. Fairies
were quicker than quick at disappearing when you looked straight at them,
but if you sneaked a peek to the side while pretending you weren’t,
sometimes you could see them.
And so opens the story of Fairy Hunters Ink…. a story that talks of all the different fairies that are in our lives. A few favorites I would mention would of course be the sock fairy, the one that takes the sock out of laundry – never to be seen again! However do not be upset, as the Sock Fairy actually uses the sock as a home.
Sheila Dane writes a beautiful book that will appeal to children of all ages. I was delighted with the beautiful art work on the pages and can just imagine reading this one day to children who will open their eyes wide to the possibilities…
Macy Lockhart’s life shattered in a moment with the news that her husband, Finn —serving in the military overseas — has been killed in the line of duty. Their ardent and devoted marriage is over, leaving Macy alone, empty, directionless. But while she tries to sustain herself with memories of Finn, the quiet, strong man who made her and their small Texas ranch the center of his life, it is wealthy Wyatt Clark who slowly brings joy back into her life. Her love for Wyatt may be less romantic than the breathless passion she’d once shared with Finn, but she vows to cherish him, and their marriage is happy and as solid as a rock. Until the day that Finn, miraculously spared from death, returns home to claim his bride….
of romance. I have never read Julia London before, but I will read her in the future. 
Book Journey 