The Amish Christmas Matchmaker (Indiana Amish Brides) by Vannetta Chapman

 

Book Description:  With her wedding business thriving, Annie Kauffmann could never leave her beloved Amish community. So when handsome Amish cowboy Levi Lapp tries to convince her father to move the family to Texas, she must put a stop to it. If Annie finds Levi a wife, he might forget his dream of moving…but can she keep from falling for him herself?

My Thoughts:  In my book there is nothing better than a Love Inspired romance especially when it's about Christmas and is authored by Vannetta Chapman.  A win-win!

This fantastic story is almost an oxymoron...An Amish matchmaker?!?  But then again no matter what, we all need love in our lives.  

Annie Kaufman actually has a wedding business so it's not all love and games.  However, she doesn't seem to have any romance in her own life.  And it seems that Annie is quite happy with her life so when Levi Lapp begins to talk her father into moving-to Texas of all places!  Annie decides she'll have none of that nonsense.  But love can get in the way of most well laid plans.

In a fun loving sort of way, Vannetta Chapman captures the romance between two young Amish people and somehow gets their families involved too.

This is a great story to begin your holiday season!

• Series: Indiana Amish Brides
• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Love Inspired; Original edition 
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1335479430
• ISBN-13: 978-1335479433

The Memory House by Mary Alford

 

A tarnished silver music box.

A melody Elise Warren recognizes but cannot place.

A fleeting memory of two little girls sitting on the floor.

And a name hovering just beyond her reach.

Ivy.

Each new clue inside Coldwater Hollow brings Elise closer to the truth about her childhood—but someone will do anything to stop her from uncovering what really happened there.

The Memory House by Mary Alford is an atmospheric psychological suspense novel where the smallest objects can unlock the most dangerous memories.

https://amzn.to/3NhHYKY

#TheMemoryHouse #MaryAlford #PsychologicalThriller #SuspenseReads #BookRecommendation

Attempted Mountain Murder by Jaime Jo Wright

 Book Description:  When a sniper shoots at Lainey Jo Beckett through her apartment window, she knows her cover in WITSEC has been blown. Injured and desperate to escape, she jumps into the first car she sees, which just happens to have former navy SEAL Bowen Mays behind the wheel. He may no longer be on active duty, but when they discover her WITSEC handler dead, Bowen takes Lainey Jo’s protection into his own hands. As they escape deep into the Bighorn Mountains, with not one but two shooters on their tail, can Bowen overcome his past failure and keep Lainey Jo alive?

My Thoughts:  This is the first book I've read by author Jamie Jo Wright. And it's fantabulous!

I loved the action, the suspense and The Who Dunnit. 

The action keeps the reader the turning the page because one's fingers can barely keep up and the suspense....well it's fast paced and the mystery of it all was full of surprises.  

There is no spice but there is light romance.  This story centers around suspense and mystery of Lainey Jo and how in WITSEC is she being detected??

Bowen helps her and she needs his help.  Such a grand hero!

It's a fabulous read!

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups (400 g) sugar
• 1 cup (215 g) grapeseed oil, neutral oil, avocado oil or olive oil
• 4 eggs
• 15 to 16 ounces (454 g) canned pumpkin (not pie filling), see notes above
• 3/4 cup (177 g) water
• 3 cups (384 g) flour
• 2 teaspoons (11 to 12 grams) baking soda
• 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5 to 7 grams) fine sea salt or kosher salt (I use 7 grams salt)
• 2 teaspoons (7 grams) cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (or less) or a few dashes of freshly grated
  
  

• INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease 2 standard (8.5 x 4.5-inch) loaf pans (or 4 to 5 mini loaf pans depending on what size you are using — don’t fill pans higher than 2/3 full) with butter or non-stick spray.
  2. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer or simply a whisk (my preference!) beat sugar and oil together until blended. Add eggs one at a time mixing after each addition. Add pumpkin purée and water and mix until blended.
  3. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves (if using), and allspice (if using). Whisk only until just incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans.
  4. Bake for about an hour (if using standard loaf pans) but start checking for doneness after 45 minutes — the loaves are done when the center springs back when touched. Note: When using the small pans, the loaves should be done in under 45 minutes. Start checking after 30 minutes.
  5. Let cool 15-20 minutes in pan; then transfer to a cooling rack to continue cooling before cutting and serving. 

Fun Friday!

 

Saving Amelia by Cathy Gohke

 Book Description:  Increasingly wary of her father’s genetic research, Rachel Kramer has determined that this trip with him to Germany—in the summer of 1939—will be her last. But a cryptic letter from her estranged friend, begging Rachel for help, changes everything. Married to SS officer Gerhardt Schlick, Kristine sees the dark tides turning and fears her husband views their daughter, Amelie, deaf since birth, as a blight on his Aryan bloodline.

Once courted by Schlick, Rachel knows he’s as dangerous as the swastikas that hang like ebony spiders from every government building in Berlin. She fears her father’s files may hold answers about Hitler’s plans for others, like Amelie, whom the regime deems “unworthy of life.” She risks searching his classified documents only to uncover shocking secrets about her own history and a family she’s never known.

Now hunted by the SS, Rachel turns to Jason Young—a driven, disarming American journalist and unlikely ally—who connects her to the resistance and to controversial theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Forced into hiding, Rachel’s every ideal is challenged as she and Jason walk a knife’s edge, risking their lives—and asking others to do the same—for those they barely know but come to love.

My Thoughts:  I love summer and, again, this summer I entered the Tyndale Summer Reading Program.  So glad I did!  As one of my "prizes" I picked this book Saving Amelie by Cathy Gohke.

When I first saw the cover of this book I actually passed it up. Then I went back and read the description and thought it sounded interesting.

When the book arrived it sat on my TBR for a couple of months and then the other day, since I was finished with my last book, I decided to read it.

Well, this is one great read!  As I began reading I first thought the book was going to be about a rich young woman and how she saves a young deaf girl from the Third Reich.  Oh!not!so!  Well, this does come into play but there  is SO much more to this story.

I had to put the book down several time because it IS so intense!  

This book is about life . . .what is our duty to others AND Dietrich Bonhoeffer!  Wow!  

The suspense, the story line, the challenge of one's duty to Christ!  Cathy Gohke pens an incredible, not.to.be put.down story!

This is my favorite read this summer!  

You just gotta read this book . . . it will make you think!  

• Paperback: 464 pages

The Memory House by Mary Alford