WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

 

A Chance to Heal (Love Inspired) by Vannetta Chapman and Rebecca Kertz

 My Thoughts:  YAY!  Today is the release of this great 2-n-1 book.  Two stories for the price of one.  

Just to let you know that this is a reprint.

The first story is The Baby Next Door by Vannetta Chapman.  

When Grace Troyer and her baby girl move back to Amish country because Grace is Amish she meets Adam Schrock.  Adam likes Grace and so when he  needs help on his farm tours he asks Grace if she would be willing to cook for English people.  

Grace isn't sure this is a good idea but she needs a job so she agrees.  This turns into a fun adventure for Grace and Adam.  

The next story is Loving Her Amish Neighbor by Rebecca Kertz.

Lucy is a pregnant Amish widow and if she doesn't have enough trouble she is in a buggy accident.  So, now that he buggy is out of commission she wonders what she will do.  Then her neighbor, Gabriel Fisher, wants to help her.  

Poor Gabriel is a wounded Amish bachelor.  He just wants to help Lucy.  

Lucy decides to accept his help and the story takes off on their sweet courtship.

Need encouragement this summer?  Read these two great stories.

*Thanks to the author for providing this book for review*

The Hawaiian Discovery by Wanda E. Brunstetter & Jean Brunstetter

 

Book Description:  Ellen Lambright mourned when her best friend, Mandy, moved from Indiana to Hawaii. But now Ellen has received the Amish church’s permission to go to Hawaii and help Mandy through challenging times. Rob Smith works on the Williams family’s organic farm, far from his past mistakes and burning regrets. When Ellen befriends Rob, the attraction is mutual, but her commitment to the Amish faith stands between them. Could a heartfelt discovery lead to forgiveness, reunion, and love? Or is Ellen’s destiny waiting for her in Indiana?

My Thoughts:  I loved The Hawaiian Quilt so I was anxiously awaiting this sequel.

~back story~Remember that Mandy Frey and her three friends worked and saved enough money to take a cruise and ended up in Hawaii.  But when it was time for the ship to return one of her friends was missing and so Mandy and Ellen miss the ship looking for their friend.  They are taken in by a sweet christian couple who are Hawaiian. Mandy loves it but Ellen misses everything Amish.

Now Mandy is living in Hawaii and Ellen misses her. So when the church allows Ellen to go to Hawaii to help Mandy things develop that neither young woman sees coming.

Can these young Amish ladies learn to live in the place they love and with people that they have come to cherish.

Such a grandastic story!  Of course, I love Wanda & Jean Brunstetter's storytelling!  So I am a bit biased. 😊  

This is a great sequel.  Makes a wonderful gift too.

Paperback: 256 pages

• Publisher: Shiloh Run Press 
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1683224477
• ISBN-13: 978-1683224471

Fun Friday

 

The Simplified KJV [Wildflower Medley] Hardcover

 My Thoughts:  WOW!  This Bible is super!  I really have no words to describe how beautiful it is.  

It's a nice size too so the pages are big enough that there is room to write or draw in the margins.  It will make a nice journaling Bible. It's hard back so the pages don't get messed up. But best of all Barbour has simplified the King James and Barbour's Simplified KJV builds off the familiarity and trustworthiness of the King James Bible while removing the difficulties of antiquated language and punctuation. 

Keeping all the original translation work of the 1611 Bible, the Simplified KJV carefully updates old styles that may interfere with your understanding today: 

• outdated verb styles are refreshed--for example, art becomes are; gavest becomes gave
• old forms of address--like thee, thou, and ye--are updated
• confusing older terms--such as wroth or divers--are modernized
• pronouns for God--He, His, Him, You, Yours, Me, My--are capitalized for clarity
• quotation marks are included with spoken language
• long sentences are shortened with modern punctuation
• paragraphs are added throughout

I love  this Bible!  It's truly in a class by itself.

*This Bible was provided for review by Barbour*

It's available at Amazon

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

 

The Return to the Big Valley by Wanda E. Brunstetter, Jean Brunstetter, Richelle Brunstetter

 

 Book Description:  Journey back to an area of Pennsylvania that is home to three distinct Amish communities and meet three young women who face heartfelt disappointments in romance.

My Thoughts:  Three short stories in one book all penned by the Brunstetter women.

Wilma’s Wish by Wanda E. Brunstetter:  The wise old heart and five young children.  Such a humorous story full of laughter and children.  Five boys!  What can five boys do to help love along?  Such a great story.

Martha’s Miracle by Jean Brunstetter:  Martha is not your average Amish young woman.  She loves to fish and hunt not cook, sew and bake.  Can a man understand Martha's feelings for nature?  Then she meets Glen.  Glen is great and a fireman to boot but Glen wants to leave the Amish faith.  Is this romance headed for disaster or can Martha see how Glen feels.  An interesting take on the Amish life.

Alma’s Acceptance by Richelle Brunstetter:  This was the saddest of all the stories to me.  I felt deeply for Alma as a widow and needing acceptance.  Sometimes people no matter the religion can be so cruel in their disdain for what they don't know or see.  Elias Krutz doesn't see their romance as a problems and then Alma receives some news that changes her thoughts.  A lovely if somewhat sad story.  But remember sad doesn't mean bad just emotional.

*This book was provided for review by Barbour Publishing*

• Publisher : Barbour Fiction 
• Language : English
• Paperback : 448 pages
• ISBN-10 : 1643528718
• ISBN-13 : 978-1643528717

The Inn at Ocean's Edge (Shadow Bay) by Colleen Coble

 

Book Description:  Claire’s visit to a luxury hotel in Maine awakens repressed memories, threatening all she holds dear.

In 1989, Claire Dellamare disappeared from her own fourth birthday party at the Hotel Tourmaline on the island of Folly Shoals, Maine. She showed up a year later at the same hotel, with a note pinned to her dress but no explanation. Nobody knows where Claire spent that year—and until now, Claire didn’t even know she had ever been missing.

But when Claire returns to the Hotel Tourmaline for a business meeting with her CEO father, disturbing memories begin to surface . . . despite her parents’ best efforts to keep them forgotten.

Luke Rocco lost his mother under equally mysterious circumstances—at the same time Claire disappeared. After a chance encounter reveals the unlikely link between them, Claire and Luke set out together to uncover the truth about what happened that fateful year.

With flashbacks swimming just beneath her consciousness and a murderer threatening her safety, Claire’s very life depends on unscrambling her past . . . even if her family refuses to acknowledge it. Someone—maybe everyone—is hiding something from Claire Dellamare, and it will cost her everything to drag the truth out into the light.

My Thoughts:  I was drawn to the cover of this book.  I love the landscape and the picture goes so well with the title.  I can just "see" a mystery lurking at the doorstep of this read!  

And, lo and behold, there is a mystery! Quite a suspenseful mystery, too!

This is an interesting story that leaves the reader on pins and needles. 

It seems that when Claire goes to the luxury motel, Hotel Tourmaline , she has repressed memories.  And these memories keep the local sheriff wondering what in.the.world.is.going.on!

Claire also witnesses an employee of the hotel being murdered. But when she awakens there is no body! Absolutely nothing!

And 25 years ago Luke's mother went missing.  It seems that Claire and Luke's mother are somehow "bound" together in this haunting mystery.

Secrets, Secrets abound everywhere!  But with Luke's help maybe Claire will be able to unravel this quite disturbing "memory."

Colleen Coble has outdone herself in this fantastic read! 

If you enjoy romantic suspense then this is the book for you!

This is also the first book in the Shadow Bay series.  

• Series: Shadow Bay (Book 1)
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson 
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401690262
• ISBN-13: 978-1401690267

Fun Friday

 

Sunburst (Sky King Ranch, book 2) by Susan May Warren

 Book Description:  When former Navy SEAL and lifelong bachelor Ranger Kingston is called upon to take part in a rescue mission to save his brother Colt, who has been kidnapped by terrorists in Nigeria, he is shocked to find among the hostages a woman he knows and could never forget.

Noemi Sutton was attempting to return a young girl to her family in Boko Haram territory when she and the girl found themselves taken hostage, along with several others. 

And while Ranger Kingston may be able to get the hostages away from their captors, he'll need Noemi's help if he ever hopes to get out of Nigeria alive.

Her solution? Pose as husband and wife. But when her uncle discovers the union, he insists on a traditional Nigerian wedding--binding Noemi to a man destined to break her heart. Worse, she's discovered the real reason she was kidnapped, and anyone around her is bound to be caught in the cross fire. Including her so-called new husband.

She'll need to figure out a way to leave the man she loves if she wants to save his life.

My Thoughts:  Want an adventure this summer without spending gas money>  Well here it is!  An adventure in Nigeria with Ranger Kingston and Noemi Sutton.

This electrifying story begins with a bang and never really ends until well...you gotta read the story.

First, Navy SEAL Ranger Kingston is on a mission to save his brother, Colt, in Nigeria who is being held hostage with a woman he could never forget, Noemi.

Getting the hostages free was easy compared to getting out of Nigeria.  But Noemi has a plan.

And what a plan!  She and Ranger should pose as husband and wife.

This requires so much more than a simple plan.  This is life or death.

This story is so much more than fiction.  There is much to learn about Nigeria and it's people plus the food.

Such a great read!  But I did read book 1 in the Sky King Ranch first.  Reading Sunrise first isn't requirement but will help with so many of the aspects of what is transpiring in the story.

A Table by the Window {Two Blue Doors Series} by Hilary Manton Lodge

 

Book Description:  Heirloom recipes, family secrets…and a chance for love 

The youngest heir to a French-Italian restaurant dynasty, food writer Juliette D’Alisa has spent her life negotiating her skill with words and her restaurant aspirations. When her brother Nico offers her a chance to open a restaurant together, she feels torn—does she really have what it takes? Should she risk leaving her journalism career?

After the death of her grandmother, Juliette discovers an antique photograph of a man who looks strikingly like her brother. As the truth behind the picture reveals romance and dark secrets, Juliette struggles to keep the mystery away from her nosy family until she can uncover the whole story. 

Inspired by her grandmother’s evolving story, Juliette resolves to explore the world of online dating. To her surprise, she finds a kindred spirit in Neil McLaren, a handsome immunologist based in Memphis, Tennessee. With a long-distance relationship simmering, Juliette faces life-shifting decisions. How can she possibly choose between a promising culinary life and Neil, a man a world away in more ways than one? And is it possible her Grandmother’s story can help show the way?

My Thoughts: I love books that Hilary M. Lodge writes.  I've read Plain Jayne and Simply Sara {her Amish books}.  I've waited for a long time for Ms. Lodge to write a new book.  

Ms. Lodge has an easy way with words that take a reader into another time and another place makes for one excellent story.

A Table By the Window isn't just an ordinary read but a special something read about a noisy, nosey family and a photograph from a different place and a different time.  What could this antique photo mean?  Secrets and mystery!

I love the cover with a girl by a window! I'm wondering if the window has some significance, like seeing into another life or living in a world of sunshine?  Or maybe, just loving life!

And then there's the romance. A great guy who is funny and charming but whom Juliette has met online.   Ah! Poor Juliette can't keep a secret like her long ago grand mere.  Somethings, I guess, just aren't hereditary.  He comes to Portland to meet her family...secret out!  

But the pastries...ahh! the pastries!  Makes the reader wish for her own pastry chef!  Great recipes abound in this read!

I loved this absolutely delightful read!  And, yes, waiting for the next book! 

• Series: Two Blue Doors
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307731758
• ISBN-13: 978-0307731753

Fun Friday

 

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

 

S'mores Charcuterie Board....just use the things you enjoy for s'mores.

Letters to Katie {A Middlefield Family Novel} by Kathleen Fuller

 

Book Description:  Everything changed between them the first time he called her Katie.

Katherine Yoder has loved Johnny Mullet since the two were children, but he’s never returned her affections.

Now Johnny is trying to forge a new life for himself by purchasing a farm and building a business of his own. But times are tough, and he soon learns that he can’t take anything for granted—especially Katherine.

Before Johnny has the opportunity to tell Katherine his true feelings, she’s struck by a serious illness. While Katherine struggles to recall recent memories of Johnny, a surprise visitor comes back into her life, claiming that his letters speak of a history and a future for the two of them.

With the two men vying for her attention and her memory still elusive, Katherine has never felt so torn. But will the solutions to both Johnny’s and Katherine’s problems lie in places neither one has ever considered?

My Thoughts:  This is the third book in the Middlefield Family reads.  Unfortunately, I didn't read the previous two books but I can't see that this affected the content of this story.  However, I think if the reader read these books in order the "sense" of who's who and family would be more clear.

This read was great!  I love  Kathleen Fuller's writing!  The mystery of the letters and the love that is forgotten and the new love make for a grand what is happening?!

Katie's loss of memory and her subsequent illness and memory loss takes the reader into an elusive part of because Katie loved Johnny but never felt the love was returned....then comes a young man from her past who claims that HIS letters spoke of love for Katie and he wants a future with Katie.

Katie is frustrated but the mystery.of.it.all takes on a "story" all its own.

If you love Amish fiction then you'll love this wonderful gut read!

Fun Friday

 

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}