Book Description: Sixteen-year-old Addison Blakely has tireless played the role of PK—preacher’s kid—her entire life. But after Wes Keegan revs his motorcycle into town and into her heart, Addison begins to wonder how much of her faith is her own and how much has been handed to her. She isn’t so sure she wants to be the good girl anymore. Join Addison Blakely as she attempts to separate love from lust, facts from faith, and keep her head above water in her murky, fishbowl existence.
My Review: When you're sixteen and living in a pastor's home, yeah, sometimes it feels like the whole.wide.world is watching you. When in reality just a few lucky people are actually a part of your existence.
Growing up as a PK (ie. Preacher's Kid) I, too, knew the feeling of expectations that come from belonging to a pastor's home. However, as I've grown up, married a pastor and am now raising a PK of my own, I realize that we put many of those expectations upon ourselves.
Addison feels the pressures of being a PK . . . . certain ways she should act and behave; having a certain look and, of course, attending church.
When Wes comes into Addison's line of vision, this is when I believe, that Addison realizes it's not what people think about PK's but how we, as individuals, respond to God.
A cute, light, coming-of-age read that captures the feelings and emotions of a sweet teenage girl. The choices Addison makes are a good read for the YA group.
*This ebook was provided by NetGalley and Barbour Publishing*
We love soups....especially potato soup! And I love using my crock pot!
Potato Onion Soup
5 cups cubed peeled potatoes
5 cups water
2 cups finely chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup sliced carrots
1/4 cup butter or margarine
4 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
4 tablespoons chives
In a large slow cooker/Crock Pot, combine the first nine ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH for 7 hours or until vegetables are tender. Add milk, parsley and chives, mix well. Cover and cook 30-40 minutes longer until heated through. Yield 8-10 1 cup servings (3 quarts in total).
Thomas Nelson Publishing was kind enough to send me an extra the Voice New Testament to giveaway to one of my readers. See below the book Description to enter the GIVEAWAY:
The Voice™ Bible translation is a faithful dynamic translation of the Scriptures done as a collage of compelling narratives, poetry, song, truth, and wisdom.The Voice calls the reader to step into the whole story of Scripture and experience the joy and wonder of God's revelation. Created for and by a church in great transition, The Voice uniquely represents collaboration among scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets, and other artists, giving great attention to the beauty of the narrative. The heart of The Voice is retelling the story of the Bible in a form as fluid as modern literary works yet remaining painstakingly true to the original manuscripts. This translation promotes the public reading of longer sections of Scripture-followed by thoughtful engagement with the biblical narrative in its richness and fullness and dramatic flow.
This is an updated and revised version of the New Testament edition, now at an even more affordable price.
Features include:
Italicized information added to help contemporary readers understand what the original readers would have known intuitively
In-text commentary notes include cultural, historical, theological, or devotional thoughts
Screenplay format, ideal for public readings and group studies
Book introductions
GIVEAWAY!
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Book Description: Freedom. Safety. Love. Miranda vows to reclaim them--for herself, and for her children.
A widow and mother of six, Miranda Hanford leads a quiet, private life. When the pastor of her close-knit church announces his plans to move the entire congregation to another state, Miranda jumps at the opportunity to dissolve ties with Mason Chandler and his controlling method of ruling his flock. But then Mason threatens to unearth secrets from her past, and Miranda feels trapped, terrified she’ll be unable to protect her children.
College professor Jack Hanford is more than surprised when he gets a call from his estranged sister-in-law’s oldest son, Timothy, informing him that Miranda has taken a serious fall and he has been named legal guardian of her children while she recovers. Quickly charmed by Miranda’s children, Jack brings some much-needed life into the sheltered household. But his constant challenging of the family’s conservative lifestyle makes the recovering mother uneasy and defensive—despite Jack’s unnerving appeal.
As Jack tries to make sense of the mysterious Miranda and the secrets she holds so tightly, Mason’s pressure on her increases. With her emotions stirring and freedom calling, can Miranda find a way to unshackle her family without losing everything?
My Review:Wow! Imagine never watching a dvd or shopping at Wal-Mart! Welcome to Miranda's world. She and her six children have led very conservative lives not necessarily because they chose this way of life but because Miranda's husband, Carl, and the pastor of their church insisted on these "rules of life."
When Miranda is badly hurt after a fall her oldest son, Timothy, contacts his uncle Jack (half brother to his late dad) to come and help his family while his mom recuperates.
Jack drops everything to go and help Miranda and her children. Jack's easy going ways and challenges aren't the perfect way to help but Miranda with her defensive ways begins to question "the why of her conservative living."
The mystery involving Pastor Mason and even the secrets Miranda harbors are intriguing as well as hard to guess why it all happened.
This book brings out some hard to answer questions: Why do some people follow the Law but forget about the Grace? Is it right for a pastor to "rule" his flock? Are people who follow pastors who require more than God requires just part of a cult?
This was a truly interesting read. There are slow parts but I likes the way the author pulls the reader into the "fray." I found myself rooting for Jack to help Miranda and the children pull away from their pastor. But found that pulling away from a cult leader is about like pulling a tooth. A lot of pain, some tears but healing as the end result.
This is an enjoyable read! God sees every sparrow that falls and He knows just how to help His "sparrows" regain life again!
*This book was provided for review by Waterbrook/Multnomah*
Guest post by Jennifer Slattery
Last week, Clash of the Titles launched their first annual Tournament of Champions with two clashes and four talented authors. In Clash one, CS Lakin, author of Someone to Blame, and Marianne Evans, author of Heart Crossing, went head-to-head in a nail-biting, literary duel. In Clash two, our very own Gail Pallotta, author of Love Turns the Tide, competed against Clare Revell, author of A Season for Miracles. All four excerpts rocked, and this was a tough call, but you, our faithful readers chose two Tournament of the Champions' finalists.
Those finalists were Marianne Evans and Gail Pallotta.
Exciting stuff, and yet, the games weren’t done. In the next round, COTT staff cast their votes, and once again, one writer rose to the top and will advance to the next round.
That author is… Marianne Evans! And here’s a glimpse of what a COTT champion excerpt looks like:
“Collin Edwards stood before the funeral assembly. Heat crawled up his body. He clutched the edges of the podium where he stood and cleared his throat. The gesture was in vain. His throat constricted so much it hurt. Before the altar, just to the right, rested a flag-draped casket.
He looked down, at a piece of paper upon which he had crafted the words to a eulogy…” (Read more of Excerpt B here.)
About the novel, Heart Crossing:
Collin Edwards, a former parishioner at Woodland Church, has renounced God without apology, his faith drained away in the face of a tragic loss.
Daveny Montgomery cares deeply about her relationship with God, and the community of Woodland . Lately though, she's been in a rut, longing for something to reignite her spiritual enthusiasm.
A beautification project at Woodland seems the answer for them both. Daveny spearheads the effort and Collin assists, but only with the renovations, and only because he wants to know Daveny better. Despite his deepening feelings for her, even stepping into the common areas of the church stirs tension and anger.
Can Daveny trust in Collin’s fledgling return to faith? And can Collin ever accept the fact that while he turned his back on God, God never turned his back on him? We’d also like to congratulate our prize-winning readers:
Join us this week for more fun and prizes as four more authors jump into the ring hoping not only to advance to the next round, but ultimately reign as the Clash of the Titles’ champion of champions! Remember, every vote counts! Each vote gets your name thrown into the hat for our fab-tabulous grand prize give-away comprised offourteen novels!
***
Jennifer Slattery is the marketing manager for Clash of the Titles. She writes for Christ to the World Ministries, the Christian Pulse, and Samie Sisters and has written for numerous other publications. She also works for Tiffany Colter, the Writing Career Coach, as a professional manuscript evaluator and publicist. You can find out more about her and her writing at her devotional blog, Jennifer Slattery Lives Out Loud. You can find out more about her critique and publicity services at Words That Keep.
Book Description: Carny Sullivan grew up in the zany world of a traveling carnival. Quaint and peaceful Serenity, Texas, has given her a home, a life, and a child. Logan Brisco is the smoothest, slickest, handsomest man Serenity, Texas has ever seen. But Carny Sullivan knows a con artist when she sees one---and she's seen plenty, starting with her father. As far as Carny Sullivan can tell, she's the only one in town who has his number. Because from his Italian shoes to his movie-actor smile, Logan has the rest of the town snowed. Carny is determined to reveal Brisco's selfish intentions before his promise to the townspeople for a cut in a giant amusement park sucks Serenity dry. Yet, as much as she hates his winning ways, there is a man behind that suave smile, a man who may win her heart against her will.
My Review: I am a great fan of Terri Blackstock's books. So, when Shadow In Serenity came I immediately delved into the lives of Carny and Logan.
At the preface of the book Terri writes that she first penned this book when she was not following Christ. Then in later years, after her conversion, she rewrote it as a Christian book. So, very glad that she did!
Carny is world savvy, earthy and above all else a guard.of.heart. She stands for truth and loves God. And she has Logan's "number."
Logan is world savvy, too, but uses his savvy to cheat people out of their money. However, he never cheats/steals from an honest man. Logan is the kind of guy that I have a love/hate relationship with. I hate how is young life was tainted but I love the fact that he wants to do right....he just needs to find the right place and time. Logan makes Carny think/seek out what her christian life is really about. And in turn Logan sees Carny's life taking after God and begins to seek for Truth on his own.
I loved this read! Of course, if you've read Terri Blackstock's books before you know that there are several twists and turns in her very well thought stories.
Just when I had an "ah AH!" moment, thinking I figured this out <boom> another twist!
This is a fast read....probably because I couldn't put the book down. There is romance but above all there is forgiveness and redeeming love!
Heart Crossing
