Tuesday, February 26, 2013

We have a 

Linda Maendel is the winner of Robin Lee Hatcher's books Belonging and Betrayal!

Linda, I will be sending you an email this evening.  Please respond within 72 hours with your mailing address so I can get these wonderful books off to you in the mail.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway.  I promise there are more giveaways to come.  Stay tuned!

Smiles & Blessings,




Sunday, February 10, 2013

Betrayal by Robin Lee Hatcher - my review & 2 book giveaway

I am so very excited to tell you about a new author I discovered.  Well, you all may have read her work before but I was just blessed with reading my first book by Robin Lee Hatcher.  I was given the chance to read and review her book betrayal (little 'b' on purpose), the second book in her "Where the Heart Lives" series and Zondervan blessed me with not only a copy of betrayal, but also the first book in the series, belonging.  Oh, and they were also gracious enough to send me a second copy of each to offer to you, my readers.  Yes, this is a giveaway post!  Yippee!

I read the book, betrayal first as that was the book Zondervan was requesting to be reviewed.  Now I am excited to read the first in the series.

betrayal is the story of widow Julia Grace and drifter Hugh Brennan.  Julia's husband had been abusive to her and she vowed never to love or marry again.  She is left with a ranch to run and taxes to pay.  Hugh Brennan's mother died when he was young and he and his sisters were separated when they were sent to live with different families.  Hugh's father soon finds him and takes him to live with him only to turn him over to a life of crime.  Hugh serves time in prison for a crime he didn't commit and is now trying to find his two sisters.  In his travels, he encounters Julia and he asks if she could use some help on her farm for a few days.  I can't say anything more or it will be a spoiler, which I never try to do.

One thing I loved about this book is the way Ms Hatcher weaves God's Word throughout, whether as a thought or a spoken word.  Well done.  Not overbearing.

Ms. Hatcher has created a beautiful and believable cast of characters that come to life on the written page.  I found myself endeared to Julia and Hugh from the very beginning and Charlie, well, let's just say....I didn't like him at all.  Well done Ms. Hatcher.  Any author who can make me love and hate their characters becomes an author that I will go out of my way to find their books.  

As a side note, in my humble opinion, whoever created the beautiful cover art for betrayal captured the leading male, Hugh Brennan very, very well. 

I would highly recommend betrayal to anyone enjoying a good Christian love story.

On a 5-Star scale = 5 BIG stars!!!!!

I would like to thank Zondervan for my review copies and giveaway copies.  I received my copies for free in order to read and give my honest review, which I have done.

Now for the giveaway.....

************ GIVEAWAY RULES  ************

1.  Giveaway is open to US and Canada

2.  No PO Boxes please.

3.  Answer my question below for one entry - +1..

4.  For extra entries you may do one or all of the following:
    -- become a Google Friends Connect follower +2
    -- become an email subscriber +1
    -- invite a friend to become a follower of my blog.  If they become a follower & mention your name, you will both receive 2 extra entries

5. Include an email address where I can reach you if you are selected as the winner of this giveaway.  Please enter your email address in this format    winner[at]yahoo[dot]com

To make sure your entry counts, please answer the following question:

What is your favorite season of the year
?


Giveaway will run through February 24th, and one winner will be selected to win copies of both books using Random.Org

For giveaways on other blogs please go to Winning Readings at http://winningreadings.blogspot.com/p/winning-readings-giveaways.html


Smiles & Blessings,


  




Unglued Devotional by Lysa TerKeurst - my review

I am always ready for a good devotional to add to my time spent with the Lord.  When I was given the opportunity to review Lysa TerKeurst's newest book, Unglued Devotional, I was excited as I have enjoyed previous books by Ms. TerKeurst.  Unfortunately, this book of devotions wasn't for me.

The subtitle of the book is "60 Days of Imperfect Progress" and I felt the stories were leaning a little to the 'negative'.  I always try to select an uplifting devotional but Unglued Devotional didn't feel very uplifting to me.  But I feel that is most likely because I didn't really connect with some of the topics.  

I do believe the purpose of the book is to help the reader take situations that 'unglue' them and turn them around to a positive experience.  I think if the book had been grouped in sections that pertained to different issues, it might be more helpful to the reader.  

One thing I did like is the Appendix that helps the reader determine their reaction type.  

I would recommend this devotional to those who experience a lot of 'unglued' days.  

On a 5 star scale - 3 Stars

I would like to thank Zondervan for my copy of Unglued Devotional.  I received my copy for free in order to read and give my honest review, which I have done.

Smiles & Blessings,