Playing by Heart by Anne Mateer

Reading Playing by Heart by Anne Mateer was my first experience with this author. While I enjoyed this book, I'm not sure I really enjoyed the 'first person' telling of the story. Each chapter has a header of who's mind we are in throughout that chapter. I have read some books before written in first person but the author left it to the reader to know whose head we were in and I prefer that form of first person writing.

With all that said, the story in Playing by Heart was well told. It is the story of Lula Bowman, a mathematics teacher and student working towards her PhD and Chet Vaughn, a teacher and basketball coach.  Lula's sister loses her husband and she is called back to her Oklahoma home town to help her sister get through this rough time. Lula's other siblings believe Lula should give up her dream of obtaining her PhD in order to help their sister Jewel. All her siblings appeared to be very selfish and self-absorbed. Chet Vaughn lived in Lula's hometown and while he would have loved to gone to war like his brother, he stayed behind to tend to his mother.

The characters were well developed and the reader is drawn into their world easily. Lula's character was based on both of Ms. Mateer's grandmothers, which I found quite interesting.

In my opinion, the love story between Lula and Chet took a little longer than I would have liked but the important thing is it did happen eventually. 

There are some plot twists in this story that were unexpected but added to the story quite nicely.

While it wasn't one of my favorite books, I would recommend Playing by Heart to anyone who enjoys reading Christian historical romance novels.

On a 5-Star Scale - 4 Stars.

I would like to thank Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, for my copy of Playing by Heart. I received my copy for free in order to read it and give my honest review, which I have done.

Smiles & Blessings,

When a Secret Kills by Lynette Eason - my review

When a Secret Kills, book three of Lynette Eason's "Deadly Reunion" series was a fantastic read!  From the moment I opened the book I found myself on a fast paced journey that kept me guessing until the very end.

Ms. Eason creates phenomenal characters and then breathes life into them so they almost walk off the written page, grab hold of you and then invite you into their world.  I have yet to read a book by Ms. Eason that I haven't fallen in love with her characters.

When a Secret Kills is the story of investigative reporter, Jillian Carter and detective Colton Brady.  Jillian has been hiding out, ever since the night of her graduation party.  She was in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessed a crime that catapulted her away from her home and loved ones sending her into hiding for ten long years.  She's tired of hiding and finally decides to come home and face the man she saw commit murder.  Coming home means leaving her nine year old daughter, Meg, behind in the custody of friends.  When she arrives home she comes face to face with her past and one true love, Colton Brady, Meg's father.  However, Colton isn't aware that Meg exists.

Jillian believes that Colton's uncle, Senator Frank Hoffman, killed the governor ten years ago and has been trying to kill her ever since.  Colton doesn't want to believe his uncle, who was more like a father to him, would do such a thing.  But as time goes on, Jillian has had one attempt after another on her life and Colton is starting to believe the validity of her accusations.  But did Jillian actually see what she thought she saw?  You'll only find the answer to that question by reading this wonderful book.

Each time I read one of Lynette Eason's books I become a bigger fan of her work.  She is truly a master storyteller when it comes to creating romantic suspense.  The Christian thread was subtle and masterfully woven through out the book.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Christian romantic suspense.

On a 5 Star Scale = 5 BIG Stars!!!!!

I would like to thank Donna Hausler and Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group for my review copy.  I received my copy for free in order to read it and give my honest review, which I have done.

* Available May 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. *

Smiles & Blessings,

The Pursuit of Lucy Banning - a review

I always enjoy reading books by debut novelists and I wasn't disappointed with Olivia Newport's debut novel.  The Pursuit of Lucy Banning.  The story is about Lucy Banning, the privileged daughter of a wealthy Chicago family during the 1890's.  Lucy befriends Charlotte, the new kitchen maid who is hiding a secret and Lucy has one of her own.

Lucy is expected to marry the son of her parent's best friends.  However, Lucy doesn't want to become just someone's wife.  She wants a life of her own doing what is near and dear to her heart.  Along the journey,she meets Will, a friend of her brother, and she finds herself falling in love with him, a man that her parents would not consider worthy enough for their daughter as he is beneath their economic and social status.

Ms. Newport opens up a world of Chicago high society and depicts what i must have been like for women, during that time, as they tried to break the economic and social standings they had to endure during that time period.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Pursuit of Lucy Banning and I look forward to reading Ms. Newport's sophomoric novel once it hits the shelves.

On a 5-star scale - 4 stars.

I would like to thank Donna Hausler, Revell, and Baker Publishing Group for my review copy.  I received my copy for free so that I could read it and give my honest review, which I have done.

*** Available May 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group ***

Smiles & Blessings,

Revell Blog Tour - Blue Skies Tomorrow by Sarah Sundin

I am an avid reader that tends to allow a book's cover to draw me into picking it up off a shelf to read.  Sarah Sundin's debut book, A Distant Melody, did exactly that, it beckoned me to read it.  The cover reminded me so much of one of my favorite classic movies, Best Years of Our Lives that I knew I just had to buy it and take it home.  Let me tell you, Ms. Sundin's talent for creating believable characters absolutely blew me away.  She also has a strong knack of drawing you into her story where you become a part of it.  There were times I felt I was actually in a B-17 during WWII.  I could hardly wait for her second book, A Memory Between Us, to hit the shelves.  Her sophomore attempt was just as wonderful as her debut novel swo when her third book, Blue Skies Tomorrow, came out I knew I had to get a copy of it as soon as possible.  Let me tell you, the only thing wrong with her third book in the Wings of Glory series is that it is the third and final book.


Blue Skies Tomorrow, is about Ray, the oldest of the Novak brothers.  Ray's father is a pastor who had dreams for all of his sons to become pastors.  Of the three sons, Ray was th only one who wanted to follow his father into the ministry.  Unfortunately, WWII was going on and Ray had a talent that the Army Air Force needed.  He knew how to fly B-17s and he was an excellent teacher so his dreams of being in the pulpit. were placed on hold while he trained young men to fly the Flying Fortresses in battle.


Helen, the female lead, is a young war widow and mother of a toddler.  She has secrets that she is keeping that are slowly revealed to the reader through letters she sends to Ray while he is flying bombing raids in Germany.


The story lines threading throughout the book blend well with the history of WWII.  I found myself learning more about WWII then I had ever known before.  My husband is a big WWII buff and we have shared several great discussions all stemming from Ms. Sundin's books.


I do not believe in giving spoilers so I would just like to say, in closing, if you love good Christian romantic historical novels please pick up any of Ms. Sundin's books.  Better yet, pick them all up.  You do not have to read them in order although I am happy very happy that I did.  One thing I really loved about Blue Skies Tomorrow is that most of the characters from the previous novels were brought back together in this one.  I must say, it helped to have a box of Kleenex handy while reading this book.


On a five-star scale, I would rate this book, as well as the series, five-stars.


Available August 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. 


I received a complimentary copy of Blue Skies Tomorrow from Revell for purpose of reviewing.  It was not required that I write a positive review, only an honest one, which I have done.


Smiles & Blessings,