Archive | December 2015

The Christmas Joy Ride by Melody Carlson

Dec11

Totally Delightful

The Christmas Joy RideThe Christmas Joy Ride by Melody Carlson is a totally delightful Christmas offering. Nobody does Christmas quite like Melody Carlson. Every year a new tale comes out and every year I just have to buy it.

Eighty five year old Joy is moving two thousand miles to be closer to her sons. They think she is flying down but Joy has other plans. She has dusted off her old RV, decorated it with Christmas bling and is ready to go. Her neighbour Miranda is worried about Joy travelling so far on her own. She shares her worries and finds herself conscripted into joining Joy!

On their journey Joy has six stop offs to make. As Christmas Joy, she wrote a blog and set a competition asking for people to write in about those who deserved a special treat at Christmas. Joy chose her winners. Now the magic begins.

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Fear Is Louder Than Words by Linda S Glaz

Dec8

Nail Bitingly Good

Fear Is Louder Than WordsFear Is Louder Than Words by Linda S Glaz is an amazing nail biting Christian thriller. I was literally on the edge of my seat for the whole read. It was exciting. It was heart breaking. It was Horrifying. It was faithful.

Some books are really easy to review. This book was really hard as it was all so fabulous. It is difficult to know where to start. The whole book is packed full of good, sound godly advice juxtaposed with breath taking action. It is an unusual combination but it works really well and I want more, more, more by Linda Glaz.

There are many themes covered within the novel but running throughout is that of God and of faith. Rochelle had a strong faith but it wasn’t always that way. She used to be so angry, as she says she was “wearing anger like a fashion statement. And my hate ate me from the inside out.” Rochelle realised that there had to be more to life than anger. She realised that anger made her a prisoner and she needed to deal with it. She was angry at people. She was angry at circumstances. She was angry at God. Rochelle needed to repent of her anger and she needed to learn to forgive. Only then could she be free to be the person God intended her to be.

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The Wedding Chapel by Rachel Hauck

Dec7

Coming Home

The Wedding ChapelThe Wedding Chapel, wow, another fantastic novel by Rachel Hauck. Everything she writes really impacts and talks to my soul. On the surface it is a beautiful love story, but it is so much more than that.

In The Wedding Chapel Rachel Hauck shows how God always has His hand on our lives. We may not see Him. We may not feel Him, but He is always there. There is so much more to life than what we can see. Life is a spiritual battle, and as Christians we need to immerse ourselves in God’s word daily. Referring to the Bible Sam in the novel says we need to “take a withdrawal and stop trying to make a good life on the devil’s pennies.” The devil is always trying to draw God’s children away from their purpose in life.

Rachel Hauck demonstrates how important a relationship with God is. Her characters know God and recognise that He must be the most important thing in their lives. Taylor, on explaining why she ended a relationship says “I couldn’t hear God’s heart anymore.”

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Whispers In The Reading Room by Shelley Gray

Dec4

Escaping Reality

Whispers 2Whispers In The Reading Room by Shelley Gray is a fabulous end to the Chicago World’s Fair Mystery series. It is a compulsive read that had me hooked from the start. It can be read as a stand-alone as there were just references to previous crimes, and the reader once again meets the two detectives from book two.

Lydia earns her living as a librarian and loves her job. Every day a mysterious man spends a couple of hours in the library reading. At first, neither speak to each other but both are watching the other. Whispers In The Reading Room deals with the theme of escapism. Lydia escapes from the reality of her life with her widowed mother by hiding behind her books. Likewise, Sebastian (the mysterious gentleman) hides behind his books. He wants to escape from his past. Both will be stuck in a void if they cannot face reality.

Lydia’s mother, too, refuses to face reality. She hides from the world, as she no longer has a fortune. Her only hope is that Lydia will marry well, and rescue them both from a life of poverty. Money motivates. Lydia’s mother is not so much concerned with a man’s character, but more with the size of his wallet. A fortune is to be pursued even at the risk of her daughters welfare and happiness.

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