Archive | July 2019

The Olive Tree by Lucinda Riley

Jul25

Secrets

The Olive Tree by Lucinda Riley is a powerful novel about family, friendship and love. Once again Lucinda Riley has created an eclectic mix of characters that weave their way into the reader’s heart.

The action is mainly set in 2006 but also fast forwards ten years at the beginning and the end. The reader becomes intimately acquainted with thirteen year old Alex as some of the tale is in the form of his diary. We get glimpses into the mind of a quiet studious child on the cusp of adulthood. He seems to have autistic tendencies which I recognized from having worked with teens with autism. He is a likable but complex character. The rest of the novel is written in the third person from varying viewpoints.

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Fragments Of Fear by Carrie Stuart Parks

Jul25

Trust In The Lord

Fragments Of Fear by Carrie Stuart Parks is the most marvellous contemporary Christian murder suspense. I read it with heart racing as the action hotted up.

Carrie Stuart Parks drew me in from the start as I questioned, along with the main character, exactly where the truth lay. The novel is about truth and lies, reality and fantasy, authenticity and fakes – not everything is as it seems. The main character questioned events, trying to piece together the truth. Likewise I did the same.

The action was fast paced, as the crimes and body count rose, so did my heart rate. There was always the question of trust – apart from God who else was trustworthy?

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Love Lock by Rich Rollins and Marty Trammell

Jul23

Strengthen Your Relationships

Love Lock: Creating Lasting Connections With The One You Love by Rich Rollins and Marty Trammell is a powerful book exploring how we can get the best out of our marriages and how they can last. The book is based around the Song Of Songs. Each chapter ends with a Love Lock where there are questions or Biblical readings to help us examine and build strength into our marriages.

Marriage is a partnership not a dictatorship. We have our differences but we need to ‘think team.’ We also need to include Jesus in our marriages. We need to manage our expectations and deal with problems as they arise. If we do not deal with the small things they may add up and become the big thing that destroys our marriage. “’Little foxes’ are actually the most dangerous because they eat the root.”

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The Evacuee Summer by Katie King

Jul23

Charming And Nostalgic

The Evacuee Summer by Katie King is a delightful historical novel set in Harrogate during the summer of 1940. It is the second book in the Evacuee series but can be read as a stand-alone.

The threat of the blitz meant children were evacuated from London during the autumn of 1939. The phoney war reigned and some children returned home.

The Evacuee Summer is a time of simplicity. Simple pleasures were enjoyed as money and goods were scarce. Homes were opened to evacuees and mothers with babies. On the whole they were welcomed by the locals but there were a few skirmishes.

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