Seeking with all Yur Heart

Title:  The Dream Dress (Wedding by Design Book #3) Author:  Janice Thompson Pages:  336 Year:  2014 Publisher:  Revell Each novel in the Weddings by Design series includes many comedic scenes written with flair by the author, Janice Thompson.  Each book centers on a particular female character along with her specialty in the wedding business.  The titles alone give a clue to the story written in the pages.  For instance, The Icing on the Cake and Picture Perfect now join the latest publication, The Dream Dress.  These unique tales have chapter titles that coincide with the theme of a particular part of weddings.  Here, in the third book, the chapter titles are from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ movies with some of the quotes underneath are from Fred or Ginger’s life. Light-hearted, faith-filled and family centered are the various threads that are woven in stories.  They draw the audience in as the main Person all the books point too is the Lord.  The humility of the main family fe…

Title:  Trapped (Private Justice Series #2) Author:  Irene Hannon Pages:  380 Year:  2013 Publisher:  Revell After reading the first book in this series and enjoying it tremendously, I couldn’t wait to start book two!  I was not disappointed with this fast-paced story of a teenage runaway and her sister’s search for her.  Laura Griffith is a 33-year-old librarian who has recently been made ward for her 16-year-old stepsister, Darcy.  They seem to argue all the time and get on each other’s nerves.  Darcy is fed up with this, missing her home town of New York City.  She decides to leave St. Louis and live with a friend of a friend in Chicago.  She chooses her time of departure poorly as a blizzard descends on St. Louis and she has transportation to leave the city.  She ends up in a homeless shelter and meets another drifting teen.  Both girls decide to take up the nice guy’s offer of a real bed and shower for a couple of days until the weather clears. Laura frantically searches for her…

Title:  Vanished (Private Justice Series #1) Author:  Irene Hannon Pages:  314 Year:  2013 Publisher:  Revell I’ve recently been in the mood to read action/suspense/thrillers, so I picked this one up to read and wasn’t disappointed.  Set in modern day Missouri, this is one novel that will keep you riveted to your seat, keep you from doing your chores and entertain you completely! Cal Burke has retired from the police force, but he now runs a private detective company along with his two best friends.  He still keenly feels the loss of his wife five years ago to a hit-and-run accident that he knows was no accident, but he couldn’t bring down the guilty party.  His guilt over not protecting his wife weighs heavy on his heart.  He meets Moira Harrison and listens to her story.  He doubts anything will come of his initial foray, but decides to do an initial investigation.  He likes Moira, but is not looking for a relationship.  Moira has experienced a very strange event and decides to see…

Title:  Dating, Dining & Desperation (A Dear Daphne Novel Book #2) Author:  Melody Carlson Pages:  320 Year:  2014 Publisher:  B & H Books Romance is just one thread in the novel, and as you read the book, you will discover there is so much more than meets the eye.  Let me explain.  Most stories are wrapped up within a single publication at times in a series.  Here is one that is in total four books (the last two are eBooks only) that follow along with Daphne as she lives in the town of Appleton.  Daphne inherited the estate of her grandmother with one very huge stipulation…she has a year to get married to retain possession. Readers are first introduced to Daphne along with her dilemma in Lock, Stock and Over a Barrel.  Now the sequel continues Daphne’s pursuit of Mr. Right.  Within the life of this main female character, the audience gets a wider perspective of the Daphne’s neighbors and town.  There are some tough spots Daphne is pulled into by her new neighbor Sabrina.  Ja…

Title:  The Thief (A Novel) Author:  Stephanie Landsem Pages:  368 Year:  2014 Publisher:  Howard Books The Thief is a novel unlike any book I have ever read.  Here is a fictional tale that will surely keep your heart racing and eyes reading line after line.  Why?  For me, the characters are a faint reflection of the various people who live today all around the globe.  The way the author describes the scenes so richly painted with her words made me feel as if I were in the crowd watching the events unfold. No matter how long one has followed the Lord one thing for sure is that all mankind looks for that which only Jesus did so we may have forgiveness.  While there are those who mock Him in this story set in the past, there are people who still mock the reality of Christianity today.  The novel has traitors and thieves, basically sinful people from many heritages.  Today, we see sinful people everywhere.  In fact, if we are honest with ourselves, we need only look in the mirror to find…

Title:  The 13: STAND Author:  Robbie Cheuvront & Erik Reed with Shawn Allen Pages:  320 Year:  10/2013 Publisher:  Barbour In The 13:  FALL readers are introduced to a political, military and financial situation that wreaks havoc, chaos and death in the United States.  When the first book ends, it is with a cliffhanger with no indication of how the story is going to progress in the sequel, The 13:  STAND.  One of the hard parts of writing this review is not giving too much away in case you haven’t read the first book.  However, what I can tell you is that between these two books is one huge story that will cause readers to reassess their spiritual life or if they even have a relationship with God. In this sequel, the tension begins to ebb and flow many times throughout the pages, and the ending is a masterful stroke of pure genius.  Throughout the book, readers will follow The Prophet’s actions as led by God speaking His Truth as he is directed.  Along with following Prophet the…

Title:  The 13:  FALL Author:  Robbie Cheuvront & Erik Reed                                                                                   Pages:  320 Year:  2012 Publisher:  Barbour The 13: FALL is one spell-binding novel that will not only inspire, but long after the book is closed will keep readers thinking.  My first reading of the novel was thrilling and I couldn’t wait for the sequel, The 13: STAND, which was released in late 2013.  When I was given the opportunity to read the sequel, I decided to reread The 13: FALL to reacquaint myself with the plot and characters.  I am so glad I did, because there was more there than I recalled. In the book, we are introduced to a young man called The Prophet.  He sends messages to the President of the United States.  The messages come to the President in several ways, and after a time, the President decides he must act.  Three people join together to locate and apprehend The Prophet, but are foiled at every turn.  The team members …

Title:Wings of Fire (Inspector Ian Rutledge #2) Author:Charles Todd Pages:306 Year:1998 Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks Inspector Ian Rutledge is sent to investigate an apparent double suicide, followed by another murder all in the same family.His boss wants him out of the way and wants to satisfy an important person by sending someone to investigate these supposed crimes.He is also hoping Inspector Rutledge will fail in this endeavor. Ian Rutledge has been sent to the small village of Borcombe.He really isn’t sure why he has been sent to investigate these closed cases, but he will follow orders.He begins asking questions, but doesn’t see any fault with the local police outcome of the deaths.He can’t help wondering why though.Why would a young, talented, famous poet take her own life?Why would her stepbrother also commit suicide?Was it a murder/suicide scenario?He keeps digging and soon catches the scent of murder, but the trick is how to prove it.There has to be someone who knows…

Title:A Test of Wills (The First Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery) Author:Charles Todd Pages:305 Year:1996 (Copyright) Publisher: Harper I was first introduced to this series of mysteries when I received a free copy of Hunting Shadows, the 16th book in the series.I thoroughly enjoyed that book, but wanted to know the background and beginnings of Inspector Rutledge and his relationship with Hamish.So I went back to the first book in the series to see what I might discover.I soon learned that the love/hate, guilt, shame and so many more emotions that link Ian and Hamish are the result of Ian ordering Hamish’s execution during WW I.Now, to cope with daily living, Ian allows Hamish to live in his mind.They have conversations and sometimes Ian forgets that it is only in his mind and answers Hamish out loud, sometimes much to the surprise of whoever is with Ian at the time.Ian has tried to rid himself of Hamish, but almost lost his mind permanently trying to do so.The doctors tell him it is …