Sherilyn Mohler

Uncharted by Angela Hunt

Rating: 4 Stars

This story is about 5 college friends brought together after a 6th is killed an an auto accident.

These friends were brought together by a professor who offered them money for selling his book, HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

There are a lot of parallels to bible stories. It makes you think about heaven and hell, and what either will be like. How no one is "good enough" on your own to make it into heaven, and how we just need to listen to hear God speaking to us.

This is a very well written story. Great read.

Comilla (Cleaf77@aol.com)

Beguiled by Deeanne Gist & J. Mark Bertrand

Rating: 5 Stars

I really like suspense don't care that much for romances. I have to say this novel was a delight to read. The romance was just the right amount.

Sherilyn Mohler

Gardenias for Breakfast by Robin Jones Gunn

Rating: 4 Stars

Slow starting, but hard to put down once you start to read. Author illustrates well the different perspectives of the mother, grandmother, great grandmother and daughter, and how those view points shape who we become.

Casey

Surrender the Heart by Marylu Tyndall

Rating: 4 Stars

This author never fails to deliver an entertaining story that sweeps me off my feet and transports me to another time and place. The lyrical prose paints a picture until I can see the ocean and taste the salt on my lips. Envision the cannons belching black smoke and fire and best of all, truly know the characters both inside and out. See their amazing growth and transformation until I am confident they can survive without me.
Though known for her sweeping pirate epics, MaryLu has taken her story a few centuries forward in time and given us a story set in the war of 1812. She has proven she is very competent of writing a story without the pirates and still entertain her faithful readers. I for one loved this book and if you are a fan of her Charles Towne Belles series, this book is a must read. I can’t wait for book two in this series!!
This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers through CFBA for my copy to review.

Sherilyn Mohler

In High Places by Tom Morrisey

Rating: 4 Stars

Second coming of age book read this week, first one being "Gardenias for Breakfast".

Excellent story line, slow starting but hard again to put down. Author illustrates how the young man strives for approval of the adults in his life. Loved it.

Cynde

The Last Christian by David Gregory

Rating: 4 Stars

Great futuristic thriller! A young missionary girl is driven from her home in the jungle to find that there are no Christians left in America or the rest of the world. And there is a movement to digitize everyone's brain into silicon in an artificial body so they can live forever.How can she save the souls of the people she cares about? How can she impact the world for God?

Jane Ann Railey Clear

Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes

Rating: 5 Stars

One of your reviewers said this book will ring you out and hang you to dry --- well I'm there.

I just finished "Crossing Oceans". I started yesterday and never made it to bed --- I tired once or twice but it kept calling me. I took a little longer to finish than normal because I had to stop every little bit to wipe and blow, I cried through almost the entire book. I am a voracious reader and usually pick one book up as laying one finished down but I think it may take me couple days to get this one out of my mind.

I received this book in the mail I know not from whom, author or Tyndale? Whomever ti was, I thank you dearly it was so wonderful and I will pass it on and put in my two cents worth in all the book sites that I go to that ask "what are you reading?" . Please don't go back to thrillers and mysteries, we have plenty but we need more this genre. I will be looking for Gina's next one, DRY AS RAIN, in the spring because it sounds intriguing. I wish I had the words to explain how I felt after reading the book. If I could find those words maybe I could write too :)

Jane Squires (jrs362@hotmail.com)

The Red Siren by M. L. Tyndall

Rating: 5 Stars

What a story --- a lady pirate! I could so envision a man snared by this woman. Yet she harmed no one physically. The book is exactly what I would expect from a lady pirate.

There is intrigue, danger and God's protection and plan are so beautifully woven into a pirate tale.
A book you won't be able to put down. I truly loved the ending.

Jane Squires (jrs362@hotmail.com)

The Blue Enchantress by M. L. Tyndall

Rating: 5 Stars

Hope is an appropriate name for the heroine. The whole book offers hope to Hope and all the other characters. If you've ever known someone who has been abused as a child you can feel for Hope. She spends her life looking for someone to truly love her. Finally, she finds that God can love her like no one else can. But she gets a bonus and gets the true love a man too.

This book is a true story of redemption along with adventure and pirates.
I recommend you read the "Red Siren" first.

Sherilyn Mohler

Coppycat by Erica Spindler

Rating: 5 Stars

This was a great read --- the chapters were short, the characters were believable and likable. If you like mystery, this is it! This is a great book, I will be reading more.

ADB

Though Waters Roar by Lynn N. Austin

Rating: 5 Stars

Another wonderful book by Lynn Austin. This book is about a young girl, her mother and grandmother. Each tells the story of their younger years as teenagers and in the end, their stories connect in a wonderful way. A great novel!!!

Linda

Love on a Dime by Cara Lynn James

Rating: 4 Stars

I enjoy reading Christian fiction set in this time period! It is wonderful to find a new author who skillfully interweaves faith and values in her plot. I found myself wanting to be involved in the lives of several characters, and it was then that I knew I was hooked!

CherylS22

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

Rating: 5 Stars

This is a wonderful book about the German occupation of Guernsey Island during World War II. The story was fascinating and it was a bit unnerving to learn how close the German army was to England during the war.

Shyeyes

Unforgotten by Kristen Heitzmann

Rating: 4 Stars

This is the second novel in a series by Kristen Heitzmann. This book is set in New York and continues the secrets that were uncovered in the first novel. Lance and Rees are partners in a bed and breakfast in Sonoma, Ca. Lance has secrets of his own regarding the promises he made to Nona about the Inn that he is staying in. Rees too has secrets, from her family and her past. Very good story, can't wait to finish the trilogy!

Sherilyn Mohler

Deception by Randy Alcorn

Rating: 4 Stars

It was slow to get my attention, but then grabbed it and kept it until the end. Ollie Justice Chandler, the main character, seemed to be a pretty normal guy with many questions about life --- and the purpose of pain, suffering, death and relationships.

The story took many twists and turns, Ollie is a homicide detective. Like his saying,"Things are not always as they seem," they weren't.

I love his quote "Messing with me's like wearin cheese underwear down rat alley." Ollie had good friends who were trying to get him to ask and answer some of the "BIG' questions ---
Ollie lost his wife and son, and hadn't talked to one daughter in forever and a strained relationship with his other daughter, Kendra. Toward the end of the book, Kendra and Ollie have a conversation about the wife/mother and son/brother who have passed, and he says, "We couldn't own her, anymore than you can own a comet or a sunset or fresh rain on a dusty day." I love that part

It's a great read, the second of Randy Alcorns' books I've read, and I will be reading more

Kristie

The Sister Wife by Diane Noble

Rating: 5 Stars

Historical Mormon fiction. The first in the series is excellent. The characters and emotions seemed real and the research was accurate. What do you do when the Prophet commands your husband to take other wives? A difficult question and situation to be sure.

Erin Cook (erincook@cfl.rr.com)

Hurricanes in Paradise by Denise Hildreth

Rating: 4 Stars

Actually 4.5 stars. This is a story of four women with past and present hardships to overcome. How do they help each other? With bravado and honesty, the truth can hurt, but there is always forgiveness. Mixed with hilarity (Winnie) and heartache, with a few handsome gentlemen and an island setting, you wind up loving all of the women, including their flaws by the book's end. Beautiful characters --- all real women.

Betty

Whispers of the Bayou by Mindy Starns Clark

Rating: 5 Stars

Besides the mystery, there is the most interesting history of how the Cajun people came to the South after they were forced to leave eastern Canada. These were very smart people.

It's the best written Christian fiction I've read for a very long time. This is the first that I've read from this author but it won't be the last.

Naomi Johnston (snoopycentral@sbcglobal.net)

The Velvet Shadow by Angela Elwell Hunt

Rating: 3 Stars

This is well written, but you'll want to read the first two books in the series first.

Dara (dara92069@yahoo.com)

When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin

Rating: 5 Stars

Once again Mr. Martin did it again with a beautiful story about the losses and gains throughout life's journey. The story is about Reese and his love Emma, who has a heart condition. He pursues her by becoming a heart transplant doctor. He cannot save her, but he does save an eight-year-old girl named Annie. So in the end Reese still finds love and healing through her.

Rebecca Booth

Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes

Rating: 5 Stars

Jenny Lucas returns to her sleepy NC town to decide who will take care of her child after she dies --- her father whom she hasn't spoken to in years or the child's father who doesn't even know the child exists.

Paula Phillips (beau_angelnz@msn.com)

Unburdened by Chris Tiegreen

Rating: 3 Stars

Ever wondered what it would be like to live a life without worries or burdens?
"Unburdened" is your ultimate Christian way's guide to living a carefree life.

Asha

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Rating: 5 Stars

For a first novel, Ms Stockett should be really proud of herself. This is a superb read. "The Help" is the truest fiction I've ever read, with characters that make you laugh, cry and get angry while realizing that life still goes on.

Tim Chavel (tchavel@hotmail.com)

The Greatest Life of All: Jesus by Charles R. Swindoll

Rating: 5 Stars

Just as Swindoll always does, he writes so that the reader can apply God's truth to his or her life!

Brooke

Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs

Rating: 5 Stars

This book was wonderfully well-written and did an excellent job transporting me into another time and place. I felt that the characters were incredibly authentic and realistically flawed. I particularly adored Mrs. Edgar and Gibson and very much enjoyed witnessing Marjory's transformation.

I never found myself bored or lost in endless description. The author seems to know exactly what amount of is best to for her readers in every instance. "Here Burns My Candle" was a wonderful journey that I'm glad to have taken, and I am very much looking forward to reading the sequel, "Mine Is the Night", when it is released next spring.