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Early Review -The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus

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Book Description   Say hello to Holly—a writer way behind on her deadline whose fiftieth birthday is rushing at her like a freight train. Which might not seem so bad if her hormones weren’t making her feel like a Szechuan flambé, her editor wasn’t calling every day to tighten the screws, and her eighty-year-old mother wasn’t biting her nurses because the doctor’s been feeding her enough steroids to kill an elephant. Not to mention the fact that Holly’s daughter has just begun applying to colleges (none of which are within a thousand mile radius of home) and, lately, her husband’s been such an irritating, finger-pointing stinker that she’s found herself dreaming of ways to spend his insurance money… The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus dances effortlessly between the hilarious and the heart-wrenching, the preposterous and the painfully familiar, leaping from the page in a completely unexpected and original way. Sonya Sones is the author of four acclaimed novels for teens—Stop Preten

Early Review–Breeders

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Book Description from the author’s website Thoroughbred racing brings together all ethnic types in a unique temporary democracy where stable hands may interact with the very rich. But when tough, shrewd construction mogul and thoroughbred owner Pat McGoohey makes talented, mahogany-skinned Len Thomas his trainer, he breaks with protocol. With Len comes the strange, funky and mystical horse-whisperer, Paco. Lacking good ponies, McGoohey develops a driving obsession to have his mare Arabiche bred with a champion stud owned by a Kentucky blue-blood steel magnolia. The mating can't happen until Arabiche gets some better results, and the owner tasks his boys with a good showing in a very big Saratoga race where the Kentucky lady will be present. Len's job is in jeopardy because Arabiche just isn't up to it, and he's determined to get results. Paco makes it happen, but McGoohey is humiliated by the Kentucky lady and he goes illegal. Len doesn't like it, bu

Early Review–The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group

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Book Description   I still hadn't fully absorbed the terrible possibility that I might actually be a werewolf. A werewolf. I kept stumbling over that word; it made no sense to me. How could I be a werewolf? Werewolves didn't exist. When Tobias Richard Vandevelde wakes up in hospital with no memory of the night before, his horrified mother tells him that he was found by the police. At Featherdale Park. In a dingo pen . As if that isn't weird enough, suddenly a very menacing looking guy and a priest show up at his door. As the mystery unfolds, Toby finds himself keeping company with some very strange and sickly looking people - members of a suburban vampire support group. And when he's abducted in broad daylight, he will need all their help to break free ... and to come to terms with his own incredibly rare condition.   Book Review   This is the second book in a series.  I did not get the chance to read the first book.  There were a few places where th

Early Review–Counterfeit Gospels

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Book Description   The biblical gospel is like a three-legged stool: a story that climaxes with an announcement which births a community.  Deny one or more of these components and you have a counterfeit. Counterfeit Gospels exposes six common versions of the "good news" that fail to do justice to the biblical portrait and thus leave us impoverished rather than empowered for ministry. By exposing the counterfeits and explaining the biblical gospel, this book will help Christians gain clarity on the gospel and challenge them to accept no substitutes. Book Review   Just as passing counterfeit currency around can undermine a government, passing around counterfeit gospels can undermine Christianity. Trevin goes on to explain the three prongs of the gospel and how to truly understand the true gospel.  He points towards Biblical references to show how certain gospels that people take as being true are in fact counterfeit gospels.  And he shows us how to find the truth.

Early Review- Dare To Be Different

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Book Description   Decisions, decisions! How is a girl supposed to choose? Lessons of right and wrong are put to the test in the Scenarios series, where you can test your decision-making abilities in an eye-opening, but safe, way. Each book follows a character up to the point where she has to make an important, life-changing decision—then it’s your turn to choose. Will your choices lead to a happy ending? [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW13j07rGDM&fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0]   Book Review   Both of these stories had been previously published as separate books.   They are geared towards tween in the hopes that it will help them to develop the ability to make the right decisions in tough situations. At first when I heard interactive fiction, my mind flashed back to the Choose Your Own Adventure series of the 1980s.  This book wasn’t as interactive as that.  It was more like choose your own ending.  Bit it worked for these stories. The stories are about fr

Early Review–Phantom Evil

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Book Description   A secret government unit is formed under the oversight of Adam Harrison, famed paranormal investigator. The six members he's gathered know a little of the otherworldly—each has honed a psychic talent of their own. Jackson Crow, part English, part Cheyenne, heads the group. Haunted by his experience with an ancestral ghost who saved his life as a child, and the recent murders of two previous teammates, Jackson can't tell if Adam's demoted him or given him an extraordinary opportunity. Despite his link to the realm of spirits, he's well aware that the living commit the most heinous crimes, with spiritualist charlatans existing merely to fool and seduce the unwary. To counterbalance Jackson's careful skepticism, Adam Harrison has paired him with Angela Hawkins, a young woman who learned the painful lesson of loss at an early age. A police officer utilizing her paranormal intuition in Virginia, she already has her hands full. But Adam's call

Early Review–The Knitting Diaries

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Book Description The Twenty-First Wish by Debbie Macomber Anne Marie Roche and her adopted daughter, ten-year-old Ellen, have each written a list of twenty wishes—on which they included learning to knit. But Ellen has quietly added a twenty-first wish: that her mom will fall in love with Tim, Ellen's birth father, who's recently entered their lives…. Coming Unraveled by Susan Mallery When Robyn Mulligan's dreams of becoming a Broadway star give way to longing for her childhood home, she returns to Texas, running her grandmother's knitting store. But the handsome, hot-tempered T. J. Passman isn't making it easy on her. If he can learn to trust Robyn, and overcome his tragic past, they just might discover a passion like no other. Return to Summer Island by Christina Skye After a devastating car accident, Caro McNeal is welcomed by a community of knitters on Oregon's sleepy Summer Island. She also finds meaning and purpose in the letters she ex

Review–Lethal Lineage

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Book Description   A sinister Episcopal Bishop shows up to confirm Lottie and Josie Albright's niece at the new frame church built on the corners of four Western Kansas counties. The twins are already agitated over his scathing sermon when the Reverend Mary Farnsworth flees to the anti room after dropping the chalice during communion. Josie, a psychologist, lingers after the service to comfort her, but Lottie immediately orders her sister to leave when they discover Reverend Mary's body. Alone with Talesbury, Lottie is frightened by the Bishop's cold strange rituals for disposing of the spilled wine, but as Deputy Sheriff, she's duty bound to attend to the death. Back at the county wide picnic, an elderly lady informs Lottie that a man kneeling next to her scared Reverend Mary into a heart attack. Worried that this was not a natural death, Lottie calls in other law enforcement agencies. She soon learns that the beloved Reverend Mary was a woman without a past

Review–An American Vampire

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Book Description   He's the good kind of vampire...sort of. Buried in the Heartland is a town that no one enters or leaves. Graf McDonald somehow becomes its first visitor in more than five years…and he was only looking for a good party. Unfortunately, Penance, Ohio, is not that place. And after having been isolated for so long, they do not like strangers at all. Jessa’s the only one to even remotely trust him, and she’s desperate for the kind of protection that only a vampire like Graf can provide. Supplies are low, the locals are ornery for a sacrifice and there’s a monster more powerful than Graf lurking in the woods. New men are hard to come by in this lonesome town, and this handsome stranger might be Jessa’s only hope for salvation. Even if she has to die first… Book Review   This was definitely a great book.  It was a dark, eerie tale that was interlaced with a dark humor.  Think of it as Janet Evanovich meets Twilight Zone.  I absolutely loved it.  Fir

Review–Midnight With The Mystic

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  Book Description   Constructed around a series of late night conversations around a camp fire between Cheryl Simone and Sadhguru Vasudev on an Island in the middle of a Western North Carolina lake near her mountain home, Midnights with the Mystic is the most thorough exposition of the teachings of India's most sought after mystic. Sadhguru challenges us to embrace the possibility that to each of us is available a higher realm of reality, a peak of consciousness; an entrance into the realm of freedom and bliss. Concrete and down-to-earth, Midnights with the Mystic both provides readers with an introduction to profound spiritual teaching and a personal glimpse of a charismatic guru.   Book Review   Having been lost and searching for a long time myself, it was very easy to relate to Cheryl’s struggle to find inner peace.  I too had gone from one teacher to another in hopes of finding what was missing within me. Cheryl found the path that was right for her. 

Review–Reading Lips

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  Book Description   Kisses, even the ones that don’t happen, can be the trace of what’s constant when life changes. In childhood, when what seems to define everything is competition for style, for knowing, for experience a kiss is the first first. When a girl’s father moves out and chooses a new family, a kiss on the head from him may be the trace of constancy that she wants most. Later, such things take on a different flavor. Sometimes the kiss she wants doesn’t come. Sometimes the one she wouldn’t have is forced upon her. From time to time, the one she has kissed before is lost to her. Some kisses are final. When things are most hectic a kiss can be a celebration. And when circumstances grow threatening to a woman, her family, her sister a kiss becomes the reassertion of the most vital connections. The rich story in these essays rings with good humor and with moving wistfulness. Throughout, Sternbach maintains a perfect balance between them as her story moves from the bitter

Review–Sweet Baklava

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  Book Description   After years of looking for a place to belong, Paula Andrews finally finds her niche in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Her soap and candle shop flourishes, and her friendship with the Papadopoulos family gives her the love and support she never got from her own family. The only thing missing is a romance—or in the grand hopes of the Papadopoulos family, a proper marriage. Preferably with Nick, their favorite son, currently serving in the Air Force. Paula, however, has doubts. After all, he’s been gone a long time and loves flying. Their lives have grown apart. Would he still feel anything for her? When Nick comes home on leave, sparks fly, and not just with Paula. Nick's father wants him home, helping with the family sponge-diving business. His mother wants him back in the family, back in church. Nick just wants Paula . . . and the Air Force.   So who’s going to give in first? And what will it mean for their love and future? Book Review   Thi

Review–When The Heart Cries

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Book Description When Hannah dares to love across the boundaries of tradition, will she lose everything? Despite being raised in a traditional Old Order Amish family, seventeen-year-old Hannah Lapp desires to break with custom, forgo baptism into the faith, and marry outside the cloistered community. She’s been in love with Mennonite Paul Waddell for three years, and before returning to college for his senior year, Paul asks Hannah to be his wife. Hannah accepts, aware that her marriage will change her relationship with her family forever. On the evening of their engagement, tragedy strikes and in one unwelcome encounter, all that Hannah has known and believed is destroyed. As she finds herself entangled in questions that the Old Ways of her people cannot answer, Hannah faces the possibility of losing her place in her family, in her community– and in the heart of the man she loves. When the Heart Cries is book one in the Sisters of the Quilt series. Book Review   This was a charming b

Review–The Blessing of Adversity

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  Book Description   Most people see trouble as something negative and seek to avoid it whenever possible. But what if it’s those troubles that actually lead to greater blessing and purpose? In The Blessing of Adversity , a retired U.S. Navy admiral and the 62nd chaplain of the U.S. Senate distills the wisdom gained from thirty years as a counselor, theologian, and psychologist. Barry Black offers a blueprint for removing the sting of life’s trials, showing us how to let God use our pain for his glory by blessing others—and how that can actually help heal our own pain. Drawing on Scripture and his own experiences as a counselor and chaplain to some of the most powerful people in the world, Black teaches us how to deal with seasons of God’s apparent silence, offers techniques for staying encouraged in the middle of life’s storms, and shows how to find advantages in adversity. Book Review   This book was filled with words of power and love.  It was an incredibly well writte

Review–The Book of You

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Book Description   Are you a Power Seeker? Or are you a Seeker of Feelings? The Book of You by James Tolbert is a philosophical discussion of how you can control your own destiny by getting in touch with your feelings. It includes an alphabetical arrangement of words that can be used to help you reach within yourself and discover your authentic feelings, and not just the mask of emotions we all too often present to the world. This book is not only ''...about our existence; where we have been, and where we are going in our future as the human race...,'' but it is also a guidebook for you to help you find your direction in life. The Book of You is for you. You should read this not as a book, but as a guide. When you pick it up you can look for the word that you are dealing with at that point in your life or you can just open it and the page that you pick will be for you. Book Review   Having a love of words, this book was extremely interest

Review–Lilly’s Wedding Quilt

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    Book Description   She isn't looking for love. He's mending a broken heart. It will take divine intervention for these two to get together. Local Amish schoolteacher Lilly Lapp is tired of weddings, afraid of horses, and immersed in caring for her depressed mother. But when Jacob Wyse, a handsome horse breeder from her small community rescues her from a dangerous accident, Lilly discovers a renewed interest in life and the possibility of love. Yet Jacob has lost the one true love of his life to another man and doesn't care to expose himself to the vulnerabilities of loving again. God works to bring this unlikely pair into a sweet romance to produce a pattern of faith, which leads to the creation and comfort of Lilly's Wedding Quilt. Book Review   This is my second time reading an Amish romance.  I have to say that I was thoroughly caught up in the story from the first page.  The writing style stayed true to the culture being portrayed in this

Review–Laird of Darkness

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Book Description   Half-Fae Laird Duncan MacDougall is cursed. His nights are haunted by Otherworld creatures sent to kill him. The only way to stop them is to possess the magic bow currently in the hands of his enemy half brother, Kinnon MacClaren. In desperation, Duncan plans to take MacClaren's bride-to-be hostage and exchange her for the bow. Lady Alana Forbes has never met her intended, but she hopes he is handsome—and a good lover, for Alana is no innocent virgin. On her way to Castle Claren, Alana and her escorts are intercepted, and she is kidnapped by a man with extraordinary abilities—and every attribute she longs for in a mate. Duncan didn't expect the woman he thought of as a mere pawn to be so beautiful, and so arousing. Alana is drawn to him as well—but Duncan still needs the bow, and Alana is betrothed to another. How far will Alana go to save the life of the man she's come to love? Book Review   The description of the book leads you to believ

Review–Hollywood Nobody and Special Offer

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Book Description   Fifteen-year-old Scotty Dawn travels to movie sets with her mom, Charley, a food designer. Scotty is determined to discover what she wants from life. She’s even documenting the journey on her “Hollywood Nobody” blog. But as Scotty begins to ask tough questions, will her story have a happy ending? Book Review   I usually don’t like to start a review with the bad part of the book, but here it goes.  The worst part was that I couldn’t put it down.  Literally!  I was unable to sleep last night, so at 1am I started reading.  I didn’t go to sleep after 4am when I finally finished the book.  I read it in one sitting, that’s how good the book was. The way the book was written was very interesting.  It was part blog, part diary, and part live action.  Scotty Dawn has lived her life on the road with her mom.  They travel from movie location to movie location in their old beat up RV.  The little human contact she has comes from internet, CB radio, and on the set