romance

Sharing my Review of GATEWAY WEDDINGS by Myra Johnson

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments
About the Book:
Three Missouri women enter the gateway to life, love, and longing. Valerie Bishop, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, is afraid to leave her home. Can ex-con Healy Ferguson show her the path to freedom? Sailor Kern is enamored of romance author Chandler Michaels. Will she fall for his lines or find a real hero in Parker Travis? Jilly Gardner has reluctantly agreed to help out her estranged foster parents. Will Cam Lane help the family heal the breach? Will these three couples be open to the plan God has for their lives—and loves?

My Reviews:

Romance by the Book
Shy water aerobics instructor Sailor Kern believes herself in love with Chandler Michaels, a romance author she’s never met. That’s fine with her because she’s more comfortable with books than actual romance and teaching over dating. It’s not like she meets many men in her line of work anyway. Until Parker Travis shows up for class. Parker isn’t your stereotypical hair-stylist, and doesn’t appreciate the doctor’s RX for back pain: water aerobics. After all, isn’t that where his grandmother and her friends play? What a sweet romance! You’ll enjoy journeying along as Parker wooed Sailor, showing her that true romance is so much better than her imagination.
Where The Dogwoods Bloom
A broken ankle forces tennis pro Jilly Gardner on crutches and out of work. Burned out Bible College Professor Cam Lane heads to the Dogwood Blossom Inn, intent on spending time with old friends, Harvey and Alice, and leading retreats. He doesn’t expect to find Alice in the hospital. Cam’s call to Jilly requesting that she come back and help out her foster parents with the running of the Inn surprises Jilly and leaves her even more off balance than her broken ankle. I enjoyed the playful, teasing interaction between old friends, Jilly and Cam. The road to romance was believable and not at all rushed for a book of this length. I like Ms. Johnson’s writing style, interjected with spots of dry humor. Filled with romance, a little intrigue, and an oh-so-sweet ending, you won’t want to miss this one!
Autumn Rains
I confess to reading the other two stories in Gateway Weddings first, mainly because I wouldn’t typically pick up a book with an ex-con for the main character. But don’t let that throw you off reading this wonderful story. Healy Ferguson captured the essence of what it means to make mistakes and suffer through the consequences. Rather than becoming bitter, he allows God to change his heart and his life, and focuses his efforts on helping others see the impact of their bad choices. Valerie Bishop suffers severe consequences, but not of her own making. Unable to leave the prison her house and yard have become, Valerie must come to the point where she’s willing to move forward and leave the past behind. Healy helps her see beyond the walls of her internal prison. I enjoyed this sweet romance and the delightful way Ms. Johnson created a hero out of an ex-con. And the ending? Sure to leave you with an “ahhh!” Oh, and I love how the author weaves the title, Autumn Rains, into the story. A book full of healing, redemption, and forgiveness!

Three fantastic stories in one awesome read! 

Purchase Link for Gateway Weddings

Disclaimer: An unbiased review, based on my purchase of this book. 

About Myra Johnson….
Myra Johnson’s roots go deep into Texas soil, but after surviving five Oklahoma winters, she now enjoys the milder climate of North Carolina and living near three of her six grandchildren. Empty-nesters, Myra and her husband share their home with two loveable (and very spoiled) dogs. Her debut novel, One Imperfect Christmas, was a September 2009 release from Abingdon Press. She also writes for Heartsong Presents. Her November 2009 release, Autumn Rains, won the 2005 RWA Golden Heart for Best Inspirational Romance Manuscript and was named a 2010 ACFW Carol Award finalist.

Myra’s writing career was launched in 1985 when she sold her first short story while taking a course through the Institute of Children’s Literature. Myra later joined the ICL staff as a magazine writing instructor, teaching hundreds of students the fundamentals of story and article structure, plotting, character development, and market analysis. She now writes full-time and is active in her church as well as local and national writers groups. Myra and her husband have been married since 1972. The Johnsons have two married daughters and six grandchildren.

Sharing My Review of Mary’s Blessing by Lena Nelson Dooley

/ Dora Hiers
Mary’s Blessing 
Book 2 of McKenna’s Daughters 
 
When her mother dies, Mary Lenora must grow up quickly to take care of her brothers and sisters. Can love help her to shoulder the burden?
Mary Lenora Caine knows she is adopted. As she was growing up, her mother called her “God’s blessing.” But now that she’s gone, Mary no longer feels like any kind of blessing. Her father, in his grief, has cut himself off from the family, leaving the running of the home entirely in Mary’s hands.
As she nears her eighteenth birthday, Mary can’t see anything in her future but drudgery. Then her childhood friend Daniel begins to court her, promising her a life of riches and ease. But her fairy-tale dreams turn to dust when her family becomes too much for Daniel, and he abandons her in her time of deepest need.
Will Daniel come to grips with God’s plan for him? And if he does return, can Mary trust that this time he will really follow through? 
My Review:
From the first page to the last, Mary’s Blessing is a sweet romance, the kind I love to settle back in my recliner for a few hours to read. While Mary suffers much grief in her eighteen years, Daniel lives an easy life by comparison. After knowing Mary since they arrived by wagon trail years earlier and admiring the way she cared for her younger brothers and sister, Daniel finally decides to court her.

Don’t assume it will be clear sailing after that because Ms. Dooley really ramps up the conflict. Mary’s family issues take front and center, and soon differences in how they want to begin their married life become insurmountable obstacles. Add in stress and fatigue, and things go south fast. At one point, I wanted to give Daniel a good kick in the pants, but he came around and vowed to show Mary that he’d changed. Not only did I enjoy cheering both main characters on to their happily-ever-after, but the secondary characters added so much dimension to the story. A great read! I look forward to reading the last triplet’s story, Catherine’s Pursuit.

Purchase Link

Disclosure: I received this book from the author for a fair and honest review.

About Lena Nelson Dooley
Award-winning author, Lena Nelson Dooley, has more than 650,000 books in print. She is a member of ACFW and president of the local chapter.
Lena loves James, her children, grandchildren, and great grandson. She loves chocolate, cherries, chocolate-covered cherries, and spending time with friends. Travel is always on her horizon. Cruising, Galveston, the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, Mexico. One day it will be Hawaii and Australia, but probably not at the same time. Helping other authors become published really floats her boat. And the high point of her day is receiving feedback from her readers, especially her fans. And she loves chocolate, especially dark chocolate.

Her book LOVE FINDS YOU IN GOLDEN, NEW MEXICO, won the Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction.

Sharing My Review of WISDOM TREE by Mary Manners

/ Dora Hiers / 4 Comments
A few days ago I had the pleasure of hosting Mary Manners and Wisdom Tree as a stop on her Book & Trailer Showcase Tour. Today, I’m thrilled to share my review of Wisdom Tree.

The Blurb:

Sometimes the last thing we think we need is exactly what God has planned


After the death of his parents, Jake Samuels has enough on his plate—including a fledgling church to lead and a mischievous younger brother to raise. The last thing he needs is a rambunctious woman to contend with.

Carin O’Malley is dealing with the death of her brother and a new job as an English teacher at East Ridge Middle School where Corey Samuels reigns as King of Chaos. The last thing she needs is to fall in love…especially with a handsome and complicated preacher like Corey’s brother Jake.

But when Corey’s antics toss Carin and Jake together, the two must draw from God’s wisdom to find refuge in His perfect plan.

My review:
Mary Manners creates strong characters I can really relate to, guys and gals I’d like to hang out with on a Friday evening. Like Jake and Carin in Wisdom Tree.

I immediately connected with Jake, understood his frustration and foul mood. After all, he’s raising his teen brother. It’s hot outside, and he’s mowing the church yard because somebody has to do it. He’s running late to pick up Corey from football practice. Toss in a new slasher, er…teacher, who shows up unexpectedly and assumes the worst of him, and Jake hits the overload button. He acts out a little himself, not unlike his brother, which I enjoyed. He showed a little weakness, which endeared him to me.

I love the conflict between Jake and Carin, and it’s not the arguing kind. No, Ms. Manners creates plenty of internal/external conflict as the characters head towards their happily-ever-after, and she’ll tickle every one of your senses along the way.

This story involves a teenager, dealing with grief. Ms. Manners wrote teen angst in a realistic way without making me, as a reader and a parent, want to fling my e-reader at something…or someone. I think parents will appreciate some of the wisdom on dealing with teens imparted in this book.

Wisdom Tree is a fast read. Find a comfy spot and plan to read it all in one sitting! My only wish is that Wisdom Tree were a little longer, so I could spread out my enjoyment over more evenings. I did appreciate the surprise tucked in at the end! Congratulations, Ms. Manners, on a great read!
Wisdom Tree is scheduled to release on 10/8/12 with White Rose Publishing, but you can pre-order it here.

Disclosure: I received this book from BTS for a fair and honest review.