Fun gift for your friend from the South

As Southern As It Gets is years in the making.  From people, to phrases and quotes, to food, music, and outings, the South has some of the most unique.  Most of these reasons are simply one of two words but the pictures they drew up in my mind and the memories many of them evoked was something else.

For example, hot browns.  How many of you reading this review even know what one is?   Created right here in Louisville, Kentucky at the Brown hotel, you have never had such a combination of turkey, bacon, and cheesy richness.  Or Silver Queen corn.  Can you even get it in the north if it isn't brought in from the South?  How about the Parthenon in Nashville, TN?  It is a sight to behold.  While not as exciting as a European vacation, it is our own little piece of Europe.

I did expect this book to be a little bit more of a narrative but the A to Z listing and some of the quotes allowed my mind to wonder and connect to my own memories of growing up in the South.  It is a quick easy to read hardbound book that was enjoyable and  gave me a list of things to try and places to go that were new to this Southern girl.

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and was in no way obligated to write a positive one. 

Bringing Maggie Home

Seventy years ago, Hazel was sent blackberry picking with her little sister Maggie.  Hazel chased away a snake and, when she returned, Maggie was missing, leaving behind her doll, a ribbon, and a shoe.  Maggie's disappearance has never been solved but it is a burden Hazel has carried with her for her entire life and has remained her secret from her family.   Not understanding why her mother has always been so overprotective has caused tension between Hazel and her daughter, Diane, for their entire lives. 

When Diane's daughter, Meghan, is involved in a car accident that forces her to take some recovery time, the place she wants to go is her grandmother Hazel's.  Arriving, Meghan is surprised to find her mother there as well.  Meghan has brought along empty scrapbooks, photos and other mementos to work on with her grandmother but she is also going to need to be the mediator between the two women most precious to her. Once Hazel reveals the secret she has held for years, Meghan is set on using her detective skills to "bring Maggie home."

I loved how the story switches from the perspective of the three main characters.  I could totally get how and why they felt the way they did and why they reacted to life as they did.  While not excusable to carry a grudge, Diane felt her mother ruined her childhood with her overbearing ways and seems determined to be almost the opposite of her mother.

When I first ordered the book, I did so thinking it may have been a sequel to another story I read several years back about two friends losing one of their little sisters while playing.  That feeling didn't leave me as Hazel's story was revealed because of the similarities but this definitely isn't the sequel.  I couldn't even locate the book where the story sounded familiar.

I really enjoyed Bringing Maggie Home.  I found the relationships between Hazel, Diane, and Meghan very interesting to follow and I enjoyed watching how those relationships changed and were restored, particularly between Hazel and her daughter as truth was revealed.  It was a good reminder to me to ask why someone may act/react the way they do.  Is there an underlying experience that molded them?  The story has so many layer, I don't believe this is one you will have "all figured out" and you may be sorry to see it come to a close.  It was a pleasurable way to spend my day.

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  I was in no way obligated to publish a positive review.  I do highly recommend this title for anyone who enjoys Christian realistic fiction.

Beloved Hope

It has only been a few years since Mercy, Hope, and Grace Flanagan came west....alone.   Hope finally had resolved herself to her new home in the West and had found love only to have it stripped from her during an Indian massacre that ripped her future from her and left her with an unwanted pregnancy.  She is finally putting her life together and moving beyond when she is asked to testify in court against the Indians she watched murder so many in her village.  While one of the last things she wants to do is relive that day, she also doesn't want there to be any danger of the Indians going free and others having to watch over their shoulders the rest of their lives.

A young officer assigned to the trial, Lance Kenner, is taken by Hope and prevents her from taking matters into her own hands.  Hope has vowed never to marry but could Lance possibly begin to melt her hate-filled, terrified heart?

I have never been a bit disappointed by anything Tracie Peterson has written and this book is no exception.  I read the first in the series, Treasured Grace and couldn't put it down.  This second book in the series followed suit and I am anxiously awaiting the third and final installment this fall when more of Mercy's story is shared.  Peterson seems to be well researched with just enough history to appeal to those of us who love historical fiction but not so much that will bore the average reader with details and dates.  Beloved Hope is a beautiful story of how hate can rob us of all joy, blinding us to everything good but also about forgiveness and how God can take ashes and make something beautiful of it.  

It is essential to read this series in order.  For the most part, the first two are capable of standing alone but Treasured Grace leaves so many unanswered questions in regards to Grace's sisters and Beloved Hope, if read first, would leave you little reason to read the first in the series.  In other words, the series includes the same main characters and builds on each other.  If you are like me, wait until September 2017 and you can get them all and read them sequentially.  I get frustrated sometimes when I have to wait a year or more for books in a series but Peterson doesn't make us wait that long.

I did receive this book in exchange for an honest review and am in no way obligated to write a positive one.  Two thumbs up for Peterson's "Heart of the Frontier" series if you have an interest in historical fiction.

Think before speaking, typing,.....

How many things have you thoughtlessly said even throughout the last week that you wish had never left your mouth?  If we also look at all e-mails, social media postings, etc. I know there are a number of words I need to ask forgiveness for.  I don't always stop and weigh the consequences of my words but I certainly need to.  I sometimes even wish God had made me mute because then maybe I wouldn't be sticking my foot in my mouth so very often.  haha


Author Emerson Eggerichs begins with the words:  Is it kind?  Is it true?  Is it necessary?  How much of what I say meets all those stipulations?  But Eggerichs goes one furthers and asks "Is it clear?".  How often we are misunderstood because others don't have the same train of thought or background as we have!  Or perhaps the have shoved the Holy Spirit down so many times that we no longer hear that still small voice encouraging us to rethink our words before putting them in print or speaking.

I, for one, want to change that.  Eggerichs' easy to read volume offers hope that I can change and some practical applications and reminders.   Eggerichs offers a chapter to each of the above questions but be forewarned that it does lead to some pretty lengthy chapters, at approximately 60 pages each.  However, the pages aren't large and each chapter is broken into subtopics giving you some good stopping places if you don't have a chunk of time dedicated to ready the chapter in one sitting.  I honestly consider one of the better self-help books I have read in a long time and think it quite timely for the world we are living in.  While not typically a book I would select for review, there wasn't even a second thought about what I would review next when I saw this title. I am glad I took the time.

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and was in no way obligated to write a positive one.

The Captain's Daughter

Rosalyn Bernay and her young sisters grew up in an orphanage after their mother died and their father was lost at sea.  Leaving the orphanage at age 17 to strike out on her own, Rosalyn is fortunate to be the companion of a young widow until that young widow chooses to remarry a man who will destroy Rosalyn's reputation to protect his own.  Fleeing from the situation, Rosalyn finds herself in London, innocent, penniless, and taken in by several members of the theater district. 

I really enjoyed The Captain's Daughter by Jennifer Delamere.  While London wasn't in Rosalyn's plans, the author does a beautiful job of reminding the reader that God is working out all things for our good even when it seems as if nothing is going our way.  I was a bit frustrated by how vulnerable and ignorant of the city life Rosalyn seemed to be in the very beginning but circumstances allowed her to wise up very quickly and I appreciated that the author didn't permit her ignorance to ruin her life.  She simply used the experience of being penniless and alone to demonstrate how we all need to rely on one another and be discerning.  I think part of the appeal of this story for me is that it is a sweet and innocent one and I think I needed that right now.  Very little was said about Rosalyn's father even though the beginning of the book eluded to the fact that he may still be alive.  Perhaps that is something the author may choose to reveal in the other sister's stories in future installments of the London Beginnings series?

Surprisingly, the story also allowed us a glimpse into the history of Gilbert and Sullivan.  Loving both theater and historical fiction, I enjoyed this historical "bonus".   I do hope the author continues Rosalyn's story in the rest of the series even in a behind the scenes kind of way.  Overall, the book is an easy, simple read, not necessarily one that will keep you turning pages into the night, but a story I thoroughly enjoyed and will look forward to sequels.

I did receive this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and am in no way obligated to write a positive one.  The views stated here are my own.