A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner

I received a complimentary copy of this book from WaterBook through their Blogging for Books program.  I enjoyed this book a lot.  I have read other books by Susan Meissner and I really enjoy her style of writing.  This is the story of Marielle.  She is the second wife, and she moves into the same home that her husband lived in with his first wife.  The home is also shared with the grandmother that raised the first wife and 2 children from the fist marriage.  It seems like a recipe for disaster.  Surprisingly, the do manage to make it work fairly well.  I enjoyed the characters and was genuinely interested in learning about each of them, and following their stories to the end.  The story teaches us to value our past, but to not let it dominate our now and our future.  Often times we do not know the whole story.  This was a very good book.  I would give it 4/5 stars.

When the Soul Mends by Cindy Woodsmall

I received a complimentary copy of this book from WaterBrook through there Blogging for Books program.  I really like the character of Hannah.  I feel that she is very real.  I feel invested in her, and want to know how things work out for her.  I like the Amish characters in this story.  I loved seeing the healing that takes place in the book.  I did not like Martin.  I felt like Hannah was always saying how wonderful he was, but as the reader I never saw it.  I only saw him being bossy, mean and condescending.  I had a hard time understanding why Hannah was with him.  Overall I enjoyed the book. Cindy Woodsmall is an excellent author.  I would give the book 3.5/5 stars.  It would have been higher, but I had a hard time with Martin.

Promise Me This by Cathy Gohlke

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers.  I really enjoyed this book.  I found the characters very well written.  They seemed very real to me.  I was drawn into the story and wanted to know what happened to each of the characters.  Annie lost her whole family and was controlled by an awful women, but she was able to triumph.  Michael lived a hard life, then he meet Owen Allen and his life was never the same.  Annie and Michael lived an ocean apart but shared a love for Owen.  The story is told from many viewpoints.  The threads of the story were woven together well.  There are many characters and you care about all of them.  I would definitely recommend this book.  I would give it 4/5 stars.

The Authors website can be found at  http://www.cathygohlke.com
The publishers website can be found at  Tyndale.com

 

When the Heart Cries by Cindy Woodsmall

I received a complimentary copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnoma through their blogging for books program.  This book is about an Amish girl named Hannah.  She is in love with a Mennonite boy.  She agrees to marry him and then on her way home she is raped.  The story deals with the repercussions of this.  Hannah does not know what to do, and her parents tell her to forget about it and pretend like it never happened.  Hannah falls into a deep depression.  When she is finally starting to feel better she discovers that she is pregnant.  I really enjoyed the character of Hannah.  She is a very believable person.  I was interested in what happened to her, and found myself cheering her on.  I felt like the author played with time in the book.  The author would say that several weeks or months had passed, and then suddenly act like only a couple of weeks had passed.  It made it hard to understand what the time frame of the story was.  I would give this book 3.5/5 stars.

First Date by Krista McGee

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through their booksneeze program.   This was a cute story.  I enjoyed the main character and a lot of the other characters in the book.  I felt like the main character was very real.  The story was light.  It is intended to mirror the story of Esther in the bible.  I felt that some of the things added in for this were a bit of a stretch.  It was nice to see the girls trying to win a date with a boy who was genuinely nice.  Overall I quite enjoyed the book.  I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through there BookSneeze program.  I really enjoyed the characters in this book.  They were a little zany, and you never quite knew what to expect from them.  I liked how the book dealt with forgiveness.  The father may not have "deserved" forgiveness, but Tucker couldn't move on until he had given it.  Some of the situations in the book seemed a little to contrived, but over all I quite enjoyed the book.  Tucker and Mutt both had to come to terms with their feelings for their father before they could start healing.   I would give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Christmas Singing by Cindy Woodsmall

I have read and enjoyed several books by Cindy Woodsmall. I think that The Christmas Singing would make the perfect gift for Christmas.  Find out more about the book below.

You can also offer 30% off and free shipping on The Christmas Singing (and any other title) when you use promo code CHRISTMAS11 at checkout on WaterBrookMultnomah.com. The coupon code expires on December 20th, 2011.







The Christmas Singing (Chapter 1 Excerpt)