Book Review - Pacific Coast Justice Series

Janice Cantore, a retired police officer, shares her experiences and knowledge and brings to life her characters in her Pacific Coast Justice Series.

Book 1, "Accused," will pull you right into the midst of action and have you reading page after page as it is high-energy, full of drama - both on the job and in the character's personal lives, and real-life action.  Carly is not pleased with having to work in the juvenile department; however one case really tugs at her heart and Carly puts her all into finding the answers.  Nick is determined to show Carly that he is a changed man, and is on her side both professionally and personally.  However, there are past hurts and Carly is not sure whom she can trust; will she follow her heart and will that be enough or will it ultimately place her in further danger?

Carly and Nick are both characters whom I found myself rooting for throughout the book. They were very "real" and Cantore has done a great job with creating and developing her characters in the series.  I found this book to be very easy to read and follow and it kept me wondering and guessing all the way throughout; therefore my attention was held and I wanted to keep on reading!  This is an excellent start to the series and a must-read in order series as well!  You do not want to miss out on the drama!

 Janice Cantore continues her series with "Abducted," book 2 in her Pacific Coast Justice series.

Things are looking up for Carly, she is back to her normal job with her regular partner and she is getting along with her ex-husband.  Suddenly, things take a turn for the worse and Carly is thrust back into danger, confusion and questioning her faith.  Carly is trying to track down a missing baby and stumbles upon some other discoveries while also dealing with things in her personal life at the same time.

The drama and suspense continues in this series!  I could not stop reading once I started!  Carly is such a well-developed character and she is really tested in her faith in God and yet she does turn to Him and seek Him in the midst of trials.  There is a lot going on in this book, many issues are at play all at once, making this a page-turner and a read you will not want to miss out on!

I am looking forward to book 3 (and the last) of the series coming out next year - I am looking forward to reading the conclusion of the series and spending one last book with these characters!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for a honest review.*

Book Review - "You Be Sweet"

"You Be Sweet: sharing your heart one down-home dessert at a time," is a cookbook that you will spend hours paging through as you look through the recipes shared by Patsy Caldwell and read the stories by Amy Lyles Wilson. 

 

Book Description from the publisher:

You know how those Southern dessert recipes go—a cup of sugar here, a stick of butter there, eight squares of bak­ing chocolate, or a pint of the season’s juiciest fruit. That recipe for blueberry cream pie—it’s been passed around the church for so long nobody can quite remember who made it first. Or how about the one for red velvet cheesecake you’ve been trying to coax out of your sister-in-law for years? She serves it every Christmas Eve, but so far her lips are sealed.
These are the types of food traditions that inspire You Be Sweet—a celebration of Southern dessert recipes and the people who cherish them. In this compilation of stories and sweet treats, Patsy Caldwell and Amy Lyles Wilson peek in on those occasions special enough to demand something decadent, and memorable enough to be repeated time and again. You’ll find the strawberry jam bars that always make an appearance at the neighborhood picnic. The German chocolate cake roll that pulls in the big bucks at the charity bake sale? That’s here too. The blackberry jelly recipe that has graced Mason jars all over the South for decades? It’s here, and it’s just about the best hostess gift you can offer up. Be sweet? You won’t be able to help it!

My Review:
This is a beautiful cookbook that you will want to keep for yourself and give additional copies as gifts! The cover grabbed me as it is cute, country and delicious looking! The entire book has a "homey" feel to it as stories are shared along with the recipes and I can imagine sharing these delectable goodies at picnics, family gatherings and for any special moment!  The names alone of some of these recipes sound so good, and what I love is that they use common ingredients and the recipes do not seem to be complicated.  I cannot wait to try some of these recipes, okay pretty much all of these recipes!  Doughnut Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce sounds and looks delicious as do White Chocolate Chip and Pistachio Oatmeal Cookies! This is a cookbook that I am going to go to frequently when I need a treat to bake for an event or just want to make something special!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.*

Book Review - "Raising Financially Confident Kids"

Mary Hunt, founder of Debt-Proof Living, has a new book out there for all parents, "Raising Financially Confident Kids."  This book is very thorough, yet very user-friendly and easily read and understood.  Money is such a huge part of life, and yet it can easily be consuming and lead to many problems.  Hunt stresses the importance of beginning at young ages with teaching about money, the basics of money and handling it wisely.  There are tips shared for how to work with kids and teach them different concepts at various ages.

This is an excellent resource and really has been thinking about the message that I am already passing onto my children about money even at their young ages.  The chapter focusing on debt is filled with great tips and ideas about preconceived notions in regards to birthdays for example.  Money can be overwhelming and I do not want it to be something that is to be feared and mishandled, and Hunt's tips will help me with teaching my children the value of money and handling it wisely including giving, saving and spending.  A must-read, I highly recommend this to all parents!

“Available August 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

.My Favorite Things...at this moment....

I read a post on the Reckless Bliss blog (click here to read it!) and I was inspired to create my own list of favorite things!  My favorite things change quite daily, so this is my favorite things at this moment!  Enjoy!  I would love to hear some of your own favorite things!

1. Listening to my children giggle with each other, seriously what is a more precious sound than that?!  Well, it is tied right up there with them singing, jabbering/chattering together and playing together! :)

2. Dunkin Donuts Vanilla Chai.  This is one of my favorite drinks and this morning I returned to work after being out for a few weeks and this was sitting on my desk with a note saying "welcome back," I have the best co-worker, what an excellent way to start off the morning and my time back!

3. Pinterest - I recently joined Pinterest and wow, I cannot believe I have been missing out on this for so long!  It is so very addicting and I just love looking through various pins and planning out/dreaming about events, parties, recipes, etc....... Wow!!!!

4. Anticipation of Fall.  I enjoy summer, just the whole relaxed feel to it, the different schedule, the warm weather, long days.... but I have to admit I am anticipating fall! It is my favorite season to decorate for, I just love the colors, the look, the decor, the scents, fall activities, everything.  I have seen fall things in Hobby Lobby, Yankee Candle, and am looking forward to decorating for fall Labor Day weekend!

5. Fresh veggies from the garden.  This is truly what makes summer in my book! My parents have amazing gardens and share their vegetables...sooooo delicious!

6. Summer days of sitting out in the sun on a lounge chair watching the kids play and taking pictures.

7. Did I mention pictures?  I love taking them, editing them, ordering them, looking through them.  I just ordered a ton....had not kept up with them well lately and had months worth to order, so much fun to look through them all and get them put away in albums when they arrived!

8. Tart Warmers.  I love my jar candles, but I started using tart warmers last fall when I got hooked on one and I have been using them quite often this summer.  So much fun to have a few tarts going at a time and mixing and matching scents! :)

9. Catching up on television shows, new favorites (Parenthood), re watching old and beloved ones (7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls)!

10. Making music mixes....something that for sure needs to be done again soon , as there are so many new, catchy stuff out there right now!  Little Big Town's "Pontoon" to name one.

11. Family Time.  We (my siblings and I and our families) recently had a party and really a whole weekend devoted to my parents to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary. What an amazing couple my parents are :) 

12. Cake decorating. I am not so sure that this is my favorite thing while I am actually decorating them....but I love the end result and the kids' excitement over them.  Both of my children are summer babies, so we have birthdays recently to celebrate, complete with a Hello Kitty Cake and a Monkey Cake!



Book Review - "Lethal Legacy"

I was excited for Irene Hannon's "Lethal Legacy" to be released as I have loved her Guardians of Justice Series; however I was also sad to see it end as this is the conclusion to the series.  Cole Taylor is the main character of this book and the last of the Taylor siblings to be of main focus.  Cole works as a police detective and he becomes involved with digging back into a case when a deceased man's daughter has misgivings about her father's death being determined a suicide.  Kelly knows that there is more to her father's death than what was determined by the case detective and she will do anything to get this case reopened.  However, Kelly does not count of this putting her own life into danger or her heart as she finds herself attracted to Cole and the feelings appear to be mutual.  As Kelly works on finding missing information at her father's home, she stumbles upon a photograph that leads to a startling discovery and Kelly learns that her family is not who she thought they were.  As more and more discoveries are made, someone becomes even more determined to take care of Kelly and who she believes to be on her side really is not.

This is an excellent conclusion to the series!  I have enjoyed reading about the Taylor siblings and their relationships and work and this book did not disappoint in the least!  Kelly and Cole are both such great main characters and I enjoyed reading and seeing their relationship develop in the midst of the heartache and struggles they face while working on the case.  The characters are all so real as are their conversations and interactions.  This is especially true between the Taylors and added in to the mix are Mitch and Liz, both of whom are perfect spouses for Alison and Jake.  Hannon's style of writing is so easy to read and I just kept wanting to read until I had finished it as it was filled with twists and turns and I could not wait to discover how things ended up! 

“Available August 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

Book Review - "Short-Straw Bride"

Karen Witemeyer's latest historical romance novel, "Short-Straw Bride," is one of the best books I have read in a long time!  I read this book in two sittings, I did not want to stop once I started to read!

Meredith remembers her hero Travis whom helps her when she is ten years-old and she often dreams of him, never dreaming that she will have the chance to meet up with him once again.  However, life has not gone how she expected as she lost her parents to the fever and has been living the past few years with her aunt, uncle and cousin.  Life is soon to change as well though, as Meredith has been offered a marriage proposal; however it is more of a business arrangement and greediness to get her land instead of marrying her for love.  When Meredith overhears the man whom hopes to marry her order Travis' barn to be burned, Meredith knows that she must return the favor and help him this time.  Meredith is injured while at the ranch with Travis and his three brothers and in order to save her reputation and really keep her from having to marry a man she loathes, Meredith has to marry one of the Archer brothers and Travis draws the short-straw.  Meredith has loved Travis for years and she hopes that soon he too will return her love; yet what must Meredith do in order to get him to realize her true feelings and have a marriage with the man of her dreams?

This book is so well-written and filled with loveable characters!  I love the relationship that the two cousins, Meredith and Cassie have as they are close like sisters and yet there are differences between these two girls as well.  The four brothers all have such a strong bond and yet they are each their own individual as well.  I would love for this book to be the first of a series about the Archer brothers, I would love to read a book that shares each of their story and read more about all of the characters introduced in this book! There are so many twists in this story and various things going on in the characters' lives that I just kept on turning the pages and soaking up each word not wanting to stop reading until the very end!  This is a book you do not want to miss out on it, you will love it!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for a hoenst review.*

.Already August.

August. Already August. It feels as if the year of 2012 just began and now we are already in the second half of the year. It has been a busy year, when is life not busy though honestly. 
Tomorrow I will be a mom to a 2 year-old and a 4 year-old, it's hard to believe as both of my babies were just babies and each day they grow up a little bit more.
While these past few months have been filled with the unexpected and not exactly gone how I thought they would be, I have been given extra moments to spend wtih the kids and I have been reminded on a daily basis to appreciate the time that we are given and not take these moments for granted.