Fall Into Reading Progress Report

 

I'm taking part in the Fall Into Reading challenge this year and so far it's going pretty well. Here's what I've read so far:

 

 I've really enjoyed all of these and am looking forward to my December reading!

Review: Trinity: Military War Dog by Ronie Kendig

About the book:

 Trinity: Military War Dog by Ronie Kendig

A Breed Apart: Book 1

From Barbour Publishing

A year ago in Afghanistan, Green Beret Heath Daniel’s career was destroyed. Along with his faith. Now he and his military war dog, Trinity, train other dogs and their handlers. Though his passion is to be back in action, the medical discharge has forced Heath—and Trinity—to the sidelines. Military intelligence officer Darci Kintz is captured while secretly tracking the Taliban. Only one dog can handle the extreme conditions to save her. Trinity. Only one man can handle Trinity. Time is running out on the greatest—and most dangerous—mission of their lives.

 
My Review:

Trinity was a fast paced read full of action, twists and plenty edge of your seat moments. I had a hard time putting the book down as, just when I thought I’d found a place to stop, something exciting happened and I was hooked again.

The characters were by far the best part of the book. They were all very realistic and the way their voices were written felt natural. Two of my favorite characters turned out to be Timbrel (who will be getting her own book sometime soon, yay!) and Candyman, who was just funny. The real star of the book though, was Trinity, Heath’s MWD. She was a truly amazing animal with such a strong personality and so much love for Heath. She was a great reminder that our four legged soldiers are heroes as well as our men and women in uniform.

At the beginning I was confused by all the different characters and plot points that seemed to be introduced rather quickly but once I got everything figured out it was smooth sailing from there.

Trinity is the first book I’ve read by Ronie Kendig and I can’t wait to read some more! Look for Talon: Combat Tracking Team early next year. If you’re a fan of action and intrigue I would absolutely recommend this book.

*I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for my honest review.*

Can't Wait For Reads: When Love Calls

I'm very excited about this new series from Lorna Seilstad! Her Lake Manawa series is a favorite. It had everything a good book needs, romance, humor, a feisty heroines and charming leading men. I would highly recommend them if you haven't had a chance to read the series yet!

Isn't the cover gorgeous? I love the giant hat =) The only place I've been able to find a book description yet is Relz Reviewz, so this synopsis is straight from one of her most recent posts (I have no idea where she finds this stuff but I could never do it!)  Rel has a great blog with everything from book reviews, new book covers and some great giveaways! Check her out!

About the book:

Hannah Gregory is good at many things, but that list doesn’t include following rules. So when she is forced to apply for a job as a telephone switchboard operator to support her two sisters, she knows it won’t be easy. “Hello Girls” must conduct themselves according to strict-and often bewildering-rules. No talking to the other girls. No chatting with callers. No blowing your nose without first raising your hand. And absolutely no consorting with gentlemen while in training.

Meanwhile, young lawyer Lincoln Cole finds himself in the unfortunate position of having to enforce the bank’s eviction of the three Gregory girls from their parents’ home. He tries to soften the blow by supporting them in small ways as they settle into another home. But fiery Hannah refuses his overtures and insists on paying back every cent of his charity.

When one of Hannah’s friends finds himself on the wrong side of a jail cell, Hannah is forced to look to Lincoln for help. Will it be her chance to return to her dreams of studying law? And could she be falling in love?

About the author:


Award-winning author Lorna Seilstad has called Iowa home her whole life. She received her B.S. in Education from Lubbock Christian University. After her first child was born, she quit teaching and became a professional wiper. "I wiped noses, tears, skinned knees, baby's bottoms, and counter tops every day. But at nap time, I wrote." Today she writes historical fiction with a generous dash of humor. Making Waves is her debut novel and the first in the Lake Manawa Summers series. She and her husband have three children.


 Check Lorna out on her website

Can't Wait For Reads: A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr

Confession. I'm addicted to fantasy. There, I've said it! It all started with The Chronicles of Narnia in grade school and only got worse from there. I often find myself quoting The Lord of the Rings throughout the day and then get all giddy at the thought of The Hobbit !TRILOGY! (oh yes, this is one excited girl!). I also enjoy discovering new authors and spreading the word about their upcoming releases (methinks I have too much time on my hands). Needless to say, I am looking forward to A Cast of Stones, the debut novel of Bethany House author Patrick W. Carr. Here's a little bit about book and author.

About the book:

In the backwater village of Callowford, Errol Stone's search for a drink is interrupted by a church messenger who arrives with urgent missives for the hermit priest in the hills. Desperate for coin, Errol volunteers to deliver them but soon finds himself hunted by deadly assassins. Forced to flee with the priest and a small band of travelers, Errol soon learns he's joined a quest that could change the fate of his kingdom.

Protected for millennia by the heirs of the first king, the kingdom's dynasty is near an end and a new king must be selected. As tension and danger mount, Errol must leave behind his drunkenness and grief, learn to fight, and come to know his God in order to survive a journey to discover his destiny.

About the Author:

 Patrick Carr was born on an Air Force base in West Germany at the height of the cold war. He has been told this was not his fault. As an Air Force brat, he experienced a change in locale every three years until his father retired to Tennessee. Patrick saw more of the world on his own through a varied and somewhat eclectic education and work history. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1984 and has worked as a draftsman at a nuclear plant, did design work for the Air Force, worked for a printing company, and consulted as an engineer. Patrick’s day gig for the last five years has been teaching high school math in Nashville, TN. He currently makes his home in Nashville with his wonderfully patient wife, Mary, and four sons he thinks are amazing: Patrick, Connor, Daniel, and Ethan. Sometime in the future he would like to be a jazz pianist. Patrick thinks writing about himself in the third person is kind of weird.

Connect with Patrick:

Facebook

Patrick's blog 

Sounds like a great read, right? Be sure to check out A Cast Stones on the Bethany House website and on Amazon right now, you can pre-order the book for $10.19 (I'm an avid pre-orderer, the sooner you order the cheaper you'll end up getting the book for! You also help hype the book up before it releases and that's always a good thing).

Can't Wait For Reads: Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer

About the book:

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer

Releases June 1, 2013 from Bethany House Publishers

On his way to interview for a position at a church in the Piney Woods of Texas, Crockett Archer can scarcely believe it when he's forced off the train by a retired outlaw and presented to the man's daughter as the minister she requested for her birthday. Worried this unfortunate detour will ruin his chances of finally serving a congregation of his own, Crockett is determined to escape. But when he finally gets away, he's haunted by the memory of the young woman he left behind--a woman whose dreams now hinge on him.

For months, Joanna Robbins prayed for a preacher. A man to breathe life back into the abandoned church at the heart of her community. A man to assist her in fulfilling a promise to her dying mother. A man to help her discover answers to the questions that have been on her heart for so long. But just when it seems God has answered her prayers, it turns out the parson is there against his will and has dreams of his own calling him elsewhere. Is there any way she can convince Crockett to stay in her little backwoods community? And does the attraction between them have any chance of blossoming when Joanna's outlaw father is dead set against his daughter courting a preacher?

About the author:

 Karen Witemeyer is a deacon's wife and mother of three who believes the world needs more happily-ever-afters. To that end, she combines her love of bygone eras with her passion for helping women mature in Christ to craft historical romance novels that lift the spirit and nurture the soul.

After growing up in California, Karen moved to Texas to attend Abilene Christian University where she earned bachelor and master's degrees in Psychology. It was also there that she met and married her own Texas hero. He roped her in good, for she has lived in Texas ever since. In fact, she fell so in love with this rugged land of sweeping sunsets and enduring pioneer spirit, that she incorporates it into the pages of her novels, setting her stories in the small towns of a state that burgeoned into greatness in the mid- to late1800s.

Karen is living her dream by writing Christian historical romance novels for Bethany House. When she visited her publisher back in January of 2010, she was interviewed by the staff. If you'd like a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how she develops her story ideas and a description of her bumpy journey to publication, click here to listen to a podcast of that interview.

Can't Wait For Reads: Duchess by Susan May Warren

I am so excited about this book and absolutely love the cover! If you haven't read the first two books in the Daughters of Fortune series I would recommend you give them a try.

 

About the book:

Duchess by Susan May Warren

Daughters of Fortune: Book 3

Releases March 1, 2013 from Summerside Press

The golden age of Hollywood is in the business of creating stars. Rosie Worth, now starlet Roxy Price, has found everything she’s wanted in the glamour of the silver screen. With adoring fans and a studio-mogul husband, she’s finally silenced the voices—and grief—of the past. Her future shines bright…until the fated Black Friday when it all comes crashing down. When Roxy loses everything, she finds herself disgraced and penniless. Her only hope is to join forces with Belgian duke Rolfe Van Horne, a longtime film investor. But Rolfe is not who he seems, and he has other plans for Roxy and her movies—plans to support a growing unrest in Europe, plans that could break her heart and endanger her life.

When her country needs her, will she have the courage to surrender her glittering world and her one true love?

 

 

About the author:

 
Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning novelist of over thirty novels. A five-time Christy award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Carol Award.

A seasoned women’s events speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!.
She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice. You can find her online at www.susanmaywarren.com.

Can't Wait For Reads: To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander

About the book:

To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander 

Belle Meade Plantation: Book 1

Releases October 23, 2012 from Zondervan

Set at Nashville’s historic Belle Meade Plantation, the most influential thoroughbred stud farm in America’s history, To Whisper Her Name weaves the struggles of real people of the post-war South with the journeys of a man and a woman scarred by betrayal.

Olivia Aberdeen, destitute widow of a man shot as a traitor to the South, is shunned by proper society and gratefully accepts an invitation from “Aunt” Elizabeth Harding, mistress of Belle Meade Plantation. Expecting to be the Harding’s head housekeeper, Olivia is disillusioned when she learns the real reason Elizabeth’s husband, Confederate General William Giles Harding, agreed to her coming. Not finding the safe haven she expects, Olivia is caught off guard by her feelings for Ridley Adam Cooper, a Southern man who seems anything but a Southern gentleman.

Branded a traitor by some, Ridley Cooper, a Southern son who chose to fight for the Union, is a man desperate to end the war still raging inside him. Determined to learn “the gift” that Belle Meade's head horse trainer and former slave, Bob Green, possesses, Ridley harbors secrets that threaten both their lives.

As Ridley seeks to make peace within himself for “betraying” the South he loved, Olivia is determined to never be betrayed again.

About the author:

 

Tamera Alexander is a bestselling novelist whose works have been awarded and nominated for numerous honors, including the Christy Award, the RITA Award, and the Carol Award. After seventeen years in Colorado, Tamera and her husband have returned to their native South and live in Nashville, Tennessee, where they enjoy spending time with their two grown children, and a ten pound silky terrier named Jack.

Can't Wait For Reads: So Shines the Night by Tracy L. Higley

About the book:

So Shines the Night by Tracy L. Higley
Seven Wonders: Book 5

Releases March 12, 2013 from Thomas Nelson

Daria’s new home with Lucas in Ephesus both beguiles and confounds her, until she meets followers of The Way.

Her past has taught her that evil is real, that it can consume a person. She saw it happen with her husband, before he took his own life. Widowed but well-educated, Daria becomes a tutor to Lucas, a rich traveling merchant from Ephesus. There she discovers evil has a strong foothold and that Lucas himself seems drawn to evil and sorcery.

As her relationship with her employer grows, she fears that she will be unable to pull him from demonic influence. Tension in the city is about to erupt, as a new sect called The Way continues to draw followers.  The man Paul leads a movement against the economic and political strength of the city, found in its goddess cult.

When she learns more of the ways of the Christians and their ability to defeat evil, she begins to have hope, but when Lucas is arrested and jailed for a brutal crime, it seems not even the Christians can help.

Tensions escalate in the city until thousands are pouring into the arena to protest the influence of the Christians, and a plot to kill Paul is underway. When Lucas’s execution is scheduled, Daria must find a way to prove his innocence, save his life, and help her new friends before everyone she loves is destroyed.

About the author:

From her earliest childhood, there was nothing Tracy loved better than stepping into another world between the pages of a book. From dragons and knights, to the wonders of Narnia, that passion has never abated, and to Tracy, opening any novel is like stepping again through the wardrobe, into the thrilling unknown. With every book she writes, she wants to open a door like that, and invite readers to be transported with her into a place that captivates.

Tracy started her first novel at the age of eight and has been hooked on writing ever since. After attending Philadelphia Biblical University, she earned a B.A. in English Literature at Rowan University. She then spent ten years writing drama presentations for church ministry.

A lifelong interest in history and mythology has led Tracy to extensive research into ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome, and shaped her desire to shine the light of the gospel into the cultures of the past.

She has traveled through Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Italy to research her novels, and looks forward to more travel as her writing continues.

Tracy is thrilled to bring readers adventures set in the ancient past, and it’s her hope that in escaping with her, readers will feel they’ve walked through these deserts, explored ruins, felt the white sand and blue sea under their feet, and met with the Redeeming God who is sovereign over the entire drama of human history.

Can't Wait For Reads: The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah E. Ladd

I'm always looking for upcoming releases to get excited about and there is nothing I love more than talking about/sharing books with others! So, I've decided to do a weekly post featuring an unreleased book I'm looking forward to. Hope you enjoy!

About the book:

The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah E. Ladd

Whispers on the Moors: Book 1
Releases April 9, 2013 from Thomas Nelson

Pride goes before the fall . . . but what comes after?

Darbury, England, 1814

Amelia Barrett, heiress to an ancestral estate nestled in the English moors, defies family expectations and promises to raise her dying friend’s infant baby. She'll risk everything to keep her word—even to the point of proposing to the child’s father, Lucas, a sea captain she’s never met.

Tragedy strikes when the child vanishes with little more than a sketchy ransom note hinting to her whereabouts. Fear for the child’s safety drives Amelia and Lucas to test the boundaries of their love for this infant.

Amelia’s detailed plans would normally see her through any trial, but now, desperate and shaken, she examines her soul and must face her one weakness: pride.

Lucas’ strength and self-control have served him well and earned him much respect, but chasing perfection has kept him a prisoner of his own discipline.

Both must learn to accept God’s sovereignty and relinquish control so they can grasp the future He has for planned for them.

Here's a little about Sarah E. Ladd from her website:

Every word has a melody. 

Every sentence has a rhythm.  

This truth has intrigued me since my early years. Even before I fully understood the meaning behind many of the words, I devoured literature and consumed poetry. 

Austen, Alcott, Wordsworth: I left no piece of literature untouched, left no author unexamined. I continue to see magic in how a word is transformed by the word next to it and how written thoughts can incite emotion and evoke change. 

In addition to a lifetime of writing and exploring fiction, I have more than ten years of strategic marketing and brand management experience, including five years of marketing non-fiction books and three years of marketing the musical arts. I live in Indiana and am blessed to share my life with my amazing husband, sweet daughter, and very lovable Golden Retriever.

Sarah won the 2011 Genesis Contest: Historical Romance, 2011 Touched by Love: Overall Winner and the 2011 Fool for Love Contest: Inspirational.

Fall Into Reading 2012

This challenge started September 22 (I'm a little late) and runs to December 21.

I love lists and challenges and I'm excited to get started!

If you'd like to participate as well here's the original post.

My Goal
I'm a bit of a slow reader so if I read half these I'll be very happy!