The Destiny of One

Film Friday: The North Avenue Irregulars

1:23 PM

Adventure Between the Pages: Unbroken

1:00 AM

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Description: Difficulties arise at Triple Creek Ranch when Orlena, Norman Mavrich’s spoiled, pampered younger sister comes to live with her brother and his wife. The move is much against Orlena’s wishes, and she doesn’t hesitate to let everyone know it. Time and again Mr. and Mrs. Mavrich are driven to their knees to find strength to face another day. Join the young ranch boss, Norman Mavrich, his sweet wife, Jenelle, and the rest of the members of Triple Creek Ranch as they strive to be examples of Christ to the unbroken newcomer.

I was intrigued not only by the description of this book, but also the lovely cover. I bought myself a copy of the e-book while it was on sale, and it quickly made it to the top of my to-read list.

The writing was much stronger than I anticipated. While I think that teen readers will get the most out of this story, older readers won’t be put off by juvenile writing. Morris has a good grasp on the craft of writing. The only major flaw was sudden point-of-view changes.

The story itself was a slower moving story, taking time to develop the characters and give glimpses into everyday life. There were a couple of points where I was ready for the speed of the story to pick up, but the pace was steadily the same. It helped me to remember to slow down and enjoy the development of a story better.

The characters where fairly well done and likable. Jennelle was a bit too perfect in my mind. I kept waiting for her to get a little irritated at Orlena at least once, but it didn’t happen. Norman and Orlena were both very believable in both their actions and internal thoughts.

I really appreciate the strong values that were portrayed in this story, without being preachy or overt. Doing what was right and following Jesus were just who and what Jenelle and Norman were. There was never a point I felt like rolling my eyes because of a cheesy message, and I applaud Morris for accomplishing that.

Overall I really enjoyed the story and look forward to reading more by this author at some point. I am sure that she will do better with each book she writes and will continue to turn out godly, moral stories that both parents and children will love.

I highly recommend this book to younger readers who enjoy westerns, stories about daily life, and character building stories.

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Weekly Goals

Well, that didn't go as planned

8:54 AM

Onscreen Adventures

Film Friday: Polycarp

1:00 AM

Adventure Between the Pages

Adventure Between the Pages: Journeys of Four

1:00 AM

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Description: Christine Spurgeon is painfully shy and, at this point in her life, pretty miserable most of the time. When her parents decide that they are going to start attending a new church, she is less than pleased. Much to her surprise, the first sermon strikes home, and Christine finds her sleepy Christianity shaken to the core. Peter Gottswald, a truck driver living with his younger brother, has started to change. What started out as grief over his parents’ death, moves on to deeply concern his family. As he tries to lose himself in a world of fiction and their worry grows, his family tries to discover what he’s running away from before he loses sight of reality altogether. Claudius Rivers wants nothing to do with Christianity whatsoever. He doesn’t need it, so he doesn’t bother, beyond going to church with his family. At first, Claudius manages to get away with ignoring just about everyone in the congregation, until an older man befriends him. As he gets to know the man, taking notice of the behavior of the rest of the people in the church, he’s brought to a realization that he must either reject Christ or follow Him. Claudette Crutch has claimed to follow Christ for years, but that doesn’t stop her from letting her rebellion against authority increase on a daily basis. She thinks that she’s fine, until she witnesses the spiritual transformation of another young woman in her church and she is forced to begin questioning her so-called Christianity. When will the four paths connect, to where will they lead, and how will they get there?

If you don’t want to be convicted, if people taking their faith seriously bothers you, stay away from this book. Honestly, this book is one of the best, yet hardest books I have read in a long time. It is an honest, yet compelling book at living your life for Christ in everyday circumstances. It was powerful, convicting, and heart changing.

There are some books that you can tell an author poured a lot of emotion into. Even if I hadn’t followed the author’s blog and read some of the posts concerning this book, I still would have felt the emotion that went into this story. I could feel the hurt, heartbreak, tears, frustration, and hope that were poured into these pages. It made the book all the more powerful and real.

Each of the characters was well done and believable. They feel like real people you would know if you met them. They each have real struggles and real issues. Christine was my favorite, as we have a lot in common. Her struggle parallels what I have gone through in the last couple of years, and it was healing and convicting at the same time to read the story.

The message of faith is very clear, but doesn’t feel forced. However, this is not a light read. This isn’t a book that you read then brush aside. I can already tell it is going to stick with me a while and affect some change as well. I have not been so convicted by a fiction book since A Memory Between Us.

I highly recommend this book for Christians who are looking for strong fiction, believable stories, and a book that will turn your thoughts toward God and living for him.

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Weekly Goals

Lots of Writing

9:26 AM

free

Want a free book every week?

8:06 AM

Onscreen Adventures

Film Friday: Beyond the Mask

1:00 AM

every day life

Welcome to my New Writing Corner!

8:30 AM

Adventure Between the Pages

Adventure Between the Pages: The Widow of Larkspur Inn

1:00 AM

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Description: When Life Seemed Its Worst, Gresham Awaited

Julia Hollis' opulent life in Victorian London crashes to pieces when her husband passes away. Worse, she is told by his bankers that he gambled away their fortune. Now, the family's hope rests on The Larkspur, an old abandoned coaching inn in the quaint village of Gresham.

Driven by dread and her desire to provide for her children, Julia decides to turn the dilapidated inn into a lodging house. But can she--who was accustomed to servants attending to every need--do what needs to be done and cope when boarders begin arriving? And then an eligible new vicar moves into town...

I don’t think there is a fiction book I have enjoyed as much since earlier in the year. It has also been a very long time since I have read a book for adults that wasn’t centered around romance. Yes, this book has some romance, but that really isn’t the focus of the book.

Julia was my favorite part of the book. Her attitude in the face of hard circumstances was so different than most books. She actually had a good attitude, with some understandable moments of irritation and frustration. So many main characters of books are dramatic and have rotten attitudes and then learn their lesson. Julia had lessons to learn, but she has the attitude thing down.

All the other characters were so charming that I cannot wait to see what happens to them in the next book. They were all charming, but each had their own problems. The actor who has spells of despondency (we would call him bi-polar now), the old lady that is so rude her son kicked her out, the two gossips who make lace, and the nobleman who thinks of nothing but his flowers. There are many more characters, but it was never confusing to keep up with them. They all made up a rich tapestry of characters that make up the town of Gresham.

The author obviously researched the time period, including little details of daily life, making this book feel very real and believable. The descriptions made it very easy to visualize the town and places.

The message of the book was not hard-hitting, but the characters’ faith was unmistakable. In a very subtle yet powerful way it is shown that God does not always take away our troubles, but makes something beautiful out of them.

I highly recommend this book for those who like historical fiction, stories that feel real, and are looking for a book that feels different than most Christian fiction.

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