Book Review: The Wounded Heart by Adina Senft

Delightful read - I was captured and engaged from the beginning to the end by this book.

The Wounded Heart: An Amish Quilt Novel 

by Adina Senft

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: FaithWords (September 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892968540
• ISBN-13: 978-0892968541

     Genre: Inspirational
     My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0

Product Description
When a business offer turns into something more personal, Amelia is torn between what logic tells her is right, and the desire of her heart.

A widow with two small children, Amelia Beiler is struggling to make ends meet. She is running her late husband's business, but it's not what she was raised to do, which is run a home. When she gets an offer for the business from Eli Fischer, she's only too relieved to consider it-especially when it looks like Eli's interest might include more than just the shop. But when she begins to experience strange physical symptoms and is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, it's difficult not to question God's will. If she pursues the treatment she believes in, she risks going under the bann. But how can she allow Eli to court her when she can't promise him a future?

Review: This story is absolutely wonderful with charming writing, characters to love and a real to life story.

Amelia is an Amish widow with two small sons and her late husband’s business to manage.  She knows it is awkward in her community to have a woman running a business but the circumstances placed her in that capacity, not her own wishes or actions.  Yes, she may have learned to be a bit more independent having to make decisions as the head of her household and business.

She is surprised when an Englisch man offers to buy the pallet business. Then another Amish man, Eli, shows interest not only in the business but in her personally. However Amelia has just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She faces being on medicine, which may only delay the deterioration of her muscle control, for the rest of her life, or she could raise the significant amount necessary to try some experimental treatment in Mexico. But it appears that the church elders do not approve of the experimental treatment nor do they approve of her selling her business to an outsider.

Amelia shares a quilting group with two wonderful friends, Emma and Carrie, who have their own issues. They try to give her sound advise while she also receives advise from her mother and father.  Amelia struggles with finding God’s Will and balancing her choices within the dictates of the elders of her church family.

The phrasing and writing is charming and smoothly reflects the Amish community. There are all the elements one might expect in an Amish story including a dedicated faith, community order, simple - if hard - living, close families and real friendships. There are also the struggles of balancing the worldly input and practices with the Amish life-style. Amelia’s thought dilemmas are so natural. The story is not in any way preachy as it is instead portrays a daily, living faith.

I will be eagerly looking forward to reading the stories for Emma and Carrie as the trilogy continues! The book includes the instructions for the quilt the ladies are working on. There is also a group discussion guide.

Here are two short quotes of many that I liked:
(Amelia responded to the laughter of her sons)
She needed to follow their innocent example and find joy in the little things. P 206

(Eli approaching Amelia again after learning the updated status of her illness.)
But the driver had turned sideways in his seat and was gazing at her with all the hope of harvest in his face. P282

I will be recommending this to my book club as I know everyone would enjoy it. Also I am going to let my daughter read it before I add my copy to the giveaway box. :-)

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Thank you to Hachette Center Street for this book to review and for offering a copy for Giveaway!

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the book copy:
1. Visit the author's website and tell me something of interest you found there. This is required for entry.

2.  For two extra entries comment on the Author interview.

3.  For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

4. For two entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Six total entries possible.)

* Open to the US & Canada only.

* No PO boxes, please.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on October 14, 2011. (This month's book giveaways will all end on the 30th except for Friday Picks, SBB or other special posts.)
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
The WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on October 15. 
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Book Review: A Christmas Gift by Diane Craver

A charming Christmas and all year long read.

A Christmas Gift by Diane Craver

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Whimsical Publications, LLC (November 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1936167360
• ISBN-13: 978-1936167364

Genre: Fiction/ Inspirational
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Product Description
Justin Reeves is a man who has it all: a good job, a loving wife and children who are the center of his universe. Justin also has a secret he's hidden from everyone his entire life-or so he thought. Quite innocently his small daughter, Debby, stumbles upon his secret and is shocked by what she finds. She confronts her father with the awful truth, and together they embark upon a journey which takes her father from the darkness of shame into the light of victory.

Drawing from true events in her own childhood, author Diane Craver captivates the reader from page one to a stunning climax which will touch your heart and impact your life forever in this must-read story of love's triumph over adversity.

Review: This is a heart touching "old feel' story.

This sweet story is told by a 60 year old woman but related from her memories as a seven year old child. Debra is the youngest child of an older mother and father. She has two older sisters, 25 year old Gail and 14 year old Kathy who was stricken with polio when she was 7. Debra also has an older, 21 year old, brother who is away in the army.  The year is 1957 and little Debby discovers that her beloved father has a secret.  She prays about it and shares it with her siblings, then her mother and finally her father.  Her prayer is answered allowing her father to fulfill a life-long dream.  His courage encourages her mother to learn a new skill too.

The skill that Debby’s father learns allows him to give a very special gift to each of the children that Christmas. It is something they can cherish all their lives and it brought tears to my eyes.

Once or twice I thought...this writing seems so simple. Then I reminded myself that it was being told from the perspective of a child and that was the proper tone.  The Epilogue is a wrap up of the grown life of the narrator.  The story is well written - really hitting the nature emotions of the child.  The characters are real-to-life people in a real-to-life setting. Even the epilogue had me thinking that Debra was the author of the story instead of a fictional character.

This is warm and lovely - a quick read that may be a Christmas story but could be read anytime you want to warm you heart and find courage to try new things even as you “mature” in age.  I recommend this as a real to life, uplifting story.

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This ebook was provided by the Author for an honest review.

It's Monday! What are you Reading September 26, 2011?

This meme starts at Book Journey!

What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I'm still busy with DH on the cruise. Now this week will be lots of time at sea.  I finished three books.  I posted three reviews, one guest post and two with Giveaways.  As usual, I posted the regular Friday Pick Giveaway; Saturday Sharing Beyond Books, and Sunday posts. I can't seem to get images loading with the internet on board now so some of these don't haveimages.

Again I didn't get to visit because of limited internet service and the cost of the service.  These were last week's posts plus Winner posts not listed.

•  It's Monday What are You Reading? September 19, 2011.

• Book Review The Lonely Mile by Allan Leverone. Thriller; my rating 4.5.

• Book Review and ARC Giveaway: Life is Not a Stage by Florence Henderson. Memoir; my rating 4.25.  Ends 10/7.

• Book Review and Two Copies Giveaway No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper. Paranormal Romance; my rating 4.0. Ends 10/7.

• Guest Post by author Isabel Cooper.

•  Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway September 23, 2011.  Open Worldwide. Ends 9/29.

• Sharing Beyond Books #15 Comment Giveaway.  Open Worldwide. Ends 9/30.

•  Sunday Words of Encouragement September 25, 2011. 

Finished Reading:

Print/Kindle:

No Proper Lady

by Isabel Cooper 

Review with Giveaway and 
Author Guest Post linked above.

Kindle: 

A Christmas Gift

by Diane Craver

This is a very sweet story.

I will post a review this week.

Read for the Author.

Print:
The Wounded Heart: An Amish Quilt Novel 

by Adina Senft

This is very beautiful! 

The Review and Giveaway to be posted 9/28.

Read for Faithwords (Hachette).

Line Edits/Releases: 
We will be releasing the full Anthology of Prom Night as soon as I can get it uploaded or emailed to my assistant to upload.

Currently reading:

Kindle:

Tenderfoot

by Amy Tupper

I am about 40% in this - 

mysterious and I am well engaged.

This will be the third review to post this week.

Reading for the Author.

Product Description
Jules is running. With the death of her mother behind her, she arrives at college in Chapel Hill ready to focus on friends, classes, and Andrew, the sweetest guy a girl could crush on. But Nick, the campus rock star, is always around, pressing every last one of her buttons. Things get strange when Nick plays his guitar, and even stranger when Jules discovers he wears a pendant identical to her dead mother’s. She wants answers. When her family’s secret is revealed, Jules must choose between running away from the one person she has opened up to or running with him toward an unknown future.

Print/Kindle:

Forbidden (The Books of Mortals) 

by Ted Dekker, Tosca Lee

I will start this next.

Reading for Center Street (Hachette.)

Product Description:
New York Times bestselling author Ted Dekker teams with Tosca Lee to create this gripping thriller set in a desolate future.

Many years have passed since civilization's brush with apocalypse. The world's greatest threats have all been silenced. There is no anger, no hatred, no war. There is only perfect peace... and fear. But a terrible secret has been closely guarded for centuries: Every single soul walking the earth, though in appearance totally normal, is actually dead, long ago genetically stripped of true humanity.

Fleeing pursuit, with only moments to live, a young man named Rom stumbles into possession of a vial of blood and a piece of cryptic writing. When consumed, the blood will bring him back to life. When decoded, the message will lead him on a perilous journey that will require him to abandon everything he has ever known and awaken humanity to the transforming power of true life and love.

But the blood will also resurrect hatred, ambition, and greed.

Set in a terrifying, medieval future, where grim pageantry masks death, this tale of dark desires and staggering stakes peels back the layers of the heart for all who dare to take the ride.

Audible/Audio 

TailSpin: FBI Thriller #12

• UNABRIDGED
• by Catherine Coulter
• Narrated by Joyce Bean, Paul Costanzo

This is a fav author of mine.

I have just started this from my TBR audios.

Product Description:
FBI Special Agent Jackson Crowne is flying his Cessna over the Appalachians with a very important passenger: renowned psychiatrist Dr. Timothy MacLean. Their destination is Washington, D.C. Upon their arrival, the FBI will protect the doctor - and ascertain just who wants him dead.But they don't make it.
In San Francisco, married FBI Special Agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock take an early-morning phone call from their supervisor, Jimmy Maitland. Maitland received a Mayday from Jack in the mountains near Parlow, Kentucky, and sends Savich and Sherlock to see what's happened.
Agent Crowne is able to bring his plane down in a narrow valley and haul the unconscious Dr. MacLean from the burning wreckage before it explodes. Their crash is witnessed by Rachael Abbott, a young woman on the run after the mysterious death of her father. When Savich and Sherlock arrive on the scene, they find Jack and Rachael in the Parlow clinic and Dr. MacLean comatose in the local hospital, prognosis unknown.
What they do know frightens them: Dr. MacLean was recently diagnosed with frontal lobe dementia, and in the months prior to the crash, his behavior had become erratic and alarmingly uninhibited, his ability to maintain doctor-patient confidentiality badly compromised. With a patient list made up of Washington movers and shakers, MacLean's role as a keeper of secrets is jeopardized as well.
Is there someone out there so desperate that they'd kill the doctor for what he knows? It is up to Jack, Savich, and Sherlock to find out - no matter the cost.

I am also listening to The Listener's Bible NIV read by Max McLean. I completed Job; I am at Isaiah 58 and Ephesians 5.

Line Edits: Working on Dark Bride series for October.  Will be setting up print releases when I return to the US.

September Review Books - 13 or so - that should keep me busy. :-)

Scheduled:
9/28  The Wounded Heart: An Amish Quilt Novel by Adina Senft (FaithWords)

Center Street
Forbidden (The Books of Mortals) by Ted Dekker, Tosca Lee


Author Selections:
Karen Weisner - Love Is Blind and It Don't Pay the Bills Either (Denim Blues Mysteries, Book 2) (read)

and Souls on (B)oring Street [Denim Blues Mysteries Book 3]
Anne Patrick Renegade Hearts
Nibi Soto - The Chronicles of Quant
Nathan Patrick Hardt - The Second Sonata
Caedem Marquez - The Path Home



[To be posted:
These were read and ready for reviews for Authors. I am sending out interviews for these. I hope to post them all in September.
Quest for Magic by Jean Hart Stewart - Read; review to be posted with interview.
Seeing for the First Time (What You See is What You Get) and 

To See (What You See is What You Get) by Nicole Zoltack - Both Read; setting up author interview with reviews.

Steamrolled by Pauline Baird Jone. Read; review to be posted with author interview.]

Sunday Words of Encouragment September 25, 2011

Today we will be vising Nova Scotia
I discovered this Christian Singer from Nova Scotia.

Verses for today:

Job 38: 8-11

⁸ “Who shut up the sea behind doors
   when it burst forth from the womb,
⁹ when I made the clouds its garment
   and wrapped it in thick darkness,
¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it
   and set its doors and bars in place,
¹¹ when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
   here is where your proud waves halt’? 

This week I finished listening to Job. I have seen such beauty this trip and it is even more meaningful while I listen to Job. Genesis may be the Beginning but the Book of Job reveals the majesty of creation!
I pray today that everyone could recognize the beauty and majesty of God's creation and take better care of it.

Sharing Beyond Books #15 September 24, 2011

Welcome to another Saturday night - for me in the North Atlantic on the way to Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Thanks for your comments this past week.
Many refused to burn any book; a couple of us said we might in emergency situations. Then there were the wonderfully creative answers:  Linda K would burn a phone book, Abby picked an old school book and Mary P named a private journal.

Most of us are tempted to look at endings only rarely. A few look only when they can't finish the book and then there were three who are really strong and Never peek at the endings. :-)


The Winner from SBB #14comments is: #4 Llehn.  Llehn is over seas so will probably pick a GC. There are still 9 'love' books to pick from, 8 Christmas choices and 1 Summer title below so Llehn could  choose a book (if mailing isn't too much) from the remaining Love Books List for Giveaway or remaining Christmas Giveaway Books or the summer books below and let me know your choice, your address and a choice of bookmarks by completing the WINNER FORM.

WEEK #15 Questions

Q1. Infuse asks the book question this week: Where is your fave place to find/buy books? [ebooks or hardcopies]??

A:  I guess I have to say my favorite place to FIND books is from review offers. Who doesn't love free books? Before that it was paperbacks from two local used book stores.

To BUY books my favorite place for eBooks is Amazon and my favorite place for Audio books is Audible.

Q2.  If you could travel ANYWHERE where would you go and how would you travel??

I have obviously been blessed to travel and I do love traveling by cruise. The draw back on the cruising is that you only get a day or half day glimpse of the places you visit. Still, I think that is my favorite way to travel because the food is provided - no cooking or clean up needed. There is always some entertainment or quiet available - whichever you prefer.  The place I would like to travel to if I could is a harder choice...One cruise we haven't done yet that I do want to do is Alaska.

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Thanks to those who are sending in Questions. DON'T BE SHY! Surely everyone has a Q or two you'd like to ask.  Input suggestions in this Suggested Question Form.  At the end of each month I will draw from the suggestions I used the month before and that person will get a book choice or GC. Next week I will announce the September draw.

Your turn to share:

1.  Where is your fav place to find/buy books? [ebooks or hardcopies]??

2.  If you could travel ANYWHERE where would you go and how would you travel???
 

SBB Comment Winners can choose a selection from the remaining  Valentine and "Love" books or the remaining Christmas Giveaway Books - there are still about 17 books available plus 1 left in the Summer titles to choose from.

Secrets of a Summer Night (The Wallflowers, Book 1)
The one I have is hardcover.

One Reckless Summer: A Destiny Novel
This book is brand new, but will be gently read if I get to read it!

Under the Boardwalk: A Dazzling Collection of All-New Summertime Love Stories (Sonnet Books)
My paperback is from 1999 and
has a beach image.

The Days of Summer: A Novel

My copy is a paperback from 2006
with a different cover.

 The Summerhouse

 Hmmm - this has a bit of magic in the plot.

A Summer Affair (Calhoun Chronicles)
I love Susan Wiggs historicals!

SBB Rules: a) Must be a follower; b) Share a comment on any (or all) of the two/three questions above.
Open internationally and an international winner may get a smaller book or a $5.00 GC if I decide the mailing is too much.
I will pick a Comment winner from all comments made by Friday, September 30 at 10PM central.