Contact email: mesreads AT gmail.com
###Winner Announcement Posts are linked here.###

GIVEAWAYS ARE NOW LOCATED ON THEIR OWN PAGE - CLICK ON TAB ABOVE; Giveaways also linked on right sidebar.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Book Review: Issachar's Heirs by Brian Chilton

My word to describe this story is "awesome"!
As the book was presented to me I share: "If you are concerned about anti-Christian intimidation growing in America, this one is perfect for you."
Issachar's Heirs
by Brian Chilton
  • File Size: 2008 KB
  • Print Length: 374 pages
  • Publisher: White Feather Press (October 10, 2013)
  • ASIN: B00GZY8UZC
Gerne: Political Thriller, Christian Fiction
My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0


Book Description
Publication Date: October 10, 2013
The 20th century dawned with Evil’s perpetual whispering about Europe’s Jewish Problem. Decades passed, more listened, and Evil’s power grew. Evil soon demanded that listening was not enough, placing men into power also eager to act. Multitudes stood by, stilling listening, watching, while Evil’s Solution was imposed. Millions died.
Now at the dawn of the 21st century Evil’s murmur has begun again. But this time the whisper that grows ever louder complains of America’s Christian Problem . . . America’s Christian Problem . . . America’s Christian Problem . . .
In 2016, Nemesis, a small but powerful coalition, will follow Evil’s call to act . . . .
Will the nation founded for religious freedom now allow Christianity to be driven from her shores?


Review:
Issachar Stone objected to President Lincoln’s declaring martial law over the Supreme Court’s opposition but still he tried to warn of assassination plots. Issachar and others of his time formed a group to watch over the US Constitution to try to protect America from any future president who might try to take unilateral control.

Jack Stone isn’t aware of the dedicated and secret society his great ancestor was part of. But Issachar would be proud of Jack’s stand as a constitutional lawyer and firm believer in Christ and God’s sovereignty. Jack has watched with dismay and frustration as the rights of Christians have been eroded and trampled in favor of humanist agendas including legalized abortion, gay rights and liberal teachings in schools.

Now Christians have fallen under violent attack with three mega churches being bombed on July  3, 2016. The FBI receives a call claiming a domestic terrorist group called Nemesis, consisting of a 'high priestess', some Muslims, two gays and others, has targeted Christians with a “Vengeance Sunday”.  The newly appointed acting director of the FBI is told by White House officials, including the President himself, not to waste FBI resources on such an unlikely tip.

A conspiracy of powerful government and media forces twist the facts to make the public think that intolerant Christians are attacking gays with verbal hate mongering that must be stopped. Through treacherous lies and murders the conspirators pursue an attack that seeks to ultimately eliminate Christians from America.

Jack Stone and other Christians are protected and brought together, through divinely directed circumstances, to fight for Christianity and for the very foundation of American freedoms. They recognize that it is only with God’s help and direction they will have a chance against the out of control president who declares martial law and war against the Christian community.

There are strong characters and engaging plot action. There is excellent summary of the challenges that Christians have faced over the past fifty years as America has lost its moral foundation. There are practical examples and supporting legal documentation showing the moral decline and increasing control of humanist agendas. There are also uplifting Biblical quotes, hymns and messages of salvation. The only part of the story that I found lacking was the fact that the president did not target Jack, Lin and the others more specifically when he learned of their involvement. Also, I was disappointed that there was no resolution of what would happen to the president even after his lies and deeds were exposed.

I think this book is awesome and I totally enjoyed it even as I experienced chills, frustrated disgust and tears of sorrow and joy. The story is fiction but there is a factual history that makes it not too far fetched as a prophetic picture for the future of America. As the author notes, this book will most likely be read by Christians, but oh how I wish humanists, doubters and seekers would read this book and open their hearts.

I received this title for review through a publicist.
About the Author:
Issachar's Heirs is Brian Chilton's first novel, and he is currently completing the second and third novels in the series, One Nation Under God and The Keys of David. His non-fiction writing has previously been featured in Townhall.com, National Legal Center for the Public Interest, The Washington Post, Law Watch, Legal Times, Washington Business Journal, National Law Journal, the ABA's Criminal Justice magazine and Canadian Corporate Counsel magazine.
A 1992 graduate of University of Virginia School of Law, Brian represented the mother and daughter in the 2004 Supreme Court case, Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, resulting in the words "under God" being retained in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Born in 1965, Brian was the unplanned baby of an unmarried teenage mother. By God's grace his birth preceded Roe v. Wade's expansion of abortionby eight years and he wasadopted into a Christian home. He and his wife Lori have been married twenty-seven years, live with their three children in Virginia, and attend McLean Bible Church.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

March Winners: R is for Rebel, Ladies Shooting Club and Desperately Seeking Suzanna

CONGRATULATIONS TO WINNERS FROM MARCH GIVEAWAYS:

Giveaway Ended March 14, 2014

Giveaway:
R Is for Rebel: ...and Royalty, Relatives, Reality, and Running from love... (Unruly Royals) by Megan Mulry
ARC Print; US Only;

WINNER : ERIN F

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giveaway Ended March 26, 2014

Giveaways (three total): The Gunsmith's Gallantry, Ladies Shooting Club Series #2 by Susan Page Davis.

WINNERS:
The Sheriff’s Surrender - Print: SueF
The Gunsmith’s Gallentry - Print: bn100
Shooting Club Trilogy in eBook - Becky

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giveaway Ended March 28, 2014

Giveaway: Desperately Seeking Suzanna by Elizabeth Michels; 

WINNER: ALYN

ALL WINNERS - Please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form AND if you want you can email me at mesreads AT gmail.com to confirm the win and I will arrange the mailing or notify the publishers.
[I ask that all winner's fill in the form as it helps me keep track of when I have completed the mail outs or notice to the publishers rather than tracking individual emails. But of course -- feel free to email me too! :-)]

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Audible Book Review: Night Broken: Mercy Thompson, Book 8 by Patricia Briggs

This is another hard to put down addition to a wonderful series.
Night Broken: Mercy Thompson, Book 8
Written by: Patricia Briggs
Narrated by: Lorelei King
Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
Series: Mercy Thompson, Book 8
Format: Unabridged
Release Date:03-11-14
Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0


Publisher's Summary

#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson series has been hailed as “one of the best” (Fiction Vixen Book Reviews). Now Mercy must deal with an unwanted guest—one that brings a threat unlike anything she’s ever known.
An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from a stalker. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.
Soon her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the furthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get him, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.
Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s stalker is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.
©2014 Hurog, Inc. (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.


Review:
Mercy has begun to settle in with her mate, Adam, who is the head of the Tri-City Ware pack. Although she has been brought into the pack as the alpha’s mate, not all the members totally support her since she is a coyote shifter not a wolf. This problem intensifies when Adam’s ex-wife, and Jessie’s mother, Christy, seeks refuge with Adam as she is running from a stalker. Jessie feels that Christy abandoned her and Adam but several of the female pack members were friends with Christy and they are quickly sucked back into her helpless, self-absorbed, manipulative acts. Mercy has to struggle to choose the higher ground rather than call Christy on her bad behaviors.

The tensions are running high in the household and then the stalker shows up and attacks Mercy. Mercy could hide but she knows that the confrontation will be on the monitors. She decides she has to take a stand and face the guy with his vicious dog. Of course that was before she learned the guy and his faithful companion are far from ordinary. The guy is some type of volcano god who is nearly indestructible. Fortunately Adam arrives just in time to help protect her. Tad, who helps at the garage, uses unrevealed fae magic to temporarily secure the enemy who then escapes through the concrete floor. But the obsessed, evil god-man is mad and convinced that Christy is his long lost mate. He is prepared to take out the pack to get to her.

Adding to her worries, Mercy has been approached by a powerful fae who wants her to return the walking stick that used to follow her around. After the stick turned itself into a deadly weapon Mercy gave it to Coyote. As Mercy searches for Coyote she discovers she has a half brother, Gary Laughingdog, who has visions and reluctantly realizes he is going to have to stick around and help the pack face this evil god-like creature.

I love all of the action and creative danger in this series. I also love the extreme warmth portrayed through the family and pack bonds. Ms. Briggs does both of these elements beautifully keeping the series successfully entertaining and fresh.

Audio Notes: Lorelei King does a great job with this series. She manages to convey the emotions and personalities, particularly of the primary characters. The narration enhances the reading experience for me as it makes it an easy, gripping listen.

I really like this series so I purchased this with a February Audible credit! 

Monday, March 31, 2014

Book Review: Jaspar's War by Cym Lowell

This is a fast paced, entertaining and intriguing thriller.
by Cym Lowell

  • File Size: 1506 KB
  • Print Length: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Rosemary Beach Press (March 5, 2014)
  • ASIN: B00ITF9VJ4
Genre: Thriller
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0


Book Description
Publication Date: March 5, 2014
Greenwich, Connecticut socialite Jaspar Moran has it all—a magnificent estate, two beautiful children and a loving husband, Trevor, serving as the Secretary of the Treasury. Protected, admired and living in the lap of luxury, Jaspar is reeling from the news that his government jet has crashed just as her children vanish without a trace.
An ominous message warns her to keep silent about her husband’s role in the President’s economic plan. Or else.
Determined to save her children, she’ll go to hell and back, form alliances with assassins, traitors and Mafioso, and commit unspeakable acts—if that’s what it takes. With alarms sounding around the world, hunted from all sides, and unsure of who to trust, she finds herself depending on a mysterious figure without an identity.
Jaspar journeys from the Australian outback to the palazzos of Rome, the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, and to the magnificence of the Vatican, in her quest. Can she rescue her children before the plot to crash the global economy is unleashed?


Review:
Jaspar has a wonderful life with her important husband who is the Secretary of the Treasury, and their two children. One moment she is playing an afternoon ball game with the kids and the next the children have disappeared and she learns her husband is presumed dead in a plane crash. The press begins to accuse Trevor of manipulating financial markets for personal gain. She knows Trevor was upset about something before he left but he didn’t get the chance to tell her what it was. No one is taking credit for the kidnapping of the children and the only message she gets is that she must remain silent if she wants them to live.

Jaspar finds a thumb drive with information that she believes shows Trevor was suspecting financial patterns by someone in the government. Jaspar seeks help from her long-time family priest and friend to set up a plan of action and arrange to get the information to a financial wizard whom Jaspar trusts, a reclusive American Indian, Chief Bearstrike.

Jaspar is delivered into the hands of Nulandi, an intelligent, sensitive and confidently trained warrior assassin. He travels with his faithful guard dog, Alice, who is trained for Nul’s missions. Nul explains to Jaspar that she must become a warrior to rescue her children. Just as Jaspar’s father used to make the right lure for different fish, Jaspar will be the bait to lure the kidnappers out so they can follow the trail back to the children.

While Jaspar, Nul and Alice race around Europe reeling in killers, Chief Bearstrike meets with another friend, Jason Brontus, a US Attorney. They unravel the financial patterns that have already reaped ill-gotten profits and are setting up to collapse America’s economy. The trail leads to someone with White House connections so they have to be careful who they take the information to.

The story jumps into action and intrigue and never really slows down. There are wonderful, strong characters and great disguises including nuns in habits, a large, old black woman and young boy, a seductress and a race car driver. There is intrigue in plans, traps and near escapes. There is also some raw sexual exposure and rather brutal killing which are not for squeamish readers.

A strong, loving friendship develops between Jaspar and Nulandi that just borders on moving into a physical relationship. As Nul trains Jaspar to be a warrior, she shares the strength of her faith and trust in God with Nul who needs to find that unconditional love and peace for his life. Yet the story includes an interesting mix of Native American beliefs and a certain primal mysticism as well as the Godly faith.

The writing is direct and fast paced with occasional passages of beautiful description interspersed amid the raw danger and killing. I was impressed with the female protagonist being written by a male author. My only disappointments were that the villain who held the children seemed to get off easy after all of his nefarious dealings and the climactic encounter with the 'mastermind' seemed rushed. Still, I really enjoyed the non-stop action and the strong friendships that helped Jaspar on her mission. I highly recommend this entertaining read to those who like a strong, action-packed thriller.

I was pleased to see this new release by Cym who provided a copy for my honest review.
Working with Soldiers’ Angels through his initiative OPERATION: NEXT CHAPTER, Lowell is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of “Jaspar's War,” to provide voice-controlled laptops to military personnel recovering from amputations, paralysis, eye injuries, burns and brain trauma.
See more information at Cym's blog.
Author links:

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Mailbox Monday March 31, 2014

Welcome to Mailbox Monday.
Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs.  This Meme started with Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (fka The Printed Page) and after a tour of hosts has returned to its permanent home at Mailbox Monday.
Thanks to the ladies sharing hosting duties: Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit and Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach.
Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.


I selected one ebooks for tour and three from NetGalley. 
(I still have many author requests to consider and reply to.)

Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles

One Title Selected from author/ publicist offers:

Received from AuthorPal/Penquin Group

The Temptations of Anna Jacobs 
by Robyn DeHart
 

Historical Romance set in Victorian London with Jack the Ripper intrigue.







Received through NetGalley


Fair Play: A Novel
by Deeanne Gist

A historical love story about a lady doctor and a Texas Ranger who meet at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.






Raptor 6 
by Ronie Kendig

Military Romance.







The Escape (Survivor's Club)
by Mary Balogh

In this poignant novel of longing and salvation, a hopeful widow
 and a resilient war hero discover the promise of love’s magic and new beginnings.



Won

None.



Purchased

None

 Free

Plus I downloaded another 60 or so free Kindle titles. Titles found linked through Bookbub, Bookfun, Free Par-tay, Inspired Reads, Pixel of Ink or Kindle ebooks.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails