No Safe Haven by Kimberley Woodhouse and Kayla R. Woodhouse

Andie and her mother Jenna are flying in their plane home to Alaska. They are giving a ride to a man named Cole. When they see Hank their pilot and Cole struggling together they are confused and scared. Hank has sabotaged their plane and set them on a crash course for one of the highest peaks in Alaska.

After the crash Andie awakes first and realizes that she must help her mother and Cole stay warm in the freezing elements. Also she must take care of her own needs as she has a rare disorder that causes her to feel no pain and her body to be unable to maintain a proper temperature.

Jenna suffers a severe cut on her leg and has lost a lot of blood. When she comes to her first thoughts are for her daughter. Since the death of her husband she has been the sole caregiver for her daughter. She is very leery of Cole and his desire to get them away from the crash site. She also is struggling to understand why Hank who has been their friend for years would sabotage the plane.

Cole had made a promise to Jenna's husband before he died. He promised to take care of his family. He intends to do that no matter what. Battling his own demons of losing his wife and daughter he is determined to never let his heart care again. What he didn't count on was spunky Andie.

In an effort to escape other bad men that are after a secret that Jenna's husband never talked about to her, the 3 start hiking higher up the mountain. Their hope is that the bad men will think that they died in the crash. While spending harrowing days battling the elements Jenna's leg becomes steadily more infected. Andie's disorder proves challenging and Cole is in constant battle within himself about his softening heart towards "his girls". Andie gets under his skin with her straight-forward talk of God's love and forgiveness.

Danger is still just around the corner once they are rescued. Jenna is devastated when she learns about her husband's part in why they are in danger. Andie is disillusioned about her "hero dad." Both must learn to give their fears to the Lord and trust Him. Cole needs to learn that he is not in control of all situations and he must put his faith in God.

This was a fast-paced, heart-stopping mystery that I really enjoyed. You get the feel for each character as the story is told from Cole, Jenna and Andie's points of view.

Royal Blood by Ellen Schreiber

This is the 6th book in the Vampire Kisses series. Raven and Alexander are enjoying their summer together. They spend their days cuddled in Alexander's coffin. All of that is about to change with the arrival of Alexander's parents.

The gossipmongers of the town start buzzing as soon as the Sterling's arrive. Alexander's parents are not very conservative in their attire or manners. Raven however adore's Alexander's mother as she seems to be a kindred spirit. The Sterling's love Raven but they have misgivings about the two of them being together as Raven is human and Alexander is a vampire.

Raven not only has to worry about Alexander's parents liking her but she also has to worry about the English project she and her nemesis Tyler are partnering in. Tyler is still trying to gain Raven's attention but Raven has eyes only for her "one true love" Alexander.

When Alexander's parents decide to sell the mansion and move the family back to Romania, Alexander and Raven must try to find a way to stay together.

I enjoyed this book. It was predictable, fast and easy to read, yet entertaining and enjoyable.

Book of Days by James L. Rubart

Lately Cameron seems to be losing parts of his memory. His wife Jessie has died and the memory of her is slipping away. His father's mind was totally gone when he passed away. Cameron is afraid that the same thing is happening to him.

Before Cameron's father passed away and before Jessie passed away both of them told Cameron about a Book of Days. A book that is supposed to tell all of a person's days, past, present and future. Both Cameron's father and Jessie believed in God. Cameron is skeptical about there being a God and also about the so-called Book of Days.

As Cameron's memory gets worse he decides he must go searching for the Book of Days to hopefully regain his memory. He asks Jessie's best friend Ann to meet him in a small town in Oregon to help him on his quest. Ann agrees because she has a quest of her own, to find out about her mother who abandoned her when she was 11 years old.

Every question asked seems to be met with some form of cover-up. Jason believes in the Book of Days as do his many cult followers. Taylor has more secrets than just the Book of Days. As their missions collide Ann and Cameron decide to help each other find answers to their questions.

I gave this book two hearts because it was so hard for me to get into it. I spent the entire book trying to figure out how many more pages I had to muddle through before I was finished with it. I'm sorry to the author, but this was not a book that caught or kept my attention.

Facelift by Leanna Ellis

Kaye's husband left her and their daughter for a younger woman. Kaye has spent the year since their divorce hoping and praying that they can be reconciled and get back together. When Cliff's mother calls her because she needs a place to stay after a botched facelift, Kaye believes this may be just the thing to bring Cliff back to her.

Isabel(Izzie) is a typical self-centered teen who has never had a relationship with her grandmother and is not happy about Marla moving in with them. She is resentful of her father leaving the family for another woman and has a more realistic view of it than Kaye does. When Izzie meets Gabe her interests are drawn outside of herself to helping other people.

Kaye's job is to get houses ready for the owner's to sell by staging furniture and highlighting the assets of the house. When she meets Jack there is instant attraction. But Kaye is determined that God's will is for her to win back her husband. Gabe's father died of cancer. Gabe is living with Jack so that Jack can help Gabe finish his Eagle Scout project, renovating a park for handicap children to be able to play.

Izzie is all for helping Gabe with his project but soon become involved in a project of her own. Lily whom she used to babysit is dying of cancer. Izzie is determined to raise money to help with Lily's rising medical bills. The swimathon becomes a community project that brings Izzie and Gabe and Jack and Kaye together.

Dealing with an ex-mother-in-law that never liked her, an ex-husband that is showing renewed interest in her, a daughter full of teen angst, and new feelings stirring for Jack, Kaye struggles to find what God's purpose for her is.

I'm torn about this author's writing. I read her book Elvis Takes a Back Seat and am having the same feelings about Facelift as I did about that book. Sometimes the writing seems disjointed. I had a hard time knowing if the character was saying something out loud or if she was "thinking" what she wanted to say. Sometimes I was lost as to who was doing the talking. The reason I am torn though is because Leanna Ellis' characters are so engaging that the book is hard to put down until after you find out how the story ends.

Words by Ginny L. Yttrup

  

Sierra Dawn allows herself one day a year to think about the death of her baby 12 years before. Each year on the anniversary of Annie's death Sierra goes to the grave, has lunch with her friend Ruby, and spends the rest of her day trying to forget. Sierra is consumed with guilt and anger. She knows that because she was addicted to drugs while pregnant with Annie that is the reason that Annie died. But she is angry at God because she feels that he could have prevented Annie from dying. Raised in a Christian home Sierra chose a different path to follow when she went to college. Ruby and Sierra's parents think it is time for Sierra to relinquish the anger and guilt and get right with God. Sierra doesn't  know if she ever can.  A trip to a secluded spot in the Redwoods changes her life forever.

Kaylee has been abandoned by her mother and left in the care of Jack her mother's last boyfriend. The only things Kaylee has of her mother's are her dictionary and Emily Post's etiquette book. Kaylee hides them from Jack so that they will not be taken away. To escape the daily sexual abuse and neglect Kaylee reads the dictionary and memorizes words and their meanings. All of the words are bottled up inside of her as she has not been able to speak since her mother abandoned her to this evil man. Too afraid to run away because she worries that her mother has amnesia and someday will return to find her Kaylee suffers in silence and fear. One of her favorite spots is the hollowed out spot in a Redwood tree. She sits in a circle of pinecones telling herself that nothing can cross the pinecones to hurt her.

Sierra befriends Kaylee and realizes that neglect and maybe something more is going on in her life. She contacts Child services to find out what can be done. Once Kaylee is rescued she is placed in the care of Sierra. From that moment on healing for both Sierra and Kaylee begins.

WOW! This book was so good. It was heartbreaking to read about Kaylee's abuse. I wanted to jump through the pages and administer justice myself! Ginny Yttrup was able to show that God can redeem us from our worst sins and give us peace and rest in Him through the trials of life.

Access Denied by Denise Vega

Hoping to not repeat the Year of Humiliating Events(YOHE) that was Erin P. Swifts 7th grade year she embarks on her 8th grade year with high hopes.

She meets her new locker partner Reede. Reede offers to "make-over" Erin's looks. Erin can't deny that she admires Reede for her seeming maturity and makeup savvy but at the same time she worries that Reede's skills in the computer lab may usurp her own.

Mark is Erin's best friend. They play basketball together, they tease each other. Erin had a crush on him the year before but now Mark has a girlfriend and Erin has a new boyfriend. Some of her other friends swear that they will turn out to be a Harry Met Sally couple.

Erin can't seem to talk to her mother anymore. Her mother doesn't seem to understand her. Erin seems to only be able to talk to her friend Mr. F the school custodian whom she shares many secrets with and gets good advice from.

When her brother brings over a total HOTTIE friend Erin thinks that she is in love. He makes her feel older than she really is. He is 3 years older than her and she is willing to risk friendships and parental disappointment to prove to him how grown up she is.

When tragedy strikes Erin finds out what truly matters in her world.

I really enjoyed this story. Working with Middle Schoolers I totally see all of the boyfriend/girlfriend events going on. Denise Vega really captured the essence of the Middle School community.

The Crooked House by Agatha Christie

Well this wasn't my favorite Agatha Christie book. I figured out "whodunit" before the end of the book and that is not usual for me. This makes my 32nd Agatha Chrisite book to read and over 50 more to go I believe.