Weekend Report

The Weekend Report is hosted by Melanie at Christian Bookshelf Reviews. It is an opportunity to wrap up our week of reading. Check out her blog!

CURRENTLY READING:

Non-fiction, but her story reads like a romance novel! Love it!

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

The last of the Daughters of Boston series. I really liked it.

My favorite O'Connor book of the series! Review to come later in October!

Wow, I read 3 Julie Lessman books in a row! They were GREAT!

What I plan to read soon:

How was your week in reading?

A Passion Denied by Julie Lessman

John Brady has always thought of Elizabeth O’Connor as a little sister. He knew that she has always had a crush on him, but he never thought of her “in that way” before. Now his “little buddy” has grown into a beautiful young woman. She has become “Lizzie” to all of her friends and family, but to Brady she will always be Beth.

When Lizzie enlists the help of her sisters Charity and Faith to help her gain his attention, Brady is forced to confront the feelings he has for her. Knowing that he can never act on those feelings, because of his past, Brady denies the love that he feels for her. But when his past shows up to haunt him Brady may lose not just his best friend, but also the love of his life. 

A Passion Denied is the 3^rd and last book in The Daughters of Boston series. I really like Brady’s character. He is a man of God, but struggles with the idea of God forgiving him for his past. It is easy for him to touch others lives and bring them to Christ, but his hardest struggle is with forgiving himself. I loved the way his life touched others, and others were used to touch him, especially his priest friend Father Mac. As with all of Julie Lessman’s stories A Passion Denied stressed me out! Julie assures her readers that all of her books have a “happy ending,” but it’s the getting to that happily ever after that stresses me! Her characters take twists and turns down dark paths on their journey to faith and trust in the ultimate lover of their souls. Another thing I loved about A Passion Denied was not just the love story of Lizzie and Brady, but that we also got to revisit Charity and Mitch and Faith and Collin as well as Patrick and Marcy. Each marriage filled with the passions and struggles of married couples learning to live with each other and growing in the faith that sustains each individual. The next chapter of the O’Connor family begins with A Hope Undaunted. Little Katie Rose is all grown up and giving the men in her life fits! Having read The Winds of Change series first you can check out my reviews:

A Hope Undaunted

A Heart Revealed

A Love Surrendered

The Daughters of Boston Series:

A Passion Most Pure

A Passion Redeemed

Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson-REPOST

Full Disclosure is out in stores today October 2nd! If you have never read a Dee Henderson novel I really think that you MUST! Here is my review that I posted in August when I received an Advanced Copy of her latest book:



Ann Silver is the Midwest Homicide Investigator. She shows up in Special Agent Paul Falcon's office and drops information regarding a serial killer into his lap. The information could be the break that the FBI has been looking for to find the lady killer responsible for the death of 30 people.

Paul is instantly drawn to Ann. Never has he met a woman as complex as Ann. Paul takes steps to peel away Ann's layers. Through surprise visits, video chats online and other stolen moments a romance develops between them. Paul is looking for a wife but Ann is content in her solitude.

As Ann and Paul get to know each other Ann is able to start trusting Paul with some of her secrets. The question is will her secrets bind them together or tear them apart?

I've said it before and I'll say it again~Dee Henderson is one of my favorite author's. After waiting a very long time for a new book, Dee has not disappointed! We even get to visit some old friends from her other series. My favorites being The O'Malley's of course! Full Disclosure is a mixture of suspense and romance that happens to be my favorite genre. Reading about Paul and Ann's relationship developing and the suspense of finding out who the lady killer is showed once again what a great story-teller Dee is. I look forward to more books in this new series. And hopefully we won't have to wait too long!

Thank you to the publisher Bethany House for my ARC copy to review.

BOOK TRAILER:


Check out the FULL DISCLOSURE blog page!!

A Love Surrendered by Julie Lessman-REPOST

I read this book in August and I have to say it was my favorite of The Winds of Change series! I'm reposting my review today because it is now published and offered on Amazon starting today! Here is my review from August:

Susannah(Annie) is determined to shed her "good girl" reputation. Anger at God for taking her parents has hardened Annie's heart and she is determined to live for herself now. She becomes friends with her sister Maggie's old crowd and is soon learning how to shed her good girl persona.

Steven O'Connor has held himself in check for three years since his break-up with Maggie. He is trying to make up for the pain he caused both of them in their relationship. Unfortunately he is trying this in his own power and not God's. When he meets Annie he sees her as just a kid of 17. He instantly sets out to warn her against the fast crowd that she is hanging with. He especially warns her to stay away from him. Determined to be the wise older brother type Steven insists that Annie stay her innocent self  because there are few girls like that left.

Wanting to make Steven see her as a woman and not a kid Annie begins to flirt with men to make Steven jealous. She succeeds in winning him over but at what cost? Steven and Annie begin dating, but will their passions lead them down a road that they will both regret?

A LOVE SURRENDERED is my favorite out of the Winds of Change series! I couldn't put it down. Reading the characters' struggle with their faith, struggle in their relationships and yet seeing how God of all creation steadily brings them back to Himself brought such a reality to the story. The character struggles are real, they deal with their passions, their anger, their human-ness all while the reader is able to see God's hand in each situation. While Annie and Steven were the main story of the book we also got peeks into Luke and Katie, Sean and Emma, Marcy and Patrick, and the rest of the O'Connor gang's lives. A LOVE SURRENDERED is a roller coaster of emotional ups and downs along with some sweet romance and spiritual lessons, a must read in the series!

Here are my reviews for the other books in the Winds of Change series:

A HOPE UNDAUNTED
A HEART REVEALED

Julie Lessman is being interviewed on Casey's blog Writing for Christ~The Audience of One today.  Go check it out!

Nowhere to Run by Amy Wallace

Ashley Walters is a police officer. She and her fiancé Patrick will be getting married soon. The only thing standing in their way is Ashley’s stalker. He has been stalking Ashley for 12 years. She didn’t know of him before, but now there is an urgency in him since he knows that Ashley should be his wife and not Patrick’s. 

When Ashley’s stalker puts the people that she loves in danger she decides to take the advice of her boss and disappear. Ashley and her best friend Margo go to the Mennonite and Amish country to be hidden by friends. Ashley doesn’t want to hide though. She wants to draw out the stalker and end her nightmare. She doesn’t want to put her friends and family in any more danger.

Not only is Ashley struggling with the fact that she has a stalker, but she is also struggling with not being able to sense God’s presence in her life. She is feeling abandoned by Him and struggling with her anger at God for not answering her prayers. Her life is in turmoil and danger and she feels that she can only rely on herself to fix the situation. 

This is the second book in the Place of Refuge series. Having not read the first book I felt like I was coming into the middle of a story, but I caught up quickly with what had gone on before. I really liked the suspense of the novel, but found myself getting a bit frustrated with the spiritual aspect of the story. This is where maybe reading the first book in the series may have helped as I might have understood a bit better where Ashley was coming from if I had the background from the first book. Ashley is definitely a strong female character but sometimes I thought she was a bit too impulsive and foolhardy. For the most part it was entertaining and kept me reading through to the end to find out how it all turned out.

A Passion Redeemed by Julie Lessman

Charity O'Connor has decided that Mitch Dennehey is the only man for her. He stirs her passion and she stirs his. But Mitch is still in love with Charity's sister Faith. He wants nothing to do with Charity knowing in his heart that he could never trust her. Mitch sets out to forget both O'Connor women and court Kathleen, one of the sweetest women he knows next to Faith. She has always loved him and Mitch knows that given time he will come to love her as well.

Charity hatches a plan with Mitch's enemy Rigan in order to make Mitch jealous. Mitch warns Charity to stay away from Rigan, but wounded by Mitch's rejection Charity runs right into the arms of danger.

Afraid for Charity's safety Mitch agrees to take her home to Boston and her family. Mitch once again struggles with his attraction to this woman who stirs his passions with both anger and lust. Charity is determined to use every means possible to get Mitch to marry her even if she has to lie and use her feminine allure to get him.

The second book in The Daughters of Boston series focuses mainly on Charity although we do get a glimpse of the rest of the O'Connor family throughout. I struggled in A Passion Most Pure to figure out what drove Charity to be the way she was. In A Passion Redeemed we learn more of her background and what events led to her insecurities and need for attention. Charity is definitely a picture of a wounded soul in need of redemption. I came to understand her character better and even came to like her!  Julie Lessman has a way of drawing the reader into her stories. I found myself experiencing all kinds of emotions as I read A Passion Redeemed. I would get angry and exasperated at Charity and Mitch. I found myself getting teary at a tender moment of forgiveness and love displayed. And of course enough romance to make your heart melt! Looking forward to the next book A Passion Denied.

Submerged by Dani Pettrey

Bailey returns to Yancey, Alaska for her Aunt's funeral. Yancey holds too many memories for Bailey. She was known to her classmates as "Easy Lay Bay." That was many years ago and since then Bailey has come into relationship with Christ and turned her life around. Not only is Bailey mourning her Aunt when she returns to Yancey, she also runs the risk of meeting her former boyfriend Cole whom she hurt terribly when she was young.

Cole and his family run an outfitting store in Yancey. Having become a Christian years before, Cole has no desire to condemn Bailey for her behavior. Determined to be friendly but not let his heart be touched by her again, Cole and his family befriend Bailey while she is in Yancey for her Aunt's funeral.

When a couple of dead bodies are found the police and Cole seek help from Bailey when they find a picture of an icon that they cannot identify. Bailey is further drawn into the mystery when it is determined the plane that her aunt was on was sabotaged. Bailey is willing to help Cole and the police with the mystery, but determined to hold her heart in check knowing that she is not worthy of gaining Cole's love once again.

Submerged was a great romantic suspense novel! There were several characters that I really enjoyed and am looking forward to learning more about in the next book Shattered. There was a secondary romance going on that I must find out how it plays out! Submerged was not just filled with suspense, but also dealt with Bailey's feelings of unworthiness to God and to the people around her. Even though she had become a Christian she still had feelings of unworthiness that she never truly dealt with until she was with Cole once again. This is Dani Pettrey's debut novel and I can say I'm looking forward to future novels!

Today, September 23, 2012, Submerged is being discussed on Melanie's blog at Christian Bookshelf Reviews , if you have read it head over there to join in the discussion. Everyone is welcome!