King’s Blood — The Second Kinsman Chronicles is Here!

The Five Realms have been destroyed. The remnants of the population who escaped now find themselves confined only to several hundred ships adrift at sea. Guided by hope, rumor, and a promise, they sail north into the unkown, desperate to find land that might become their new home.

As the king’s illness worsens, Sâr Wilek takes authority over the expedition and struggles to rule the disjointed people, while assassination attempts, vicious serpents, dangerous storms, and dark magic endanger his life and the survival of his people. 

One prophecy has come to pass, but another looms dauntingly in the future. Who is this promised Deliverer? And if the Magonians have him, what might that mean for the realm of Armania?

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Red Queen

Click on the cover to see it on Goodreads. Alternatively, click here to view on Barnes and Noble.

Mare Barrows– pickpocket and trouble maker. Red blooded. Inferior.

As is customry, the officers are Silvers, and Silvers have nothing to fear from us Reds. Eveyone knows that.

She’s always going to be inferior, she knows. That’s why the Red blooded people don’t have powers. That’s why they’re the slaves of the Silver blooded. There’s no jobs that she can find… everyone has taken one so that they aren’t conscripted into the army. Which leaves her.

When everything goes wrong and her best friend is about to be conscripted, she tries to pick the pocket of the wrong… or maybe right… person. Either way, he catches her.

“Thief,” he says, a strange surprise in his voice.

I blink at him, fighting the urge to laugh. I don’t even have the strength to protest. “Obviously.”

And instead of getting her into trouble. He gives her coin and asks about her life. For some reason, she opens up. Tells him about the hard stuff. The next day she has a job in the palace of the Silvers. When Evangeline attempts to kill her as part of her show, she finds out that she has powers too.

And her life flips upside down.

I opened it up and started to read. First I thought it was going to be a simple twist on The Hunger Games, but it was not so. Then I thought it would be The Hunger Games and The Diabolic mixed together. But that was not so either. Then I realized it was a wonderful collection of dozens of stories all mixed together and topped with awesomeness.

The only reason I’m giving it a four is the love triangle thingy. First, it seemed a little wishy-washy. You’re surrounded by Silvers, you’re scared out of your wits, you… have plenty of time to ponder whether you like Cal or Maven better? Wouldn’t it be much better to think about how to avoid, um, brutally dying? Then, <spoiler>once she and Maven are engaged… are we supposed to feel happy when she’s kissing Cal? Uhhhhh…Even if she didn’t love him, she still agreed to a commitment. End of story. But I guess the fun of this story is backstabbing. <end spoiler> Yeah, okay, whatevs, Mare.

Other than that, I loved it. It’s 383 pages long and the only reason I didn’t finish it in one afternoon was because we had company over. I would most definitely pick it up if you ever get a chance.

The Domino Effect

 

Esther Larson, a top risk analyst at one of the country’s largest banking instiutions, is becomong more and more convinced that she has uncovered a ticking bomb with the potential to make the 2008 market crash look minor by comparison. And as her own employer pursues “investment” strategies with ever-increasing levels of risk, she becomes convinced she must do something. But Esther is only one person… what can she do?

*Most of it taken from the back cover*

Live Smart by Dan Dumas

The habits you form right now can last a lifetime. Almost each and every one of us has seen that at least once or twice. If not in ourselves, then in someone else. The habits you form now can make or break you later on in life.

Dan Dumas, knowing this, set out to help young people grow in wisdom. Thus, Live Smart.

I didn’t want this book at first. There was an adult coloring book that I thought looked awesome. Instead, for some reason, I asked for Live Smart. And I got it.

And I was not disappointed.

Dan Dumas took Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and James and condensed it down into a 137 page book of comprehensible wisdom to anyone willing to read it. Using stories from his own life, stories and verses from the Bible, he helps to decipher the wisdom books of the Bible and give you wisdom to make good habits to last you for the rest of your life.

Would I recommend this book?

Absolutely! Two thumbs up!

I’d say this is for kids Jr. High and up. Adults, you too. Dan Dumas doesn’t water things down, but he does make it understandable. If you’re having difficulties with the wisdom books of the Bible, definitely check this book out. If you aren’t having difficulties with the wisdom books, check it out anyways. If you’ve never even read the wisdom books, well, still check this book out. 😀

Happy reading folks! This is one book that you will not want to miss out on reading.

*I received a free copy of this book from Bethany Publishers in exchange for an honest review*

Robin Adair – The second Carlingford Chronicles is finally out!

Whitney L. Schwartz’s third book is finally out! I’ve been waiting for a long time to be able to read this! I will admit, I read this book several times before I got the chance to review, but it was worth it. 😀 Robin Adair, a minor character in Mona Lisa, now has her very own book!

Robin’s never had an easy life, and now is no different. Her Ma is still dying, and her Da is still drinking. To top it all of, Niall Ahern and Shane O’Reilly are chasing her.

She’s always been a bit sweet on Shane since childhood. But he’s fallen from godly ways. Robin thinks he can change though. All he needs is a little persuasion.

Things at home get worse, till she can’t stand staying there anymore. Shane has problems… problems Robin knows she can fix if he marries her. And so… they strike up an… arrangement. A marriage of convenience.

But Niall…. is angry at the arrangement, to say the least.

Will Shane ever change? Will they ever find true love? Will Niall suck up his loss… or is tragedy about to hit the new marriage?

Ireland comes to life with Whitney’s writing, as does Robin, Shane and the Mona and Brogan’s new little bundle. 😀

Definitely check it out on Amazon if you get a chance. Click here for the link.

Happy reading, all! I hope you enjoy!

G: (The) Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

Note to parents: the end might be a little disturbing for younger children. You might want to look over it before letting your children read it.

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti (click here for the author website) is the ‘G’ book for this month. I originally read it in January and instantly knew that this was going to be a book for this month.

I was a little cautious about reading it at first. My family is not the biggest on promoting rebellion against the leaders that are over us. (Romans 13:1-7), but it was the good thief, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwartz

The title drew me in. Drowning Ruth. I love crime thrillers (probably comes from the same part of me that wants to be a mounted police officer), and thought it sounded quite interesting. The cover caught my eye as soon as I could tear my eyes away from the title. The exquisite rose by the dark, lakeside trees begged me to unravel the mystery in those pages.

I ‘borrowed’ it out of the online library before you could even see the excited expression on my face. True, with school and such, it took me a couple days to read it…and it was well worth it.

My excitement about reading a crime thriller set at the end of WWI dissipated as soon as I read the first chapter. This was obviously not a crime thriller. But it was interesting enough to capture and keep my attention. After all, what wasn’t there to dislike?

Ruth remembered drowning.

By the Way Book Series by Joy Budensiek

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?

In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

Job 12:7-10

“Recent research by Dr. Jeff Myers of Summit Ministries shows that 19 out of 20 Christians parents and grandparents do not talk to their children about God and spiritual truths as they go about their daily living,” the introduction to the book says. Their answer to this disturbing report? By the Way series (the title taken from Deuteronomy 6:7) written by Joy Budensiek and Illustrated by Stephanie Robledo. It’s written for younger kids–my sisters Pirat (Pirate), age 6, and Affe (Monkey), age 9, loved them. Even Prachtweib (Gorgeous), (yes, I’ve given my sisters German nicknames), my 13 year old sister, enjoyed them.

Treasure Coast Here We Come is the first book in the ‘By The Way Series. The first thing you see when you open the book is a stunning picture of the sun low in the sky. Flip the page again and you find out that you will be following the story of Alex and Lexi as they head down to Florida in the winter to see their grandparents. Instead of looking for pirate treasure and going to amusement parks like Alex and Lexi expect, their grandparents take them out to see the ‘treasures’ of God’s creation. Every page was praising God for something, and I loved it!

Smokey Mountains Here We Come is the second book in the series. Open up to find a beautiful picture of the green forest. Once again, we are following Alex and Lexi, this time as they go to the Smoky Mountains National Forest and hang out with their Uncle Ted, who happens to be a ranger! One of the highlights of this book is that it talked about the Appalachian Trail, and you all know how much I love hiking on that!! Over and over it showed the beauty of the forest and the creatures that inhabit it.

Pennsylvania Here We Come is the third and so far last, Alex and Lexi are chosen to be part of the Celebrate Pennsylvania Team and get to explore Pennsylvania. They explore the state of Pennsylavania, all the while pointing out things that bring glory to God.

The font changes to emphasize important principles. It really makes it stick out to the people who are reading with you and drives the point home for them. There are lots of different facts and Bible verses as well.

 

I loved how they turned everything around to God. True, it was a kid’s book, so they didn’t really go through any real difficulties, but everything that they saw, everything that they heard, everything that they felt, it was all something pointing to an awesome and amazing God who cares about His children and His creation.

Would I recommend these books? Yes! Wholeheartedly! I would!! I love the fact that Joy Budensiek wrote a series that does nothing but praise God!! It was refreshing to read it and I hope that it is to you as well!!