Baby Girl
by Bette Lee Crosby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed For +Readers' Favorite
Happily ever after is never as easy as the fairy tales make it out to be, and falling in love doesn't mean you have found your ending. Cheryl Ann wants her happily ever after, and she has a plan, to get out of where she is, go to college and be somebody. Even the best laid plans don't go the way you want, when Cheryl Ann's mama refuses to get on board with the dream, she must make some hard choices. When things are going well, and unexpected pregnancy forces her to make choices she never imagined, and those choices lead to twists in her path that she never saw coming. Baby Girl is the story of Cheryl Ann's life and triumph. She has her pitfalls and bumps in the road, but she is determined to make something of herself, better than what she had growing up. Author Bette Lee Crosby weaves this story together in a manner that feels like a huge patchwork quilt. All the pieces and tears in Cheryl Ann's life come together to make something beautiful.
Baby Girl will have you crying along with Cheryl Ann as she makes hard choices, cheering as things go right, and wanting her to find that true love, once in a lifetime kind of love. Author Bette Lee Crosby treats each part of Cheryl Ann's story with respect and dignity, never making any choice or decision feel shameful and building it into a heartfelt story. There are social issues in this book, yet the author deals with them in Cheryl's mindset and they come across as heartfelt and genuine. Even though this a story about Cheryl Ann, from her teens on up through life, I feel this story is a great read for all ages, including teenagers.
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Before I Wake
by Tamera Lawrence
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
When Christine wakes in outside her car in the parking lot, she has no idea what she is doing there or why. Her body hurts and she can't remember anything. Slowly small memories come back to her, but it turns out they aren't recent memories. Before I Wake is a romance suspense story of a woman who loses five years of her memory. Why she would want to forget the last five years becomes evident as the story goes along, and we are introduced to the players in her life. There is the original boyfriend from that time, who is the father of her daughter, the current husband, who is having an affair, and assorted friends. Tamera Lawrence does an admirable job of mixing romance and suspense. Why is she bruised and battered? Was it the old boyfriend or the current husband? Which story to believe? Who to trust? And can she figure it out before it is too late?
Before I Wake is what I would call a Romantic Suspense Novel. There is a basic romance in the story but there is an added element of suspense. In this story Christine has lost her memory of the last five years, she thinks she is still engaged to her old boyfriend and pregnant with his child. Author Tamera Lawrence is able to blend the two into a compelling story that keeps your attention from start to finish. There are times when you want to yell at the old boyfriend for his behavior, other times when you want to yell at the current husband for his behavior. Neither are perfect, they sound like real, true life men, but at the same time, you want to keep reading to find out what happens and will Christine figure it out in time.
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My Letter to Fear: Essays on Life, Love and the Search for Prince Charming
by Patricia L. Steffy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite .
Are you reaching out for all that life has to offer or are you sitting back wondering why you haven't achieved what you wanted? My Letter to Fear is a collection of short essays, each chapter is really a different topic and focus, but Fear connects them all. Some of the chapters are funny, with past experiences recounted for the benefit of the reader to prove a point, others are words of encouragement or even chastisements. Each addresses the many ways that we allow fear to stop us from becoming all that we want or deserve to be in life. Ms. Patricia L Steffy does a fabulous job in putting all these different essays or chapters together into a cohesive book that is not too stuffy, but gives the right amount of correction and encouragement.
My Letter to Fear is a collection of essays, each chapter is a different essay, and written to stand entirely alone. As the author, Ms. Patricia L Steffy researched her own life and collected stories from others, you never know which essay is about her or someone else, but they all provide the gentle encouragement that is needed to push the reader to action. This book is about realizing that fear is holding you back from accomplishing what you want in life, and addressing that fear and moving on. Now it doesn't give you step by step self help advice, it is more a gentle, funny way to help you realize what you are doing. I found it to be a fun read. Some chapters are more laugh producing than others, but in the end, if the reader has opened their mind and read with a willing heart, they will realize that there is at least one chapter that relates to their life and there is something they can wok on. I feel this is a great book for all readers, including the young adult and college age reader, in fact it might do them more good than the older reader, but it is still worth the read.
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Forever Changed
The Mystic Wolves Series, Book Four
by Belinda Boring
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finally, after battling a demented vampire that kidnapped Darcy and hung Mason on a wall. After surviving a conniving, scheming Amber who tried to use a spell to take Mason away from Darcy. After having to prove that despite the fates stepping in and adjusting their meeting, they were destined to be together. Mason and Darcy are married! They spend their first night together, and in the morning as Mason runs downstairs to grab some food to bring up to theme, Darcy, feeling like a little kids, giggles and dances in the bathroom, only to have it explode. What?!
Turns out Darcy isn't just a werewolf, just is part witch too. That part has just been hidden from her until now. Not only is Darcy a little shaken by the news, Mason is a little angry that no one let him in on the secret. It doesn't change his feelings for Darcy in the least, but it does make him worry about how to protect her better. Especially after he learns there is a crazed wizard after her.
Once again, Mason and Darcy are given a challenge that they have to overcome and again we watch them work as a team to figure this out and do what they can. Their love for each other, their emotional and mental connection and now their physical connection all work to play a part in what they have to do to protect not only Darcy but the pack as well.
I'm going to tell you right now, don't read this one with a box of Kleenex. I cried and cried, but I also laughed and I loved every bit of the book. It is a top notch romance that once again proves that true love, the power of teamwork and faith can do anything. To be perfectly honest I am jealous of the relationship that Mason and Darcy have, I would love to have something half as close as that, half as exciting and toe curling. Who wouldn't?! I also love the friendship, almost brother-sister relationship that Darcy and Daniel have.
Belinda Boring develops the most amazing relationships among her characters and they are so real and wonderful that I want to just climb in the book and be part of the Mystic Wolves Pack. This is just a top notch novel and series that you must check out.
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