Jesus Calling Daily Devotional
Sarah Young
My rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
My Thoughts:

Sarah Young
My rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
My Thoughts:
Copy sent for review through the BookLook program
Description of this Bible:
The Sequin Sparkle and Change Bible is sure to be a hit with girls! This fabulous material is on everything from pillows to T-shirts. The sequins change color right before your eyes. Girls will love the design and will want to carry this Bibles with them everywhere!
This Sequin Sparkle and Change Bible: Silver and Gold NKJV features sequins that change color depending on which way your child swipes. It’s double the fun! This Bible is perfect for kids ages 6 to 10 to take to Sunday school, read with the family, or study on their own.
The accurate and reliable New King James Version also contains beautifully illustrated insert pages in a style that will delight children’s imaginations and include topics such as:
Bible timeline
information about Jesus
Journaling for favorite Bible verses
Bible maps
Study helps such as how to study the Bible and how to pray
Articles to build a child’s faith, including How Do I Know Jesus Loves Me?, Bible Verses to Know, Knowing Jesus Better
Your little girl will love her Sequin Sparkle and Change Bible!
My Thoughts: (Please note, I am reviewing the design and extra’s of this Bible, not the spiritual content, as obviously that is perfect. ^.^)
Part of the Hagenheim series
Review copy through BookLookBloggers
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
About the Book:
Mulan isn’t afraid to pretend to be a son and assume her father’s soldier duties in war. But what happens when the handsome son of a duke discovers her secret?
Mulan is trying to resign herself to marrying the village butcher for the good of her family, but her adventurous spirit just can’t stand the thought. At the last minute, she pretends to be the son her father never had, assumes his duties as a soldier, and rides off to join the fight to protect the castle of her liege lord’s ally from the besieging Teutonic Knights.
Wolfgang and his brother Steffan leave Hagenheim with several other soldiers to help their father’s ally in Poland. When they arrive, Wolfgang is exasperated by the young soldier Mikolai who seems to either always be one step away from disaster… or showing Wolfgang up in embarrassing ways.
When Wolfgang discovers his former rival and reluctant friend Mikolai is actually a girl, he is determined to protect her. But battle is a dangerous place where anything can happen — and usually does.
When Mulan receives word that her mother has been accused of practicing witchcraft through her healing herbs and skills, Mulan’s only thought is of defending her. Will she be able to trust Wolfgang to help? Or will sacrificing her own life be the only way to save her mother?
My Thoughts:
A Regency/Mystery Novel
Review copy through BookLook Bloggers
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
About the Book:
From debut author Abigail Wilson comes a mysterious Regency tale of secrets and spies, love and treachery.
Orphaned Sybil Delafield jumps at the opportunity for a position at the mysterious Croft Towers. She believes she was hired to act as companion to a dying woman, but a highway robbery and a hostile welcome from the Chalcroft family cause her to wonder if she was actually hired to help someone spy for France.
An unsolved murder adds intrigue to this already secretive family, and Sybil recognizes Mrs. Chalcroft’s handsome grandson as one of the infamous highwaymen who robbed her. Sybil must determine if this man’s charming smile and earnest eyes speak the truth or if he is simply using her like others in the house. Everyone seems to have something to hide, and Sybil must decide who to trust while also coming to terms with the truth about her own past.
My Thoughts:
“Becoming Mrs.Lewis” by Patti Callahan
Review copy through BookLook Bloggers
My rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars
About the Book:
In a most improbable friendship, she found love. In a world where women were silenced, she found her voice.
From New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan comes an exquisite novel of Joy Davidman, the woman C. S. Lewis called “my whole world.” When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.
In this masterful exploration of one of the greatest love stories of modern times, we meet a brilliant writer, a fiercely independent mother, and a passionate woman who changed the life of this respected author and inspired books that still enchant us and change us. Joy lived at a time when women weren’t meant to have a voice—and yet her love for Jack gave them both voices they didn’t know they had.
At once a fascinating historical novel and a glimpse into a writer’s life, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is above all a love story—a love of literature and ideas and a love between a husband and wife that, in the end, was not impossible at all.
My Thoughts:
Joy – the wife of C.S. Lewis. Before reading this book, I was barely familiar with this woman at all, which was why I was interested in requesting it for review.
And while interesting at times, this wasn’t a novel I could really connect with unfortunately. I appreciate the research the author put into it – this was a well written book.
I just couldn’t personally relate to Joy, and I found that her story just fell a little flat to me. At many times, she seemed very self-centered.
There were some areas throughout the novel that I found to be a little unsettling, and the faith aspect, while I have no doubt realistic, I thought wasn’t as moving as I was hoping for. It was definitely a more theological piece of fiction. C.S. Lewis felt true-to-life and it was very interesting seeing his character portrayed.
I would rate this book 18+ for its content (alcoholism, sex, abuse, etc).
I’m sure this book will be one enjoyed by several, but it just wasn’t for me.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
Review copy through BookLook Bloggers
My rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
About the book:
In a time of grief and heartache, an unlikely friendship provides strength and solace.
After leaving her son’s grave behind in Montgomery, Alabama, Delilah Evans has little faith that moving to her husband’s hometown in Pennsylvania will bring a fresh start. Enveloped by grief and doubt, the last thing Delilah imagines is becoming friends with her reclusive Amish neighbor, Emma Mullet—yet the secrets that keep Emma isolated from her own community bond her to Delilah in delicate and unexpected ways.
Delilah’s eldest daughter, Sparrow, bears the brunt of her mother’s pain, never allowed for a moment to forget she is responsible for her brother’s death. When tensions at home become unbearable for her, she seeks peace at Emma’s house and becomes the daughter Emma has always wanted. Sparrow, however, is hiding secrets of her own—secrets that could devastate them all.
With the white, black, and Amish communities of Sinking Creek at their most divided, there seems to be little hope for reconciliation. But long-buried hurts have their way of surfacing, and Delilah and Emma find themselves facing their own self-deceptions. Together they must learn how to face the future through the healing power of forgiveness.
My Thoughts:
I feel a bit lost for words at how to review this one. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but I found this to be in a good way.
Every page was filled with tragidy, really. It was a heart-wrenching book. There was so much sorrow and so much brokenness between all of the characters, and yet the relationships formed were beautiful in their shared brokenness.
Sparrow was my favorite character. My heart went out to each of the characters, but it was she for whom my heart hurt the most. I can’t say that one character over the other had more pain, because each dealt with a great deal of grief, but for some reason I just hurt for her the most.
As I read, I wanted to hug away the hurt from each character. They did find solace in the end, though I admit I was expecting a bit more of the healing focus to be from Jesus. Sparrow’s was and that was lovely – I would’ve liked to explore that more.
It was written in such an easy to read style that it was hard to put down and yet hard to intake all at once too because of the content. It was definitely unique. :)
Recommended for ages 16+
Review copy through BookLook Bloggers
My rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
About the Book:
“Maybe it was time to land straight in the middle of the adventure…”
Hamish DeLuca has spent most of his life trying to hide the anxiety that appears at the most inopportune times — including during his first real court case as a new lawyer. Determined to rise above his father’s expectations, Hamish runs away to Boston where his cousin, Luca Valari, is opening a fashionable nightclub in Scollay Square. When he meets his cousin’s “right hand man,” Reggie, Hamish wonders if his dreams for a more normal life might be at hand.
Regina “Reggie” Van Buren, heir to a New Haven fortune, has fled fine china, small talk, and the man her parents expect her to marry. Determined to make a life as the self-sufficient city girl she’s seen in her favorite Jean Arthur and Katharine Hepburn pictures, Reggie runs away to Boston, where she finds an easy secretarial job with the suave Luca Valari. But as she and Hamish work together in Luca’s glittering world, they discover a darker side to the smashing Flamingo nightclub.
When a corpse is discovered at the Flamingo, Reggie and Hamish quickly learn there is a vast chasm between the haves and the have-nots in 1937 Boston—and that there’s an underworld that feeds on them both. As Hamish is forced to choose between his conscience and loyalty to his beloved cousin, the unlikely sleuthing duo work to expose a murder before the darkness destroys everything they’ve worked to build.
My Thoughts:
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
Book #8 in the Hagenheim Series of Fairy-tale retellings
Review copy from the publishers through BookLook Bloggers.
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
About the Book:
Orphaned and alone, Aladdin travels from the streets of his Arab homeland to a strange, faraway place. Growing up in an orphanage, he meets young Lady Kirstyn, whose father is the powerful Duke of Hagenheim. Despite the difference in their stations, Aladdin quickly becomes Kirstyn’s favorite companion, and their childhood friendship grows into a bond that time and opposition cannot break.
Even as a child, Aladdin works hard, learning all he can from his teachers. Through his integrity, intelligence, and sheer tenacity, he earns a position serving as the duke’s steward. But that isn’t enough to erase the shame of being forced to steal as a small child—or the fact that he’s an orphan with no status. If he ever wants to feel equal to his beautiful and generous friend Kirstyn, he must leave Hagenheim and seek his fortune.
Yet once Aladdin departs, Lady Kirstyn becomes a pawn in a terrible plot. Now, Aladdin and Kirstyn must rely on their bond to save her from unexpected danger. But will saving Kirstyn cost Aladdin his newfound status and everything he’s worked so hard to obtain?
An enchanting new version of the well-known tale, The Orphan’s Wish tells a story of courage and loyalty, friendship and love, and reminds us what “family” really means.
My Thoughts:
Review copy through BookLook Bloggers program
Megan Jacobs always wished for a different heart. Her entire childhood was spent in and out of hospitals, sitting on the sidelines while her twin sister Crystal played all the sports, got all the guys, and had all the fun. But even a heart transplant three years ago wasn’t enough to propel Megan’s life forward. She’s still working as a library aide and living with her parents in her small Minnesota hometown, dreaming of the adventure she plans to take “once she’s well enough.” Meanwhile, her sister is a successful architect with a handsome husband and the perfect life—or so Megan thinks.
When her heart donor’s parents give Megan their teenage daughter’s journal—complete with an unfulfilled bucket list—Megan connects with the girl she meets between the pages and is inspired to venture out and check off each item. Caleb—a friend from her years in and out of the hospital—reenters her life and pushes her to find the courage to take the leap and begin her journey. She’s thrown for a loop when Crystal offers to join her for reasons of her own, but she welcomes the company and the opportunity to mend their tenuous relationship.
As Megan and Crystal check items off the bucket list, Megan fights the fears that have been instilled in her after a lifetime of illness. She must choose between safety and adventure and learn to embrace the heart she’s been given so that she can finally share it with the people she loves most.
Review copy through BookLook Bloggers
My rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
About the Book:
Meet Denver, raised under plantation-style slavery in Louisiana until he escaped the “Man” – in the 1960’s – by hopping a train. Non-trusting, uneducated, and violent, he spent another 18 years on the streets of Dallas and Fort Worth.
Meet Ron Hall, a self-made millionaire in the world of high priced art deals — concerned with fast cars, beautiful women, and fancy clothes.
And the woman who changed their lives — Miss Debbie: “The skinniest, nosiest, pushiest, woman I ever met, black or white.” She helped the homeless and gave of herself to all of “God’s People,” and had a way of knowing how to listen and helping others talk and be found – until cancer strikes.
Same Kind of Different as Me is a tale told in two unique voices – Ron Hall & Denver Moore – weaving two completely different life experiences into one common journey where both men learn “whether we is rich or poor or something in between this earth ain’t no final restin’ place. So in a way, we is all homeless-just workin’ our way toward home.”
The story takes a devastating twist when Deborah discovers she has cancer. Will Deborah live or die? Will Denver learn to trust a white man? Will Ron embrace his dying wife’s vision to rescue Denver? Or will Denver be the one rescuing Ron? There’s pain and laughter, doubt and tears, and in the end a triumphal story that readers will never forget.
My Thoughts:
This biography/autobiography is written in first person and reads slightly like a fiction title. Each chapter alternates between each man, Ron Hall and Denver Moore, as they tell their stories and how their life-paths entwined to form a strong bond of friendship. In the beginning, they are about as opposite as opposite can be, but over their life-experiences, they realize they have more in common than originally thought, and it is Ron’s wife, Deborah that urged them together.
It was an interesting book. I liked a lot of the spiritual lessons Denver spoke about – had I sticky notes with me when I read, I would’ve marked a few down. He spoke it how it was, and experienced some profound truths.
Deborah left an amazing legacy. Her devotion to help those in need was inspiring, and she followed God’s path for her life tirelessly.
This book has some heart-breaking moments, and some beautiful memorable passages as well.
The changing chapters with the different perspectives was hard to adjust to at first because there wasn’t anything to differentiate from the other and in the beginning you obviously don’t know their individual voices yet. But once I got a few chapters in, I was able to differentiate with ease.