Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Welcome to Last Chance

I received a copy of Welcome to Last Chance by from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lainie Davis has never had anyone to count on but herself. Will that change when she finds herself stranded in Last Chance, New Mexico?
The red warning light on her car dashboard drove Lainie Davis to seek help in the tiny town of Last Chance, New Mexico. But as she encounters the people who make Last Chance their home, it's her heart that is flashing bright red warning lights. These people are entirely too nice, too accommodating, and too interested in her personal life for Lainie's comfort--especially since she's on the run and hoping to slip away unnoticed.
Yet in spite of herself, Lainie finds that she is increasingly drawn in to the dramas of small town life. An old church lady who always has room for a stranger. A handsome bartender with a secret life. A single mom running her diner and worrying over her teenage son. Could Lainie actually make a life in this little hick town? Or will the past catch up to her even here in the middle of nowhere?

Lainie has been on her own since she was 14 and she seems to have done a fair job so far.  What she doesn't know she's missing welcomes her in Last Chance.  She doesn't know how to ask for help or rely on anyone else.  The longer she stays in Last Chance the more love she feels and the more she likes it.  Each time she has the chance to get really close to anyone she turns tail and runs.  I don't think she realizes this until Steven comes home and Lainie sees herself in him.  Lainie has several chances to see how everyone in town takes care of everyone else no matter if they're related or not.  She finds it hard to leave when she knows Nick is after her.  I rally liked this book because it showed how when you let go you can grow with the help of everyone around you.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Rich in Love

I received a copy of Rich in Love by Lindi Peterson from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Three magnificent mansions share a cul-de-sac on a beautiful Florida bay. But for three unforgettable couples, the exclusive neighborhood opens their hearts to the humble richness of hope, love, and faith.
When Ann Thomas is summoned to Florida for the reading of the will for the father she never knew, her life is forever changed. She learns she has a half-sister, she has the chance to inherit millions, and her name is really Angelina. Brett Hamilton, CPA, is assigned to help Ann spend a lot of money in a short period of time. As soon as his ‘assignment’ with her is over, he’s headed to Peru to be a missionary, something he’s felt called to do his whole life. Ann still lives with the pain of having a mother who chose world missions over her.  Can Ann risk giving her love to someone who might give it back, or should she ignore her growing feelings towards Brett to keep her heart safe?
This book frustrated me at first.  Ann went to the reading of her father's will and found out that she has a half-sister.  She didn't ask any questions that I sure would have.  Her mother wouldn't talk about her father ever while she was growing up.  Why?  She doesn't find out until after her 30th birthday.  That wouldn't have worked for me.  I'd been asking tons of questions and driving her crazy until I found out something.  Ann does finally start asking questions and getting the answers she needs.  She also gets the opportunity to do something that any woman would love - the chance to spend 1 million dollars on herself.  I love that Ann finally listens to the voice of God.  Then she can finally follow her heart.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Blood And Bone

I received a copy of Blood And Bone by Don Hoesel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
A decade after Serpent of Moses, Jack is married to Espy and back teaching at Evanston University. They have two sons, one of whom has cystic fibrosis. Despite this challenge, life is comfortable. But that all changes when the CIA, while combing through the papers of the late Gordon Reese, uncovers the secret of Elisha's bones. Jack's world is then turned upside down by an urgent call from his old friend Duckey, who's been alerted to the CIA's probing by one of his former contacts. Jack and his family escape from their home just ahead of the CIA, and he decides to do what he should have done long ago: recover the bones and destroy them. Except the bones aren't where he left them.
So now Jack is in a race, for the last time, to find the bones. And he's not the only one. Pitted against both the CIA and an organization that will kill to protect their secrets, Jack and Espy follow hard-to-decipher clues across the globe before arriving in the catacombs of Paris for a final showdown that will either save their family--or tear apart everything they hold dear forever.
This is the 3rd book in the Jack Hawthorne Adventure series.  This is a really good series that I highly recommend.  Jack and Espy reminded me of Indiana Jones because they kept getting themselves into trouble but always finding a way to keep ahead of the 'bad guys'.   I really liked how Jack and Espy worked together.  It just goes to show that we need each other in more ways that we realize.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Serpent of Moses

Serpent of Moses by Don Hoesel is the 2nd book in the Jack Hawthorne Adventure series.
Moses built and lifted up the brass serpent, healing the afflicted Israelites of snakebites.
King Hezekiah called the serpent Nehushtan. Long thought destroyed, it's been buried for millennia, secreted under the region's shifting sands.
Now the Israeli government wants it back and they will stop at nothing to get their hands on it. Yet they're not the only ones who covet the Nehushtan.
Archaeologist Jack Hawthorne travels to Libya intent on recovering the sacred object, but one does not cross the Mossad and expect to walk away without a fight. Jack and his friends must find the priceless "snake of brass upon a pole" before those who are also hunting it find them...and silence them forever.

Just three years after the recovery of Elisha's bones, Dr. Jack Hawthorne has given up teaching and resumed the practice of archaeology, although his frequent absences have put a strain on his relationship with Esperanza. Things heat up when Esperanza receives a call from an antiquities dealer with troubling news about Jack, and her fears are confirmed. Jack has gone to Libya in search of another biblical artifact: the Nehushtan, the serpent staff of Moses.

After Jack arrives in Libya, he soon discovers he isn't the only one searching for the Nehushtan. Later, in attempting to steal it, he finds himself in the hands of a man who just might be his match. Jack and his friends must stay one step ahead of the Libyan government, an overambitious member of the Vatican hierarchy, and an Egyptian assassin--if they stand any chance of staying alive long enough to recover the staff.