Made With Love

I received a copy of Made With Love by Tricia Goyer and Sherry Gore from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
A Dash of Love, a Pinch of Hope, and a Whole Lot of Good Cooking

Lovina Miller should be thrilled. Pinecraft, Florida, has everything a young Amish woman could ask for: sun, sand, volleyball games, and evening singings in the park. But Pinecraft lacks the one thing Lovina desperately wants—a pie shop of her own. She longs for a place to gather with the community and serve the treat she loves.

A young carpenter named Noah Yoder strolls into her life and offers a way to make her dream come true. But before Noah and Lovina can build a shop—and a life—together, they must each face heartaches from the past. Is their new love stronger than their regrets?

I really enjoyed this book.  It was a great story about Lovina an Amish woman who has a dream about opening a pie shop.  Her mother only wants one thing for her and her 4 sisters - for them to get married and have children.  Lovina finds the perfect place for a pie shop along with the perfect person to help her get the place ready.  Noah has a shady past that he's trying to make right.  Will helping Lovina with her pie shop be enough to recover his reputation?

Midnight on the Mississippi

I received a copy of Midnight On The Mississippi by Mery Ellis from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Midnight on the Mississippi begins the new Secrets of the South Mysteries from bestselling author Mary Ellis. These complex crime dramas follow an investigator’s quest to make the world a better place…solving one case at a time.

New Orleans—Hunter Galen, a stock and securities broker, suspects his business partner, James Nowak, may be involved in embezzling their clients’ money, but he’s reluctant to jeopardize their friendship based on suspicion alone. After James turns up dead, Hunter realizes his unwillingness to confront a problem may have cost James his life.

Nicki Price, a newly minted PI, intends to solve the stockbroker’s murder, recover the missing millions from the client accounts, and establish herself in the career she adores. As she ferrets out fraud and deception at Galen Investments, Hunter’s fiancée, Ashley Menard, rubs Nicki the wrong way. Nicki doesn’t trust the ostentatious woman with an agenda longer than the Mississippi River. Ashley seems to be hiding something, but is Nicki’s growing attraction to Hunter—a suspected murderer—her true reason for disliking Ashley?

As they encounter sophisticated shell games, blackmail, and murder, Nicki and Hunter’s only option is to turn to God as they search for answers, elude lethal danger, and perhaps discover love along the way.

I really enjoyed this book.  For a while I didn't see how what Nicki was doing was helping to find James Nowak's killer.  It seemed like Hunter and Nicki were just having fun getting to know each other and spending time together.  Of course them getting to know each other and their families helped to find out what James had been up to before his death.  Will Nicki's inexperience help or hinder Hunter's case?

Forever Yours

I received a copy of Forever Yours by Andrea Boeshaar, Gina Fields, Joyce Livingston, Kim O'Brien and Kathleen Y'Barbo from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoy the rollercoaster ride five modern couples take on the road that leads them back into a love that was meant to be. The ex-wife reads his work of fiction for an eye-opening revelation. The missing fiancée is returned to her home. A desperate wife gets one last Christmas with her husband before they divorce. The busy housewife wakes up to the drift occurring in her marriage. The low-key mom suddenly encounters her son's high-profile dad.

This was a good book of short stories.  I really liked how each woman was able to overcome and find her true self along with the love she so wanted.   It reminded me that love is hard work but also worth it in the end.

Someday Home

I received a copy of Someday Home by Laruaine Snelling from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The sprawling lake home Lynn Lundberg built with her husband has been an epicenter of joyful family life, from summer holidays spent around the water, to cookies baked in the kitchen with grandchildren in the fall. But since her husband's sudden passing two years ago, Lynn has been lost in the grief and solitude she feels without him at home. She doesn't want to sell the big family place, but she can't exist there on her own much longer.

After hearing of a new way of living--where single women share responsibilities as housemates--Lynn thinks she's found the answer to her prayers. Soon she meets two ladies with whom she could begin this journey. Angela Bishop, a successful real estate agent accustomed to the finer things in life, has just been jilted by her husband of twenty-five-years. Judith Rutherford, who has devoted her adulthood to caring for her ailing father, must leave the only home she's known now that he has passed.

These three women seek a place to grieve, to laugh, and to be renewed. But coming from such differing circumstances, will the new challenges they face undo their plans? Or will they begin a friendship to see them through the years to come in this SOMEDAY HOME?

This was a a really good book.  I liked how the three women dealt with their own issues and were still able to learn to live together.  They each had unrealized dreams that until they got together didn't know they could come true.  Living in the same house taught them each more about themselves than they ever thought.

In Your Embrace

I received a copy of In Your Embrace by Amy Miles from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
A man without hope. A woman with a grave diagnosis. A man weighed down by tremendous guilt. Each will learn that all things happen for a reason...even when it costs them everything. How would you find the faith to carry on? Life has not been kind to Timothy Lewis these past few years. With the sudden loss of his first love and a construction business barely staying afloat during the recession, Timothy will be the first to admit that faith isn’t exactly at the top of his priority list. When a direct hit from a hurricane rocks the Outer Banks, Timothy is forced to face not only the demons of his past but also a potential of a future that leaves him terrified. Hannah Green has a big heart and that tends to get her in trouble far more than she’d like to admit. After her aunt and uncle offer her free room and board for the summer at their fixer upper bed and breakfast on the beach, Hannah finds herself caught in the mother of all storms. The devastation left in the wake of the hurricane rocks her world, leaving her faith and health in the balance. Draven Young hates coming back home. There are too many bad memories, too little to do and far too many ex-girlfriends who would like to get their hands on him. When his father forces him to do some community service at the local hospital or risk losing his monthly allowance, Draven will discover that although terrible things happen to good people, there is a reason for everything.
Such a good book!  Three lost people looking for something..what they really don't know.  Hannah has been told what to do by her parents all her life.  When she has the chance to help her aunt and uncle with their fixer upper bed and breakfast she jumps on it.  Timothy has lost everything he loves.  When he meets Hannah and sees how she jumps to help everyone he's amazed.  Draven has been trying to drink away the guilt, but no matter how hard he tries it doesn't work.  Can God bring these three lost people together to help them each find what they're looking for?

The Cactus Creek Challenge

I received a copy of The Cactus Creek Challenge by Erica Vetsch from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Anything he can do, I can do better. At least that was what Cassie Bucknell thought before she pinned on Ben Wilder's badge and took to patrolling the streets of Cactus Creek, Texas. Cassie has been in love with Ben since primer school, but Ben treats her like a little sister. When they are picked to swap jobs for a month as part of the annual Cactus Creek Challenge in their Texas hometown, the schoolhouse is thrown into an uproar, the jail becomes a temporary bank vault, and Cassie and Ben square off in a battle of wills that becomes a battle for their hearts.

I normally don't like books set in the 1800's but this was a really good book.  I think it had a lot to do with the main men characters were very supportive of women changing places and proving themselves as able to do 'men's work'.  The Cactus Creek Challenge in the past has been about men switching jobs for a month and seeing who could do the job the best.  This year the challenge had been changed up a bit.  2 men and 2 women were chosen to switch places with each other.  Cassie Bucknell, the town teacher, and Ben Wilder, the town Sherif, trade places along with Carl Gustafson, the livery stable owner, and Jenny Hart the bakery owner.  Can the each make it through the month without making a fool of themselves?

Married 'til Monday

I received a copy of Married 'til Monday by Denise Hunter from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

With a big anniversary party in the works for her parents, Ryan will pretend to be Abby's husband for just one last weekend.

Ryan McKinley has tried to move on from his ex-wife, Abby. He’s sulked, he’s gotten angry, and ultimately he bought her dream house. Big mistake. Living alone in the massive 2-story has only made him miss her more. When her parents call him out of the blue about their anniversary party in Summer Harbor, Maine, Ryan believes God has dropped a golden opportunity straight in his lap.

Abby McKinley never exactly told her parents about the divorce. A strained relationship with her dad has culminated in a distant relationship with her parents, but she’s finally succumbed to her mom’s pressure to make the drive for their 35th-anniversary party.

Then Ryan shows up on her doorstep, looking as devastatingly handsome as ever. When he insists he’s going to Seabrook, with or without her, Abby knows she can’t say no. Her parents still think they’re married and now Ryan knows it too. Besides, he only wants to check in with his best friend from college—her cousin Beau, who just lost his dad. It’s just a one-week road-trip with the man who broke her heart. What could possibly go wrong?

This was a great book.  I was disappointed to find out this is the 4th book in the Chapel Springs Romance series and I haven't read the first two books.  Denise Hunter does a great job of telling the story from both Ryan and Abby's point of view.  How could two people love each other so much but not be able to make their marriage work?  I was really glad to find out that Abby finally was able to let other people know about her past and get help to work through her pain.