‘Designer You’ Is A Celebration of Life [REVIEW]

Blueprints
When a woman loses her DIY guru husband in a freak accident, she must learn to repair her life and her business in Sarahlyn Bruck’s Designer You. (Photo by Dawn Peterson, Flickr)

She is no stranger to rebuilding things. After all, she’s a home renovation expert. But when her life crumbles around her, will she be able to pick up the pieces and start over? Find out in Sarahlyn Bruck’s debut novel, Designer You.
Continue reading “‘Designer You’ Is A Celebration of Life [REVIEW]”

Learning to Cope—from J.T. Ellison’s ‘Tear Me Apart’ [EXCERPT]

Cancer hair
To help her niece cope with her cancer diagnosis, a loving aunt trims off her long locks in J.T. Ellison’s Tear Me Apart. (Photo by North Caroline National Guard, Flickr)

 

If you’ve been reading with us for a while, you know that we love J.T. Ellison. Over the years, we’ve discovered that she’s more than just a terrific writer. She’s also a funny lady, an amazingly nice person, a loving wife, a consummate bibliophile and a fellow book nerd, which are all attributes we love about her. That’s why we’re always delighted when we get the opportunity to share her latest book with you. We hope you enjoy this excerpt from her forthcoming novel, Tear Me Apart. It’s the kind of thriller that we love, which blows the roof off a family to see if it can weather the storm. Enjoy! —Jathan & Heather Continue reading “Learning to Cope—from J.T. Ellison’s ‘Tear Me Apart’ [EXCERPT]”

Years After Escaping the Dark, Chef is ‘Torn’ When It Comes to Embracing His Future [REVIEW]

Haircuts
You never know who you’ll find inside Whiskey Sharp, the barbershop and bar featured in Lauren Dane’s Torn. (Photo by cleverdame107, Flickr)

Then, she was a sweet kid with a big crush. He was a handsome but messed up youth trying to figure out his life. Now, years later, they are both older and wiser. But is dating an old friend a good idea? In Lauren Dane’s Torn, we discover that sometimes two people simply have to take a chance.  Continue reading “Years After Escaping the Dark, Chef is ‘Torn’ When It Comes to Embracing His Future [REVIEW]”

‘The Daisy Children’ Remind Us That We Can’t Outrun Our Past [REVIEW]

Smelling the daisies
Sometimes the untold stories are the ones we need to hear… (Photo by Amy the Nurse, Flickr)

With no job, no baby, a self-centered mother and a husband who is growing increasingly distant, a young woman doesn’t know what direction her life is going to take her. But when she receives news that she’s been named in her grandmother’s will, she makes a journey to the past and learns some important life lessons along the way in Sofia Grant’s The Daisy Children.
Continue reading “‘The Daisy Children’ Remind Us That We Can’t Outrun Our Past [REVIEW]”

It Takes Courage to Be Empathetic

Hug
We can’t take away the pain of the world, but we can make it more tolerable when we are empathetic. (Photo by Arwen Abenstern – KWP, Flickr)

Those of you who follow along with us on a regular basis may have realized that we frequently introduce books that celebrate people, whether real or fictitious, who make a difference in the lives of others. Three of our diamond reviewed books come immediately to mind: My Glory Was I Had Such FriendsThe Trick, and our most recent volume, What Blooms from Dust. What is it that these volumes have in common? The answer is easy: empathy.  Continue reading “It Takes Courage to Be Empathetic”