Reading, Writing & Pondering

  The Roman Holiday Rule by Andra Loy captivated me from beginning to end. Loy is a debut author and this book is a wonderful debut! Lexi Walker is off on an Italian adventure. She has an itinerary to complete the dream trip she had planned with her mother before her mom passed away. Her mom is an artist and she will present her final painting at a festival. Lexi is also carrying letters her mother left her to open at certain locations in Italy. Mark Russo is an Italian-American Archetect who was once burned by an American tourist so he is a bit leary of Lexi upon meeting her.  Still, he is captivated by Lexi as they share their flight to Rome--and an interest in photography.  I loved The Roman Holiday Rule . I could have read it in one sitting if I had had the time. This book has some mystery, some history and a romance that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing from beginning to end. There is also humor as it is a rom-com. Even though there is a sadness in Lexi from her mother's...

For me, Amanda Cox is an auto-read author. I have read all of her books up until now so I always look forward to her latest release. Things We Cannot Keep held my attention from beginning to end and was worth the wait. Tess Holcomb escaped a difficult upbringing and started a new life in a new town with a new name in Alabama. She works with a team to repair family heirlooms. She specifically is the clock repair person. She thinks her past is behind her when she receives a box sent to her former name. About the same time the box appears, Elliot Sullivan shows up at her workplace. He is someone she knew in her past who has a history with her. She isn't sure why he showed up and struggles to trust is true motives as their history wasn't all good.  As the book goes on, Tess decides to work with Elliot to uncover the mystery in the box. I love that Things We Cannot Keep is a book with mystery, history, family drama and a bit of romance. This author has a way of drawing you in and ...

    Twelve Days and Twelfth Night by Sarah Sundin is a Christmas novella set in San Diego during World War 2.  World War 2 USO Director Maggie Oliver is in charge of putting on a Christmas show in San Diego for thousands of sailors. She enlists Prescott Duke, a former Hollywood heartthrob who hasn't acted since an accident left him with burn scars. Maggie and Prescott are inspired by Shakespeare's Twelth Night and the Twelve Days of Christmas to put on a show that will lift the sailors Christmas spirits. Can they put it together in time? Also, what about the secret that Maggie discovered? I enjoyed Twelve Days and Twelfth Night . It is a romance and, since it is a historical novella, things happen fairly quickly in the story. I especially liked the history that the author included about the area and Balboa Park. I was in San Diego a couple of years ago and saw some of the areas in the story. I like how the author brought this history and part of the country to life. Her ...

  Have you ever seen The Parent Trap movie? There are a couple of versions out there so you may have seen at least one of them. I saw the older version and remember it pretty well as a fun flick. Matchmaking Christmas by Toni Shiloh is a fun book with a modern take on the Parent Trap movie theme. Regina Parker moves back to her hometown with her daughter to open a candle shop after her husband passed away unexpectedly a few years previously. She has a daughter, Kyleigh. Theo Evers never left his hometown. He has a busy job managing a Christmas Tree Farm and being a single dad to his daughter, Malea.  Malea and Kyleigh are the same age and become best friends at school Both girls want to know what it is like to have time with the opposite parent so one day they decide to switch places. Kyleigh heads to Theo's house on the bus. Malea heads to Regina's house on a different bus. What they don't know is that Theo and Regina have history. How will they handle the switch? Matchma...

  Do you know a perfectionist or someone with OCD? I do. We Wish You a Messy Christmas by Melody Carlson is a Christmas novella with a theme of trying to help someone heal from perfectionism.  Olivia Bradshaw an Malcolm McEntire grew up next door to each other. Then they went their separate ways and saw each other again as Olivia goes to Malcolm's vet clinic with her roommate's cat. Malcolm and Olivia started dating and enjoy time together. However, they have a roadblock to overcome--Olivia's mother doesn't like the McEntire's. She finds them messy and unorganized. For Olivia's mother, Jane, the holidays, and her home on most days, has to be perfect. In We Wish You a Messy Christmas , both families work together to stage an intervention--although nature sort of takes its course and creates its own intervention. I found this to be an interesting book. I have a close family member that is very much like Jane so I found a lot to relate to in this book. . . There w...

Are you looking for a devotional that focuses on helping you get out of despair, pain or other heartache? Fight for Joy by Michele Howe includes 30 devotional readings with this focus. Each of the 30 devotionals in Fight for Joy start with a Bible verse, as you would probably expect. Then there is a story relating to the Scripture from life today. Following the story reading, there is a prayer under the My Heart's Cry heading. That is followed by a section entitled Fighting for Joy. This section gives the reader some questions to ask themselves, something to think about or something to do that relates to the reading of the day.  Fight for Joy could be a good book to read when you are in the midst of struggles. It may also be a good book to gift a Christian who is struggling to find joy in their life for some reason. I received a copy of this book from the author and the publisher. All opinions  are my own.