Sunday, February 28, 2016

Your New Money Mindset by Brad Hewitt and James Moline (Review)




  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (October 20, 2015)
  • ISBN-13: 978-1496407801



  • Your New Money Mindset is a new way of thinking about the role money plays in our lives. Many of us live with ongoing, and often unexamined, tension related to money. Few of us have really escaped the credit-card trap or freed ourselves from worries about having enough for the future. Co-authors Brad Hewitt, CEO of Thrivent Financial, and James Moline, licensed psychologist, believe we haven’t spent enough time examining our fundamental attitudes toward money and aligning those attitudes to our core values. Before you can remake your money habits, you need to start with your heart. In Your New Money Mindset, Brad and Jim guide you through the Money Mindset Assessment, which will help pinpoint what attitudes about money you could work on in order to develop an openhearted attitude to life. The goal is to cultivate a surplus mindset that allows you to enjoy what you already have and be generous toward others. Discover today how to free yourself from the money trap and create a healthy relationship with money.


    My Review:

    This book was not quite what I was expecting. I think I was hoping for more Dave Ramsey type help. I went online and took the money mindset assessment and the results were interesting. The book focuses more on the psychological aspects of our money issues including our attitude and relationship. The spiritual aspect of the book addresses if we are truly right with God then we would have the right attitude/relationship with money. I am not sure I agree with that. I know strong Christians that struggle with money issues. Another key aspect of the book is if we give more money away then we would automatically be happier. The book easy to read and understand.







    Brad Hewitt is president and CEO of Thrivent Financial, a not-for-profit Fortune 500 organization dedicated to helping Christians be wise with money and live generously. He speaks regularly on how a redefined relationship with money can help us find and live out our call in life. He and his wife live in Minnesota.

    James Moline, PhD, is a licensed psychologist who also holds a master’s degree in theology (both from Fuller Theological Seminary). His lifelong passion for ministering to the homeless and the underserved has taken him around the globe both personally and professionally. He lives with his family in Minnesota.


    Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.

    Friday, February 26, 2016

    Kissed by a Cowboy by Debra Clopton (Review)



  • Series: A Four of Hearts Ranch Romance
  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Thomas Nelson (February 9, 2016)
  • ISBN-13: 978-1401690533



  • Cassidy was looking for a home and a place to belong . . . not for a cowboy to steal her heart.

    Having lived through her parents’ endless string of “matrimonial bliss gone wrong,” Cassidy Starr knows when the odds are not in her favor. Divorced and humiliated, her faith on rocky ground, Cassidy is through with love. She’s been bucked o_ that horse far too many times. Instead, she returns to Wishing Springs, Texas, and the rundown farm she’s inherited from her great aunt Roxie. She’ll reopen the strawberry farm and a bed & breakfast and follow in her aunt’s footsteps, remaining forever-independent, happy . . . and single.

    Rancher Jarrod Monahan’s hands are full running the ranch, looking after his ailing grandfather, and chasing down a group of rustlers on the loose. He’s pushed his longing for a family to the bottom of his list of priorities. Besides, he was in love once but ran scared and lost his shot at happiness. But suddenly, the biggest regret of his life has moved in next door with a wounded heart, determined to become a spinster . . . and that’s a challenge that Jarrod can’t pass up.


    Jarrod sets his mind to breaking down the walls around Cassidy’s stubborn heart. How can he show her that a cowboy’s kiss lasts forever? For the good folks of Wishing Springs, falling in love has never been so much fun to witness.


    My Review:

    This was a great Christian contemporary romance book. It is the third in the series A Four of Hearts Ranch. The characters are mostly the same. New in this book is Cassidy Starr who has come home to Wishing Springs, Texas, to rebuild her life after a bad divorce. The other previous Monahan couples stories continue in the background of this book so read in order if that kind of thing bothers you. All the stories were good. So the main focus of this book is Jarrod Monahan, the oldest of the three men. When Cassidy was growing up she would go visit at her Aunt Roxie's house which was next to Jarrod's family ranch in Texas. They shared a kiss as teenagers then he went off to Montana. When he came back she had married another guy who turned out to be awful. She got a divorce and decided to come back to her happy place, Aunt Roxie's house. Unfortunately her aunt is deceased but Cassidy is determined to start a bed and breakfast and re start her aunt's strawberry farm. When she meets up with Jarrod again the sparks fly. I love this author for her witty, funny, and unique dialogue. The plot and characters are unique and well written. The secondary plot in all three books is resolved in this one between Rand and Pebble. I recommend this book and the whole series.




    Bestselling author Debra Clopton has sold over 2.5 million books and her holiday story, OPERATION: MARRIED BY CHRISTMAS has been optioned for an ABC Family Movie staring LeAnn Rimes. Debra writes cowboy romances, inspirational, Christian romance, contemporary and western romances set in Texas. She is known for her snappy dialogue, cowboy heroes and spunky heroines. Her awards include: The Book Sellers Best, Romantic Times Magazine's Book of the Year. She's also a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Finalist, and a triple finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award.

    A sixth generation Texan, Debra lives on a ranch in central Texas with her husband Chuck. She loves to travel and spend time with her family. She is the author of the much loved Mule Hollow Matchmakers series where you never know what the Matchmaking "Posse" is going to do next! She has written for Harlequin and Harper Collins Christian and now with DCP Publishing with her newest series New Horizon Ranch/Mule Hollow collection. She is currently working on her 39th novel surrounded by cows, dogs and even renegade donkey herds that keep her writing authentic and often find their way into her stories. She loves helping people smile with her fun, fast paced stories.

    Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.

    Thursday, February 18, 2016

    Always Watching by Lynette Eason (Review)


  • Series: Elite Guardians (Book 1)
  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Revell (February 2, 2016)
  • ISBN-13: 978-0800723262



  • The bodyguards of Elite Guardians Agency have more than just skill and prowess in common--they're also all women. When it becomes clear that popular psychiatrist and radio personality Wade Savage has a stalker, his father secretly hires Elite Guardians in order to protect his son.

    But when Wade's bodyguard is attacked and nearly killed, agency owner Olivia Edwards must step in and fill the gap. Olivia's skills are about to be tested to the limit as Wade's stalker moves from leaving innocent gifts at his door to threatening those closest to him. Olivia has the feeling that she's next on the list. And to complicate things even further, she realizes that her heart may be in as much danger as her client.

    Bestselling author and fan favorite Lynette Eason drops readers right into the action in this fast-paced new series with a unique twist. Readers will love these strong female characters who put it all on the line to save lives.

    My Review:

    This is the first in a new series called Elite Guardians. It is classified as a Christian romantic suspense book. It is unique in the aspect that the women are strong heroines rescuing the guys. It does take some getting used too though. The only bad thing is the main guy, Wade Savage, seems weak. The Elite Guardians are an all women security team founded and lead by Olivia Edwards. They are hired by Wade's father to protect him. He is a well known psychiatrist who is being stalked. Olivia and Wade hit it off from the beginning. The plot was interesting and unique. There is a big twist at the end. I look forward to the next book in the series.


    Lynette Eason is the bestselling author of the Women of Justice, the Deadly Reunions, and the Hidden Identity series. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. She lives in South Carolina. Learn more at www.lynetteeason.com

    Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.


    Wednesday, February 10, 2016

    A Son's Vow by Shelley Shepard Gray (Review)


  • Series: Charmed Amish Life (Book 1)
  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Avon Inspire (January 26, 2016)
  • ISBN-13: 978-0062337795

  • Three months ago, everything changed for Darla Kurtz and her family. Darla’s father was responsible for a terrible fire at Charm’s lumber mill which killed five Amish men. And though he, too, lost his life, the town of Charm hasn’t looked at her family the same since. Even Lukas Kinsinger—with whom Darla used to have a close friendship.

    Now her brother’s anger at the town is spilling over onto Darla, and she has the bruises to prove it. The accident already cost five lives, but if something doesn’t change soon, Darla fears it will cost her—and her family—even more.

    Lukas Kinsinger wants to mourn the loss of his father, but he can hardly find the time to breathe. Suddenly the head of his father’s lumber mill and responsible for taking care of his three siblings, he’s feeling the pressure. He has also never felt more alone—especially with the new tension between he and Darla. But when he learns of her troubles at home, Lukas knows he can’t simply stand by and watch. Someone has to help her before another tragedy occurs.

    As Lukas and Darla attempt to repair their families, they discover something deeper than friendship growing between them. But will Lukas and Darla’s love be accepted after so much loss? Or will the pain of the past overcome any chance of future happiness?


    My Review:

    This is the first book in the Charmed Amish Life series by Shelley Shepard Gray. It is set in Charm, Ohio. The main plot revolves around the Kinsinger siblings. They lost their father who was also the mill owner in the big fire. All of them except one work at the mill. They grew up with the Kurtz siblings whose father worked at the mill until he died in the fire. The Kurtz father is blamed for starting the fire in the first place so they have endured hate and abuse from the town since. Lukas Kinsinger was good friends with Darla Kurtz before the fire and misses her friendship and maybe something more. His brother has nothing but anger toward the Kurtz family. And her brother blames the mill for the Kurtz father's death and he works there. The plot was interesting and had good subplot. The characters were okay. The subject matter and atmosphere of the book could be a little intense at times. I look forward to seeing where the series goes and how the characters develop.






    Review copy provided by Litfuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

    Classics Club Spin 18

    My Classics Club Spin List for August This is a hodgepodge of books left on my list I made in 2017 for the Classics Club. Tomorrow the clu...