Review: The Sara Chronicles Book 2 - Evolution of Us by L. Hughes

Thanks to Reader Spoils and the author L. Hughes for letting me review this one!



About the Book

What Happens When Magical Powers Can't Be Turned Off?
A year after restoring the balance of good and evil to the magical Land of the Keepers, young Sara, James and Thomas are laying low -- living separately to protect them from the vanquished members of Garren that they helped defeat. But it's not the only danger they face. Suddenly, the magical powers they possess begin to possess them. Sara's the first to notice: her powers now include the ability to control weather. But as she begins to use them, the powers run amok, leaving a trail of freak snowstorms and record heat waves. Meanwhile, people around them are mysteriously disappearing; simply vanishing into thin air.
Now, the three of them must reunite in the Land of the Keepers to learn to control their awesome powers and fix whatever is stealing people away. It is there they discover there is much more to their enemy, the hate-filled Garren, than they realized. The battle is just beginning; and before it is over, someone will have to pay a very high price to keep several worlds safe.
Packed with adventure, this second entry in The Sara Chronicles is a fast-paced and savvy fantasy thriller that will keep you guessing right up until the shocking finale.

You can purchase a copy of The Sara Chronicles Book 2- Evolution of Us from my Amazon store.

My Review


I'm not sure how to approach this review. I liked the book. It had a good plot, there were some twists that made it very interesting. The characters were well developed, I liked Sara - she was compassionate and reminded me of myself. The dialog was a bit off for me. I had a hard time of keeping track of who was saying what and had to keep going back and re-reading to figure out who was talking.

I really did like Sara, she was a good person. I would have liked to have read the first book so that I had a more complete picture of Sara, but Hughes did a good job of keeping the reader informed about the background that was missed from the first book. I didn't get a great sense of understanding of the rest of the characters, but I wasn't turned off by it. I think with all that was going on in this one that it would have deterred way too much from the story to go into much detail about the other characters. But I could tell that there was a great connection between the characters, which was central to the story.

I liked the setting of the book. It was neat to see the characters interact with the environment they were in. Olie seemed to have the most control, but being that he was the elder of the group and (if I'm perciving the story right) the leader that brought them all together. Hughes does a great job of describing the wonderful world of the keepers. I could picture beautiful landscapes and buildings, even when the Garren were part of the picture the world around them still seemed so beautiful.

The story itself is very fast paced. It reads quick and moves quick. There's not really any "lulls" to the story. Once it gets going, it keeps moving till the end. And it takes off pretty close to the beginning of the book. It jumps through most of the parts that would have slowed the story down. These times aren't just gone, there is an explanation as to what is going on during the "jumps". So I didn't feel like I was missing anything. The story is full of adventure. There's so many battles with evil and within themselves that I was on the edge of my seat through most of the book.

My only issue was the dialogue, but there was so much more to this one that made up for that. I will be reading the next two in the series for sure, and I'll probably get my hands on the first one so that I can get a fuller picture of the wonderful world Hughes has created.

Review Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan

Thanks to Litfuse Publicity Group for letting me be a part of this blog tour. You can see the entire blog tour schedule here.



About the Book

"You probably want to hear about Jennifer and the demons and how I played chicken with a freight train and—oh yeah—the weird murder and how I found out about it—you're definitely going to want to hear about that. But first, I have to tell you about the stupidest thing I ever did . . ."

Sam Hopkins is bored with his status as a preacher's kid. So when a group of guys notorious for being in trouble offers him friendship, he accepts. Before long, he has several new skills—including hot-wiring cars.

At school, there's an eccentric loner named Jennifer. When Sam defends her from being bullied, she begins to seek him out as her only friend. Her ramblings often seem illogical . . . but then start to contain grains of truth. One leads Sam to discover that one of his new friends has been killed. And then she tells him, "I'm looking for the devil." Sam doesn't know what that means, but he knows it's a matter of life and death that he figure it out.

Everyone else thinks Jennifer is suffering from schizophrenia. But Sam is starting to wonder if there could be something prophetic in her words. Discovering the truth is going to be both crazy and dangerous

For more information about Crazy Dangerous you can visit Andrew Klavan's website.

You can purchase a copy of Crazy Dangerous from my Amazon Store.

My Review

I LOVED this book. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next and yet the closer I got to the end the less I wanted it to end.

Sam is just a normal kid. Not really outstanding at anything. He's a preacher's son and stays out of trouble. But then he starts hanging with the wrong crowd and starts to get into trouble. I didn't feel bad for Sam, as I think what he was going through was fairly normal - the feelings of wanting to fit in and being awed by a lifestyle that he wasn't used to. I think he knew what he was doing was wrong and yet he did it anyway. But he absolutely got more than he bargained for. And once he befriends Jennifer he appeared to be way in over his head. Even though Jennifer is portrayed as being "crazy" I kind of liked her. She had mental problems, but what was going on to her was as real as it could be. It was Jennifer I felt sorry for. She just kept getting blown off because she was a bit weird and the way she was interpreting what was going on to her seemed too odd to be true so no one believed her.

I loved the story. I was drawn into the story immediately. Jennifer's abnormal way of describing what was going on was a neat idea. Jennifer was telling us what was going to happen, but it took a bit to "unscramble" what she was saying. Plus the story just goes, there's a few slow parts but for the most part this one keeps moving right to the end. It wasn't the kind of fast paced story that drains you, but it does move pretty quickly.

I would say that even though this is a YA book that it would be enjoyable for anyone to read. The writing was good and I didn't feel like it was being dumbed-down to meet the younger audience. It was just a good story.

Review: Unlocking the Poet's Realm by Matt Wiebusch

I have to thank the author Matt Wiebush and Reader Spoils for letting me review this book.



About the book

Life in the seventh grade isn't easy for Minnie, and then one day, she discovers a magic box that transports her to another land in the future. The animals that have dominion over this land have brought her here for one very specific reason: to save their world from an evil presence.

For more information about Unlocking the Poet's Realm please visit Matt Wiebush's website.

You can purchase a copy of Unlocking the Poet's Realm on my Amazon store.

My Review

The message in this book was awesome. I think that most kids (and adults) today could benefit from reading Minnie's inspiring journey through Buval. The book deals with self-esteem, self-worth, pride, and even bullying. It's very relevant to what most kids are dealing with on a regular basis.

I LOVED Minnie. She started out unsure of herself and afraid to stand up for herself. She is living in a home without love. Her parents seem to be in a loveless relationship, which has lead to Minnie feeling unloved. Minnie's only positive outlet seems to be her neighbor Issac. Although there are some "shady" dealings with the disappearance of Issac's wife and her parents discourage her from spending time with him. Minnie is bullied at school - which ultimately leads to her journey to Buval. Through her journey she finds herself and realizes that her perception of herself is wrong and that she is a worthy person and has gifts that she can share with others if she just believes in herself.

Buval is an enchanting place. The animals in Buval are very similar to animals that we are familiar with, but there are slight differences. The descriptions of these animals was great. I really liked that they were animals that we would be familiar with but yet were still different enough to make the story exciting. Not that the story needed the added excitement, but it did add to it. The story itself was very exciting. As Minnie is sent on a quest through Buval she finds herself in many predicaments. Each one a unique situation that requires Minnie to believe in herself and her abilities to get through. The journey centers on a poem that acts as a riddle to help Minnie continue on her journey. I liked the poem idea, it was different and it was fun to try and work the riddles out as the story progressed. My only criticism is that the book took me a while to read. I'm hard headed and won't put a book down until I finish it, but for someone with a little less patience it might be a bit overwhelming. But the end of the journey and the end of the story are well worth the wait.

While I enjoyed the book as an adult I think that for a pre-teen/teen dealing with self-esteem issues it would be very beneficial for them to read. The theme of self-worth is strewn throughout the book and I think is presented in a way that can help a child see themselves and their own self-worth through Minnie's story.

Mother's Day Blog Tour & Giveaway (Day 7 of 7)

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series - a week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Sheila Walsh, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Bonnie St. John, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.

AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/6-5/13 and the winner will on 5/14. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.



If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.



And to all you MOMS out there, Happy Mother's Day!




What I Didn't Know by Rhonda Shrock



I always knew I wanted to be a mother.  As a girl, I played house with my dollies, shushing them when they cried and kissing their plastic heads.



Looking back at that girl, I realize now that there was a lot she didn't know.  This morning over my fresh-ground coffee, this mother of 22-1/2 years scratched out a list of 10 things she didn't know then that she knows now.



1.  I didn't know - how could I? - just how completely a tiny, helpless scrap of humanity can capture the heart and hold it forever.  From that first whooshing heartbeat and the first butterfly brushes, a mother's heart is never again her own.  For all eternity, it enlarges, walking and pulsing and moving outside of her body; in my case, in the shape of a blue-eyed boy with rooster tails.  Times four.



2.  I didn't know that the size of a mother's heart is always changing, stretching to embrace each new baby that comes, then growing again to love their friends and then their own families.



3.  I never knew, as I changed my dolly's dress, how many reasons there are to worry when you're a mama.   Didn't know about the nighttime vigils.  Didn't know the anxiety of separation, the terror that floods when you turn around in the grocery store and they're gone.  Didn't know about the fear of the pond next door or the concern that pays for swimming lessons.  Didn't know the thousand-and-one reasons that keep a mother awake, whispering prayers on her pillow in the dark.



4.  No one told me that loving so much means that you will hurt hard and keen;  that what pains your child hurts you even worse.  I didn't know then that a playground taunt travels through that smaller heart and lands square in yours, stinging and burning like fire.  I didn't know that motherhood makes lionesses of us all and that there'd be days I'd have to bite my tongue and pray to not sin.



5.  I didn't know how exhausting it is, being a mother.  I didn't know that it takes everything you've got and then some.  Didn't know the bone-deep exhaustion; how it strips you bare and shows how selfish you can be, but, too, that you have more strength than you know.



6.  I didn't know, playing house, how much joy mothers feel; joy so big that it makes up for the pain.  Just looking at those eyes and the curve of the cheek can make you so happy it hurts.  Watching them grow and find their talent and win at something...all the money in the world can never buy that kind of happiness.



7.  I didn't know how making babies and raising them, how it binds you to their father.  I didn't know the intimacy you feel when your eyes meet above those tousled heads, and your smiles say, "Just look at what we've done."



8.  That girl in the homemade dress, she didn't know that letting go is one of the hardest things a grown-up mama will ever do.  Rocking those babies in that small rocking chair, she didn't really know that babies grow up and walk away and there goes your heart, out into the big, wide world.  No one told her that part.



9.  I had no idea how rewarding it is, being a mother.  How the happiness that comes from boy kisses and awkward hugs can't be bought or sold.  How proud you feel when you see what they're growing up to be and that all the planting and pruning and watering and feeding is finally making fruit!



10.  I didn't know how much my babies would enrich my spiritual life or how they would change the way I pray.  I didn't realize they would lead me to a deeper dependence on the Heavenly Father or how I much I would need His wisdom to raise them aright.



These are things I didn't know before I was a mother.  But I know them now.  Oh, how I know them now!  And I’d do it all again.

###

Rhonda Schrock lives in Northern Indiana with her husband and 4 sons, ages 22, 18, 13, and 5. By day, she is a telecommuting medical transcriptionist. In the early morning hours, she flees to a local coffee shop where she pens “Grounds for Insanity,” a weekly column that appears in The Goshen News. She is an occasional guest columnist in The Hutch News.  She’s also blogged professionally for her son’s school of choice, Bethel College, in addition to humor and parenting blogs, and maintains her personal blog, “The Natives are Getting Restless.” She is a writer and editor for the magazine, "Cooking & Such:  Adventures in Plain Living."  She survives and thrives on prayer, mochas, and books.  

Exciting News – the latest Pearl Girls book, Mother of Pearl: Luminous Legacies and Iridescent Faith will be released this month! Please visit the Pearl Girls Facebook Page (and LIKE us!) for more information! Thanks so much for your support!

Mother's Day Blog Tour & Giveaway (Day 6 of 7)

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series - a week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Sheila Walsh, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Bonnie St. John, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.

AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/6-5/13 and the winner will on 5/14. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.



If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.



And to all you MOMS out there, Happy Mother's Day!




He Will Walk With You by Carey Bailey



As a little girl, I loved baby dolls. Loved them! I played school, adoption agency, daycare operator and babysitter all day. I felt like I was born to be a mama. Therefore, I was a bit anxious when the ages, 22, 25, 28 and 32 came and went and there were no babies. Have you ever desired something so much and feared never getting it? That was me.



My day finally came at the age of 34. I soon realized that God knew what He was doing when He had me wait. To my shock, it wasn’t as easy as playing with dolls. I was surprised that it wasn’t the dream world I imagined it would be! I felt like life became a gigantic prayer.



“God, HELP me!”



“Please, God. Please, please, please make it all better. I can’t do this!”



“God, this feels impossible. Where are you?”



While I adore motherhood, it is harder and there are more adjustments than I expected. (I am hoping there are some nodding of heads and Amen’s being said out there in cyberworld.) Not only did I have a new life to care for, but my identity suddenly felt all scrambled up. It took me until my son was one to finally feel confident in my new role as a mother, confident that I could drop my child off at preschool without crying, confident that I could go out with the girls’ and the world wouldn’t fall apart, and confident that I could go on a date night and have conversations that didn’t revolve just around our son.



I was feeling settled in my new world and then WHAM! I discovered I was pregnant again. Can I be vulnerable with you? I actually cried when I found out. And they were not tears of joy. I feel awful saying that out loud, and I hope you will give me a moment to explain. It was not that I didn’t want another baby or feel like I couldn’t love a new life, it was just that I got scared. Discovering a little person was on the way sent a panic through me. Would my son still receive the love and attention that he deserved? How was my husband going to feel about my body changing again? Would I ever be able to pursue the vision I felt God had for me in writing and publishing? I was truly wondering if I was going to be able to handle another intense wave of identity crisis like the one I had just been through. I wasn’t sure.



God and I needed a serious talk. And in that conversation He carefully reminded me of this:



“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11



He reminded me in our time together that I, too, am His child and He has every intention of loving me, caring for me, and giving me the future that He has planned for me.



As mothers, we can get so caught up in parenting that we forget that we, too, have a spiritual parent who loves us as His child. He loves you as much as He loves the children He has given you. He will never forsake you.  And on those days when motherhood seems too overwhelming and too impossible I step back and take a deep breath. Then I remember that this journey I am on, right now, is the one He has designed and create uniquely for me. I simply need to live in it, learn from it, and allow His love to sweep over and through me.



He will walk with me! He will walk with you! Grab His hand.

###

Carey Bailey is a recovering perfectionist, wife, proud mama, and the Family Life Director for her church in Arizona. She hosts an online community for moms called Cravings: desiring God in the midst of motherhood where she strives to make God time easier. Not less meaningful, just easier. She is the author of Cravings {The Devotional} which is a set of forty devotional flashcards for the mama on the go. Visit Carey online blog: www.cravingstheblog.blogspot.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CravingsOnline and Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/careycbailey/

Exciting News – the latest Pearl Girls book, Mother of Pearl: Luminous Legacies and Iridescent Faith will be released this month! Please visit the Pearl Girls Facebook Page (and LIKE us!) for more information! Thanks so much for your support!