Books, Movies, and Chinese Food

Summary from BN.com: In the steamy city of New Orleans in 1974, Amalise Catoir sees Phillip Sharp as a charming, magnetic artist, unlike any man she has known. A young lawyer herself, raised in a small-town Christian home and on the brink of a career with a large firm, she is strong and successful, yet sometimes too trusting and whimsical. Ama's rash decision to marry Phillip proves to be a mistake as he becomes overly possessive, drawing his wife away from family, friends, and her faith. His insidious, dangerous behavior becomes her dark, inescapable secret.In this lawyer's unraveling world, can grace survive Ama's fatal choice? What would you do when prayers seem to go unanswered, faith has slipped away, evil stalks, and you feel yourself forever dancing on shattered glass? I have been waiting a LONG time to read this book it seems. Ever since I finished reading Pamela Ewen's The Moon in the Mango Tree over three years ago, I knew that I would want to read more fro...

Summary from Christianbook .com: Janessa McNeil's husband, Dr. Brock McNeil, has spent his life "proving" chronic Lyme Disease doesn't exist. Because of doctors like Brock many Lyme patients remain untreated. One embittered man--who lost his wife to the disease--has seen enough. He breaks into the Mcneil's house and places an infected tick on Jannie while she sleeps. After Jannie develops Lyme symptoms the man states his demand--or her daughter will be next. Jannie must convince her husband to publicly change his opinion about Lyme. But her marriage is already rocky. She's so sick she can hardly walk or think. And her husband denies that she has Lymes at all. Feel free to call me ignorant because I had no idea what Lyme's Disease was until I read this book. I had heard of it but I never really looked into what it was and its symptoms. It's actually very sad that it's not more publicly known. Which is precisely the premise of this novel ...

Summary from Christianbook.com: Marianna Sommer believes she knows where her life is headed. Nineteen years old and Amish, her plan is to get baptized into the church, marry Aaron Zook, and live in the only community she's ever known. When Marianna's family moves from Indiana to Montana she discovers life and faith will never be the same. As she builds an easy friendship with local guy, Ben Stone, Ben not only draws her heart, he also gets her thinking about what loving God and living in community is all about. As Marianna struggles to find "home", she also encounters God in intimate ways. I've been a big fan of Tricia Goyer's book for the past 5 years. She's written books in many genres and has done a wonderful job switching between all of them. That being said, I was a bit worried about her turning to the Amish genre. I was hoping that she wasn't doing it just because it's the latest trend in Christian fiction and also was worried that it...

Summary from Christianbook .com: Jenna and Andi Tikaani -Gray are hoping for a fresh start. Though Twelve-year old Andi has long struggled with a rare medical disorder, she and her mother have finally received good news from out-of-town specialists. Its news they desperately needed, especially after the recent death of Jenna's husband (Andi's dad) in a car accident. But as they were flying home to Alaska, ready to begin again, the unthinkable happens. The pilot sabotages their small plane and crashes into Sultana, one of the most remote and dangerous mountains in the Land of the Midnight Sun. Even worse, a winter storm is headed their way along with someone who wants to kill them. It's always fun to come across a new story about subjects you don't know about. I find that a lot of fiction stories that use actual events or situations are the best places to learn about new things. In this book, I learned a lot about Alaska, survival and a disease that many people suffer...

Summary from Christianbook.com: Kaylee's mother is gone. And it seems she took Kaylee's voice with her. Now, ten-year old Kaylee must fend for herself with her mother's abusive boyfriend. Her days are spent collecting words she may never speak. Sierra Dawn is alone. She has allowed the shame of her past to silence her present hopes. But on the twelfth anniversary of her daughter's death, God begins wooing her back to Himself.Brought together by Divine design, the relationship between Kaylee and Sierra begins a healing process in each of them as they dare to let the Truth, Jesus Christ, set them free. There are very few books in Christian fiction that leave me speechless after reading. I find this book to be one of them which is rather ironic since the purpose of this book deals with using words to express oneself. It is also rare of me to consider the plot of a Christian fiction book to be highly on par with general market reads. This is not because the quality of w...

Summary from Christianbook.com: Just outside of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Detective Sergeant Maddox Bishop works in the Criminal Investigative Department, Homicide Division. When the dead body of a building inspector is found in a burnt "Homes of Hope" house, Maddox gets the case. The trail of evidence will lead him into exposing one of the biggest scams of modern day. Layla Taylor is a contractor in Calcasieu parish, who loves God, her family, and what she does. When Detective Bishop's investigation leads him to her sister's drug-rehab retreat, every defense in her rises to the surface. To prove her sister's business isn't involved with anything illegal or immoral, she joins forces with the man who is against everything she believes in. Romantic suspense novels really need to draw me in with the beginning of the story. Once you've got me hooked, the suspense needs to continue at a good pace and to not sacrifice it for romance. An equal blend with a tad ...

Summary from Christianbook.com: What if you were losing your most treasured memories? Of your wife who passed away, of your dad who died far too young? What if you heard of a book where all of those memories are recorded and you could get them back? And what if this book also told your future? Would you believe it? Would you go on a desperate search for it, holding onto a strand of hope it would bring healing and answer all your questions? Young Cameron Vaux's mind is slipping. Memories of his wife, killed two years earlier in a car accident, are vanishing just as his late father predicted they would. Memories he knows are critical to remember. But his only hope for answers, and a cure, seems to lie in search for a book--and a God--he doesn't believe in. I was intrigued by this story. Cameron's quest was to find a mysterious book that his dementia suffering father talked about on his deathbed. This leads him to a place in Oregon, where Cameron finds that he is losing his...

In the wilds of the Alaskan gold rush, 1897, Ellen Pierce discovers a man she didn't know existed and a renewed dependence on God in a place called loneliness. She'd lost everything-family, her closeness with God, her heart - until the crystal blue eyes of a leader of men stepped up and asked her one question. Will she join the trek to Dawson or stay the winter on an ice-locked steamship full of strangers? Buck Lewis is folk lore in the flesh, but his heart has been rendered asunder. In the land of snowflakes two roads converge. Will he choose the road less traveled? Jamie Carie is always good with combining romance and passion into her stories that make them well written and believable. I have enjoyed her previous books that take historical fiction and put a good love story in them. This book is another wonderful addition to the rest of her works. The focus in this book is on Ellen and Buck, two souls who are joined together by the Alaskan frontier. The romance, w...

Single mom Kaye Redmond is a can-do woman who runs her own business. But her ready smile hides a reservoir of pain. When her ex-mother-in-law, who broke up her marriage, begs to stay with her after a botched face-lift, Kaye relents---and discovers that true healing goes deeper than tacking on a happy face. You don't read a lot about plastic surgery in Christian Fiction. I guess unless it's absolutely necessary, it appears to be a taboo subject or either it happens to someone who doesn't have a lot of faith. In this book, while having the procedure done is a central part of the story, it is both the person who does gets the work done AND a person who didn't who both become affected by this act. To be honest, I got annoyed A LOT at Kaye during this book. I can understand that there may have been a part of her that still loved her ex husband and was hoping that he would come back. However there were some scenes that had me wanting to scream at her. I could not un...

The focus moves now to youngest sister Joy who was adopted from China as an infant. Always the quiet one, she and her husband’s struggle with infertility is being drowned out by sister Kendra’s wedding day, her daddy’s new romance, and another Sinclair sister who may see that double pink line on a pregnancy test before Joy does. Will a trip back to China help Joy understand that God’s timing is perfect, and His plans are the ones to follow? When I first picked up this book, I was very excited. There aren't many Christian fiction books that feature an Asian American as the lead character (or even background characters really). Therefore I was really excited to finally see another POC character in the spotlight. Sadly, I was little disappointed as to how Joy's character was handled. First off, she's adopted. Now I understand that all the girls in the series are adopted which is the purpose of the series. But I swear, except for a handful of books, every time ther...

Ten years after their mother Marilyn has died, the multi-racial Sinclair sisters (Meg, Kendra, Tandy, and Joy) still return to her converted attic scrapbooking studio in the small town of Stars Hill, Tennessee, to encourage each other through life’s highs and lows. They’ve even turned their artistic passion into a new local scrapbooking business known as Sisters, Ink. Coming Unglued focuses on painter and musician Kendra who struggles with her sense of self-worth—a struggle that only intensifies when she realizes a “friendship” developed with a guy at a jazz club is actually an emotional affair. With her sisters’ help, Kendra strives to do what’s right, embracing the call to safeguard her heart and mind and hold fast to God’s truth and grace. I liked Kendra's story a LOT better than I did Tandy's. I felt that the characters were more fully developed in this book. Also there wasn't as much talking in third person about the sisters in this story as in the first ...

Join the scrapbooking craze with an unlikely quartet of adopted sisters! Everybody's surprised when headstrong Tandy Sinclair---a successful attorney in Orlando, Florida---returns home to Stars Hill, Tennessee, for an extended visit. But she isn't prepared for a tempting new business opportunity, a rekindled romance, and a fresh understanding of God's will. I seem to be on a crafting kick in my reading choices lately. Books about knitting, quilting, crafts in general and now scrap booking. I don't do any of these, nor do I really have any interest in them, but I do like reading about the relationships that form due to close friendships that come from these hobbies. In this series, four adopted sisters bond together because of their love of scrap booking as well as love for each other and their family as a whole. I liked the aspect of the book and the fact that the girls are from different cultures. It's nice to read a Christian fiction book where color is not a...

In 1808, when Emma meets and marries Eric Montclaire (the famed "most handsome man west of the Appalachians"), this young daughter of prominent St. Louis citizens believes a fairy tale has just begun. Instead, her husband's angelic looks quickly prove only to mask a monstrous soul all too capable of possessive emotions and physical abuse. Praying for mercy, she is devastated when Eric insists on her joining his yearlong group expedition to the Pacific Ocean, following the trail Lewis and Clark blazed just a few years earlier. By the time cartographer Luke Bowen realizes Emma's plight, it's too late to easily untangle what has become an epic web of lies, theft, murder, courtroom drama, and a deep longing for love. Only God can show them the way out. I am a huge fan of Jamie Carie's books and I love to recommend her stories to those who enjoy Christian romances but are tired of the same old plot. Jamie's books are akin to those of Julie Lessman and Deeanne ...

A beautiful yet tough woman working in a beautiful yet tough setting, Brannon Callahan is a search and rescue helicopter pilot for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Strong faith and a decorated history of service have kept her one step ahead of on-the-job dangers, but there's no precedent for what's about to happen. After a blizzard takes down a small plane carrying U.S. Marshal Roark Holland (already haunted by a recent tragedy), Brannon must save him in more ways than one and safeguard the donor heart he's transporting to a government witness on the edge of death. Otherwise the largest child trafficking ring in history-with shocking links from Thailand to Tennessee-will slip further away into darkness along the Appalachian Trail. I have been reading Robin Caroll's Love Inspired Suspense books for years and have greatly enjoyed them. Therefore when I heard she was having her first trade paperback release come out this year, I knew I would be wanting to read i...

Raised by a father who was a former Special Forces officer, Taylor is beautiful and brilliant and knows how to take care of herself. But she is haunted by her past and the sacrifice her father made to save her from a brutal rape when she was seventeen. After a controversial stint in the Secret Service, she has become the most prominent private security specialist in America. When she discovers the body of a former client's top assistant, all the evidence points to embezzlement and suicide. But Taylor has no way of knowing that her mother, who ran out when Taylor was nine, is about to reappear and lead her down a twisting path of danger and deceit. It's a road that won't end until they reach the spot where Taylor's father died-where Taylor learns some sacrifices can never be earned. I had a blast reading the first book featuring Taylor's character, Forsaken , and was eager to read more about her adventures. I had really liked Jordan's style of writing in the fir...

Birdie Wainwright, 72, isn’t concerned about seeing things that others can’t. For a woman who still climbs mountains with her dog (Miss Bee Haven) and likes to tango, the impractical visions brought on by macular degeneration are just another gift from God, adding more adventure to life. But when a tumble down the stairs breaks her ankle and leads back to her son’s home in Denver where she must convalesce, Birdie’s imagination really takes flight. Following a conversation with her grandson about The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , she begins to see and speak with the unkempt literary character himself on a regular basis. As the line between reality and whimsy turns brittle, faith is tested among friends and loved ones, and hope is reborn. Who hasn't had an imaginary friend that used to talk to when they were little? Even now, sometimes the characters you create in your head are better company to keep than the real people you have to interact with on a daily basis. That's ...

Not your grandma's safe Christian fiction Taylor is a former secret service agent who's been called to protect the world's most famous televangelist. She's had a past that calls for her to take this job very seriously. Simon has received threats from terrorists telling him to step down from his ministry or else him and his family will be in harm's way. When the unthinkable happens, Simon has to make a choice that will change everyone who has been affected by him forever. Reading this book was like watching an episode of 24 in book format. This book was heart thumping non stop action from the first page. It's very gritty, not for the faint hearted. I love how the main character is a female who doesn't need to rely on others to take care of herself. Reading about Taylor's past and how it affected her life and career choice was great buildup for the story. This is honestly one of the best suspense novels I have ever read, in both secular and Christi...

Historical fiction at its Best Barbara has given up her dreams as an opera singer to follow her husband and his career as a doctor. Unfortunately his dreams mean leaving the country for the other side of the world in Siam. There Barbara must adapt to a completely different way of life, where she finds herself being ostracized by the missionary women and lonely without Harvey being there all the time. She finds herself wondering if her love for Harvey is really worth the sacrifices she must make. Based on the true story of the author's grandmother, this novel is a wonderful insight to a Westerner's view of an exotic land. One of my most favorite movie musicals of all time is The King and I. The remake, Anna and the King starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun Fat, is equally stunning and beautiful. These movies gave an insight to Siamese culture. Thailand was the only Southeast Asian country to never fall to European colonization. Yet missionaries flocked to the country to help ...

Wild Wild West Jori Hayden's family has lived a comfortable lifestyle. She herself is pretty much a Daddy's girl, getting everything she's wanted. But then due to an economic depression, her father loses all his money forcing the family to have to move out west. To find their way on the Santa Fe Trail, the family must have a guide. Jori finds one in Chad Rocklin, a prisoner she bails out of jail. The two clash over everything but the Haydens must listen to him if they want to survive in the harsh conditions of the road West. As much as I enjoyed this book, why do I feel deja vu when reading it? Is it because I've read this plot in several of Gilbert Morris's other books? I guess after over 200 books things start to blend together. I am 100% certain there have been characters named either Praise God or Revelation that go around asking people if they are believers in Jesus in other Morris books. And I know that the story about the guy who can't read, the wom...