Bout of Books 11 Wrap Up

The Bout of Books Read-a-Thon officially ended last night. I got quite a lot of reading done this week. I almost reached my goal of finishing three books. I completed two and read more than half of the third book. My page total was 745. Not too shabby.

I really love doing read-a-thons and I am already looking forward to Bout of Books 12 coming in January.

Recent Aquisitions ~ August ~ Part 2

Here are a few more books I picked up recently.

Hope at Dawn by Stacy Henrie ~ I know almost nothing about this one. It's set during WW1, and it has a beautiful cover.

The Hatmaker's Heart by Carla Stewart ~ This was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I finally found a copy at a decent price. Can't wait to read it.

Gone South by Meg Mosely ~ This one is a contemporary. Looks like Southern fiction, cuz, you know, the name.

When Sparrows Fall by Meg Mosely ~ I went on a Meg Mosely binge when I found these for cheap on Amazon. I have never read this author before, so I hope these are good.

A Promise Kept by Robin Lee Hatcher ~ This one got a lot buzz on all the book blogs when it came out. It looks to be a dual time line story. I love those. Really looking forward to this one.

That's a wrap of list #2. I will have one more haul list this month. What books have you bought lately?

Bout of Books 11 ~ Goals

I participated in The Bout of Books Read-a-thon 10 a few months ago. It was so much fun I decided to do it again. I have set some pretty easy goals for myself. I want to read one nonfiction book and two fiction books. Here is my TBR for the week.

The Antelope in the Living Room by Melanie Shankle

Oath of the Brotherhood by C.E. Laureano

Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin

We are using #boutofbooks on Twitter, and here is a link to the sign up post.

Recent Aquisitions ~ August ~ Part 1

I have decided to dust off the old blog and start posting again. It's always nice to share hauls. Nothing like rubbing in all the book buying I have been doing. I decided to split it into three parts. I don't want to overwhelm anyone. Seriously, though, most of these I got for free or very cheap.

Rival Hearts (Quilts of Love) ~ Tara Randel
I have heard good things about this series. Each book features a quilt. Other than that these are stand alone books that can be read in any order.This one looks to be a contemporary romance. Not my favorite genre, but I will give it a try.

A Moment in Time (Lone Star Brides #2) ~ Tracie Peterson ~ I haven't read book one of this series, but my library has it. From the blurb on the back, though, it looks like it can be read as a stand alone.

For Love or Loyalty (The Macgregor Legacy #1) ~ Jennifer Hudson Taylor ~ I won a signed copy of this book. It looks good.

The Amish Groom (The Men of Lancaster County) ~ Mindy Starns Clark, Susan Meissner ~ I've already read this one. If you like Amish fiction you should check it out. It's a little different than your typical Amish romance.

For Such a Time ~ Kate Breslin ~ This is a retelling of the story of Esther set during WW2. I love retellings. I love Esther. I'm going to be reading this one soon.

The Dancing Master ~ Julie Klassen ~ I have enjoyed all of the books I have read by this author so far. This one is supposed to be Foot Loose meets Pride and Prejudice. Sounds great to me!

Carolina Gold ~ Dorothy Love ~ This is a new author for me. I thought the premise sounded good. It's set just after the Civil War and inspered by a true story. I love the timed period, and the cover is pretty.

There are some of my recent book buys. Looks like I've got a lot of reading to do!

*Disclaimer* These aren't affiliate links. I just like Amazon.

Book Review: Echoes of Mercy by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Echoes of Mercy is a Christian romance with intrigue, suspense, and a really nasty villain. Caroline, our heroine, is an undercover agent for the Labor Commission. Her mission is to investigate the mysterious death of a fellow agent at the Dinsmore candy factory. She is distracted from her investigation by the handsome and mysterious janitor, Ollie Moore. She tries to ignore her feelings for him, but he keeps popping up everywhere. Another distraction is the family of orphans that have come to depend on her, and all of her questions and snooping have aroused the suspicions of the slimy factory manager, Gordon.

I thought the main plot of Echoes of Mercy was interesting. Caroline and Ollie had to put their heads together to figure out what had happened to the previous agent. Lots of sparks flew between them, and they had good chemistry. I did feel like there were too many subplots that distracted from the main characters and their budding romance.  I also felt like there were too many characters to really get to know any of them very well. I did like the bad guy. He was very creepy.

Overall, this was a fun story that I think fans of Christian romance will enjoy very much. If you like Jannette Oke, or similar authors, you would enjoy Echoes of Mercy.

I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah for free for the purpose of review.

Twitterature ~ March 2014

Wow this has been a weird reading month! The first three books I read were DNF's for me. That was depressing! Thankfully, after that, I had some really great reads. Here is a list of my recent reads and a Twitter style review of them.

Luminary by Krista Mcgee ~ This is book two in the Anomaly series. I enjoyed this one as much as the first. I was a little worried in the beginning. The protaganist did an awful lot of whining, but thankfully she stopped.

A Proper Pursuit by Lynn Austin ~ This is my favorite book by my favorite author. I decided to reread some of her books this year, and this one did not disappoint. A lovely story with lovely characters.

Soul Detox by Craig Groeschel ~ This was my nonfiction pick for February. Good book about how we live and how the things we put into our lives effect us.

A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner ~ This is my favorite book of the year so far. I absolutely devoured it. I loved the story and the writing style. I had a bit of a book hangover after this one and struggled to find something to read.

A Trail of Ink by Mel Starr ~ This is the book that pulled me out of my reading funk. It is book 3 in the Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon series. This has been my favorite so far. A little mystery, a little romance, all set in Medieval England.

Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo ~ I would describe this book as chick lit. It was a light, fun read set in England. There is a secret society, a mystery to solve, and a little romance.

Check out more Twitterature reviews at Modern Mrs. Darcy.

January Reads

Here's what I read in January:

When Mountains Move by Julie Cantrell ~ I really enjoyed this sequel to Into the Free. Great characters, great story. It does deal with some heavy themes, but it was a much happier book than the first one.

Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown ~ I had high expectations for this book, but for some reason I just couldn't love it. Some of it was laugh out loud funny. The characters are well drawn, and the writing is beautiful. Ultimately, I think I just have issues with pirates as "good" guys.*

Cloak of the Light by Chuck Black ~ I reviewed this book here.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry ~ This is book two in The Giver series. It isn't nearly as good as the first one (which is amazing), but it's not bad either. A slower read, but I think it's setting up the next book.

Unrivaled by Siri Mitchell ~ This was a really cute romance about two rival candy makers. Great book for Valentines's Day since it's about love and candy.

Pilgrimage by Lynn Austin ~ This book by my favorite author is part devotional and part travel memoir. The writing is beautiful, and I really related to the struggles Mrs. Austin was dealing with at the time of her journey to the Holy Land. I read this book slowly through out the month. It was a great start to my year.

* This book is not published by a Christian publisher and may contain some objectionable material.