MORE THAN A BUCKET LIST by Jennifer Barrow

More Than A Bucket List" by Toni Birdsong is a good title for people in all stages of life (teenager, young adult, middle age, retired) who wants some ideas for new challenges and undertakings in life. The book is around 260 pages and may be completed in a few sittings and contains such thoughts as:
1. Suggestions for praying over your business.
2. Historical US places to visit.
3. Famous personalities' previous jobs before they became famous.
4. Ways to practice compassion towards others.
5. Suggested books to read.
6. Places to visit around the world.
7. Bizarre places to visit.
8. Things to learn from your grandparents while they're still around.
9. Things to do at a public library.
10. Questions to ask yourself before you go online (perhaps your time can be better spent doing something else).
Some of the suggestions I have already done or plan to do in the future. I will pass the book on to our daughters to read so they may get come creative ideas on things to do with their lives.

ISLE OF SHADOWS

Enslaved in a world of money and power, Tessa dares to be free... Raised as courtesan to wealthy and powerful men, Tessa of Delos serves at the whim of her current patron, the politician Glacis. After ten years with him, Tessa has abandoned all desire for freedom or love, choosing instead to lock her heart away. However, when Glacis meets a violent death in his own home, Tessa grasps at a fragile hope. Only she knows of his death.
If she can keep it a secret for long enough, she can escape. Tessa throws herself on the mercy of the Greek god, Helios, but finds instead unlikely allies in Nikos, a Greek slave, and Simeon, Glacis's Jewish head servant. As Simeon introduces her to a God unlike any she has ever known and Nikos begins to stir feeling she had though long dead, Tessa fights to keep her heart protected. As an assai nation plot comes to light, Tessa must battle for her own freedom-- and for those whom she has begun to open her heart-- as forces collide that shatter the island's peace.
Tracy L. Highly started her first novel at the age of eight and has been hooked on writing ever since. She has authored nine novels, including Garden of Madness. Tracy is currently perusing a graduate degree in Ancient History and has traveled through Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Italy, researching her novels and falling into adventures. You can read more about her travels via her website.
My thoughts: I think this book has come a ways from when it was known as Shadow of Colossus. The cover is beautiful, as it provides a great setting for imagery. I like that the book comes with a reading group guide. None of the chapters are terribly long, though there are 42 chapters and 374 pages. This is my first book from Ancient History, and I actually liked it! Thanks BookSneeze for introducing me to Historical Fiction! Isle of Shadows- Book Review: 4/5 stars...
Disclosure: I received the book mentioned above for free in exchange for my time spent to read and review it.

Return to Sunday Dinner

By Russell Cronkhite

Return to Sunday Dinner by Russell Cronkhite (a professional chef himself) is filled with twenty-four manageable menus that will bring back the wonderful tradition of those Sunday dinners. None of the recipes have a list of 30 ingredients nor do they contain ingredients you've never heard of and few (if any) spices that you have to buy just for this recipe. Another piece that adds interest to this cookbook is that each recipe has a brief history given. Each menu has a story of the meaning includes easy time-saving and do-ahead tips for tasks you can complete the day before and the morning of the day you plan to serve your special meal. I think you'll also enjoy the personal touch added to the menus when you read the brief stories of the significance of Sunday dinners in another's life.
If you aren't hungry when you pick up this book, you will be within minutes and it will leave you looking forward to making your next "Sunday dinner". While I originally ordered this book as a gift, I don't think it is going anywhere. Whether for a gift or something for yourself if you love to cook for your family, you can't go wrong with Return to Sunday Dinner.
What should I fix this Sunday? Grandma's Fried Chicken? Sage-rubbed roast pork loin with cranberry-apple cider Glaze? Warm pear strudel with vanilla sauce? Amish potato rolls? Spiced pumpkin mousse cake? Is Sunday dinner more about the food or making memories? You decide.
I did receive this book free from Book sneeze in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way obligated to leave a positive review

A path toward love

by Cara James

When I opened up "A Path Towards Love", I really didn't have any expectations. I hadn't read this particular author's writing before, but I do always enjoy a good historical fiction read, so I decided to try it.
All her life, Katherine Osborne was raised to become a woman of New York society. To her parent's dismay, she runs off at the age of 18 and elopes with a young man that is not up to the high standards of a mate that her mother has set for her. They settle in Florida to manage her husband's family orange groves, but that is where the whirlwind romance ends. Quickly, Katherine finds herself in a loveless marriage and soon after, a young widow. Struggling to make ends meet, her father convinces her to travel up north for a month long vacation of leisure: swimming, canoeing, picnics, dancing. Oh, and don't forget that her mother already has her next marriage partner picked out: Randy, a non-committal, lazy son of an heir who is pressured as well into courting Katherine.
Enter Andrew, Katherine's dearest friend from her childhood and cousin of Randy. He also happens to work for Katherine's father as a lawyer for his company AND he's in love with the boss's daughter (Katherine). Andrew, unlike Randy, warn born into modest means and has not lived the life of luxury. Unfortunately, because of his lot in life, he has never been considered a favorable suitor for Katherine. As Andrew's affection grows, the more persistent Katherine's parents are that she becomes engaged to Randy.
I really did enjoy this novel, but I wouldn't say it was any different than any other historical romance. It's sweet, easy to read and has a predictable ending. BUT I did enjoy it. I would have enjoyed it more if she would have had more "distance" between Andrew and Katherine. Perhaps Katherine could have moved back down to Florida or maybe Andrew actually did end up going west to California. Through it all they could have exchanged letters, etc. I just felt like it could have been so much more. But I still liked it.
Technical critique: I read the Kindle version, and the beginning of the paragraphs didn't indent, so it was hard to tell when one paragraph ended and another began. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it took away from the content of the novel. I hope that this is a feature that can be fixed as it was rather distracting and annoying.
I received this novel in exchange for my review from BookSneeze. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one

Cruel Harvest

by Fran Elizabeth Grubb

was a hollow existence: nomadic, extreme poverty and deprivation, with no comfort. Fran's father sold her older brother for five dollars, murdered her infant sister and sexually molested his other other daughters.
Fran could be excused if she were bitter. But she is not. Even as she watched her mother and older sisters run away from the family, disappearing one by one, even as she sought opt make sense of her circumstances, even as she struggled to get her young adult life on track, Fran was able to down what her father could not - love, enjoy life, embrace God.
There is more, much more, to this story. There is wickedness and despair. But there is also courage and hope. And a happy ending too.
This was a hard book to read but it is also one I did not want to put down. Fran Grubb handled the telling of her story with grace and dignity. Even without graphic details, one could envision the horrors of her life.
I am in awe that in spite of her tragic circumstances, she kept clinging to hope; believing in a God that did not seem to answer her prayers.
I was not ready for the book to end and hope she plans to share more of her life and that of her siblings as they one by one removed themselves from the monster they called "daddy". I hope that one day she is able to find Mary Anne and Millie.
While the book is filled with horrors, Fran's ability to love and forgive is the real story.
Should you buy the book? Without a doubt!!
I received this book free from the publisher through the Book Sneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Faithful to Laura

by Middlefield Family

The main character in this book is Laura Stutzman, a young Amish girl that fell in love with an "English" man named Mark. She was raised in the small, close knit Amish community in Etheridge, Tennessee. One day she met a handsome English man that helped in her family's bakery. The two teenagers fell in love but only later did she realize he was just using her to get the money from the bakery. After stealing the money, setting the barn on fire and locking her inside to die does she realize that he is not the man she thought he was. Now left with permanent scars on her face, she decides to go to Ohio to stay with some kin until she can face her parents. All she can focus on now is finding Mark and exacting her revenge for all he has done but her Amish roots are telling her she needs to forgive. However, Laura doesn't know if she can forgive and although meeting someone new is the last thing on her mind, her heart may have other ideas.
Sawyer is a "Yankee" that has been raised by the Amish since his parents' death when he was a child. Now, the time has come to choose which life he wants to follow, Amish or Yankee. To further complicate things, a lady claiming to be his grandmother shows up wanting him to come with her to New York so she will have an heir to leave her wealth to when she dies. Sawyer doesn't know which way to turn. Then he meets Laura and all of a sudden has someone he can talk to. He sees past her scars and looks into her heart. Is being Amish in God's plan for him and if so, can he ever get Laura to trust him after her previous experience with men?
I loved this book and although there are other characters and their stories intertwined, I found it very intriguing and hard to put down. I would definitely read more books by this author in the future.

The scent of Rain

by Kristin Billerbeck

It's Daphne's wedding day. She has given up her dream job for love with the perfect man and to start the perfect life. The only problem, the groom didn't show up for the wedding. Left at the altar heartbroken embarks on a new journey to reevaluate her life. She heads across the to the new home and job miles away from family friends only to discover nothing is really what it had seemed to be. Daphne is a professional "nose" hired to turn around a failing business, but suddenly her sense of smell has disappeared. Feeling like a fraud on her new job, Daphne sets out to support the new boss, Jesse, to help make the company flourish and so he doesn't lose his job.
I really enjoyed Daphne's character and riding the ups and downs with her as she discovered the true reasons behind her loss of smell. As she makes these discoveries she grows personally and learns to make better choices without losing her own identity. Daphne encounters many people to help her through this time and she She discovers kindness and caring, how to accept help and friendship, and how to give to others for the right reasons. She also realizes that God can work all these situations together for good and to show her the real meaning of love.