Review of A Wee Christmas Homicide

Title: A Wee Christmas Homicide

Author: Kaitlyn Dunnett

Series: A Liss MacCrimmon Scottish mystery

 

Chapters: 19

Pages: 278

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Rating: 4 stars

A Wee Christmas Homicide is the third book in the A Liss MacCrimmon Scottish Mystery. In this mystery it involves Christmas shopping, teddy bears, and murder. I enjoyed it. I especially liked learning about the Scottish Christmas traditions. It seems to me that every where Liss goes a mystery always follows her or finds her.  There are only three books left as of now from me to read in the series. 

Review of Stealing Parker

Title: Stealing Parker

Author: Miranda Kenneally

Series: no

 

Chapters: no

Pages:256

Genre: Teen Chick lit

Rating: 3 ½  stars it was well written but because of personal preference I couldn't give it more than 3 stars. For other people it would be 4 or 5 stars.

     Stealing Parker is set at Hundred Oaks High school just like Catching Jordan. Instead of focusing on the football team it focuses on the baseball and softball teams. The book is told from Parker’s point of view. It was nice to see some of the same characters again; Sam Henry, Jordan, and Corn-dog who we find out that his name is actually Will. Who even though owes a diesel truck and lives on a farm. Can we say country boy. Prefers to drive a lawn mower to school; those scenes reminded me of some of the 80’s movies I've seen.

     Just like with Catching Jordan I did not agree with some of the choices that Parker made. However I did like the book though there were some parts that I did have to skip over. But it was still a well written book. I was happy that the book ended the way that I wanted it to. Parker ended up with the right guy, the guy with the big heart. It was nice to see how things ended up between Jordan and Sam Henry. 

Reading this week

Finished

The Solider’s Newfound Family by Kathryn Springer

Timeless by Michelle Madow

A Home For Hannah by Patricia Davids

Reunited for the Holiday’s by Jillian Hart

The Corpse Wore Tartan by Kaitlyn Dunnett

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond

Conversation Peace: The Power of Transformed Speech by Mary A. Kassian

Currently reading

A Long way from you by Gwendolyn Heasley

To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (audio book)

A Cowboy’s Touch by Denise Hunter

Fresh-Start Ranch by Leann Harris

Scotched by Kaitlyn Dunnett

Non-fiction reading

Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom by Pattie Mallette

Getting ready to read

Saving Hope by Margaret Daley

Don’t Judge a Girl by her Cover by Ally Carter

When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason

Lady Outlaw by Stacy Henrie

Their Frontier family by Lyn Cote

The Preacher’s Bride by Laurie Kingery

The Gift of Family by Linda Ford

For school 

 

On My Kindle

Reviewing

Netgalley

Texas WildFlowers by Anita Higman

Blogging for books

The Girl in the Glass by Susan Meissner

For Author

Devotional reading

1 Peter

Reviews Posted this week 

Review of Sconce Cold dead

Review of Camellia

Review of Timeless

Review of The Trouble with Cowboys

Review of The Trouble with Cowboys

Title: The Trouble with Cowboys

Author: Denise Hunter

Genre: Christian Romance

Rating: 5 stars

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

October 2^nd 2012

     The Trouble with Cowboys is the third book in the Big Sky Romance series by Denise Hunter. Even though I read it first it didn’t really ruin the first two books for me. Dylan Taylor is a cowboy who is seen as a bad boy even though he’s really not. However he does nothing to change people’s minds. The way that he acts actually makes it worse.

     Annie Wilkerson is trying to make ends meet by working two jobs. In the process trying to get her sister through school. She doesn’t have time for romance especially with a bad boy cowboy.  However Annie ends up working with Dylan’s horse and things start to change.

     I enjoyed reading The Trouble with Cowboys. Dylan quickly grew on me. It was easy to see his softer side. The Trouble with Cowboys is the first book I’ve read by Denise Hunter but it will not be the last. I’ve always enjoyed reading books about cowboys they happen to be my favorite type of hero. I also cannot wait to read the other two books in The Big Sky romance series. 

Review of Timeless

Title: Timeless

Author: Michelle Madow

Series: Transcend Time Saga

 

Pages: 230

Genre: Teen romance time travel

Rating: 4 stars

     Timeless is the final book in the Transcend Time Saga. Lizzie, Chelsea and Drew have to go back in time in order to change the course of events that Chelsea set in motion.  Will Lizzie be able to change the outcome or will her life take the same course it did the first time.

     I enjoyed Timeless more than I thought I would. Timeless is my favorite of the three. I think that is because they go back in time to Regency England. As a Jane Austen fan especially of her novel Pride and Prejudice I enjoy reading about the regency period.  I was able to get lost in the pages of the story.  The Book was well written and brought the series to a close. I am looking forward to the next Michelle Madow book whatever it may be. 

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy 50th Birthday Mom, you don't look a day over 35 and you passed those good genes on to me. I Love you and I am thankful for everything you've done for me for the last 25 years. I also know that Laura is thankful for everything you've done for her the last 16 years. We Love you mom.
All pictures cam from my  My pinterest board


       

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers may you and your families have a Blessed day.

 

Review of Camellia

Title: Camellia

Author: Diane T. Ashley Aaron McCarver

Genre: Christian Historical Christian Historical Romance

Rating: 4 stars

Publisher: Barbour Books

December 1^st 2012

     Camellia is the second book in the water wheel series. Camellia is Camellia is Lily’s younger sister. While I enjoyed reading Camellia’s and Jonah’s story I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did Lily’s story. To me Camellia seemed like the typical southern belle, and it took a while to warm up to her.  I did like Jonah as a hero more than I did from Lily. Jonah is a southern son who is fighting and spying for the north.

     If you enjoy historical fiction set during the Civil War era then you will like Camellia. Where Lily was set before the Civil War Camellia is set as the Civil War starts. Even though Camellia was not a favorite book it was just as well written as Lily was and I can recommend to anyone who liked Lily.

Camellia will be released on December 1^st 2012 from Barbour Books.

I received a copy of Camellia from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts in this review are my own.

Review of Scone Cold Dead

Title: Scone Cold Dead

Author:  Kaitlyn Dunnett

Series: A Liss MacCrimmon

 

Chapters: 18

Pages: 266

Genre: Mystery

Rating: 4 ½ stars

      Scone Cold Dead is the second book in the Liss MacCrimmon mystery series.  Liss has gotten her former dancing troop Strathspey to come to her hometown to perform a show. In the process Liss lands right smack in the middle of another mystery.

      I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I did the first book in the series, but it was a good read.  Unlike the first book I was able to figure out who done it before the end of the book, before Liss even figured it out.  I think that is what made it less enjoyable.  But it was still a good book. I am also looking forward to reading the other books in the series. 

Reading this week

Finished

Love Reunited by Renee Andrews

The Duck Commander Family by Willie Robertson and Korie Robertson (Cup Cake reading challenge)

The Trouble with Cowboys by Denise Hunter (Netgalley)

A Wee Christmas Homicide by Kaitlyn Dunnett

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

Currently reading

A Long way from you by Gwendolyn Heasley

To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (audio book)

The Corpse Wore Tartan by Kaitlyn Dunnett

The Solider’s Newfound Family by Kathryn Springer

Non-fiction reading

Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom by Pattie Mallette

Getting ready to read

Saving Hope by Margaret Daley

Don’t Judge a Girl by her Cover by Ally Carter

When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason

Lady Outlaw by Stacy Henrie

Their Frontier family by Lyn Cote

The Preacher’s Bride by Laurie Kingery

Reunited for the Holiday’s by Jillian Hart

For school 

 

On My Kindle

Reviewing

Netgalley

Texas WildFlowers by Anita Higman

Blogging for books

The Girl in the Glass by Susan Meissner

For Author

 Timeless by Michelle Madow

Devotional reading

1 Peter

Conversation Peace: The Power of Transformed Speech by Mary A. Kassian

Reviews Posted this week

 Review of Winning Balance

Review of Kilt Dead

Holiday Reading Challenge

Holiday Reading Challenge

This is the BLI Holiday Reading Challenge and you can sign up here.

Challenge Rules:

1. The BLI Holiday Reading Challenge will start on November 14 and will end on December 31.

2. You can read as many holiday themed books for the challenge as you wish, pick your level:

Santa’s Helper: read 1-3 holiday themed books
Serial Mistletoe-er: read 4-6 holiday themed books (This is the one I am trying for)
Candy Cane-aholic: read 7 or more holiday themed books

3. The books you read for this challenge must all be holiday related books. The holiday doesn’t matter, it can be Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc. and the story can have any connection to the holiday (for example set around Christmastime, or having Santa or an elf as a character, the cover being festive, featuring snowflakes, etc.).

4. The format, length or genre of the books do not matter, they can be ebooks, paperbacks, audiobooks, and short stories and novellas do count as well. It’s okay for the book to overlap with other challenges. The only thing is that they can’t be children’s books, but YA novels are good. Re-reads are also fine.

5. Start the challenge by signing up! Leave a link back to your challenge post in the linky below where you state your challenge level (and if you already know which books you’ll be reading a list as well).

If you don’t have a blog, no problem, you can still sign up with your name and e-mail address.

(There will be posts later where you can leave your links to your reviews and of course there will be a challenge wrap up post at the end).

6. And of course there will be prizes! There will be separate giveaways where you can win some holiday themed novels (the rules for those will be set out on the separate posts) and there will be the Grand Prize Giveaway: at the end of the challenge we will draw 3, yes THREE winners from all the review links. Meaning the more books you read, review and link up, the more chances you have at winning.

1st winner: shopping spree of $15 USD

2nd winner: shopping spree of $10 USD

3rd winner: shopping spree of $10 USD

of any holiday themed books at the Book Depository or the online ebook retailer of winner’s choice if they accept payment through Paypal.

And now that the rules are set, let’s start the challenge! 

Here's what  I am reading Candy Cane-aholic: read 7 or more holiday themed books 

1.A Wreath of Snow by Liz Curits Higgs

2.Season of Joy  by Virginia Carmichael

3.Jingle Bell Bride by Jillian Hart

4.Once Upon a Christmas by Pamela Tracy

5.Her Holiday Fireman by Kathleen Y’Barbo

6.Snowflake sweethearts by Carrie Turansky

7.Reunited For the Holiday’s by Jillian Hart 

Review of Kilt Dead

Title: Kilt Dead

Author: Kaitlyn Dunnett

Series: A Liss MacCrimmon Mystery

 

Chapters: 20

Pages: 281

Genre: Mystery

Rating: 4 stars

     Liss has given up a career as a professional dancer after a career ending injury. She is staying in her hometown of Moose and working at her aunts Scottish store. However Liss in encounter’s a dead body and the police think that she is the one who killed her neighbor.  Liss has to play decetive in order to clear her name before it’s too late.

     Kilt Dead is the first book in the Liss MacCrimmon mysteries by Kaitlyn Dunnett. I enjoyed it, the book kept me guessing till the very end. There were a few cuss words in the book, but not many. For a mainstream mystery it was a relatively clean read, but there were a few scenes where things were implied to have happened, but no details were given.  

Review of Winning Balance

Title: Winning Balance

Author: Shawn Johnson

Series: no

 

Chapters: 241

Pages: 253

Genre: Nonfiction Memoir

Rating: 4 stars

     Winning Balance is Shawn Johnson account of growing up in a small Midwest town. That once she became a gymsisnt how she dreamed of winning gold. She also went on to talk about her time on dancing with the stars. How she holds it together with her Faith. I enjoyed the memoir it was nice to see that there was more to Shawn Johnson that just an athletic. 

Reading this week

Finished

Scone Cold Dead by Kaitlyn Dunnett

Denali Dreams by Ronie Kendig

Snapshots of Research: Readings in Criminology and Criminal Justice

 

 

Fundamentals of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Currently reading

A Long way from you by Gwendolyn Heasley

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

Love Reunited by Renee Andrews

To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander

A Wee Christmas Homicide by Kaitlyn Dunnett

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Non-fiction reading

The Duck Commander Family by Willie Robertson and Korie Robertson

Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom by Pattie Mallette

Getting ready to read

Saving Hope by Margaret Daley

Don’t Judge a Girl by her Cover by Ally Carter

When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason

Be still my Soul by Joanne Bischof

Lady Outlaw by Stacy Henrie

Their Frontier family by Lyn Cote

The Preacher’s Bride by Laurie Kingery

For school 

 

On My Kindle

Reviewing

Netgalley

The Trouble with Cowboys by Denise Hunter

 Blogging for books

The Girl in the Glass: A Novel by Susan Meissner

Devotional reading

1 Peter

Conversation Peace: The Power of Transformed Speech by Mary A. Kassian

Reviews Posted this week

Review of the Rancher's Secret Wife

 Review of The Solider's wife

Thirty days of thanks

On my personal blog Seasons of my Life I am posting thirty things i am thankful for during the month of November. If you have time and would like to please check it out. 

Thank you Veterans

Thank you Veterans of all wars who fought to keep the United States free. America is great because of you, without you we wouldn't be the country we are today.  So take the time to think a Veteran today especially for their service even if you have to go out of your way in order to do it.  However we shouldn't wait until this day to do it, we should thank Veterans and our current service men and women everyday.  Also be sure to thank their families as well. Those who wait also serve.  Our military and Veterans could not do it without their family supporting them.

Happy 237th Birthday USMC

I just want to wish a happy 237 to the United States Marine Corp. To all  Marines happy birthday to the, The Few, The Proud, The Marines. Once a Marine always a Marine  I am thankful the service of the Marines through every war, especially to the Marine in my life my dad. Semper Fi. 

Review of The Soldier's Wife

Title: The Soldier’s Wife

Author: Cheryl Reavis

Series: Love Inspired Historical

 

Chapters: 12 plus epilogue

Pages: 283

Genre: Christian Historical fiction Christian historical romance

Rating: 4 ½ stars

     Jeremiah “Jack” Murphy made a promise to dying Rebel soldier to tell the soldier’s wife what happened to him and to take the letters that he wrote to her. After the war he travels to North Carolina to deliver the letters and the news. Even though he is running from something from his home town.

     Sayer Garth is trying to work her husband’s homestead and look after his two younger sisters. She wonders what happened to her husband till Jeremiah shows up with the news she had been dreading.

     I enjoyed reading The Soldier’s Wife, but it was not my favorite Love inspired Historical. It was however a quick and relaxing read.  

Michelle Madow: Lizzie's top 5 books.

Michelle Madow's third book in her  Transcend Time Saga Timeless comes out on November 20th 2012. I was able to have Michelle Madow on my blog to talk about Lizzie's top five books. Lizzie is the Main character from the series.

Lizzie’s Top Five Books

Thank you for having me on your blog to talk about Lizzie’s top five favorite books! Lizzie is the main character from The Transcend Time Saga, which starts with Remembrance. She loves reading, and it’s going to be hard to only choose five books that are her favorite, but I will try! J

1) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Lizzie was assigned to read Pride and Prejudice in the beginning of her junior year for her AP English class. It was also her favorite book in her past life, and reading it helped her start to remember the life she lived in Regency Era, England. The love story between Lizzie and Mr. Darcy is one of her favorites!

2) The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

Lizzie loves historical romance, and she adored all the books in this series! She loves how the lives of the main characters are intertwined. Her favorite character is Diana, and she wishes Diana had a happier ending with Henry. Also, the covers of these books are gorgeous!

3) The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

Again, Lizzie loves historical fiction. This story of Anne and Mary Boleyn was wonderfully told! She loves all the books in the Tudors series by Philippa Gregory. The series does a fantastic job of bringing the wives of Henry VIII to life!

4) Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Because this is one of the best book series of all time.

5) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Lizzie loves the love story between Bella and Edward! She read the first book in 2005, and has been a huge fan since. She kept trying to convince Chelsea to read it, but Chelsea waited until before the movie came out when the series became more mainstream.   

Thank you , Carissa, for having me on your blog!

Author Bio:

Michelle Madow was inspired to write Remembrance after seeing Taylor Swift's "Love Story" music video while a junior at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. The song and video gave her the story idea about a high school girl reincarnated from Regency Era, England. She handed in the first chapter as a homework assignment for class, and when her teacher and classmates wanted her to continue writing, she decided to go for it. By the end of the school year, her first novel was completed!

For more information on Michelle and her books, visit www.michellemadow.com.

Michelle lives in Florida, where she is hard at work writing more novels for young adults.

Author Links: Facebook, Remembrance Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Goodreads

The final part of the Transcend Time Series, Timeless, comes out on November 20, 2012. Be sure to read the first two parts, Remembrance and Vengeance, first!

REMEMBRANCE: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, iBooks, Kobo

VENGEANCE: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, iBooks, Kobo

(Images for the three book covers: Remembrance, Vengeance, Timeless)