Heart of Lies

Heart of Lies

Irish Angel Series, Book Two

Jill Marie Landis

285 pages

4 stars

Raised on the streets of New Orleans by Dexter Grande, Maddie was taught to beg, steal and cheat her way through life.  As Dexter’s gang dissolves, Maddie moves to the bayou with her twin “brothers”.  The story develops as the twins appear at the doorstep one night with an eight year old girl they have kidnapped and need Maddie to hold hostage.  Against her better judgment Maddie agrees, but trouble soon follows as Pinkerton agent Tom Abbot becomes part of the case.  Tom, who is also working for Laura Foster McCormick, from book one in this series, Heart of Stone.  Maddie begins to question who she is, who her family really is and if she can really trust Tom.

I was excited to hear about the second book in this series being released.  I really enjoyed the first book and couldn’t wait to read more about the sisters from New Orleans.  I think the romance isn’t over the top, but nice, old fashion and clean.  It's refreshing to find books like this, ones I don't have to worry about while reading.

If I had to pick one thing that I didn’t like it would be Dexter’s character.  Landis did a fantastic job making him into a creep and I really shuttered every time he graced the pages.  I was so disturbed at the thought of Maddie taking part of the changing of the kids.  I am glad she was able to find Tom and eventually Laura.  I hope that in the next few book that it will touch on that she has been able to find peace in her life.

The novels and the writing really make me think that if you love Anita Stansfield books, you will enjoy these series.

I'm looking forward to book three. Hopefully it doesn't take a full year to come out!

Everything Meals on a Budget Cookbook

The Everything Meals on a Budget Cookbook

5 Stars

Linda Larsen

293 pages

This book was another great find I picked up one week at our local library. It had helpful ideas and 300 great recipes

I enjoyed this book and look forward to finding one to make my own copy. Like I've said about other budget cookbooks, if you are looking for ways to lower your families grocery budget you can't go wrong with these few books that I've found. Excellent!

Family Feasts for $75 a Week

Family Feasts for $75 a week

Mary Ostyn

5 Stars

304 pages

I always try cook books first from the library before adding them permanently to my own personal collection. This book is one that I would love to add to my own home library.

Mary Ostyn, a mother of 10 children and blogger has great ideas of how to save money. This book was full of ideas that I have started to use with my own family and I have loved each recipe we have tried!

I recommend this book if you are interested in finding out ways to save on your grocery budget, are looking for some new homemade recipes, or just for some great ideas!

Summer Reading

School is finally out for the summer. It seems so late for me from the region that I grew up in, but considering the temperatures here are still only mid 60's I still find myself wearing jackets and convincing myself that it truly is summer.

I do have some great summer reading lists and are excited to get started. First on my list is to finally update my very neglected book blog.

I posted a review of a book from one of my all time favorite series, A Woman of Influence, today, you can find it below, but I have many more reviews on the way.

Hopefully I can get through the list of books to review, the books I have to read and enjoy some nice summer weather soon!

A Woman of Influence

A Woman of Influence

Rebecca Ann Collins

5 Stars

336 pages

Book nine in the The Pemberly Chronicles series.

As I finished the 8^th book in this series, Recollections of Rosings, I was curious to see how Becky Tate’s character would hold up in the next installment of the story. I had mixed feelings of if I really enjoyed her character or not, but promised myself I would place those feelings aside try hard to give her a fair chance in A Woman of Influence.

In A Woman of Influence Becky’s story continues as she finds herself living at Edgwater, a widow and alone wondering what will become of her life. When Becky comes in contact with a girl, Alice, who is traveling and homeless with a son, hiding on her property, she becomes absorbed in her story and helping this woman find and free her husband who has been wrongly accused. While this might be a minor plot in the story it ultimately leads Becky to being reunited with an old acquaintance Mr. Aldo Contini.

Mr. Contini and Becky’s relationship was first established shortly after Becky’s daughter’s death when Mr. Contini was there to offer condolences and relief. I was presently surprised with this reunion of characters and the slow romance that developed and followed. It was a perfect pace for me and my feelings towards Becky’s character.

It’s not s surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed A Woman of Influence. The new “mystery” of Alice and her husband added some substance and some suspense and thrill to a typical storyline. I was pleased with Becky and Mr. Contini’s relationship and how it developed, in a world where lines are crossed daily and in appropriate relationships are many times considered “norm” I was even more delighted that this relationship developed at the right time and place in their lives.

Ms. Rebecca Collins is a wonderful writer and storyteller. She has a knack for writing in Jane Austen’s own voice and developing clean, romantic well developed stories that can be enjoyed time and time again.

I cannot wait for Book 10!

Garlic and Sapphires

Garlic and Sapphires

Ruth Reichl

4 Stars

352 pages

Each year our library system selects a book to features as a book of the year that our whole county will “read.” This year Garlic and Sapphires is that book. I didn’t have any expectations for this book, but once I brought it home and started reading I couldn’t put it down.

Garlic and Sapphires is the true story of Ruth Reichl during her years as the food critic for The New York Times. Trying her best to get honest reviews she finds herself going undercover, literally, and becoming other “characters” to review different restaurants. I really loved some of these characters and my only wish is I could have seen pictures! The book was witty and clever and her reviews were refreshing and fun to read. I found myself hungry just reading many of her food descriptions, but there are recipes also included in the book!

I’m very happy this book has been selected to be featured this year and I am looking forward to attending some of the events later this year. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys nonfiction or food industry and cooking books.

Matters at Mansfield

Matters at Mansfield

Carrie Bebris

5 Stars

288 pages

I was thrilled when I walked in the library the other day and found this book on the shelf! I have read all of Carrie Bebris’s other Jane Austen mystery novels and always enjoyed the fun storylines and turning plots.

Of course, Mr and Mrs. Darcy find themselves in the middle of a thrilling mystery. Lady Catherine, her daughter Anne and Colonel Fitzwilliam are also key players in the series events that lead up to this crime. I think Carrie Bebris did such a superb job at staying true to Lady Catherine’s character. I also enjoyed the romance between Anne and Colonel Fitzwilliam.

Carrie Bebris’s mystery novels are fun easy reads. Some reviews say that they might not be exactly true to Jane Austen’s tone, which could be true, but I do think they are pleasant and hope to read more from Carrie Bebris in the future!

Heart of Stone

Heart of Stone

Jill Marie Landis

4 Stars

312 pages

This is the first novel that I've read by Jill Marie Landis and I was not disappointed. Heart of Stone tells the story of Laura Foster, the owner of an elegant boarding house in Glory Texas. When she finds that the widowed preacher in town, Brand McCormick, want to court and even marry her she finds herself torn in her decision. She wants to love but doesn't want her true past to ruin Brand's reputation or future. Landis does a great job describing the time period and characters. Even though they had such a short role, I smiled each time the elderly Mary Margret and Timothy graced the pages.

I was drawn in to this story from page one. It was a quick read and very entertaining. I would classified this book as Christian historical fiction, which is a genre that I typically enjoy because I don't have to worry about any language or graphic scenes.

I am looking forward to finding more novels by Landis and also looking forward to reading the second book in this series which is about Laura's long lost sister, Megan. I recommend this book if you like historical fiction and quick reads.

Life Your Life for Half the Price, Lyle and Tracy Shamo

Live Your Life for Half the Price

Lyle and Tracy Shamo

5 Stars

196 Pages

I read this book in January, which was my month for reevaluating and planning the new year. I found this book at a local bookstore and knew it was a must for my reading list and a resource that I would read and reread throughout the years.

I was so right! This book is full of useful information and tips. I found myself underlining and marking in this book, something I hardly ever do! I've let neighbors and friends borrow it and recommend it to everyone.

The book is divided up into four main sections; the pursuit of happiness, spend less and be happy, surviving tough times and summing it up.

I was surprised at many of the facts and figures that were quoted in this book - such as how Americans debt and spending has gone up, and our happiness ratings have gone down. Something so true!

I think if you interested thinking about and finding out where your money goes, how you can live on less without feeling like it or just money ideas, this is the book for you. It's a great resource to have in any library.

Centsible Meals

Centsible Meals

Lorae Bowden

5 Stars

If you read my family blog then you know that recently I've been trying to find new ways to cut down on our grocery budget. I think there is always room for improvement when I found this book and read it I was really inspired to do better.

Lorae is amazing, coming from a larger family herself, she learned well from her mother and now feeds her family of 9 for under $200 a month, and trust me, it's not junk - the trick is that she makes everything homemade! This BYU graduate is amazing, she does doesn't use coupons, but instead her meal plan by fillers - potato, pasta, bread, beans, etc. She does use meat, but might cut the meat in half, for example I noticed in her book that on her lasagna night she still put hamburger meat in the meal, but only half and used the pasta to fill everyone up. They eat fresh fruit for every meal, sliced on a plate. They make their own breakfast instead of using box cereal. They don't eat snacks (I don't think I could get away with this, but I do think I can make wiser choices (I have tried to cut out fruit snacks in the past 3 moths and it really makes a difference, they are so expensive and never fill the kids up!)

The only negative thing about this book is that I would have loved to have more recipes!

The book was short, easy to read, it only took maybe an hour, but was such a powerful resource. I've been recommending it to almost everyone I meet!