Losing My Voice to Find It by Mark Stuart

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

The incredible story of a lead singer's rise to fame and his crushing fall when he lost his singing voice, his career, and his marriage--and then found a new calling more in tune with God than he ever thought possible. 

Mark Stuart was the front man of popular Christian rock band, Audio Adrenaline, at a time when the Christian music scene exploded. Advancing from garage band to global success, the group sold out stadiums all over the world, won Grammy Awards, and even celebrated an album going certified Gold. But after almost twenty years, Mark's voice began to give out. When doctors diagnosed him with a debilitating disease, the career with the band he'd founded and dedicated his life to building was gone. Then to his shock, his wife ended their marriage, and Mark believed he'd lost everything.

Unsure of his future, Mark traveled to Haiti to help with the band's ministry, the Hands and Feet Project. When the devastating 2010 earthquake hit, media learned he was present and sought him out for interviews. Ironically, Mark became the scratchy voice for the struggling Haitians, drawing the world's attention to their dire circumstances. In the process, Mark found a greater purpose than he'd ever known before. In this gripping, compelling new book, Mark Stuart overlays his story with passages from the gospel of John, urging his readers to listen for God's voice and to embrace his big love that calls us into a big life.

My thoughts-

Like many Christians who were kids or teenagers in the late 90's I adored Audio Adrenaline. They were one of my favorite Christian bands (second only to Relient K). I remember going to see them at Six Flags with a few friends and then running into kids from my youth group and one of those boys ended up on stage with them that night. They put on a great live show, full of energy and the presence of God through their music and the power of fellowship. This was an interesting read to me. I loved the band, but back in those days the internet was still kind of a newer thing and we weren't looking for information about every little tidbit of every person's life so I didn't know much of Mark Stuart's story. I loved that through this memoir I got to learn about the bands roots in college before it's "Big House" days when they became a household name. It wasn't always all rainbows and butterflies and Mark Stuart is very open in sharing his story including the sad parts. The sad parts led to some really new great parts! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys memoirs or who loves Audio Adrenaline and wants a behind the scenes play by play of Mark's journey from then until now. 

The Devil Walks in Mattingly by Billy Coffey Blog Tour & Book Review + Win a Kindle HDX

About the book-For the three people tortured by their secret complicity in a young man's untimely death, redemption is what they most long for . . . and the last thing they expect to receive.

It has been twenty years since Philip McBride's body was found along the riverbank in the dark woods known as Happy Hollow. His death was ruled a suicide. But three people have carried the truth ever since---Philip didn't kill himself that day. He was murdered.

Each of the three have wilted in the shadow of their sins. Jake Barnett is Mattingly's sheriff, where he spends his days polishing the fragile shell of the man he pretends to be. His wife, Kate, has convinced herself the good she does for the poor will someday wash the blood from her hands. And high in the mountains, Taylor Hathcock lives in seclusion and fear, fueled by madness and hatred.

Yet what cannot be laid to rest is bound to rise again. Philip McBride has haunted Jake's dreams for weeks, warning that he is coming back for them all. When Taylor finds mysterious footprints leading from the Hollow, he believes his redemption has come. His actions will plunge the quiet town of Mattingly into darkness. These three will be drawn together for a final confrontation between life and death . . . Between truth and lies.

My thoughts-

 

I am a huge fan of suspense novels. To me, one of the best signs of a good novel is one that has something that keeps me turning the pages to find out what happens next and The Devil Walks in Mattingly did just that.  I wanted to know what happened on that day so long ago that was torturing these people all of their adult lives and what exactly did happen to Philip McBride. It was interesting to meet the characters in the present day not knowing exactly what happened in the past until the end because it gives the reader an opportunity to sympathize with what they are going through and feel the torture that they are feeling and by the time you find out what did happen, you realize that everyone's perception of what happened is a little different than what actually went down. I felt bad for both Kate and Jake, but I felt if they would have both been more honest with each other, maybe the dark secret they both carried might not have been such a burden, but then that wouldn't make for a page turner. I enjoyed that there was a little bit of intensity to this novel with the character of Taylor and the madness he carries, some pretty bad things happen when he comes around. Ultimately, my favorite part of the book was trying to figure out what happened to Philip and how it is resolved at the end of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a page turning suspense novel and who can handle a tiny bit of violence that occurs in the novel. This was the first book I have read by Billy Coffey, but he has written a few more and I definitely plan on reading those as well!

About the author-

Billy Coffey's critically-acclaimed books combine rural Southern charm with a vision far beyond the ordinary. He is a regular contributor to several publications, where he writes about faith and life. Billy lives with his wife and two children in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.

Learn more about Billy at: http://billycoffey.com

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**********Enter to win a Kindle HDX**********

Billy Coffey is celebrating his new book, The Devil Walks in Mattingly, with a Kindle Fire HDX giveaway.

 
  One winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire HDX
• The Devil Walks in Mattingly by Billy Coffey

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 5th. Winner will be announced April  7th on Billy's blog. Watch Billy give the backstory of the book here.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by Billy's blog on April 7th to see if you won.

Happy Wives Club by Fawn Weaver (Book Review)

Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Book Look. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book (from the back cover)

One woman undertakes a worldwide search to learn the secrets of a great marriage—and finds one foundational truth that could change everything.

Fawn Weaver was a happily married woman running a successful business—and then something happened. Maybe it was divorce rate reports on the evening news, The Real Housewives of Orange County, or any daytime talk show where husbands and wives dramatically reveal their betrayals. Everywhere she looked, Fawn saw negative portrayals of marriage dominating the airwaves and dooming everyone to failure.

Looking at Keith, the love of her life, she knew that wasn’t true. She was determined to find and connect with women just like her—happy and optimistic about marriage, deeply in love with her spouse, and committed to building a strong marriage that stands the test of time.

On a whim, she started the blog HappyWivesClub.com and sent the link to a few of new friends. What started as a casual invitation to five women exploded into an international online club with 150,000 members in more than 100 countries.

Happy Wives Club is Fawn’s journey across the world to meet her friends and discover what makes their marriages great. Join her on this exciting, exotic trip across six continents and through more than eighteen cities. Walk the streets of Mauritius, the historic ruins in Italy, and the vistas of New Zealand and Australia. Go from Cape Town to London, Manila to Buenos Aires, Winnipeg to Zagreb.

Along the way, you will meet everyday women whose marriage secrets span cultures. You will hear their stories, witness their love, and be inspired by the proof that happy, healthy marriages do exist—and yours can be one of them!

It turns out great marriages are all around us—when we look for them. Go on a trip with Fawn and learn the best marriage secrets the world has to offer.

My thoughts:

When I read the description of this book, I was intrigued. It does seem that we are surrounded by a negative conception of being married. My husband and I are 8+ years in and there have definitely been ups and downs, definitely times where things were strained, but overall we have always had a strong love and a happy vibe in our marriage. It was great to read that someone has made it their mission to put out the word that happy marriages do exist and have these happy wives unite and encourage one another. For the most part it seemed throughout Fawn's journey, whether it be in Africa, Australia, Europe or North America, everyone's secrets to marriage were pretty much the same answers. It seems that no matter the culture, the same handful of things as well as making up your mind to be in a happy marriage and not let the negativity seep in, seems to work for couples globally. I was not shocked at the answers these couples gave as their secrets to a happy marriage, but what I loved about this book was the absolute positivity that radiated out of it. I loved reading these couples personal stories and even seeing the author find some answers for her own life through her journey. I absolutely loved reading about all of Mrs. Weaver's travels throughout the world and her descriptions of all the places she visited and the sheer love she clearly has for husband. Part of the beauty of the book is that it is clear that the author absolutely feels as she says she does about her marriage and you can really see that through her words about him or all of the times she mentions how much she misses him while she is off seeking the answers from these great couples and I loved reading about the reunions through the book. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who needs some encouragement about happy marriages or just likes reading happy stories or stories about travel.

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Happy Wives Club Website

About the author:

Fawn Weaver is the president of ValRentco Corporation, it’s subsidiary ValleyRentals.com and a former hotel general manager. She and her husband Keith have been married since 2003 and despite both having busy schedules, they make it a point to keep the flame burning for their marriage. Fawn's passion for her marriage set her on a journey that began with The Happy Wives Club website and turned into this wonderful world wide adventure that became the book Happy Wives Club book.

Nightmare City by Andrew Klavan Blog Tour & Book Review + Win a Copy of the Book

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from Thomas Nelson Publishers via YA Bound Book Tours. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.


About the book- 
  
Tom Harding only wants the truth. But the truth is becoming more dangerous with every passing minute.

As a reporter for his high school newspaper, Tom Harding was tracking the best story of his life when, suddenly, his life turned very, very weird. He woke up one morning to find his house empty . . . his street empty . . . his whole town empty . ..empty except for an eerie, creeping fog and whatever creatures were slowly moving toward him through the fog.

Now Tom s once-ordinary world has become something out of a horror movie. How did it happen? Is it real? Is he dreaming? Has there been a zombie apocalypse? Has he died and gone to hell?

Tom is a good reporter he knows how to look for answers but no one has ever covered a story like this before. With the fog closing in and the hungry creatures of the fog surrounding him, he has only a few hours to find out how he lost the world he knew. In this bizarre universe nothing is what it seems and everything including Tom s life hangs in the balance.

My thoughts:
 
I thought that this book started off in an interesting way, but after a while it kind of drug out in the beginning about getting down to what was really going on. Once I got to the middle of the story though, I was definitely invested in finding out what was going on all around Tom and interested in finding out what exactly it was that had happened to him. I did feel that the book dragged out a little in a few places, but overall I really liked the plot line and felt that the story was woven together very nicely. There were a couple of plot twists that I didn't see coming, which I always count as a big win. I love being surprised and caught off guard and it doesn't often happen, so a few times in one book was pretty cool. Nightmare City was a pretty quick read, a thriller that demands your attention and makes you think as you try to think of the possible reasons of why Tom is going through what he is going through. There are several characters throughout the book that you think might be involved with what has happened to Tom, so it was fun trying to think of all the possible scenarios. I thought the story flowed well throughout and that the ending worked rather nicely. I would recommend this book to a reader who enjoys YA fiction or suspense novels.

About the author:

Andrew Klavan is a best-selling, award-winning thriller novelist whose books have been made into major motion pictures. He broke into the YA scene with the bestselling Homelanders series, starting with The Last Thing I Remember. He is also a screenwriter and scripted the innovative movie-in-an-app Haunting Melissa.

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http://www.andrewklavan.com/

Nightmare City is now available at BarnesandNoble.com & Amazon.com.

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She's Twelve Going on Twenty by Kim Camp (Book Review)

*Disclosure- I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher via Book Sneeze in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book:

Especially for moms of teens and preteens, a practical, Christ-centered guide to helping your daughter grow in mind, body, and spirit.
As the mother of a young girl aged 9 to 16, you want a lot for your daughter. You want to see her soar in self-confidence and accomplishment, to navigate a safe course through the treacherous waters of school, culture, and hormones, and to grow closer to God while learning to rely on his Word. And through it all to maintain a warm, open mother-daughter relationship.
She's Twelve Going on Twenty offers a comprehensive, Christian approach to issues almost every mother and daughter will encounter:

• Identity and faith
• Music, movies, TV, and the Internet
• Boys and falling in love, sex and purity
• School and grades
• Drugs and alcohol
• Clothes, fads, appearance, and body language
• Boundaries and personal safety

Easy-to-read and deeply personal, this invaluable book draws on a wealth of experience, careful research, and a deep grounding in the Bible and Christian faith. "Working It Out Together"at the end of each chapter provides communication starters and activities to help you and your daughter talk things out and plot a positive course together for the challenging but exciting adolescent years.

My thoughts:

I'll admit, at 5 years old my daughter is nowhere near in the age range this book is aimed at, but as a often befuddled parent, I think that it is never too early to research, learn or seek out advice about parenting. My parents were from the old school state of mind that we just don't bring up private things or things parents just don't want to talk with their kids about and so I think that makes me want to be more open with my kids. She's Twelve Going on Twenty touches on all of the difficult subjects that I know will not be easy once my daughter is a pre-teen. I thought the book was laid out in a very organized manner and touched on all of the subjects that moms need advice on about their daughters. One of the most helpful things about the book are the true life examples of pre-teen and teen girls going through different things and how even two daughters in the same family might react differently to the same situation. The whole point of the book really is to gently guide your daughter through pre-teen and teen issues such as body image, faith, boys, sex/purity and changes within their own bodies. What I got out of this book was that we really need to be in tune to our daughter's personalities to best know how to approach these tough subjects with them (don't know your daughter's personality type? Don't worry, there are examples in the book to help you figure it out!). One of the main things that this book seems to focus on is keeping an open line of communication with our daughters and a really neat way that can be done is at the end of each chapter in this book, there are several discussion questions for mom and daughter to discuss and answer together. She's Twelve Going on Twenty will definitely be the first book I read for when my daughter hits those tween years, which isn't too far off if I really think about it. I think studying this book together could bring a mother and daughter closer together and might help answer some of the tough questions parents often face when it comes to their daughters.

About the author:

Kim Camp is the host and producer of the Lifersize video series for expectant and new mothers and the author of the book Fit to Be Mom.

Find out more about Kim Camp at FaithGateway.com

Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble- Book Review/Blog Tour

About the book:

Welcome to Hope Beach. A place of intoxicating beauty...where trouble hits with the force of a hurricane.

Inheriting a beautiful old hotel on the Outer Banks could be a dream come true for Libby. The inn cries out for her restorer's talent and love of history. She's delighted to learn of the family she never knew she had. And the handsome Coast Guard lieutenant she's met there on the island could definitely be the man of her dreams!

But Libby soon realizes that the only way she can afford the upkeep on the inn is to sell it to developers who are stalking the Island. The father who will her the inn has died before she could meet him, and her new found brother and sister are convinced she's there to still their birthright. Worst of all, her best friend and business partner has been kidnapped before her eyes, and Libb's under suspicion for the crime.

Libby's dream come true is becoming a nightmare. Her only option is to find her friend and prove her innocemce, or lose everything on the shore of Hope Island.

About the author:

Best-selling author Colleen Coble's novels have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Best Books of Indiana, ACFW Book of the Year, RWA's RITA, the Holt Medallion, the Daphne du Maurier, National Reader's Choice, and the Booksellers Best. She has nearly 2 million books in print and writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail. Colleen is CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers and is a member of Romance Writers of America. She lives with her husband Dave in Indiana.

Visit Colleen Coble's Website

My thoughts on Tidewater Inn:

This novel takes to of my favorite themes of a novel- mystery and romance- and puts them together. Tidewater Inn begins with a bang, Libby's business partner Nicole is kidnapped almost immediately, a crime for which Libby is immediately suspected. Not only does she need to find Nicole to clear her name, a father she thought was dead long ago has left her his inn on Hope Island and she has two siblings and an aunt she never knew about to try and get to know. Aunt Pearl is a shoulder for Libby to lean on when her new found brother and sister don't trust Libby's motives for being on the island. They feel their father should have left the inn to them. I really enjoyed seeing how each of these relationships would take off. Libby has also has met a very interesting man in Alec, but is he truly interested in her and helping her find Nicole, or does he think she is responsible for the disappearance?

This is a great novel with many twists and turns, great characters and a wonderful story line, all leading up to a very intense ending.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense!

See what other bloggers are saying about Tidewater Inn!

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Celebrate with Colleen by entering to win a $500 gift certificate to BedandBreakfast.com!

Find out what the reviewers are saying here!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A $500 gift certificate to BedandBreakfast.com
• A copy of Tidewater Inn.

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on August 22nd. Winner will be announced at Colleen's "Tidewater Inn" Author Chat Facebook Party on 8/23. Colleen will be sharing the story behind the book, hosting a book chat, testing your trivia skills, and of course, there will be plenty of fun giveaways - books, gift certificates and a Book Club Prize Pack! She’ll also be giving a sneak peak of her next book too!

So grab your copy of Tidewater Inn and join Colleen on the evening of the August 23rd  for a chance to connect with Colleen and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book - don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER about Colleen's giveaway and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 23rd!


*Disclaimer- I received a complimentary copy of Tidewater Inn. I was not required to write a positive review & all opinions stated are 100% my own.