BookLoverAmanda

  Murder is a Piece of Cake - Valerie Burns - 4 Stars - (B ook 2 in the Baker Street Mystery Series) Really enjoyed this second book in the series! We are back in the small town of New Bison and the Spring Baking Festival is almost here! Maddy is hoping to get the top prize in the contest to put Baby Cakes Bakery on the map as a must-visit bakery. When a second bakery comes into town from CJ Davenport, an investor who is determined to sabotage Maddy in any way he can, she is worried about the competition to no end. All of a sudden, CJ ends up dead and they're looking for the killer. I enjoyed being back in this small town with our great cast of characters and Maddy continues to grow as a baker in her Aunt Octavia's old bakery. This mystery was a bit more complete and I didn't figure it out! The only thing I am not fond of in this one is the overuse of the hashtags in this story - sometimes it just takes you out of the story. Loved having Baby the Mastiff dog back in the sto...

Of Books and Bagpipes - Paige Shelton - 3 Stars - Book 2 in the Scottish Bookshop Mystery Series I like our characters and the story in general, but in this one, I sometimes got bored, a little confused on keeping people together and how they were related to one another - overall it was just ok. I don't know what this book was missing - maybe more in the romance area. We know she is seeing someone but you never really see them on page together. We have a lot of secrets in this one and I am still not sure if I can trust Edwin (Delaney's boss). He is just a very odd character to me. I will be continuing on in the series as I have all of them on my audible account. I liked it, but not in love yet. I did like book 1 more. Another thing I think that is missing here is we don't see much work being done in the bookstore - I think that would make it more realistic. I still love the Scotland setting and the accent in the narration! This followed Delaney, a few months after book 1, w...

  The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4) - Agatha Christie - A PERFECT MYSTERY! WOW I DID NOT SEE THE ENDING COMING YA'LL! WHAT A PERFECT MYSTERY! So much fun trying to piece all this together (of course, I am no sleuth LOL) but it was so clever and she is truly the QUEEN of Mystery! The ending is what made this a 5 star read truly. Hercule Poirot has retired when a murder occurs - everyone is shocked when a welathy local widow commits suicide and the next day her fiance, Roger Ackroyd, is stabbed to death. Poirot comes in to help solve this crazy murder with SO many suspects! The narrator of the story, Dr. James Sheppard is helping assist Poirot in solving the case and we go on from here. This is truly my favorite Agatha Christie so far! I can only imagine how amazing this way for its time when she wrote it. Such a classic. I kept trying to figure out who the killer was but boy, I did NOT see it. I would LOVE to re-read this and see all the clues I missed :) I love how P...

  Nicolae - Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins - 5 Stars - THIS ENDING! I need to know all the things after that ending! (Book 3 in the Left Behind Series) I absoluley love every time I dive back into this series. I truly appreciate the recaps in the beginning too. It's wild to think this was written almost 30 years ago and the things going on in this book - some are happening today as biblical prophecy continues to unfold. This series reminds us that NOW is the time to come to the Lord and be ready for the end of times. We are surely living in them today. Trust in Jesus before it's too late.  In this book, we see the rise of the antichrist character and all the judgements as they start to unfold. Rayford and Buck find themselves pressed into service for the antichrist and they are all working as the tribulation force together as Nicolae continues to take over the United Nations, sign a peace treaty with Israel, push for one world religion among the nations, cashless society....a...

An August Bride - Debra Clopton - 2.5 to 3 Stars - Cute cowboy - beach romance but ultimately didn't love the Instalove relationship. This is book 9 in the "A Year of Weddings" series - which are wedding novella in each month. I have read the Winter Brides group and this was my first in the Summer Brides group. Each novella can be very hit or miss for me. It's hard to truly connect in novellas sometimes and these romance novellas surrounding weddings can be usually instalove and not my favorites. This one, An August Bride by Debra Clopton, had good characters and writing so I would be interested in reading some of her other books. However, the instalove and unrealistic relationship in the end just wasn't my favorite so I give this 2.5 stars, rounding up to 3 on Goodreads.  This novella is about Kelsey who was left at the alter by a cowboy. She vows to never love a cowboy again until Brent shows up. She is going to her cousin's beach wedding  Brent isn't re...

The Laws of Attraction - Mary Connealy - 4 Stars - A great continuation in the Wyoming Sunrise Series! (Book 2) Another book that pulls you right into the story! We are back in this small town of Pine Valley in 1871 Wyoming and the dead eye gang continues to reek havoc!  In book 2 of the Wyoming Sunrise series, we follow Nell, the widowed seamstress we met in book 1, Forged in Love. I was so interested in Nell's story as in book 1 she was a fantastic, and a bit mysterious, side character. The book opens in Nell's shop where she primarily makes chaps for westerners. A young girl runs into her shop to hide when her father comes in looking for her. The young girl is embarrassed about her father having her wear breeches instead of a dress to town. When  the girl explains this to her father, Brand, Nell overhears how she and her 2 sisters wish they could wear dresses - but Brand can't afford to buy them. Nell offers a proposition to Brand and the girls that if they will work in ...

The Painter's Daughter - Julie Klassen - 4.5 Stars - Such beautiful storytelling! My favorite Julie Klassen book so far! This is my favorite Julie Klassen book so far! 4.5-5 stars, rounding up to 5. Beautiful storytelling. Truly felt like I was in the middle of a regency tv series or movie. Jane Austen vibes. One of the best regency romances I have ever read! Plus, a marriage of convenience – my favorite! :) In this story, set in England 1815, we follow Sophie Dupont, who fell in love with an artist, Wesley Overtree. Sophie thought she was in love with Wesley and that he would marry her. Unfortunately, things don't happy as she expected...and Wesley leaves for Italy as he jumped at the opportunity to travel and paint. Wesley leaves behind a sorry excuse for a note to Sophie leaving her and his brother, Stephen, not anticipating Wesley's return anytime soon. What Sophie didn't tell Wesley before he left – she is pregnant with his child. Wesley's brother, Captain Step...

Hey ya'll! I have had several people reach out and ask where they can find my recent book reviews in text format. I use Goodreads, Instagram and YouTube to review books but I know not everyone uses Goodreads or Instagram and it's not always user friendly to use these platforms for some. So here is my first blog post to see how this works out. It's not anything fancy but maybe this won't be too hard to keep up with? We'll see. I am leaving all of my profile links below for anyone who wants to follow me on any of my other platforms but I am excited to add this blog to my list of ways to connect with you all in book reviews! As always, I love you guys SO much and am so thankful for each and every one of you in the bookish community. I will be adding some of my recent book reviews in the next few posts and past reviews that you can go through below. I will put the date of the post the day I reviewed it on Goodreads. - Amanda Instagram:  https://www. instagram.com/booklo...

The Italian Ballerina - Kristy Cambron - 4 Stars - An Emotional WW2 Story What an ending 😭❤️ my heart. Very slow start and hard for me to keep up at first with what was going on but loved the last 50%. Such a great story and beautiful characters who had a common goal to keep this precious young girl safe. 4 stars.  This is a dual timeline, christian historical WW2 fiction novel set in Rome, 1943 and Present Day. We follow 3 different people - British Ballerina Julia Bradbury who is stranded and forced to take refuge on Tiber Island as she risks everything to rescue Italian Jewish people from the Holocaust. She is working at the hospital posing as a nurse as they make the Germans believe in the fake "Syndrome K" disease - a disease used to save Jewish people from the Germans. When one day, a young little girl who dreams of being a ballerina one day shows up at her door and Julia, plus several others are determined to reunite the young dancer with her family. Then we follow...

  Forged in Love - Mary Connealy - 5 Stars - Great Western Romance! (Book 1 in the Wyoming Sunrise Series) Ya'll, what a SURPRISE! I really enjoyed this book! Such an engaging, "keep you on your toes" plot and a very precious and sweet romance. I don't read a lot of Western settings but I am starting to really come to LOVE them! I listened to the audio and felt like the narrator has a great "western historical fiction" voice so that is probably another reason I really liked it! The book is fast paced in the plot but also has several beautiful chapters of Clint and Mariah together that I LOVED. I also laughed out loud at several points throughout the story and LOVED the loyal dog friend. Set in 1870, Mariah Stover is left for dead with no memory when the Deadeye Gang robs the stagecoach she's on, killing her father and brother. Clint Roberts and others rush to check out the scene when their horses chaotically show back up into town. Clint has had an inter...

Keturah by Lisa T. Bergren - 4 Stars - Let's travel to the 1700s in the West Indies for family drama, a strong faith walk and a protective hero! (Book 1 in The Sugar Baron's Daughters Series) I ended up really enjoying Keturah. At first I wasn't loving it, but once the characters got to off the ship to their destination, things started happening and I was certainly more invested. I really liked our main guy of Gray in this book - he was such a good hero in the story. I loved how Keturah was a strong, female lead but also broken in many ways and needed true healing from the Lord. Seeing her faith walk was inspiring. She can be so stubborn and quick to anger throughout the story, but to see her surrender to God - so beautiful. Also, I really liked her sisters and excited to read more of their stories in the series. In 1772 England, Lady Keturah and her sisters found themselves heiresses of their father's estate in the West Indies and have to travel there to save what is l...

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis - 4 Stars - "No one is told any story but their own." (Book 3 in the Chronicles of Narnia) I enjoyed this children's classic in the Narnia series :) I think there is a lot I still didnt fully understand and need to re-read some of it a second time but this first time around I enjoyed the story. 2 young children find themselves in a world of talking animals and a journey to Narnia. Loved the talking horse, Bree and the times we saw Aslan. This is separate journey/story but I still liked being in this world. Really fun adventure and I am excited to continue in the series. :) Also need to look into more of the Christian allegory here as I always love tying that together. I could see some things but want to dive more into it. Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5607378071 Amazon:  https://amzn.to/43Ujueb YouTube Review Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F0tuWJiWKg 

  Five Days in Skye - Carla Laureano - 3.5 Stars - A great Christian romance set in Scotland! (Book 1 in the MacDonald Family Trilogy) An enjoyable Christian, contemporary romance with an immersive setting in Scotland. I really liked the setting the most in this story - our main characters being in Scotland and traveling around to the different sights and such - loved that. Our main characters, James and Andrea were fun to see getting to know each other - lots of sarcasm and flirtatious moments, but still sweet. Andrea went through some very hard things and was broken by them and to see her come back to God in her brokenness was a beautiful moment. I also loved how James was willing to be there for her through he brokenness and was very understanding after she opened up to him. I really liked the family side characters too. This follows Andrea - who is working as a hospitality consultant and has to "snag this high-profile client" or kiss her dreams of a promotion goodbye. Thi...

  A Noble Masquerade - Kristi Ann Hunter - 5 Stars - A regency romance that will leave you with lots of laughs and loves!  (Book 1 in The Hawthorne House Series) I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! Read this if you love books with lots of moments that will make you laugh out loud, regency romance, great characters, writing secret letters with your love interest, the trope of liking your brother's best friend and lots of secrets along the way leading up to a big reveal! Miranda and Ryland - MY HEART. One of my favorite couples of all time. This book had me laughing and was just a good time. Miranda is one of my favorite characters right now - she is SO funny and truly cares for others but she also ain't afraid to get right in the thick of things! Ryland was also such a good guy and so mysterious- LOVED him. In this story, we have Lady Miranda Hawthorne who has written her brother's best friend, the Duke of Marshington, these pretend letters for many years. These were really more like...

  The Hunter and the Valley of Death - Brennan S. McPherson - 4 Stars - A beautiful Christian allegory novella. (Book 1 in The Psalms Series) This short book got me emotional in the end! This is an allegorical, lyrical story based on Psalm 23 and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It reads like a biblical fiction style story to me with a fantastical parable element. It may be short, but boy does it bring the emotions in the end. Maybe it's just the time in my life that I am reading it, but I did tear up in the end. I was a little confused at the beginning and it took me a little bit to understand what was going on, but by the middle of the story I was really interested in this journey our character was taking. Keep reading if you're not sure what's going on - I am glad I did. What a beautiful reminder that "When we take our eyes off our shepherd we find ourselves surrounded by trouble. And yet, He always delivers the sheep who love Him." In this story we have a man who w...

 Fortress of Snow by Melanie Dickerson - 3.5 to 4 Stars - A Snow Queen Retelling (B ook 4 in The Dericott Tales Series) I am just really enjoying the books in these series :) The set up in typically about the same in each one with a different retelling vibe and I am learning that I really enjoy retellings from this series. This one is a "Snow Queen" reimagining and follows Mazy. Her father dies and brother, Warin, abandons her - leaving Mazy forced to seek help from her older brother, Sir John in the estate of Strachleigh. When she gets there to see John, he isn't as eager to help her but she meets the kind and loyal Sir Berenger. Things happen that force Sir. Berenger and Mazy apart for 2 years. During those 2 years, she learns more about how to defend herself and becomes an excellent knife throwing expert and how to sell in the market goods to take care of herself in London. Circumstances brings Sir Berenger and her back together after 2 years but things happen when Ber...