BookLoverAmanda

  Heart of Red, Blood of Blue by Rebecca Belliston - 5 Stars - An amazing standalone Christian fantasy story! This is all about Princess Gisela of Steinland who was born with albinism. Her betrothal to Prince Jerrik of Kronga ended in his death and a 10 year war started with her father. Her father keeps her hidden for many years until he wants to use her to agree to another alliance and betroth her to an awful leader. A Krongon war commander, Bloodless Kristoff, is also after Gisela after killing her siblings as well so that puts a lot of stress on the situation. Gisela runs away and starts finding the truth as she flees.....her ultimate goal is to end this crazy war. Can she do it? OK YA'LL READ THIS BOOK. It's an ALL time favorite. I loved the unexpected plot twists that I didn't see coming, it has amazing characters and kept me on the edge of my seat! I was SHOCKED at the ending when things were revealed. Highly recommend for those who want a good, clean Christian non-ma...

  Sailor Moon Book 1 Review - 4 Stars  It's hard to read and rate this manga as it is something very nostalgic for me personally. I loved Sailor Moon the show and books growing up as a young girl. I had a fan club with my friends in middle school and it has always been something I enjoyed.  After reading book 1, I still enjoy the story and the characters but do have some issues with it from a christian perspective and as an adult re-reading it from a different point of view now.  Let's start with what I LOVE. - Sailor Scouts and their friendship - Usagi being so ditsy and funny - Luna as the talking cat - the best.  - The overall storyline with their past and Tuxedo Mask coming in to help  - The humor throughout the book  Here's what I am not crazy about anymore and don't find appropriate for young readers personally: - How rooted in astrology some of the book / characters are (I can remember as a young girl getting heavily involved in astrology after ...

  Waymaker - Ann Voskamp - 5 Stars - A beautiful, poetic Christian non-fiction read. Wow. There are so many quotes I have highlighted here in this book. Ann so poetically tells us her story of things that have happened in her marriage, adoption process, and her life in general. So honest, real, raw.  Many times tears filled my eyes reading this. She has a very unique journaling / poetry style in this book that made it very interactive to read. I think there were a few times I did not fully grasp what she was trying to say, but overall LOVED it. "We don't need answers from God like we need attachment with God." "Salvation by God is ultimately for attachment to God." "Life is never made unbearable by the road itself but by the way we bear the road." Just a few of my favorite quotes....beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.  Goodreads Review:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5393305988 Amazon:  https://amzn.to/3QWkDhJ YouTube Review Video:  https://www.yo...

  Autumn Skies - Denise Hunter - 3.5 Stars (Book 3 in the Bluebell Inn Romance Series) I liked this but didn't love it -- I haven't read the other books in the series but don't feel like you have to. This is about Wyatt and Grace. Wyatt is a Secret Service agent and takes a mandatory leave of absence that leaves him turning up at The Bluebell Inn where he meets Grace. They both have a mystery of baggage that we don't know about fully until the end of the story. Little bits are revealed through out the story, such as Grace having survivors guilt over something that happened many years ago when she was young and Wyatt experiencing trauma surrounding his mother's death. But we don't fully see what happened until the end---I was shocked at that part, very interesting how Hunter tied this all together between the two characters. I liked how the characters went on camping trips and got stuck together - getting to know each other. That's always a fun trope. However...

  How to Kiss Your Best Friend - Jenny Proctor - 4 Stars - A Clean, Sweet, Friends to Lovers Rom-Com! Alright ya'll, another cute rom-com down! I really enjoyed the characters, family and small town vibes in this one! The Hawthorne Brothers were hilarious and I can't wait to read more in this series. We have a chemistry teacher and professional kayaker - Brody - and a journalist and traveler - Kate. They were best friends growing up but Kate took some time to travel over the years. With so much going on in her family life, she has just taken the time to travel and do life by herself. Until she comes back to her hometown of Silver Creek to sort through her grandmother's house to get it ready to sell and Brody is taken back once more to how much he loves her and has always loved her. He's hoping to reconnect with her and that she will stay in town for good....the story goes on from here. I had SO much fun reading this one. Kate and Brody had the best chemistry together an...

                              Voice of the Ancient - Connilyn Cossette - 4 Stars - A beautiful coming of age story for Avidan and Keziah set during the crowning of King Saul! What a great start to The King's Men series! I am so excited to see what Connilyn does next! The way she weaves in fictional characters set during biblical times and events is always amazing!  This follows both Avidan and Keziah at the start of the newly crowned King Saul's reign in 1042 BC. Avidan and his 3 cousins are the primary focus of the series - they have a brotherhood that is as strong as can be. In this books, we follow Avidan and his search to find one of his cousin's that goes missing in their battle together. He goes on a search alone to find him, but runs into Keziah, the daughter of a powerful clan chief in Manasseh who is on the run from a forced marriage to a terrible man. Avidan and Keziah begin their journey together ...

  Cloak of Scarlet - Melanie Dickerson - 3.5 rounded up to 4 Stars - Little Red Riding Hood Retelling (Book #5 in The Dericott Tales but can be read as a Standalone.) I always enjoy my time reading these YA medieval fairytale retellings in this series. This one was a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. They have enough of the basics of the retelling to be a retelling but also enough of a twist to be their own stories - I always like that. They are always lighthearted and just what I need for the time.  Set in the late 1300s in England, we follow Violet, who was adopted and loves to visit her grandmother in her red cloak. Violet's grandmother is robbed by the villain, Baron Dunham. Violet finds herself in the middle of an action packed story and will do anything to stop the Baron from mistreating her people and stealing from them. We see Sir Merek come in, who is a knight of the Baron, but when he meets Violet, he discovers what the Baron has been doing and just how evil he re...

  Summer in the Spotlight - Liz Johnson - 4 Stars - A Cute, Clean, Christian Contemporary Romance (Book #3 in the Prince Edward Island Shores Series) A cute summer romance between Levi and Kelsey, with a little bit of family drama and a goal to restore the local theater that gets damaged as an aftermath of the hurricane that Levi rescues Kelsey in! I really enjoyed this one. My favorite parts were the beginning with Levi rescuing Kelsey from the hurricane aftermath and them all working together to save and rebuild the theater. Levi is rough around the edges and doesn't talk much, but he really grows in this story. Kelsey experienced some good growth as well - specifically surrounding hospitals and her fear of seeing blood. It was just a super cute, clean, small town romance that I enjoyed. While I wish we had more faith in this book, it was overall very sweet and cute. I think anyone who loves the setting of Prince Edward Island would also really enjoy this. We got to see all the R...

The Good Sister - Sally Hepworth - 5 Stars - AMAZING! WOW. 5 STARS. What an AMAZING secular psychological thriller! I would say it leans more on the family drama / suspense side - which I LOVED. Sally Hepworth new fav?! YES. I am so glad I read this with my friends as it really enhanced the reading experience. We did NOT see what happened in the end and that was awesome. THIS is how you do a psychological thriller! Love to see it! This book will keep you on your toes and keep you guessing all the way through. This follows 2 twin sisters, Fern and Rose. Rose has taken care of Fern her entire life, as Fern is neurodivergent and has sensory problems. My son is Autistic and I have ADHD, so many of her struggles reminded me of being on the spectrum with some of his issues and ADHD with some of mine, but she has never been formally diagnosed. Rose is unable to get pregnant and Fern sees this as an opportunity to help her sister after everything she has done for her. So she secretly sets out ...

The Choices She Made - Felicia Ferguson - 4 Stars - An emotional, faith filled read with tough topics but important to read! This book really surprised me. Wow. I cried while reading in several places as it does deal with some difficult subjects but it is filled with biblical truths and scriptures. God did not give us a spirit of fear. He has a plan for us. The Lord works everything out for our good. Loved how much faith was in this story and how impactful it was for me.  This book follows Madeline in 1997 and 2011. In 1997, we follow her story of how she was sexually assaulted by the son (John David) of a wealthy rancher at the age of 17 and becomes pregnant. She never reports it during this time as she is afraid of the damage it will do for her family financially due to the circumstances of the attacker's family and connections to her family.  Her mother passed away many years ago so it's just her and her Dad. When her Dad finds out about what happened, we see him wrestle wi...

  Friendshipped - 3.5 Stars - Getting Shipped Book #1 - A fun friends to lovers clean rom-com story. My first in my rom-com clean romance journey and I have so many thoughts! I really enjoyed SOOOO much from this book such as the amazing humor, characters, friend group, town etc. And I can't wait to read more in this series as I think Savannah Scott is an AWESOME author. But in reading this, and starting my clean romance rom-com journey, I think I will find what tropes I enjoy vs the ones I don't. I am wondering if I am just not a friends-to-lovers trope person - either way - I rated this 3.5 stars. Which means, there is a lot about the story I enjoyed but a few things that were not my favorite. See more below! Either way, I think a LOT of ya'll will enjoy these books and I am excited to read the next one! This story follows Trevor and Lexi who work together, live in the same duplex as neighbors and have been friends since they were young. They each like each other but don...

  The Masterpiece - Francine Rivers - 5 Stars - A beautiful, emotional, real story of 2 characters who experience true healing through Jesus. WOW, Francine never disappoints ya'll. I knew this would be 5 stars but didn't realize just how beautiful it would be. This story will continue to stick with me for a long time. I annotated my book copy with so many beautiful quotes. This book deals with themes of brokenness, redemption and the healing power of Jesus' love for us. He never stops pursuing us and we see that firsthand in this book. This book will tug at your heart strings as we read all about the lives of Grace Moore and Roman Velasco. Each have their own traumatic past they have been through. Grace is a believer in Jesus but Roman is not. We see how the Lord truly pursues Roman throughout the story and how Grace is the one to lead him to Him. In this story we see Grace go to work as Roman's assistant - he is a very rich artist and Grace is struggling to provide for...