BookLoverAmanda

  Iscariot - Tosca Lee - 5 Stars - A beautiful, thought-provoking biblical fiction about Judas Tosca Lee's "Iscariot" is such a thought-provoking novel that dives deep into the life and character of Judas Iscariot. We see his life with his family, the tragedy he went through and his life as he walked with Jesus. Tosca Lee truly explores the complexity of human nature, faith and the ultimate act of betrayal. We see Judas who grapples with his loyalty to Jesus but as the reader you find yourself looking at Judas with such sympathy and truly I can see myself in him - I have been a Judas to others in the past and to Jesus. I think that's what Tosca Lee is wanting us to take a step back and think about -- true conviction in many moments throughout this book for ourselves, return to the Gospels in our Bible, return to His living word and humble ourselves because we are not so different than Judas was. As my friend Chrissie said in her review, only two things distinguish me ...

Marshaling Her Heart - Mary Connealy - 3.5 Stars  Marshaling Her Heart is book 3 in the Wyoming Sunrise Series and follows Becky Pruitt's journey through her successful ranch, relationship with Nate Paxton and her estranged abusive father. Becky has always been a very interesting character to me and I was super excited to follow along in her journey in this conclusion to the Wyoming Sunrise series! I really enjoyed book 1 (5 stars) and book 2 (4 stars).  I did really enjoy the story and the conclusion for all of our characters because we got to see a lot of their endings from book 1 and 2 - loved that! Loved being back in this town and seeing the ending with the faith content -- the peace Becky experienced. "To live is Christ, to die is Gain." Amen. She was at peace no matter what was going on in those moments. So much action throughout this story with the drama surrounding her father, the deadeye gang etc. I am excited to read more from Mary as this series has been great...

  Juniper Bean Resorts to Murder - Gracie Ruth Mitchell - 4.5 Stars - What a GREAT clean rom-com cozy mystery all in one! WOW - I loved this book so much! It truly was GREAT! The audiobook was FANTASTIC with a male and female narrator and that truly added to my experience while listening. This has so much I love in books - a cozy mystery with a rom-com twist - AMAZING. AIDIPER/JUNIPAIDE FO EVA. (Loved those couple names in this!) We have Juniper Bean who is a fun, pink-haired quirky author with an awesome yellow car who has been through a LOT over the last 10+ years of her life. Her mother passed away several years ago, she never knew her father, she was in foster care due to her mother's neglect - it's been a tough time for our girl here. Her life was completely changed because she met Aiden - and let me just say -- HE IS THE BEST BOOK BOYFRIENDDDD! I truly loved his character. He is 5 years older than Juniper and they have quite the past together. They haven't seen each o...

  To Have and To Hold - Three Autumn Love Stories by Betsy St. Amant, Becky Wade and Katie Ganshert. Individual Novella Reviews Below: Love Takes The Cake - Betsy St. Amant  4.5 Stars  This was so cute and just the right amount of hallmark cheese I wanted this weekend ❤️ This is book 1 inside the To Have and To Hold Novella bind up book. I really enjoyed the story, characters and depth that was in a small short novella. We have Charlotte who has her own bakery and has been eyeing Will over the last 3 months as her weekly customer. She is a single mom to a sweet little 5 year old girl so she hasn’t had any developments or interest in the relationship department until Will comes along. Will keeps buying bakery goods for this girl, Melissa, and Charlotte assumes it’s his girlfriend but it’s really his sister(the reader knows this quickly but Charlotte doesn’t) 🤣 So things go on from here as Charlotte works through her wedding festivities and gets to know Will throughout the...

  The Sisters of Sea View by Julie Klassen - 3.5 Stars  Julie Klassen does such a great job with the research of her settings and history in her books. I can always see that come through in her stories. In this one, we see 4 sisters, but we follow 2 more closely then the other 2 in this book. We do see all 4 sister's POVs throughout the story, which I think hindered my enjoyment since I listened to the audiobook - I should have physically read this since there were so many POVs but I did overall enjoy the story.  The sisters are Sarah, Emily, Viola and Georgina. In this one, we see mostly Sarah and Viola's story. I related a lot to what Viola was experiencing through her scar and being self conscious. Loved her ending in this book and how she grows throughout to tell her story and help someone from this bad surgeon. Sarah is the oldest and is trying to keep the family together pretty much - they are all suffering from bad finances where their father had passed away and th...

  The Letter Tree by Rachel Fordham - 5 Stars - AMAZING! The Letter Tree by Rachel Fordham is a delightful and captivating story that effortlessly weaves together elements of a classic 1920s romance with a storyline that is perfect for lovers of You've Got Mail and Romeo and Juliet. At the heart of this book lies two characters - torn apart by their family feud many years ago. Laura Bradshaw and Isaac Campbell. They were childhood friends at one point but they were torn apart by circumstances unknown to them many years ago. All they know is the Bradshaws and the Campbells hate each other and are to not be seen together. The twist of this tale comes when Laura and Isaac have been secretly exchanging letters together in the big tree in the Buffalo Zoo in New York for years. The one rule? Never to reveal each other's name to one another. It all started when Isaac found one of Laura's poems she wrote and put in the tree - so he wrote her back many years ago.  So, they have grow...

 Julia Monroe Begins Again by Rebekah Millet - DNF at 51% - Ch 21  Let me start by saying this book has tropes I am not usually a fan of - so take my review with a grain of salt. This may be something for you - and it's just not for me. I do think Rebekah has great writing and I would love to check out future books by her if the tropes are up my alley - I probably should have really waited to see if the tropes would have been for me or not but I digress.  Julia Monroe is a 40 year old widow and mother of 2 boys, 18 and 19 years old, who are off to college now, leaving Julia at home alone to figure out this next stage of her life. She had a beautiful, happy marriage to her husband Mark - but he passed away 10 years ago and she is not eager to jump into a new relationship, for fear of getting hurt again. In comes Samuel Reed, the "ex-boyfriend before her life with her husband". Their relationship ended on bad terms but 20 years later, he's back in town and arrives at he...

The Lost Boys of Barlow Theater - Jamie Jo Wright - 4.5 Stars  Wow, Jaime Jo does it AGAIN! This is a haunting and intricately woven novel that seamlessly combines elements of mystery and suspense. We have richly developed characters and a storyline that spans generations. This book is going to keep readers engaged from start to finish!  Set in the eerie backdrop of the Barlow Theater, this story is told through dual timelines - one in present day and one in the early 1900s. In 1915, we see Greta Mercy, who is skeptical of the theater as her brother died there in an accident during its construction. When her younger brother goes missing after breaking into the building, Greta hopes the local police can help her solve this mystery of where he is. Plus, early on in the story, Greta caused quite the uproar when she says she saw a child fall from the theater balcony during one of the productions...yet no child was found. Was she seeing things or is there more to this theater than ...

   The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (Book 2 in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) “It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass.” ―  J.R.R. Tolkien,  The Two Towers 'Why, Sam,' he said, 'to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the story was already written. But you've left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the stouthearted. "I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn't they put in more of his talk, dad? That's what I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam, would he, dad?"' 'Now, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam, 'you shouldn't make fun. I was serious.' 'So was I,' said Frodo, ...

  Cider Shop Rules - Julie Anne Lindsey - 4 Stars - Book 3 in the Cider Shop Mystery Series What a perfect fall read! All the fall vibes, atmosphere, activities - so much fun reading it! We are back in Blossom Valley with the upcoming Fall Festival. Everyone is looking forward to Jacob Potter's pumpkin farm with hay rides, pumpkin picking and corn maze fun. Things go south fast though when Mr. Potter is found dead in the back of Winnie's pickup truck. Sheriff Colton is back trying to protect Winnie and figure out who killed Mr. Potter - but then someone named Blake comes in and a little bit of a love triangle comes in the beginning of the story...Will they figure out the killer? Who will win Winnie's heart along the way? This is the 3rd and final installment of the Cider Shop Mystery series and I am SO sad! I want more of these amazing characters and setting! It feels so southern and real and I just LOVE it. While nothing compares to the first book, this one was a solid 4 s...

  You Are More Than You've Been Told - Hosanna Wong I love Hosanna Wong’s spoken word poetry and got to see her perform it at a women’s conference in the past. This book was filled with the Gospel of Jesus and I got so much out of it. Some things were repeated several times but she really brings her points home. I love how she explains we have a new name in Christ with all the names He has given us. And we are NOT what others have defined us as. I also appreciated her discussions on the Sabbath and resting - and her story about her family and her past.  This is all about how can we figure out who we are, how you don't have to live disconnected from yourself or from God. She gives us a roadmap to living and reconnecting with God. When you don't feel worth or loved or good enough....Hosanna's book truly reminds us of spending time in prayer, finding time to rest, finding time for real community, fighting for time in God's word...etc.  No matter what stage you are in y...