God Gave Us Easter by Lisa Tawn Bergren

 

I've just received God Gave Us Easter, Lisa Tawn Bergren's latest book in the God Gave Us... series which is for children ages 2-6.   In this book, Little Cub is introduced to the true meaning of Easter.  As her family celebrates doing all the traditional Easter things like, dying eggs and getting Easter candy, Papa helps to bring in the true meaning of Easter which is far more than eggs and candy.  

I thought this book was really cute.  The illustrations are adorable (who can resist cute, cuddly bears?) and the story line was good too.  What is brought up in the book just touches the surface of what Easter means, but would lead to questions about the true meaning of Easter.  Parents would then have the opportunity to point them to Jesus, the One who willingly gave up His life for us.  I know for our family we have thought a lot about Easter and how we want to celebrate it.  We have chosen to do our baskets and eggs on the first day of Spring.   This leaves Easter morning a time to reflect on Christ and what He has done for us. 

If you are interesting Lisa Tawn Bergren's others books, I have written reviews of  God Gave Us You, God Gave Us Two and God Gave Us So Much.  Below you can watch the book trailer for God Gave Us Easter. 

And here you can read an excerpt of Lisa's book.

God Gave Us Easter by Lisa Tawn Bergren (Excerpt) by WaterBrook Multnomah

To visit Lisa Tawn Bergren's website click here and find out more about this author and her books.

**I received this book free from the blogging for books program by Waterbrook Publishing Company in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Shattered by Dani Pettrey

I just finished the second book in Dani Pettery's Alaskan Courage series called Shattered.  This book continues the story of the McKenna family and centers primarily around Piper and her brother Reef. Reef finally returns home.  Of course, his return is just for a snowboarding tournament which is quite a disappointment to his family.  But things quickly go from good to bad when he is charged with killing one of the tournament players, Karli Davis.  Piper is convinced of her brother's innocence but others are not so sure.  Piper goes on the hunt trying to find the real killer and get her brother declared innocent. 
There a lot of twists and turns to this plot that will not disappoint you.  I really enjoyed reading this second book in the series.   The story was exciting and kept my interest right up through the end. 

**I received this book free from Library Thing in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Submerged by Dani Pettrey

Submerged is Dani Pettrey's debut novel in her new Alaskan Courage Series.  The story dives right in opening in the first chapter with a several key people from the community going in down in a sabotaged plane crash.  Of course, the residence of Yancey, Alaska have no idea that the plane was sabotaged.  The story centers around a girl named Bailey Craig, who has to return to Alaska (inspite of vowing never to return there) to attend the funeral of her Aunt who was in the plane crash.  Bailey still has strong feelings for a guy named Cole McKenna, but because of past mistakes is convinced that they could never be together.  At the same time of the funeral, more gruesome discoveries are made as divers are found dead.  This is a lot of death for one small town.   Bailey ends up staying longer in Yancey than expected adding her expertise to help solve the murder mystery in Yancey. 

LOVED this book!    It was REALLY hard to put this book down and didn't take long to read at all.  Dani Pettrey has done a fabulous job with her plot.  The line of logic in the story is easy to follow and the characters have backgrounds that are just as mysterious that add even more to the story.  This story includes some Russian history and I loved that since my parents were missionaries in Russia.  It was great how she intertwined that into her story.  I would highly recommend this book.  If you like murder mystery novels, make sure to pick this one up!
**I picked this book up at my local library!

A Wreath of Snow by Liz Curits Higgs

I was excited to read another author who is new to me, Liz Curtis Higgs.  A Wreath of Snow :A Victorian Christmas Novella  released back in October 2012 just in time to pick up and enjoy this past Christmas.  Her Novella is about a young women named Meg Campbell who has been away from home for the past 2 years, but when she returns she finds everything the same.  Her brother, Alan, is still his angry, bitter self.  She couldn't blame him.  Back when they were young, Alan had run out onto the ice just as a man had thrown a curling stone and hit him in the back.  He was now in a wheelchair and could barely walk.  Who was the man who had thrown that stone?  Gordon Shaw.  Someone the family never wished to see again.

After being home for Christmas for a little bit of time, Meg Campbell couldn't stand the bitter rage of her brother's misery.  So she caught the first train back to Edinburgh which is where Meg unknowingly meets Gordon Shaw.  Can she forgive all the pain that he has brought into their lives?  Meg has quite a battle in her heart as she faces this test in her life.

I really enjoyed reading this book.  The title plays into the books theme fairly well.  The story seemed to go quickly as most novellas do and left me wanting to read more.  I really liked how each of the characters had to endure some kind of change in their lives.  Change never comes easy, yet it is a must for any kind of growth in our lives.  The author also includes some notes in the back along with a recipe for Scottish Shortbread and a Reader's Guide.  I always find the background  notes from the author interesting.  I'm really glad she included them.  I'm really looking forward to reading some of Liz Curtis Higgs other books.  If you're looking for a fun, short read that you can accomplish in a few days, I would definitely recommend this book.   Below you can read the first chapter of her book and see for yourself that it is one you'll want to pick up!

**I received this free e-book from Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

A Wreath of Snow by Liz Curtis Higgs (Chapter 1 Excerpt) by WaterBrook Multnomah

Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble

I recently read Colleen Coble's book Tidewater Inn.  Libby Holladay and her friend Nicole were in partnership together for their business Holladay Renovations.  Their business is involved with restoring old, historic properties for clients.  Nicole happens to be out in the outer banks working to get things established with a client when she learns some very interesting news.  While at a local outer banks attorney's office she happens to mention Libby's name and come to find out, the attorney has been looking for a Libby Holladay.  Libby then finds out her dad who she thought had died long ago when she was five, had only died a month ago.  And with his passing, he left Libby some valuable land.  As you can imagine, Libby has a lot of digging to do in order find out the truth about her past.  Another shocking piece of information...Libby has a half sister, Vanessa.  Nicole says she is meeting Vanessa and sends Libby a link to the beach cam located where Nicole and Vanessa are meeting so that Libby can see Vanessa.  What Libby witnesses instead is the abduction of her friend Nicole!  Libby races to the outer banks to find Nicole and to discover the family she didn't even know existed.
 
Colleen Coble has written another fantastic novel, and I really enjoyed reading this book.  I like her style of writing and how she keeps things moving in her stories.  Her characters have depth and are really believable. The element of mystery is always intriguing in a storyline and I think that Colleen Coble succeeded in accomplishing that in this story.  I liked that the setting was in the outer banks.  My family took a vacation there not too long ago and it helped me identify with the area.  Colleen Coble's book will not disappoint, and I highly recommend this book!

***I received this free e-book from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden

 Elizabeth Camden is another new to me author.  I was recently privileged to read her newest release, Against the Tide. This book was very intriguing combing mystery, murder, kidnapping and a daring rescue.  Lydia Pallas has not had an easy life.  She has been on her own since she was 9 years old.  After surviving the orphanage, she landed a great job with the Navy Yard because of her grasp of other languages.  She is an orderly girl who doesn't appreciate it when things are not kept in their place.  It is here at the Navy Yard that Lydia meets a dashing, young man named Alexander Banebridge, a.k.a Bane.  He loves messing with Lydia's order and getting under her skin.  Bane is on a mission to help destroy the stronghold of opium that has gained access into American homes. When Lydia volunteers to help his cause, she gets more than she bargained for.  

I did enjoy reading this novel.   It opened up a subject that I had no idea about in our nation's history--opium.  I had no idea that they sold that stuff in medicine and used it to soothe teething infants or calm children.  Elizabeth Camden put a page in the back of the book called historical note to fill in the historical details on the opium issue along with information about the Navy Yard.  The book was well written and had good momentum throughout the whole story.  You can actually read more about Bane in her earlier novel, The Lady of Bolton Hill.

You can read more about this author on her web page here.  She has written 2 other books--The Lady of Bolton Hill and The Rose of Winslow Street with a new release--Into the Whirlwind coming in August this year.

**I received this book free from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.