Wishing on Buttercups (Love Blossoms in Oregon Series) by Miralee Ferrell

It has been too long since my last post. I have been reading, reading, reading! But I have not posted a review in so long! It is my great pleasure to make my first one for 2014 be for the very first author that ever agreed to do a speakerphone interview for our book club way back when we first began. That wonderful lady would be Miralee Ferrell. "Wishing on Buttercups" by Miralee Ferrell We were introduced to Beth in "Dandelions" as she came to the Boardinghouse with her Aunt Wilma. She seemed to be quiet but have a little mystery to her past that kept you wondering. Now in this sequel she is starts to reveal a little more about herself, but you still see that she keeps herself very guarded. We find out that she is quite talented as an artist, and is submitting her drawings to a magazine who wants to publish them. The only problem, she is submitting them under a different name. We also get better acquainted with Jeffrey, he comes to the Boardinghouse from the city as a writer. He is writing a story about the Boardinghouse set in Baker City and the people living there. He is drawn to Beth and as fate would have it the magazine has put his stories together with Beth's illustrations. This is only the beginning of how wonderful the tapestry of these lives are woven together. The story is beautiful and Miralee does a beautiful job of keeping you on the edge of your seat wanting you to keep turning page after page to see how the story ends. It is not predictable in the least, and that is refreshing. There are stories within the story, and I love that even more! I am looking forward to the 3rd book in this series! I highly recommend this book and the first one if you have not read it! Happy Reading* Deborah

A Book That Hit So Close To Home!

I knew as soon as I started reading Ginny Yttrup's newest book "Invisible", that I was not going to put it down, and I was correct. I found myself yearning to get back to it even when I was in the middle of doing my other tasks. Yes! It was THAT good! Ginny's main character in the book is named Ellyn, she is a chef and owner of a cafe and is a lover of butter, but she is not a lover of herself. All she sees when she looks in the mirror is an overweight woman with nothing to offer anyone, especially a man. She is very friendly to people who come into her cafe and makes them feel right at home, but underneath all that she has a lot of hurt from past pain she needs to deal with. Ellyn starts to meet some new friends, one of them she meets is a beautiful woman named Sabina, she is staying in town for an extended time to deal with some issues herself. The friendship these ladies strike up is a "match made in heaven"! I believe God brings people in our lives who may be opposites in some ways but are perfect in the most important areas. Sabina is not afraid to tell Ellyn the truth and vice versa! Ellyn also begin a friendship with a young girl named Twila who she meets at a health food store, Ellyn doesn't realize it, but Twila has been dealing with her own type of eating disorder and has such a strength inside her that will be a great tool to help aid Ellyn towards a better eating lifestyle for herself. In between these relationships with these ladies there is a man,Miles, Ellyn's old doctor. He has been a widow for two years, and is very attracted to Ellyn, but Ellyn cannot fathom how anyone could possibly find her attractive. She has a long road to go before she can open that door. This book is not just about weight issues. The weight issues are just a symptom of something much deeper, a deeper hurt, a hurt these ladies have suffered in their past that has caused them to either overeat or not eat at all. And until that hurt is dealt with the symptoms will not go away. It also will not allow them to move on with the rest of their lives with another person, the healing inside of them has to begin first. I could definitely relate to several areas of this book. I think that is why it drew me in so easily. It made me laugh and it made me cry! And in the end it made me thank Jesus again for bringing me through my own battles with overeating. I was married to a man who whenever I would eat anything he would tell me, "you don't need to eat that." I would hide candy bars in my drawers. It was pretty sickening to have to do that. He and I went to divorce and he told me I was "fat and nobody would want me, I was lucky that he wanted me." I divorced him because he was an alcoholic and I couldn't put out children through that anymore. I am now married to a wonderful Christian man, married me when I was "bigger", I went from a size 18 and am now a size 12, but he would have loved me no matter what size I was! I remember hearing those words like Ellyn heard from "Earl" telling her those put downs and making her feel shameful. Well NO MORE! because just like Twila's tatoo we are "Imago Dei" (Image of God) We should never put ourselves or anyone else down! I loved this book! I will definitely be recommending it to the ladies in my book club and to anyone who will listen! Blessings~Deborah

Finally Here!

When I got the email from Handlebar Publishing to review Ginny Yttrup's new book "Invisible" I could hardly wait. We were first introduced to her when the Chick Lit book club read her debut novel "Words". That book was amazing to say the least! At that time she sent us a copy of her second book "Lost and Found". I finished reading that one just last month, another great read! So I did not hesitate when I had the opportunity to review this one. Plus when we were doing our Skype interview with Ginny after we read her book, "Words", she had given us a sneak preview of this book so we knew it was something to watch for. I just opened up the book today and started reading and it is already hard to put down. I feel like I know the character and can relate to her story. I will post my review as soon as I finish, but I wanted to let you know that the book was FINALLY HERE!

I am so ashamed to have let so much time pass since my last post. I have been so very busy with our church ministry with Celebrate Recovery,which has been amazing, but it has left very little time for me to do things I used to do. I am becoming more organized since this New Year and will try to update my posts more regularly. I have been continuing to read, and I have so many books to write reviews for. The one I am writing for today is one I had the pleasure of receiving as a gift from Catherine Leggitt. We were honored to have her as our guest speaker at our Women's Retreat this past summer. What a treat that was!! Not only is she a talented author, but such a gifted speaker that connects so well with each woman right from the heart, no matter where you are in your walk of life! She is encouraging as she quotes scriptures from God's word and she also used a power point presentation from her own life that really touched our hearts. Catherine has a real talent that God has given her to remind women of all ages that we are created for a purpose and God is not finished with us yet. Catherine Leggitt has written three books in a series called "The Christine Sterling Mystery Trilogy", the first two I had not read yet. I approached her to let her know that my best friend and I have a Christian Women's book club and would love to review her book. I was thrilled when I received my copy in the mail. This book is called "Parrish the Thought". I was happy to know that I did not have to have read the other two in order to read this one, as it could be read as a stand alone. It would have been better so I could have gotten to know the character of Christine Sterling much better. I really enjoyed the characters in this story, I liked the way the author showed how the youth today react to the adults and vice versa. It is so true of life and I believe that with more communication and acceptance, there wouldn't be so many barriers between them. So many adults today forget what it was like to be young and have the stress and struggles along with the added family problems. I enjoyed the friendship Christine had with Zora Jane. She was a REAL friend, one who will tell here like it was and not apologize about it. She was the type of friend where the saying is true, "A true friend knows everything about you and loves you anyways!". I loved her boldness for Christ. It was refreshing and encouraging. We all need a friend like her. I got a laugh out of Christine's relationship with her husband, obviously after their many years of marriage, Jesse understands and tolerates his wife's behavior, but she definitely pushes the limits of sneakiness and manipulation. Relentless is an understatement when it comes to Christine, no matter how many times the detectives tell her to back off the case. Christine's character reminds me of a modern day Agatha Christie. I was happy with the way the story came together, it was unpredictable, and kept me guessing up until the reveal. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with some humor thrown in as well! Happy Reading! Deborah (Thanks again to Catherine Leggitt for a very special treat!)

Great Day-Every Day-A Book Review

I have always been a fan of Max Lucado. His books and devotionals are to easy to read, yet they touch the deepest part of my heart. He is a very gifted writer whom I know God uses to reach people at every point in their life. In his new book "Great Day Every Day, Navigating Life's Challenges with Promise and Purpose", the mission is no different. Max has topics that covers everything from grace, and hope to peace. In each of these areas he gives examples and scriptures in such a creative way that it just opens your eyes and your heart that it makes you want to challenge yourself to think differently. I want to quote a portion from the chapter "Forgiveness For Bitter Days" "The forgiven who won’t forgive can expect a sad fate—a life full of many bad and bitter days. The “master . . . delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him” (Matthew 18:34). "Forgiveness does not mean approval. You aren’t endorsing misbehavior. You are entrusting your offender to “Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). "Forgiveness won’t come overnight. But you can take baby steps in the direction of grace. Forgive in phases. Quit cussing the perpetrator’s name. Start praying for him. Try to understand her situation." Wow! Right? I know that hits home for all of us. And that was just a glimpse of the GREAT stuff in this quick, easy to read book. This book was very encouraging and useful for a daily devotional. It also helps you to know that you do have a purpose and there are so many promises in the Bible that God has given to us. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be able to review this book for Thomas Nelson Publishers (BookSneeze.com)

First Skype Interview

Hello Ladies~
I hope this post finds you all doing well. We have had some crazy weather, so I hope you are all keeping healthy and warm. Some good time for some reading-that's for sure.
I just wanted to update you all to let you know that we will be doing our first Skype interview with an author! I LOVE IT! Modern Technology at it's best! We will be interviewing author Ginny L. Yttrup on March 24th at my house. We will be discussing her book, our book of the month, "Words". And at that time we will also do the drawing for Ginny's new book "Lost and Found", which she so generously gave to us to do what we wanted. Lucie and I decided to do a special giveaway to the ladies in our book club. I hope you are all excited! It has been so hard to put this book down ever since I started. I know there is going to be some great discussion to follow!
The book club will start at 11:00, the interview will begin at 11:15, so come early so you don't miss anything! Have your questions ready for Ginny, this is going to be so fun! (Remember, new members are ALWAYS WELCOMED!)
Happy Reading~
Deborah

Off to a Great Start!

Well, we had our second meeting at our new location for the Chick Lit Book Club at "Hot Brew". It was a great success. It is so nice to be able to call and make reservations for a table. We were running into the problem of sometimes not having a table that was big enough. Sometimes Starbucks was quite crowded on a Saturday morning and it was hard to save spaces and chairs. Now we don't have to worry about that problem. We also have friendly service and the chance to share what us crazy ladies are up to with our pink bags!
We have a new member...Welcome to Dawn Allardice! It is so nice to have some new faces that are excited to join in on our conversation and even say that they are enjoying reading a genre of books that they would have not picked up before. I love to hear stuff like that! That is what Lucie and I wanted as one of our goals for this group, to try other genres, because there are so many great authors out there that write such amazing books, ranging from mystery and suspense to romance and historical fiction. There is never a dull moment! And the best thing is that it is all with a Christian message somewhere in the story.
Our next book of the month for March is called "Words" by Ginny L. Yttrup. Here is a little of what the book is about:

"I collect words. I keep them in a box in my mind. I'd like to keep them in a real box, something pretty, maybe a shoe box covered with flowered wrapping paper. Whenever I wanted, I'd open the box and pick up the papers, reading and feeling the words all at once. Then I could hide the box. But the words are safer in my mind. There, he can't take them."

Ten-year old Kaylee Wren doesn't speak. Not since her drug-addled mother walked away, leaving her in a remote cabin nestled in the towering redwoods-in the care of a man who is as dangerous as he is evil. With silence her only refuge, Kaylee collects words she might never speak from the only memento her mother left behind: a dictionary.

Sierra Dawn is thirty-four, an artist, and alone. She has allowed the shame of her past to silence her present hopes and chooses to bury her pain by trying to control her circumstances. But on the twelfth anniversary of her daughter's death, Sierra's control begins to crumble as the God of her childhood woos her back to Himself.

Brought together by Divine design, Kaylee and Sierra will discover together the healing mercy of the Word-Jesus Christ.

The author has offered to do a Skype interview with us when we are ready to do our discussion. I have left her a message to see if our date works with her schedule. This will be very exciting. We have done speakerphone interviews before, but this will be our first Skype interview!
Our next meeting will be March 24th at my house, so pick up a copy of the book and read it so you can come and join us for the discussion! New members ALWAYS WELCOME!
Happy Reading**Deborah