A Love Letter to Whiskey: a not so typical love story

A Love Letter to Whiskey by Kandi Steiner is not your typical love story. Jamie Shaw and Brecks “B” Kennedy have been caught in a long string of almosts and they wonder if they will ever have the chance to have their happily ever after. Their connection has been difficult to understand. Sometimes too deep for just friends and yet too complicated for love. From their first meeting in high school, to college and beyond, Jamie and B had a decade of moments, choices and missed opportunities, they kept finding a way back to each other. The road to be together always seems to be blocked by relationships, careers and jobs but something still brings them together. Drawn together like a moth to a flame or an alcoholic to his next drink. Will they ever find a way to be together the way they are seemingly drawn to be? Is love not just finding the right person but finding the right moment as well? 

I have seen this book all over social media and everything I heard was to be ready to cry. Not just cry but ugly cry. So I dove right in and the story started off great. However, by the end of the story, I didn’t cry once. Where was the emotion? I expected to be “emotionally wrecked,” and yet I was bored, annoyed and frustrated. B was immature, never really deals with or confronts the family secret she learns as a teen. Yes, it was a devastating and shocking secret and would require a lot of energy to deal with. She just never tries. Jamie was a decent character and I enjoyed his character. I did enjoy the moments of deep friendship between B and Jamie; but their love story was odd and dragged on a bit too long. Overall, I did not enjoy this story. It was not the emotional story I was expecting. I do not recommend A Love Letter to Whiskey. 

A Love Letter to Whiskey is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook

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James, the son of Zedebee: a man who struggled and yet showed courage in service to Christ

James is one of the first disciples called by Jesus along with his brother, John, and friends, Simon Peter and Andrew. A fisherman working with his brother and their father, Zedebee, James would become a member of the core group with Peter and John for special training as each would play a key role in the early church. Peter would be the great speaker, John the majority writer and James would be the first to die for his faith. While he was chosen to be among the inner circle, little is known about James after the events in the Book of Acts. Who was James, the son of Zedebee? What were his strengths and weaknesses? What is the key lesson we can take from his story?

James is described as ambitious, short-tempered, judgmental and yet deeply committed to Jesus. Ambitious as he, along with John, asked Jesus for a place of honor in his kingdom, specifically a seat on his right and left (Mark 10:37). Jesus rebukes them, telling them both that they do not truly understand what they are asking. As with all the disciples, James did not understand Jesus’s true purpose. They envisioned Jesus overthrowing the Romans and restoring Israel’s to her former glory. Regardless, James knew he wanted to be by Jesus’s side. He had found the right leader; he was just wrong about the timetable. It would take Jesus’s death and resurrection for true understanding. James would have an outburst of temper. In Luke 9:54, he and John asked Jesus if he wanted them to call down first from heaven to destroy a Samaritan village after they refused to welcome him (verses 52-53). He wanted quick retaliation. In Acts, he would speak at the First Council and agreed that Jesus had come for Gentiles as well as the Jews (Acts 15:13-21) as the requirements of faith that we follow are set by God and not by man. 

James would be the first to die for his faith. He was willing as he saw Jesus conquer death and open the doorway to eternal life. James was a man with strengths and weaknesses. His strengths are simple to understand. He was one of the 12 disciples and one of the inner three. He would be the first to die for his faith. However, it is in his weakness that we can see ourselves. His two outbursts indicated that James struggled with a temper and selfishness. When he left a wrong had been committed, he wanted quick payback. A feeling that many of us have experienced from time to time. Something happens which is unfair or undeserving and we want the person to feel the same pain and disappointment that we do. However, in Romans 12:19, Paul reminds us that revenge is the Lord’s, he will play, quoting Deutoronmy 32:35. We are not to overcome evil with evil, but with good (Romans 12:21). And like James, we experience moments of selfishness. It is a part of being human. As selfishness is the root of sin and conflict, we need to actively focus on humility and putting others before ourselves in order to overcome this natural response. Paul writes in Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” 

Jesus promised eternal life to those willing to trust him (John 3:16). If we believe in this promise, Jesus will give us the courage to stand for Him and face whatever challenges that come our way, even during the most dangerous times. The key lesson from James’s story is that the loss of life is not too heavy a price to pay for following Jesus. In Matthew 10:17-42, Jesus prepared his disciples, and us, for persecution, in which he says, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (verse 39).” Even Paul writes in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” To live meant to have time to tell others about Christ and to become more like him. To die would be the end of the worldly troubles and to see Christ face to face. As times get harder and the world increasingly puts pressure on believers, will I be able to stand when death would be the result? I don’t know. I can only pray that if (or when) that moment comes, I can say “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” 

In conclusion, James, the son of Zedebee, was a fisherman who left life as he knew it to follow Jesus. Even though he was one of the 12 and one of the inner three, he struggles with his ambitious nature, a temper and selfishness. Through his faith and trust in Jesus, he realized the true mission of Jesus’s life and death, he would spend the rest of his life telling others the good news. He would be the first to die for the faith and he certainly wasn’t the last. James is an example of the courage in service to Christ is important as we spread the gospel. That courage can also make us a target for persecution. We need to be bold for Christ with courage and humility. 

The Trouble With Love: a best friend's brother romance with a realistic look into faith and God

The Trouble With Love is the first book in the Faith and Fortune series by Toni Shiloh. Holiday Brown has it all. A successful singing career with a platinum record and a multi-million dollar home in Manhattan that she shares with her two closest friends. Everything was looking great until her roommate’s brother came to stay. W. Emmett Brown has been a thorn in her side for a long time. He is annoying, stubborn and a know it all. He is also the most gorgeous man she has ever seen. Suddenly dynamics charge as Emmett’s sister has a stalker who is getting closer and more threatened. Holiday soon finds that Emmett’s faith isn’t as annoying as it was and he has a softer side that she had failed to notice before. As the two get closer, Holiday starts to question faith, belief and God in ways she hadn’t thought about before. Will it bring Holiday closer to God? 

The Trouble With Love is a slow burn, enemies to lovers, best friend’s brother, clean romance. It sounds like a lot, so many tropes in one story, but it works. Once I started this story, I could not put it down. One of my favorite quotes is “The trouble with love was it always smacked you in the face when you least expected it,” which is so true! I fell in love with Holiday, Emmett and her roommates, Tori and Octavia. I loved the banter and teasing between Holiday and Emmett. I loved the interactions between all the characters. The friendship and love between the women. I loved the in depth, realistic look into the struggles with belief, the questions and doubts and the honest real answers from the believers in the story. Even before I finished Holiday and Emmett’s story, I knew I would be continuing the series. I highly, highly recommend The Trouble With Love. 

The Trouble With Love is available in paperback and eBook

I Would Die for You: a slow burn thriller with twist and turns to keep you guessing

I Would Die for You by Sandie Jones is a slow burn thriller in which a woman’s past comes roaring back. Is she prepared to fight back? Nicole Forbes lives a quiet life in southern California with her husband and daughter. It is shattered when a journalist comes to her door and asks her for information about the downfall of Secret Oktober, the biggest British band of the 1980s. The same day, her daughter is picked up from school by her aunt. The only thing is her daughter doesn’t have an aunt! Nicole is faced with the threads of her life and hidden past that is quickly becoming unveiling. In 1986, sixteen year old Cassie is obsessed with Secret Oktober with an intense crush on Ben Edwards. She is determined to do anything she can to capture his attention among the cheering fans and groupies. What she doesn’t count on is Ben meeting her older sister, Nicole. What happened to Secret Oktober? What does Nicole know? 

Sandie Jones is a new author to me and I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book. A dual timeline story with multiple POVs as Nicole searches for the person behind the events of today and Cassie as her obsession with Secret Oktober and Ben grows taking her down a dangerous past. As events of today and yesteryear begin to shine light on the truth, the twists and turns were interesting and kept me hooked. However, as the mystery was revealed, the ending was confusing and a bit abrupt. My first thought when I closed the book was “what?!?” Throughout the story, I liked the character of Nicole and the mystery about who was bringing up the past and why was engaging and kept me guessing. Overall, I enjoyed the story. The mystery was engaging, the ending was just abrupt. If you like dual timeline, multiple POVs stories with a bit of suspense and mystery, I recommend I Would Die for You. 

I Would Die for You is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

The Ride: an in depth investigation and recounting of the famous ride 250 years ago

The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night that Saved America by Kostya Kennedy is a deeper look into Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride. On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere, a Boston silversmith, engraver and an anti-British political operative, set out for a crucial mission to alert the awaiting American colonists of the advancing British troops. He had completed similar missions before and yet, this one would help change the American Revolution from isolated skirmishes to a full fledged war and would cement Revere as one of America’s heroes and legends. Digging deeper into the events which would lead to the famous ride, Kennedy details the coordinated pieces to the puzzle. We all know the ride and its importance to American history, but do we know the events and the people who made it happen?

I love American history and I knew Paul Revere’s famous ride, even Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s favorite poem which recounted, “One, if by land, and two, if by sea.” Perfectly timed for the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride, I was ready to dive into Kostya Kennedy’s investigation into this historical event. What the book did was open up much more into the event that I never knew. Through primary and secondary sources, family letters and diaries and so much more, we learn that history is so much more complex than we learned as children in school. While Revere was central to the mission’s planning, he had a lot of help and information from unlikely sources. Told through dramatic and thrilling narrative, The Ride is an engaging  page turner! I highly, highly recommend The Ride. 

The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night that Saved America 

is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

My Name is Eva: one woman's price for a promise she made

My Name is Eva by Suzanne Goldring is a story about one woman, one promise and the price she pays to keep that promise. Evelyn Taylor-Clarke is staying at the Forest Lawns Care Home, surrounded by residents whose minds are slowly losing their grip on memory and time. However, not Evelyn. She is as sharp as ever. She is a woman with secrets and she remembers everything. She made a promise to the love of her life to discover the truth about the mission that led to his death. When an old picture is discovered and questions are asked, Evelyn is transported back to “The Forbidden Village”, a place in Germany where no one dared to go and a woman who called herself Eva went to find a man. Will she get her revenge? 

Described as a “gripping, haunting and compelling read about love, courage and betrayal set in the war-battered landscape of Germany” and perfect for fans of The Letter, The Alice Network and The Nightingale would be hooked. I was intrigued. I love The Nightingale. It is a book that has stayed with me even years after I have read it. So I started My Name is Eva with great anticipation. The story started out great; however, it took way too long to get to the action of the story and Evelyn was truly unlikeable. She mocked those with age related difficulties. And the reason for her revenge? We don’t really find out. Sadly, this story was disappointing and in no way can be compared to The Nightingale! I do not recommend My Name is Eva. 

My Name is Eva is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Seeking Mr Debonair: one pact, one dream to find her very own Mr Darcy

Seeking Mr. Debonair is the first book in The Jane Austen Pact series by Cami Checketts. At the age of twelve, Harley Redland vowed to marry a man as debonair as Mr Darcy, even though she is secretly in love with her older brother’s best friend. After graduating from Yale, Harley learns she has been accepted into Cambridge for her master’s program. However, she is called home to the family ranch in Wyoming as her father is very, very sick. Crew Harrison has known Harley all of her life and has harbored love for her for as long as he can remember. He wants to find a way to show her that he is as charming, educated and romantic as her precious Mr Darcy. A wrench in his plan is her dream Englishman who comes to town on business. Can Harley see what she is looking for is right at home?

Everyone who knows me knows I am not the biggest Jane Austen fan. Especially since everyone seems to fixate on Pride and Prejudice and love for Mr Darcy. That being said, I do not turn away books because the characters love Pride and Prejudice. When I read the blurb of Seeking Mr Debonair, I was intrigued and it sounded like a fun romance. However, right from the beginning, I did not care for Harley. I understand a dream which started as a young girl; however, as one grows and matures, the dream usually grows and matures with them. Not Harley, she would not budge. Her Mr Darcy can only be an Englishman otherwise he is not Mr Darcy. So narrow minded. I didn’t like the never travel, never leave home/your roots mentality from her brother. Really? Overall, I did not enjoy Seeking Mr Debonair and I will not be continuing the series. 

Seeking Mr. Debonair is available in paperback and eBook