"Forgiven" by Shelley Shepard Gray

Forgiven by Shelley Shephard Gray is the third book of her Sisters of the Heart series about the Amish community. When Jonathan's barn is burned down, his sister is badly hurt and he is filled with anger and a desire to find out who was smoking on his property that caused the fire. The other story line is romance that his sister, Winnie, finds as a result of the fire. It has an interesting twist and is an enjoyable read. Naturally, as the title gives away, Jonathan finds forgiveness in his heart for the one who started the fire.

As with most Christian fiction, this was predictable but a nice change of pace from the intense suspense novels. It certainly shows what it's like being Amish and has a good message about forgiveness. If you like a happy Amish story with Christian romance, you will enjoy this book too.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

Check out our book giveaway of "I'm Outnumbered--One Mom's Lessons In The Lively Art Of Raising boys" to a mom (or gift for a mom)--winner to be announced May 1 so you have it in time for Mother's Day.

Our Friday Fragments

Half-Past Kissin’ Time host the Friday Fragments linky. It’s just short blurbs from your week that aren’t enough for a whole post by themselves. Here’s ours for this week:

1) Last week Mrs 4444 left me a nice comment: Your header is my current favorite in Blogland--GORGEOUS! That made my day! My favorite blog header is at Jennies Happy World-it's a castle layout with little shields for her tabs! What's your favorite blog header? Go let them know and make someone's day! Watch our "behind-the-scenes" video on making it.

2) Not much interest in our book giveaway for a mom--I'm surprised! It's really quite a nice book on parenting.  If you know a mother of young boys, this would be a great gift! Just leave a comment to enter stating why you would like to have it.

3) Gerard has been watching the hockey playoffs and we are pleased to see the Bruins are still in it after winning game 7 in overtime. Go Bruins! Hockey is exciting!

4) Glad to see the Browns Peyton Hillis beat out Michael Vick for the cover of the video game, Madden ’12. I only played it once, but it’s fun!

5) We finally gave in and bought a new Whirlpool dryer from hh gregg—it gets hooked up tomorrow! They take away our old one too so that’s good. The new one has some kind of sensor so it automatically goes off when the clothes are dry but no timer that buzzes to let us know! Isn’t that strange?  UPDATED 4/30/11:  Oops, when the guy came to install it, he said we need a gas on, not electric.  Now we have to wait one more day.

7) Our high winds Wednesday night knocked over the tree at the church a block from our home. Fortunately, our roof held, our power did not go off and we have no trees in our yard.  I would have taken a picture but by the time I got home from work, the church had it all cleared away.  When will I learn to always bring my camera with me?

8) We took Abby to the vet for a routine wellness exam and they found ringworm in her stool so gave us some medication that should clear it up for her. She seems fine and acts normal so good thing they found it early. They said it was quite common in dogs this time of year.

9)  As of 5 a.m. this morning, we got 88 comments on this blog.  You have only two more days to comment to help raise money for the Japan relief effort through Samaritan's Purse.  We'll donate 50 cents per comment.  Oh, and you may want to visit our post about things we learned this week over at Right Where We Belong.

Why not visit Friday Fragments for more and link some of yours up too.

Find more Friday Fragments at Half-Past Kissin' Time. Be sure to check out what we learned this week at "Right Where We Belong."

Behind The Scenes Of Our Blog Header (Writer's Workshop)

This vlog is in response to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompt: Tell us the story

behind the title of your blog. What is it? What inspired it? What other options did you consider? Are you happy with it? (I am very happy with it but forgot to mention that little fact in the video. My cats really cooperated nicely for me and were very patient. We tried four times to do this and I'm still not completely satisfied with it. I wanted to do it at the dining room table where I've been stacking the books, but the lighting wasn't good enough there.

Notice, you cannot make cats do anything.  You can only suggest, entice and wait patiently for them.

Check out our book giveaway of "I'm Outnumbered--One Mom's Lessons In The Lively Art Of Raising boys" to a mom (or gift for a mom)--winner to be announced May 1 so you have it in time for Mother's Day.

"Gone" by Lisa Gardner is Good!

Gone by Lisa Gardner is another suspense thriller that is fascinating. Rainie is the wife of a semi-retired FBI profiler (Quincy), a child advocate for 7-yr-old Dougie who has issues, and an alcoholic who is kidnapped on a stormy night from her car on a desolate road in Oregon seven days after her husband left her. It’s a race against the clock to find Rainie before it’s too late. The cops really have no leads and are at the mercy of the kidnapper who calls the shots. Quincy and his daughter, Kimberly—an FBI agent from Atlanta both become actively involved in the investigation. When Quincy overhears the kidnapper’s voice he is shocked as was I at who it was.

My favorite part of this book was Rainie fighting to figure out how to escape and protect Dougie. Dougie was a very interesting character who kept my interest. He provided an interesting facet of this novel. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who likes a thrilling mystery.
(Karen's review)

Check out our book giveaway of "I'm Outnumbered--One Mom's Lessons In The Lively Art Of Raising boys" to a mom (or gift for a mom)--winner to be announced May 1 so you have it in time for Mother's Day.

You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

"The Maze Runner" by James Dashner Transports You To Another World! (UPDATED)

Karen was wowed by The Maze Runnter and wanted me to read it. It is about a bunch of young boys trapped in a maze. Why, they do not know. Thomas is the last boy to come in. I thought the action really picked up when Thomas figures out why they are in the maze and who put them there. I enjoyed it! It's a quick read with most of the real action in the last 70 pages or so. I wasn't "wowed" by it like Karen, but it is pretty good. Well worth you reading it!
(Gerard's review 4-26-11)

(Karen's review 4-1-11)
I just finished reading The Maze Runner by James Dashner and now can’t wait to read the next two books in this trilogy:  The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure.  I loved The Maze Runner!  Thomas, with memories of his life gone, is mysteriously transported to the Glade where only boys live.  The boys all have assigned jobs, the most prestigious of which is the maze runners who go out every day into the surrounding maze in search of a way out.  The boys have been there for two years and Thomas arrives with the ambition of being a maze runner and finding a way back.  Thomas is smart, kind, compassionate, courageous and likeable.  When a girl arrives just two days later, things start to change and the end is near! 

This teen science fiction novel is full of adventure, suspense, mystery but also interesting characters involving leadership, friendship and perseverance issues.  I liked the way the kids worked together to help each other.  It held my interest from the start.  It’s a far out story I found captivating and entertaining.  I would describe The Maze Runner as a cross between The Hunger Games (in that it takes place after a world catastrophe and kids are placed in a strange place and observed and manipulated by the creators) and Lord Of The Flies (in that the kids are on their own and have to run their own community).  If you like science fiction, adventure, mystery and stories about teens, I recommend this book!  It’s great!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help the people in Japan through Samaritan's Purse by leaving a comment on any of our blogs in April. We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month.