"Be Still My Soul" by Joanne Bischof

Like romance, historical fiction?  Then read this!

Be Still My Soul by Joanne Bischof is her first novel, a wonderful Christian historical fiction romance set in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Lonnie (17) and Gil (21) are forced to marry even though they barely knew each other.  In the beginning of the book, I felt bad for Lonnie and then about midway through, I started feeling bad for Gil.  They went through some tough times but Lonnie kept holding on to her faith that God was looking out for her.  This was a tear jerker for me, as they encountered heartache and physical pain.  I liked how the kindness of strangers brought healing to their marriage.  This is just the first book in The Cadence of Grace series which is based on I Peter 5:10:

But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 

As I was reading this book, I couldn't help but think of how this couple would benefit from reading Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs.  I highly recommend this book if you like clean romance novels.  It also contains a reader's guide so would make a good book club selection.  I look forward to reading her next book, Though My Heart Is Torn. 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The End of Your Life Book Club" by Will Schwalbe

I finally get on here since the cats weren't cooperating.  Woof!

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe gets 5+ stars from me—a great non-fiction book! Will’s mom has cancer. As she goes through her treatments and daily life, they talk about books they have read. If you enjoy reading, you will be able to relate to this book and get a ton of good book recommendations that you may want to read as well. I enjoyed it very much! Thanks for sharing, Will!!
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Speechless" by Hannah Harrington

Curl up with a good book like Manny Boy!

In Speechless by Hannah Harrington, Chelsea talks a bit too much and spreads some gossip that causes some tragic incidents. She decides to take a vow of silence and finds out things about herself and who she can really count on. I thought this book was very good with a good ending too! It went fast and I got into it! It includes a book discussion and a talk with the author at the end. Read both!
(Gerard's review, rating 5+ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Tuesday Teasers: 3 For You

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page (well, we cheat and choose specific ones)
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Karen's:

Instead here I am on a deserted country road with a man who wants to kill me.
Worst of all, nobody knows where I am.

From page 92 of Trapped by Peg Kehret and Pet the Cat. (The italic parts in this book were written by Pete the cat.)  The link will take you to my review of this book.

He certainly could not waltz over to the Sawyer farm and tell Joel that he would not marry his daughter. That would only land him on the receiving end of Joel's shotgun.

From page 41 of Be Still My Soul (The Cadence of Grace Series-Book 1) by Joanne Bischof.

Gerard's: 

They both twist around to look at me, and their expressions of content transform into identical looks of worry. It'd almost be funny if it were any other situation.

From page 35 of Speechless by Hannah Harrington.

Hope you come over to see me in action!

Happy Reading!  For a special treat, Spunky Doodle would like you to check out her latest video post of her playing Whack and Knock at Right Where We Belong.

Monday Quiz About Us

Here are FOUR QUESTIONS that everyone can answer and then you have the option to add a fifth question of your own for those who are visiting your blog to answer in the comment section, along with commenting on the four standard questions you answered!

1. How often do you shop for groceries? Do you shop in one place or many?
We shop once a week at Giant Eagle.

2. How old were you when you had your first tast of alcohol?
Neither of us have ever tasted alcohol.

3. How much TV do you watch?
We watch football on Saturday and Sunday and a few favorite programs: Joel Osteen, Survivor (Karen), Parenthood, Once Upon a Time (Gerard), Army Wives, ESPN Magazine (Gerard), My Cat From Hell, Bad Dog, sometimes a movie  (Karen).

4. How do you relieve stress?
Gerard goes for a walk or works in the yard. I start singing praises or pet my cats and dog, sometimes listen to relaxing music.

For the 5th question I get to make up: What pets do you have and what are their names?

This blog hop is hosted by Acting Balanced.