Secrets by Kristen Heitzmann My rating: 4 of 5 stars Twenty-seven-year-old Lance Michelli and his Nonna have a deep connection in Secrets, Book one of Kristen Heitzmann's Michelli Family Series. That's why when Nonna has a stroke and can no longer talk, Lance is still able to understand something of what she wants. It has… Continue reading Secrets by Kristen Heitzmann (review)
Journey by Angela Elwell Hunt My rating: 5 of 5 stars Suspicion and jealousy cause a rift between Yosef's sons Efrayim and Menashe when grandfather Yakov speaks a firstborn blessing over second-born Efrayim in Angela Hunt's biblical fiction Journey. This schism is magnified by their dissimilar personalities. Menashe is serious, brooding, and intense while Efrayim… Continue reading Journey by Angela Hunt (review)
Do you read biblical fiction, that is fiction based on the stories in the Bible? Maybe you write it. The most common way of writing such a story is to fictionalize the Bible characters, perhaps create a few new ones, and tell the story in all its imagined detail but still set in the time… Continue reading Biblical fiction—adaptations
Michael: A Novel (Wives of King David) by Jill Eileen Smith is a fictional retelling of the story of King David’s first wife Michal—the daughter of Saul. Smith follows Michal from the time she is a teenager cowering under the rages of her demonically possessed father, to middle age when her scorn at David’s exuberant… Continue reading Michal: A Novel by Jill Eileen Smith (review)
Around the time Robert D. Smith had lived his 20,000th day, he took two of the next 20,000 (or however many he has left) to plan how he would spend the rest of his life. In his book 20,000 Days and Counting: The Crash Course for Mastering Your Life Right Now, he divulges what he… Continue reading 20,000 Days and Counting – Robert D. Smith (review)
When John Brooks is assigned to defend Hal Boyd on arson and four murder charges it looks like his reputation as a brilliant lawyer is finally destined to hit the big time. That is, until he announces the vampire defense, a plea that his client was insane because he was convinced the man he killed… Continue reading Vampire Defense by James D. Bell (review)
Special little people need special gifts. I picked three lovely books of verse as gifts for the little people in my life—my grands—this year. Littlest one is getting The Moon Shines Down by Margaret Wise Brown. I found it at my local Chapters in a sturdy but affordable board book format. This lovely volume has… Continue reading Perfect poetry for little people
In The Breath of Dawn Kristen Heitzmann has written romantic suspense with captivating characters and a plot that will keep readers in its clutches until the last page. Female lead Quinn Reilly takes her business of estate buying and eBay trading seriously. But why is this diminutive but determined, independent, conscientious, and caring 27-year-old living… Continue reading The Breath of Dawn (review)
It's Black Friday. For me here in Canada, that term was meaningless for most of my life. When I first heard it, I thought it had something to do with a particularly unlucky Friday the 13th or something. Of course those innocent days are gone. Black Friday disease has crossed the border, and even though… Continue reading Black Friday wish list for poets
The attack on the twin towers of 9-11 had Claire Coleman making a list of all the people she knew who were missing, and praying for them. After a few days it became apparent that not one had survived. However, even after she knew that, she couldn’t bear to tear up that list. Instead she… Continue reading Good intentions can become Special Intentions (review)
Violet Nesdoly 