Monday Memes

Mailbox Monday is hosted this month by Knitting and Sundries.  It is where book bloggers gather to share what the mail added to our stacks this week.  My stack grew quite a bit.  My first package was from Bell Books and contained three books:    

Sweetie:   

For shy, stuttering Melissa, the wild mountain girl named Sweetie is a symbol of pride and strength. But to many in their Appalachian town Sweetie is an outcast, a sinister influence, or worse. This poignant and haunting story takes readers deep inside the bittersweet heart of childhood loyalties. A West Virginia native, Kat Magendie came home to Maggie Valley via South Louisiana, where she reclusively writes and co-edits/publishes The Rose & Thorn online journal. Visit her at www.kathrynmagendie.com

Twas The Night

“Christmas or Bust!”What do a Blue Angels pilot, a bounty hunter and an ex-NFL football player have in common? The three bad-boy bachelors of Snowdon, Maine have to make a friend’s Christmas Eve wedding on time or die trying! They’re willing to risk anything to make that happen—even dashing through the snow in the goofiest bus on Earth, bright red and filled with a bunch of merry, meddling senior citizens known as the Santa Brigade. All too soon, these men will have met their matches in three special women: a woman from their past, a forest ranger so hot she ought to be declared a fire hazard, and a woman on the run. Ho, ho, OH!While serving up holiday cheer with the Santa Brigade, the guys will discover ‘tis the season for good will and folly. Wise men or not, they are well and truly caught, which means these roguish St. Nicks are willing to jingle a few bells along the way if that’s what it takes to find what they truly want for Christmas nestled in their beds after the stockings are stuffed and the gifts placed under the tree.

and

Life from Scratch (I couldn't find an image or an Amazon link) is written by a blogger and is the story of a recently divorced woman who took a year off of work to "find" herself.  In the process, she learns to cook and blogs about her experiences.  I loved it and will do a full review soon.

My other package this week was from Bethany House.  They too sent me three books:

Hatteras Girl

There are two things twenty-nine-year-old Jackie Donovan asks God for: an honest, wonderful man to marry, and to own a bed-and-breakfast in the Outer Banks region. In the meantime, Jackie works for Lighthouse Views magazine, writing articles about other local business owners, and intrepidly goes on the blind dates set up by her well-meaning but oh-so-clueless relatives. There's one specific property Jackie dreams of purchasing: the Bailey Place, a fabulous old home where Jackie spent many happy childhood afternoons, a place that has now fallen into disrepair because of its outrageous price tag. When Jackie meets handsome Davis Erickson, who holds the key to the Bailey Place, Jackie is sure God has answered both her prayers. But as Jackie learns some disturbing details about Davis's past, she begins to question her own motivation. Will she risk her long-held dreams to find out the truth?  I enjoyed this one, and here is my review.

Rush of Wings, A: A Novel

When fragmented images and unfocused panic force Noelle St. Claire to flee her wealthy, sheltered life in New York, she gains sanctuary on a ranch in the Rocky Mountains. There Noelle finds solace in the breathtaking scenery she paints. But as the attentions of two brothers, Rick and Morgan Spencer, breach the wall she hides behind, the past she yearns to escape becomes a menacing threat from which she can no longer hide. Award-winning and bestselling author Kristen Heitzmann has skillfully created a story resonating with emotion and depicting a poignant spiritual journey.

Amy Inspired

Life has not turned out the way that writer and creative writing instructor Amy expected. Despite the fact that she has carefully transcribed her life ambitions in several thousand lists, Amy has yet to check off anything from her “Things to Do Before Thirty” list, which includes getting published and finding someone tall and decent to marry. Instead, Amy shares an apartment with an eccentric writer/waitress named Zoe and a somewhat vagrant artist named Eli, while she catalogs the rejection letters she has received from publishers all across the country. Real-life author Pierce has created a thoroughly relatable protagonist, a flawed woman facing modern-day dilemmas and conflicts of faith, thus bringing a welcome dose of contemporary reality to the Christian fiction genre. With just the right amount of humor to leaven this tale about the plight of a single Christian woman today, Pierce provides readers of Melody Carlson or Neta Jackson with a new author to be inspired by. --Elizabeth Ponder

It's Monday, What Are You Reading is hosted by Book Journey and in it, book bloggers talk about what they read last week and what they plan to read this week.

I read Life From Scratch mentioned above, but since I don't have a graphic, I asked for one.  Hopefully I'll get the review up soon.  I also read and reviewed Hatteras Girl.  

Christmas at Harrington's was a sweet Christmas novel and it will be featured soon in a blog tour.

The House is the story of a couple who were almost divorced--until she, who had initiated the divorce due to his constant cheating, learned that he was dying.  My review will publish Monday, and the author is giving away a Kindle.

I published tours of A Perfect Blend and Joy to the Word:  Advent Activities for Families.  I reviewed A Family Dinner and I'm giving away a copy of it.  I also published a review of Montana Glory, which I am also giving away.  

My plans for the week are to finish the rest of the books last week brought.