About:

Her Sister Couldn’t Be Alive. Could She?

It had to be Riley Jo. She was certain. . .wasn’t she? But when Abby Cummings tells her mother she thought she saw her sister at the store, her mother quickly dismisses the idea. After all, Riley Jo and their father had been missing for years. Presumably dead. Yet Abby cannot ignore her intuition. Telling her friend J. D., they investigate. But J. D. may know more about the disappearance than he’s telling, or even realizes. And as they work to uncover what happened, all they have to go on is blind faith. Will it be enough. . .especially considering what the truth might be?

Review:

Based on 2 Corinthians 5:7, “We live by faith, not by sight.”

Not By Sight is the first book in Kathy Herman’s Ozark Mountain Trilogy. Not By Sight is a book filled with emotion and Herman does a beautiful job leading readers through the up and down emotions of the story of Riley Jo Cummings.

Deep faith is never easily developed. When pain and trials come your way you can either chose to trust God even when the path seems dark, or you can allow anger and bitterness to direct your path. We see both of these paths in Not By Sight, the good news is God never gives up on us, even if we give up on him.

Not By Sight begins slow, I usually give a book 100 pages before I put it down and move on, I am so glad I did not put this book down. This turned out to be a wonderful read and I am looking forward to reading book two of the Ozark Mountain Trilogy. If you are looking for a good book to read during summer vacation, I would suggest Not By Sight by Kathy Herman.

FTC Disclosure: Special thanks to Jeane Wynn of Wynn-Wynn Media for sending me a review copy of Not By Sight by Kathy Herman.

About:

What if she never came home . . . ?

When Mitchell Brannon’s beloved wife sets off for home after a conference, he has no idea that his life is about to change forever. Mitch returns from work early that evening, surprised that Jill’s car isn’t in the garage. But her voice on the answering machine makes him smile. “Hey, babe, I’m just now checking out of the hotel, but I’ll stop and pick up something for dinner. Love you.” Hours later, Jill still hasn’t returned, and Mitch’s irritation turns to dread.

When the police come up empty, Mitch enlists the help of their next-door neighbor, Jill’s best friend, Shelley, to help search. As hours turn into days and days into weeks, Mitch and Shelley’s friendship grows ever closer—and decidedly more complicated. Every lead seems to be a dead end, and Mitch wonders how he can honor the vows he made to a woman who has seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth.

Review:

Sometimes I don’t know what causes me to pick up one book instead of another. I will be honest this is not a book (so I thought) that I would rush to read, but I finished it in two days. Once I started The Face of the Earth I could not put it down. What would happen if you had a loved one vanish out of thin air? There was only joy in the relationship and no known problems. How long would you search?

The Face of the Earth does a great job in bringing awareness that there are cases out there still unsolved where people have gone missing. How does a love one go on with life after such a disaster? And what does it mean “till death do us part?” We will never understand this side of heaven why God allows such tragedy, but I do believe even in the midst of a disaster we can trust in Him to lead us. I greatly enjoyed reading The Face of the Earth.

Author:
Deborah Raney’s first novel, A Vow to Cherish, was awarded a Silver Angel from Excellence in Media and inspired the acclaimed World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Since then her books have won the RITA Award, the HOLT Medallion, and the National Readers’ Choice Award. Raney was also a finalist for the Christy Award. She and her husband, artist Ken Raney, make their home in their native Kansas.

FTC Disclosure: Special thanks to Jennifer Smith of Howard Books for sending me a review copy of The Face of the Earth.

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About:

What’s it like when the man you married is already married to God? asks Pastors’ Wives, an often surprising yet always emotionally true first novel set in a world most of us know only from the outside.

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen’s debut novel Pastors’ Wives follows three women whose lives converge and intertwine at a Southern evangelical megachurch. Ruthie follows her Wall Street husband from New York to Magnolia, a fictional suburb of Atlanta, when he hears a calling to serve at a megachurch called Greenleaf. Reeling from the death of her mother, Ruthie suffers a crisis of faith—in God, in her marriage, and in herself. Candace is Greenleaf’s “First Lady,” a force of nature who’ll stop at nothing to protect her church and her superstar husband. Ginger, married to Candace’s son, struggles to play dutiful wife and mother while burying her calamitous past. All their roads collide in one chaotic event that exposes their true selves. Inspired by Cullen’s reporting as a staff writer for Time magazine, Pastors’ Wives is a dramatic portrayal of the private lives of pastors’ wives, caught between the demands of faith, marriage, duty, and love.

Review:
Pastor’s wives are real people too. They are thrust in the spotlight after their husband stands behind the podium, they are judged on how they raise their kids, evaluated on how they handle difficult situations and are expected to remain godly when their husband is attacked. They say signing up for The Peace Corps is the toughest job you will ever love, but I don’t think they considered the job of a pastor’s wife.

For some reason this book intrigued me because it is NOT a Christian book. I was curious how pastor’s wives were viewed from someone on the outside. This book is the story of three pastors’ wives: Ruthie, Ginger, and Candace. Candace being the head matriarch, Ruthie still exploring her own personal faith, and Ginger tying to hide things from her past. What I did like is how this book made pastor’s wives look like real people. People who have questions themselves, people who have a different past then their husband, and people who know that everything they do can negatively or positively affect their husband.

Pastor’s Wives made me laugh out loud and it was an enjoyable read, but it is a book of fiction. One thing I believe Pastor’s Wives does well, is point out how hard it is to be the woman behind the pastor. This is an enjoyable work of fiction, and it makes some good points about being a pastor’s wife, but I do not take this book as a realistic portrayal. I do suggest reading this book for its enjoyment, there are several (not many) swear words throughout the book and there is the passing mention of a gay pastor.

Author:

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen was a longtime staff writer for TIME magazine. She now develops TV pilots for production companies and recently sold her first pilot for “The Ordained” to CBS. Born in Japan, Cullen lives in New Jersey with family.
Find out more about Lisa at http://lisacullen.com.

FTC Disclosure: Special thanks to Christen Krumm of Litfuse Publicity for sending me a review copy of Pastor’s Wives by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen.

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen is celebrating the release of her debut novel, Pastors’ Wives, with an iPad Mini Giveaway and connecting with readers on Facebook on May 23rd

One winner will receive:

• An iPad Mini
• A $25 iTunes gift card
  

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on May 22nd. Winner will be announced at the “Pastors’ Wives” Author Chat Party on May 23rd. Connect with Lisa for an evening of book chat, trivia, laughter, and more! Lisa will also be giving away books and fun gift certificates throughout the evening.

So grab your copy of Pastors’ Wives and join Lisa on the evening of May 23rd for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven’t read the book, don’t let that stop you from coming!)

Don’t miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 23rd!