Book Review of 'Finding Juniper' by Cindy Thomson

Hello Bookworms!

I am so excited you're here with me today as I have TWO POSTS for you!  I have been trying to be intentional about being in the moment for 2025 but that also means I am not online as much as I normally am.  I am still struggling to find balance, something I'm sure many of you can identify with, which is another reason I feel so blessed that you've taken the time to visit my little slice of the internet today.

I hope you enjoy my first post and review of this Christian Historical Fiction and don't forget to scroll to the bottom of this post and enter the amazing giveaway from JustRead Tours!

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Finding Juniper by Cindy Thomson, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: Finding Juniper
Author: Cindy Thomson
Publisher: Emerald Path Press
Release Date: January 2, 2025
Genre: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction

For Patrick Doyle, the claim that time heals all wounds is a cruel lie. 

In 1920, returning from WWI, Paddy finds Ireland creeping toward civil war. Invisible borders separate people, including Paddy and his pregnant girlfriend. With few prospects, Paddy sails to America. However, America is far from the land of opportunity he’d hoped for. And worse, his girl refuses to follow him because of her political involvement. 

Thirty years later, Patrick has moved on with his life, building a new family. A letter arrives, suggesting the child he’d assumed died may be alive. Patrick’s American daughter Mardell pushes him to find out what happened to her sister, named Juniper. Patrick anxiously sails to Ireland. 

Juniper endured a childhood in institutions, and when she’s released, she moves on without the parents who left her. Operating an apothecary out of an inherited cottage where villagers are slow to trust outsiders, Juniper finally finds a home when her grandmother arrives. Just as she feels comfortable and content, her father shows up at her door, bringing shocking news about her mother. 

Finding Juniper invites readers on a journey of confronting the past, healing from old traumas, and redefining what family truly means.  

3

Book Review of 'Rekinding Hope' by Alicia Gilliam

Happy Saturday Bookworms!

Today is a gorgeous day in Texas!  It's finally starting to feel like fall and I am loving the vibe!  I am about to head out to our annual family campout but I had to stop in really quick and share a review with you that you need to read this weekend.  It's a novella that has a lot of heart and is the perfect read for a cozy fall weekend, so enjoy my review of Rekindling Hope and I hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Welcome to the Reviewer Tour for Rekindling Hope by Alicia Gilliam, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Rekinding Hope

Series: Seth Browne Novels

Author: Alicia Gilliam

Release Date: September 8, 2023

Genre: Christian Fiction

A birthday pushing forty? He couldn't care less.

Dating for the first time at his age? Yeah, he's taking notes.

Agent Quincy Adams, aka “Q,” is on a mission to educate himself about romantic relationships—and more specifically, the pretty art therapist who’s captured his heart. For now, her signature smile has outlasted his bumbling ineptitude.

Easy-going Hope Montgomery has been sweetly silencing her biological clock, but Christmas separations trigger alarm bells. Is she a patient saint or a hopeless coward?

In a humorous turn of events, struggling newlyweds disrupt Q’s assumptions about the world and inadvertently nudge him toward a second chance for a holiday romance. If you enjoy near kiss misses and light-hearted inspiration, you’re a click away from a two-for-one love story!

NOTE: Rekindling Hope can be read as a standalone, but it is a follow-up to the Seth Browne Novels. Think of it as a Christmas special episode. Some readers can jump right in mid-season; others will better appreciate the story's socially awkward hero by reading the preceding trilogy first.

0

Book Review of 'Charting the Course' by Leslea Wahl

All Aboard Bookworms!

It's been awhile since I've read a good YA and today I've got the perfect quick, summer read and all the action happens aboard a picturesque cruise ship!  I've never had the opportunity to go on a cruise myself but my mom has been on several and says they're a lot of fun.  After hearing some of the horror stories that have happened on cruise ships over the years I'm not sure if I'll ever set foot on one, but that's what's so great about books, I can have the experience and enjoy it all I want in my imagination.

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Charting the Course by Leslea Wahl, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: Charting the Course
Series: Finding Faith series
Author: Leslea Wahl
Publisher: Vinspire Publishing
Release Date: June 27, 2023
Genre: YA Christian Adventure

Stuck on a ship with her estranged father for this high school reunion – not a merry way to spend the holidays. But could an onboard mystery and a cute boy be the course correction Liz needs? 

Set amid the beauty of the Caribbean islands, Charting the Course delves into the topics of fractured families, generational high-school dramas, taking responsibility for your actions, and focusing on faith to keep us anchored. The twists and turns in this high-seas adventure will keep the reader bracing for the next wave of intrigue.

1

First Line Friday 'The Heart of Holiday' by Michele Paige Holmes

Welcome to First Line Friday!  I am participating with Carrie Schmidt at Reading is My Super Power and today I am featuring the first line from The Heart of Holiday by Michele Paige Holmes, a novel that was just released this week!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Heart of Holiday

Series: Holiday Harbor #3

Author: Michele Paige Holmes

Publisher: Mirror Press

Release Date: May 23, 2023

Genre: Women's Fiction

Sometimes the best-laid plans are turned completely upside down.

Welcome to the small town of Holiday, Alabama, population 765. In Holiday everyone knows their neighbors—and their business . . .

Caroline Whittaker has loving, supportive parents, she’s embarking on a promising career as a cardiac surgeon—her lifelong dream—and her boyfriend is about to propose. Nothing could be farther from her radar than a visit to Holiday, Alabama, population 767.

Tired of living in his father and brother’s shadows, Charlie Armstrong has moved from his hometown and is living the bachelor life, indulging in his love of sports and putting all of his resources and passion into his “boys,” the high school football team he coaches. He doesn’t see a reason to ever move home again—until a stranger beats him to it and an odd series of events leads him straight there, to his father’s house in the heart of Holiday, with some of the town’s quirkiest residents settled in for an extended stay as well.

Charlie has long since given up figuring any of them out, but the new woman in town is another matter. She’s a mystery worth solving, and he’ll do whatever it takes to unravel Carol’s secrets, help her heal, and prove that he’s as good at love as the rest of his family.

2

Blog Tour: A Search for Redemption by Jo Ann Brown

 

Welcome to the Blog Tour for A Search for Redemption by Jo Ann Brown, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: A Search for Redemption
Series: Secrets of Bliss Valley #3
Author: Jo Ann Brown
Publisher: Love Inspired Trade 
Release Date: August 23, 2022 
Genre: Amish-inspirational romance

Bestselling author Jo Ann Brown returns to the Amish community of Bliss Valley, where finding a new beginning means facing the past…

After losing both her fiancé and the happy life she anticipated, Amish maedel Grace Coffman is still stitching the pieces of her life back together. But between working in a quilting shop with an unscrupulous Englisch boss and caring for her ill parents, her threads keep unraveling. At first, the arrival of a kind, attractive stranger feels like a coincidence. But the more Grace learns about Joel Beachy and his story, the more their meeting seems like providence… 

 Joel's return to Bliss Valley—and the Plain people—is his last chance to redeem a life filled with missteps. Yet in Grace, Joel finds something he never imagined: trust, courage and even the possibility of hope. When Grace suddenly finds herself the guardian of her nephews, Joel sees an opportunity to keep two wayward boys from repeating his mistakes. But Joel's dark past isn't quite finished with him. And now he must pray that his new life is strong enough to withstand the pending storm of trouble…and secrets.

“Brown is a gifted writer who makes unforgettable characters that invite the reader to join them on their journey.” —Publishers Weekly bestselling author Marie E. Bast

5

Book Review: Okie: A Family Saga by James Allen Mitchell

ADULT CONTENT WARNING!!

This book does contain very adult themes and/or language which some readers will find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.

Publisher: Black Rose Writing

Release Date: April 29, 2021

Genre: Family Saga

John Steinbeck shined a spotlight on the struggles of “Okies” during the 1930s Depression when Midwesterners followed the arc of Route 66, chasing the California Dream. One such family of Okies abandoned the state because Fast Eddie could not hold down a job, abused his wife and son and tried unsuccessfully to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors.

Life improved in California for the men of the house. Fast Eddie made it big as a stunt man in Hollywood. Son Jimmy Boy became a young screenwriter. Everyone realized their dream in the Golden State except for Betty Mae.

Despised and taunted by her new neighbors, victimized again by her worthless husband, and increasingly estranged from her beloved son, Betty Mae struggles to keep her self-identity. 

❥ CONTENT WARNING: Crude language, adult subjects, and trigger warnings for those that have experienced physical, emotional, and sexual abuse

0

Book Review: The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher

ADULT CONTENT WARNING!!

This book does contain adult themes and language which some readers will find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.

Publisher: Graydon House

Release Date: December 29, 2020

Genre: Adult Pyschological Thriller

Have you ever been wrong about someone?

Juno was wrong about Winnie Crouch.

Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son—the perfect life. Only now that she’s living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore.

Still, she isn’t one to judge. After her grim diagnosis, the retired therapist simply wants a place to live out the rest of her days in peace. But that peace is shattered the day Juno overhears a chilling conversation between Winnie and Nigel…

She shouldn’t get involved.

She really shouldn’t.

But this could be her chance to make a few things right.

Because if you thought Juno didn’t have a secret of her own, then you were wrong about her, too.

0

Blog+Review Tour: Fresh Scars by Donna Mumma

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Fresh Scars by Donna Mumma, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Fresh Scars
Author: Donna Mumma
Publisher: Firefly Southern Fiction (Iron Stream Media)
Release Date: June 15, 2021
Genre: Southern Fiction

Time heals all wounds . . . or does it? 

Asia Butler and her sister, Ivy Butler Morelli, have not spoken in fifteen years. As children, they endured brutal emotional abuse from their mother, Veronica, and want only to forget the past . . . and each other. 

But the past comes calling when they each receive a letter from Veronica s attorney promising much-needed cash if they will fulfill her dying wish and consent to cleaning out their childhood home. Asia and Ivy reluctantly return to their hometown of Emerson, Florida, only to discover the house is a hoarder's nightmare filled with strange mementos and clues hinting that they were not the only victims of Veronica's sadistic nature. 

Can this new pain be the path to their healing? Will they be able to choose forgiveness over resentment? 

4

Book Review: Anything But Groovy by Amanda Lauer

Publisher: Full Quiver Publishing

Release Date: February 26, 2021

Genre: Time Travel-Coming of Age Fiction

Morgan is looking forward to junior high school and all the adventures it holds in store for her. But after a collision on the volleyball court, she wakes up on the first day of school trapped inside her mom’s teenage body circa 1974. It doesn’t take long for Morgan to discover that living life as a seventh-grader in the ‘70s and dealing with everything going on in her mom's life back then — from uncool parents, to annoying older brothers, balancing friendships, and ultimately doing what she can to survive bullying at the hands of the school’s biggest jock — is anything but groovy.

0

Book Review: A Home for the Windswept by Karri L. Moser

Publisher: Black Rose Writing

Release Date: April 22, 2021

Genre: Family Life Adult Fiction

Great Northern Paper Mill is the lifeblood of Winsockette, Maine until the tech boom and recession of 2008 cause the mill’s closure. This leaves Darcy and Basil Sullivan scrambling to support their growing family.

When Basil is drunkenly desperate, a news report about a devastating tornado ravaging small town Nebraska changes everything. This sparks an idea. Basil believes Man’s greed has taken everything from them, and God’s wrath will provide if they move to Nebraska to rebuild tornado damage.

As they begin a cross-country journey that tests their resolve and resourcefulness, a pregnant Darcy is torn between following the love of her life or fleeing back to Maine. She fears his breakthrough is really a breakdown. Basil, who sees his quest as a calling from God, begins to realize moving his family to tornado alley to profit from the loss of others could be what rips them apart forever.

0

Book Review: The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

Release Date: May 4, 2021

Genre: Historical Fiction

At the end of the nineteenth century, three revolutionary women fight for freedom in New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton's captivating new novel inspired by real-life events and the true story of a legendary Cuban woman--Evangelina Cisneros--who changed the course of history.

A feud rages in Gilded Age New York City between newspaper tycoons William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. When Grace Harrington lands a job at Hearst's newspaper in 1896, she’s caught in a cutthroat world where one scoop can make or break your career, but it’s a story emerging from Cuba that changes her life.

Unjustly imprisoned in a notorious Havana women's jail, eighteen-year-old Evangelina Cisneros dreams of a Cuba free from Spanish oppression. When Hearst learns of her plight and splashes her image on the front page of his paper, proclaiming her, "The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba," she becomes a rallying cry for American intervention in the battle for Cuban independence.  

With the help of Marina Perez, a courier secretly working for the Cuban revolutionaries in Havana, Grace and Hearst's staff attempt to free Evangelina. But when Cuban civilians are forced into reconcentration camps and the explosion of the USS Maine propels the United States and Spain toward war, the three women must risk everything in their fight for freedom.

0

Reviewer Tour: Love Ordained by Tara Taffera

Welcome to the Reviewer Tour for Love Ordained by Tara Taffera hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Love Ordained

Author: Tara Taffera
Release Date: February 14, 2021

Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction

Where Great Loss Turns to Ordained Love

When Gina Andros loses her husband Alex and almost two-year old daughter Teresa in a car accident, her world falls apart. Her mother-in-law Helena, a woman she views as a second mother, blames her for the accident and cuts her out of her life. Doing so, she turns her family, including Gina's best friends, Anna and Christian, away from her. Gina falls deep into the pit of grief, but slowly the family starts to heal—due in part to a major event in her life. But not before Helena goes to great lengths to derail Gina’s recovery. Will Helena’s heart melt, bringing the family back together?

As the months go by, the possibility of new love arrives in Gina’s life, but is it the love God has planned for her? Will Gina realize the one she is meant to be with, and if she does, will he be ready to love her unconditionally?

0

Book Review: All That We Carried by Erin Bartels

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: January 5, 2021

Genre: Women's Contemporary Fiction

Ten years ago, sisters Olivia and Melanie Greene were on a backcountry hiking trip when their parents were in a fatal car accident. Over the years, they grew apart, each coping with the loss in her own way. Olivia plunged herself into law school, work, and a materialist view of the world--what you see is what you get, and that's all you get. Melanie dropped out of college and developed an online life-coaching business around her cafeteria-style spirituality--a little of this, a little of that, whatever makes you happy.

Now, at Melanie's insistence (and against Olivia's better judgment), they are embarking on a hike in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In this remote wilderness they'll face their deepest fears, question their most dearly held beliefs, and begin to see that perhaps the best way to move forward is the one way they had never considered.

Michigan Notable Book Award winner Erin Bartels draws from personal experience hiking backcountry trails with her sister to bring you a story about the complexities of grief, faith, and sisterhood.

0

Book Review: Bethlehem by Karen Kelly

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: July 9, 2019

Genre: Family Life Historical Fiction

With the atmospheric storytelling of Kate Morton and Lisa Wingate, Karen Kelly weaves a shattering debut about two intertwined families and the secrets that they buried during the gilded, glory days of Bethlehem, PA.

A young woman arrives at the grand ancestral home of her husband’s family, hoping to fortify her cracking marriage. But what she finds is not what she expected: tragedy haunts the hallways, whispering of heartache and a past she never knew existed.

Inspired by the true titans of the steel-boom era, Bethlehem is a story of temptation and regret, a story of secrets and the cost of keeping them, a story of forgiveness. It is the story of two complex women—thrown together in the name of family—who, in coming to understand each other, come finally to understand themselves.

0

Reviewer Tour: Bound by Victoria Lynn

Welcome to the Reviewer Tour for Bound by Victoria Lynn hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Bound
Author: Victoria Lynn
Release Date: November 2, 2017

Genre: Christian Fiction

Two souls don’t find each other by simple accident. ~Jorge Luis Borges~

Levi thought he was making this journey alone. But when he meets an eight-year-old girl at the train station, that plan is turned on its head.

Casey is running away and finds out that Levi is too. They decide to journey together and their lives are suddenly bound together in a journey they will not soon forget.

Both children come from abusive situations and are running from the dangers of their previous life. Levi is confident he can handle this on his own, but when Casey is injured on the journey, he must seek help from the first person that comes into his path, or rather people. Mr. and Mrs. Bellworth are simple farm folk with a heart for kids and a passion for serving God. When their unconditional love and gentle care surrounds Levi and Casey, the troubles of their previous lives melt away and they start to flourish. But when Casey is dragged back into the abusive world she came from, the emotional trauma, pain and distrust resurfaces. Will they be forever bound by their past? Or will God answer their prayers?

0

Blog Tour: Being West is Best by Monique Bucheger

 

Welcome to the Blog Tour & Giveaway for Being West is Best by Monique Bucheger, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Being West is Best 

Series: Ginnie West Adventure #4 

Author: Monique Bucheger 

Publisher: True West Publishing 

Re-release Date: 2020 

Genre: Middle-Grade Contemporary Fiction 

Twelve-year-old BFFs, Ginnie West and Tillie Taylor, are matchmaking geniuses. 

Together, they maneuvered Ginnie’s widower-dad into proposing to Tillie’s divorcee-mom. Sweet! Certain they are well on their way to sisterhood, each girl is floored when Tillie’s lousy-excuse-for-a-father puts in an appearance after a six-year absence. Too bad “lousy dad repellant” doesn’t come in a can. Even though Tillie’s dad has sobered up and is determined to make amends, Tillie would rather he just disappear again. If he stays, “Operation: Secret Sisters” may need to be renamed “Operation: Not Gonna Happen.” 

If that’s not bad enough, the biggest bully in seventh grade comes over often and wishes he could call the West’s farmhouse “home.” When the bully’s abusive dad shows up as well, Ginnie thinks it’s time to change her family’s motto from “When you’re here, you’re family” to “There’s no more room at the West’s.” 

6

Reviewer Tour: Simply West of Heaven by Monique Bucheger

Welcome to the Reviewer Tour for Simply West of Heaven by Monique Bucheger hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Simply West of Heaven
Series: Ginnie West Adventures: Book 3
Author: Monique Bucheger
Publisher: True West Publishing
Release Date: January 1, 2013

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction

When her dad confiscates her deceased mom’s journals, 12-year-old Ginnie West counts on her BFF, Tillie, to help her get them back. But Tillie's not so sure the ghost of Ginnie's mom will make a good addition to their new family tree.

Then the girls' world gets flipped upside-down when a blast from the past shows up and makes Tillie go nutburgers. Life gets complicated when Ginnie is forced to choose between helping her best friend and getting the answers she’s always dreamed of.

0

Reviewer Tour: Trouble Blows West by Monique Bucheger

Welcome to the Reviewer Tour for Trouble Blows West by Monique Bucheger hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Trouble Blows West
Series: Ginnie West Adventures: Book 2
Author: Monique Bucheger
Publisher: True West Publishing
Release Date: September 1, 2020

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction

Ginnie doesn’t always think…

…sometime she just acts.

Was it a mistake to stand up to the bully?

Gennie and the bully, Pierce, get sent to the principal’s office. It doesn’t matter if he had threatened her twin brother, Toran, they both are suspended. Two days off school isn’t the scary part.

What will her dad say?

Things get taken up a notch, next. When the West twins and Chandler brothers execute a prank to get back at Pierce, it doesn’t turn out like they’d planned.

What Ginnie sees is terrifying.

Pierce is being beaten by his father.

Bullying is wrong, but now Ginnie has to come to grips with understanding what he might be going through.

How will she handle it?

0

Reviewer Tour: The Secret Sisters Club by Monique Bucheger

Welcome to the Reviewer Tour for The Secret Sisters Club by Monique Bucheger hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Secret Sisters Club
Series: Ginnie West Adventures: Book 1
Author: Monique Bucheger
Publisher: True West Publishing
Release Date: March 18, 2012

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction

Twelve-year-old BFF’s Ginnie West and Tillie Taylor, want to be sisters.  Ginnie's widowed dad plus Tillie's divorced mom could equal a lifetime of round-the-clock girl talk and slumber parties.  Too bad Dad vowed to never marry again.  Ginnie and Tillie come up with the perfect scheme to change his mind: ‘Operation Secret Sisters’ (aka OSS). After all, if they can’t get Dad to move on, Tillie can’t move in.

0

Reviewer Tour: Tethered by Eleanor Bertin

 Welcome to the Reviewer Tour for Tethered by Eleanor Bertin, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Tethered

Series: The Mosaic Collection: Book 12

Author: Eleanor Bertin

Publisher: Leaf & Blade Publishing

Release Date: July 8, 2020

Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction

Perfectionistic librarian Jacqui Penn is ripped up by the roots when she’s dumped by her longtime boyfriend. Rootless and on the run, she is drawn two thousand miles west across Canada to the last place she ever thought could offer stability—the old homestead where her father grew up.

Renovating the derelict house soon becomes a personal battle as it stubbornly resists her efforts. While Jacqui struggles to renew the home, she spends time with the family Pops bitterly resented. Her hunger for roots grows stronger as she fights to discover the long-buried reasons her father fled the house as a beleaguered teen. But will she ever find the belonging she craves?

0