The Mark of the King

Jocelyn Green inspires faith and courage as the award-winning author of numerous fiction and nonfiction books, including Wedded to War, a Christy Award finalist in 2013, and The 5 Love Languages Military Edition, which she coauthored with bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman.  Jocelyn lives with her husband and two children in Iowa.

Connect with Jocelyn at www.jocelyngreen.com.

Life in this new world requires more strength than she ever imagined.

After the death of her client, midwife Julianne Chevalier is imprisoned and branded, marking her as a criminal beyond redemption.  Hoping to reunite with her brother, a soldier, she trades her life sentence for exile to the fledgling French colony of Louisiana.  The price of her transport, however, is a forced marriage to a fellow convict.

New Orleans is nothing like Julianne expects.  The settlement is steeped in mud and mosquitoes, and there is no news of her brother, Benjamin.  When tragedy strikes, she turns to military officer Marc-Paul Girard for help, but does he know more about her brother than he will admit?

With her dreams shattered, Julianne must find her way in this dangerous land, where only grace - and love - can overcome the stigma of the king's mark upon her shoulder.

My Thoughts:
In The Mark of the King, Jocelyn Green takes readers back to the 18th-century frontier.  With masterful description and characterization, she draws readers in and holds their attention until they have turned the last page.  If you enjoy Historical Fiction, you will appreciate the research and attention to detail in this story of 18th-century New Orleans.
Julianne's journey from France to New Orleans is one of overcoming some of the most desperate circumstances to find her true identity and one of hope.

"A fleeting smile lit Julianne's face before her gaze traveled to the Bible on the bureau.  'If we had prayed harder for peace, could we have prevented the arrow from touching you?'  "I don't know," Marc-Paul admitted.  "Certainly the hand of God could have nudged the arrow off its path= and maybe He did, for it didn't strike my heart or head.  But the greater miracle is for us to have peace and grace in our spirits, no matter what the circumstances."

I always try to read whatever book I hold in my hands with a gospel-centered lense.  Some books are easier to see the gospel in play than others.  The Mark of the King was very easy to see an underlying picture of the gospel.  Julianne begins her journey with a mark, literally a brand identifying her as a criminal.  But, she ends her journey with a mark of grace upon her life.  What happens in between is nothing short of the grace upon grace spoken of in the book of James in the Bible.  The Mark of the King should be in your personal library and Jocelyn Green is an author to be followed.

*I received a complimentary copy of the book.  All opinions are my own.

Happy Reading,
Jennifer

All the Pretty Things

Edie Wadsworth is a speaker, writer, and blogger.  She has been featured in various media including Better Homes and Gardens.  After overcoming her difficult upbringing to become a medical doctor, Edie left her practice in 2007 to raise her family and pursue her love of writing.

You will enjoy connecting with Edie at www.lifeingrace.com.

"I don't know how old I was the night the trailer burned down - or if the rumor was true that Daddy was the one who set in on fire..."

By the ripe old age of ten, Edie Wadsworth knew how to handle a drunk with confidence and even compassion.  Edie loved her daddy with all that was in her, even as her Appalachian childhood was being colored by neglect, hunger, and how many beers Daddy had downed by noon.

When you walk through a fire like this, can beauty rise from the ashes?




My Thoughts:
Edie Wadsworth is a very brave woman.  Not only did she live through unbelievably difficult circumstances throughout her life, she wrote them down for those who choose to do so to read. She allows you and me a peek inside her life.  Edie writes with a transparency and offers readers a gift.  We get to see a real life story of beauty rising from the ashes.  Edie's story is one of perseverance, faith, and amazing grace.  While a memoir, All the Pretty Things reads like a novel.  Edie draws you into her life and writes with Southern charm and wit.  Her's is a beautiful story of redemption.  Readers will be challenged, moved and changed.

*I received a complimentary copy of the book.  All opinions are my own.

Happy Reading Ya'll,
Jennfer

You Carried Me: A Daughter's Memoir

Melissa Ohden is founder of the Abortion Survivors Network and an advocate for women, men, and children impacted by abortion.  With a master's degree in social work, she has worked in the fields of substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, and child welfare.

Connect with Melissa and her work:
www.melissaohden.com
youcarriedmebook.com

What happens when an abortion survivor meets her birth mother?

Melissa Ohden is fourteen when she learns that she is the survivor of a botched abortion.  In this intimate memoir, she details her search for her biological parents and her own journey from anger and shame to faith and forgiveness.

This intensely personal story of love and redemption illumines the powerful bond between mother and child that can overcome all odds.






My Thoughts:
You will need a box of tissues right along with your bookmark while reading You Carried Me.  Melissa shares her story of surviving a saline abortion and then the journey to find her birth parents with such brave transparency.  She allows readers into private corners of her heart and life.  But this isn't a sad story of defeat!  This is a story of a brave woman who trusted the One Who holds the number of her days from birth forward.  Melissa allowed the sad and hard parts of her life to aid in molding her into the brave and beautiful woman she is today; a woman who fights for those who have been affected by abortion.  Ohden's story is a view of beauty rising from the ashes.

*I received a complimentary copy of the book.  All opinions are my own.

Blessings,
Jennifer

A Spectacle of Glory: God's Light Shining through Me Every Day

Joni Eareckson Tada is founder and CEO of Joni and Friends, and organization that accelerates Christian outreach in the disability community.  Joni and Friends provide practical and spiritual support to special needs families worldwide.  Joni is the author of numerous bestselling books, including Joni & Ken, Diamonds in the Dust, and the Gold Medallion Award-winning When God Weeps.  Joni and her husband, Ken, reside in Calabasas, California.
For more information, visit www.joniandfriends.org.

Why did God create you?

The Bible says it plainly:  God created you to showcase His glory - to enjoy Him, display Him, and demonstrate His presence every day.

Your life is not too ordinary, your world is not too small, and your work is not too insignificant.  You can be a stage set to glorify God.







My Thoughts:
There is a plethora of "devotionals" to be purchased at your local Christian bookstore.  And sadly, many are nothing more than nice little "feel good" stories with a Scripture of two thrown in for good measure. You will not find that to be the case with A Spectacle of Glory.  In each of the 365 devotional readings, you are given a portion of Scripture (more than one verse for context), devotional thoughts from Joni and a prayer prompt directly related to the portion of Scripture given.  The devotional thoughts aren't nice sounding platitudes, but thoughts toward a Holy God born out of an intimate relationship with Him through the good, bad and ugly of life on Earth.  Spend time with Him each day and experience a spectacle of glory!

*I received a complimentary copy of the book.  All opinions are my own.

Blessings,
Jennifer

I Am: A 60 Day Journey To Knowing Who You Are Because of Who He Is

Michele Cushatt is a successful speaker and author who shares about the complicated intersections of real faith and real life, speaking for Women of Faith, Compassion International, Focus on the Family, and Hearts at Home.  She and her husband, Troy, have been married for sixteen years and share a stepfamily of three grown boys and three younger children.  They live in Denver, Colorado.

Visit Michelle at her website:  www.michelecushatt.com.

Sixty powerful stories revealing one ultimate truth:

YOU ARE ENOUGH

From the moment a woman wakes until she falls, exhausted, onto her pillow, one question plagues her at every turn:

Am I  enough?

The pressure to do more, be more has never been more intense.  Online marketing, Self-help books, movies, magazines and gym memberships.  Even church attendance and social media streams have become means of comparing ourselves with impossible standards.  Am I pretty enough?  Hip enough?  Spiritual enough?

We fear the answer is no.

When brutal bouts with cancer changed how she looked, talked, and lived, Michele Cushatt embarked on a soul-deep journey to rediscover herself.  The typical self-esteem strategies and positivity plans weren't enough.  Instead, she needed a new foundation, one that wouldn't prove flimsy when faced with the onslaught of day-to-day life.

My Thoughts:

We live in a world where the issue of "identity" is foremost in the minds of people and really, I believe, the foundational question at the center of most conflicts we have in life.  Who am I?  Where do I belong?  What is my purpose?  

Michele Cushatt has written a book with 60 exaltations of who we are in Christ.  Let me warn you...this is NOT another self-help book.  There are plenty of those offering empty platitudes and psycho mumbo jumbo.  Cushatt points readers to who they truly are because of the Great I AM.  

"Identity isn't grounded in who we are; it's grounded in who He is.  We've bought the notion that our worth has something to do with us.  That if we want to be smart and strong and beautiful and successful, we need to call ourselves our, speak into our own greatness.  But the calling is God's, not ours."

These 60 "I Am's" are rich, biblical callings on the lives of those found to be in Christ Jesus.  I've not read a more helpful and deeply joyful book in, well maybe ever!  Michele takes readers to the word of God and points out who He is and therein, we find who we are.  This message is needed in our world and it is needed now.
The book can be read straight through; however, it is written in 60 "sections" or days.  These words are ones to be savored and prayed through.  I have used it devotionally and found that approach to be the most helpful.  The book would be great for personal use or would be great used with a discipleship partner as well.  Grab a journal, your Bible and order I Am by Michele Cushatt.  You won't be sorry, but will be most blessed.

*I received a complimentary copy of the book.  All opinions stated here are my own.

Blessings,
Jennifer

NIV Journal the Word Bible

With all of the latest rave about Bible journaling, I jumped at the opportunity to see and evaluate one of the many options.  The NIV Journal the Word Bible has a beautiful cloth covered hard board cover. This Bible contains the 2011 NIV translation.  No concordance is included; just the text of the Bible.

There are a couple of things that keep me from really liking this as an option for Bible journaling.  The print size is really small.  And the pages are super thin.  I can't imagine that even some of the best suggested journaling pens/pencils will not bleed through.  In all transparency, I have not tried to be for sure about the bleed-through because I intend to give the copy I have away and did not want to mark it up.  There are lined margins making it useful for simple note taking and/or drawings.

*I received a complimentary copy of this resource.  All opinions are my own.

Blessings,

Jennifer

Fatal Frost

Nancy Mehl is the author of twenty-two books, including the Road To Kingdom and Finding Sanctuary series, and a 2015 finalist for RT Book Reviews' Reviewers' Choice Award.  Nancy writes from her home in Missouri, where she lives with her husband, Norman, and their puggle, Watson.  Visit with Nancy at www.nancymehl.com to learn more.

Following in her absentee father's footsteps in a law enforcement career, U.S. Marshal Mercy Brennan has just recovered from being shot in the line of duty.  And, unbeknownst to her, her father's recent reappearance in her life has put her in the sights of St. Louis's most powerful gang.  Her boss assigns Deputy U.S. Marshal Mark St. Laurent - Mercy's ex-boyfriend - to get her out of town until her safety can be guaranteed.

Unaware of the extent her boss and Mark have been keeping her in the dark, it isn't until a freak ice storm strands them at a remote location and out of contact with the district office that the full severity of their situation becomes clear.  As the storm worsens, the forces of nature combine with a deadly enemy to put them in a great danger.  Can they survive long enough for help to arrive - if help is even coming at all?

My Thoughts:
Fatal Frost is the first book in Nancy Mehl's Defenders of Justice series.  I have known Nancy Mehl for and read her Mennonite-themed books.  I believe this is her first contemporary Romantic Suspense novel and she has skillfully written in this genre as well.  What struck me most about this novel was the depth of the characters.  I also appreciate that Nancy wrote a strong character (Mercy) and highlighted the way many struggle with their faith.  The story moved quickly with many twists and turns.  This was one of those books very hard to put down.  Nancy has started this new series off with one solid punch!  I can't wait to see what comes next.

*I received a complimentary copy of the book.  All opinions stated here are my own.

Happy Reading Ya'll,
Jennifer