Book Review - Under the Magnolias

 Sometimes I read books that I don’t review. I love writing reviews to share amazing books with y’all and I love supporting some truly exciting authors. But every now and then it is nice to simply read a book without thinking about just the right quote, just the right image background, or sitting down to write the review while the story is fresh in my mind. That’s exactly what I had planned for Under the Magnolias by T. I. Lowe and our scheduled beach trip: toes in the sand, book in my hand.

There’s just one problem with that plan. I can’t let this book just pass as a beach read. T. I. Lowe did something I don’t remember ever seeing in a storyline about mental health. All too often, the storyline focuses on a family sucked into the vortex of a parent’s mental health issues and struggles that end only when the children run away or grow up and escape the madness. And all too often in life, this is reality; I am in no way dismissing the painful reality of families battling mental illness. But who is fighting for these families?

Austin Foster’s pa has been prone to seasons of darkness for as long as she can remember, but her mama always did what needed to be done to shelter the children from the worst of his lows. When Mama passes away while giving birth to twins, the weight of her family’s world falls squarely on her shoulders, and that includes protecting her younger siblings while weathering Pa’s highs and lows. Austin doesn’t have time for silly teenage activities or romances, and she certainly can’t take the chance that someone in town might find out what demons they are hiding under the magnolias out at Nolia Farms.

The thing about Dave Foster is that he loves fiercely. He takes the call to be the hands and feet of Jesus very seriously, so it is no surprise that the congregation meeting in the little white chapel at Nolia Farms includes a ragtag band of the town’s riffraff outcasts. But these are the people God uses to be his hands and feet when the secrets Austin has tried to keep buried claw their way into the light. They are the ones who support the Foster family through the struggles of finding help for Dave, and who encourage Austin and her siblings to begin to dream of a life beyond the swirling vortex of his instability. Lowe does not sugarcoat the struggles, and I really appreciate the way she highlights the value of a fierce support system in the family’s healing process. 

Under the Magnolias by T. I. Lowe is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Book Review - Under The Bayou Moon

With just a few sentences, Valerie Fraser Luesse swept me into the sultry and utterly captivating of life of the bayou. I could feel the gentle forward motion of the pirogue as Raphe navigated into the secluded microcosm of the glorious white alligator, hear the night music of the croaking bullfrog, the gentle splash of turtles launching themselves from their log perches into the still water. I could feel the humidity settle on my skin, and I was taken to a place which stirs the spirit to stop and bide a while.

Luesse does not so much tell as story as she welcomes us into the lives of these individuals and their community. It does not take long to feel like family to Ellie, Remy, Raphe, and Heywood, or to the colorful and beautiful characters that surround them in Bernadette, Louisiana. We cheer for their victories and mourn with them in their losses. The plot centers around Ellie’s arrival in Bernadette, seeking to find herself and her future, as well as the small town’s struggles against a dirty politician. It is about community and family, friendships that last a lifetime, and romance that inspires the heart to sing. It is about fighting fiercely to protect the things that matter most and learning to let go when the time is right.

Under the Bayou Moon by Valerie Fraser Luesse is available August 20 and may be preordered now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Hostile Intent

Y’all know I love a good opening line, and Lynette Eason is a master at setting the hook firmly and early. “Today, the watching ended and the killing started.” How in the world was I supposed to put down Hostile Intent after reading that? There was only one answer: finish it.

The fourth book in Lynette Eason’s Danger Never Sleeps series focuses on Ava Jackson and Caden Denning, who we already know from their roles in the first three books. Since Ava’s dad passed away 8 months ago, she has been faithfully attending to her mother, who is near the end of her life. Ava has just been discharged from the Navy and is still trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life, but she knows that she will continue to say no every time her dad’s friend John tries to recruit her into the CIA. She’s tired of the lies her dad had to tell to protect his family and determined not to spend the rest of her days lying to the people she loves in order to protect them. When Caden, FBI Special Agent and Ava’s childhood friend, finds a photo of Ava and her dad at a murder scene, he knows she is somehow connected to the victims and may be a target. He finds himself working with her to unravel the details of the string of murders while trying to keep her safe… and trying to convince her to fall in love with him in spite of her trust issues. Eason packs punches, chases and a room designed for torture into this breakneck paced storyline that will keep you turning pages until the very end.

Danger Never Sleeps book 4, Hostile Intent, by Lynette Eason is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

GIVEAWAY!

Shawn Smucker’s latest release, The Weight of Memory, is at once both haunting and beautiful. You can find my review of it here. I have a copy of this amazing book just waiting for one of my dear readers! So here’s the deal: check out the graphic below and then comment on this post to tell me someone who has taught you much simply by your observation of them. On August 18, I will randomly select one reader’s comment as our giveaway winner!

I’ll go first: In the spirit of Paul’s granddaughter, Pearl, I must say I have learned much simply by observing our principessa. I thought I had a good idea of who she is and what she likes, but in the process of watching her grow and find her own identity, I have learned that she is very much her own complex and amazing individual. She has taught me to let go of my own preconceived notions and try to really see others for who they are, not who I expect them to be. 

I look forward to reading your comments and am super psyched to share this wonderful book with y’all!

Book Review - The Nature of Small Birds

The synopsis for The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner caught my attention and I knew right away that I had to read it. Operation Babylift was a humanitarian effort at the end of the Vietnam War to evacuate thousands of children from South Vietnam and led to their adoption by families around the world. Mindy is one of those children, blessed to grow up with a loving and supportive adoptive family, and searching for the sense of identity that comes with learning about her birth family. I snatched up this book and settled in to read all about the complexities of Mindy’s growth, to feel that love and longing and the satisfaction of finally meeting her birth mother, of her return to the country of her birth.

The Nature of Small Birds is not at all what I had preconceived. Instead of the expected viewpoint, Finkbeiner chose to tell a different kind of story through the eyes of Mindy’s father, mother, and older sister. For a few minutes, I was genuinely disappointed, but Finkbeiner did a beautiful thing with the method she chose. Little Minh would not have been able to convey her parents’ conflicted feelings about choosing to say yes to this little wonder who desperately needed to be nurtured, while recognizing that their siblings had very different experiences in Vietnam. Little Minh would not have been able to express the simple thrill of having a grandparent recognize that their sweet girl might appreciate a baby doll with dark hair and eyes, when the only ones to be found are blond with blue eyes. And sweet little Minh could not have known all the ways she changed her big sister’s life. It would be interesting to see Mindy’s point of view, but Finkbeiner delivered an unexpected kind of turmoil, grace, and beauty in the method she chose. She also accomplished the task of sending her reader to learn more about Operation Babylift and efforts to care for the children of war-torn South Vietnam in the mid-70’s. I highly recommend a good cup of tea and The Nature of Small Birds.

The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner comes out August 20 and is available for pre-order now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - The Chase

Lisa Harris thrilled us with US Marshals Series book one, The Escape. The Chase, her upcoming sequel, is a fast paced manhunt for four bank robbers who have added murder to their string of crimes. With US Marshals Madison James and Jonas Quinn on their tails, these thrill seeking criminals are on the verge of losing their game, and that makes them scared, scattered, and even more dangerous. But this particular chase can’t be business as usual when it is Madison’s first after 3 months of recovery from being shot in a dramatic encounter with her husband’s murderer. It’s personal for Jonas, too, when the bank robbers take out someone very close to him.

Entwined with the details of this chase are Madison’s years-long pursuit for the truth about her husband’s murder and the tricky business of these more-than-partners feelings that tumble just out of reach for both Madison and Jonas. Harris writes these elements, as well as the heartfelt and heartbreaking details of Madison’s family, with delicate intensity. They are very real and very pertinent elements that drive excellent character development and set the reader up for the next installment of the series, which I certainly can’t wait to read.

The Chase, book 2 of the US Marshals Series by Lisa Harris, releases August 20 and is available for pre-order now from your favorite bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Between the Wild Branches

Connilyn Cossette has earned her place on my list of most inspired authors by proving book after book that her historical fiction gives context and helps the reader understand truths from our biblical history. That means my expectations were high for her latest release, Between the Wild Branches, book 2 of The Covenant House series. If you have not yet read my review of To Dwell Among Cedars, book 1 of The Covenant House, you can find it here. Then, sit back and let me tell you why you need to get your sweet mitts on this book right away.

Lukio was just a young boy when the Ark of the Covenant was returned to the Hebrews by the kings of Philistia, but he noticed that the young king of Ashdod stood alone in his desire to destroy the cursed box instead of giving it back to their enemies. Now he is the champion of Ashdod, Demon Eyes, invincible and betrothed to the king’s favored daughter, but holding on to his childhood love for the woman who is now the slave of his future wife. When Lukio learns what has happened to Shoshana in the decade since he left her, he knows he must use his position and resources to secret her from the palace and return her to safety in Kiryat-Yearim. Little does he know that her rescue and his decision to give his life for hers will expose the vanity of the life he has carefully crafted and the reality that he can truly find his place grafted among the family who never quit praying that Yahweh would protect their Natan and return him to them.

Cossette’s illustration of grafting us into the family of the One True God is tended as well as the gardens Lukio’s sister nurtures in To Dwell Among Cedars and is an exquisite example of the way we can be transformed from our sin sick Philistine selves into Yahweh’s beloved children. We are treasured and longed for by Him the way Elazar and Yoela do Lukio, even when we are foolish and don’t recognize that His grace and mercy are freely extended to us. With the character of Lukio, Cossette held a mirror before me and revealed that God sees me as a beloved branch, fit for nurturing, pruning, and developing desirable fruit.

Between the Wild Branches, book 2 of The Covenant House series, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and the publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions are my own and are completely genuine.