Book Review - Summer In The Spotlight

Levi Ross has decided to ignore the meteorologist who predicted a particularly early hurricane for Prince Edward Island and the consequences would be just what he deserved… if he deserved to be quietly tending the wounds of PEI’s only other resident stuck in the school when said hurricane dropped a tree through the roof of Kelsey Ahern’s classroom. But what he deserves has been a sticking point for Levi ever since his dad left the island and all his collateral damage without looking back. With Kelsey fired up about the future of the storm damaged Victoria Playhouse, and Levi fired up by Kelsey all over again, his past, present, and future are on a collision course. I can say from experience, Liz Johnson’s third installment of her Prince Edward Island Shores series apparently does not have to be read in order for the reader to get caught up in the storm that rages between the girl who grew up in the spotlight and the guy who will do anything to hide from it. The Ross family dynamics and their community of neighbors fuel this story all the way to a satisfying ending.

Summer In The Spotlight, Prince Edward Island Shores series book 3, by Liz Johnson is available September 1 from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House          Christian Book           Barnes & Noble            Amazon 

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 - Voice Of The Ancient

From the very beginning, with the four cousins hiding above and spying on the proceedings as the nation of Israel waits with bated breath for lots to be cast and a king to be called forth, Voice Of The Ancient moves furiously and eloquently through the bloody beginning of Saul’s reign. Zevi, Gavriel, Avidan, and Shalem are cousins on the cusp of manhood when the new king’s ragtag volunteer army is called up for battle and the pact of their blood brotherhood is put to the test. With two of them meant for the life of a soldier, the others must decide who they are and who they are meant to be in the eyes of the One Who Sees. And the One Who Sees has a plan beyond their rebellion. For Avi, that includes crossing paths with a young boy who is mistaken as his missing cousin and who is not actually a boy, but a woman in disguise for the sake of her treacherous journey to the safety of family she has never known. As Avidan and Keziah search for his missing cousin and her family, they learn together to listen to the Voice Of The Ancient for guidance.

Connilyn Cossette writes this coming of age story filled with turmoil and hope in a message about value and redemption from the One who gives both. I tried so hard to read it slowly and savor every detail, but was captivated from page one and finished it in a day. Connilyn has a great knack for truly immersing the reader in the lives of her characters. I am particularly fond of the longstanding relationships built throughout the course of her novels, which could be read enjoyably as standalone stories, but have a richness in the familiarity that has been developed through generations as I have read each of her novels.

Voice Of The Ancient, book 1 of The King’s Men series, by Connilyn Cossette is available now from you favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House        Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

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 - An American Immigrant

Starting at surface level, Johanna Rojas Vann’s debut novel is a quick, easy, enjoyable read. Melanie Carvajal has always been too Colombian to be American and too American to be Colombian, spending her youth ashamed of all the things her family didn’t have and all the ways she was different from her peers. Never really thinking beyond herself and her goals, Melanie holds her mother at arm’s length and has no interest in visiting her Colombian family, until dire circumstances in the world she has created for herself force her to come face to face with everything she has worked so hard to keep separate from her life. What should have simply been the catalyst to save her career does just that in a way that has no regard for Melanie’s ten year plan. An American Immigrant has plenty to keep the reader turning pages.

Below surface level, though, is where the Rojas Vann truly shines. She writes with passion for the children of immigrant parents and for those parents who risk so much to come to America, knowing what they come to is going to be hard and coming here is going to be difficult, knowing they may be one of the many who don’t survive the journey, and knowing still that all of it means a chance at life they will never remotely achieve by staying home. She explores the ripple effects of one individual’s sacrifice on the generation to come, as well as all those left behind. And she explores the value of getting to know your family’s immigrant story. This novel is one part enjoyable novel, one part love letter to cultural identity, and one part homage to the value to getting to truly know your own immigrant story. I read every page and kept hoping for just one more bit, so I promptly preordered the audiobook and snagged the preorder goodies.

An American Immigrant by Johanna Rojas Vann is available tomorrow (8/15/23) from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Christian Book        Barnes & Noble        Amazon

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 Love Script

The Love Script is my first Toni Shiloh book. It definitely won’t be my last. The first in her Love in the Spotlight series, this one begins much stronger than the relationship manufactured to save face for Hollywood super star Lamont Booker and hair stylist Nevaeh Richards when the paparazzi catch the two in something that looks like, but isn’t, a romantic embrace. Trying to save face and maintain Lamont’s witness for God, they agree to begin dating, unprepared for the consequences. And the consequences mount rapidly, from paparazzi harassment beyond Nevaeh’s imagination to conviction that lying to save one’s witness does not glorify God. Naturally, there’s also the complication that comes from accidentally falling in love with someone who is pretending to be in love with you while you’re pretending to be in love with them. Shiloh writes characters who are easy to love with banter I could just eat up. The Love Script is packed with hard hitting biblical truth without sounding preachy, and it hit me in some places I needed to be convicted. I came for the sweet romance and stayed for the hearty truth.

The Love Script by Toni Shiloh is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House            Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

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.