Review for To Everything a Season by Lauraine Snelling

I was so excited to see this book come out because I loved the Blessing books so much. I really enjoyed reading this sweet story, seeing where all the Blessing characters are now and adding Miriam to the story. I especially enjoyed how Miriam is a nursing student because I will be a nursing student myself soon.

This was a nice continuation to the Blessing series's; love the characters and am really looking forward to reading the next book. I recommend this book to anyone who has loved the Blessing books' just a note that if you haven't read the Blessing books leading up to this one you may be a little confused, but if you have read them than you will really enjoy this book.

Thank you to Bethany House Publishers for sending me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Review: Rise of the Fallen by Chuck Black

I have conflicting feelings about this book!

I was among the many readers who eagerly anticipated Book 2 in the Wars of the Realm series. Surprising me and probably many other readers, Rise of the Fallen was not exactly what I was expecting. Book 2 of the trilogy takes an unexpected turn by telling the story from the point of view of Validus, the warrior angel assigned to protect Drew Carter. This was a very interesting perspective on the story! But because this book essentially was "on the other side" retelling the first book (along with a lot of flashbacks of Validus' time as a warrior angel throughout Biblical history) it took literally until the end for Validus to discover the reason for Drew Carter's importance.

It was really frustrating not to have the story continue from where Cloak of the Light left off. Although the way this book was written added quite a bit to the story, I didn't 100% like how it was done. It was a good book, and very interesting, but it felt like a letdown, and it almost seemed like the author was trying to stretch Drew Carter's story, probably because the whole time I just wanted to find out what happened after the point where we left Drew in Book 1! I had really high expectations for this book because Cloak of the Light was so awesome, and so I was disappointed in Rise of the Fallen because it was not what I was expecting. This book did add quite a bit of perspective to the overall story though and I will still definitely be reading Book 3 because (I'm hoping) it will continue the (awesome) story that was started in Book 1.

One last note, I again really appreciated how the author is careful to distinguish what we do and don't know about angels based on the Bible. 

I was disappointed in this book (see abovementioned reasons) but I still would recommend it to Cloak of the Light readers. Looking forward to Book 3! 

I received a complimentary copy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own. Thank you for reading! 

Sigmund Brouwer's Thief of Glory is not a fluffy read. It's intense. It's heart-wrenching. It's one of those books that you will ponder for weeks to come. 

Thief of Glory deals with an often neglected aspect of World War II. It also deals with one boy's experience of strength, courage, sacrifice, heartbreak and choices that haunt him for life. 

After his father and older half-brothers are separated from the rest of the family by the invading Japanese, Jeremiah takes on most of the responsibility for himself and his younger siblings as they and his troubled mother are forced to relocate to a Japanese POW camp. Conditions in the camp are horrendous, and Jeremiah becomes involved in connecting with the outside world in order to obtain needed medical supplies while caring for his family. Jeremiah forges a strong-as-steel friendship with Laura as they work together. Jeremiah also has various encounters involving Georgie, his rival and enemy. 

I was not expecting the twist at the end as the story came full-circle. This book is one that will both warm you and haunt you. I highly recommend it. 

I received a copy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!