Book review: Swept Away by Mary Connealy

This book, in my opinion, was not the best Mary Connealy book. I found myself skimming at times. This may be because of the cover.

I don't really like the cover. The girl who is supposed to be Ruthy looks like she's TRYING to be sassy, and he . . . well, I don't really like the way he looks. Faces on covers really affect the way I look at the story. And these faces didn't help. Also, on the spine, his face is really creepy. My siblings and I joked about his "I have candy in my van" face, or so they called it.

The story, overall, was lovely. As they always are. I was hoping for something more, though. I'm not sure what. It's just that every one of her books are like this. If you've read one, you've read them all. I don't know what I was hoping for, but I didn't get it.

We have our tough heroine. Our charming hero. Great side characters. The whole thing.  But, in my opinion, it was lacking humor. All of her other books have lines that make me laugh out loud all throughout it. With this one, I don't recall laughing once.

I'm not saying it was bad, I'm just saying it's not as great as her other ones.

Book review: Firefly Island by Lisa Wingate

A pretty good book. I liked the plot, though it was a bit cliched. I was bored by the endless amount of marriage advice. This book is . . . basically a fictionalized "How to get through the first few months of marriage" book. I'm fourteen. Not only do I have no interest in marriage or boys (shocker, I know), I also can't legally get married for four more years, so the tons of marriage advice fell flat with me.

So, taking a look at Mallory. She's a good character. Not one to jump out and stand apart from the other characters though. She's your regular woman who had a nice job and life and left it all behind for love and moved to a small town where everyone knows just about everyone.

Let's look at the love of her life, Daniel. He's a bit different. I don't really recall another character like him. At the beginning, he's pretty sweet and all. Towards the end, he's more tense and snappy, which doesn't make me like him very much.

And now Nick, Daniel's son, and Mallory's stepson. Nick is one of the only characters I liked. He was sweet and charming, for a three year old. Though the constant misspellings and words he couldn't pronounce were a bit much. I have an almost-three sister. She can speak almost as well as I can. There's really no need for all of the wrong pronouncing.

All of the side characters are pretty much the same. Woodsy and kinda redneck. Small town people. Basically, whatever you think of when you think of small town, that's them. They fit just about every stereotype that you can come up with.


Okay, I promise I won't spoil it, but I just have to say, the ending was disappointing. We didn't get many answers. Very few questions I had were answered. So if you are the kind of person who wants everything settled and no stone left unturned, you probably shouldn't read this book. There are a lot of possible ways this story could have gone, and it had so much potential on all of the ways, but it seems like the author took the easiest and quickest way.

Obviously, the ways she could have gone probably wouldn't have worked for Bethany House, but I'm just saying.

A Change of Fortune by Jen Turano

*I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review

Stunning. Absolutely stunning. How could I enjoy a book like this any more than I already do? The answer to that is simple. I can't. I laughed and giggled and smiled like crazy. I also sighed, bit my nails, and covered my eyes in embarrassment for the characters. I don't normally enjoy books where one of the main characters already has children, but Ben and Piper were delightful. I could not keep myself from laughing at their antics.

Zayne had to be one of my favorite characters. While he was not the main character, he was very important to the plot, as the brother of Hamilton. His humorous and dry comments had me throwing my head back in laughter.

Eliza, who was the main character, had my shoulders shaking with giggles I couldn't quite contain. She was a breath of fresh air, and her temper reminded me somewhat of my own.

Hamilton, also the main character, was charming and almost as humorous as his brother. He had the perfect quantity of flaws and brilliance. He jumped from the page and became real.

Agatha, though not a main character, was perfect. At first, I assumed she was deceitful and uncaring, but her true nature showed as the pages turned. She's daring, witty, and charming. I loved getting to know her. I certainly hope the next book in the series is about her.

The rest of the cast was terrific as well. I could not have been more pleased with this book. It has found itself on my favorites list, as I knew it would from the minute I started reading. It gripped me from the first page.

Very enjoyable and very funny, with just the right touches of suspense. You will not be sorry you read the book!

"Over the Edge" by Mary Connealy book review.

Another gorgeous story by Mrs. Connealy. A lovely romance, laced with suspense and humor, "Over the Edge" is a story that you MUST read.

I admit, I haven't read the first two books, but when I had the chance to review this book, I jumped at it.

The story starts full of suspense, and then eases its way towards good humor and fun. It's like a see-saw, going back and forth between giggles and nail-biting.

I admired and adored Callie and Seth,with their constant banter and overall craziness. Callie's lines were witty and reminded me a bit of Sarah from "A Lady Like Sarah". Seth's thoughts and dialogue made me laugh, the way he portrayed insanity and fun without even having to say something crazy.
The background characters had me laughing too. I fell in love with each one of them.

The villains were perfect, in a villain sort of way. I felt for them, and wanted them to come out without too much loss in the end, but, at the same time, I didn't exactly love them. I could feel the main villain's . . . what would you call it? . . . pain? The way he felt torn between good and evil, the way he wanted two things that were at strife with each other. In other words, the villain is the perfect example to all writers of how a villain should be.

The only thing I found annoying was the errors. As if the editor had forgotten to check it over. There was a missing quotation mark at the end of a dialogue, at one point the spacing needed to show the start of a new scene was missing, and once Callie's name was accidentally spelled C-a-s-s-i-e. There was not a single "Cassie" in the book.

Overall, a beautiful story wonderfully crafted by an amazing author! I highly recommend this book to all Christian Romance lovers!

"The Chamomile" Book review!

     Lovely book. It's definitely different. The writer's voice was strong, and the writing clear. The author expressed her opinions through her writing very well. It was not at all preachy. It has romance, suspense, forgiveness, trust, and more. It was quite a read. 

     I only thought the romance happened a bit quickly. Nothing wrong with that, it was just different from what I am used to reading. If you're looking for an easy read, this is it.
     Three stars. I look forward to what the author may have next.


Sorry my posts are so short now. I'm just so busy, and have a hard time writing a long post. :/