"Echoes From the Past" (The Almond Tree Series Book 2)by June Foster

Book Description: When Dave Reyes, senior pastor of New Life Fellowship discovers he has a six-year-old daughter, his life changes forever. He must reveal the truth to the congregation, but will they fire him and send him away in shame? 
Social worker Betty Ann Johnston still grieves over the death of her police officer husband. But when he returns from the grave to torment her, she struggles to maintain her sanity. Witnessing Dave's faith is her only source of strength. Will ghosts from her past destroy her, or will she find hope in the God of the Bible? 

About the Author:An award-winning author, June Foster is also a retired teacher with a BA in Education and a MA in counseling. She is the mother of two and grandmother of ten. June began writing Christian romance in 2010. She penned her first novel on her Toshiba laptop as she and her husband traveled the US in their RV. Her adventures provided a rich source of information for her novels. In 2013, June's book Give Us This Day was a finalist in EPIC's eBook awards and in 2014 a finalist in the National Readers Choice Awards for best first book. Ryan's Father won The Clash of the Titles book of the month for January 2014 and was one of three finalists in the published contemporary fiction category of the 2014 Oregon Christian Writers Cascade Writing Contest and Awards. Deliver Us was a finalist in COTT's 2014 Laurel Awards. June has written four novels for Desert Breeze Publishing. The Bellewood Series, Give Us This Day, As We Forgive, and Deliver Us, and Hometown Fourth of July. Ryan's Father is available from WhiteFire Publishing. Red and the Wolf, a modern day retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, and For All Eternity are available from Amazon.com and Smashwords. June enjoys writing stories about characters who overcome the circumstances in their lives by the power of God and His Word. June uses her training in counseling and her Christian beliefs in creating characters who find freedom to live godly lives.

My Review: "Echoes From the Past"  by June Foster is the second book in (The Almond Tree Series) and is as good as the first, "For All Eternity". Echoes from the past is Dave Reyes, the senior pastor of New Life Fellowship, story of how he learns that he has a daughter from a relationship in the past that wasn't a God honoring one.

I loved this story because it shows forgiveness and true repentance. " Echoes From The Past" tells how even if we disobey God, and then ask Him to forgive us and then live for Him, He uses our hurts and mistakes for Our Good. 

Pastor Reyes is ready to resign as pastor but wait there has to a vote taken between the deacons and the congregation. My heart was really tied in knots while reading to see what the outcome of the vote would be! I dare you to read "Echoes From the Past" (The Almond Tree Series Book 2) by June Foster and see if you agreed with what was decided!

 "Echoes From the Past" has characters in the church that are just like "real characters" in our churches. If you read " For All Eternity" you will like getting to read more about JD  and Joella Crawford.

This book is a clean love story and also has a little mystery! What more could you want in a book! 

The mystery revolves around a social worker's past, and yes it kept me turning the  pages. I had to know where the phone calls were coming from. 

I have enjoyed all of June Foster's books but I think "Echoes From The Past" is my number 1 favorite! Why, you ask, because it shows we all can make mistakes and still be used by and for God. It shows that God uses less than perfect people and yes that includes pastors.

""Echoes From the Past" (The Almond Tree Series Book 2)by June Foster  is definitely a five *****s novel.

To buy "Echoes From the Past" go here:http://www.amazon.com/Echoes-Past-Almond-Tree-Book-ebook/dp/B00TUF2YIW/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

"Daughters of the Heart" by Caryl McAddo + Giveaway

Book Information: 

God’s perfect plan is sometimes so hard to determine. Gwendolyn, Cecelia, and the youngest, Bonnie, make a pact never to break their father’s heart like their big sister did. Then their determination is sorely tried when suitors show up, and he gets so pigheaded with his rules. Will Henry survive his daughters coming of age? Will they endure and keep their promises to each other? 

From one man asking to court her—who Daddy sends packing—Gwen goes to three! How can she ever decide? Cecelia knows exactly who she wants, but she’s still a year away from Daddy’s acceptable courting age. What if her beau doesn’t know or won’t wait? And Bonnie hates being the baby and wants to be grown-up more than just about anything…except her man. She is for sure and for certain in love. 
In his life, Henry Buckmeyer has never been so beside himself. His little girls are so young, just babies, too young. He hates the whole idea of men coming to take them away and is inclined to shoot every one of them, but praise God for a level-headed, loving wife and step-mother! She helps keep him sane amidst the female chaos. Packed with fun, romance, deception, action, heartbreak and tears, this delightful Christian novel keeps the twists and turns coming. Will the Buckmeyer home ever be settled and peaceful again? Will any of his daughters find true love…a man he'll approve and to whom he can give his blessing? 



Author Info

Caryl, praying her story gives God glory, loves writing for Christian genres--historical and contemporary romance, Biblical fiction, and mid-grade especially. In 2014, Simon and Schuster debuted VOW UNBROKEN, a historical Christian romance set in 1832 Texas, and Caryl followed with three additional novels. In April, LADY LUCK'S A LOSER (contemporary, mature, inspirational romance) September's debut, HEARTS STOLEN (set in 1839-1844), book two of her historical Christian Texas Romances--a #1 Amazon Best-seller, and in November, A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS, volume one of her new Biblical fiction series, The Generations--also an Amazon #1 Best-seller.  For every good blessing - including ten children (four by birth, six by marriage) and sixteen grandsugars - she gives God the glory. Caryl lives a country-life with Ron, her high school sweetheart husband of forty-seven years and two grandsons, in the woods a few miles south of Clarksville, Red River County seat, located in far Northeast Texas with two grandsons Christian (16) and Benjamen (13).

Link to purchase book:http://www.amazon.com/dp/151227379 Link to giveaway: http://celebratelit.com/daughters-of-the-heart-celebration-tour/  My Review: "Daughters Of The Heart"by Carl McAddo had been on my wanting to read list long before it was released, even before I knew there was going to be a fifth book in the "Texas Romance Series". I know that sounds crazy and how can that be, well, you see I read the first book  "Vow Unbroken" and thought I want to read more about this family and after reading "Daughters Of the Heart" I am still saying I want to read more!  Each book in the series has been better than the last except "Daughters of the Heart". I liked this book but I really have to be honest and say it wasn't my favorite, I felt it didn't have the excitement in between the pages that the other 4 books did, but yes I still recommend this book. " Daughters Of The Heart" can be a stand alone but I am glad I have read them all.  Henry Buckmeyer has his hands filled with three daughters who wants to be in love. The only problem is that Henry wants to keep his daughters at home and doesn't want them to grow up.  The story line was great but I thought the writing wasn't well planned out and there was a lot of mistakes in the story, like misplaced words and sentences that didn't read well. I think the ending was better than the first, as it is a cliff hanger, so yes, there is going to be more books in the series. I know that in fiction, the characters meet and fall in love immediately but in "Daughters of the Heart" it didn't feel "real". Yes, I know fiction isn't real but when I read, I want the story to make me feel like it is. The romance of Cecelia, is just a little to fake for me.  The danger that Gwendolyn puts her family is more believable and that is what makes me give this book a three star rating! Yes, even though "Daughters Of the Heart" is not my favorite, I can still recommend the series because as a whole I give this series Five stars times two. I am eagerly awaiting the other books that are coming!  I received a complimentary e-copy of this book through Celebrate Lit Blog Tour Program for an honest review. Tour Dates:  Simpleharvest: Sept 5 https://simpleharvestreads.wordpress.com/ Artistwriter: Sept 6 https://artistwriterandstudentohmy.wordpress.com/ Justcommonly: Sept 7 http://justcommonly.blogspot.com/ Readingismysuper: Sept 9 https://readingismysuperpower.wordpress.com/ Giveawaygal: Sept 11 http://giveawaygal.blogspot.com/ Singing Librarian: Sept 12 http://singinglibrarianbooks.weebly.com/ Bigreadersite: Sept 13 https://bigreadersite.wordpress.com/ Agreateryes: Sept 14 https://agreateryes.wordpress.com/ Debbiesdustydelib: Sept 15 http://debbieloseanything.blogspot.com/ Faithlovebooks: Sept 15 http://faithlovebooks.blogspot.com/ Barbara: Sept 16 celebratelit.com Bukwurmzzz: Sept 17 https://bukwurmzzz.wordpress.com/ Cathy/2girsl&book: Sept 18 https://twogirlsandabookblog.wordpress.com/

"Recovered Essence:: How Toxic Relationships Impact Your Inner Child" by Christine A Wilson

Book Descriptions: Love provides the soul with security and guides our humanity. Our relationships, families and the world suffer when we lack the proper foundation on which our lives were to be built. The mind has its own way of doing things when its foundation was not built on the love our essence was created for. In this book, Christine's story reveals how some of us lose the connection with our true identity when early scars created a different map to survive. Our own unfinished business leads us to painful relationships in the search for love to revive the underdeveloped essence. No person plans to enter a toxic relationship but things have a way of coming to the surface for a good reason-to fully heal us. After wrestling most of her life with mistaken value, Christine allows her surrendered will to be led by the Shepherd of her soul, leading to divine connections on her journey to freedom within her essence. Alongside her story, Christine provides essential insights and truths which coach and teach us the process of renewing our minds. The goal: To recover our essence by the power of love from the One who created it.

Author Bio:
Christine A. Wilson is a Certified Life Coach, writer, speaker and co-owner with her husband at Wilson Wellness Counseling, Coaching and Consulting. She was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and presently lives in beautiful Boyne City Michigan. She is the author of Recovered Essence: How Toxic Relationships Impact Your Inner Child. She has certifications in Neuro Linguistic Programming and Emotional Intelligence and is the founder of the Recovered Essence Program©.

Christine enjoys connecting with people, willing to be raw and real. Her own struggles, insights and victories are what inspired her to write her own story to let others who are in similar situations know they are not alone. While writing Recovered Essence: How Toxic Relationships Impact Your Inner Child, her passion grew to see others realize their value to God and others. She wanted to provide a system to guide people to self-acceptance, clarity and true freedom. The Recovered Essence Program will be an excellent add-on to help people to understand where they are in the process of recovering their true essence and bring them to a place of true peace, love and power. Her heart-centered and passionate approach helps others to see their own story become a meaningful page turner.

In her spare time, she loves boating, motorcycling and biking with her husband and their blended family of six adult children and ten grandchildren whenever possible.

To learn more about Christine and her writing, drop by her website.
You can also connect with her on Facebook or LinkedIn.

Recovered Essence: How Toxic Relationships Impact Your Inner Child can be purchased on Amazon in Paperback or Kindle version. 


My Review: "Recovered Essence: How Toxic Relationships Impact Your Inner Child" by Christine A Wilson is a book that has good points to remember on forgiveness and unforgiveness and how that void in your heart isn't filled until you let the One that created us fill it with His love and purpose.  To be honest, this book isn't what I expected it to be but after reading it, I can say even though I have a problem getting into it at first, I found the book to be helpful and I believe it could be helpful to someone in a toxic relationship, which I think if we are honest with ourselves, we all have at least one relationship, be it a friend, parent, or other relation, that is toxic to our soul!

I did find this book to be a little more text book style than I like to read but again if you applied the principles and ideas presented in this book,  you will learn to not need the toxic relationships to make you feel worthy of love.

The author explains how our past leads us into these toxic relationships and how these scars if not dealt with causes us to choose unhealthy ways to survive which then leads into more scars to deal with.

The author shares her own personal story which I think is good as it shows, she knows the things she is sharing and writing about works!

I am giving"Recovered Essence:: How Toxic Relationships Impact Your Inner Child" by Christine A Wilson four stars!

 I received a free copy of this book/Ebook/Product to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.

"Where Can I Flee" by A. M. Heath

Book Description: War is on the horizon during the spring of 1861. It will be an event that will change the lives of everyone in its path. The Harper family included. 

Frank Harper is a young man full of dreams and ambitions. Even when the country is split and war breaks out, Frank will do whatever is necessary to see his dreams come true, even when that means putting on a uniform and leaving home. 

For the first time, Claire Harper is forced to consider the reasons behind such a conflict. Should slavery be abolished? Which side should she be on, and what does God have to say about this? Claire is torn between her own opinions and those of her family. The struggle within her only increases when she repeatedly runs into a kind and handsome Union soldier. She longs to see her brother turn to Christ before it is too late. Desperate to reach her brother with the gospel, Claire pens a series of inspiring letters. Will she be able to handle all the obstacles of war and continue to be a witness to those around her? 

How long can Claire last when her heart is torn in half and she is burdened for her brother's soul? How long can Frank resist his sister's urgent pleas or the gentle tugging from within? Can a man outrun a Holy God? 

Author Info: A.M. Heath breaks out as a Christian romance novelist with the 2014 release of Where Can I Flee, inspired by her love of Christ and 19th century American history.

Being raised in a small Tennessee town, A.M. Heath grew up with a love for southern history and nostalgia. Her husband and 4 children embrace the small town lifestyle and southern standard of back porch relaxing, tea sipping, homemade comfort food, strong Christian values, and tightly woven family bonds.

Inspiration can strike at any moment and spawn from a simple garden stroll, a biblical passage, one of her kid's school projects, a recipe, or a phone call from a friend. This unbridled inspiration makes A.M. Heath's stories, characters, and settings unique and fresh; an assurance for her loyal readers as new stories are projected to release in the future.

My Review:"Where Can I Flee" by A. M. Heath is a ,for lack of not knowing a better word to write, fantastic book. It is filled with all the emotions that this reader wants in a book! It has bitterness and love and fear and forgiveness and acceptance! 

This story is about a brother and sister who are separated by war.  Claire is devastaed when her brother Frank joins the Confederate army. She is worried about his life but worries most about his soul.  

Clare's letters to Frank are written so well by the author's words that I felt like I was really reading letters that was written while the war was raging on! I actually felt their struggles and heartaches. I think the reason I like reading this story is because the facts are true and even though battle is described, the details aren't gory ( well a little to get the idea) and such but the reader can feel the pain and sorrow the soldiers and Claire faced!

There is even a new love interest in this story for Claire, but we have to wait for book 2 to see if it goes anywhere.

Yes this is Christian Fiction, but I recommend it to anyone that likes Historical Fiction, and yes I am going to say I believe this story would make a great movie.  Fans of "Gone With The Wind" would love " Where Could I Flee". It is not a remake of "Gone With the Wind" at all just the same time period in history.

"Where Could I Flee" by A.M.Heath is definitely a five story book. 

I only have one complaint, I really didn't want this book to end, I cannot wait till the next book in the series is out!

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own..

 To buy "Where Can I Flee" go here: http://www.amazon.com/Where-Flee-Ancient-Words-Book-ebook/dp/B00MQ8KYI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441291254&sr=8-1&keywords=where+can+I+flee

Here is a video about the book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrSvfpn2EIo