The Ex Files-Victoria Christopher Murray

I enjoyed this book for the simple reason that it gives a glimpse into four women's lives who are dealing with much the same circumstances in their life. The Bible study and prayer group that they start coming to helps to knit them together to make each one of them stronger and closer to God. There is a twist to the story that I won't share (I don't want to ruin your reading), but this twist serves to remind them of the importance of God and each other. There is some steaminess in this book, however, that made me a little uncomfortable, simply because you do not expect it in a Christian fiction book. That could have been left out and the book would still have been excellent, but it was not. I think that this will be a sticky point for many readers, simply because this is why we don't read traditional romances. It had a good message, but would have been much better without the steamy parts.

About the Book:

The Ex Files:
A Novel About Four Women and Faith...
There are four ways a woman can handle heartbreak. She can fall apart, seek revenge, turn cold, or move on. The Ex Files is the story of these four women:

When Kendall Stewart finds her husband and her sister in bed together, she vows to never let anyone get that close again. But when she is faced with saving the life of the woman who destroyed hers, will she be able to forgive?

When an NBA superstar tells his mistress, Asia Ingrum, that he's decided to honor his marriage vows, her shock quickly gives way to revenge...but her decision may come back to haunt their five-year-old daughter.

Every night Vanessa Martin wonders why her husband committed suicide. Even worse, she contemplates joining him in eternity. Will Vanessa be able to gather the strength to live again?

Sheridan Hart is finally finding her way after a lie destroyed her seventeen-year marriage. Her new love is ready to get married, but will she commit to this younger man or is her ex-husband taking up too much space in her heart?

When their pastor asks Kendall, Asia, Vanessa, and Sheridan to meet weekly for prayer, they can't imagine they will have anything in common. But then a devastating tragedy strikes and these strangers are forced to reexamine their choices. Will they find true friendship, or will prayer -- and their union -- fail them?

About the Author:

Victoria Christopher Murray always knew she would become an author, even as she was taking quite an unlikely path to that destination. A native of Queens, New York, Victoria first left New York to attend Hampton Institute in Virginia where she majored in Communication Disorders.

After graduating from Hampton, Victoria attended New York University where she received her MBA.Victoria spent ten years in Corporate America before she decided to test her entrepreneurial spirit. She opened a Financial Services Agency for Aegon, USA where she managed the number one division for nine consecutive years. However, Victoria never lost the dream to write and when the “bug” hit her again in 1997, she answered the call.

Victoria originally self published Temptation. “I wanted to write a book as entertaining and compelling as any of the books on the market, put God in the middle, and have the book still be a page-turner. I wasn’t writing to any particular genre – I didn’t even know Christian fiction existed. I just wanted to write about people I knew and characters I could relate to.”

In 2000, Time Warner published Temptation. Temptation made numerous best sellers list across the nation and remained on the Essence bestsellers list for nine consecutive months. In 2001, Temptation was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Literature.

Since Temptation, Victoria has written four other novels: JOY, Truth Be Told, Grown Folks Business, and A Sin and a Shame. All of her novels have continued to be Essence bestsellers; her last three each reaching #1. In addition, Victoria has received numerous awards including the Golden Pen Award for Best Inspirational Fiction and in 2006, she was awarded the Phyllis Wheatley Trailblazer Award for being the pioneer in African American Christian Fiction.

If you are interested in purchasing this book or any of Victoria's earlier books, you can click here!

Next week, I will be having a giveaway, so check back!

Smiles and Loves! Janis

A Clearing in the Wild-Jane Kirkpatrick

My favorite type of book is the ones that weave history into the story, especially history about the early settlers or the Holocaust. This book is about the early settlers of Missouri who moved west due to their religious beliefs and persecution that they felt from the government. Emma, the heroine of sorts, questions their beliefs and discovers that although she questions the "church", she is greatly blessed by the people that she is with. You will really enjoy this book!

About the Book:

Emma Wagner seeks a singular voice in her 1850s religious community in Bethel, Missouri when she chafes at the constraints of a culture that values conformity over independent thought, especially in women.
Sent West with nine men challenged to secure land set apart from the world's distractions, this novel, inspired by historical events, follows one woman through her isolation from her community and the lessons learned in her spiritual journey.
In book one of this fact-filled fiction, Emma discovers what it truly means to serve--and to survive.

About the Author, Jane Kirkpatrick:

Jane grew up near Mondovi, Wisconsin, a little town not far from the Mississippi River. Her older sister Judy and younger brother Craig helped on the family dairy farm. Dozens of cousins lived within 50 miles providing the privilege of extended family memories. Most of the "Rutschow" clan remained in the Wisconsin-Minnesota area. Jane moved to Oregon in 1974 after completing her master's degree in social work. She worked in the disabilities field, became the director of the mental health program in Deschutes County and eventually "retired" from there to homestead and begin a new adventure in writing, working on the reservation, growing watermelons, and attempting to grow grapes, alfalfa and cattle.

The Kirkpatrick's new life has included "clearing sagebrush and wrestling wind and rattlesnakes" while "homesteading" land on the John Day River in a remote part of Oregon known locally as Starvation Point. She and her husband Jerry still live there today. "It's our 'rural 7-Eleven' since our home sits seven miles from the mailbox and eleven miles from the pavement" notes the author. Additionally, she currently works as a mental health and educational consultant on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon with both Native American and non-Indian communities.

To learn more about Jane and the other books that she has written, including the next one in this series, A Tendering in the Storm, visit http://www.jkbooks.com/.

Smiles and Loves! Janis

Dance In the Desert

This book made me think about God in a more intimate way. It is a wonderful expression and description of how God wants us to be with Him. He is right there-just waiting on us to dance with Him. I so want to be more like Jane in this book. She dances through her life with Him and encourages others to love God in the same intimate way.

About the Book

“Not a safe world.” How many times had she heard it over and over again? Well, it is not a safe world and Dara Murphy Brogan knew it better than most, which is exactly why she had tucked herself away on a desert mountaintop. Now it was just her, the voice inside her head and the boxes of hastily packed odds and ends—all that was left of her pathetic excuse of a life. Hadn’t she chosen the desert because it was barren and brown and dead looking and far, far away from anyone who may have seen the news?

So what was this, this trespasser, this interloper, this wacked out earth mother doing dancing outside her window? Celebrating life and the Spirit in a way Dara never could have dreamed. Until she opened her door and met Jane Cameron.

About the Author, Kathleen Popa

Raised in the American Southwest, Kathleen began her love affair with the desert as a child. Before becoming a writer she, among other jobs, worked in both the juvenile facility fro incarcerated girls and a home for emotionally disturved children. Mother of two, sh lives in Northern California with her husband and youngest son. Visit her blog, Reading, Writing, and What Else is There?

This book will definitely change the way you think about your relationship with God. What could be better?

Smiles and Loves! Janis

A Shred of Truth by Eric Wilson

Okay, I just love this book. It is full of action and thrills that kept my attention through the entire book. If you are looking for an action-packed thriller that will keep you guessing until the end, then you will want to read this one. The good news is that it is the second in a series, so I am going to get to read the first one next. The other good news is that I have an extra copy of this one to give away, so if you want to read it, leave a comment to be put into the drawing.

More about A Shred of Truth:

Eric Wilson returns with another sharp-edged thriller that will appeal to the rising generation of men and women on the fringes of faith.

In The Best of Evil, Aramis Black uncovered family secrets and historical conspiracies, hoping that his own dark past had come to certain resolution. But now, in A Shred of Truth, he finds his brother unconscious and tied to a statue in downtown Nashville with the initials AX carved into his back.

A shadow from his former life has reappeared, casting threats of violence and retribution. And soon the attacker is swinging his blade of self-righteous judgment directly at Aramis, challenging him to “face his sins.” Can Aramis finally break free from the guilt of his old ways, or will he succumb to the vengeance of an arrogant sociopath?

Aramis Black’s latest breathtaking adventure will lead readers to discover the resolve of true friends, the depths of family love, and the breadth of God’s forgiveness.

About Eric Wilson:

Eric Wilson is the author of Dark to Mortal Eyes, Expiration Date, and the first book in the Aramis Black series, The Best of Evil. He lives with his wife, Carolyn Rose, and their two daughters in Nashville, Tennessee. Visit him at wilsonwriter.com

Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to be put into the drawing! Blessings to you!

Smiles and Loves! Janis

Fearless

I love the title of this book, simply because I wish I was more fearless. This book by Robin Parrish is not like other books of Christian fiction that I normally read. It is a fictional account of superhumans that are endeavoring to help the citizens of Earth. Full of twists and turns, this book will keep you interested until the very end. This is the second book of the Dominion trilogy and it is sure to quickly become one of your favorites.

About the Author
Robin Parrish had two great ambitions in his life: to have a family, and to be a published novelist.

In March of 2005, he proposed to his future wife the same week he signed his first book contract.

Born Michael Robin Parrish on October 13, 1975, Robin's earliest writing efforts took place on a plastic, toy typewriter, and resulted in several "books" (most between 10 and 30 pages long) and even a few magazines.

By the age of thirteen, he had begun winning local writing awards and became a regular in his high school's literary magazine. In college, he garnered acclaim from his English professors and fellow students while maturing and honing his skills.

After college, he entered the writing profession through a "side door" -- the Internet. More than ten years he spent writing for various websites, including About.com, CMCentral.com, and his current project Infuze Magazine, which is a unique intersection between art and faith which he also conceived of and created.

One of his more "high concept" ideas for Infuze was to return to his love for storytelling and create a serialized tale that would play out every two weeks, telling a complete, compelling story over the course of nine months. That serialized story eventually came to the attention of several publishers, who saw it as a potential debut novel for Robin Parrish.

In 2005, Bethany House Publishers brought Robin full circle by contracting him for the rights to not only that first book, Relentless -- but two sequels. A trilogy, to unfold in the consecutive summers of 2006, 2007, and 2008. One massive tale -- of which that first, original story would form only the foundational first volume of the three -- spread across three books.

Robin is the Editor in Chief and creator of Infuze Magazine. He and his wife Karen reside in High Point, North Carolina. Karen works for High Point's First Wesleyan Church, where Robin and Karen are members and Small Group leaders.

About the Book
Book Two of the Dominion Trilogy:

The world changed after that terrible day when the sky burned, and now every heart is gripped by fear...

Earthquakes, fire, disease, and floods pummel the earth, and its citizens watch in horror.


But in the darkness there is hope -- an anonymous but powerful hero whom the public dubs "Guardian." He is Grant Borrows, one of a chosen few who walk the earth with extraordinary powers. But while Grant enjoys this new life, signs of a dangerous ancient prophecy begin coming true, and those closest to Grant worry he may be hiding a terrible secret.

A search for answers brings Grant and his friends to London, where an extraordinary discovery awaits that will challenge everything they thought they knew. With a deadly new enemy dogging his steps, Grant realizes that the world's only hope may come from unraveling the truth about himself once and for all. But what he comes face-to-face with leaves even this most powerful of men shaken with fear.

Secrets will be revealed.

Friends will make the ultimate sacrifice.

And destiny will not be denied.

The story continues...


If you enjoy books full of excitement and action, then Fearless will be one that you will want to read. To learn more about this book and this author, visit http://www.robinparrish.com/. You can purchase Fearless, here.

Have a good day! Blessings to you and yours! Janis