The Glory of Heaven by Betty Malz

Betty Malz wrote about her experience in Heaven when she had a near death experience when she was young. This book was written in her later years and tells about what she believes Heaven will be like. She shares many anecdotes gathered from other people who have had similar near death experiences over the years. The author bio at the end of the book says Betty has now gone on to be with her Lord and Savior so I know she is enjoying all this first hand now.

The book is very well written and engaging and keeps you reading. It also exhorts the reader to maintain and strengthen their relationship with the Lord.

I enjoyed every minute of this book. It made me long for my Heavenly home but also made me even more cognizant of the fact that there is work for me to do here spreading the message so others will have the opportunity to share in this beautiful eternity God has prepared for us.

Chosen Books (Baker Publishing) provided me with a copy of this book for review. All opinion are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Unspoken by Dee Henderson

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Just when I thought Dee Henderson had reached perfection she outdid herself again. What a wonderful spinner of tales she is! She makes the reader want to jump into the book and live it with the characters.


Bryce Bishop meets Charlotte Graham when she brings him some rare coins to sell in his shop. But that is just the beginning of uncovering who Charlotte really is and learning about all the twists and turns her life have taken.


As Ms. Henderson tells the story she seamlessly weaves the characters' relationship with God into the plot. Their faith is such a part of them that it is just more detail of their personas.


In this story we meet Paul and Ann Falcon from Ms. Henderson's previous book and John and Ellie which apparently will be the subject of her next book. I love the way Ms. Henderson's books keep us apprised of the lives of her characters from previous books.


I received a copy of this book from Bethany House for review. I did not receive any compensation for reviewing the book and all opinions expressed are my own.

What Your Dreams Are Telling You by Cindy McGill

Cindy McGill is an expert on interpreting dreams. From what I can determine, she became an expert as a result of many, many years of practicing dream interpretation. I was skeptical at first because the book starts out sounding a little faddish and New Age, but toward the end she did qualify that she is a Christian and believes that dreams are from God.


She explains what different dreams mean. Much of it sounded very logical. I read the book cover to cover wanting to give it a fair evaluation. I found much of it helpful. Although Ms. McGill says we all dream every night and have at least 2 dreams per night, I don't remember very many of mine. I can remember a couple from my lifetime very vividly and some others vaguely but not a lot. I only have one "bone to pick" on the symbolism of dreams. Ms. McGill mentions more than once that the "bathroom dream" is a symbol of "purifying and cleansing." I have had some of these dreams myself from time to time and truly I believe that all it pertained to was the fact that I had to "go" really bad and needed to wake up and take care of it. The rest of the interpretations I have no real opinion about and you will have to read them and decide for yourself. I believe this author is very sincere and has helped a lot of people, and I do believe that God gives people dreams on occasion that help them. It is up to the individual to determine what is valuable here and what is not.


I received a copy of this book from Chosen Books for review. I did not receive any compensation for completing the review. All opinions are my own.

Heart of the Country by Rene Gutteridge and John Ward

PREVIEW MOVIE TRAILER

Faith is running from a difficult situation. Her husband has been indicted for securities fraud in New York. She ran once before -- from grief when her mother died in North Carolina. Now she is returning to her childhood home in NC to heal and like the prodigal in the Bible, she is welcomed with open arms by her father and with a little bit of distrust by her older sister. This book tells the story of their long journey back -- hers and her husband's as they discover that family is what it is all about and as they put their faith back in God where it belongs.

I received a copy of this book and the movie from Tyndale House to review. I did not receive any compensation and all opinions are my own. I read the book first. Then I watched the movie. As with all movies that are made from books, some details were changed which is always annoying for me, but I realize that they must do this to make it work in this different format. My granddaughter, who watched the movie with me and has not yet read the book, enjoyed the movie and so did I.

The best part of the book for me was the description of both parents' transition from this world into Heaven. That was beautiful and real. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they did not include those pieces in the movie. I thought the references to God in the book were a little too sketchy and a little too glossed over, but the doctrine is sound. I liked the book -- read it from cover to cover without taking much time out for anything else, but it was a little different, and there were a few less "warm fuzzies" than similar books I have read.

The fact that Gerald McRaney played the father in the movie made the movie for me. That was some wonderful casting.

I enjoyed both the book and the movie and would recommend either one or both to my friends.

Fired Up -- Trouble in Texas Book 2 -- Mary Connealy

Mary Connealy’s second book in the Trouble in Texas series is out and it is just as wonderful as the first one. Another one of the Civil War buddies that lived through the Andersonville Prison of War experience together is the focus of this book. Dare Riker is the town doctor, although he doesn’t feel that he actually has the credentials to be a real doctor. He is more than a little smitten by Glynna Greer who is more than a little man shy since her first two husbands were duds. She has opened a diner and the problem is she is a horrible cook. To top it all off, someone keeps trying to kill Dare. What a train ride! I love Mary C’s books. She is so funny. I am always excited to see the latest book by her on the shelf.

I can’t recommend this or all Mary C’s books enough. If you don’t have time to read anything else this year, pick up one of her books. You will not be disappointed.

I received a copy of this book from Bethany House for review. If they hadn’t offered it I would have bought it anyway because I can’t pass up anything by this author. I did not receive any compensation for completing the review. All opinions are my own.

Stranded by Dani Pettrey

Another great suspense/romance by this author! She has the right combination of mystery/love story/redemption in Christ to make a novel that you can't put down.

Darcy St. James is back in Alaska to help her old partner solve a crime on a cruise ship. She renews her acquaintance with Gage McKenna who is also working for the cruise line on contract. Just when Darcy arrives, her friend Abby disappears before she can explain to Darcy what she was investigating. Darcy has to figure it out all by herself (with help from Gage and his family, of course).

This is a marvelous series of books and I can't wait for more installments. I like how the author seamlessly includes each characters faith (or lack of it) in Christ into the story without being preachy or it feeling like extra baggage. It is just part of who they are and I really enjoy this aspect of the story. Can't wait to hear more from this author!

I received this book from Bethany House to review. I did not receive any compensation and all opinions are my own.

Critical Pursuit by Janice Cantore

Brinna Caruso is a cop whose passion is finding missing children and catching molestors who prey on them. She has a personal stake in this issue because when she was a small child she was kidnapped by a molester and left to die in a remote location. She was miraculously rescued and she wants that outcome for all the little girls. Detective Jack O'Reilly lost his wife and unborn child to a drunk driver and he is questioning everything in life right now. He wants off the homicide beat for a while and becomes Caruso's partner. Together they pursue the bad guys and hash out the meaning of life and the existence of God which both are skeptical about after what they have been through.

This book is well written and keeps you waiting to know more. The struggle with the issue of God's existence is woven into the story and is not clunky or irrelevant to the plot. It is a natural conclusion to the feelings being generated by the action. The fact that Ms. Cantore was a cop herself makes it all real and helps the reader get a feel for the job at hand. I felt there could have been a little more conflict if Brinna had actually met up with her molester in the final pages of this story but it was not diminished by the fact that she didn't. It was still a very satisfying read.

I received a copy of this book from Tyndale for review. I did not receive any compensation for completing the review. All opinions are my own.