Christian Book Reviews hosteb by Bring It On! communications

April 9, 2013—Hello bloggers, reviewers, and book lovers!

We know-this site is looking a little rusty. We had to set aside our book reviews for several months in 2012, but we are back and hoping that you will join us!

In the weeks to come, many new reviews will be rolling in and when they do, we will be posting them to our new site which is nearly ready to launch. You can visit us at www.TellUsTheTruthReviews.com

So....out with the old.....in with the new! Thank you for being a fan of books! We love what you have to say!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

"Love's Tangled Web is filled with angst, love, questions, and finding one's self"



Love's Tangled Web , a novel by Keren Franklin

Review by Wendy 

"Love's Tangled Web is filled with angst, love, questions, and finding one's self"




 A picture-perfect marriage. A little harmless flirting. Two sisters, with lifelong resentments. The ultimate betrayal. Bridgette’s life, on the sun-drenched west coast of Australia, appears perfect – married to a successful lawyer, Joel, with two beautiful daughters and a leadership position in church. She even has herself fooled into thinking she’s got it all together. But there’s a perfect storm brewing, a wave of events that will sweep away Bridgette’s superficial world forever. Joel is harboring frustrations which his self-centered wife won’t acknowledge, and Bridgette’s sister is nursing an old grudge against her. When dangerous passions erupt between the two, Bridgette is blind-sided and humiliated. As destruction falls on everyone she loves, Bridgette must finally get real with herself… and with God. In the aftermath, an attractive younger man offers her his heart, but can Bridgette build a new life and a stronger love amid the rubble? Or is it possible to forgive the unforgivable?

Wow, imagine coming home and finding your sister in bed with your husband. OUCH! Bridgette and Piper have always had a tense relationship - one feeling like the good sister and one the bad. Perception is reality though. Devastated, Bridgette turns toward her church family and begins to learn more about herself. She also begins a relationship with a younger college man and from there, the gossip flies. Will Bridgette start a new life with her new man or will she learn to forgive, not only her husband but herself?

A page-turning, thought-provoking read, Love's Tangled Web is filled with angst, love, questions and finding one's self. The characters are realistic and the betrayals and hard truths are bitter pills to swallow. Keren Franklin does a superb job of writing this compelling, hard-to-put-down novel. The story will stay with you for days, long after you've read the last page. A recommended read!


I received a copy of this book from Bring it on! Communications,  in exchange for an honest review...

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

..."a realistic tale illustrating that our place in the world is not a guaranteed secure place..."


 

The Place of Belonging by Jayne Pearson Faulkner , Non- Fiction

Review by Sue W

             "...a realistic tale illustrating that our place in the world is not a guaranteed secure place..."




Finding a sense of belonging and safety is the "stuff" underlying the plots of countless novels some packed with never ending action and others focused on the emotional turmoil of self-discovery.
The Place of Belonging by Jayne Pearson Faulkner fits neither category but is instead a quiet fiction memoir retracing a young girl's childhood in 1940's Big Sky Montana. As the book blurb points out, it is a place many of us will recognize, a step back in time. But this book is not all sweet remembrance. Faulkner softly creates an image of a young girl, deeply loved by her grandmother and mother, but always set aside by the community and even their church as being different, all because she did not have a father. When her mother does marry, Janie is already seven, past by the cuddly and cute stage that could capture a step-father's heart. As baby after baby arrived to her mother and stepfather, Janie becomes part of a growing family that needs her help. but still sets her aside. Even the living arrangements set Janie apart from her family. During the week she continues to live with her steadfast grandmother in the city, traveling each weekend by bus to the Big Sky farm to see her family.

A photo at the end of the book will show this separation, felt by the young girl, but never spoken aloud -- a jumble of toddlers with blonde hair and blue eyes like their father, and older, dark-haired, dimpled Janie, a contrast of difference. This photo begs the question of how much of this story is fiction (called a fiction memoir) and how much is fact. I actually forgot the book had been classified as fiction. The young girl's narrator voice has the right mixture of age appropriate innocence, first heartbreaks and developing insight.

I did not grow up in the 1940's, or even in Montana, but I recognized the hard working families - the joys of new puppies and kittens, the harsh realities of farming, and the simple rewards of hard work. In this modern time of split families and abandoned responsibilities, many readers will be attracted to grandma who seemingly tirelessly keeps the family on solid footing with her cooking, cleaning, and loving.

This is not a dark tale of abuse or neglect, but rather a realistic tale illustrating that our place in the world, or even within our family, is not a guaranteed secure place, revealed at our birth. Janie's spot was complicated by the sometimes cruel mores of tradition and the "no-emotions" barriers of her new Swedish family, but when she finally comes to spot of belonging, you will rejoice at her arrival. Jayne Pearson Faulkner has been a missionary, and I would love to hear of her adventures as such. She is a delightful story teller who deftly handles mixing the profound occurances of life with the ordinary.

I received a copy of this title from Bring It On Communications for review purposes. All opinions are my own. Check out this promotional you tube video for the book. Want a short book to fill an evening or to take along as you travel. Get a copy or e-copy of Place of Belonging and enjoy it.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

"All of the skeletons are missing their heads!"...


The Sacred Mountain, by Dalen Keys
Review by Nancy


“All of the skeletons are missing their heads!"... 
The Sacred Mountain, Fiction

When you’ve grown up in Philly, the Southwest is a long ways away. Will was heart-broken that he had qualified for the Eastern Pennsylvania Skateboarding Championships. Not the qualifying part, but the part where he finds out that Mom and Dad have scheduled the same time to volunteer at a reservation Clinic in Arizona. He has to go.

Imagine your 13-ish kid in a total pout. Not fun. But Will’s life is about to change in ways he’d never imagine and skateboarding has just a bit to do with that. Waiting to meet them with his Jeep is Pastor Roger Feathers, who is in charge of the Clinic and the small reservation church. He has also drummed up a lot of interest in Will giving skateboarding demos in the evening!

Meeting Pastor Roger helps Will loosen up, and when he meets the Pastor’s kids, Jake and Kate who are skateboarders too, he fits right in. There is a friend of Will’s father doing an archaeological dig at the place the tribe used to winter and they have found some amazing things, especially if you’re a teen. All the skeletons are missing their heads! There are over 5000 sets of bones and at least that many heads resting in a separate place. Wow! The tale of the ancient tribe is written into the story of Will and his friends. They learn that the chief of the tribe had a son named Eagle Feather who disappeared one day, never to return. He had been studying with a trader who loved God and was trying to help Eagle Feather understand the Bible. History comes to life in more ways than one.

The author of this YA novel has a PHd in Chemistry and a wonderful way with words. Dalen Keys has taken an old tale, revised it a bit and made it part of a great story for young and adults alike. There are many who will enjoy the Indian tale for itself and many more who will understand that God sees all our undertakings, even helping out now and then.


Posted by Nancy

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

"Not the perfect life they had hoped for..."

Love's Tangled Web, A Novel by Keren Franklin
Review by Edna

“Not the perfect life they hoped for…”

Love’s Tangled Web, Fiction


   This is the first time I have read a book written by Keren Franklin. I want to thank "BringIt  On Communications" for sending me this book free in order for me to review.

Bridgette and her husband Joel, who is an attorney, live in Australia with their two daughters. They do not have the perfect life that everyone thinks they have. Bridgette is self centered,  but she thinks everyone else is. She and her sister have never got along, and she now has to go to a function for her sister that she does not want to attend. But with Joel's persuasion she does go,  but there is trouble awaiting. As the trouble brews in their family, can they find a way out? Or will they go their separate ways. Bridgette begins to go to church and wants to have a closer walk with God.  After a younger man expresses interest to go out with her, she realizes then that she was in the wrong and needs to straighten herself up and do what God wants her to do.


Posted by Edna