Shadow of Doubt by Terri Blackstock

Hello Fellow Readers!! Summer will soon be here with its warm weather and sunshine.  People will be outside mowing yards, working in gardens, and swimming in pools of chlorinated water.  However, I hope you take the time to stop and have a seat in a comfy chair in the sunshine and curl up with a good book. I have never found anything quite as relaxing as that. I hope you will decide to read some of these books I have been recommending. In case you do, I have another book for you! 

This is the second book in the Newpointe 911 series by Terri Blackstock.  If you have been reading my blog for long you will have noticed I like to read series.  This series has a total of five books that I will be posting about, but for now let me tell you a little about the second one called Shadow of Doubt.

The only detective in the small town of Newpointe, Louisiana is rushed to the hospital for arsenic poisoning.  As he is laying in a coma, the police investigating the crime look to his wife, Celia, for answers.  Although as the town soon find out, Celia is no stranger to arsenic poisoning. Her first husband died after being poisoned. Celia was arrested for the crime but got off on a technicality.  Now it seems with all the evidence piling up against her, no one believes in her innocence except her attorney, Jill.  But Jill is having a few doubts herself.  Could Celia really have poisoned both of her husbands or is this just an elaborate set-up.  With no one in town believing in her innocence, Celia must turn to God and trust that he will work everything out.

This is a great book that will have you on the edge of your seat! I highly recommend! 

Find out more and purchase here! 

Great Day Every Day by Max Lucado

Attitude is everything! It can mean the difference between a life of happiness and fulfillment and a life of utter torment.  Everybody gets knocked down, everyone makes mistakes, and everyone gets hurt sometimes.  But it is how you deal with the hurt and step back up to the plate to take another swing at the balls life throws at you that will mean the difference.

It IS possible to be positive in the midst of a bad day or troubling circumstances. Even if you think you are the lowest of the low, you still have something to be thankful for. Just that you are saved and one of God’s chosen children is reason to rejoice!  I love horses and the one thing you will hear when you are around them is if you get bucked off, get right back on. Don’t ever end the lesson on a negative note. It will instill fear in you and make it more difficult to climb back in the saddle the next time.  Life is just a long ride across the prairie toward the horizon.  You will undoubtedly encounter some clouds and rain, maybe even a few tornadoes and hurricanes.  But as long as your faith is in Jesus, you will come out on the other side stronger than you were before.

This book by Max Lucado called Great Day Every Day: Navigating Life’s Challenges with Promise and Purpose talks about giving everyday a chance.  He speaks about the importance of seeing the good in the midst of the bad no matter how small.  He tells a story about a young soldier that was imprisoned in the Vietnam War.  He had plenty of reason to give up hope but the one thing that got him through his seven years in a Vietnamese prison was laying on his stomach on the dirt floor and staring at a tiny leaf of green grass growing in the midst of all the turmoil and death.  He focused on the positive and not the negative. 

Sometimes blessings and good things can surround you yet you focus on the negative. Take Eve for example.  She was in the Garden of Eden, the most beautiful place on earth. She could have lived her life wanting nothing, just tending to the garden God had placed there for them. But she chose to focus on the one fruit that God commanded her not to eat.  What she focused on was the difference between an easy life and a hard life.

If you want to know more and really change how you look at life and the troubles and roadblocks that pop up along the way, I highly recommend you read this book with an open mind.  Remember, it’s all about perspective! 

You can purchase this book here.

Private Justice by Terri Blackstock

Happy Easter Everyone!!! Today I want to tell you about a book that recently finished reading called Private Justice by Terri Blackstock.  This is the first of five books in the Newpointe 911 series. 

In the small close-knit town of Newpointe, Louisiana, terror is running loose.  There is a serial killer stalking this community. He has a definite mode of operation: kill with a bullet and then burn in a house fire set with diesel fuel as the accelerant. Who is the killer targeting?  He is targeting the wives of the local firemen.

Mark Branning, one of the firefighters in Newpointe, knows that his wife may be next on the killers list.  He is determined to protect her but that is not as easy as it appears because they are currently separated and their marriage is crumbling fast.  Will it be possible for Mark to get his life right with God and be able to get his wife to trust him so he can protect her?  Will Allie be able to forgive Mark and possibly reconcile their relationship? Will they have the time to work out their differences and get their lives back on track before the killer strikes again?

This is a book that will have you on the edge of your seat waiting for what happens next.  I started this book and got to chapter thirty-eight before I was able to stop and take a break! Although this is a fictional story, it has many good points that will bless you. It's a story of forgiveness, love, and true selflessness. You can do anything in life as long as you put God first! 

You can find out more here.

Silent Pledge by Hannah Alexander

Hello again fellow readers!! I have been on vacation for a week but now I am back and ready to tell you about another book that I have finished reading! A few weeks ago, I posted about Sacred Trust and Solemn Oath by Hannah Alexander.  If you missed those reviews, feel free to go back and read them. These are two great books!

Today I want to tell you about the third and final book in this series called Silent Pledge. This book continues with the story of ER doctor Lukas Bower and Dr. Mercy Richmond.  After the fire that destroyed the Knolls Community Hospital ER in the last book, Dr. Bower has taken a temporary position in an ER about 3 hours away from the people he cares about.  He soon discovers that he made a mistake in coming here. He is having to battle unethical co-workers and incompetent hospital management, unlike his wonderful staff in Knolls.

Meanwhile, with the ER temporarily closed and being remodeled, Dr. Mercy Richmond has turned her office into a temporary ER as well.  She constantly has to make time for her daughter in the middle of this influx in patients with Dr. Bower out of town.  As Lukas is struggling with whether or not to tell Mercy about his feelings for her, Mercy’s ex-husband tries to get to know his daughter again and has some surprises waiting for him when a simple physical and blood test show some things he nor his family were prepared for.  Can their faith get them through the hard times that lie ahead?

Read the book and find out! You won't be disappointed! 

You can purchase this book here.

Solemn Oath by Hannah Alexander

Solemn Oath by Hannah Alexander is the sequel to Sacred Trust that I posted about not too long ago.  This book is also a great read, full of medical terminology and gritty situations.  But situations like these are always easier when being confronted with the power of God backing you up.

In this book Dr. Lukas Bower is facing a COBRA medical review for a situation with a patient in the ER that is discussed in detail in the first book, Sacred Trust.  However, if you have not yet read the first book and decide to read this one as a stand-alone novel, you will not be lost at all. 

In the midst of the ER being investigated for misconduct, the small town of Knolls is reeling from the effects of an unknown arsonist that seems to be intent on destroying the town.  Meanwhile, Dr. Bower is getting closer to Dr. Mercy Richmond but he constantly finds himself wondering if they have a future despite their difference of beliefs.  After much prayer, he must make a difficult decision and hope that it is the right one.

This book will have you on the edge, hanging onto every word and reaching for the next book when this one is over. 

Check back for the review about book three in this series, Silent Pledge!

You can find out more or buy these books here.

Sacred Trust by Hannah Alexander

If you are like me and love reading anything relating to the medical field, you will absolutely love reading Sacred Trust by Hannah Alexander.  This is actually a husband and wife writing team; the husband an ER doctor.  This book uses medical terminology to weave an incredible story of caring and hope by the ER doctor and all the nurses and administrators that he works with on the medical challenges.

This book focuses on Lukas Bower, an ER doctor who moves to the small Knolls community to start fresh after having some problems at his previous hospital. However, he soon meets resistance from people who don’t care for his no nonsense way of doctoring and the fact that he is willing to pray with his patients and share his faith.  In no time at all, one of the head administrators is out for his job when Dr. Bower refuses to give morphine to a drug seeker who happens to be the son of a important hospital official.

In a moment when it looks like his world may come crashing down once again, he finds an ally in another doctor, Dr. Mercy Richmond.  Dr. Richmond has troubles of her own in the form of an alcoholic ex-husband who has custody of their daughter and a general mistrust of the male population.  Through a tragic turn of events, she will find herself leaning on Dr. Bower and wondering if he is like every other man she has ever known or if his Christianity is real and what makes him different.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!!  Happy Reading! 

Find out more or buy the book here.

Dawn Comes Early by Margaret Brownley

I recently got a book from BookSneeze called Dawn Comes Early by Margaret Brownley.  Kate Tenney, a disgraced author of dime novels in Boston decides to answer an ad for an heiress of a ranch  in the paper posted by Eleanor Walker, the owner of the Last Chance ranch.  The ad was as follows:

“Looking for a woman of good character and pleasant disposition willing to learn the ranching business in Arizona territory. Must be SINGLE and prepared to remain so now and forever more. Will be given ownership of ranch.”

Kate Tenney has never been on a ranch before and knows nothing about riding, roping, branding, or taking care of cattle but what has she got to lose. No one in Boston will accept another of her books since her last book was banned.  Immediately upon entering the tiny town of Cactus Patch, Arizona Kate finds herself in the hands of a deranged gunman with all her belongings shot up in the street.  When a handsome blacksmith, Luke, saves her she feels something that she has never felt before.  But for her, love is not an option. She has trust issues and in order to be named the heiress of the Last Chance Ranch she must remain single forever!

Will she follow her heart and fall in love with Luke or will she ignore her feelings and hope to become the heiress of the Last Chance Ranch, if Eleanor Walker chooses her.  But first can she learn how to run a ranch and even have a chance at owning it someday.

This book is funny and heartwarming! A great read! 

You can find out more about this book here.