Book Review

Sacred Rest by Saundra Dalton-Smith, MD

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Recover your life, renew your energy, restore your sanity

I purchased this book after hearing Dr. Dalton-Smith speak about rest. I realized after listening to her that most of us are living a burned-out life. Everyone needs rest but there are many types of exhaustion.

Discussed in the book are physical rest, mental rest, emotional rest, spiritual rest, social rest, sensory rest, and creative rest. What you must do to achieve each type of rest differs.

It amazed me how much there is to learn about each type. For example, physical rest can’t restore mental rest. The author offers suggestions for readers to begin the process for each one.

What an amazing, helpful book! I just finished it and have already promised to lend it out to two others.

I also suggested it to my Sunday School class as an optional study.

Recommended for exhausted, weary readers searching for rest.

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The Third Path by Eva Marie Everson

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Finding Intimacy with God on the Path of Questioning

What a wonderful, thought-provoking book!

The author has dug deeply into her faith and the Bible to write this book that naturally draws readers closer to God.

Each chapter digs into a story from the Bible, flawed people who make mistakes just as we all do. There is a Path of Silence, Path of Memory, Path of Questioning, and a Path of Prayer in each chapter that invites readers to pray.

Interesting. Probing. Inspiring. Well done!

I will reread this book when I can take time to absorb it more fully.

Highly recommend!

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Loving the Dog Groomer by Cindy Ervin Huff

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Dog Groomer Bria Willis doesn’t trust men. The former model has plenty of reasons to maintain her distance from Marc Graham but it’s her job to train new owners to care for their dogs. Aaron, her brother and co-owner of their dog grooming business, will be near if Marc crosses a line.

After the death of his estranged wife, Marc’s priority is helping his son Tyler recover from her death. He’d been in the same car accident that killed his mother and his counselor suggested getting a dog to help Tyler. Having Brownie around has helped his son, but the pet didn’t obey Marc. He needed Bria’s help.

Believable characters recovering from lingering wounds from past relationships put up obstacles and even threaten their friendship.

I enjoyed this contemporary romance intertwined with plenty of doggie challenges to make pet lovers swoon! Tyler tugged at my heart as much as Bria and Marc. The story moves quickly.

Plenty of cute doggie moments and challenges to thrill pet lovers!

I was given a copy of the book by the author. A review was not required. The thoughts expressed are my own.

How to (Almost) Ruin Your Summer by Taryn Souders

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Camp can make you crazy

Chloe McCorkle doesn’t want to go to summer camp but has no choice. Her parents are going on a cruise and Chloe needs someplace to go. Chloe just wants to make enough money during the summer to buy a new bike to ride to school in the fall. She dreams up a scheme contingent on taking the baking course at camp.

She immediately meets a new friend, Pogo, and is happy to see a couple of school friends at camp. One of them is her secret crush.

Victoria, one of the girls in Chloe’s cabin, is constantly getting her in trouble.

Add to the that a very troublesome goat and you’ve got the makings for a fun novel geared to children 9 – 13.

Definitely recommend this chapter book for children!

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In Feast or Famine by Mesu Andrews

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

The Egyptian Chronicles, Book 2

This is the story of Joseph just before his release from prison—for a crime he didn’t commit—and up through the famine.

It’s a beautifully written story told in multiple viewpoints. The author’s attention to historical detail and tradition amazed me. I’ve read the Biblical account that is the background for this story many times and the historical and cultural insights brought me a whole new perspective.

Those familiar sections of Joseph’s Biblical story were the parts that gripped me most in this novel. Characters are well-developed and believably true to the times. The setting is a turbulent period in history that moves quickly. Well done!

Recommended for readers of Biblical fiction!

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Freedom’s Price by Pegg Thomas

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Path to Freedom, Book 1

By 1798, Gwen Morgan has been an indentured servant for two years, with five more years until she earns her freedom. She’s a maid to a businessman’s spoiled daughter, who becomes pregnant with a ship captain’s child while courting a rich aristocrat.

Gwen had been sold to a different family than her sister when the orphans arrived in America. Gwen’s greatest desire is to find her sister.

Thomas and Betsy Baldwin can’t abide in New Bern any longer. Laws now prevent the Quakers from buying slaves to grant their freedom. They make preparations to go western territory around the Ohio River where slavery is prohibited.

When Gwen is given a chance for freedom in exchange for an oath, she jumps at the chance. Maybe she can finally find her sister. She doesn’t plan on falling in love with Micah.

But the oath comes with high price when an enemy from the past threatens her new life.

My attention was riveted from the first chapter. Likeable characters deal with believable problems from the beginning. The mother and her baby tugged at my heart. The grandparents who quickly accept them both into their home made me love them.

I enjoyed this poignant story that held many surprising twists. Not everything was completely resolved in this first book in the series, leaving me to wonder what happens in the next book. The ending is both exciting and satisfying.

Faith is a strong component in this story. The author blends that easily a part of the plot. This book was a page-turner for me!

Recommended for readers of inspirational historical romances!

I was given a copy of the book by the author. A positive review was not required. The opinions expressed are my own.

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Knock-Knock Jokes for Kids by Rob Elliott

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

My young grandchildren love for us to tell them knock-knock jokes. We remembered a few but then drew a blank.

So when I found this delightful joke book geared to children 6 – 9, I snatched it up. The children have enjoyed it as much as I’d hoped. In fact, the seven-year-old reads them to us!

I recommend this fun book for children 5 – 9.

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Hoping for Treasure by Bettie Boswell

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

A Sequel to On Cue

Current Day—Ginny discovers a hidden compartment in an old desk soon after her marriage to Scott. The ancient typewriter and some manuscripts inside snagged my interest immediately.

In 1946—A WWII soldier boards in the boarding house where Betsy lives and works. She likes Dale but his family owns a farm. No way is she returning to the farm life that was her childhood. Yet she secretly is attracted to him.

There’s also a Civil War element to this story. That’s not part of the time slip element yet is still a thread in the story.

I enjoyed this time slip story. The author weaves a multi-layered tale that binds the present to the past through a beautiful historic home. Each era holds its own tragedy. Realistic, lovable characters snagged my interest from the first chapter and held on.

Recommended for readers of historical romance, time slip, and nostalgia.

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Our God is Bigger Than That by Michelle Medlock Adams and Eva Marie Everson

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

I love this sweet story!

Different animals on the farm have real fears and their mamas remind them that God is bigger than all their fears.

A little girl is frightened of the dark and her father reminds her that God is bigger than all her fears.

A great book to read to young children at bedtime!

The book is geared toward children 2 – 8.

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