Priceless Review

"Priceless:  She's Worth Fighting For" is the novelization of the movie by the same name, written by Joel and Luke Smallbone.  In this book, James becomes a widower and in the process of grieving he looses his home.  In an effort to get back on his feet quick, James takes a job dealing drugs and get prison time on his first time out.  While serving he looses custody of his daughter and in an effort to get enough money to get his daughter back he takes a job driving "cargo", which is criminal for humans.  Now either James is incredibly unlucky or not real bright.  Maybe both.  He soon discovers his cargo is two women and falls for the older one.  Maria and Antonia are sisters trying to make it in America.  Somehow they get caught up with criminals with bad intentions.  And their hero, James.
This book is a quick read, a bit frustrating at times.  The bad or naive decisions get a little hard to watch.  The book is written by a couple of brothers from the band for King & Country with Nancy Rue.  Though they tell a good story it does seem that they are trying to tell too much at once.  I would recommend this for a young adult reader.  I received this book from Worthy Publishers in exchange for an honest review. 

Oke Returns to West

"Where Hope Prevails" is the third novel in the Return to the Canadian West series by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan.  This series is a companion story to the TV series "When Calls the Heart."  Though I haven't read the first two in the series of books, I do watch the show.  So while the two do not match, it is still readable without too much confusion. 
In this novel, Beth Thatcher is beginning her new school year at Coal Valley.  Much to her dismay, she is starting it with a new teacher as well.  Being a teacher, I found the back and forth between the two pertaining to educational philosophies rather interesting. The novel follows Coal Valley as it grows by leaps and bounds into a new civilized life and as Beth learns to live on her own before her wedding to Jack, the Mountie.  The novel is an easy read, perfect for relaxing without a lot of strain.  The 'book' Beth is a lot more complex that the 'TV' Beth.  She is more of a worrier and makes more mistakes.  Mistakes that she worries about, of course.  She seems more human and makes it a more enjoyable read.  I don't think what passes on television would make good reading here.  I will probably be searching out book one and two in this series.  Nice read!  I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Bethany House Publishing. 

Mike in Japan

"The Mask" by Taylor Stevens is the next novel in the Vanessa Michael Munroe series.  Mike is a mercenary for hire that battles injustice throughout the world, hopping from continent to continent kicking butt as she goes.  I reviewed "The Catch" last fall and when I saw Stevens had this new one out I knew I had to read it.  I love the Munroe books!  Munroe is both a woman and easily passes as a man.  She also fights like one.  The Munroe character is what makes these books so great, but the storyline is also intriguing.  In this one, she leaves Africa for Japan, following Bradford, her long-time love.  Bradford had a job in security there when he is framed for a murder in the building where he works.  Munroe has been kept in the dark about all the details pertaining to the job and has to start from scratch to prove Bradford's innocence.  Go read this book.  I give it an A.  I received this book in exchange for an honest review from www.bloggingforbooks.com. 

Go Big

"Go Big or Go Home" is country star, Scotty McCreery's autobiography.  The book gives a brief account of his growing up years and then focuses on his American Idol time and career as a country singer.  Since most American Idol contestants and winners usually are eventually forgotten, McCreery's book is a little different in that he is one of the few that has maintained a successful career.  Just ask any teenage girl.  However, I am not a teen age girl, nor am I a country music listener, so I will be evaluating this book simply as an autobiography. 
McCreery is young, 22.  So this book is relatively short and doesn't have a lifetime of ups and downs.  It focuses on a regular teen kid who gets thrown into something huge and to him, wonderful.  He doesn't have any of the usual problems of the young and famous, so the book is mostly a fish out of water story.  It is written in the same style of speech that he has.  Accent, slang and all.  I would recommend this to any of his fans for sure, and even to some that are wanting to break into a music career of their own.  Not a bad book.  I received this book from www.booklookbloggers.com in exchange for my honest review.

Cold War never Ends

"The Sixth Idea" by PJ Tracy is the newest novel in the Monkeywrench Series.  This novel gives a conspiracy twist about the men who created the Hydrogen bomb.  What if they had decided to create a weapon that would destroy the communication and operations of government at the time (1950s)without killing anyone and now 60 years later, in the middle of the computer age, it had more power than ever before.  The powers of the world would be killing and fighting to control it. 
This is a creative and intriguing book.  I loved it.  Tracy keeps the suspense going clear to the end with an unexpected twist in the end.  I would highly recommend this book.  I received this novel in exchange for an honest review from www.firsttoread.com. 

red queen review

"Red Queen" by Christina Henry is the second in the Chronicles of Alice series.  I have not read the first and clearly this is one of those books where you need to.  I only read about a third of it before I gave up.  So let me tell you what it is about.  'Queen' borrows the names of the characters from "Alice in Wonderland" and it is told in the same phsychedelic style but that is pretty much where the similarities end.  In the novel, Alice is being read to by Cheshire and is also running from an asylum with the mad Hatcher, a killer with an ax.  The book is dark and mysterious in a "what is going on?" kind of way.  I can see a lot of people liking this but, please, start at the beginning.

Samson and Delilah

"Delilah" by Angela Hunt is the  latest in the Dangerous Beauty Series.  Though Delilah has always been viewed as a sneaky, bad girl who threw Samson under a bus for the fun of it, this novel brings the question "why would she do that?" to mind.  Why?  "Delilah" takes the view of Delilah and Samson switching back and forth between each chapter.  This gives the reader a chance to see the point of view between each character.  Samson is an incredibly naive and overly-confident man while Delilah has been horrible abused and has absolutely nothing to loose and every thing to gain.
 As you know the story is the telling of a man with unnatural strength, the strength to kill a lion with his bare hands and the woman who he tells the secret as to why.  She of course gives it up to authorities who take away his strength. This is a novel though; it takes liberties that can be assumed from the bible story and adds historically accurate facts. I thought this was a great book and I highly recommend it.  I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review from Bethany House.