Category: Book Reviews

The Rose and the Thistle: Book Review

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Synopsis: The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz is a stand alone novel set in the mystical castles of Scotland. Lady Blythe Hedley, a duke’s daughter, finds herself in need of protection as her father is caught up fighting for the return of the Stuart king and running for his life. Everard Hume, a Scottish earl, finds himself the untimely protector of a woman he has never met while maneuvering through the death of his father, assuming an earldom, and dealing with his rebellious brother whose actions put the family dangerously close to the wrong side of the new King.

Frantz has woven a bit of camelot into this story. The Rose and the Thistle combines ancient Scottish history with Camelot and Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott. Castles, towers, prisoners, intrigue and court life all set the stage for an unlikely romance.

While some authors do not take the time for character development, we cannot accuse Frantz of this. It is over 100 pages before the heroine meets the hero. But, once she does, you have a full scope of the situation surrounding them. Both hero and heroine have strength of character. Sometimes novelists allow the heroine to overpower the hero in wit and tenacity, but I am glad Frantz chose to make a bulwark of Everard.

There is also a strong theme of faith in Christ and unity within the body of Christ. I specifically appreciated how she built a bridge between Protestants and Catholics. Especially when representing a tulmultuous time in history of a deposed Catholic King and a new Protestant King of Britian.

If you love Laura Frantz, you will love this too. My only complaint was the slower beginning, but of course, her novels are always worth it.

Happy reading! – Leslie

Book Review: Crosshairs

Crosshairs by Patricia Bradley is the third book in her Natchez Trace Series. It is the story of Ainsley Beaumont, a ranger in the investigative services branch of the Park Rangers and Lincoln Steele, a former FBI sniper. Beaumont and Steele cross paths unexpectedly when Beaumont comes back to her hometown to investigate the murder of a young woman. Striving to prove herself as a female investigator, Beaumont is determined her rising flame for former boyfriend Steele will not get in her way. Steele has other plans entirely.

Lots of twists in this book. I found the ending unexpected and interesting. Looking back I think Patricia Bradley did a great job weaving small clues into the book. By balancing danger and suspense with love triangles, Bradley does not leave you on a boring page.

If you prefer crime, suspense, murder and a case to solve then you will find this book will fall in line.

Morality as a theme is often over looked in books, but you will find the theme of classic moral justice in Crosshairs. Good characters come to good ends, bad characters come to bad ends. Justice served. There is also a theme of relational redemption as well.

All and all, I found the book entertaining but also similar in footprint to book 1 in this series, Standoff, and so I give it 3 stars.

Leslie

Tired Mamas Pray is Here!!

Order NOW for great Christmas gifts!

I am SO excited to share with you all, my brand new book, Tired Mamas Pray. This book will revolutionize your prayer life, even as a tired mama. It was written for you!

Seven years ago, when my twin boys were one year old and my daughter was not yet two, I sat down three nights a week and I wrote ten prayers at a time.

Taking scriptures that had leapt off the pages of my Bible, I turned them into prayers for my babies. Seven years later, I am seeing the fruition of this dream come to pass. It is such an exciting time to finally share them with you.

These prayers, inspired by a doctor’s diagnosis over my son by a maternal fetal medicine specialist, I learned first hand the POWER of praying scripture.

Today, I hand this powerful tool over to you and to all the women in the world who are just as tired as me.

As a gift for your friends and family for Christmas, Mothers’ day or a baby shower – or for yourself – this book will be a blessing to all the tired mamas out there who long to pray while wondering where they will find the time.

Here is a quick peek at the back cover:

Sleep-Deprived. Overstimulated. Overwhelmed.

As a tired mama, it can be hard to balance family life with your ideal prayer life. Laundry, chores, cleaning, school runs, screaming, and snuggles all contribute to the day’s pressing concerns to choke out your deepest desire: to pray for your children.

If you become overwhelmed just thinking about it because you have no idea where to start, what to say, or how to fit it in to your mama schedule, Tired Mamas Pray was written for you.

By keeping it simple, author Leslie N. Crouse shares her secret to a vivacious prayer life as a busy mama. Tired Mamas Pray takes the timeless strategy of praying biblical scripture and makes it so easy you need less than sixty seconds to do it. No more struggling to find the time. No more searching for the words to pray.

Tired Mamas Pray provides 90 daily prayers for your children that will keep you praying for their:

  • Relationship with God
  • Character development
  • Discernment
  • Friendships and relationships
  • Relationship with the Church
  • Purpose

Powerful, effective prayers are within your reach. No more overthinking this. Just focus on two to three scriptures each day and personalize them to your children in less than sixty seconds.

Buy it today at any of these stores:

Book Review: Labyrinth of Lies

Labyrinth of Lies is the latest book of award winning author Irene Hannon. With over sixty novels, Hannon has put her skill into weaving another modern, romance thriller. Second book in the Triple Threat series, Labyrinth of Lies follows the story of undercover agents Cate Reilly and Zeke Sloan.

When the daughter of a wealthy businessman goes missing, there is more going on than meets the eye on the posh Ivy Hill Academy campus. When traces of a cartel ring are made known, Cate suspects the girl did not runaway with her boyfriend as initially believed. When the different angles of this case forces Cate and Zeke to work together, the sparks begin to fly. Again. Regret, anger, distrust and attraction all crash together to fuel a raging fire.

Labyrinth of Lies has a decent plot. Cartel activity on an elite, private all-girls school campus? Who is behind it? And what happened to the girl? This novel was very much the book version of every average action movie in my opinion. Suspense, physical encounters and fights, danger, love interest. It was okay. As a reader, I did not identify with either character, so it felt like being outside the story a bit. For me, this was not a book I read deep into the night, but I did finish it. So there is that.

Three stars.

Leslie

Book Review: The Girl Behind the Red Rope by Ted Dekker, Rachelle Dekker

Grace spends her life in a tight knit community surrounded by people she loves. Kind, generous and friendly her neighbors believe in each other and do whatever it takes to support their friends and family in their shared values. Even when it requires murder.

When her brother, Jamie,  begins to question the holy rules, the red rope and the boundary it represents Grace finds herself caught in the middle and unable to go back to the days before.

Ted Dekker and his daughter Rachelle Dekker team up to release a spine tingling book about the power of fear and the lives we choose because of it. In comparison, it ranks right along with Frank Peretti’s The Oath.  An excellent look into the levels of spiritual warfare and the impact it takes on our daily lives, with or without us knowing it. Fear and the crippling authority we choose to give it often masquerades as protection. It creeps in and binds the lives of the faithful as well as the lives of the unknowing.

The Girl Behind the Red Rope was engaging and even spine tingling. Definitely I recommend it, however for those of you whose husbands are out of town… maybe not reading it at bedtime (speaking of the power of fear!).  Would that we all would see the truth of God’s light in us and the call to live without fear. In perfect love – God’s perfect love – there is no fear. Only peace and joy. What a difference we would all make if we took this truth to heart and lived without a spirit fear.

Happy reading!

Leslie

You know you’re a mom when…

you’re so distracted you shut your pinky toe in the car door

Still not sure how I did it, but I’m positive it had to do with balance (because why else would it have been sticking out there like that??).

It was likely the multitasking of motherhood. …Stretching like every Pilates pro wishes she could to put an arm load of something in the passenger seat while answering a blitz of questions that only kids from the backseat can create.

Anyone relate? Last night at 12:06am I finished the documents I needed to and then “unwound” with 20 minutes of kitchen cleaning time. Maybe not my first choice for relaxation but I do appreciate making breakfast on a clean surface.

This summer I decided we should keep an open schedule so that we weren’t so busy. Somehow, that translated into something going on every single weekend. Brian has had a series of business trips so weekends are full of playing catch up.

Now I am realizing, that if I want summers to be full of family downtime when we make memories from camping and roasting marshmallows, swimming at the lake and going to our favorite theme parks… it needs to be on my calendar.

How about you? Are you spending your open-calendar summer doing midnight dishes or are you making fun summer memories with a “full calendar?”

Pray for them

This prayer is in honor of all the busy, distracted moms out there who spend their days serving those they love the most. Pick a Mom you admire and pray for her!

Father, I lift up all the mothers who work hard to serve the families you have entrusted to them. Today I ask you to honor (Name) for her work and “Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.” In Jesus’ name, amen. – Proverbs‬ ‭31:31‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Prayers taken from the BiblicalPrayers mobile app. Download today on the App Store or Google Play store.

Book Review: Together Forever

 Jody Hedlund is one of my absolute favorite authors. The setting of her stories is gripping from the moment you read the description. Together Forever is the second book in her Orphan Train Series and it is a powerful book. Once again, Hedlund brings you into the heart of the issue and the pain of letting go of those you love.

To read more about Together Forever click here.

Strawberry Fields

Twenty minutes north of our house is a field of 36,000 plants of delicious, organically grown strawberries. They let you come in and pick your own at $2.50/pound (eating as many as you can on the spot for free of course!).

The kids had strawberry juice dripping off their chins and running down their elbows. They had a blast. We picked about 40 pounds and it was a perfect morning. Right now those strawberries are resting in my deep freeze ready and waiting to be made into smoothies, strawberry shortcakes and strawberry jams.

We learned about what they look like ripe and when they are still growing. We learned that strawberries do not ripen after they are picked, so an unripe strawberry off the vine will stay that way. We learned that Grace and Ruth will take one bite from each strawberry they pick and then put it into the basket. We learned that if I time it just right, I can come and get their old plants for my own garden at the end of the season when they clear them out. WOO HOO!!

What a great way to spend the morning. If you are looking for a fun thing to do with your kiddos, I suggest you find out what fruit is in season and go pick it for yourselves! It is so much more fun than the grocery store, you get only the best, for those of us who are budget minded it is much more economical, and most importantly  you can make some great memories with your family.  Win-win-win-win!

P.S. Don’t judge us by our clothes. It had rained the night before!

Pray for Them

Of course… there is always a good teaching lesson to be found here as well!

Lord, create in (Name) a heart of “good soil,” so that when the kingdom of God is sown into (him/her), (Name) will be “the one who hears the word and understands it. [May (Name)] indeed [be one who] bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” In your holy name I pray, amen.  – Matthew 13:23

Prayers taken from the BiblicalPrayers mobile app. Download today on the App Store or Google Play store.

Book Review: Adamant

This may be one of the best books written by Lisa Bevere because the message is so prevalent to today’s church. There are some difficult truths to be discovered here, but they are truth none the less. It is amazing how difficult it can be to discern truth in a culture that lives in various shades of grey.

….to continue reading this book review, please read it here on Book Review: Adamant.

 

One-on-One Time

Last week I mentioned we had a rocky start to 2018. I had surgery and was in recovery mode all of January. At which time, the kids went through a destruction phase (which is when we donated about 70% of their remaining toys), a defiant phase, a teething molars phase and finally a potty-training regression phase. I have been asking God for a double portion of grace each and every day. At long last, I feel that we are getting out of the weeds and I am happy to report we are all alive and even healthy. Yay! It may sound dramatic, but lets be honest: being a parent of young children makes surviving each day feel like a personal victory.

For those of you who have entirely forgotten the physical and emotional demands of parenting young children please just give us a hug and a gift card to Starbucks and refrain from encouraging catch phrases. It is too easy to look back and only remember the nostalgic feeling of having little tots sitting on your lap. Which I do have lots of precious moments of. Although more often than not my little tots spring onto my lap like goats and with as much grace manage to head butt me right in the nose. That’s about the time I start pushing them off my lap and checking for blood.

Brian and I have brainstormed our parenting trials and it is our conclusion that more one-on-one time would do us all a world of good. Personally, in the midst of chaos I forget how cute they actually are. So when I am with just one they take my breath away. Suddenly they are beaming smiles and giving hugs the entire time. We used to take them out for dates, but it resulted in too many toys and treats and a “Gimme Gimme” attitude. It was hard on the budget and our schedule. A great idea in theory but not sustainable when trying to cycle through 5 kids.

Somehow I heard of a better strategy and we are implementing it. Here’s what we decided to do: Each kid has their own special night every week. Esther has Mondays, Micah has Wednesdays… so on and so forth. They get to stay up an extra 20 minutes with one parent on their night (next week is the other parent). We play games, we color, we read books. If any of the kids causes problems on someone else’s night they lose their turn. The other parent puts the rest of the kiddos to bed and oddly, this hasn’t affected the usual bedtime at all. We still manage to make it down stairs at the same time we always did. Win. Win. Double win.

Oh – side note. You have to actually tell them this is their “special time with mommy/daddy” otherwise they miss the obvious… because that is what kids do.

Pray for them

Over these last few months, I have been praying that God would give my kids obedient hearts. This is a prayer I highly encourage! The Holy Spirit is just as powerful in the heart of a child as He is in an adult. There is no child-sized Holy Spirit!

Lord, you have instructed us to obey those set in authority over us. I pray that (Name) will “obey [his/her] leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over [his/her soul], as those who will have to give an account.” May (Name), “let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to [him/her].” In your Name I pray, amen. – Hebrews 13:17

Prayers taken from the BiblicalPrayers mobile app. Download today on the App Store or Google Play store.

Book Review: I Will Not Fear

 For Black History month, I read I Will Not Fear: My Story of a Lifetime of Building Faith Under Fire by Melba Pattillo Beals. This is an autobiography of a woman who was selected at the age of 15 to be one of nine black students to be integrated into Central High School of Little Rock, AR in 1957. This story impacted me in a way that forced me to shift my previously held assumptions. Never have I been so happy to challenge my beliefs and broaden my understanding.

Click here to continue reading the full Book Review: I Will Not Fear.

Getting Crafty at Chick-Fila-A!

Forgive my absence! I have been trying to play catch up. These kiddos of ours have been keeping me hopping. The beginning of this year has been a little bumpy for us (as you already know) and I am only now feeling caught up. Yesterday I even did three loads of laundry (to which Micah looked at and said, “Mom, why haven’t you done that yet?” …yeah), the dishes and mopped my floors! And now I need a B12 vitamin.

Over here in our corner of the world it has been birthday mania! In the last two weeks we have enjoyed 4 separate parties for our friends and family. So yesterday, when I heard that Chick-Fil-A was doing a Dr. Seuss story time with free coffee for parents… I said, yes please!

So here we are… stuffed into a booth with each kid happily recreating their version of Oh! The Places You Will Go!  hot air balloon. Up to now, I have avoided taking all five to recreational things all by my lonesome. It’s too hard to protect them and keep them together. Very similar to herding cats actually. But the girls are walking now, so I thought to myself, “Hey Les, if it implodes just get back in the car and go home.” Always good to have an escape plan…

Which we didn’t need! Aren’t they cute?

Heads up: I have been reading lots of books lately and I will be reviewing them on the next two posts in lieu of recipes.

Pray for them

Oh. My. Goodness. I saved this prayer in my BiblicalPrayers app and for a solid year prayed it over myself.  Raising kids is hard and I daily need the help of the Holy Spirit. I can tell you from personal experience that spiritual growth does not happen over night, but this verse is powerful and I can see God moving.

Lord, I ask that self-control – fruit of the spirit- will grow to maturity in (name). “Let [him/her] be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of god.” In your name I pray, amen. – james 1:19-20

Prayers taken from the BiblicalPrayers mobile app. Download today on the App Store or Google Play store.

Book Review: The Sea Before Us

This is the first time I read Sarah Sundin, and I loved her. The Sea Before Us is the first of her Sunrise at Normandy series.  That fateful day at Normandy changed the tide of the war and Sarah Sundin did a beautiful job of representing those who served on the sea that day. More intriguing to me was Wyatt’s beautiful story of redemption and Dorothy’s story of self-worth… I highly recommend!

To continue reading the full review, please see The Sea Before Us here.

Leslie

Two Year Olds

Happy Friday!! So glad we all made it to the weekend. We are definitely in the midst of the “terrible twos” from the phantom two-year molars that torture us all at night to the power-struggles during the day. But you know what? I just love this age.

Ruth Adeline: Fashionista

These two girls bring so much joy and life to Brian and I. They are just so gosh darn cute!! So today, I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures we have taken recently. Sorry if they are blurry… these girls are fast!

Grace Elizabeth: Olympic Swimmer

And you know two year olds give the best snuggles. There is never a missed opportunity to compete for lap time when I sit down. Of course, then comes the begrudging compromise for a leg each.

Snuggles

These days go by too fast. Potty training hasn’t began yet and it’s all fun. Crying and tantrums don’t phase me anymore so what’s not to love?

Sister Hugs!

Pray for them 

It is amazing how many people fall short of representing. Whether it is the company they work for or the faith they proclaim. This year I would like to challenge every believer in Christ to refocus their thoughts and words and intentionally represent Christ in a worthy manner. Pray for a brother or sister in Christ will also walk in intentionality.

Lord, I lift up (Name) to you and ask that (he/she) would “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [he/she has] been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.” In your name I pray, amen. – Ephesians 4:1-2

Prayers taken from the BiblicalPrayers mobile app. Download today on the App Store or Google Play store.

Book Review: A Song Unheard

Roseanna M. White is an author I typically seek out for new books. I loved her Ladies of the Manor series and look for other books by her. She just released her second book from the Shadows Over England series: A Song Unheard. Situated in England during World War I the heroine, Miss Willa Forsythe, is a woman of extraordinary talent. Willa is not only one of London’s most adept pickpockets she is also a prodigy at the violin. Her abilities put her at the center of attention for both the English and German governments as they vie for an important weapon of war…  Click here Book Review: A Song Unheard to read the full review.

Leslie