What I've Been Reading

Not everything I read is for review. I still like to pick up books to read for the pure pleasure of reading—a concept that boggles the mind of many of my friends and family members. After all, I read for a living. Why on earth would I want to spend time reading in my spare time?

However, Exposure is one of the CFBA books for which I owe my blog readers a review. So we'll start with that one today. Go here to read about Brandilyn and the book.

Exposure by Brandilyn Collins

Fear is something everyone deals with. Maybe not to the extent that Kaycee Raye does in Exposure. But it’s something that made her a sympathetic character. I wanted to step into the book and help her. In Exposure, Kaycee is forced to face her deepest fears. She dredges up courage she didn’t know she had in order to face her past and help someone she loves. And in doing so she learns a lot about herself.

Set in small town Kentucky Kaycee hopes she’s found a permanent home. But then weird things start happening. And they get weirder, feeding her fears. (Can such things really be done with electronics and technology? Scary thought!) She finds an unexpected ally in police officer Mark Burnett. Finally someone takes her seriously. Or does he? Can she really trust anyone? The action throughout Exposure is fast-paced and intense. Not a book for the timid reader.

I love Brandilyn’s Seatbelt Suspense™ writing. I love having my heart rate rise while reading, even when it keeps me up, much later than I should, reading it. :) When I pick up a Brandilyn Collins book, I know I’d better have time to read it because I won’t have any rest until I’ve finished the book. Exposure did not disappoint.

Zondervan sent me an advanced reader’s copy to review for CFBA.

Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson

Janice had her publisher, Revell, send this book to me as a gift, just because. (Thank you again, Janice!!) What a wonderful read!

Fools Rush In is the first book in the Weddings by Bella series. We are introduced to the delightful Rossi family, Italian to the core. They live on Galveston Island, Texas, where Bella’s parents have passed on the responsibilities of their wedding planner business to Bella. She’s neck-deep in a true Texas cowboy-themed Boot-Scootin’ wedding, something she knows nothing about. But she’s about to get a crash course in everything Texan, including one very handsome cowboy of her own.

Having grown up in Texas, I truly appreciated all the humor that introducing the true-blue Texan Neeley family to the full-blown Italian Rossi family brings. Fools Rush In is laugh-out-loud-funny and extremely heartwarming. And the spiritual thread slips right into the story beautifully.

I can’t wait until the second book in this series comes out. If you like romantic comedy, you will love this book.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Not Christian fiction, but an excellent general market book. Again I received this book as a gift from Cynthia Ruchti, president of ACFW, when I picked her up at the airport in Denver before the recent ACFW conference and delivered her to the hotel.

Written entirely in letters, with the occasional telegram, the authors tell the story of post-war England, more specifically one of the Channel Islands that had been occupied by Germans during the war. This is not only a tale of survival, but also it tells how life can be reestablished after a devastating event like World War II. The story of the society’s beginnings and the lifeline it held out to its members is heartwarming and sincere. It made me want to be a part of the society. :)

Thank you again, Cynthia, for gifting me with this incredible book. It’s characters will live on for a long time in my heart.