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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Jun 10, 2021  
Today's special guest on my blog is James Wade, Writer sharing his top 5 novels set in East Texas. There's also a spotlight on his new crime fiction novel RIVER, SING OUT. Check it out, and enter the giveaway to win an autographed first-edition hardcover the book plus an autographed paperback of his multiple award-winning coming of age novel All Things Left Wild - two winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/06/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-river-sing.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
“And through these ages untold, the river did act as the lifeblood of all those things alongside it.”

Jonah Hargrove is celebrating his thirteenth birthday by avoiding his abusive father, when a girl named River stumbles into his yard, injured and alone. The teenager has stolen thousands of dollars’ worth of meth from her murderous, drug-dealing boyfriend, but lost it somewhere in the Neches River bottoms during her escape. Jonah agrees to help her find and sell the drugs so she can flee East Texas.

Chasing after them is John Curtis, a local drug kingpin and dog fighter, as well as River’s boyfriend, the dangerous Dakota Cade.

Each person is keeping secrets from the others—deadly secrets that will be exposed in violent fashion as all are forced to come to terms with their choices, their circumstances, and their own definition of God.

With a colorful cast of supporting characters and an unflinching violence juxtaposed against lyrical prose, River, Sing Out dives deep into the sinister world of the East Texas river bottoms, where oppressive poverty is pitted against the need to believe in something greater than the self.
     
E(
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
147 of 230
Kindle
Evermine ( Daughters of Askara book 2)
By Hailey Edwards
⭐️⭐️⭐️

There’s such a thing as too much change. Emma’s sister is mated. Revolution is brewing in her home realm. The last straw: her would-be mate is back from the dead and back under her skin—yet when it comes to the last five years, he’s not talking.

 

Desperate for a chance to start her own life, she answers the queen’s call to ensure equality for all of Askara’s newly freed slaves. It’s the perfect opportunity to escape a heartbreak in the making named Harper.

 

Harper loses a piece of his fractured soul when Emma walks away. His lies were meant to protect her from torturous years that drove him to the point of madness. Instead, when he comes to her a year later to help avert a crisis in a freed-slave community, the wedge those lies drove between them is firmly in place.

 

As their new lives collide with old wounds, they race to stop a threat that could not only destroy the queen, but send Harper back to the hell he escaped. Emma must decide if the man she still loves deserves equal rights to her heart.

This was ok. I really enjoyed book one I like the demons in this series. I just don’t know what it was about this one I just got a little bored. Im not a huge fan of Emma her character just gets on my nerves a bit! I like where the story is going so it’s a 3 star for me.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Nov 14, 2022 (Updated Nov 14, 2022)  
Sneak a peek at the Christian romantic suspense series LOVE & HONOR by Hallee Bridgeman on my blog with a fantastic book trailer! Each of the books can be read as a standalone. Be sure to enter the giveaway for your chance to win all three books in the series and a $50 Bookshop.org gift card!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2022/11/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-love-honor.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS FROM THE FIRST BOOK IN THE SERIES**
You can't override the heart.

It may seem odd to seek peace by moving to a war-torn African country, but for medical missionary Dr. Cynthia Myers, it provided a way to escape a shallow life of unearned wealth, a philandering fiancé, and a father now square in the public eye as vice president of the United States. At least here she knows her work and life have meaning. But all that is thrown into chaos when she fails to save the life of a local warlord's mortally wounded son.

As part of the Army Special Forces A-Team on a mission to capture and subdue the warlord, Captain Rick Norton is compelled to use deadly force to save Cynthia's life. Enraged at the violence she witnessed and riddled with guilt that men died because of her, Cynthia doesn't want to like anything about Rick and his team--but an unexpected attraction is taking hold.

With two members of his team badly injured and rebels in hot pursuit, Rick will have to draw upon all his strength and cunning to get her out alive . . . because he's beginning to think that, despite their differences, they just may be able to make a life together.
     
    Bible Pathway Adventures

    Bible Pathway Adventures

    Book and Education

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Have fun teaching your children about the Bible with the FREE Bible Pathway Adventures' storybook...

https://travelingwife4life.wordpress.com/2020/08/05/katherines-arrangement-book-spotlight

Katherine’s Arrangement
 by Blossom Turner reminds me very much of a twist on Gone with the Wind for some reason. It is a the first book in a five book series :)

“The reason you feel so close to nature is because God uses creation to speak to people”

After reading the book, I went back and reread it. I liked the book, I really did. I thought that Blossom Turner did a great job showing some of the hardships of life after the Civil War and that her characters show TRUE genuine feelings rather than dumbing them down; It made the book all the more believable. I thought that Katherine shows strength and fortitude to do what was right for her family even though she was not quite happy about it. I also really felt for all that Blossom Turner put Josiah through. I thought he handled everything quite well (mostly) and I liked his maturity in contrast to Katherines. Both characters grew throughout the story and I thought the ending gave a good redeeming quality to both characters.

“The majestic flight of an eagle caught her eye, and she imagined what it would be like to soar high above the complexities of this life – to escape duty and obligation and fly far away from the weight of this decision.”

Blossom Turner writes with detail and imagination that is fun and engaging to read. However, the pace of the story appeared a bit slow and repetitive in places, and things were drawn out a bit more than I thought was necessary. But overall, the story was an interesting read filled with drama, scandal, and forgiveness.

I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars for the creative storyline, the real portrayal of the character's feelings, and for the redemptive story of Christ's forgiveness. I loved Blossom Turner's first book (Anna's Secret) and I will continue to read her books
  
Doctor Who: Sleepy
Doctor Who: Sleepy
Kate Orman | 1996
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was a re-read for me, as I had read SLEEPY when it first came out in the late 90s. While I remembered parts of the book, it was, more or less, like it was fresh. Most of my time was spent "gobbling" as many books as I could, allowing me to "escape" the humdrum life I was leading and my not-so-cool bachelorhood. So, yeah, a fresh start of sorts to this read.

SLEEPY is the first book that begins the overarching "Psi Powers" story line. Author Kate Orman wastes no time, throwing us right into the deep end of the pool as the book opens! The ride that begins never lets up, providing with well-fleshed out characters and minor characters, as well as providing an intriguing and thought-provoking backstory.

In both the Virgin <i>New Adventures</i> as well as the BBC's <i>Eighth Doctor Adventures</i>, Orman was always favorite of mine, as well as a number of the pre-NuWHO fans. Her characters, goodies <b>and</b> baddies, were always full of depth, giving something than us tropes. The Doctor, regardless of the Incarnation, was treated properly, offering a much better Doctor than the new series has shown us.

The book requires focus when reading. That is, it works better if you can read it in room without distractions (musical film scores playing in the background don't count as a distracting), without anyone trying to talk to you while you're trying to read, i.e. my wife (!). There's some truly heady stuff going on the pages within, and if you ride it out, you will not be disappointed!

In the 61 <i>New Adventures</i> that Virgin Books published from 1991-96, there are several that stand out as cornerstones of the WHO-niverse. SLEEPY is one of those "cornerstones". If you see this out in your travels, perusing a cool used book shop, pick this book up, as it well worth the time!
  
Red State (2011)
Red State (2011)
2011 | Action, Horror, Thriller
Kevin Smith cult film
I had always meaned to watch this film since I'm a big Kevin Smith fan, but just had never gotten around to until now. If you go in thinking you will be watching Clerks or Chasing Amy you would be mistaken. Maybe more like his follow up movie, Tusk, than anything else.

It's kind of the story of three high school friends. One of them meets and lines up a "hook up" with a mysterious woman on a dating phone app so the hormone-filled teens race to score. Their initial meeting at the woman's trailer seems to be going well until the boys realize the woman has drugged their beers and the boys drop to the floor.

When they awaken, they realize they have been abducted, bound and gagged and are now going to have something bad happen to them courtesy of a crazy cult-like religious leader in front of his "flock" complete with women and children.

All doesn't go according to plan when the boys try and escape and then the feds show up outside to try and handle the situation. Tensions escalate quickly and the bullets start flying.

The movie started promising with kind of a Hostel meets Wicker Man vibe. I enjoyed the tension built as the teens try and assess their situation and figure a way out. You definitely quickly grow to hate the cult leader and his disciples as they do nasty things to others and blindly follow their leader to carry out his every order. I feel the movie falls apart in the last act.

Without giving anything away, the resolution wasn't satisfactory and a lot of things are explained at the end instead of being shown which was disappointing. Not sure if this was meant to be this way or they ran out of money and/or time so that's the way thing ended up.

Overall, I was entertained, but felt it lacked something to make the experience completely fulfilling.