Nonnie and I

By
Savannah Hendricks

This is such a delightful book about best friends and friendship. Perfect for young children and it has a wonderful message that your best friend will be there for you even when you make new friends. Nonnie is a rescued giraffe that is befriended by a little girl. She loves Nonnie so very much and they have a bond that is unbreakable. The illustrations in this book are magnificent and enhance the story with bright and colorful pages that draw a little reader into the settings and characters.

I was given a copy of this book by the author, Savannah Hendricks. She inscribed the book to my almost 3 year old granddaughter which made it even more special. It was such a joy to give it to her. My daughter read it to my granddaughter at bedtime and she loved the story so much. She even brought it to her mom the next day to "talk" about the story and have her read it again.

I want to thank Ms. Hendricks for the copy of the lovely book and the joy it brought to my family. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my heartfelt own.

The Liar and Other Stories
By
Alison Ragsdale

Alison Ragsdale's beautiful writing talent comes through in each and every short story in this very diverse collection.  I found myself absorbed in the scenarios of each vignette and the very deep emotions that I felt reading them.   The stories are written with great descriptive detail and vivid imagery that drew me right into every one.  Even though the stories are short, they all hooked me from the very first paragraph.  It was so easy to pick up the book and read a story or two and then be content with what I read knowing the next time I opened it, I'd have a new story to experience.    There were some stories that Ms. Ragsdale let me imagine what I would like the ending to be.  Then another with a heart warming ending from an unexpected reason.  Even one story with the "thoughts" and "feelings" of a inanimate object.  I felt like I became that object with the way she brought out it's purpose and all the possibilities it could have been. She pulled at my imagination strings!   Amazing! 

I really enjoy Ms. Ragsdale's books and this one is like a combination of all things good she writes.  It's one that as I read the stories, I wasn't sure what I would feel.  From highs to lows, from happy to sad, from hopeless to hope, there's so much in this little book. It's packed!  I loved reading it!  It was an honor and great experience to read these heart tugging, emotional and fantastic stories in this collection.  Well done, Ms. Ragsdale!  Thank you!!

I want to thank Alison Ragsdale for the ebook copy of her wonderful collection.  All thoughts and opinions in this review are my heartfelt own.  A 105 short story stars!  Five for each one!

The Sugar Queen of Emerson Pass

By

Tess Thompson

The Sugar Queen of Emerson Pass is a story that's as rich in heart and emotions as the Rocky Mountains are in breathtaking beauty. This story is heartwarming and heartbreaking but one I couldn't get enough of...just like being in the mountains. Turning the pages was like walking a mountain trail and eagerly anticipating what would be around the next bend in the path. The beautiful setting of this series is in the fictional mountain town of Emerson Pass, Colorado. There's a rich, family history here as the story jumps several generations from book one "The School Mistress of Emerson Pass" to the current generation. Ms. Thompson blends pieces of the past generation into the current with old journals and letters from the ancestors of Trapper and Brandi. I really loved the way this knit the story together from the generations before.

The rugged mountains are beautiful and solid just as Trapper and Brandi's relationship seems to be when they are very young and in high school. Trapper's life is Brandi and ice hockey. He loves them both. His believes their love is an epic, happily-ever-after love and nothing can fracture their true love. Brandi loves Trapper with all her heart and soul...but she has to keep a secret from him to prevent him giving up his future in hockey. So she lies to him about loving him. Both are heart broken but in such different ways. They spend ten long years wondering "what would it have been like" if things had turned out differently. Then fate, or destiny, takes a turn and Trapper returns to Emerson Pass.

Tess Thompson has a natural gift of writing stories that bring out the emotions from one extreme to the other through characters I immediately become attached to. Brandi and Trapper are meant to be together and their rocky journey kept me yearning for the love they have to break through the pain and secrets. This is a compassionate novel of two people who were meant to love each other in their forever fairy tale. Like life itself, there are issues that Ms. Thompson brings into the lives of the characters. She brings Brandi and Trapper through these in such a way that she had my heart going from breaking to soaring. From crying extremely emotional tears to joyous happy tears. It's a story that, given a chance, true love can conquer all. "Every generation had lost and persevered......Those whose blood ran through our veins were here in the breeze that smelled of wildflowers and the rustle of the wild grasses that grew just beyond the fence. "Fight for love, they seemed to whisper.""

It was great meeting the new cast of characters in this book and I look forward to reading where Ms. Thompson takes their journeys as the series continues in both the past and present. I am in love with the characters, the setting of Emerson Pass and the unique way Ms. Thompson has of pulling me into the pages where time doesn't exist. I want to thank Ms. Thompson for the honor and privilege of reading this love story that touched my heart. All opinions and thoughts in this review are my heartfelt own.

Brave Girl, Quiet Girl

By

Catherine Ryan Hyde

Relationships: the way in which two or more people regard and behave toward each other. Relationships can be so difficult and complicated. Relationships can be the best things ever or ones that hurt more than words. This is a story that delves mainly into the realm of mother/daughter relationships. Ms. Hyde wrote a very sensitive and compassionate story about how this relationship can be flawed and leave a daughter rejected. Not just one daughter/mother relationship, but two. "We either grow up to be our mother or we make a solemn vow to the universe to be her polar opposite." This is also about a relationship between two people who become connected through unimaginable circumstances and the love they share for a little girl named Etta. This is an emotionally packed book that tugged my heart all across the feelings spectrum. The characters Ms. Hyde created in this story were ones I became instantly attached to.

Brooke is Etta's mother. She loves Etta more than anything else in the world and she wants to be the best mom to her she can possibly be. Nothing like her own mother is to her. But an unthinkable thing happens and Etta becomes a missing child!

Molly is a homeless teen living on the streets in L.A. She's just trying to survive after her mother kicks her out of the house. She connects with a guy, Bodhi, and together they are living on the streets when Molly finds a little toddler girl, Etta. Molly's heart goes out to this little one and her protective instincts kick in.

This is the setup to an in-depth story that is told from alternating points-of-view between Brooke and Molly. The heart wrenching pain I felt when Brooke is desperate to find her sweet child, Etta, is intense. I've had a missing child and the minutes, hours, days are agonizing. The turmoil Brooke went through was gut wrenchingly written. As are all the emotions with the characters. It is especially evident in the connection between Molly and Etta. It was an instant bond and trust between the two. Not so much between Brooke and Molly to begin with but Ms. Hyde nurtured that relationship with care and timeliness that made me pull for them to become trusting and bonded.

I loved the internal dialogue each character has with herself. It's like a story telling dialogue from their minds. The thoughts of Molly were especially good in the teenager lingo that fits so well in how they think and express themselves. ".....I heard the baby girl in the back seat, and she was calling my name, too. It was a little bit quiet, but I could hear her saying "Molly, Molly, Molly," and it melted all my mad away. I could just feel it turn to water and pour out of me, like I was all leaky and full of holes." The emotions the characters experience were genuine and so true to what happens in life. No one is perfect but love can make the imperfectness be the "perfect" someone else needs.

The settings were vividly described throughout the book. In my mind I could see the homeless camps and shelters vividly. The shelters made out of cardboard and old tarps or crates. Ms. Hyde made me feel I was experiencing the very real issue of homeless people and what it is like. The secret "code" they have between them. The way they are avoided or treated as inferior people. It made me sad. But the other settings, the foster home, the homes of the mothers of Brooke and Molly, the desert travel...all are just as vivid as if I were there, too. Word pictures brought to life.

This is a story that I stepped into the pages and forgot about my own surroundings. From the first word to the last, it took me on a journey that sometimes things happen for the better and that bad things can lead to good, if given a chance. "It was like what was happening, or at least what I thought was happening, was so big it made my heart stretch until it hurt." I want to thank Ms. Hyde, Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC copy of Brave Girl, Quiet Girl. It was an honor to read it. All opinions and thoughts in this review are my heartfelt own.

A Million Little Lies

By

Bette Lee Crosby

"We tell lies when we are afraid....afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger." Tad Williams

This is the story of Suzanna Duff. I think the biggest lies we tell are the ones we tell ourselves. This is Suzanna's dilemma....the lies are easier than the truth. Another thing we are harder on ourselves about is believing in love and forgiveness. This, too, is an issue with Suzanna. Her conscience works on her and then her fears kick in. "With lies you may go ahead in the world, but you can never go back." Russian Proverb

Suzanna Duff is a young girl who has a rough way to go when her mother dies and leaves her to be raised by an uncaring, alcoholic father. To self-protect, she begins to tell little lies to make life bearable. What harm can that be? "To Suzanna her lie was not a deception but a necessary altering of the truth." Little lie upon little lie adds up and soon they become easier and easier to tell. The lies become easy to believe as truth. Her life becomes more complicated when she finds herself pregnant and her father tells her to leave. Her life is challenged as her little Annie grows and life isn't a bowl full of cherries with Earl...the guy she's been with since she left home. She has to go find a better life for Annie even if it's built upon lies. This is the beginning of a story that pulled at my emotions for Suzanna. Her character is one I felt for from the beginning. No one likes a liar but Ms. Crosby created Suzanna in such a way that I wanted to pull for her. I felt so much anxiety for her when her lies were close to being exposed. I loved this book. It's full of heart. It's full of what a family really is about. It's full of mistakes. But it's all about how love can overcome the messes that life can be. There's a surprise towards the end of the story that brought tears to my eyes. It's such a wonderful twist.

Bette Lee Crosby is a storyteller extraordinaire! When I open the pages of one of her books, I feel like we're sitting together on a cozy veranda and I'm full of anticipation for the journey I'm about to take. Her talent and gift of bringing a story to life is southern story telling charm at its best. A Million Little Lies holds all the essence of what makes Ms. Crosby one of my favorite authors to read. It's a story from her heart that tugged at mine as all her stories do. I'm so honored to have had the privilege of reading another five star plus book by this amazing author. Her stories make my life better because of the messages and hope that the words between the covers bring to me. I want to thank Ms. Crosby and Netgalley for the ARC of a touching and heartwarming story. All opinions and thoughts in this review are my heartfelt own. Five MILLION stars if I could.