Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Winter 2022-2023 To-Read List

 Join in the Top Ten Tuesday fun! Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Here is 10 books I hope to read over our Summer (southern hemisphere) - some is new releases, some review books I need to catch up with and some books I have owned for years!

1. A Dangerous Stage

2. The Water Keeper

3. Yesterday's Tides

4. Critical Threat

5. Blue Columbine

6. Undercurrent of Secrets

7. A Promise to Remember

8. The Sound of Light

9. Behind Love's Wall

10. The Truth Teller

Weekend Wrap-Up: December 11h

 

 It’s Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Book Date.

The Warmer summer weather is here and we spend most of the weekend in the pool!

This might be my last weekend wrap for December.  We are going a way for a bit and not sure if I will have time for updates.  I have schedules some Top Ten Tuesday and Can't Wait Wednesday posts, so keep a look out for those.

Finished

(Reviews can be found under Book Review tag)

Currently reading

Next up:

Some great books up on my TBR.  These should last me till end of December.

What are you reading this week?

Blog Posts Recap:

Here is my past week's Blog Posts.

Top Ten Tuesday

Can't Wait Wednesday

Book Spotlight Fridays!

Saturday Series Discovery

Adding to the Bookshelf:

Which Avid Reader do not add to their shelves! I try to limit mine to review books since I have so many owned on my TBR to read.  So did I add to my shelf this week? 

Yes, one purchase and one ARC:

Review: A Flicker of Light

A Flicker of Light by Katie Powner
My rating: 💛💛💛💛

This is the second book I have read by this author, and her stories is beautifully written with a lot of emotional ups and downs. I enjoy how the POV is from three different generations, how the experience the same conversations differently.

The way the author dealt with the struggles of Alzheimer were very well done. Especially the POV from the character who struggles with her memory.

A beautiful story of a family coming together through struggles and challenges.

*I listened to the audiobook on Scribd.*



View all my reviews

About the Book:

Twenty-one-year-old Bea never expected to move back to her hometown in Montana, especially not as a college dropout with a husband in tow and a baby on the way. She insists the stay at her dad's is only temporary, until she can get back on her feet. But the truth is, she has no idea what to do now.

Mitch Jensen is thrilled to have a full house again, though he's unimpressed by Bea's greenhorn of a husband. Mitch hopes to convince Bea to return to school, but she's changed since her mom died. Everything has changed. How will he take care of everyone all by himself?

Grandma June is good at telling stories . . . and keeping secrets. But she can't hide that her mind is going much longer. If she doesn't tell the truth about her past before her memories fade away, someone she loves will suffer. But if she does, the lives of three generations of the Jensen family will never be the same.

About the Author:

Katie Powner is an award-winning author who lives in rural Montana where cows still outnumber people.

She writes contemporary fiction about redemption, relationships, and finding the dirt road home. Katie is a mom to the third power: biological, adoptive, and foster. Learn more at www.katiepowner.com.

Review: You're Gonna Love Me

You're Gonna Love Me by Robin Lee Hatcher
My rating: 💛💛💛💛

This was a sweet story about second chance romance.

I enjoyed the flashbacks to how the relationship between Nick and Samantha, started, developed and what happened to separate them.

Through Samantha’s past losses and her subsequent fears, we can see how if we do not work through our trauma it could hold us back to live a life of abundance.

I loved Alicia and Grandma Ruth from book one.

*I listened to the audiobook on Scribd.*

Review book one: You'll think of me


View all my reviews

About the book:

Nick's love of thrills and danger and Samantha's love of safety and security drove them apart two years ago. After her worst fears came true, can they build something new upon the ashes of the past?


Nick Chastain, a brilliant professor of fisheries and wildlife studies at Oregon State University, planned to spend spring break kayaking dangerous rapids in Colorado. But his thrill-seeking ways didn't sit well with Samantha Winters, his girlfriend of over six months. Samantha lost her father in a skiing accident years before and has been fearful ever since. Finally, one argument too many—and a host of harsh words exchanged—ended their relationship. A few weeks later, Samantha emailed an apology, but Nick never replied.


Two years later, Samantha comes to Thunder Creek, Idaho, to nurse her grandmother back to health after an accident. She is shocked when Nick walks into Gran's hospital room and even more shocked to learn that he no longer teaches at the university, a profession he loved with a passion. As Samantha and Nick get to know one another again, Samantha realizes she should use this time in Thunder Creek to evaluate her life—and her fears—and make some changes for the better. And Nick sets out to prove he has changed far more than Samantha might imagine.

About the author:

Robin Lee Hatcher is the author of over 85 novels and novellas with over five million copies of her books in

print. She is known for her heartwarming and emotionally charged stories of faith, courage, and love. Her numerous awards include the RITA® Award, Christy Award, Carol Award, HOLT Medallion, National Reader’s Choice Award, and the Faith, Hope & Love Reader’s Choice Award, and she is also the recipient of prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards from both American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America®. When not writing, she enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, Bible art journaling, reading books that make her cry, watching romantic movies, and decorative planning. A mother and grandmother, Robin makes her home on the outskirts of Boise, sharing it with a demanding Papillon dog and a persnickety tuxedo cat.

Be sure to follow Robin on BookBub so you'll receive new book and special deal alerts:
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/robin...

Book Spotlight Fridays! The Wishing Season

 

Book Beginnings and Friday56

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and asks you to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your e-reader and share a non-spoiler sentence or two.  First Line Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Reading is my Superpower that asks you to share the first sentence of the book you're reading.

I am enjoying this contemporary romance.

The Wishing Season

About the book:

Living side-by-side, a fledgling chef and a big-hearted contractor find a delicious attraction.

Trouble is, their chemistry could spoil their dreams.

Spirited PJ McKinley has the touch when it comes to food. Her dream of opening her own restaurant is just one building short of reality. So when a Chapel Springs resident offers her beloved ancestral home to the applicant with the best plan for the house, PJ believes it’s a contest she was meant to win.

Contractor Cole Evans is confident, professional, and swoon-worthy—but this former foster kid knows his life could have turned out very differently. When Cole discovers the contest, he believes his home for foster kids in transition has found its saving grace. All he has to do is convince the owner that an out-of-towner with a not-for-profit enterprise is good for the community.

But when the eccentric philanthropist sees PJ and Cole’s proposals, she makes an unexpected decision: the pair will share the house for a year to show what their ideas are made of. Now, with Cole and the foster kids upstairs and PJ and the restaurant below, day-to-day life has turned into out-and-out competition—with some seriously flirtatious hallway encounters on the side. Turns out in this competition, it’s not just the house on the line, it’s their hearts.

*************************************************************

Book Beginnings

PJ McKinley was almost ready to call it a night when she heard the sound.

Friday 56

When she hit the foyer, her feet flew from under her and she landed on the wood floor with a hard thunk.

My thoughts so far

My heart is breaking for Cole and I enjoy all the scenes with him and also the banter between him and PJ.                   

                                    ************************************************************* 

Can't Wait Wednesday! Prisoner

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights and discusses the books we're excited about that we've yet to read. Generally, they're books that are yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

After the cliffhanger at the end of Betrayer, I am really excited about this one releasing December 14th!

About the book: Prisoner

A Christian Historical Adventure set in Regency England with romance and a supernatural twist
Part five in an epic-length serial novel

Lady Wynwood’s team of aristocrat spies is shocked at the betrayal by one of their teammates and the kidnapping of a second. In a race against time, they must find the hiding place of the treasonous group that they call the Gentians in order to save one of their own.

However, they also face the threat of mysterious agendas within the secret government department, the Ramparts. The team is split apart by the Ramparts’ leaders, who seem overly interested in using the mysterious Root elixir for their own purposes.

While knowing that each day brings more suffering and torture for the prisoner, Lady Wynwood’s spies scramble to uncover any clues left behind as to where the Gentians have gone. But with their resources and abilities limited by the Ramparts, can they make it in time before the enemy accomplishes its perplexing goal?

PLEASE NOTE: Like the novels published in Jane Austen’s time, this is a novel in multiple parts. Each volume has a completed story arc, but this is NOT a stand-alone novel and the story continues in volume 6.

What are you waiting on this week?

Review: Prophet

Prophet by Frank E. Peretti
My rating: 💛💛💛

I took forever to read this, not because I didn't enjoy it, but because my reading time for paperbacks were very limited.

There were periods of reading where I was very invested in the story and what is going to happen, to periods where the information about how the news work and those scenes were losing my focus.

It was scary to think how the media do manipulate viewers with regards to what they determine is news and should be broadcasted and how it will be broadcasted and how much Truth is hidden.

View all my reviews

About the book:

A thriller that penetrates to the very heart of a vast struggle that threatens to tear our society apart. Successful news anchorman John Barrett is caught in a suspenseful moral and spiritual battle over the importance of Truth. Using all the elements of edge-of-your-seat fiction, master storyteller Frank Peretti weaves a prophetic tale of our times.

About the author:

FROM HIS WEBSITE:
With more than 12 million novels in print, Frank Peretti is nothing short of a publishing phenomenon and has been called “America’s hottest Christian novelist.”

Peretti is a natural storyteller who, as a youngster in Seattle, regularly gathered the neighborhood children for animated storytelling sessions. After graduating from high school, he began playing banjo with a local bluegrass group. He and his wife were married in 1972, and Peretti soon moved from touring with a pop band to launching a modest Christian music ministry. Peretti later spent time studying English, screen writing and film at UCLA and then assisted his father in pastoring a small Assembly of God church. In 1983, he gave up his pastoring position and began taking construction jobs to make ends meet. While working at a local ski factory, he began writing This Present Darkness, the book that would catapult him into the public eye. After numerous rejections from publishers and a slow start in sales, word-of-mouth enthusiasm finally lifted This Present Darkness onto a tidal wave of interest in spiritual warfare. The book appeared on Bookstore Journal’s bestseller list every month for more than eight years. Peretti’s two spiritual warfare novels, This Present Darkness (1998) and Piercing the Darkness (1989), captivated readers, together selling more than 3.5 million copies. The Oath was awarded the 1996 Gold Medallion Award for best fiction.

For kids, Peretti wrote The Cooper Kids Adventure Series (Crossways and Tommy Nelson), which remains a best-selling series for children with sales exceeding 1 million copies. In August 2000, Peretti released the hilarious children’s audiocassette series titled Wild and Wacky Totally True Bible Stories, reprising his role as Mr. Henry, the offbeat substitute Sunday School teacher found in two Visual Bible for Kids videos.

Peretti released his first-ever non-fiction book, The Wounded Spirit in 2000, which quickly became a best-seller. The book addresses the pain of “wounded spirits” and was writted as a result of painful childhood experiences.

Frank Peretti and his wife, Barbara Jean, live in the Western U.S. In spite of sudden fame and notoriety, Frank still lives a simple, well-rounded life that includes carpentry, banjo making, sculpturing, bicycling and hiking. He is also an avid pilot.