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The Book of Amazing Stories by Robert Petterson (Review)

October 22, 2017 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

About the Book

You may have thought you knew the lives of famous people―such as Martin Luther King Jr., Howard Hughes, Mother Teresa, Muhammad Ali, Ronald Reagan, Susana Wesley, and many more. But, in The Book of Amazing Stories, you’ll know so much more about Ronnie’s faithful church-going single mom and William’s early days as a humble shoemaker’s apprentice. You’ll marvel at how God used the lives of these ordinary people to change the course of human history.

Life makes the strangest sharp turns and, sometimes, U-turns. Robert Petterson―popular speaker, storyteller, and author―has been a student for his entire life of what God is teaching us through those real-life U-turns. In this book, he compiles 90 amazing stories that teach lessons you won’t easily forget.

Each devotional ends with a compelling thought about life and God.

Be amazed. Be encouraged. Learn the lessons God is teaching through people’s lives.

Amazon // Goodreads

In My Opinion (Review)

I love a good story. The right true story will sometimes make me cry, give me chills, or leave me in awe. When a person overcomes an obstacle and achieves success—big or small—I can’t help but be moved.

As I was by several of the entries in Robert Petterson’s collection titled The Book of Amazing Stories. From well-known historical figures such as Winston Churchill, Mother Theresa, and Martin Luther King, Jr, to lesser-knowns, these bite-sized stories were often motivating.

More interesting is that Petterson also included some people who did not have happy endings, people who achieved notoriety due to their poor choices or their tragic lives. Kurt Cobain and J. H. Zorthian are only a couple names on that list.

Ninety stories fill this book—each about two and a half pages in length and ending with a quote and a scripture for reflection. These easy to read chapters make a great addition to your daily quiet time or can be used as conversation starters or icebreakers.

If you’re needing inspiration, if life is holding you down, if you’re asking Why, God? perhaps one or more of the people in this will speak to your heart and offer the encouragement you need. Because, after all, God is the author of the best stories ever.

My Rating:

***I receive complimentary books for review from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Maybe It’s You by Candace Calvert

January 25, 2017 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

Maybe It’s You by Candace Calvert

About the book

ER nurse Sloane Ferrell escaped her risky past—new name, zip code, job, and a fresh start. She’s finally safe, if she avoids a paper trail and doesn’t let people get too close. Like the hospital’s too-smooth marketing man with his relentless campaign to plaster one “lucky” employee’s face on freeway billboards.

Micah Prescott’s goal is to improve the Hope hospital image, but his role as a volunteer crisis responder is closer to his heart. The selfless work helps fill a void in his life left by family tragedy. So does a tentative new relationship with the compassionate, beautiful, and elusive Sloane Ferrell.

Then a string of brutal crimes makes headlines, summons responders . . . and exposes disturbing details of Sloane’s past.

Can hope spring from crisis?

My thoughts

If you’ve read the previous book in Candace Calvert’s Crisis Team series, you’ll remember Sloane as the antagonist to that book’s heroine. And chances are, you didn’t think much of her.

An author who takes an unlikeable character and creates a story where I not only sympathize with that same character but also root for her HEA is rare. Calvert manages to tell Sloane’s story in a way that resonated with me. Her poor decisions from the past aren’t justified or glossed over but they build depth to the person Sloan is striving to become.

And when she gets to know Micah Prescott, she beings to believe she is worthy. But Micah has his own past regrets and demons he’s holding on to.

Maybe It’s You kept me involved from chapter one, rooting for Sloane to accept those in her life who want more for her—friendship, acceptance, forgiveness, grace, and perhaps even love.

The Crisis Team series allows readers a small glimpse into the lives of family, friends, and witnesses after tragedy strikes. In a world filled with too many horrible news bites, learning about people who have a heart for those left behind to pick up the pieces is refreshing and encouraging. Calvert manages to bring those people some well-deserved recognition through her books.

About the author

Candace Calvert is a former ER nurse and author of the Mercy Hospital, Grace Medical, and Crisis Team series. Her medical dramas offer readers a chance to “scrub in” on the exciting world of emergency medicine. Wife, mother, and very proud grandmother, Candace makes her home in northern California. Please visit her website at www.candacecalvert.com.

Q&A with Candace Calvert

http://mediacenter.tyndale.com/downloads/press_kits/Maybe%20It’s%20You_AuthorQA_Final.pdf

Read the first chapter

https://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/firstChapters/978-1-4143-9036-9.pdf

Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books for review from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including Netgalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Coloring Craze: Restore My Soul

June 3, 2016 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

I’ll be honest, I don’t get the grown up coloring book craze (sorry, adult coloring books make them sound like something else entirely). Perhaps it’s simply the fact I’d much rather immerse myself in a good story than spend the time worrying about coloring inside the lines. Or maybe it’s because the details of these coloring books are so intricate I spend more time focusing on how much I still have left instead of on the motions and mindlessness of the actual act of coloring. And then there’s the problem of choosing the right book. A lot of the books seemed kind of new age-like to me (is that even still a term these days?).

All that said, when Tyndale House Publishers offered the chance to review one of these books that included devotionals, I decided to give one a try. Restore My Soul, written and illustrated by Ann-Margret Hovsepian, offers thought-provoking devotionals and if you’re not one who has to concentrate on the actual coloring, you will have plenty of time to meditate on the words.

While I’d much rather pick up a dollar kids coloring book, I know several people who enjoy these more complex designs. And the addition of the devotionals adds something you’re not going to get anywhere else. All in all, grown up coloring books still aren’t for me (it’s taken me over a month to color one page and I’m still not finished with it), that doesn’t mean it’s not for you. If you’re looking for something to keep your hands busy while focusing on the love and grace of God, Restore My Soul is for you.

****Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Fans of Crime Procedurals Take Note

October 13, 2015 by Suzie Waltner 1 Comment

Right now, I have a ridiculous list of books to review over the next two months. The good and bad of it is there are so many great books coming out right now it’s hard to keep up. Great news for Christian fiction (and for those who are looking for an excellent book to give to family or friends as gifts come December 25). And with the number of books I read in a year, I’m shocked to still find authors who have written several books that I am just learning about. DiAnn Mills is one such author.

On her first day in the Houston office’s violent crimes division with a brand new partner, Special Agent Bethany Sanchez wants nothing more than to find the person who murdered the woman at the crime scene. While Bethany is a by-the-book, analytical agent, her partner, Thatcher Graves’ reputation is one of a maverick. If office gossip can be believed, his out-of-the box approach extends to relationships as well as the job. And to top it all off, he once put Bethany’s brother in jail.
As the pair runs around the city interviewing witnesses and potential suspects, their different approaches cause a little head-butting. When attempts are made on their lives, Thatcher questions whether Bethany can severe her connections to the case and protect him. What’s even worse? He’s attracted to the short, smart, brown-eyed agent.

This is the third book in the FBI:Houston series. While I haven’t read the other two books, if I hadn’t read the first few pages with Mills’ other books, I wouldn’t have realized it. Characters from the other books make a cameo, but they’re not an integral part of the book. This story belongs to Thatcher and Bethany.

Mills does an excellent job of weaving Bethany’s family troubles in with the case and kept me guessing until about ¾ of the way through who might be the person(s) behind the murders. While I never actually felt like the agents were actually deadlocked in their investigation as the title suggestions, they did hit several dead ends. But don’t worry, that didn’t slow down the pace of the book at all. From beginning to end, I felt like I was on a ride-along with these two agents.

Available now from booksellers and online.

And here’s some bonus material from author Diann Mills

An extended interview with DiAnn Mills about her newest novel

watch on tyndale.com

What inspired Mills to write Deadlock

watch on tyndale.com

****Tyndale House Fiction provided me with a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Mind of Her Own by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

July 25, 2015 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

Exhausted from her predictable, boring life being the perfect wife and mother, Louisa Copeland opts for an easy dinner using the indoor grill. When she wakes up after taking a knock on the head from said indoor grill, she wakes up not as Louisa Copeland, but as romance author Jazz Sweet with no memory of her husband or her children. Yet she can’t quite piece together her life as Jazz Sweet either. With no place else to go, she agrees to go “home” with Collin Copeland, Louisa’s husband. At least he seems to be concerned about her. As Jazz tries to figure out who she is and how this Louisa fits into her life, she realizes that Louisa was unhappy with her life. It seems her entire existence is just a shell, a pretty packaging, something that Jazz does not want to return to. But as snippets of memory return, will Jazz be forced back into Louisa’s life? And how will the family handle leaving the fun and excitement Jazz has brought into their lives with the controlling yet caring mother.

Published a couple years ago, this is the first I’ve heard of this book. I’m glad I read it. A little different spin on a story that was at times humorous and at other times painful as Collin learns what a poor husband he’d been and that Louisa had never trusted him completely. But the truth of the story is that healing and change can happen. An unhappy life can be turned into more. Second chances are real. Jazz was a fun character despite the exasperating moments when she can’t seem to make up her mind. As Collin struggles with accepting Jazz at first, he soon learns he likes this fun, exciting side of his wife, even if she is keeping him at a distance.

****Tyndale Blog Network provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.