Christmas in July Book Reviews

Hi everyone, I usually do my book reviews separately so that each one gets their own due. But after December and all the Christmas books I read but did not get reviewed then I thought that I would make a special "Christmas in July Book Review post.

  I Love Love Love Christmas and all of the books that I read were awesome. This may be a little bit long of a post, due to me wanting to give you some of my thoughts on each of the nine books (some are pictured above), that I am going to post today. And give you my rating of them each.    

I did actually get some of my books done in Dec. 

So here we go with this set of reviews for my first post!   

And we are going to start with,

A Lancaster County Christmas by Suzanne Woods Fisher  

Synopsis:

Jaime and C. J. Fitzpatrick began their married life as most couples do--in love and looking forward to a bright future together. But four years later they've drifted apart and are almost ready to call it quits.
Mattie Riehl was hoping to give her husband Sol the Christmas gift they have both longed for--news that a baby was on the way. But as usual, she is disappointed. The holidays bring an acute awareness to Mattie that her dream of a big family isn't likely to become a reality.
Then a winter storm raging outside blows the Fitzpatricks into the Riehl home--and into a much slower pace of life. Can these two couples from different worlds help each other understand the true meaning of love this Christmas?
With her trademark plot twists and attention to detail, Suzanne Woods Fisher offers readers a beautiful Christmas story of love, forgiveness, and what truly matters in life.

My Review:

   Let me just say right off the bat that there was not any thing in this book that I didn't like.. I LOVED IT ALL!!!

Author Suzanne Woods Fisher is one awesome writer. I was held captive right from the get go. I will continue to read any book of hers from now on. I enjoyed the flow of her writing and the story line was amazing. This is the second book by this author, and I loved them both.

All the drama, secrets, mystery, love and even some getting involved in others lives that are completely different from yours. Then add the Christmas story in there as well, lets just say my favorite time of the year, makes for one amazing book. 

Recommend to all my readers. So pick it up and let me know how you feel about the book and if you have read any other books by this author add that as well. 

So due to the above, I am giving this book a Breath of Life ratings of: 

Five Clock Rating!!!  

Disclosure: I did not receive this book for my honest opinion and review. But these opinions are my own and yours may differ.

 

About the Author:

In no particular order, Suzanne Woods Fisher is a wife, mother, writer, lifelong student of the Bible, raiser of puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind, a gardener and a cook...the latter two with sporadic results.
Suzanne has loved to write since she was a young teen. After college, she started to write for magazines and became a contributing editor for Christian Parenting Today magazine. Her family moved to Hong Kong for four years, just as the internet was developing, and she continued to write articles in a 44-story high-rise apartment, sending manuscripts 7,000 miles away with a click of a key.
After returning from Hong Kong, Suzanne decided to give her first novel a try. For four and a half months, she worked on an antediluvian computer in a cramped laundry room. She didn't even tell her husband what she was up to. When the novel was completed, she told her family at dinner one night that she had written a book. "That's why there's no food in this house!" said her slightly insensitive sons.
Undaunted...Suzanne found a small royalty publisher for that book and wrote three more (all earned multiple). With help from an agent, she has five books currently under contract with Revell. On September 1st, Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World, a non-fiction book of stories and examples about the Old Order Amish, will be released by Revell. The Choice, a novel about the Amish, will follow on January 1st.
Writing, for Suzanne, is a way to express a love of God and His word. With every book or article, she hopes readers get a sense of what faith really looks like in the daily grind. She hopes they realize that life can be hard, but God is good, and never to confuse the two.

Suzanne can be found on-line at: www.suzannewoodsfisher.com

Now for the Second Book:

BLUE CHRISTMAS by Diane Moody

Synopsis:

 Working late on Christmas Eve, college senior Hannah Brooks is in the midst of a full-blown pity party. When a last-minute customer brimming with holiday spirit invites her to a candlelight service and a late-night family dinner, Hannah reluctantly accepts. She has no idea this kindhearted woman is the mother of Jason McKenzie - leader singer of Out of the Blue, the hottest band in the country - and Hannah's childhood idol. The evening ends with an innocent kiss (sans mistletoe) as Hannah is swept away by Jason's unpretentious manner.
Over the holidays Hannah and Jason's relationship grows, but when turmoil and tragedy strike at the very heart of his famous band, their newfound love is put to the test in the glare of the paparazzi spotlight. Throughout her rollercoaster of experiences with Jason and his friends, Hannah comes face to face with her own beliefs. Who knew she could learn more about prayer and faith by hanging out with a bunch of rock stars than she ever learned in church?
The author first wrote Blue Christmas as a gift for her then-teenage daughter in honor of her affection for a wildly popular band in the late 90s. The short story grew into a full-length novel, eventually surfacing on one of the band's fan fiction websites where it became quite a phenomenon. More than 80,000 readers stopped by to read the story, with over 1000 of them sending personal emails to the author who still enjoys reading them today. Though the story's details have been changed, its band and all characters now fictional, the story line remains the same. Author Diane Moody has dedicated Blue Christmas to her now-grown daughter, Hannah Moody Schmitt.

My Review: 

When first starting this book I was not to sure I would like it. Just a little different than I thought at first. Then once into the book I could not put it down. 

I am not going to get into this one as some others. The synopsis kind of does a better job at that. But will say that I will be checking out more books by this author. She has a way with words that make you want to learn more about the story. I love the fact that author Diane Moody started this for her daughter then it became bigger than that. 

A must read. Let me know what you have read like this. 

So due to the above, I am giving this book a Breath of Life ratings of: 

Five Clock Rating!!!  

Disclosure: I did not receive this book for my honest opinion and review. But these opinions are my own and yours may differ.

  

About the Author:

Born in Texas and raised in Oklahoma, Diane Hale Moody is a graduate of Oklahoma State University. She lives with her husband Ken in the rolling hills just outside of Nashville. They are the proud parents of two grown and extraordinary children, Hannah and Ben.
Just after moving to Tennessee in 1999, Diane felt the tug of a long-neglected passion to write again. Since then, she's written a column for her local newspaper, feature articles for various magazines and curriculum, and several novels with a dozen more stories eagerly vying for her attention.
When she's not reading or writing, Diane enjoys an eclectic taste in music and movies, great coffee, the company of good friends, and the adoration of a peculiar little pooch named Darby.

Visit Diane's website at dianemoody.net and her blog,

 "just sayin'" at dianemoody.blogspot.com

 Now the third review:

The Prodigal's Christmas Reunion by KATHRYN SPRINGER 

 Synopsis: 

 With his entire family depending on him, Lucas Clayton reluctantly comes home just weeks before Christmas. Branded "town troublemaker" as a teen, Lucas left tiny Clayton, Colorado, and vowed never to return. But now he's back—with a child in tow. No one is more stunned than Erin Fields, the hometown sweetheart he left behind. Commitment-shy Lucas is someone's daddy? Before he can convince Erin he's changed, he has to prove it to himself. And to a pint-size cowboy, who needs the Claytons—and the entire town—to make this a very special Christmas.

Rocky Mountain Heirs: When the greatest fortune of all is love

My Review: 
Okay, I will have to admit I should have read the first Five of this series, but when I had started reading this one I will have to also admit that I didn't even look to see that it was in a series. I just wanted to read because it was a Christmas book. 

Now with that being said, This book can and did stand on its own for me. I loved it. And because of it I am going to go back and get the first five and read them now.  An awesome story line, some amazing writing by author Kathryn Springer. 

So for right now I am not going to give anything away from this book. I will come back to it when I am caught back up to it and do a little more for author Kathryn Springer on the reasons this book is a must must read. And along with all the beginning of the story from the first to this book. 

So due to the above, I am giving this book a Breath of Life ratings of: 

Five Clock Rating!!!  

Disclosure: I did not receive this book for my honest opinion and review. But these opinions are my own and yours may differ. 

About the Author:  

Kathryn Springer, winner of the 2007 Write Touch Reader’s Award (long contemporary), grew up in a small town in northern Wisconsin, where her parents published a weekly newspaper. As a child, she spent many hours sitting at her mother’s typewriter, plunking out stories, and credits her parents for instilling in her a love of books – which eventually turned into a desire to tell stories of her own.
After a number of busy years, when she married her college sweetheart and became a stay-at-home mom, Kathryn rediscovered her love for writing. An unexpected snow day from school became the inspiration for a short story, which she submitted to Brio magazine. She went on to publish over a dozen more short stories for Brio, but it wasn’t until her youngest child started school that she decided to pursue her dream to write a novel. In August 2004, her Love Inspired® debut novel, Tested by Fire, was published.
Encouraging women in their faith journey is the reason Kathryn loves to write inspirational fiction. She hosts a women’s Bible study in her home and volunteers in a local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) ministry. When she isn’t at the computer, you’ll find her curled up with a good book, spending time with family and friends or walking on the trails near her country home.

Author Kathryn Springer can be found on-line at http://www.kathrynspringer.com/

Please check out my next blog post for the next three books in my Christmas in July post!