Jen's Blog

Thanks to NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy of this one.  I read it in January but am a little behind on my blogging. I love a good cowboy story, but this one was just OK.   Wild Horse Springs is the fifth in the Ransom Canyon series...but it certainly isn't my favorite of the bunch. This story features sheriff Dan Brigman and Brandi Malone.  Brandi is a singer who is running from a loss...she travels from town to town preforming on the stage and trying to forget her past.  When danger strikes Brandi ends up running to Dan instead of running away like she usually does. The story also features Lauren Brigman, Dan's daughter, who has come home after her job in Dallas doesn't pan out.  Lauren has to decide if home is where her heart is or if she is going to travel back out into the world and try and forge a new life.  There are some really solid parts to this story, but it did fall a little flat for me.  It look me a long time to get into it...

Thanks NetGalley for the Advanced Reading Copy of this one!  I read it back in January, but am a little behind on my blogging. Spring has been busy this year! This book made me feel all the feels!  It features two sisters Ainsley and Kate, and although it's a romance it could also be called women's fiction because it heavily features the relationship between the two sisters who have never been close.  However, some pretty big life events bring the two sisters together, closer than ever. Kate, who found her husband later in life, tragically loses him at the beginning of the book.  Readers follow her story of getting over the loss of her whirlwind romance and marriage, and then navigate a surprise that she never saw coming.  Watching Kate rebuild her life was addicting, and I had trouble putting the book down. Ainsley's romance is completely the opposite of whirlwind.  She has been waiting for 11 years for her boyfriend to propose.  Instead of pr...

Thanks NetGalley for the Advanced Readers copy! I wasn't too sure about this one the entire time I was reading it, and honestly I am still a little on the fence.  However, I will say it was fresh and new and unlike many other books.  This is how people communicate now...email and text so that was real. After the first few sections I got used to the dialog between the twins and I got more into their story.  In the end I was connecting to the characters and getting to know them, so maybe it just took me awhile to get into the story.  It's been about a week since I finished the story and when I think about it now I feel happy.  The story line was somewhat predictable but again a lot of fun. Overall, give it a try.  It was pretty good and the characters were a lot of fun.  3/5 stars on GoodReads.

Historical Fiction can be hit or miss for me, I either like it or I don't.   The Second Mrs. Hockaday lands in the like pile, but it took me almost half of the book to decide.  This is a really interesting book because it's told only though letters and diary entries.  It wasn't until part two of the book that I really got involved and wanted to know what REALLY happened on the farm. Major Gryffth Hockaday is away at war, leaving his new bride behind with his son from his first marriage. Placidia does her best to keep up the farm and protect the crops and animals with the help of hired hands while her husband is away.  But being alone on a farm during the Civil War isn't easy and everyone pays a price.  When Major Hockaday returns from war he finds out his wife is in jail and she is accused of murdering her newborn baby.  A baby she had during his two year absence.  The reader is left trying to guess what happened during those long hard years.  ...

As a frequent yoga class attendee and busy, working mom to three teenage boys the idea of this book spoke to me as soon as I saw the title.  I have been taking a yoga nidra class once a week (yoga sleep and guided meditation) and it's been making a world of difference in my mood and my days.  I just finished reading Breathe Mama Breathe and am so excited to add more mindfulness to my day when  I can't be in a yoga class!   I was a little worried about a book for busy moms, so many of them are focused on moms of just one age group, but this one is great for moms with any age kids!  There are so many places I can add a little calm in my day that I never had thought about before!   These quick breaks in the day are actually practical and I can see myself doing them on a regular basis!   I am especially looking forward to adding these mediation breaks to my day: Coffee Your Teen Driver STOP the Teen 'Tude Prepping to Launch Wonder W...

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this new book, Lists to Love by: for Busy Wives by Mark and Susan Merrill.  I enjoyed the book, but it wasn't quite what I expected.  It was filled with great reminders on marriage, and had some really good points in it.  It was a great reminder on how to love, how to honor your husband, how to live in a faith based marriage and how to remember why you married him in the first place.  It's well written and easy to read, and I liked the personal antidotes in the book. The downside was it wasn't really new.  I have read many similar books in the past, and the same advice seems to be in all of them. So it was good, but not groundbreaking.  3/5 stars on Goodreads.