{ The Orphan's Wish by Melanie Dickerson - TLC Book Tour}

 

About The Orphan’s Wish

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (June 26, 2018)

From New York Times bestselling author Melanie Dickerson comes an inspired retelling of the beloved folk tale Aladdin.

Orphaned and alone, Aladdin travels from the streets of his Arab homeland to a strange, faraway place. Growing up in an orphanage, he meets young Lady Kirstyn, whose father is the powerful Duke of Hagenheim. Despite the difference in their stations, Aladdin quickly becomes Kirstyn’s favorite companion, and their childhood friendship grows into a bond that time and opposition cannot break.
Even as a child, Aladdin works hard, learning all he can from his teachers. Through his integrity, intelligence, and sheer tenacity, he earns a position serving as the duke’s steward. But that isn’t enough to erase the shame of being forced to steal as a small child—or the fact that he’s an orphan with no status. If he ever wants to feel equal to his beautiful and generous friend Kirstyn, he must leave Hagenheim and seek his fortune.

Yet once Aladdin departs, Lady Kirstyn becomes a pawn in a terrible plot. Now, Aladdin and Kirstyn must rely on their bond to save her from unexpected danger. But will saving Kirstyn cost Aladdin his newfound status and everything he’s worked so hard to obtain?

An enchanting new version of the well-known tale, The Orphan’s Wish tells a story of courage and loyalty, friendship and love, and reminds us what “family” really means.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes and Noble | iBooks

 

About Melanie Dickerson

Melanie Dickerson is a New York Times bestselling author and a Christy Award winner. Her first book, The Healer’s Apprentice, won the National Readers’ Choice Award for Best First Book in 2010, and The Merchant’s Daughter won the 2012 Carol Award. Melanie spends her time daydreaming, researching the most fascinating historical time periods, and writing stories at her home near Huntsville, Alabama, where she gathers dandelion greens for her two adorable guinea pigs between writing and editing her happily ever afters.

Connect with Melanie

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

My Thoughts:

This is my kind of book, it's got everything that I absolutely adore.

If you love fantasy and Aladdin and enchanted tales, this is the book for you.  I've always enjoyed the story of Aladdin but it's so much fun seeing it told from a different perspective and really giving the character depth and personality.

Melanie Dickerson is a master at retelling old favorite tales, and I was super excited to read this spin on such a well known and beloved fairy tale character, such as Aladdin.

It was like reading a retelling of such a well known story but seeing it through different eyes, where we get to really understand who Aladdin is, where he came from and how he struggled to reconcile his past as a poor orphan forced to do things he didn't want to, with the man he is today.

The story did start off a little slow but once it picked up, it was so enjoyable that I couldn't put it down.

{ Evangeline Odete......the reason I've been missing from the blog }

Hello friends!

I am currently in San Diego, California, and have been for the past two weeks.

I had mentioned it in passing, a few weeks ago, but wanted to come in and show you the reason why there have been no Happy Homemaker Monday posts, or any posts in general.

It's been a whirlwind around here, from our arrival, to my niece's labor and the arrival of little Miss Eva, my great niece who is absolutely gorgeous.

I've taken numerous photos already and still plan on taking a few more before we leave on Friday, but just wanted to come in and say a quick hi to let you know that I haven't completely disappeared from the blog, just haven't been able to get on and do anything.

Honestly, I thought that I would have been able to blog daily from San Diego, but the baby has kept us extremely busy and between me, my niece, her mom and dad and brother, and baby's daddy, we've taken turns taking care of the little one.

My last baby was 15 years ago, and it's easy to forget just how busy you are the first few days with a newborn.

Anyway, I really wanted to show you beautiful Eva, so here she is.  She was born on July 2nd, at 5:03pm, weighing 7 pounds 15 ounces, and was 21.2 inches long.

{ What Blooms from dust by James Markert - TLC Book Tour }

 

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (June 26, 2018)

Just as Jeremiah Goodbye is set to meet his fate in the electric chair, a tornado tears down the prison walls, and he is given a second chance at life. With the flip of a coin, he decides to return to his home town of Nowhere, Oklahoma, to settle the score with his twin brother Josiah. But upon his escape, he enters a world he doesn’t recognize—one that has been overtaken by the Dust Bowl. And the gift he once relied on to guide him is as unrecognizable as the path back to Nowhere.

After one jolt in Old Sparky, Jeremiah sees things more clearly and begins to question the mysterious circumstances surrounding the murders he was accused of. On his journey home, he accidentally rescues a young boy who follows him the rest of the way, and the pair arrive at their destination where they are greeted by fearful townspeople. When the Black Sunday storm hits the very next day, the residents of Nowhere finally begin to let the past few years of hardship bury them under the weight of all that dust.

Unlikely heroes, Jeremiah and his new companion, Peter Cotton, try to protect the townspeople from themselves, but Jeremiah must face his nightmares and free himself from the guilt of flipping the coin on those men who died.

Filled with mystery and magic, What Blooms from Dust is the story of finding hope in the midst of darkness and discovering the beauty of unexpected kindness.

Purchase Links

Amazon | iBooks | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About James Markert

James Markert lives with his wife and two children in Louisville, Kentucky. He has a history degree from the University of Louisville and won an IPPY Award for The Requiem Rose, which was later published as A White Wind Blew, a story of redemption in a 1929 tuberculosis sanatorium, where a faith-tested doctor uses music therapy to heal the patients. The Angels’ Share is his second novel, and he is currently working on his next historical, All Things Bright and Strange. James is also a USPTA tennis pro, and has coached dozens of kids who’ve gone on to play college tennis in top conferences like the BIG 10, the Big East, and the ACC.

My Thoughts:

 I absolutely love history and so, tend to gravitate towards anything history related.  Some eras and incidents throughout our history, I find more interesting than others, and the Dust Bowl is one of those.

This story takes place during that time period, where we meet Jeremiah, a man who escaped execution and has a few scores to settle.

Jeremiah returns to the town of Nowhere, with a clear objective in mind, but on the way encounters a family selling a child.  Unable to walk away, he ends up taking with him the little boy they were trying to get rid of.

In the town of Nowhere is his twin brother Josiah (the person responsible for Jeremiah going to prison and almost being executed), and Ellen, his wife, who also happens to be the woman Jeremiah loves.

What follow is a story of heartache, longing, revenge, anger, and a town trying to survive through some of it's bleakest moments.

{ Where Hope Begins by Catherine West - TLC Book Tour }

 

About Where Hope Begins

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (May 22, 2018)
Sometimes we’re allowed to glimpse the beauty within the brokenness . . .
Savannah Barrington has always found solace at her parents’ lake house in the Berkshires, and it’s the place that she runs to when her husband of over twenty years leaves her. Though her world is shaken, and the future uncertain, she finds hope through an old woman’s wisdom, a little girl’s laughter, and a man who’s willing to risk his own heart to prove to Savannah that she is worthy of love.
But soon Savannah is given a challenge she can’t run away from: Forgiving the unforgivable. Amidst the ancient gardens and musty bookstores of the small town she’s sought refuge in, she must reconcile with the grief that haunts her, the God pursuing her, and the wounds of the past that might be healed after all.
Where Hope Begins is the story of grace in the midst of brokenness, pointing us to the miracles that await when we look beyond our own expectations.

Purchase Links

Amazon | iBooks | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About Catherine West

Catherine West writes stories of hope and healing from her island home in Bermuda. When she’s not at the computer working on her next story, you can find her taking her Border Collie for long walks or reading books by her favorite authors. She and her husband have two grown children and one beautiful granddaughter. Catherine is the winner of the 2015 Grace Award (Bridge of Faith) and the Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope & Love Reader’s Choice Award (The Things We Knew). Her most recent novel, The Memory of You, released March 2017 and Where Hope Begins releases in May 2018. Catherine loves to connect with her readers and can be reached at Catherine@catherinejwest.com.

.Connect with Catherine

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Google+ | Instagram | Amazon

 My Thoughts:

This was not an easy book to read. 

I started the story feeling like I wasn't being captivated by any of it, the characters, the setting and the story in itself.   As often happens with some of my favorite books, the beginning seems to try and steer me in a different direction, but when I persevere, I'm often finding myself loving the story and happy that I didn't give up in any way.

The topics this story focuses on, are also not an easy thing to get through, but I believe that God places certain topics, stories, testimonies, movies or people in our path, at the time we need them the most.  It is in these instances that we end up learning the biggest lessons in our lives.

Savannah is a woman broken, a woman with incredible grief and hurt.  She is running from God, running from the pain of past incidents and trying to escape it all in her parent's home.

What she ends up doing, is learning to have a semi amicable relationship with her estranged husband, facing all her past demons and above all learning to love herself.

The book deals with some pretty deep and serious issues, like depression and anxiety, grief and hurt and adultery.

That may deter you from reading the book, but please don't let it because the story ends up developing such an amazing character in Savannah, but also teaching us, the readers, a thing or two about life and the way to face it in a faith filled and open hearted way.

Beautiful story.

{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 06/25/2018 }

Good morning friends, hope you all had a good weekend.

Mine was good but tiring, I feel like I've been on the run since Friday morning and have yet to really relax, sleep in, enjoy my weekend etc.

I want to start by thanking you all for the continuous prayers for Nick, he is doing SO much better, it warms my heart to see the changes already happening in him.  :)

Saturday we dropped off my Jasmine at the airport, she flew to Michigan to visit her boyfriend and his family for the next few weeks.  I hate having to kiss and hug her goodbye and I always feel like I'm going to start crying.  Oh goodness, momma's life right?     

The weather.....It's been pretty hot still, but thankfully we got a nice storm last night and it's cooled things down a lot.

Right now I am....I am watching some vlogs on the TV, while I type up this post.  Just finished my coffee and I'm still in my pajamas as well, but it's not even 8AM so I'm not worried about needing to rush and change out of them.

Thinking....About what all I need to do this week.  We are more than likely leaving for San Diego.  My poor niece is so miserable at this point.  She is 39 weeks pregnant and is swollen, sore, in a lot of pain and to top it off she has also developed the pregnancy rash called Puppp which is absolutely horrible to deal with.  She is a centimeter and a half dilated and 50% effaced so we are hoping and praying for things to move along this week, so she can find some relief.  Please keep her in your prayers.

Something fun or interesting that happened....Hubby and I have been wanting to go to church for a while, and we moved here to Texas 3 years ago, with the intention of finding a church to join.  You know how it goes though, time flies and then you and end up not doing it.  But I felt such a strong urge to go to church this weekend, and so Sunday the hubby and I went to a church just up the street from us.  They were very friendly, we enjoyed being there, but it's a very small church and not many young people around, and we are mainly looking for a church with a youth group that we can get my son into.  We plan on visiting a few more around here, until we find one we like.

On my reading pile.... The summer list, the review is later than planned because there was a delay in the receiving the books.

On my TV.....Vlogs at the moment, and the World Cup starting at 9am.  Portugal play at 1pm and it's a pretty important game, they need to win to be able to proceed to the next phase.  

On the menu for this week....

Monday - Chili Dogs

Tuesday - Hamburger Helper, Cauliflower with Cheese sauce

Wednesday - Tacos with Spanish Rice

Thursday - Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Friday - Pizza

Saturday -

Sunday -

On my to do list....
Iron and put laundry away
Clean and tidy up house
Start packing for San Diego

In the craft basket....Nothing at the moment.

Looking forward to this week....Hoping to make it to San Diego and have a baby girl to love on and take lots of pictures of.

Looking around the house....I have my essential oil diffuser going at the moment, it smells amazing in here.  I also have the air conditioner turned off (I turn it off every morning and only turn it back on later in the afternoon if it's too hot to handle), the back screen door is open and so is the front door.  The house just needs a bit of tidying as it was a bit of a flurry of chaos getting my daughter off for her trip.






On this day in 2006 - How does that saying go?
On this day in 2007 -
On this day in 2008 -
On this day in 2009 - Slow Cooking Thursday
On this day in 2010 -
 On this day in 2011 - 31 Days of Prayer for my Husband
On this day in 2012 -  Day 27
On this day in 2013 - Moving - Day One
On this day in 2014 -
On this day in 2015 - My Wednesday
On this day in 2016 -
On this day in 2017 - Fairy Gardens