Top Ten Most Anticipated Debuts for 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

#1. The Sound of Diamonds by Rachelle Rea

#2. The Choosing by Rachelle Dekker

#3. Dauntless by Dina Sleiman

And that is all the debuts I could find that I am anticipating reading this year! There really don't seem to be too many new authors in Christian Fiction in 2015! I find it rather amusing that out of the three authors I listed two share the same first name which is a bit of a unique one!

Rachel Hauck Fires Up the Romance with “A Brush with Love” Kindle Giveaway!

"Fire" up the romance in the new year with Rachel Hauck's newest book, A Brush with Love, by entering her Kindle Fire giveaway! And be sure to catch a sneak peek of the soon-to-be-released How to Catch a Prince!

 One grand prize winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire
• A Brush with Love by Rachel Hauck

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway only runs for a week, 12/30 – 1/5. Winner will be announced January 6th on Rachel's blog.
{NOT ON FACEBOOK? ENTER HERE.}

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #155

 Hosted By: Book Journey

Here is what I finished last week:

I enjoyed both of these!

What I am currently reading:

Both of these are rather good so far!

What I hope to read this week:

Since this week is the Bout of Books read-a-thon I'm hoping to read more than this but these will probably be the first ones I read!

Blog Posts
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #154
The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson
Top Ten Bookish Goals for 2015
Monthly Reflections #35: November & December 2014
Bout of Books 12: Sign-Up

Stacking the Shelves #42

Hope you have a great reading week, thanks for taking the time to check out mine!

Leave your link below and I'll be sure to stop by!

Stacking the Shelves #42

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Books to Review

Love Unexpected by Jody Hedlund (Author)
The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson (BookLook)
At Bluebonnet Lake by Amanda Cabot (Revell)
Surprised by Love by Julie Lessman (Revell)
The Daughter of Highland Hall by Carrie Turansky (Litfuse)
A Lady at Willowgrove Hall by Sarah E. Ladd (Litfuse)
Hidden Agenda by Lisa Harris (Author)
Beyond all Dreams by Elizabeth Camden (Litfuse)
A Matter of Heart by Tracie Peterson (Bethany House)
Beloved Dust by Jamin Groggin and Kyle Strobel

Books I Was Given

Evergreen by Susan May Warren
Jupiter Winds by C.J. Darlington
Lizzy & Jane by Katherine Reay
Four by Veronica Roth
Miss Fortune by Sara Mills
My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay
The Swiss Courier by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey

Books I Won

Hawk by Ronie Kendig (Signed by Author)

A Bride in Store by Melissa Jagears 

Surprised by Love by Julie Lessman (Signed by Author)

The Stranger She Married by Donna Hatch

Books I Bought

The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott ($1.99)
The Frontiersman's Daughter by Laura Frantz ($0.50)
The Colonel's Lady by Laura Frantz ($0.50)
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer ($4.99)
Replication by Jill Williamson ($3.00)

Kindle Books
Dangerous Passage by Lisa Harris (FREE)
A Love Surrendered by Julie Lessman (FREE)
Majai's Fury by Valerie Comer (FREE)
Eternity by Staci Stallings (FREE)
Out of the Storm by Jody Hedlund (FREE)
Amy Inspired by Bethany Pierce (FREE)
Raptor 6 by Ronie Kendig (FREE)
The Colonel's Lady by Laura Frantz (FREE)
Deadly Devotion by Sandra Orchard (FREE)
Second Chance Ranch by Audra Harders (FREE)
To Have and to Hold by Tracie Peterson (FREE)
Until I Found You by Victoria Bylin (FREE)
Hope for the Holidays by Mary Connealy, Myra Johnson, Ruth Logan Herne, & Julie Lessman ($2.99)
Old Fashioned by Rene Gutteridge (FREE)
Trouble in Store by Carol Cox (FREE)
A Sugar Creek Christmas by Jenny B. Jones (FREE)

Bout of Books 12: Sign-Up

"The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog." - From the Bout of Books team

I am finally getting around to signing up! I usually sign-up as soon as they put up the post but due to a crazy life I just kept putting it off. So this is me officially signing-up for Bout of Books 12! I am going to skip making a goal for this read-a-thon since I'm not sure how much time I'll have to read but I am hoping to get through at least a few books!

Monthly Reflections #35: November & December 2014

Hosted by: Christian Bookshelf Reviews

These past two months have been crazy busy for me so I'm sad to say that not only did I not read all that much but I also forgot to do November's post! So I decided to do one for both months. I only read 14 books and wrote 5 reviews between November and December! They were good books though!

Books I Read

Favorites were definitely Where Treetops Glisten, Love Unexpected, One December Night, Evergreen, Sophie's Other Daughter, and A Whisper of Hope!

Reviews I Wrote:

At Bluebonnet Lake by Amanda Cabot

Surprised by Love by Julie Lessman

Where Treetops Glisten Novella Collection

Love Unexpected by Jody Hedlund

The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

In January I Hope To:

Read at least 10 books
Post 7 reviews
Participate in Bout of Books

Top Ten Bookish Goals for 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

#1. Read over 100 books
#2. Read at least one book every week
#3. Read some everyday
#4. Read at least 10 books owned before 2015
#5. Review every book I read in 2015
#6. Reread The O'Conner Family Saga by Julie Lessman
#7. Reread at least one other series
#8. Finish one classic
#9. Finish reading Harry Potter
#10. Watch 10 book to movie adaptations

The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

About the Book
Margaretha has always been a romantic, and hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, is destined to be her one true love. But then an injured man is brought to Hagenheim Castle, claiming to be an English lord who was attacked by Claybrook and left for dead. And only Margaretha—one of the few who speaks his language—understands the wild story.

Margaretha finds herself unable to pass Colin’s message along to her father, the duke, and convinces herself “Lord Colin” is just an addled stranger. Then Colin retrieves an heirloom she lost in a well, and asks her to spy on Claybrook as repayment. Margaretha knows she could never be a spy—not only is she unable to keep anything secret, she’s sure Colin is completely wrong about her potential betrothed. Though when Margaretha overhears Claybrook one day, she discovers her romantic notions may have been clouding her judgment about not only Colin but Claybrook as well. It is up to her to save her father and Hagenheim itself from Claybrook’s wicked plot.

My Thoughts
Sorry that this review has been a long time coming! In the craziness of everything is forgotten that I hadn't written it yet! So my humblest apologies if this review seems a bit lacking!
While this wasn't my favorite of Melanie's books I did still enjoy reading it! One of my favorite things about it was that it finally connected my favorite book The Merchant's Daughter to the rest by having Colin  be Lord Ranulf & Annabel's grandson!
Margaretha's somewhat flighty nature  was at times annoying and at others endearing but through it all I did end up liking her character as well as Colin's and enjoyed watching them balance each other out.
The adventure of trying to stop Claybrook in time made for a fun read and it was definitely fun to watch them succeed!

So while it wasn't quite up to the standards of Melanie's other books I still really liked it and would definitely recommend it!

Meet the Author
Melanie Dickerson is the author of The Healer's Apprentice and The Merchant's Daughter, both Christy Award finalists, winner of The National Reader's Choice Award for 2010's Best First Book, and winner of the 2012 Carol Award in Young Adult fiction. She earned her bachelor's degree in special education from The University of Alabama. She has taught children with special needs in Georgia and Tennessee, and English to adults in Germany and Ukraine. Now she spends her time writing and taking care of her husband and two daughters near Huntsville, Alabama. Visit her on the web at http://www.MelanieDickerson.com.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #154

 Hosted By: Book Journey

Here is what I finished last week:

I absolutely loved Evergreen, which was no surprise, and I really enjoyed my first Harry Potter adventure!

What I am currently reading:

I've just started the second Harry Potter and I still need to read the Herne and Johnson novellas!

What I hope to read this week:
I'm hoping to finish off the books I'm in the middle of!

Blog Posts
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #153
Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Getting for Christmas

Friday Memes 12/26

Hope you have a great reading week, thanks for taking the time to check out mine!

Leave your link below and I'll be sure to stop by!

Friday Memes 12/26

Hosted by: Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

The Question:

Do you have a book with a location that you just HAD to visit after reading the book?

My Answer:

The two main places that books have made me want to visit are Italy because of The River of Time Series by Lisa T. Bergren and Boston because of Julie Lessman's O'Conner family saga!

Hosted by: Rose City Reader

"Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name."

Of all the days for the pastor to expound past the allotted time for his sermon, he had to pick potluck day. The day of the quarterly business meeting. The day of the Minnesota Vikings home opener-against the Green Bay Packers, no less.
Evergreen by Susan May Warren

My Thoughts
Sounds like someone is anxious to get out of church!