Semper Mine is book one in the Sons of War series by Lizzy Ford. This is a heartbreaking book about the true effects that war has on our soldiers and family members. I will not ever claim to be a expect on PTSD or any other things that our soldiers deal with but I will say that this book does an amazing job detailing some of what can happen. I loved that this book does not shy away from things that are hard to talk about and hard to deal with. Lizzy Ford does a wonderful job in getting true emotion to show. I felt that both the main characters were truly struggling with how to move on. Katya was a difficult women but it felt real with everything she went through. The same can be said about Sawyer although their experiences were different they were equally troubling.  

There is also a love story involved and I loved that like the other heavy subjects in the book love also does not come easy. It made the story seem more realistic and that much sweeter. The setting was perfect and the supporting characters really helped to draw the main characters out of the fog that was surrounding them. They brought in humor to help with the sorrow. 

I give this book 5 stars and would recommend it to anyone looking for a stand alone drama/romance. While this is apart of a series the other books do not need to be read in order for you to understand what is going on with the characters. Click the picture to be brought to Amazon.

Soldier Mine is the second book in the Sons of War series by Lizzy Ford. This book is also dealing with heavy subject matter however I think that there are pleasant surprises that help to lighting the mood. While this is book two I did not feel like I needed to read book one to understand what was going on. Still it was nice to get a story for another one of the war heroes. 

This book was a little different because not only were the main characters dealing with the effects of the war they were also dealing with the effects of civilian troubles. I found that I smiled a lot more reading with one because Petr was full of charm, humor, soldier. Plus this had an added bonus of having more interaction with his father who kept me laughing. I really like Petr when I read book one his sister's story and was happy that the author decided to bring us into his troubled world.

I give this book 5 stars and would recommend it to anyone looking for a stand alone drama/romance. As with book one, Soldier Mine can be read as a stand alone because each story focuses on a different character. The books are well rounded, flow great and provide closure that is not dragged on from book to book.Click the picture to be brought to Amazon.

The cover drew me to this book and called me to pick it up. Into The Woods is written in two parts and there for I will review it in two parts. 

Part 1 was written as a YA to me. I am not used to reading these types of books but the world that was created kept me intrigued. I loved the determination inside of Eden. He did not have a easy life and he was taking a chance on the unknown even when he was cautioned against it. Once he made his mind up to take a chance nothing would deter him. I liked Takana and thought her character was refreshing. The whole first part of the story had a nice underlying mystery. I was left in the dark as much as Eden and loved that we discovered things together. 

Part 2 seemed less YA to me even though the written style stayed the same. It seemed that the story line grow as the character did. There was more of everything in the second part and it made the 300 plus page book flow instead of drag on. There is humor and very interesting characters. There is a growing love affair, a villain, a heartbreaking back story and much more. 


I gave this story 4 stars and would recommend it to anyone wanting to get lost in a new world.Although this book is 300 plus pages it is not a complete story. I will say that the quest of this book have been completed so there for I would not consider it to end in a cliffhanger. Still there the journey is not complete and there is still more to come in the next book. It ends at the start of a new quest and I think that the way it ended was perfect.  Click the picture to be brought to Amazon.

Prayer works. The whole time I was reading this book I kept thinking about how I have been told time and time again that there is nothing to hard for God. This is book about a couple who after 15 years of marriage have hit ,not one but, a bunch of hard patches in a short period of time. Marriage is hard work by it self but add on secrets, illness, crazy employees and legal issues and it becomes that much harder.

I loved that there was so many positive characters in both Micheal and Alese's life. There is an overflow of supporting characters that provide spiritual, emotional and friendly support. The author also chooses to have other people go through things as well and not just the two main characters. I liked this about the book because it made the story seem more realistic. The story-line had a great flow and the flash backs added helpful information. Sometimes I wished that Micheal and Alese would just be in the same place together for longer than a few pages but at the same time the reasoning made prefect sense. 

I gave this book 4 stars and would recommend it to anyone looking for a faith based motivational read. Although this was about a couple I wouldn't consider it a romance as the focus of the story was about overcoming hardships in order to keep the marriage together.  Click the picture to be brought to Amazon. 

I knew that with a title like ,Pray The Gay Away, I was entering into a book that was going to have some type of issues with people that were gay. I also expected that this book was going to have some form of religious reasoning for it's feeling also based off of the title. I was spot on, on both accounts. I wasn't bothered by the things that the pastor said to Jack and Andrew because the title prepared me.

What I wasn't prepared for was the reckless of the story. Both Andrew and Jack came from households that went through extreme measures to keep them straight. I felt that they were careless and reckless with the way they were sneaking around. Some of the scenes I read had me holding my breath because I was sure someone was going to catch them. I swear I kept reading because I kept thinking either they were going to get caught or they were going to find away to be together. It felt like I was reading forever just waiting for something big to happen. My heart broke for Andrew. The things that Andrew went through was heartbreaking. And Jack's life was full of lies. There was some supporting characters that peaked my interest and added layers to the story. Jack had 9 brothers and sisters and there was Mike and Ed from the football team. Then just when something finally happened the book was over. It ends in a cliffhanger and it really annoyed me. This book is 300+ pages and trust me when I say that the whole thing is one big anticipation for something big to happen. Don't get me wrong a lot happens in the book but the more I read the more I was waiting for something huge to happen.

I gave this 3 stars. It wasn't a bad book however it wasn't great either. Had it had some form closure I probably would have been able to recommend it with a clear conscience. I will say that I would not recommend this book to anyone that as an issue with people using the bible as a way to get their way. This is a M/M romance and although incomplete it is a good story-line between the two main characters. If your interested in a M/M romance, have thick skin and don't mind cliffhangers this book is for you. Otherwise I would skip this book. 


 

This is a coming of age story that has a back drop of tragedy. Fern is about to turn 19 but she is filled with sadness and a family secret that eating her alive. She longs to deal with the normal things that a teenage girl is dealing with but she is lost. The only peace she gets is when she surrounds herself with the orchards although the peace is only short lived.

What I loved about this book is that Fern came alive on the pages. I felt the depression that had crawled into her heart. The author did a great highlighting the sadness. The memories that she shared and even the dreams that she produced played like a picture through my mind. Everyone around Fern helped to pull more outta the story for me and I enjoyed the different characters. I felt that Rocky's presence in the story was a happy distraction even though this doesn't read as a romance. There isn't much more I could say without giving away what the story is truly about and what happens. 

I give this book 4 stars and would recommend it to anymore looking for inspiration. If I haven't made it clear this is not a light-hearted read and it deals with a heavy subject. It also is thought provoking and emotional and worth the read to me.