EmpowerMoms

“As the Tide Comes In” by Cindy Woodsmall and Erin Woodsmall

Tragic story, very well written, steady plot kept my interest. I could feel Tara’s emotions jump thru the pages. Although sad, it had alot of great parts-love and friendship-that I really enjoyed.

I have never had a tragic incident happen to me that has blurred my lines of reality-it was interesting to read of that happening to one of the characters-our brain is so powerful-I can’t even imagine!

Great book!

I received a copy of this book complimentary for blog and social media review. All opinions are my own.

About the Book:
When an unthinkable loss sends Tara Abbott’s life spiraling out of control, she journeys from North Carolina to Georgia’s St. Simons Island. Although confused and scared, she hopes to find answers about her past – her life before the years of foster care and raising her two half-brothers as a young adult. Will she find steady ground on the island, surrounded by an eccentric-but-kindhearted group of older women called The Glynn Girls and a determined firefighter? Or will the truth splinter what’s left of her identity into pieces?

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Love Held Captive (A Lone Star Hero’s Love Story) by Shelley Shepard Gray

I have read many books by this author and I absolutely loved this one as well, even though it’s different from her other Amish fiction books. The characters were great-I really enjoyed Lizbeth and Julianne; and Major Ethan Kelly and Captain Devin Monroe’s war friendship. This story is set during the after the war between the states. There are tragic war events that happen during this book but there are alot of great events, including romance, as well.

I really enjoyed the interesting steady plot-highly recommend!

I received a copy of this book complimentary for blog and social media review. All opinions are my own.

About the Book:
After the War Between the States, a Confederate officer longs to heal the heart of a beautiful woman—but first he’ll have to right the wrongs that were done to her.

Major Ethan Kelly has never been able to absolve himself of the guilt he feels for raiding a woman’s home shortly before he was taken prisoner during the Civil War. He is struggling to get through each day until he once again crosses paths with Lizbeth Barclay—the very woman he is trying to forget.

Life after the war is not much different for former Captain Devin Monroe until he meets Julianne VanFleet. He knows she is the woman he’s been waiting for, but he struggles to come to terms with the sacrifices she made to survive the war.

When Ethan and Devin discover that their former colonel, Adam Bushnell, is responsible for both Lizbeth’s and Julianne’s pain, they call on their former fellow soldiers to hunt him down. As the men band together to earn the trust of the women they love, Lizbeth and Julianne seek the justice they deserve in a country longing to heal.

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“Her Fear: The Amish of Hart County” by Shelley Shepard Gray

I have read all the book in this Amish of Hart Country series and I have really enjoyed getting to know the characters and town. I love this suspenseful, romantic, Amish fiction series! Very well written, good pace that kept my interest the entire book. I really liked the main character Sadie.

Highly recommend this book and series! They can be read as stand alone books but I prefer reading them in order.

I received a copy of this book complimentary for blog and social media review. All opinions are my own.

About the Book:
In New York Times bestselling author Shelley Shepard Gray’s latest novel of suspense in her Amish of Hart County series, an EMT falls for a woman with ties to an Amish community where people are dying similar, suspicious deaths.

Sadie Detweiler never imagined she’d move to Kentucky, yet here she is: a pregnant, unmarried Amish girl banished by unforgiving parents to live with kin she barely knows. The men are gruff and her cousins are secretive. Worst of all, elderly matriarch Verba becomes mysteriously ill shortly after Sadie moves in. When EMT Noah Freeman arrives, Sadie immediately notices he’s unlike any other Amish man she’s met. Noah is warm, confident, and has an easy way with practically everyone in the community, both Amish and English. Though Sadie is drawn to him, she has little hope he will reciprocate her feelings once he learns she’s with child.

Noah can’t understand how a girl as sweet and lovely as Sadie ended up sleeping on a cot in Verba Stauffer’s kitchen. He also senses Sadie is terrified of something. Concerned, he checks up on her. Eventually they strike up a friendship and soon their attraction is undeniable. When Verba later dies at the hospital and her death is followed by two others, Noah’s boss wants him to dig around the Amish community for clues. He agrees—for Sadie’s sake—because only the truth will keep her safe and by his side.

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“The Atonement of Jesus Christ Is for Me” by Sierra Wilson

This book is geared towards ages 5-8 but younger children can certainly benefit from reading this book with an adult. My 8 year old son and I took turns reading each page and at the end, he said he really enjoyed it!

The message is beautiful and simple to understand. The words are easy to read with some rhyming and the pictures are really nice! This would make the perfect gift for a child before baptism or a Christmas gift.

We loved it!

I received a copy of this book complimentary for blog and social media review. All opinions are my own.

About the Book:
Christ’s Atonement is stronger than storms on the sea–and it’s Jesus’s gift to you and to me. This reverent, rhyming picture book teaches that the Atonement can help us overcome any challenge we face, whether we’ve made a bad choice or feel lonely or scared. Help your children learn that when we turn to Jesus Christ, we can do hard things and become our best selves.

Purchase your copy here:

About the Author:

Sierra Wilson started talking early and has been a storyteller ever since. She loves to teach and work with children, and this love has shaped her life from working as a junior high/high school English teacher and children’s art teacher to serving as a church children’s leader and a mother. Sierra is passionate about writing, art, hiking, family time, and eating entirely too much chocolate. She currently lives with her husband and three young children in the prairies of Alberta, where she is a toddler-chaser by day and a writer/artist by night.

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Promises and Primroses (Mayfield Family Series) by Josi S. Kilpack

This story really flowed and kept my interest from beginning to end. I absolutely LOVED the main characters-Peter, Elliott, and Julia. I was very frustrated with Amelia even though as a mother I could relate to alot of her feelings.

Sometimes I have a hard time enjoying stories from this time period (they can be a little stuffy!) so I went into the book with low expectations, but this story was outstanding! I’m so glad I gave it a chance! I have also read other books by this author and she does an amazing job-highly recommend this book and others she has written.

Clean “proper romance”, beautiful story setting, great characters, great story-can’t say enough positive things about this book!

I have high hopes that this is book 1 in a series since the front of the book says “Mayfield Family Series”. I would love to read more about Elliott and how he plans to handle his other nephews and nieces with their inheritance. I will definitely be reading more in this series if she writes them!

I received a copy of this book complimentary for blog and social media review. All opinions are my own.

About the Book:
Lord Elliott Mayfield has done his best to take care of his family, first his siblings and now his nieces and nephews. Unfortunately, he sees this new generation moving in the same direction of bad matches and scandalous relationships as the last. In hopes to change their course, he establishes a “marriage campaign” to motivate them to improve themselves through making respectable matches. With his heart in the right place, what could possibly go wrong?

Peter, Elliott’s eldest nephew, thinks the entire idea is ridiculous. A widower with two young daughters, he simply needs a governess, not a wife. Julia Hollingsworth certainly has the credentials and the experience, but is altogether too young and pretty for such a job. So why can’t he stop thinking about her?

Julia loves working as a governess, despite the objections of her mother, Amelia. And as it turns out, Amelia has a lot to say about the Mayfield men—none of it good. But Julia dismisses the rumors of ruined reputations and instead concentrates on helping Peter with his children and his fledgling business in canine husbandry. His kindness and gentleness is endearing—and increasingly attractive.

But Amelia, whose heart was broken thirty years ago by none other than Elliott Mayfield, is determined to prevent any relationship from blooming either between Peter and Julia—or between herself and Elliott.

Hearts and history collide as both couples must face their pasts and decide if risking it all is worth the promise of new love and a new future.

Purchase your copy here:

About the Author
Josi S. Kilpack is the bestselling author of several Proper Romance and Proper Romance Historical series and the cozy mystery series, Culinary Mystery series. Her book, A Heart Revealed, is a Publishers Weekly Best Romance Book of the Year. She and her husband, Lee, are the parents of four children.