EmpowerMoms

Among the Fair Magnolias: Four Southern Love Stories
by Tamera Alexander (Author), Dorothy Love (Author), Shelley Gray (Author), Elizabeth Musser

This book had 4 novellas (short stories) all taking place in southern states during 1860-1870s. I was only familiar with one of the four authors but they all did a good job with their writing and presenting their stories in a couple of chapters without lacking content.

All the books dealt with love and forgiveness and were all clean, christian writing.

“Love Beyond Limits” was my least favorite because of some of the things that happened in that story, but which was typical during that time period.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review on my blog and social media-all opinions are my own.

Book Descriptions:
In the most turbulent decade of our nation’s history, four Southern women–destinies forged by birth, hearts steeled by war–face near impossible choices on their journeys in life . . . and in love.

To Mend a Dream by Tamera Alexander
Savannah Darby would do almost anything to revisit her family home. So when new owner, Aidan Bedford, a Boston attorney and former Union soldier, seeks to redecorate the house for his fiancée, Savannah jumps at the opportunity. But the clock is ticking. Can she find the box her father supposedly hid there during the war before her assignment is completed? And before she sees yet another battle lost on the home front. This time, one of the heart.

An Outlaw’s Heart by Shelley Gray
When Russell Stark returns to Fort Worth, he’s determined to begin a new life. But when he arrives at his mother’s homestead, he discovers she’s very ill, and the woman he loved is still as beautiful and sweet as he remembered. With time running out, Russell must come to terms with both his future and his past.

A Heart So True by Dorothy Love
Abigail knows all too well what is expected of her: to marry her distant cousin Charles and take her place in society. But her heart belongs to another. A terrible incident forces Abby to choose between love and duty.

Love Beyond Limits by Elizabeth Musser
Emily has a secret: She’s in love with one of the freedmen on her family’s plantation. Meanwhile, another man declares his love for her. Emily realizes some things are not as they seem and secrets must be kept in order to keep those she loves safe.

Each novella includes a scrumptious Southern recipe that’s inherent to each author’s story and that will suit your book club meeting to a T!

You can buy a copy of the book here:

Four best-selling novelists bring tales of four Southern women who face near impossible choices on their journeys in life and in love during the most turbulent decade of our nation’s history in Among the Fair Magnolias. Don’t miss this collection of stories from Tamera Alexander, Shelley Gray, Dorothy Love, and Elizabeth Musser.

Join the authors in celebrating the release of Among the Fair Magnolias by entering to win their Southern Hearts Kindle Fire Giveaway and RSVPing to their August 13th author chat party!

 

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire HD 6
• One copy of Among the Fair Magnolias

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on 8/13. The winner will be announced at the Among the Fair Magnolias Facebook party. RSVP for a chance to connect with Tamera, Dorothy, Shelley, and Elizabeth, as well as for a chance to win some great prizes!

RSVP today and spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or PINTEREST and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 13th!

A Bride at Last (Unexpected Brides #3) by Melissa Jagears

This is a historical romance set in the time period of 1885 in Missouri. School teacher Kate befriends a woman and her son Anthony, but after the mother passes away, Kate assumes she will be taking care of the boy. That is until two men come forward claiming to be Anthony’s father. One man, Silas, claims he was married to the mother by using the mail order bride service but she left him a short time after. Now Kate must try to figure out who the real father is and what will happen to Anthony-all the while, falling in love with one of the men.

Both main characters had issues to work through during the book-like addictions, fear of abandonment, and lack of trust; which are some pretty heavy stuff. But it made the characters more likable and realistic.

I like reading books set in the time period of 1800s. I find that period interesting to read because of stories of the west becoming developed, orphans, and mail order brides.

I enjoyed “Bride at Last”, even though I haven’t read the other two books in this series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review on my blog and social media-all opinions are my own.

About the Book
Abandoned by his mail-order bride, Silas Jonesey has fought an uphill battle to recover from a pattern of poor choices. Now his prayers for reconciliation have finally come true and his estranged wife has contacted him with her whereabouts.

Kate Dawson was supposed to be a mail-order bride, but upon realizing she’d been deceived about her intended groom, she’s now settled into life as a schoolteacher. When the mother of a student passes away, Kate assumes she’ll take on care of nine-year-old Anthony–until two men suddenly show up in town, claiming to be the boy’s father.

Silas can see Anthony loves Kate, so he enlists her help in reaching out to the boy and attempting to prove his paternity to the court. When a common interest in Anthony leads to an interest in each other and Silas and Kate begin to think they can overcome their rocky start, neither is prepared for the secrets and past hurts that have yet to come to light. Can Silas, Kate, and Anthony’s wounded souls bind them together or will all that stands between them leave them lonely forever?

About the Author
Melissa Jagears, an ESL teacher by trade and the author of A Bride for Keeps and A Bride in Store, is a stay-at-home mother on a tiny Kansas farm with a fixer-upper house. She’s a member of ACFW and CROWN fiction marketing, and her passion is to help Christian believers mature in their faith and judge rightly. Find her online at www.melissajagears.com.

You can purchase a copy of the book here:

“A Heart’s Promise” is book five of six in the Journey of the Heart series. These books were the first series author Colleen Coble ever wrote, and writing was how she dealt with her brothers sudden death. These books haven’t been in print form in over 10 years. They were originally titled “Where Leads the Heart” and “Plains of Promise”.

I have become a huge fan of Colleen Coble when I discovered her books last year. I love that her books are clean and most of them are very suspenseful and mysterious.

I don’t think they would make much sense if they aren’t read together AND in order. I wouldn’t consider this Colleen Coble’s typical writing since it’s not suspenseful, but it’s still been a good series to read. Don’t read the book description though, because it pretty much gives a recap of the entire book.

Books 1-3 follow the story of Sarah and Rand, and books 4-6 follow Emmie Croftner’s story. Sarah, Rand and other main characters are still mentioned though because they live in the same area.

Emmie finds herself widowed and pregnant living out west among her friends. She’s starting to fall in love with Isaac but doesn’t want to tell him her secret for fear of losing him.

I have enjoyed reading these short stories, although for the sake of the readers, it would have made more sense to combine all of these books into 1 or 2-not 6.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review on my blog and social media-all opinions are my own.

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Emmie makes a promise to her friend that, if fulfilled, could mean the end to her dreams of a future with Isaac.

Emmie Croftner let Isaac Liddle go to avoid telling him about her past. But Isaac remains determined to win Emmie’s heart and hand. Though Emmie resolves to keep her heart in check, it hurts when she sees that another woman has set her bonnet for Isaac.

Then Emmie’s dear friend extracts a costly promise: if anything happens to her in childbirth, Emmie will marry her widower and raise the baby herself. And it seems Emmie may have to fulfill that promise. But can she live happily without Isaac?

You can purchase book 5 here:

You can pre-order the entire bundle of books here:

This brand new Leslie Sansone dvd was released yesterday and since I have Amazon prime, it was delivered last night! I did the entire dvd this morning so I could post my review.

5 min warm up
14 mins of mile 1
14 mins of mile 2
17 mins of mile 3
2 mins of cool down
3 mins of stretching
*55 minutes from start to finish with this dvd*

My Review:
Leslie had her traditional walking moves; along with kickbacks, mambo combos, and lots of heel digs. She also had some new moves like backstrokes, squat & kick, squat & reach, squat & twist, and twisting.

The twisting could be hard on the knees so I personally would suggest just walking or jogging in place to keep it low impact.

She also does some HIIT training intervals which involved jogging up and back, and bouncing in place. Again, if you have knee problems, I would suggest jogging instead of bouncing. There are no jumping jacks in this one like some of her other HIIT interval dvds.

Leslie had a lot of cast members for this workout, including some regulars-Nick, Marvin and Carrie.

The music was fun and upbeat using classic hit songs-nothing modern.

Family friendly with no bad language in the songs or immodest clothes.

I would consider this dvd more moderate, but a beginner could certainly do it and just modify some of the twisting and bouncing movements.

Overall, I really enjoyed this dvd! The cast, music and new movements were a lot of fun. I have been using Leslie Sansone dvds for almost 4 years now and truly enjoy them. My heart rate typically stays in the 120s and 130s which is great for FAT BURN!

Product Description from Amazon:
IT’S A BIG CALORIE BURNING WALK CONCERT OF ALL-TIME FAVORITE SONGS RIGHT IN YOUR HOME!

We’ve all heard it before. The most effective workout plan is the one you actually DO! But with all of the demands in everyone’s busy life, it’s not so easy to find the time and energy to exercise. Motivation is key, and music is one of the best motivators. Great music makes your workout more fun and keeps you exercising because you LOOK FORWARD to it. That’s why Leslie created WALK TO THE HITS.

Walk To The Hits features hit music and High Intensity Interval Training (aka HIIT)-it’s the perfect combination! Hit music pumps up your pace, and HIIT training alternates between short bursts of all out effort and longer periods of recovery, allowing you to walk a shorter session while blasting away as many calories as you would in a longer one. A study published in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness showed that women who completed a 12 week HIIT program lost more weight than a group who performed longer sessions of moderate intensity cardio. The HIIT group also LOST MORE BELLY FAT. In short, walking to the hits using HIIT training is a sure-fire way to fire-up your walk!

For this program, Leslie chose her all-time favorite, high-energy songs and combined them with her favorite Walk At Home moves to make one of the most motivating and enjoyable 3 mile walks she s ever created!

The miles will fly by as you step, tap, kick and twist to these oldies but goodies that are sure to be some of your all-time favorite tunes too. So come on and sing along as you get your HIIT Walk on!

You can purchase it on Amazon here:

I AM SO EXCITED I JUST DISCOVERED THIS BRAND NEW JILLIAN MICHAELS DVD ON AMAZON TODAY!! It’s on pre-order but it will be available in 6 weeks!

Are you a Jillian Michaels fan?

Watch a SNEAK PEEK HERE!

Have you always wanted a sick, insane,
incredible upper body? Biceps of steel,
sleek toned shoulders, a shredded upper
back…well, here it is: Jillian’s new DVD Killer Arms & Back, the fourth installment in the Killer series. You are going to look and feel amazing in that tank top, bikini or spaghetti strap dress.

Killer Arms & Back offers three amazingly effective workouts that progress in difficulty. Stick with each 30-minute workout for 10 days and then progress to the next level. Jillian offers modifications for every single move, so whether you’re an advanced athlete, a beginner or an intermediate exerciser, you will get the absolute most out of this program.

If you’re ready to get that strong, sexy body that you have always wanted, get started with this new DVD today! Jillian Michaels Killer Arms & Back…you’re going to love it!

DVD Release Date: September 15, 2015
Run Time: 90 minutes

Preorder it here: