EmpowerMoms

Two Roads Home: A Chicory Inn Novel – Book 2 by Deborah Raney

Two Roads Home is book 2 and follows the story of the oldest girl Corinne and her husband Jesse. Throughout the book, you do read about her other 2 sisters and her parents who own the Chicory Inn; but the main emphasis is on Corinne and her family. Her husband has a major conflict at work and has to decide how to handle it with Gods help and his wife’s acceptance and support.

The writing was good and kept me interested and engaged. The conflicts mentioned in the book with family relationships, marriage, uncertainty, being unsettled, work relationships- they were all real life struggles and concerns that anyone could relate to, myself included.

The only thing that bothered me about the book was the moms attitude with having to help her daughters babysit or letting them visit at the Inn because she wanted to focus mostly on getting guests and keeping the Inn clean. It’s not a big deal and I would still recommend the book and read it again; but it did annoy me because I feel family relationships are more important than work or a clean house.

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.

About the book:
What if it’s too late for dreams to come true?

Minor—but-nagging setbacks continue to sour Grant and Audrey Whitman’s initiation into the world of innkeeping, but larger challenges brew when an innocent flirtation leads to big trouble for the Whitmans’ son-in-law, Jesse. Jesse Pennington’s friendly, outgoing personality has always served him well, especially in a career that has earned him and his wife Corinne a very comfortable lifestyle. But Corinne and Jesse are both restless—and for similar reasons, if only they could share those with each other. Instead, too many business trips and trumped-up charges of harassment from a disgruntled coworker threaten their marriage and possibly put their three precious daughters at risk.

With their life in disarray, God is tugging at their hearts to pursue other dreams. Can Corinne and Jesse pick up the pieces of what was once a wonderful life before it all crumbles beneath them?

About the author:
Deborah Raney’s books have won numerous awards, including the RITA, National Readers Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, and the Carol Award, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. She and her husband, Ken, recently traded small-town life in Kansas-the setting of many of Deborah’s novels-for life in the (relatively) big city of Wichita, where they enjoy gardening, antiquing, movies, and traveling to visit four children and a growing brood of grandchildren who all live much too far away.

You can purchase book 2 here:

You can purchase book 1 here:

Enter to win a copy of Two Roads Home—five winners will be chosen! The winners will be announced July 6 on the Litfuse blog!

The #1millionminutes with #sweatpink challenge began on June 21 (in honor of their 4th birthday!) and will end two months later, on August 21.

You can go here for all the details and to record your exercising minutes.

http://fitapproach.com/1millionminutes/

My goal is to log 300-360 minutes per week = which is 60 mins of exercise 5-6x per week.

Living an active lifestyle is important to me so I can feel and look my best every day. I want to be a healthy example to my kids and be around for a long time to play with them and take care of them!

I do most of my workouts at home but I’ve also been going to the gym 2-3 times per week for the month of June and July. I also do my once a week park workouts since I am a NEM (NoExcuseMom) local leader which is really fun!

What do you do to stay active with your family?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

USA MAILING ADDRESSES ONLY. Will contact the winner on Wednesday July 8th.

Another awesome workout by Leslie Sansone! This one is brand new this month and I love that it focuses on strength training. You will be doing some walking in the first 2 workouts but it’s minimal.

DVD Description:
Want the BEST ARMS & SHOULDERS of your life? Leslie will show you how to easily curl, press and lift to get those arms firm, slim and sculpted!

Want your BEST BUNS & THIGHS ever? Leslie uses proven exercises to tighten and tone the thighs in addition to firming and lifting the rear-end!

Want a SLIMMER MIDDLE? Core Strength Training and Cardio together give you the best results to trim, slim and firm your belly and waist. So Leslie has core training integrated into each walking circuit!

Circuit Workout 1
Walk Segments & Upper Body Zone (20 mins.)

Circuit Workout 2
Walk Segments & Lower Body Zone (20 mins.)

Workout 3
Fast Walk (20 mins.)

It’s a total of 60 powerful minutes, but you can mix up the workouts anyway you like. Work the arms and do a fast walk one day. Work the legs and fast walk another day. Do the Fast Walk alone. The workout segments all work together for your fitness and weight loss goals!

You can buy the DVD from Amazon here:

Video clip here:

Kate won’t be safe until all of Port Aster’s secrets are revealed

This is the third and final book in the Port Aster Secrets series by Sandra Orchard.

I did not know this book was part of a series when I received this book for review, so I felt lost right at the beginning of the book with all the characters and not knowing the development of the story over the last 2 books.

The writing was good and I liked the suspense, romance, and pace of it though!

Kate is the main character trying to protect a special plant that GPC Pharmaceuticals seems to want at all costs. She doesn’t know if she can trust her friend Patti or Detective Tom or those around her to figure out the truth.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book from Revell Books, a division of of Baker Publishing Group, in exchange for an honest review on my blog and social media-all opinions are my own.

About the Book:
Researcher Kate Adams has finally pinpointed the supposed “miracle plant” that tore apart her family years ago. She’s certain that discovering its secrets is her only hope of solving the mystery surrounding her father’s disappearance. She’s willing to risk anything to find the truth, including her relationship with Detective Tom Parker. But with so many people in pursuit of the plant, going it alone might be a fatal mistake.

Award-winning author Sandra Orchard pulls out all the stops in this breakneck and breathtaking conclusion to the Port Aster Secrets series.

About the Author
Sandra Orchard is the award-winning author of several inspirational romantic suspense/mysteries, including Deadly Devotion, winner of the 2014 The Word Award for suspense, and Blind Trust. Her Love Inspired Suspense titles have garnered two Canadian Christian Writing Awards and a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award. Sandra has also received a Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. In addition to her busy writing schedule, Sandra enjoys speaking at events and teaching writing workshops. She lives in Ontario, Canada. Learn more about Sandra’s books and check out the special bonus features, such as deleted scenes and location pics, at www.sandraorchard.com.

You can buy book 3 here:

Deadly Devotion (Port Aster Secrets Book #1)

Blind Trust (Port Aster Secrets Book #2)

This was last week’s #SweatPink writing prompt.

How do you train, mentally and physically, for races — 5ks, 10ks, half & full marathons?

I haven’t done much racing since my first half marathon 2 years ago (wow! I can’t believe its been that long ago!). I love exercising and walking, but I have a really hard time physically running because of body pain.

Earlier this year I did The Color Run and in less than 2 weeks my son and I will be doing a 4 mile-4th of July walk. We have been training for this race by doing indoor walking and fitness dvds, as well as outdoor walking at the park. Last week my son even did a 1 mile race with my dad and ran the entire time, so I think he’s ready! 🙂

I also love listening to music while I jog/walk because the beat helps keep me focused and stay on beat so I don’t go to slow. My son loves when I use my Garmin watch because its set to do 2:1 intervals of walking and jogging.

On race day I always bring a snack and lots of water with me! We will be dressing up for this race since it’s on the 4th of July so stay tuned for pictures!

How do you train?

What race length do you like the most? 5k? half?