Grace and Violet...is life ever fair?
341444
This book was very similar to all of the others..I really like the area of Botswana, Alexander does a very good job of describing the terrain, like the trees and the outdoor eating areas, he makes you wish you could just pop in and visit. Precious is someone you would like to have as a friend, and Grace would keep you entertained. I really like the series as they take you to a time and place so different from how we live today. If you are looking for a series that does not depend on sex to carry the story line, this one may be for you.
1557339
As it is regrettably too often the case ... corporate greed prevails over human rights, animal rights or the preservation of the environment. Amazing Grace evidences that fact clearly.

We witness the decade struggle of a decent man fighting incessantly at the cost of his health and sanity for the abolition of slavery in the United Kingdom. But in so doing he must face in parliament, wealthy men solely motivated by greed ... sugar cane plantation owners in the Caribbean Islands, who hold their fortune on the back, sweat, misery and death of African slaves.

Intertwined and deeply woven into the fabric of this story, is the tale of a slave trafficking ship captain who upon the peril of his life during a storm, asked God to spare his miserable life.

He promised to change his ways and to become an advocate in favor of ending slavery. His sincere change of heart inspired him to write the lyrics of what would become the most beautiful gospel song ever ... Amazing Grace.

For millions around the globe and for centuries to come, this hymn will forever remain us of the tragic story behind these words and that man can listen to his conscience and replace his insatiable greed or hatred ... by compassion, tolerance, respect and love for his fellow man.
338782
I'm halfway through the book and just now read that Grace has dark hair and hazel eyes!! All this time, I have been wondering what she looked like, as well as most of the other characters. Nicholas seems to have light hair and blue eyes (mentioned towards the end of the book). Samuel Preston?  Who knows what he looks like?  The story is good so far, but the lack of character description is terrible.

Update: Finished the book. It was long with a lot of going back & forth between Grace & Nicholas' emotions and what they wanted in life and how much both of them held back their feelings for each other. Had a nice ending though.
4294453
I'm just going to say now that I may not make it until the fourth installment. Cari and Taryn are killing me.

So at the end of volume two, Blake fired Grace because some truths were revealed. Granted not all of them, but enough to make Blake second guess everything that happened between them.

This installment is back to Grace's point of view and oh man, does she break my heart. I think she's close to just being emotionally done in. She misses her Grandma, she lost her house, she's illegally living in the maid's quarters (it's an old house) on the property, she lost her job,  and she lost Blake. I think that's around the time your heart just says "Screw it, I'm done. I'm going into hibernation." Grace, however, funnels all that pain into her artwork and ends up creating a completely different style with her "Fallen Angel" piece. Of course, days later when she comes up for air, the pain is still there and so is Thanksgiving. A day she would always spend with her Grandma and now she's spending it alone.

Her friend and former boss, Philomena, calls needing Grace to work an event and Grace jumps at the chance. It gives her something to focus on and as she's unemployed, she could really use the money. Grace should know by now things don't always go as planned.

Here's Blake. He's actually there for such a sweet reason (nope, not telling) and he and Grace end up doing what they do best together. Flipping hot! I swear Cari and Taryn write some fire starting sex scenes. *fans herself*

But is that it? Will they really leave things that way? What does Blake do at the gallery showing that sends Grace over the edge? It seems Blake wants so much more from Grace, with Grace. Can Grace come clean and tell him everything? Blake has alluded numerous times that he's always known who Grace is and has always wanted her. Yet, Blake doesn't know everything and if there's any chance for a future between them, he needs to.

The night doesn't end like either one expected it to. Yes, they talked and yes, they both seem to want to see where this can go and you mentally do a fist pump in excitement that they just may make it. Then real life interrupts and that future may be taken away from them. Three words - epic plot twist.

I highly recommend this to everyone. I'm not usually a fan of serials, yet The Boss quickly won me over. Read them people. *whispers* Make sure your significant other will be home soon, otherwise you will be hurting. *wink*

**I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.**
10648
I got the movie as a result of reading the section on it in _What's So Amazing About Grace_ by Philip Yancey pg 19ff
Just go get the movie and watch it, read the reviews later....
So you're back. Tear jerker and thoughtful both. very nice.
So what is grace?
How did they miss it so long?
How could someone so talented be content to cook stale wet bread and boiled dried cod?
Grace is free for the receivers, expensive to the giver.
We can spend a lifetime fighting grace and completely miss the point. It is there among us all the time. but we miss it because we are looking for it in the wrong places.
Self denial, anger, lack of love, cloud our thinking and allow us to miss the banquet of grace.
but we recognize it when it is there, we are seduced by it, and the old dance in the moonlight as a result. Healed, full, flavorful.
She was home, where she belonged, her family had been killed. Like the sisters she was doing her duty, what she felt was her destiny. Waiting patiently to demonstrate her love.
Nice movie. Sorry i missed it for so long.
65613
Violet Harper has remained in England for the foreseeable future.  She is now become "the undertaker in waiting" to Queen Victoria---at least that's what it seems.  She has been summoned yet again to Buckingham Palace.  The Queen still in mourning for Albert just can't let go to the point of having a lot of faith in her ghillie John Brown and his tarot cards to predict what her future holds.  He's also capable of conjuring up the dead Albert in sances---little taps here and there!  So Violet has been instructed to seek out any evil that might be lurking in the halls of the Palace.  She's still ensconced in St. James Palace.  Meanwhile her husband Sam is becoming more involved in the great invention of dynamite, and is in Wales.  Of course Violet is skeptical and worried about his safety.

Violet has also gotten the ear of a few of Victoria's younger daughter most notably---Louise who is the most outspoken, prettiest, and very much interested in the unjust treatment of women.  And one of her dear friends has just died and Louise doesn't feel that it was due to poor health!  Enter the mortician lady to tend to the body and find a reason to investigate.  Two more women are found dead and it soon becomes apparent that there's a pattern here.

There's also a dissatisfied groom at the Queen's stables who is overly fond of Karl Marx.  There's also Lord Mordaunt who is seeking a divorce from his unfaithful wife and is implicating Bertie, the Prince of  Wales.  Another young woman is shot and killed in Wales during a miner's riot which is witnessed by Sam.  So many situations, so many connections, or are there?

This last offering from Christine Trent overreaches a bit.  I admire her knowledge of the history of those times and even she admits in the final notes that the dates of historic incidents aren't always correct.  But some of the situations she describes are hard to believe---and she's not alone in this.  Violet once again tries to confront people who she suspects might be killers.  Why would a lone woman do this and hope to survive?  But as in  a lot of mysteries involving women heroines, they are put in harm's way and then the cavalry  shows up to save them.  And the  way that these murders are committed is beyond believable and used as a vehicle to give Violet a weapon to use against the  accused.  I  wish that the author had done some research regarding the method she described.  But I guess that is  a poetic license on her part.  The saga of Mary Cook, her dear friend's rush to find her husband and the consequences of that journey also seemed contrived as if the writer was trying to fill pages.  It just didn't quite fit in with the rest of the book.

There were aspects of this book that I did like and again it was centered around the customs and rituals of caring for the dead.  In this mystery, Violet shows the friends of the deceased woman how to make ornaments and jewelry out of the locks of her hair.  There was a lot of detail about that and even funereal photography.  At any rate, I look forward to reading the next adventure of Violet Harper----she's a woman to be admired and certainly nobody's fool!
3226652
Imagine a world where the people among you wear their crimes all over their bodies. People whose skin has been changed a different color to fit the crimes that they have committed.
Hannah Payne was one of those Chromes. Her whole body was now Red. Her crime? She had an abortion and had refused to name the father of her baby as well as the person responsible for its death. She has been shunned by her own mother and is a disgrace to her entire family. It's hard enough for Chromes to walk around everyday let alone get a job.
Hannah's father decides to help the best way that he can by putting her in a "christian" home so that she can repent her sins and begin on the path to righteousness. But this place is anything but that, there has to be a better way.
She finds a way to get out of the home, but the consequences of her actions, make it for a difficult road to get to a place of freedom.
Will she ever name the father of her baby, or the abortionist? Will there be a way for her to live as a chrome and have a slightly normal life? Will the people she meets along the way help her or hurt her?

When She Woke is an interesting novel that makes you think about what you would do if you new the person riding on the subway next to you was a murderer, or a theif, or a child molester. Just by the color of their skin.
3794745
was given the ebook from the publisher via Netgalley for a fair and unbiased review.

Voilet has been brought up by her Aunt Winnie and Uncle Donald, Violet has always been loved and looked after by her Aunt Winnie, but Uncle Donald seems to resent Violet why???

After Winnie falls ill and dies Violet is struggling trying to look after the house and the bills as Uncle Donald has given up.

They loose the house and Uncle Donald goes his own way which means Violet has to fend for herself, being employed in a green grocers for very little money this doesn't help her situation.

Violet has to rely on the goodwill of people around her to help her situation.

Why was Uncle Donald so against Violet?

Can Violet sort her life out to make her dream come true?

Lovely saga story with the feel good factor but also dark in places!!

Recommended Read!
3404397
About the Author: Beth Shriver received a degree in social work and psychology from the University of Nebraska. She worked as a caseworker for Boulder County Department of Social Services before starting a family. Beth and her husband of twenty years and her two children live in Texas after moving from their first home in Colorado. She freelances for the local papers in her area and writes columns, devotionals for magazines, and novels in a variety of genres in both fiction and nonfiction. Visit the author's website.

Annie Bieler sets out on a journey of the spirit when she discovers she was adopted after being found as an abandoned newborn. Her father is strongly against her decision to go as it could mean Meidung, or excommunication from the community and even her family. But Annie knows she must find "the path that has her heart." Her search also takes her away from John, the young man who is courting her. --Short Book Description

***Special thanks to Althea Thompson | Publicity Coordinator, Charisma House | Charisma Media for sending me a review copy.***

  This was an in-depth search of the heart to seek the unrevealed Touch of Grace. Annie's Truth is the first book in this trilogy of touches of grace. God's grace overshadows any pain or suffering if we will but let Him.

  "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us." - Romans 8:19

  Hidden truth. Does it hamper or help? Is it protection or fear? Perfect love casts out fear. God's love. Annie's decision to step out and search her unknown does affect all of her family and choices they make to receive her. Will it open up hidden hearts?

  This is a journey of a family. Life continues while Annie expects things to stay the same. She is surprised by those who back her and those who don't.

  Who makes us an outsider? Do we, or those we look to? Annie's travels take her to unsuspecting places and happenings she must wait for. By being herself, she triumphs.
1777145
Julialondon

Holly and Hannah are two sisters who have spent their lives in Texas. Each sister is totally different. Both sisters had a different relationship with their mother. Neither one felt like they could please their mother. Oddly, Holly thought Hannah was the favorite while Hannah felt Holly was given a soft touch by their mother. Whether their thoughts are seen through foggy glasses worn out by time the sisters now have a strained relationship with one another and feel inadequate as women.

Their present lives aren't any less complicated than their past days growing up. Now Hannah is married and has a son named Mason. Holly is striving to be a successful songwriter. She is single. However, when Hannah's life falls apart Holly is caught in the eye of the storm. I liked the novel, a light at winter's end by JULIA LONDON because it's a very complicated plot. It's like real life. Some situations look so dark. There doesn't seem a way to unravel the tangles. Each person in the story is holding tightly to their lifestyle thinking if they let go their part of the world will fly off into space.

I especially adored the two children in the novel. There is a little girl named, Gracie. There is a little boy named Mason. I have to say Mason took my heart. He also took the heart of his Aunt Holly. I've read a lot of books with cute pets or bad pets in a story. There is a pet here too. His name is Milo. I liked Milo too. I haven't read as many books lately where toddlers are described so well. Obviously, Julia London has spent time around children. Without Mason and Gracie doing what all toddlers do something good would have been missing in the book.

Don't be fooled. There is  pound after pound of real life drama going on here. This real situation which takes over Hannah's life is very significant. It is an unfortunate circumstance that happens to many people in our society. While people live through it they wonder if there will ever come "a light at winter's end."
2753545
24 year old Grace Cristler works as the postmistress in her town of Fairland Kansas.  Her uncle has decided that it is time for him to step down from the pulpit and Grace is responsible for corresponding with the Rufus Dille, the man set to take his place.  Grace had all but given up hope on getting married, but begins to feel attracted to Rufus through his letters.

 Theophil Garrison is on the run.  Ten years ago Theo decided not to help his cousins take part in a robbery and now that they are out of prison, they are seeking revenge.  A set of unusual circumstances could help provide Theo with the escape he needs, but the young man's con might come at an enormous price.

 Historical Fiction is my favorite type of book to read.  But, specifically my favorite type of Historical Fiction are books by Kim Vogel Sawyer.  There's just something very special about the way she writes, the time, effort, and emotion put in each of her books.  But the most important element are the messages of Faith, Hope, Forgiveness, and the Love of God that shines through each of her novels.

 Grace and the Preacher is a fantastic story.  It is a romance, but it is much more then that.  It is a story about following God's path for your life and trusting in Him rather then man.  It is a story about redemption and forgiveness.  It is a story showing that you are never too old to follow God's call on your life.

 You will fall in love with the town of Fairland Kansas and it's characters.  I loved Grace and Theo, but my favorite character  is Aunt Bess.  She is a wonderful mother figure for Bess and Theo, but she treats everyone in the town with love and kindness.  She's not afraid to do or say what she thinks is right and she is always seeking God's plan for her life.

 I highly recommend Grace and the Preacher and other books by Kim Vogel Sawyer!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance to the FTC regulations.
4642612
Read this novel for a book club at our library.  Loved the story following a young girl who gets accused of a murder but never gets the death penalty.  The question is...is Grace really quilty?
1130015
I felt a reality and connection to the people and their story.  The people could be today with how they interacted and behaved.  Sorry to say I have known people like Albert, Violet, Walt and Helen's father.  First person singular with everything solely about them, their wants and what you can do for them.  Blessedly I have known James, and married him.  Human nature seems to have remained in a stagnant form when growth was needed most.
1624990
Grace and Ted Chapman are widely regarded as the perfect literary power couple. Ted is a successful novelist and Grace, his wife of twenty years, is beautiful, stylish, carefree, and a wonderful homemaker. But what no one sees, what is churning under the surface, is Teds rages. His mood swings. And the precarious house of cards that their lifestyle is built upon. When Teds longtime assistant and mainstay leaves, the house of cards begins to crumble and Grace, with dark secrets in her past, is most vulnerable. She finds herself in need of help but with no one to turn tountil the perfect new assistant shows up out of the blue.  To the rescue comes Beth, a competent young woman who can handle Ted and has the calm efficiency to weather the storms that threaten to engulf the Chapman household. Soon, though, its clear to Grace that Beth might be too good to be true. This new interloper might be the biggest threat of all, one that could cost Grace her marriage, her reputation, and even her sanity.  With everything at stake and no one to confide in, Grace must find a way to save herself before it is too late.

Powerful and riveting, Jane Green's Saving Grace will have you on the edge of your seat as you follow Grace on her harrowing journey to rock bottom and back.

My thoughts. -- This was my first Jane Green book. It won't be my last though. Grace, or Gracie by those that know her best. It starts off, Grace is coming home, and isn't sure what kind of mood her author husband, Ted, is going to be in. He is a hot-head. Not your just run-of-the-mill hot-head. Throwing things, nutso hot-head. She is terrified of him. It goes back to her mother, her mother it turns out was diagnosed bi-polar and so she relives it every time Ted throws one of his fits.

Grace has it pretty good, but their assistant Ellen is going to take care of her mother and they should probably find a new one, one suddenly appears. Like sent from heaven, or so it seems, at first. Beth seems plain, but she seems very efficient and capable of doing a lot of tasks, and more than they required of her.

Then things start happening. I am not going to say anymore, but I couldn't put the book down, I read it in a matter of a couple hours. Jane writes with such passion and the bi-polar aspect really was amazing. I loved the love aspect. I was yelling through the last third of the book, begging her. Well mum is the word. I won't say more, but please, please do yourself a favor and read it. You won't regret it!

I received this book from a contest, in exchange for my honest opinion.
851707
Last year, I recall reading The Light of Grace; Story of an angel which I've found to be a beautiful story once I overlooked the historical inaccuracies. Reading this book is a bit similar to The Light of Grace in terms of subject matter (heaven) and what possibly happens there. In addition to finding it beautiful, the reader can also find comfort within the pages. I also am wondering if the story is dealing with emotions and grief of someone who knows they will die, kind of a rite of passage towards death I am thinking. I am confused by the rules, at least I'm pretty sure that one of them is that a child cannot visit their parents' heaven or something of the kind, yet the rule is not strictly followed or enforced.
4163141
I'm in a Grace Burrows phase. I very much like the Windham family and their dynamics.

the Duke of Moreland: "I am telling you, in the absence of the Almightys availability: Do not marry her out of pity or duty or a misguided sense you want a woman in debt to you before you marry her. Marry her because you cant see the rest of your life without her and you know she feels the same way.
3598292
After becoming a victim of the Whitman Mission Massacre, Hope Flanagan is faced with the grueling choice of whether or not to testify against the men that attacked the mission. Once her decision is made and the trial ends, she hopes that she can put the past behind her but finds reliving the events of that horrendous day may have set her back. She finds solace from her family and tending to her flock of sheep until an unexpected friendship develops between her and Army Lieutenant, Lance Kenner- one of the guards at the trial. Lance and Hope begin spending more time together when Lance's stint in the military ends after the trial and he accepts a job at her uncle and brother-in-law's saw mill. As their friendship begins to transform into something more, both Lance and Hope must deal with scars from their past in order to seek a possible future together.

I wasn't sure how Peterson would be able to take the tragic events that occurred to Hope in Treasured Grace and transform them into a beautiful story, but she has done just that! Forgiveness, healing, and tender love are woven throughout Beloved Hope as God's grace paves the way for a beautiful future for Hope demonstrating how only He can make something worthwhile from our ashes.

This review contains my own thoughts and opinions. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.