Author:  Susan May Warren
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Pages:  386
Genre:  Christian / Suspense
Source:  Litfuse Publicity




Goodreads:   To everyone who knows her, Annalise Decker is a model wife and mother. She’s a permanent member of the PTA, never misses her kids’ sporting events, and is constantly campaigning for her husband’s mayoral race.No one knows that Annalise was once Deidre O’Reilly, a troubled young woman whose testimony put a dangerous criminal behind bars. Relocated through the Witness Security Program to the sleepy town of Deep Haven, Deidre got a new identity and a fresh start, which began when she fell in love with local real estate agent Nathan Decker. Twenty years later, Annalise couldn’t be more unprepared for her past to catch up with her. When Agent Frank Harrison arrives with news that the man she testified against is out on bail and out for revenge, Annalise is forced to face the consequences of her secrets. Will she run again, or will she finally find the grace to trust those she loves most with both her past and her future?


Ope’s Opinion:  An amazing read!  From the beginning this story will draw you in.  You won’t want to do anything else but flip to the next page!  At times I found myself holding my breath while reading as fast as I could.
                                     
                                     Each person had a story line of their own, which intertwined with everyone else.  The maze that Susan May Warren wove was impressive.   You just couldn’t wait to see what would happen next to each one of them.  They became family to me.  I was wanting what was best for them.

                                    When you get half way through, make sure you have plenty of time to read because you will not want to put it down.  I was up very late reading, wanting to know how it ended.  It was worth every minute I stayed up.  The ending does NOT disappoint! 

Rating: Five Chairs – This book is so good it will be passed on and on and on …..

   Summer vacation on Great Rock Island was supposed to be a restorative time for Kate, who’d lost her close friend Elizabeth in a sudden accident. But when she inherits a trunk of Elizabeth’s journals, they reveal a woman far different than the cheerful wife and mother Kate thought she knew. 
   The complicated portrait of Elizabeth—her troubled upbringing, and her route to marriage and motherhood—makes Kate question not just their friendship, but her own deepest beliefs about loyalty and honesty at a period of uncertainty in her own marriage. 
   The more Kate reads, the more she learns the complicated truth of who Elizabeth really was, and rethinks her own choices as a wife, mother, and professional, and the legacy she herself would want to leave behind. When an unfamiliar man’s name appears in the pages, Kate realizes the extent of what she didn’t know about her friend, including where she was really going on the day she died. 
   Set in the anxious summer after the September 11th attacks, this story of two women—their friendship, their marriages, private ambitions and fears—considers the aspects of ourselves we show and those we conceal, and the repercussions of our choices.

Ope’s Opinion:  I struggled at the beginning of this book.  I kept reading and was just not getting connected to the characters.  I kept reading.  It did improve, but I never really felt strongly about the decisions Kate was trying to make.  

                                     The only thing that kept me reading was curiosity to see how it ended.
                                      If someone really likes journals or memoirs – they may like this book.  
                                      Read other reviews – some people really liked it.
                                      

Rating:  Two Chairs – I may have one friend who might like this book.

Author:  Karen Kingsbury
Publisher:  Zondervan
Pages:  304
Genre:  Christian Fiction
Source:  Purchased

Goodreads:  Coming Home is a novel about tremendous victory and unprecedented loss, a story of faith and a forever kind of love, love that will stay with you long after the last page. This stand-alone novel will serve as either a grand introduction or a beautiful conclusion in the saga of the Baxter Family. The Baxters make plans to come together for a summer lakeside reunion, a celebration like they haven’t had in years. But before the big day, the unthinkable happens. As the Baxter Family rallies together, memories come to light in the grief-stricken hours of waiting and praying, memories that bring healing and hope during a time when otherwise darkness might have the final word. In a season that changes all of them, the brilliance of family love overshadows even the valley of heartache as the Baxters draw closer to God and each other. Along the way, secrets are revealed and the truth about the Baxter Family history is finally made known. Ultimately, in this portrait of family love, the Baxters cling to each other and to God’s promise of forever.


Ope’s Opinion: I recently read Karen Kingsbury series about Bailey Flanigan and was disappointed.  This one has renewed my faith in Karen Kingsbury’s writing.  I really enjoyed this book.  Even though it is about the Baxter family, you do not have to have read her previous books.  This book is fast moving.

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

Author: Loving
Publisher: Zondervan
Pages: 352
Genre: Christian Fiction
Source: Purchased

Goodreads:  The answers Bailey Flanigan once longed and prayed for are finally becoming clear. In Loving, the fourth and final book in the Bailey Flanigan Series by New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury, Bailey is planning a wedding and making decisions that will shape her future. Bailey enjoys the beginning of her new career and time spent with Brandon while Cody faithfully coaches his team on and off the field. Will she spend her life with Brandon Paul in Los Angeles, or will her heart draw her back to Bloomington, Indiana and Cody Coleman, her first love? Bailey has learned much and grown over the years, but the greatest challenges, the richest joys, and the deepest heartaches are still to come. Featuring members from Karen Kingsbury’s popular Baxter family, Loving completes Bailey and Cody’s story — the finale thousands of fans have been waiting for.


Ope’s Opinion:  Overall this series was not Karen Kingsbury’s best.  I was  a Cody fan and wasn’t thrilled with the way it ended.  I felt like this could have been written in about two books instead of four.  I felt like Bible verses and God’s words speaking to the characters repeated too many times.  It will make me think twice about buying Karen Kingsbury’s next book.

Rating:  Three Chairs – I like this book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Author:  Karen Kingsbury
Publisher: Zondervan
Pages: 331
Genre: Christian Fiction
 Source: Purchased

Goodreads:  Longing, book three in the Bailey Flanigan Series, picks up where Learning ended. After a long and lonely silence from Cody Coleman, Bailey Flanigan becomes closer to her one-time Hollywood co-star, Brandon Paul. Nights on the town in New York City and long talks on the balcony of Brandon’s Malibu Beach home make Bailey dizzy with new feelings and cause her to wonder if her days with Cody are over forever. Meanwhile, Cody’s work coaching a small-town football team has brought him and his players national attention. In the midst of the celebration and success, Cody finds himself much closer to a woman who seems to better understand him and his new life. Even so, never does much time go by without Bailey and Cody experiencing deep feelings of longing for each other, longing both for the past and for answers before they can move forward. Will an unexpected loss be the turning point for Cody? Will Cody and Bailey find a way back together again for the first time in more than a year? And if they do, will their brief time together be enough to help them remember all they’ve been longing for?


Ope’s Opinion:  I enjoyed this book more then the first two, so keep reading!  The pace was better.  I felt like the story kept moving.  I am ready read the last one and see what happens.


Rating:  Three Chairs – I like this book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Author:  Karen Kingsbury
Publisher: Zondervan
Pages:  334
Genre: Christian Fiction
Source: Purchased

Goodreads:  Kingsbury delivers the sequel to “Leaving.” Bailey Flanigan is growing closer to her dream to be an actress and dancer in New York while Cody coaches a small high-school football team . . . on and off the field. But neither feels complete without the chance to share their dreams with one another. Can distance truly make the heart grow fonder?


Ope’s Opinion:  The story has continued from the previous book.  This one seemed to move somewhat faster.  I would prefer that the series were shorter and the story line would move faster.  I am still interested enough to see what is going to happen next to continue reading.


Rating: Three Chairs –  I like the book enough to suggest to a friend or two.

Author:  Karen Kingsbury
Publisher: Zondervan
Pages:  352
Genre: Christian Fiction
Source: Purchased

Goodreads:    “New York Times”-bestselling author Kingsbury delivers the first volume in a new series that features members of the popular Baxter family and finally completes the Bailey Flanigan/Cody Coleman story.


Ope’s Opinions:   I have read all of Karen Kingsbury’s books.  This is not her best.  I love Christian Fiction.  I like the example of good marriages, people with problems looking to God for answers.  This one just seemed to move slow and was a little on preachy side.  I am reading the second one in the series now.  I hope it improves.

                                       Karen Kingsbury always writes very wholesome stories – which is why I like to read her.  I would like just a little more reality too. 

Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Author:  Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Pages:  368
Genre: Young Adult
Source:  BEA

Goodreads:     BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY…
                                  THEY GET EVEN.

Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister.

Kat is tired of the rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her ex-best friend– and she’s ready to make her pay.

Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she’s not the same girl anymore. And she’s ready to prove it to him.

Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won’t stop until they each had a taste.

Ope’s Opinion:  I know this was a young adult books, which I usually really like, but this one felt a little superficial.   I love Jenny Han and what she has written in the past, but this one did not step up to her usual standard.  

                                      Yes, peoples feelings were hurt ( weren’t we all at some time ), but we don’t go out for revenge.  It is dangerous to decide how someone else should pay for what they have done.  

                                       I did feel for each of the girls.  I did want the people who hurt them to pay, but I think it would have been a much better story for these girls to be strong together and confront the people who hurt them.  Sneaking around and hurting people back doesn’t really teach anyone a lesson.  It made the girls who were hurt look weak.  I was hoping it would be about strong female role models for young teen girls.  I was disappointed.

                                       My final disappointment was the ending.  It just ended.  Did the girls feel satisfied with their revenge?  What happened to Reeve at the end?  I just feel like they quit writing, not like it ended.

Rating: Three Chairs –   I like this book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

                                                      FTC – Disclosure of Material Connection: 

                                                          I received one copy of this book free of charge from BEA. 

                                             I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the

                                                            book; rather the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

                                                         

 
FRIENDS FOREVER
 
Gabby, Billy, Izzie, Andy, and Sean—each bursting with their own personality, strikingly different looks and talents, in sports, science, and the arts. Each drawn by the magical spark of connection that happens to the young. At the exclusive Atwood School, on a bright September day, starting in kindergarten they become an inseparable group known to outsiders as the Big Five. In this rarefied world, five families grow closer, and five children bloom beside one another, unaware of the storms gathering around them.
 
As they turn from grade-schoolers to teenagers, seemingly perfect lives are buffeted by unraveling families, unfortunate missteps, and losses and victories great and small. And, one by one, they turn back to the Big Five to regain their footing and their steady course. But as they emerge from Atwood and enter the college years, the way forward is neither safe nor clear. As their lives separate and diverge, the challenges and risks become greater, the losses sharper, and the right paths harder to choose, in a journey of friendship, survival, and love.
 
In what may be her most intricate and emotionally powerful novel yet, Danielle Steel tells a heart-wrenching, ultimately triumphant story that spans decades, weaves together a vivid cast of characters, and captures the challenges we face in life—sometimes, if we’re lucky, with a friend forever by our side.