Review: Avra's God by Ann Lee Miller

I've reviewed all of Ann's books and each one amazes me. She isn't afraid to tackle tough subjects, and she does it with such grace.

Avra's God is about one college girl living her life for Jesus with an unashamed devotion to His will for her life. It is about the change ONE person can make in those around them if they live a life choosing to please the ONE who gave life. Her friends make some unfortunate choices, but she remains steadfast despite her own self-doubt.

I highly recommend you read Avra's God. It would be a wonderful gift for a college student near you who is struggling with peer pressure or making their way in the world.

Warning: There are a few curse words (less than five) in this book. While I don't care for their use in Christian fiction, it was easy enough to skip over them and continue with the story.

Back cover:

In the tradition of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, four friends navigate college and the drama churned up by their Florida beach band to cement friendship and more.

Avra wants love, but drummer Cisco—self-medicating from his parents’ divorce with sex and intoxicants—is a poor choice. Cisco hungers for fresh-baked cookies and the scent of family he finds at Avra’s.

Kallie shares her classically trained singing voice only with lead vocalist Jesse and fights to keep her heart safe. Jesse feeds on fame and hides more than insecurity beneath his guitar.

The friends surf ego, betrayal, and ambition and head for wipe-out. But somehow, when they’re not looking, Avra’s God changes them all.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Available here and at other online retailers.

Blessings,
Ginger

Book Reviews Galore...

I'm terribly behind on my reviews, so several coming your way today. A little something for everyone who likes to read romance.  Enjoy.

The Art of My Life by Ann Lee Miller

This is a sequel to Kicking Eternity, which you will need to read to understand all the backstory/issues.

I enjoyed reading this contemporary romance, but be forewarned tough subjects are covered--seeking sex to compensate for a lack of love, and using drugs to "escape reality"--and a fair amount of foul words. Ann uses the first two effectively to show us the pitfalls of these vices, and how much God loves all of us, despite our sins. As for the foul words, well...I've voiced my opinion about those being in Christian fiction before on this blog.

All in all, I thought The Art of My Life was a thought-provoking book that helped me see things from a different perspective.


Bookcover:

Cal walked out of jail and into a second chance at winning Aly with his grandma’s beater sailboat and a reclaimed dream of sailing charters. 

Aly has the business smarts, strings to a startup loan, and heart he never should have broken. He’s got squat. Unless you count enough original art to stock a monster rummage sale and an affection for weed.

But he’d only ever loved Aly. That had to count for something. Aly needed a guy who owned yard tools, tires worth rotating, and a voter’s registration card. He’d be that guy or die trying.

For anyone who’s ever struggled to measure up. And failed.

Rating: 3 stars--for language

Freefall by Jodie Bailey

Wow. This book was awesome. Intense. Romantic. Any more words would be too many. Oh, wait...two more... READ IT!

Back cover:

With one accusation, army officer Cassidy Matthews's name, reputation-and life-are on the line. A Special Forces soldier insists that Cassy's Fort Bragg-based unit is smuggling drugs. And the accuser? It's Cassy's handsome, stubborn ex-husband, Major Shane Logan. Shane knows Cassy is innocent, which is why he's sure she's being set up to take the fall. Proving it, though, means working together.and trying to ignore the feelings they still share. The closer they get-to the truth and each other-the more the danger grows from a ruthless criminal who'll stop at nothing to destroy them both.

Rating: 5 stars

A Flight of Fancy by Laurie Alice Eakes

I found this romance story to be refreshing. It made me think outside the lines of  the ordinary lives of females during the regency period. How did they break out of the expected and be individuals? 

I was rooting for poor Geoffrey the whole time. Going up in a balloon makes me shudder. :)

If you are a Regency fan, this story is just for you.  :)  I enjoyed every moment of my time reading it.

Back cover:

Cassandra Bainbridge has twice set aside her scholarly pursuits--once for the London Season and once for her wedding preparations. Love seems a wonderful alternative to study, until disaster strikes. When an accident brings an end to her betrothal, she heads for the country to recover from both her injuries and her broken heart. There she pursues her love for ballooning and envisions a future for herself as a daring aeronaut. But when her former fiancé slips back into her life, will she have to choose between him and her dream?

Filled with the mystique of London society and the charming beauty of the English countryside, A Flight of Fancy explores what it means to find the true source of happiness and love amid the distractions of life. Readers will love the next installment in this rousing Regency series from accomplished author Laurie Alice Eakes.

Rating: 4 stars



You can purchase these books, and help support this blog by clicking any or all of these links:

The Art of My Life

Freefall

A Flight of Fancy

Blessings,
Ginger

Review: "Kicking Eternity" by Ann Lee Miller

Ahhh...the joys of a good book. You start reading and forget you need to be somewhere or that dinner has to be fixed. You run, do what you have to do, and then hurry back to pick up where you left off. That's what I experienced when I read "Kicking Eternity." Ann wove me into the lives of Raine, Drew, Cal and Aly, causing me to care how things turned out and kept me turning page after page until the end. And even then, while the book was complete, I longed for more. I look forward to the sequel coming out in September.

Blurb:

Stuck in sleepy New Smyrna Beach one last summer, Raine socks away her camp pay checks, worries about her druggy brother, and ignores trouble: Cal Koomer. She’s a plane ticket away from teaching orphans in Africa, and not even Cal’s surfer six-pack and the chinks she spies in his rebel armor will derail her.

The artist in Cal begs to paint Raine’s ivory skin, high cheek bones, and internal sparklers behind her eyes, but falling for her would caterwaul him into his parents’ life. No thanks. The girl was self-righteous waiting to happen. Mom served sanctimony like vegetables, three servings a day, and he had a gut full.

Rec Director Drew taunts her with “Rainey” and calls her an enabler. He is so infernally there like a horsefly—till he buzzes back to his ex.

Raine's brother tweaks. Her dream of Africa dies small deaths. Will she figure out what to fight for and what to free before it's too late?

For anyone who's ever wrestled with their dreams. 

For more information, visit Ann's website. Join me on Friday, when Ann will be joining me here with an interview.

To purchase the book, visit Amazon.

Blessings,
Ginger