Book Review - When All My Dreams Come True


Bobbie McIntyre dreams of running a ranch of her own. Raised without a mother and having spent most of her time around men, she knows more about wrangling than acting like a lady. The friendship of her new employer awakens a desire to learn more about presenting her feminine side, but ranch life keeps getting in the way.

Ranch owner Jace Kincaid figures the Lord is testing his faith when a female wrangler shows up looking for work. Bobbie has an uncanny way of getting under his skin, though, and he’s surprised when she finds a home next to his heart. But when his cattle begin to go missing and his wranglers are in danger from some low-down cattle thief, can Jace trust God, even if it may mean giving up on his dreams?


An adventurous novel of faith, hope, and love in the Wild West.


Romance:

Violence:

Fear/Horror:

Overall Opinion:





Before I read this book, I had never read a book by Janelle Mowery. I can say now that it will not be the last I read by her. Filled with adventure, intense scenes, and a sweet romance, this was a great book. I got this book in the mail yesterday and finished it this morning. I couldn't put it down! I immediately got hooked on the story of Bobbie and her journey through the Wild West as a woman, often feeling like she doesn't fit in because of her tomboyness. One aspect I loved of the book was that although Bobbie was a tomboy, she didn't have the mindset of "anything a guy can do, I can do better" - a feminist mindset. She simply had grown up with her father who worked as a ranch foreman and had developed a natural tomboy character. Though the story did have the occasional "I can take care of myself" type mentioning, it wasn't in a feminist attitude. I loved that.

This book was also exceptionally clean. Aside from a part where Bobbie is kidnapped and a man pulls her close to him and "nuzzles her neck", that is the extent of it. I was so happy with the cleanliness of this book. Well done Ms. Mowery! Girls like me LOVE that in books. :-D
All together, this book was wonderful! Look forward to it's release on February 1st! You will definitely not regret picking up this book!

Thanks go to Christian Review Of Books for sending me a copy to review.

What I've Been Reading

Hey everyone! Today is Kait's turn to post what she's read these past two weeks. Well, as you all know, it was her birthday yesterday. That being the case, her family planned a surprise trip this morning and she is all caught up in the adventure at the moment.

Since she isn't able to get on the computer today (why should she, on such a special day, right?! lol), she gave me the list of books she read and I will be posting it! :-) So...enjoy!


Patchwork Dreams (Amish of Seymour V1) (Amish of Seymour County)Her first book to read after her post two weeks ago was the upcoming novel by Laura Hilton, Patchwork Dreams. Having never heard of this author before, she was curious to see if she'd found a new favorite. The book had a sweet story that took place in an Amish community. While she found it a bit simple for her taste, she enjoyed this story by none the less. She will be posting a review of it on her blog in the upcoming weeks, so be on the look out for it! :-) 


The Call of the Wild by Jack London, with an Illustrated Reader's Companion by Daniel DyerAfter that she read The Call of the Wild by Jack London for her school. She enjoyed this classic read and regrets that it took her a school assignment to get around to reading it. She loved the story of Buck and the circumstances he had to endure as a dog. This is one that she will be sure to reread in the coming years!



The Clouds Roll Away (Raleigh Harmon)When she visited me in December, I gave her The Clouds Roll Away by Sibella Giorello to read. Thought there wasn't much tense action or major suspense in it, she still thoroughly enjoyed the story and loved learning about Raleigh's life. (If you are curious to read a review on it, you can visit my review I wrote for it HERE.)



A Crown in the Stars (Genesis Trilogy)A Crown in the Stars by Kacy Barnet-Gramckow came in the mail about a week ago, much to Kait's eager anticipation. This book grabbed her attention and whisked her away to years gone by, during the biblical time of the Tower of Babel. Soshannah's story was amazing and she felt as if she was there with her through the story. This book has earned a spot on her bookshelf for life. :-)



Pearl in the SandLastly, she received Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar and buried herself in the book that night, finishing it by morning. She cant put into words how much she enjoyed this book. It was well written and historically accurate. She was enthralled by Rahab's story. Afshar did an amazing job at keeping it clean while still portraying the life of a prostitute. Redemption soaked the pages and at times she felt herself on the verge of tears at the beautiful reconciliation. A must read!


Well, there you have it! :-) Hope you enjoyed seeing what Kait has read these last two weeks. She's really sorry she isn't able to post today, but she should be back in action on Monday, Lord willing!

Book Beginnings - The Fire in Ember

Today will be a fun post! Not only will I be posting our Book Beginnings and announcing the winner of Be Not Afraid. But it is also Kait's birthday today! :-D So let's all shout...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAIT!!!!

If you have a minute, leave a comment with a birthday wish and show Kait how much we appreciate her and the work she does on this blog! A new year has begun for her and she is all ready to face it head on! Lord willing, it will be this year that we finish our novel, Scattered Tears. Isn't that a good goal to set?!

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Now on to today's post. It's Friday, so here is my Book Beginnings on Friday! Katy, over at A Few More Pages, hosts this every Friday and we thought it'd be fun to have Book Ponderings join the fun! If you are interested in doing this for your blog, check out Katy's blog for details on what to include in the post!

The Fire in Ember: A Novel


This week I finished the book The Fire in Ember and was wowed by what I read. Filled with a lot of suspense, mystery, and adventure, this book was right up my alley! The first few lines of this was especially gripping and I thought to share them with y'all today. Aren't they really attention-grabbing?

A hanging is no place for a woman.
Bert cast a wary glance at the man who lifted a rope from his saddle horn and stomped her way. With hands tied behind her back and a second man holding her shoulders, she had no hope of freeing herself.

And that's just the beginning. The first few paragraphs of this book continue to add to your questions and curiosity as to why this is all happening to a girl. And from these seen, the story takes off and hardly gives the reader a chance to breath. I loved it!


We'd love to hear what's the first line - or paragraph - of your current read. Feel free to share it with us in the comments! Are you liking the book so far? Was the first few lines enough to grip your attention? We're looking forward to hearing from you! :-)

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And just real quickly, the winner for Be Not Afraid has been selected! Using Random.org, it looks like the fortunate book worm is...

Bakersdozen (vidomich@...)

Congrats Bakersdozen!! I will be sending you an email shortly to get your snailmail for Deborah! Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway - hope you had fun!

100 Followers Celebration!

Hello readers! After a lot of thinking going on between Katy and me about how to celebrate our 100 followers creatively, we've finally decided on something...

We will be giving away one(1) Paperback Swap credit, redeemable on any one book available on Paperback Swap, to one follower! If you are not already a member of the PBS nation, feel free to read about it here, then click HERE to join! And, if you post 10 books after joining you will instantly acquire one free credit!
This giveaway ends next Thursday. We will be announcing the winner and will wirelessly deliver a credit to their account by Monday. So, enter soon! All that is required for you to enter is that

1) you are already a follower of Book Ponderings(no first-time readers allowed!) and
2) that you have a PBS account.

That's it! :-) And by the way...





This just happens to be our 100th post! What coincidence - we did not plan it this way and just realized it yesterday when planning to write this post! lol

WOWZA! I can't believe we've written SO many! It's unbelieveable to me. Thanks to all of our faithful followers who encourage us to continue posting! :D

Book Discussion - No Greater Love

There were many books for me to choose from today, but in the end, I decided to use No Greater Love for my book discussion today. The biggest lesson I think we can learn from in this book is sacrificial love…martyrdom…a person willing to die to save another.
No Greater Love (Extreme Devotion Series: South Africa #1)
This is not a new concept: we’ve read about it in books and have even seen it around us here in America in the 21st century. A perfect example is during the Arkansas shooting a few weeks ago, when former Washington state man, Dorwan Stoddard (age 76). He was there with his wife, Mavy, when the gunman opened fire. As soon as he realized that someone was shooting, he threw himself on Mavy and forced her to the ground, shielding her with his body. Because of his actions his wife lived…though he was shot 3 times and died less than ten minutes after. What a show of loving sacrifice this man has portrayed to the world!
Such was the overwhelming lessons I felt in No Greater Love. I can’t say too much without giving away the plot, so if I seem vague...it’s probably because I am. And if you want to learn more – buy it today for just $10! ;-)
Martyrs have existed all throughout history – especially in our church history, where countless have been killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. No Greater Love begins the story with a sad death and ends it with a heroic sacrifice on the part of a very unlikely martyr. In between those pages we discover another martyr, just as heroic in his attempts to save the woman he loved.
Giving your life so another could live isn’t an easy thing – even if it is sacrificial and heroic. We have countless stories throughout history of real hero’s standing up and sacrificing themselves so that others might live – may we all learn from them! But the biggest sacrifice in our history is the one Jesus showed when he died on that cross. He could just as easily ascended into heaven and not paid the ultimate price for our sins – but he chose instead to obey his heavenly father. He sacrificed his own life so that other sinners who believed on Him would have everlasting life (John 3:16).
I didn’t mean to preach today, but these are the thoughts that assaulted me as I read through No Greater Love. Kathi Macias has written so many great lessons that we can learn from – the top one being sacrificing your life for another. This book is not only an enjoyable read, but one that edifies you and leaves you hungry for more of God’s words of promise. (1 Thessalonians 2:12 – 15)

Have you read a book recently that just left you breathless at the end because of it's wonderful lessons? Please feel free to share them with us! We love to read books that edify the soul!
Photo credit: Lori Warman