Favorite Books of 2015

By Kelly Bridgewater

Another year of reading books has passed! During 2015, I read 201 books. Wow! That is a lot. I also started and finished a cross-stitch picture. I did all this while keeping ahead on my blog and a number of blogs that I am a guest writer on.

I am going to list my favorite books of 2015. (All of the images came from Goodreads.) They are in no particular order since I loved all of these books last year. If your book didn't make the list, don't be sad, this list could be ALOT longer!!!!

The Bones will Speak by Carrie Stuart Parks

Through Waters Deep by Sarah Sundin

Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke

Dust and Obey by Christy Barritt

Found and Lost by Amanda G. Stevens

Falcon by Ronie Kendig

Always on My Mind by Susan May Warren

Fury by Steven James

The Wonder of You by Susan May Warren

Every Crooked Path by Steven James

Thin Ice: Irene Hannon

By Kelly Bridgewater

Synopsis:

After losing her parents in a car accident and her sister to a house fire, Christy Reed has been mired in grief. Life is finally starting to feel normal again when an envelope arrives in the mail--addressed in her sister's handwriting. And the note inside claims she is still alive.

FBI Special Agent Lance McGregor, a former Delta Force operator, is assigned to reopen the case, but he's coming up with more questions than answers. If Ginny Reed is still alive--who is the woman buried in her grave? Where is Ginny? And is Christy a pawn in a twisted cat-and-mouse game--or the target of a sinister plot? As he digs deeper, one thing becomes clear: whoever is behind the bizarre ruse has a deadly agenda.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

I really enjoy Irene Hannon's romantic suspense. I love the cover for her latest book, Thin Ice. Being an avid hockey fan, I was hoping the story would have something to do with hockey, but it has to do with an ex-figure skater. Thin Ice has the action, bad guy wanting to seek revenge, and the underplay of the romance that is expected from a romantic suspense novel.

While the action starts on the first page, I kept flipping through the pages wanting to see how the story played out. The action started off pretty fast, but then it slowed down a lot in the middle, but kicked back up at the end of the story. With the passing of my father, it took longer than usual for me to find my way through the book.

As for the characters, I really enjoyed returning to the story of Lance McGregor. He made an appearance in Buried Secrets, the first book in the Men of Valor series. I was happy to hear more of his story and learn more about his personality. Thin Ice makes him more of a realistic character that I really enjoyed learning more about. As for the heroine, Christy Reed, I would have liked to know more about her. She seems to be motivated as a child, but after an accident to take her out of the running for the Olympic Skating Team, she appears to be just moving through life. I feel bad that she lost her parents and her sister right before the start of the story, but I didn't really feel any connection to Christy.

True to her roots, Irene Hannon created a romantic suspense that relies more on the romance than the actual suspense this time around. This is usual for Hannon so don't write her off if this book doesn't do it for you. Her earlier books are much better.

I received a complimentary copy of Thin Ice from Revell Publishing and the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Purchase Thin Ice

Creating the Impossible

By Kelly Bridgewater

There is a story that everyone is familiar with, especially around this time of year. A story of a young teenage girl who was betrothed to marry a man she barely knew. Being a good, responsible young lady, she agreed to her father’s wishes, even though she didn’t even know the young man who would become her husband. But she trusted her father and nodded in agreement. Not long after the agreement was completed, she was visited by an angel of God who informed her that she would be having a child.

www.examiner.com

This young woman, who you probably guessed by now is named Mary, was confused. She had never been with a man. How could this be? The Angel of the Lord comforted her by saying that, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The Most High will overshadow you. That’s why this holy child will be known-as not just your son but also as the Son of God. It sounds impossible but listen-you know your relative Elizabeth has been unable to bear children and is now far too old to be a mother. Yet, she has become pregnant, as God willed it. Yes, in three months, she will have a son. So the impossible is possible with God.” Luke 1: 35-37. Mary believed and went off to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Of course, the rest of the story is very familiar to the majority of us. She gave birth to baby Jesus in a manager with a star guiding the shepherds and the wise men while King Herod slaughters babies all over his kingdom.

But the comforting Christmas story isn’t what I have been urged to write, I want to draw attention to how God allows us, writers, to take images, either of characters or plot points and turn them into a story on the page that influences our readers. If God can create a child inside a teenage woman who never had been with a man, then why can’t he take our ideas and make a heart wrenching story?

I have been struggling with my chosen career path for the past four years. I keep writing, but I haven't gotten published yet. I don’t have a writing mentor who is willing to come along side me and coach me into better writing. I start every day with worship songs and reading God’s word, begging for his touch as I write, but I still don’t have it. When I enter contests, I receive three’s on my score sheets. How do I make this writing better? I read writing instruction books. I read and review books for a number of publishing companies. But I can’t get any better when I sit down to write. I know a million rules to writing. The inciting incident. The characters. Know their lies. Keep pushing your characters till they feel so trapped, they beg you to stop torturing them. But when I write, my hands don’t type a well-written story. It is a plot line, but my words and Deep Point of View don’t whistle off the page, like published writers.

“So the impossible is possible with God.” Luke 1:37. Being able to craft a compelling story, which will get published seems like the impossible dream for me. When you read published writers thank you in the back of the book, they thank their critique partners. Usually one of their critique partners is someone who is already published. I don’t have someone like that who is willing to hold my hand and help mentor me to publication. Being a stay-at-home mother, we doesn’t have a lot of spare money, but my husband and I have chosen to allow me to stay at home and create while raising our boys. We sacrificed having a lot of money, so I could pursue my dreams, but I keep thinking, it would be better to give up on this writing dream and return to work. At least, we would have more money.

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I keep waiting for God to “create the impossible” story in me that will be published, even if it doesn’t happen when I’m alive. I pray for the faith of Mary who accepted God’s word with comfort and allowed the impossible to grow inside of her. I will keep praying for encouragement for God to create the impossible and make my dreams of becoming a published writer a possibility.

Are you struggling with God who tries to create the impossible in you? Are you struggling with putting the words on the page to paint a story that the readers will devour? Any words of advice to help this struggling writer not feel so depressed and ready to call it quits, please share them.

This blog entry originally appeared on December 23, 2014, but I liked it so much I decided to use it again this Christmas. ENJOY!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!! Jesus is Born!!!!

Rachel Hauck: The Wedding Chapel

By Kelly Bridgewater

Back Cover Copy:

From Amazon

For sixty years, a wedding chapel sat silent, waiting for love. But times have changed and the hour has come when it just might be too late.

Retired hall-of-fame football coach Jimmy “Coach” Westbrook never imagined anything would come of his labor of love—the wedding chapel he built for Collette Greer, the woman he fell for back in ‘49. But now an offer has come to turn the chapel into what it was meant to be—a place for love—and Jimmy sees no reason to hang onto his dream any longer.

Photographer Taylor Branson is trying to make a life for herself in New York. Leaving her hometown of Heart’s Bend, Tennessee, she put a lot of things behind her, including her family’s abysmal marriage rate. But love surprises her when she falls head-over-heels for Jack Forester, a top ad man. Their whirlwind romance results in an elopement, and a mountain of doubt. Jack, while genuine in his love for Taylor, can never seem to overcome his own demons to find the words of his heart.

When Taylor takes an assignment in Heart’s Bend, the job does more than send her back to her hometown, but into a world of family secrets buried beneath the sands of time.

When Taylor’s journey intersects with Coach’s, they rediscover the heartbeat of their dreams and that the love they long to hold is right in front of them. And worth every waiting moment.

My Thoughts:

The Wedding Chapel is a story about sharing secrets from the past. Like Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke, Hauck’s latest story reminded me how hidden secrets can destroy a person because of the festering and boiling before the story. The Wedding Chapel is an interesting addition to the contemporary romance genre.

First, the different timelines. Hauck plots the novel featuring events that have occurred in 1948, 1951, and 1954 mixed in with the present. By doing this, Hauck allows the readers to watch what actually took place in the past when affects the present. In similar fashion, Hauck uses different characters that are affected by these secrets. At the beginning of the novel, I was really confused on what these four characters had to do with one another. But as the story wore on, I really got to know and understand each of them.

I really liked Hauck’s use of description. Even through the numerous time jumps, I felt the setting. I smelt the crisp fall air and the cold winter as the snow fell on Jimmy and Collette in the wedding chapel. I knew what the wedding chapel looked like even though there was no image on the front cover.

Surprisingly, the character I related to the most was Jack Forester. I believe I related to him because of hiding his emotions. I do that really well. Don’t believe me, ask my husband. I grew up in a dysfunctional family where I hid all my emotions and act like nothing bothered me, but this has affected my married life, and I keep praying for God to help me overcome this. It is on the top of my prayer list. Anyways, when Jack figured out that he needed to have God teach him how to love Taylor, I started to mist up. It struck a deep chord in me.

As for the conflict, it boils down to secrets. Like I already stated, secrets can harm a family and hurt a number of future generations, not just the ones doing the lying. I enjoy watching how the four main characters sought forgiveness and learned to lean on God and learn to love again.

Fans of Hauck’s previous book The Wedding Dress will totally engage themselves in The Wedding Chapel. I also believe fans of Becky Wade, Becky K. Vogt, Melissa Tagg, and other writers of contemporary romance will love this book.

Would I change anything? Maybe draw the connections between the characters earlier in the book, but other than that, no, I enjoyed it. Not as much as my suspense books, but it was a good, tug at my heart read.

In conclusion, Rachel Hauck’s The Wedding Chapel was an emotional journey that hit me smack down in the chest. I enjoyed taking the journey of forgiveness with the characters and can’t wait to see what else Hauck plans to write.

I received a complimentary copy of The Wedding Chapel from Zondervan Publishing and the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Purchase The Wedding Chapel

How Sarah Sundin inspires me

By Kelly Bridgewater

What draws readers to the World War II historical fiction genre? Maybe it is learning about the past in a fun way. Maybe it is reading about different parts of the world. For me, it was learning about a part of history that always fascinated me, but the way the history books at school teaches it bored me to death. The Nazi’s Holocaust tugs at my heart. How could anyone be so cruel to someone else just because they believed in a certain God or looked a certain way?

From Amazon

I am a blogger for Revell Books, and when they gave me a chance to read Sarah Sundin’s In Perfect Time. I picked it. At the time, I did not know anything about Sarah Sundin’s writing. Usually I ignore historical fiction. Still do for the most part. If there is a picture of a woman in a bonnet, on a prairie, cowboys, or an old western setting, I ignore the books. Nothing grabs my attention there.

But for some reason, World War II historical fiction is genre that I have come to love. After reading and reviewing Sundin’s In Perfect Time, I found the first two books in the series, With Every Letter and On Distant Shores.  I loved those books too. Doing an Amazon search, I found she wrote another three books series called the Wings of Glory. I checked them out at the library and lost myself in the World War II era. I have always been fascinated with the music and the lifestyles of the forties and fifties, so it makes since that I’m drawn to these books.

Sundin has taught me that reading historical fiction can teach me about a time period by giving an inside look into the brave women and men who populated our world during that era. I love learning about the horrors of the Holocaust from the eyes of survivors or nurses who bravely went across the front line to help our soldiers. I am extremely grateful for Sarah Sundin’s ability to bring history to life in an engaging format.

I truly am a fan of Sarah Sundin’s writing and am looking forward to any other story that God has laid on her heart to write.

What books in the World War II historical genre have you read? Have you discovered any new treasures that you can recommend for me?

Shelly Gray: Whispers in the Reading Room

By Kelly Bridgewater

Back Cover Copy:

From Amazon

Lydia’s job at the library is her world—until a mysterious patron catches her eye . . . and perhaps her heart.

Just months after the closure of the Chicago World’s Fair, librarian Lydia Bancroft finds herself fascinated by a mysterious dark-haired and dark-eyed patron. He has never given her his name; he actually never speaks to a single person. All she knows about him is that he loves books as much as she does.

Only when he rescues her in the lobby of the Hartman Hotel does she discover that his name is Sebastian Marks. She also discovers that he lives at the top of the prestigious hotel and that most everyone in Chicago is intrigued by him.

Lydia and Sebastian form a fragile friendship, but when she discovers that Mr. Marks isn’t merely a very wealthy gentleman, but also the proprietor of an infamous saloon and gambling club, she is shocked.

Lydia insists on visiting the club one fateful night and suddenly is a suspect to a murder. She must determine who she can trust, who is innocent, and if Sebastian Marks—the man so many people fear—is actually everything her heart believes him to be.

My Thoughts:

I truly enjoyed reading the first two books in The Chicago World’s Fair Mystery Series by Shelley Gray. Secrets of Sloane House and Deception on Sable Hill. Both of the stories were rich in historical detail and interesting characters. In Whispers in the Reading Room, I sadly have to have did not hit the mark with me.

First, being part of a mystery series, I expected a mystery. There was none. If you called a dead body and accusing the owner of the gambling saloon the only suspect without looking at anyone else, then this could be a mystery for you. But as an avid mystery reader, this really had nothing to do with the story. The mystery element felt like it was thrown in at the last minute but really had nothing to do with the overall conflict. It was majorly downplayed for me.

As for the characters of Lydia Bancroft and Sebastian Marks, Sebastian was the only character that I felt a smidgen of empathy for. Lydia is a fallen woman of society because of a couple of financial issues her father left her and her mother in, so her mother is pushing her to marry anyone with money to help them out and keep face in society. Lydia loves books and hides all her emotions while she widdles away the hours reading them. Even though Lydia is demanding and pushing to Sebastian, she is a weakling to everyone else in the story.

Sebastian Marks made a better life for himself by promising to not be like his mother who was a prostitute while she was alive. He now has money and fear of the slums of Chicago’s society’s underbelly. Presently, he owns a gambling club, so he still wants more from his life. He is a closet bookworm, which is how he meets Lydia. I really liked how he swore to better himself  and he did.

As for the romantic conflict, way too fast for my taste. In the beginning of the novel, Lydia is engaged to Jason, a wealthy man in society. Then Sebastian helps her escape Jason, and they slowly move through a relationship, even an akward proposal. I really didn’t feel that they loved each other the way Gray wanted us to believe they did. Their relationship was weird and odd.

On a positive note, Gray does a good job at keeping the historical detail on target. I was reminded of Chicago right after the World Fair in 1894. Every tiny detail now to the outfits the woman wore or the positions in the job market appeared to fit the time period. I really felt like I was enjoying life in Chicago in the late nineteenth century.

Overall, Shelly Gray’s Whispers in the Reading Room is a lackluster conclusion to her The Chicago World’s Fair Mysteries. I really couldn’t wait for the book to be done. It did not grab my attention at all.

I received a complimentary copy of Whispers in the Reading Room from Zondervan Publishing and the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Purchase Whispers in the Reading Room

Writing compared to Disney World (Part 2)

By Kelly Bridgewater

Last week, I wrote my first part of comparing my trip to Disney world with writing. Click here to read that piece of advice.

For today, I will be discussing expectations versus reality when it comes to Disneyworld and writing.

What did our family expect when we traveled to Disney World?

www.disneyfoodie.com

We expected a fun time filled with many memorable moments. My youngest son, Obadiah, is a huge Dumbo fan. He owns 15 different Dumbos, and he could not wait to write the Dumbo ride and maybe add another one to his collection. My middle son, Isaiah, is a huge Star Wars fan, so he wanted to experience the Stars Wars Jedi Training, and he adores the classic Herbie movies, so he wanted to see if there would be anything there about that. My oldest son, Elijah, is almost 14, so he tries to act like he is too cool for the trip to Disney World, but I know he really wants to go. I, personally, am surrounded my boys all the time, so I wanted to spend some time in Belle's castle. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie, so I want to do some girly things for a while. My husband loves thrill rides, so he really wants to do The Hollywood Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith Rock and Rollin' Coaster.

What did we actually experience?

www.disneytouristblog.com

Writing is the same thing. I spend a lot of time dreaming up plots with characters who roam across the page, imagining how their lives will change by the end of the book. I can see them falling in love or catching the bad guy and saving the day, but I also can struggle with peeling back their layers and allowing everyone to see their most vulnerable moments.

When I actually sit down and put my idea to paper, sometimes my story takes a different turn than I originally planned. Sometimes my characters act different than I saw them when they entered my life. The setting may even change to better suite my characters personality or even to make the characters lives more difficult. I love creating villains that are easy to hate or love. I can't decide. I enjoy when I really like the antagonist for his reasoning, but I also truly enjoy the moments when they have surprised me and made me hate them. I can't wait to see what is going to happen to them. I enjoy writing a story where the ending is totally unexpected and even I didn't see how the story was going to end.

Share with me an example of when your writing took a turn that surprised you. I want to be inspired by how many writers share this trait with me.