Carol Moncado

No, not an editor or an agent, but my FIRST first place finish in a contest!!!!!

WOOHOO!!!!

Some serious Snoopy dancin’ goin’ on around here!

Because I HAD to get a screen grab…

I don’t know the other gals, but CONGRATS to them too!

The prize is the chance to submit to an editor at Thomas Nelson. They’re only the largest Christian publisher in the world. There’s no guarantee of anything beyond that, but there is the guarantee that she’ll at least look at the first 15 pages of my manuscript!

If you want to check out the full list of finalists, you can check out the Gotcha! page over at SVRWA.

I’m all flittery… 😀

I got this book a while ago to write a review on. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think it is a great read for any parent – not just Daddies and Daughters.

Endorsement:

Daddy Dates gives the average Joe easy steps to actively and successfully engage with his daughter and raise a confident woman-to-be.

When faced with the reality of raising four (4!) teen daughters, Greg Wright went on a soul quest. 

He came back with a mission:  Don’t Screw Up. 

This funny, insightful, and relatable book poses the wildly original concept that should be a “duh” for most dads-but isn’t: In order to raise a confident woman-to-be, show your daughter what it feels like to be treated with love, respect, and true interest by a man who loves her.

Daddy Dates shows the average father how to actually do that.  It is written in an original voice and will appeal to both men and women. It is the kind of action-oriented “how to” material that guys enjoy, and so many others will recommend to other dads.

My plan for dealing with my young girls when they reach adolesence is for Jesus to come back so I don’t have to worry about it. Just in case, I’m going to start now stealing as many of Greg Wright’s ideas as I can. 

–Matt Crossman, Senior Writer for SPORTING NEWS magazine (and father of 2 daughters)

Written by a man with a simple goal [“Don’t screw up”], Daddy Dates should be required reading for any man with daughters.

My husband already does a variation* of what is talked about in the book – but my oldest is just now ten. As she [and her two sisters] grow up, he’ll take them on official dates, showing them how they should expect to be treated. We’ll have three girls in high school at ones. The mere thought is enough to give me hives. Trying to make sure they end up with good guys who treat them right, adds hyperventilating to the list of complaints.

This book offers practical ways to help my husband [and I, with our son] plan for those dates and help us as we help guide our kids to adulthood. I only hope that my daughters turn out as well as the author’s seem to have turned out.

Overall rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Thanks to BookSneeze for a review copy.

*Right now, Daddy Date Day consists of things like bowling or the farm where the horses are or other kid specific outings.

Casey mentioned this incident on Seekerville today.

But the link she put up didn’t work for me. So I’m posting the pic here.

Because I can.

And because I love Casey :D.

 

Nickels by Karen Baney

Niki Turner has finally arrived. Her career as a Software Engineer is soaring—she has just been offered the company’s most sought after account, Helitronics. Life would be perfect, if she could stop her roommate from playing matchmaker. Then

Kyle Jacobs mysteriously re-enters her life. As painful memories resurface, his presence turns her life upside down and threatens to waylay her career. She must find a way to work with him—after all, he’s the helicopter flight consultant for the new flight control system she’s coding.

Can she forget the past and see him as the new man he has become? Or will her resentment keep her from finding what she has always been searching for?

This contemporary novel is an upbeat and compelling story set in the Phoenix Metro Area. Karen Baney shows a new side to her writing with great wit and banter between the main characters. Inspired by her love of romance and of computers, this story takes readers on a journey filled with laughter and tears.

I hadn’t planned on crying today :p. I blame Karen.

I mean, come on! It’s a romance. No matter what anyone says there is a bit of a “formula” to it. And that formula includes an HEA.

Happily.

Ever.

After.

So before the book even starts, and I can’t imagine this actually being a spoiler, I KNOW Niki and Kyle are going to end up together! They HAVE to! It’s the RULES!

So why the tears?

Because Karen created a world where I cared SO MUCH about the characters that even though I KNEW that, I hurt for them. I KNEW there was going to be a HEA, but I also knew it wouldn’t come without a few trials and tribulations. And I knew pretty early on what one of them would be.

But when it came time for that particular trial to show up, tears filled my eyes, I wondered what was going to happen, even though I KNEW. Part of me wondered, deep down, if this would be one of those “the couple doesn’t get together until the end of the SERIES” things. And I’m okay with that if I know it going in but it’s one of my pet peeves with TV shows [Castle and Beckett? Tony and Ziva? It’s TIME ALREADY! At least Booth and Brennan are getting a shot FINALLY! Do you know how many others I could add to that list? A million to the first one and about none to the second…]. They take too stinkin’ long to get the couples together and screw it up when they do [Hello, Ross and Rachel! At least they got Monica and Chandler right!].

Er, right. Nickels.

So Niki has had lots of pain in her life. She doesn’t let people, especially men, in easily. Along comes her high school nemesis in the form of her best friend’s older brother. Even as she remembers the angst he put her through, he makes her heart go pitter-pat in a way no other guy ever has.

I loved Niki and Kyle. I loved Marcy and Chad. Alana was adorable. The church friends were great!

There was one thing, or group of things, I would have liked to see more resolution with. Niki works for a company who then does jobs for other companies – on site. So she was working at Kyle’s company for several months. I would have liked to see more resolution to the WHYs behind Todd [the boss there]. She handled it as best she could – as did Kyle – but I’d like to know more about why he was the he was.

There was also a recurring thing with the helicopters/simulators/instrument readings being off from what was really happening. It seemed like there was something to it [the conspiracy theorist in me has a few ideas…] but there was no resolution to that [and it’s possible there wasn’t really an issue – that it was all perception of the pilots, not errors of some kind in the programs or that it was just mechanical failure of some sort, but it seemed to be brought up a few too many times for that to be the case].

Karen has another three book series out. I don’t know if this is also supposed to be the first in a series of related books. I hope it is. And if so, there’s ample opportunity for both of those issues to be addressed as Kyle still works with Todd and one of the church gang got a job at Niki’s parent company. Several people pop to mind as potential hero/heroines for future books. Even if this is the only book in this series, those two things aren’t enough to hinder my enjoyment of it.

Plus. I grew up in the Phoenix area and still have MANY friends there. I recognized a number of the places she talked about and know people living in some of the suburbs she mentioned [though she didn’t mention mine ;)]. I love that :D.

I’ll definitely be looking forward to more books by Karen.

Overall rating: 9 out of 10 stars

So I may or may not update my goals every week – or even every month – but for now, here’s the first update…

1. Bible study – doing better. Have a plan to do the kids’ workbooks with them this week.

2. Blog 3xs a week – you’ll be happy to know that tomorrow is my last scheduled book review ;). I enjoyed all of the books and am so very happy to be caught up with them! Hope to have more fun stuff [not that book reviews aren’t fun, but you know what I mean!]

3. Not much I can do about conference etc. just yet…

4. Date nights… ditto… though I did send out an email to see if I can get the kids taken care of the weekend after our anniversary and did some hotel research etc.

5. Lose weight – down about 2-2.5lbs this week :D. This is especially good since I’ve been too sick to do much of anything exercise wise…

6. Exercise – see 5.

7. Developed house cleaning routines. Will have to see how they actually work…

8. Family fun stuff – have been doing a lot of that this week :).

9. Finish rough drafts of 4 MSs. Finished one this week! Finding Mr. Write’s rough draft is officially DONE! Since then, I’ve been working mostly on Baby Burbs. This week I’ve written a total of 19766 words, about 6260 on Finding Mr. Write and 13447 on Baby Burbs. The other 59 words were on Rolemodel Romeo, book 2 – after SS, before BB – but my heart wasn’t in it and since I’m not under contract, I can write what I want ;). I wanted to write Baby Burbs. So Baby Burbs it is – at least until it’s time to start editing Finding Mr. Write.

10. Finished MSs. Not yet…

11. Enter contests – none to enter this week, but thinking about Genesis and what I need to do to get ready.

12. Read several books this week :). Hence the reviews!

13. No agents/editors researched or queried.

14. Read some of the influencer books, but the office is still just as big a mess as it was :).

15. Always remember why – yep. I sure do! <3 my kiddos. Even when they’re being snotty :D.

 

I won’t always do such a complete run down but there it is :). I’m happy with my accomplishments this week – how about you?

Book Review: Redeeming Liberty by Diane/David Munson

In this timely thriller by ExFeds Diane and David Munson (former Federal Prosecutor and Federal Agent), parole officer Dawn Ahern is shocked to witness her friend Liberty, the chosen bride of Wally (former “lost boy” from Sudan) being kidnapped by modern-day African slave traders. Dawn tackles overwhelming danger head-on in her quest to redeem Liberty. When she reaches out to FBI agent Griff Topping and CIA agent Bo Rider, her life is changed forever. Suspense soars as Bo launches a clandestine rescue effort for Liberty only to discover a deadly Iranian secret threatening the lives of millions of Americans and Israelis.

Glimpse tomorrow’s startling headlines in this captivating story of faith and freedom under fire. 

What do an Israeli Mossad officer, a Russian double agent, several Iranian scientists, a very sick little boy, a former Lost Boy from Sudan, a close-minded deputy sheriff, an FBI agent, a CIA guy, an ICE agent, and a parole officer just trying to help a friend have in common?

All have a role to play in Redeeming Liberty.

Redeeming Liberty is a political and legal thriller along the lines of John Grisham and Vince Flynn from a Christian perspective.

All those people up there were part of a number of seemingly disconnected plotlines that were wrapped up fairly neatly by the end of the book. They all connected as you’d expect in this genre.

Liberty is engaged to Wally, a former Lost Boy of Sudan, now living in the States. She’s still in Africa when Dawn, girlfriend of Wally’s adopted dad, comes to help deliver supplies to Liberty’s people. A string of events is set in motion to thwart an international terrorist plot and save Liberty and, eventually, bring her to the States so she can marry Wally.

I won’t try to get into all the plots and subplots because that would bog this review down and I’m sure they can be found elsewhere. You’d be better off just reading the book ;).

The… problem I had with Redeeming Liberty wasn’t in the writing or plot or anything of that nature. It has more to do with me. I like political/legal thrillers, but I have to be in the right mood for them. When I offered to be an influencer for it, I was in that sort of mood. When it arrived, I really wasn’t :/. I did read it and enjoyed it, though probably not as much as I would have if I’d actually been in the mood for it. I took that into consideration when giving it a rating.

I’ve also enjoyed reading Diane and David’s break down of the very popular TV show NCIS from an insider’s perspective. You can find those  on their blog, Two Ex Feds.  Have I ever mentioned NCIS is my favorite show? 😉

Despite the issue I mentioned above, I recommend Redeeming Liberty to those who like political and legal thrillers with an Inspirational/Christian thread and a bit of romance thrown in for good measure [without it overwhelming the other aspects of it].

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10

Thanks to Diane, David and Micah House Media for an Influencer copy of this book.

Natalia’s about to discover her place in the world . . . and it’s not following in her father’s footsteps.

After watching her father jump from one marriage to the next, Natalia has completely written off love. And when her father divorces his third wife—the only one who has been a mother to her—Natalia is ready to write him off too.

Needing a change of scenery, Natalia leaves her home in Spain and relocates with her stepmother to sun-soaked Florida. But she didn’t realize just how far a new school, a new culture, and a new lifestyle would push her out of her comfort zone.

One of her biggest surprises comes from Brian, a pastor’s son with an adorable smile, who loves God with a sincerity that astounds Natalia. She doesn’t want to fall for him, but she can’t seem to avoid him long enough to get him out of her mind.

Love is the last thing Natalia wants. Even so, God has her right where she belongs.

This is the third book in this series by Ms. McGee and the third of her books I’ve read. I picked up the first book, First Date, last year but didn’t realize at the time it was YA. It wasn’t an issue, but I was a big shocked. This one, of course, I went into knowing mostly what to expect as far as that’s concerned :).

As with the others, right where i belong was a fairly quick, easy read while dealing with serious issues of absentee parents, knowing God’s will, and what to do when God’s will conflicts with the will of those same parents – and so on.

Natalia is a lovely girl, fairly typical despite the cultural differences from her home country of Spain v. the U.S.. She and her friends talk about make-up and clothes and boys, along with God, the Bible, and His plan for their lives.

We do get a bit of Brian’s point-of-view, which I really liked for several reasons – first I just love getting in “his” head [whoever he is in the scenario] and because I’ve not seen it done much in the YA I’ve read.

The two fight an attraction to each other, both believing, for different reasons, that they’re not supposed to be together. God works with them separately and, eventually, will show them if/how their lives could mesh.

I also really liked Spencer – he probably shows the most growth, especially in the spiritual arena. From spoiled rich kid to wondering how God’s going to use his life… Well, I hope Ms. McGee one day decides to write “New Adult” or “Grown-up” fiction so we can see how all of these peeps turn out. I’d LOVE to read the story of Spencer finding his Ms. Right!

Er, anyway – as I often find with YA, there’s a bit less than I prefer in the romance department [not all YAs even have that first kiss, for instance] but are perfectly in tone with what I’d what my now-11yo reading one day.

It appears this is the end of this series [unless she picks up my idea of Spencer’s story – and maybe Lexi’s or… hey – they could be the same story – or different ones 😉 – though them ending up together could be great fun 😀 – er right – thinking out loud here…] and it seems that Ms. McGee’s next offering is going to be a bit different, though still YA. It’s less in my preferred reading wheelhouse but I’ll still give it a shot :).

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Thanks to BookSneeze and the publisher for a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Turnabout’s Fair Play by Kaye Dacus

From the Back Cover:

The matchmaker has met her match. . .

 Flannery McNeill has sworn off men. . .at least the handsome, charming kind who are nothing but trouble. So when handsome and charming Jamie O’Connor shows up as an usher at her best friend’s wedding, Flannery tries her best to avoid him. But it seems like someone is conspiring to throw them together. Two someones, to be exact—Flannery’s grandfather and Jamie’s grandmother.

 Maureen O’Connor thinks Kirby McNeill’s granddaughter is perfect for her grandson and convinces Kirby to help make the two a couple. But soon the matchmakers find the tables turned when Flannery conspires with Jamie to play matchmaker, too.

As the juniors scheme to bring the seniors together, a hilarious tumult of mayhem and misconceptions ensues. . .but will it end in romance?

YAY! A book I got to read JUST for fun!

That’s not to say I don’t like the other books I’ve been reading and reviewing, but this one was ONLY because I love Kaye and I love her books. I actually won this book in her blog drawing a few months ago – in fact, I won all three of the series, autographed, of course ;). I already had a copy of book 2 so it became a Christmas present and these found their way to my shelves.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a Very. Bad. Day. And I thought “I’m going to read what I want today. Not something I HAVE to read, but something I just WANT to read. For fun. Because I love it.”

And this was on the top of my stack.

So I read Turnabout’s Fair Play in just over a day.

I love Flannery and Jamie!

Plus I love seeing Caylor and Dylan and Zarah and Bobby from the first two books and seeing how their stories have played out.

Now… I’m not a total geek. I don’t role play or paint ball or laser tag or any of that stuff. But I’m just geek enough to laugh hysterically when my sister asks her iPhone/Siri what the meaning of life is and Siri says “42”.

So when the world of fan fiction and laser tag and the King Arthur fandom comes into play, I was highly amused. Much more so than most people probably would be. While it made me squeal a bit, it wasn’t quite so over the top that those who aren’t as geeky as I am would be totally off-put by it.

So there’s Flannery and Jamie who are fighting their attraction for each other. Secrets which have to be dealt with, because without them the plot would be boring.

Plus there’s Jamie’s grandmother, Cookie, and Flannery’s grandfather, Big Daddy, who have serious crushes on each other.

The characters are wonderful. The writing is wonderful.

The saddest part about the book is page 315.

When it ends.

/sigh/

I’ve not read Kaye’s historicals [though I have book 1 in her Ransome series]. She’s working on a series set in the 1850s now [The Great Exhibition Series – set at Prince Albert’s Great Exhibition in 1851]. I find myself wishing she was writing another contemporary series because I know I love those – both The Matchmakers and Brides of Bonneterre. Will I read the others? Of course. Because I do love Kaye and I do enjoy historicals as well as contemporary books.

Kaye’s characters are loveably quirky, real, flawed, and wonderful.

And for that I’ll follow her to any time period.

😀

Plus Kaye’s pretty cool too ;).

Turnabout’s Fair Play is book 3 in the series. While someone who has read the first two will likely enjoy the 3rd more, they’re not strictly necessary to read first.

Overall rating: 9.5 out of 10 stars