Yeah . . . the perfect place to read a novel.
Father, thank you for your beautiful creation. No words sometimes to express my thanks or gratitude for such majesty left for us on this fallen earth. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
This classic has no season even though this group is advertising it for their Christmas album. The words are haunting, the tune is mesmerizing. Great rendition of this beautiful but sorrowful song.
Lord God, only you know the condition of our hearts and souls. Only you. Thank you is never enough for rescuing me from my sinful state of being. Never enough. Hallelujah. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Mark Dawson's The House in the Woods is Book 1 in the Atticus Priest Series, a British novel.
There's a grisly murder on Christmas Eve that takes Detective Chief Inspector Mackenzie (Mack) Jones away from her husband Andy and their two children while she's in the middle of prepping food for tomorrow's Christmas dinner. Cooking is not her best talent, but she wanted to do this for her family. As it turns out, she won't be able to finish what she's doing and is soon off to the ominous house in Grovely Woods.
Detective Sergeant Tristan Lennox, who called Mack, has the man (Ralph) who called in what he saw through the locked house window, sitting in his car. When Mack speaks with Ralph, she sees he's distraught after seeing his father appearing to be dead on the kitchen floor. He's afraid his brother, a college student at Bath, might be guilty because of his temper.
What appeared to be one horrendous murder scene soon results in a reversal of charges and Ralph finds himself on trial for the multiple murders. Married to a beauty named "Allegra", she finds Atticus Priest to hire, hoping he can render new information to set her innocent husband free.
Atticus Priest is a former police detective who worked closely with Mack, now a private investigator with few clients and a stack of unpaid bills when Allegra shows up to hire him. He has keen insights, is a genius at reading body language and overall observation, and is ready for the challenge of proving Ralph innocent but not thrilled at the prospect of proving Mack wrong. Able to explore with objectivity, he takes a look in unique directions which the police investigation failed to cover. The thing is . . . he doesn't always adhere to scrupulous means to get his information.
At first, it seems Atticus is a bit clichéd, the rather typical low-rent, messy dwelling P.I., but as the story develops, he's anything but a cliché. He's fascinating, still attracted to Mack, and loves his adopted dog Bandit. He takes medication to monitor a condition – but only Mack knows about it. He's an occasional dope smoker, and, although it's not the only reason for his being fired from the police department, it was the official reason for it.
There's so much more to this story. It runs hot and cold as far as the action goes, but it's impossible not to be interested in what Atticus will do next, where he's willing to go to get the information he needs, of whom he's able to make astounding deductions, and why he can put obscure pieces of the puzzle together to get to the truth – plus how he's absolutely unwilling to let go of anything until he gets those pieces that lead to the answers.
Ultimately getting the opportunity to give the final say in the matter of Ralph's dilemma, Mark Dawson leaves us with Atticus receiving another equally complex challenge from a competitor on one of his online chess games.
Mark Dawson has created a truly unique and entertaining character in Atticus Priest, and I look forward to the next book in the series.
Some profanity present.
Father, I've said it a zillion times: only you know hearts, save souls, offer Truth and Love to all. Please bless Mark with continued stories as you've given him many talents. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
The way of the Lord is a refuge for the righteous,
but it is the ruin of those who do evil.
Proverbs 10:29 (NIV)
So, for fun, or out of boredom, and for whatever reason, let's do these:
Driving: mostly hands at "10 and 2", single right hand on wheel, single left hand on wheel? Where are your hands for your average driving position?
Walking: long stride, short stride, meander, fast, slow?
Showering: sing or not to sing?
Laughing: loud, boisterous, giggle, breathless?
Listening: good at it, bad at it, attentive, tempted to interrupt?
Talking: fast, average, slow, low voice, high voice, louder when excited?
Feel free to answer, add your own descriptions. Or not.
Father, thank you for silliness, laughter, fun, seriousness, attention, wisdom, grace, and mercy. All of it. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Review originally published in 2012 under "The goodness in . . . My Stubborn Heart". And I really can't add anything to it except I just reread the book and cried at the end! I know: big surprise. I don't think I cried the first time I read it. And although I posted an objection to the cover in this review, I much prefer the original to the new one because on this cover, Matt is the man's man hockey player easily pictured. On the new cover – not so much.
My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade, published by Bethany House, is my final May review for the CFBA Tour and what a way to close it out. It's a rare time, as those who follow me here know, that I can rave about a CBA romance novel. As much as I love romance, that's a sad commentary on the genre in general. However, even though My Stubborn Heart is officially a romance novel in that it follows the formula for such stories, Becky Wade has breathed fresh life into a tried - and/or tired - and true format. My Stubborn Heart touched mine.
Antique-lover Kate Donovan lives and works in social services for child placement in Dallas, Texas. Heartbreak has overridden her enthusiasm so she's grateful for the three months away she gets to spend with her grandmother in Redbud, Pennsylvania, restoring the grand old home where her "Gran" grew up. Weary of the "still-single-at 31" stigma, she wonders if God will ever provide the right man for her.
Shortly upon arrival, Gran introduces her to the contractor hired to renovate the house. Matt Jarreau has little to say, but Kate is nearly paralyzed with attraction to the guy whose eyes telegraph some kind of sorrow while his demeanor shouts "No Admittance" to his personal life. Matt determines to work alone and Kate decides she's going to penetrate that steel façade and make a friend out of him because he's a solid challenge to her stubborn heart. When she and Gran learn his history, a new perspective accompanies the information.
Kate and Gran go to work on sifting through all the decades of stuff in the house while Matt labors over each room in stony silence. When Kate "helps" him paint her attic bedroom, Matt senses she's not going to respond to his stay-away looks and parsed words. Day after day she works her way into stunted conversations with him while Gran invites him to stay for dinner every night after work, and every night he refuses until one night he accepts and berates himself for yielding right up until he's in the kitchen getting coerced cooking lessons from Gran.
Okay, we all know how it's gonna end. However, the walk-through of this relationship is at times comical, always emotional, heartbreaking, and fully entertaining. The sub-plots and peripheral characters offer clever and meaningful variety to the fleshed out Kate and Matt. With the struggles elevated by the faithful Kate and the faithless, angry Matt, we observe the depth of their individual conflicts and accumulated personal pain.
The sub-themes of what's required in faith, of worthiness, of forgiveness, of obedience – they're all there, sometimes subtle, sometimes not – but well done.
For those readers of Christian fiction who've wanted a little more reality in the language department, Becky dares to use the following words (which will no doubt raise the hackles of those readers who pass judgment on these kinds of things): boobs, balls (as in male body parts), crap, pissed. Only once for some of them and at, dare I say, the opportune moments? Really. And this from Bethany House! Ay, ay, ay. Not for shock value but for poignant moments and character-fitting verbiage. Authenticity. The way it should be done in this kind of story.
My one nit-picky criticism is the cover. I wish they would've done the top half like the bottom half just showing part of Kate's face because the cover rendition doesn't fit the girl inside the pages . . .
There's some great writing in My Stubborn Heart. Becky fluctuates between Kate's and Matt's POVs and thoughts and nails their personalities. I love the way the final conflict is resolved. The man's man that Matt is would do it this way. If you want to read a truly good romance novel with heart, skilled writing, and a Prologue and Epilogue which will remind you of the film Chocolat, My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade is the book for you. Thoroughly recommended.
Father, you know the romance you put in Becky's heart and the talent you've given her to convey it. Please continue to bless that heart and give her those love stories you've designed just for her to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
. . .
you want to read a love story with real romance involved, you’re a candidate to select one of my novels.
. . .
you want to read a story where love is the focal point, romance permeates the attraction, and the conflicts are realistic rather than multiple just for the sake of conflict, you might enjoy one of my novels.
. . .
you want the spiritual aspects clear within the context of love and romance, it's possible you would appreciate one of my novels.
. . .
you like a little romance with your mystery, I have one novel you might like.
. . .
you prefer full-length novels with several different characters, real romance a little more raw (not graphic), deep love, and a spiritual overtone, perhaps you'd find a novel of mine to your liking. Perhaps . . .
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Nicole+Petrino-Salter&i=stripbooks&x=18&y=18&ref=nb_ss_b
Father, thank you for every word, story, inspiration, desire. Apart from you, I can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Quite a few hits for these guys back in the day.
Father, you knew them then as you do all of us. May they know you before they take their last breaths. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
When you read a Dustin Stevens novel, you know to expect certain things: lots of firepower, thrills, anxiety, all kinds of action, intriguing characters, and a fair amount of "first draft" typos and errors – some grammatically, some punctuation, some wrong words, etc. The Debt is no exception.
Laredo Wynn is 10 years removed from the military where he was a Delta operator all over the world. His girlfriend Rae is less time removed from the military where she served as the closest a female could get to being a special operator. They've "retired" to a small southwest town in Texas where they live on their ranch in a relationship that survives on minimal words and deep understanding.
On one operation many years ago, Laredo was severely injured and would've died if the doctor attending him hadn't saved his life. As it was, he retained an ugly scar on his neck as a reminder of that event. That doctor, who is now hoping to be the next Vice President, is also calling in a favor to pay back the debt of having saved Laredo's life. Laredo has dreaded this possibility and makes sure if he gets the favor done that his debt will be paid in full. However, when the information he's received after he leaves Rae and the ranch for Chicago turns out to be incomplete, he hopes his assignment is over. The young female hacker he's been assigned to locate has vacated her last known address.
In the most unlikely of arrangements, Rae joins Laredo as they team up with the young hacker who desperately needs their protection because of what she knows about the VP wannabe. If things were crazy before this, they're ultra dangerous for all of them now as their debtor, the psychopathic narcissist doctor, has become their staunch enemy and has risked no expense to erase their existences including the hiring of a former group of military men now engaged as private for hire mercenaries.
With extemporaneous plans and daring attempts to re-acquire the incriminating information that's been stolen from the young hacker, the three of them realize their final stand may be their last one.
What I didn't expect from The Debt and Dustin Stevens was an affirmation of liberal politics and choosing to make the wicked nemesis a "right wing conservative" much like TV dramas enjoy making the serial killer or evil antagonist a "Christian pastor". That went absolutely nowhere in endearing this otherwise entertaining novel to this reader.
Sadly, one of Dustin's better written novels, his politics ruined the overall experience of reading The Debt.
Profanity present.
God, you're the only One who knows hearts, redeems lives, and is Truth. May each of us who tells stories incorporate real truth in them. Please continue to bless Dustin's life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
The memory of the righteous will be a blessing,
but the name of the wicked will rot.
Proverbs 10:7 (NIV)
