The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman

From the publisher:
Nothing gets our attention like an unmade decision: Should I accept the new position? Which schooling choice is best for my kids? How can I support my aging parents? When we have a decision to make and the answer isn't clear, what we want more than anything is peace, clarity, and a nudge in the right direction. 

If you have trouble making decisions, because of either chronic hesitation you've always lived with or a more recent onset of decision fatigue, Emily P. Freeman offers a fresh way of practicing familiar but often forgotten advice: simply do the next right thing. With this simple, soulful practice, it is possible to clear the decision-making chaos, quiet the fear of choosing wrong, and find the courage to finally decide without regret or second-guessing.

Whether you're in the midst of a major life transition or are weary of the low-grade anxiety that daily life can bring, Emily helps create space for your soul to breathe so you can live life with God at a gentle pace and discern your next right thing in love.
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Emily P. Freeman speaks straight to my heart.  Her way of writing is as peaceful as her voice on her podcast, which is also called The Next Right Thing.  

This is a beautiful hardcover book that's subtitle is "A Simple, Soulful Practice for making Life Decisions."  Each of the twenty-four chapters is a way to take a deep breathe and figure out the next-right thing in your life.  I love how you don't need to rush through this book.  You can read one chapter a week and really soak in and put into practice the things from the chapter.  Nothing about Emily's writing is judgmental or demeaning.  Instead she speaks life and strength into your life so that you can do the next right thing in your own life.  

This is a beautiful book that can be for yourself and a gift for every friend you have.  We all have times where we don't know what to do next, where we are trying to figure out how to make a decision.  This book is exactly for that.  And even when you aren't making a decision this book gives you a place for your heart and soul to take note for when you will need to make a decision.

I received the book from the publisher (and also bought one for myself!) All opinions are my own.

Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

This is a new cover for a best-selling book by Sarah Young. 

Jesus Calling is a 365 daily devotional written as if Jesus Himself is writing to you.  Each day there are the words written to you and scripture to go along with them.  This is a beautiful way to remember that the words of the Bible aren't just words for some day long ago but are fresh and for you and I today. 

The new soft hard cover is beautiful.  The larger print makes it more accessible to many readers.  No matter your age this can be a book that can bring an additional comfort to ones devotional time.

I received this book from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.

Driftwood Bay by Irene Hannon

From the publisher:
After tragedy robs her of everyone she loves, Jeannette Mason retreats to the tiny Oregon seaside town of Hope Harbor to create a new life. Vowing to avoid emotional attachments, she focuses on running her lavender farm and tea-room--until a new neighbor with a destructive dog and a forlorn little girl invades her turf. But she needn't worry. Dr. Logan West is too busy coping with an unexpected family, a radical lifestyle change, and an unruly pup to have any interest in his aloof and disagreeable neighbor.

Yet when both Jeanette and Logan find themselves pulled into the life of a tattered Christian family fleeing persecution in war-torn Syria, might they discover that love sometimes comes calling when it's least expected?
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Irene Hannon brings readers back to the beloved town of Hope Harbor.  This book will draw you to a town you may or may not have read about.  However, you don't need to read the other books to read this one.  Jeannette Mason is going to draw you in as she deals with her own pain and grief.  Logan's character is one that you will find yourself relating to as he enters a family situation and hilarious neighbor.  Beyond just these two characters you will find that this sweet story digs deeper into the hard things that are even now consuming our world.  The refugees and their story will challenge the way you think and feel.  

The beautiful town and natural characters will draw you in and leave you happy to have read this book.

I received this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

The Edge of Over There by Shawn Smucker

From the publisher:

Before the Tree of Life, everything in Abra Miller's life had been predictable. But after the Tree and the lightning and the angels, everything felt tenuous, like holding a soap bubble in the palm of her hand. She spent years looking for signs of that other world, waiting for it to break through. When it didn't, her friendship with Sam Chambers grew cold and distant, and they both wondered how any of it could actually have happened.

Four years later, 16-year-old Abra's long-delayed quest to find the next manifestation of the Tree of Life is renewed when she sees a woman walking up the road--a woman who looks exactly like Sam's dead mother. The woman directs her to New Orleans where she will find the grave of Marie Laveau, one of seven gateways between this world and Over There. As Abra enters The Edge of Over There and begins her pursuit of the Tree once more, she doesn't know whom to fear or whom to trust. But she's starting to think that some doorways should never be opened.

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This book had an interesting premise and I was excited to read it.  However, as the story progressed it felt like the book was taking  a lot of liberties. This is supposedly Biblical fiction but it felt like far from that.  If you like science-fiction and don't try to associate as a Christian novel then perhaps you can enjoy it.  That being said, I haven't read the first book.  The writer is talented, but I wish that this had not been written as Christian fiction.  Instead just do the book as fiction.

I received this book from the publisher.  All opinions are my own. 

Made for This by Jennie Allen

If you have heard or read Jennie Allen before you will enjoy this book.  And if you never have read her before this is a great place to start!  This is a blend of two of her best loved books Anything and Restless.  But don't worry that this is just a copy and paste type of book.  Instead you will find new format and layout and fresh stories of how this has worked and impacted others. 

This is a beautiful journal-like edition with workbook graphics to help bring it all together.  This book will help you go surrender to God and ask Him what your purpose is.  This is a great book for yourself or to give as a gift. 

I highly recommend this book.

I received this book from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.

Justice Delivered by Patricia Bradley

From the publisher:

Carly Smith came by her trust issues honestly. A victim of sex trafficking, she's been at the mercy of merciless men, ignored by law enforcement officers who should have helped her, and seemingly rejected by her family. She can't even trust herself to do the right thing. Though she escaped her captors and is working hard on building a new life, the past continues to haunt her when she discovers that the man she couldn't bring herself to report to police for fear of reliving her captivity is still out there, luring vulnerable girls under the guise of being a modeling agent.

When her own niece is kidnapped, Carly must overcome her fears and come forward with the information she has before it's too late. When that proves to be not enough, she'll have to go after the perpetrators herself.

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This is the fourth book in the Memphis Cold Case series.  However, it can be read alone. Which is good, since I haven't read any of the other books.

This is a book that will keep you turning the pages.  A warning that there is violence and some hard topics to read.  However, as the book deals with human trafficking the characters and situations focus on redemption, rebuilding trust, and forgiveness.  I really enjoyed the way the book dealt with needing justice but also needing to rebuild lives.  I think many readers will be drawn into Carly's story and be inspired to do something in their own lives to help others in situations like those in the book.

I received this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Daughters of the Northern Shore by Joanne Bischof

From the publisher:

Aven Norgaard understands courage. Orphaned within an Irish workhouse, then widowed at just nineteen, she voyaged to America where she was wooed and wed by Thor Norgaard, a Deaf man in rural Appalachia. That the Lord saw her along the winding journey and that Aven now carries Thor’s child are blessings beyond measure. Yet while Thor holds her heart, it is his younger brother and rival who haunts her memories. Haakon—whose selfish choices shattered her trust in him.

Having fled the Norgaard orchard after trying to take Aven as his own, Haakon sails on the North Atlantic ice trade, where his soul is plagued with regrets that distance cannot heal. Not even the beautiful Norwegian woman he’s pursued can ease the torment. When the winds bear him home after four years away, Haakon finds the family on the brink of tragedy. A decades-old feud with the neighboring farm has wrenched them into the fiercest confrontation on Blackbird Mountain since the Civil War. Haakon’s cunning and strength hold the power to seal many fates, including Thor’s—which is already imperiled due to a grave illness brought to him at the first prick of warfare.

Now Haakon faces the hardest choice of his life. One that shapes a battlefield where pride must be broken enough to be restored, and where a prodigal son may finally know the healing peace of surrender and the boundless gift of forgiveness. And when it comes to the woman he left behind in Norway, he just might discover that while his heart belongs to a daughter of the north, she’s been awaiting him on shores more distant than the land he’s fighting for.

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This is the sequel to Sons of Blackbird Mountain but there is enough backstory in this book that you don't have to read the first book to understand the story line.  Bischof does an outstanding job of describing the setting of the various stages of this story.  I love reading her writing. It is exquisite to read. You feel as if you are in the story partaking of the emotional impact as each event occurs.  

I enjoyed the family scenes and the bonding of the brothers and sisters-in-laws.  The problem I have with this book is that I feel that Haakon is not realistic.  In the first book he is an  unhinged violent man.  In this book everyone forgives him and he becomes a meek and mild man everyone looks up to.  There is a small "conversion" like experience but not in enough depth to make this reader "believe" in the change.  The theme of the book seems to be forgiveness and restoration of relationships.  That is a beautiful goal in any family.  The problem I have is there is a difference between forgiveness and being able to have a relationship again with the person who has harmed you.  In this case Haakon committed an act of violence against his soon to be sister-in-law.  I think the story would have been more authentic if he had just loved her but not been driven to such drastic actions to create a violent scene between Haakon, Aven and Thor.  

This book  is still well written and I would read other books by Joanne Bischof in a minute.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.