Ramblings

First Date by Krista McGee was published by Thomas Nelson publishers. It came out recently, was apparently, was on the BookSneeze program but I missed it. I ended up checking it out at the library and really enjoyed it! I finished it in less than 24 hours, even though it was over three hundred pages long. This book was so wonderful; I cannot stop talking about it and would give it a six out of five stars.

Addy Davidson is a normal girl living in Tampa, Florida. She loves to read and water ski and is trying her best to get into an Ivy League college. When her principle calls her into his office to tell her that she has been picked to be on a reality television show, she does not know what to think. High schools around America had been entered into a large drawing. One hundred schools were chosen, and from each of those hundred, one girl was picked. That one girl would, along with the other ninety-nine girls, compete on a reality TV show to win a date with the President's son, Jonathan Jackson. Jonathan is the hottest boy in all the country who recently broke up with a girl from the Disney Channel. Now he's starting this show to let one hundred girls try to win a date with him.

Addy hates it. The last thing she wants to do is go onto a TV show that she didn't even audition for to win a date. She's never been on a date and does not really want to. Addy does her best to get out on the first round. That is, until Jonathan and her seem to connect and he is seemingly unimpressed by the other ninety-nine girls throwing themselves at him. From the starting one hundred girls, seventy are sent home and thirty remain. Each week five girls are taken off the show. Addy remains, and finds herself America's favorite. She does not know what to think.

On top off all that, there's Addy's haters, a hospital visit, a group of people trying to kill Jonathan and the president, and a producer that tries everything he can to get Addy off the show. Plus, there are challenges for sports, manners, and other things that the girls go through on the show. This jam packed book loosely resembles the Esther story in the Bible and was very enjoyable. This is a teen book for girls that would make a great gift! You can buy it on amazon.com or at Christian bookstores. Please read it; it's the best book I've read in a while.

Midnight in Austenland is a book written by Shannon Hale.  I received this book from Net Galley on my Kindle.  Since I had read Princess Academy (which was a children's book that won the Newberry Award and was also written by Shannon Hale) and loved it, I thought that I was going to enjoy reading this one.  It was not until after I agreed to review it and downloaded it onto my Kindle that I realized it was an adult book that I did not feel up to reading.  Since I downloaded it, however, I am required to write a 200+ review on it, so I will attempt to do so.

Charlotte is a lady who once married, but I personally did not get the idea that she ever fell in love. She just married.  But then her husband died.  She does not know what to do, and crumbles away inside herself.  She starts to get wrinkles.  She is unhappy.  Charlotte does not know what to do with her life.  Some of her friends think that she should go and find the perfect man and fall in love and get married, etc, etc.  Charlotte really does not know what to do.  Like Princess Academy, this book took a while to pick up in the beginning, or I was just impatient.

Do not let my bad review keep you from reading Miss Hale's works, though, as she is a great children's author.  I believe one of the reasons that I did not understand this novel was because I think there is another "Austenland" novel that I missed that came before this one.  Whether or not it is required to read that one first, I am sorry to say that I do not know.

Pirate of My Heart by Jamie Carie is one of my personal favorite books.  I have already read it twice and will most likely read it again!

Kendra Townsend is an English lady.  (Like, her name is Lady Kendra Townsend, not just that she's a girl-which she is) Her mother died birthing her and all she has is her dad.  They are both very close.  One day, out of the blue, Kendra's uncle, her dad's long lost brother appears and asks for help in paying off his bills.  Kendra's father agrees, and then sees the amount and gets mad.  Kendra's uncle kills her dad, and then tries to marry Kendra off so that he can collect her dowry.  Kendra does not like that plan, so she tries to be as unattractive as possible.  Her plan works, but her uncle Andrew sends her off to America to some relatives that she has never met.  Along the way, she falls in love with the ship's captain.  There is a lot of drama as her aunt and uncle in America don't want her, until they also come up with the plan to marry her off and get her dowry.  (Kendra is unaware to all of this.) The sea captain's name is Dorian, and he is from a rich family that falls in love with Kendra immediantly.  Kendra's uncle, however, sees that if she marries him he would not get her dowry, and things get dangerous.  Kendra is captured and forced to marry a man that is supposed to spilt her dowry with her uncle in Amerca.  Or at least, all that was attempted.  You'll have to read it to see what actually happened.  You can buy this book on amazon.com or even your kindle or nook.  Please enjoy!

Thank you to Net Galley and B&H publishers for letting me review this book.  I really enjoyed it.

     God, Girls, and Getting connected is a devotional written by Robin Marsh and Lauren Nelson.  This book is aimed towards teenagers.  The setup of the devotionals is really cool--in the beginning of that day's devotion, a girl has written God a text message, asking Him a question or telling about a problem.  Then, you have God's response, which includes a great lesson, possibly story, and Scripture.  These are short yet powerful devotions that teenagers and preteens will love.

     At the start of the book, there are several pages about the authors, set up to look like Face book pages.  You can learn about these godly girls who are here to help you grow further into your personal walk with God.  You will learn that Lauren Nelson was Miss America in 2007, and Robin Marsh is a news reporter.

     I really liked this book because it deals with common problems that teenagers face and gives a solution on their level and "in their language", using Face book and texting formats, plus helping girls to grow and live more closely to God.  This book would make a great gift.

     Thank you to Net Galley and Harvest House publishers for letting me review this book.

The Mandie Collection Volume 11 by Lois Gladys Leppard is a republished form of four beloved Mandie novels: Mandie and the Missing Schoolmarm (Mandie Mystery #39), Mandie and the Graduation Mystery (Mandie Mystery #40), Mandie and Joe's Christmas Surprise, and Mandie and Mollie and the Angel's Visit.  Mandie and the Missing Schoolmarm is set when Mandie is returning from her Christmas vacation to her Grandmother Taft's house before returning to Miss Heathwood's School for Girls.  Mandie had received a telegram from her grandmother saying that Miss Hope, one of Mandie's teachers, has gone missing! Miss Hope was not the type to just run off without telling where she is going, so her sister Miss Prudence is very worried.  Miss Hope has left her clothes and other belongings at the school, and when Mandie and her friends ask around town if anyone has seen Miss Hope, everyone is strangely quiet, acting like they are hiding something.  Mandie and her friends are very confused and worried.

For Mandie and the Graduation Mystery, Mandie's housekeeper Aunt Lou has made Mandie a beautiful white graduation dress with little flowers sewn into it.  Mandie loves it and brings it to her grandmother's house for safekeeping until it's near time to wear it to graduate.  About a week away from her graduation, she and Celia bring their dresses from Mandie's grandmother's house to the school and hide them in the back of their closets so that no one will mess with them.  A few days before the graduation, Mandie and Celia notice things being moved around on their dresser, and later, they notice that someone has messed with their dresses.  They ask Miss Prudence for a key to lock their closet, and she grants the request.  Still, someone is messing with their clothes! The girls are baffled as their closet was locked.  How did the person get in?

For Mandie and Joe's Christmas Surprise and Mandie and Mollie and the Angel's Visit, these were short stories about Mandie when she was thirteen.  After three chapters of the book, there is an original play by Lois Gladys Leppard on the same text of the book, except for in play form.  All the dialogue and characters were the same in the short story and the play.

Thank you very much to Bethany House publishers for providing me with a review copy of this book! I really enjoyed it and look forward to continuing to work with you.  Thanks again!