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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Lawless: Book 1 by Jeffrey Salane

by Diane Estrella

The Lawless School provides the right education for kids on the wrong side of the law.

M Freeman has been home-schooled her entire life. So M has no idea just how unusual her education has been – not until she leaves home to attend the prestigious (and mysterious) Lawless School.

Suddenly, it’s very clear to M that her tutors have been preparing her all along for a life of crime. She excels at escape tactics. She’s a whiz at spotting forgeries. Her years of piano lessons pay off when picking pockets and cracking safes.

M’s new found talent for criminal mischief soon brings her to the attention of the Masters, the secretive school’s most secretive clique. M’s interest in the Masters is personal – joining this international dishonor society is her best chance to learn the truth about her father’s life . . . and his death. But when her first real-world heist goes wrong, M is left wondering: Is there truly honor among thieves?

Jeffrey Salane’s first novel is full of twists and turns, reveals and reversals. Spoiling the ending for your friends would be criminal!

My Daughter’s Review

Dun, dun, DUHN!

Wow! From start to finish, this book captivated my attention until the very surprising ending. I felt like I was going through a maze of plot twists and turns of betrayal and secrets. Awesome!

Lawless is a smartly told book. It’s about a girl named M who gets ‘recruited’ by the Masters to join a thievery school. What the school does, is to teach the kids of today how to become the criminals of tomorrow. When given her first real-world mission, M discovers a giant secret that will blow your minds. Lawless‘s author, Jeffrey Salane, really captured my imagination. I can’t wait to read more of his amazing work.

Lawless would be a great book for tweens and teens of all ages to read. I’m sure they will love it as much as I do. Such a thrill!

I can’t wait for book #2!!!

Buy it Here

Scholastic Books sent me the above book for review purposes. It will allow me to keep the book. I have no other connection to and have received no other compensation from Scholastic.

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in categories Book Review,Scholastic Books

23

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The LOVE Walk by Amanda Beth BOOK GIVEAWAY #BlogHop

by Diane Estrella

:) Plus— Don’t forget to check out the other giveaways listed at the top of my sidebar. Thanks for stopping by!  :)    —->     —->     —->

Love in Bloom Giveaway Hop

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Portrait of a Book

May 16th to 22nd, 2013

“The LOVE Walk” is a fifteen week devotional created to encourage and support you in your love walk. Each devotional focuses on a different characteristic of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails….”

Each chapter includes an encouragement, a prayer, verses to meditate on, and one verse to memorize to support you in your love walk. Additionally, at the end of each chapter there are questions to reflect on for personal evaluation or group study.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

The LOVE Walk: A 15 – Week Devotional on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 can be purchased here.

The Giveaway

Open internationally. If the winner is from the US, they will receive a paperback or e-copy of the book, The LOVE Walk. If the person selected is outside the US, winner will receive an e-book. Please use the Rafflecopter below to be entered:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
A winner will be chosen from those entries and announced May 23, 2013. Good luck!

Wanna find more great books you can win? Click on the list below and start “hopping!”

love in bloom 2013 final

The author is providing the above book for giveaway purposes. I have no other connection to and have received no other compensation from Amanda Beth.

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in categories Authors/Writers/Publishing,Book Spotlight,Giveaways

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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Pondering the Bible’s “Greatest Commandments”

by Diane Estrella

Mark 12:29-31

Jesus: 29 The most important commandment is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Eternal One is our God, and the Eternal One is the only God. 30 You should love the Eternal, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” 31 The second great commandment is this: “Love others in the same way you love yourself.” There are no commandments more important than these.

The ORDER of operations is most important!

Example: There is an obvious way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Bread, peanut butter, jelly, and finally another piece of bread on top. Done. This is the most easiest way to eat and enjoy a PB&J. What if you changed up the order and went peanut butter, bread, bread, and then jelly???

Give that to any two year old and get your video cameras ready. America’s Funniest Home Videos… we have a winner!!!

Order.

Look again, at the greatest commandments Jesus gave us when asked.

First off, Love the Lord your God, with your ALL! He’s first. He’s at the top. Numero uno! When we try to find or look for love in “other” areas first, we will be sorely disappointed. Only He can provide the love our heart longs for in its deepest recesses. We need to have a two-way street of love going between God and us FIRST!

Secondly, look closely at verse 31. Even though it starts with the “Love others” part of the sentence, you have to be able to “love yourself” first, in order to relate and know how to liken that love in the same way to others.

Whoops.

How many people have this love, ordering thing mixed up?

Too many of us try to love on others before we get right with God, and many of us try to find love in others before we love ourselves.

Question time……

What if I don’t love and respect myself? What if I don’t see any good attributes in me? What if I can’t forgive myself for past mistakes? What if I spend all day putting myself down and not loving me for the imperfect creature that I am?

How can I love others if I don’t love God? How can I love others if I don’t love me? What do I have to base “love” on if I have nothing to judge it by? Certainly not my feelings!

Love is a choice. A choice to put God first in my heart, my thoughts, my mind, and my being. Then it is a choice to love myself as-is. Not in a prideful, haughty way, not in an unhealthy way, but just to love me and give myself the same grace I receive from God’s love and THEN, give that same love to others.

Yup, order.

I hope I’ve given you something to think about the next time you go to make a PB&J. Nobody wants that mess to deal with and God gave us a specific order in how to love because He doesn’t want us to make a mess of our hearts either.

I love God. I love myself…. And, of course I love you all too. Hugs!!!

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in categories Thoughts to Ponder

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Sunday, May 12, 2013

Thank You, God, for Puppies & Thank You, God, for Kittens BOOK GIVEAWAY #BlogHop

by Diane Estrella

Thank You, God, for Puppies, Thomas Nelson

WINNER SELECTED~~~michelle koerner!

 

:) Plus, stick around! There are lots of other giveaway listed at the top of my sidebar for you to enter and win!!!  :)

God bless my puppy, and God bless me! Thank You, God, for giving him to me.

Puppies are cherished members of the family in today’s homes. And even the littlest tykes love their pets and will adore these sweet pictures of all different types and colors of puppies with the cute text that accompanies.

Fun rhyming text about all the things we love about puppies will accompany adorable photos. By thanking God for their pet, children will have a tangible way to see God’s blessings to them.

You can see the flipbook here.

Thank You, God, for Kittens, Thomas Nelson

God bless my kitten, and God bless me! She’s as pretty as she can be.

Pets are cherished members of the family in today’s homes. And even the littlest tykes love their kittens and will adore these sweet pictures of all different types and colors of kittens and the cute text that accompanies.

Fun rhyming text about all the things we love about kittens—from soft ears to playful little paws and from lively games of chase-the-toy to snuggles, purring, and naps—will accompany photos of adorable kittens. By thanking God for their kitten, children will have a tangible way to see God’s blessings to them.

You can see the flipbook here.

My Review

I ask you, can these get any cuter??!!?!?

Both, Thank You, God, for Puppies and Thank You, God, for Kittens are beautiful hardcover books with adorable, full color pictures inside. With fun rhymes, every child will love to re-read them over and over again.

All children like to look at baby animals, and these books have bright and beautiful puppy and kitty eyes looking right back at them. These books are perfect for parents to read to kids before bedtime or any time of the day. I think the soft spot children have for animals and pets will only grow in admiration with these stories.

Simply put, young kids will L.O.V.E. these books.

The Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Thank You, God, for Puppies and Thank You, God, for Kittens, the publisher is giving away a copy of one book  (winner’s choice) to one of my readers. Valid with US addresses only. In order to be entered to win, answer any of the following questions in the comments section below:

  • Does your family have any pets? What kind?
  • What is your child’s/grandchild’s favorite animal?

That’s it, one comment, one entry! The winner will be selected and announced May 20, 2013. How could you not enter?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:) Plus stick around! There are lots more children’s book giveaways listed below thanks to Mother Daughter Book Reviews and Youth Literature Reviews.  :)

kidlit book giveaway hop

Tommy Nelson sent me the above book for review purposes and provided the book to give away. It will allow me to keep the book. I have no other connection to and have received no other compensation from Tommy Nelson.

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in categories Book Review,Giveaways,Thomas Nelson/Booksneeze/Tommy Nelson

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Saturday, May 11, 2013

Dear Dad: Did You Know I Was a Princess? by Sundi Jo Graham

by Diane Estrella

Your father.

Did he love you enough? Did you feel safe with him?Do you think of him and long for something more?Did your relationship with him leave you feeling abandoned, used or unlovable? Has that heartbreak left you with bitterness, low self-esteem, and shame?

Sundi Jo knows this pain. She journaled her way through the childhood wounds that left her with a fortress around her heart and her life on the edge of ruin. With each entry, you can hear God’s pursuit of her. Turn the pages and find yourself nodding in agreement with her questions, her fear, “Am I beautiful? Am I lovable? Is something wrong with me?”

Dear Dad, Did You Know I Was a Princess? is a memoir of gritty redemption written in love to the dad who missed the chance to really see his daughter.Don’t miss this incredible eyewitness account of God as Father to the fatherless. See His power to overcome what would otherwise destroy a young and innocent heart, even your heart.

Buy it Here

Sundi Jo is an author, speaker, and small business owner, making her home in Branson, Missouri. 

She’s been in love with writing since she could hold a pen, but it wasn’t until her sixth grade teacher “forced” her to write a poetry book that Sundi Jo knew she would be a writer.

She blogs at sundijo.com on life, faith, and health. She believes you can’t live life without laughter, and that Dolly Parton is the greatest singer ever.

You’ll find her engulfed in the social media world, spending time with friends and family, hanging out in flip fops, or dreaming of being a “Chopped” chef.

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in categories Book Spotlight

25

Friday, May 10, 2013

The Offering: A Novel by Angela Hunt BOOK GIVEAWAY!

by Diane Estrella

One innocent mistake . . . a lifetime of consequences.

After growing up an only child, Amanda Lisandra wants a big family. But since she and her soldier husband can’t afford to have more children right away, Mandy decides to earn money as a gestational carrier for a childless couple. She loves being pregnant, and while carrying the child, she dreams of having her own son and maybe another daughter. . . .

Just when the nearly perfect pregnancy is about to conclude, unexpected tragedy enters Mandy’s world and leaves her reeling. Devastated by grief, she surrenders the child she was carrying and struggles to regain her emotional equilibrium.

Two years later she studies a photograph of the baby she bore and wonders if the unthinkable has happened—could she have inadvertently given away her own biological child? Over the next few months Mandy struggles to decide between the desires of her grief-stricken heart and what’s best for the little boy she has never known.

About the Author

With more than four million copies of her books sold worldwide, Angela Hunt is the bestselling author of more than one hundred titles, including The Tale of Three Trees, The Note, and The Nativity Story. Her nonfiction book Don’t Bet Against Me, written with Deanna Favre, spent several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Angela frequently teaches writing workshops at schools and writers’ conferences, and she served as the keynote speaker at an American Christian Fiction Writers’ national conference. She and her husband make their home in Florida.

Buy it Here

The Giveaway

Open to US addresses only. The winner will receive a paperback copy of the book, The Offering. Please use the Rafflecopter below to be entered:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A winner will be chosen from those entries and announced May 25, 2013. Good luck!

The publisher is providing the above book for giveaway purposes. I have no other connection to and have received no other compensation from Howard Books.

Read the full article...

in categories Book Spotlight,Giveaways,Howard Books/Simon & Schuster

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