Callie: The Women of Valley View

Callie: The Women of Valley View, Book 1

Written by: Sharon Srock

Narrated by: Diane Marty

Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins

Series: Women of Valley View, Book 1

Unabridged Audiobook

Release Date:01-22-16

Publisher: A Blonde and a Prayer Books

This started off a little slow for me but it didn’t take me long to get into this story of broken hearts, sorrow, healing, forgiveness and the faith one women has in God as he leads her to find the answers for a small family who has lost everything in return finding forgiveness for herself.  It is really hard to put yourself out there helping others and making the correct decisions never knowing if it will come back to haunt you. So many times we maybe should have stepped in but turn away not because we do not care but because of what the fall out might be. In this story one woman didn’t turn away but stepped up to the plate helping a young mother keep her child. The fall out was of the little boy losing his life and leaving Callie devastated knowing in some way she took part in killing an innocent child. It doesn’t matter that others step forward and help the family keep the child it is that she did. She can’t see beyond her own guilt. When another family comes along that needs her help she wants to step back but her belief in God and what he wants her to do will not let her.  This is what the story is based around…the trial of pain, sorrow of two families finding their way and leading one to the word of God as he changes their life. It is one thing to say you are religious but totally different to walk the walk and talk the talk why putting your life in God’s hands as Callie did.

I thought the narrator did an outstanding job making the reader really feel the emotion that each character was going through. You could hear the pain of each one as things happened. I really enjoyed her character voices you always knew who was talking and what they were feeling. There are no repeating of words, no background noises, no volume changes and if any breaks were taken I could not tell. Ms. Marty put a lot of thought into how the story would play out giving her voice the correct tones for each scene. I had no trouble picturing what the narrator was reading. I thought her performance was outstanding and really pulled me in. The audio was very clear and clean giving you a performance you will not forget for a long time to come. She really pulled on your heartstrings in her very vivid account of story the author wrote.

I had no trouble relating to this story as I am sure most of us have had to deal with abuse of some kind. Now a day’s most of us have also dealt with divorce, a parent leaving and maybe even a drug issue. All of these issues can tear a family apart with no trouble at all. My heart went out to Callie but more so too this young girl Iris and Samantha as they deal with the road life has given them. I can’t think of anything more horrible then having no one there for you when you need them the most and to scared to reach out for help knowing your family might be torn apart at anytime.  The author really put some thought into writing this as she pulls your heart one way and then another. She does add some humor lots of smiles and then breaking your heart all over again. It is a story of love of God, forgiving your self and learning to forgive others. There are some very good points here as to the reasoning of why we should forgive. I thought this was a very compelling vivid audio that really gives a punch in more ways than one. Just when you think things cannot get worse they do. The author gives you a few surprises that at first you do not know how to take it. It all does work out for the best leaving you with a smile on your face and peace in your heart. I thought this was a very uplifting and inspirational listen that I totally enjoyed. I hope others will give it a listen and really be pulled in to some outstanding narration and writing.

Buy Links

Audible

https://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Callie-Audiobook/B0182SD1YI

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Callie-inspirational-womens-fiction-Valley-ebook/dp/B00U6T57US/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505084135&sr=1-1&keywords=Callie

Goggle Play

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Sharon_Srock_Callie?id=GZlzDgAAQBAJ

Summary

A baby is dead and Callie Stillman blames herself. Haunted by memories of a tiny coffin, Callie can't understand how God could expect her to put her heart on the line a second time. But the evasive little girl attending her Sunday school class is so obviously in trouble that Callie finds her resolve cracking.
Iris and Samantha Evans are living on borrowed time. Deserted, orphaned, betrayed, and deceived, they need rescuing in the worst way.
Steve Evans had his life changed by God. A reformed drug addict, he's searching for the family he abandoned 10 years ago and praying for a miracle.
The road to healing is rocky. But as Callie confronts her worst fears by bringing father and daughters together in a risky bid for reconciliation, she realizes that the Evans family aren't the only ones God wants to rescue from a tortured past.

The Texas 7: A True Story of Murder and a Daring Escape

The Texas 7: A True Story of Murder and a Daring Escape

Written by: Gary C. King

Narrated by: J. Scott Bennett

Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release Date:08-14-17

Publisher: Gary C. King Enterprises

True Crime has always been my favorite when it comes to reading. I do not remember ever hearing about The Texas 7 and found the information given very interesting. It was really great to get a feel of each man and his background. It was interesting to see how their mind work and the reasoning behind why they did what they did. I can understand no hope of getting out of prison but I cannot feel for them. They choose to do what they did and why they thought they should be able to get out early is beyond me. Do not break the law or do the terrible things they did and they wouldn’t have to worry about it.

Mr. Bennett as always was wonderful I love his character voices. He puts delightful emotions into his audio even with books of this nature. I had no trouble picturing the scenes the author wrote as the narrator bought it to life almost like a movie. You can tell he put a lot of thought into how he would deal with issues and how the audio would play out. There is no repeating of wording, no volume change, if any breaks were taken I could not tell. It was a very clean and clear audio that I got lost in from the danger that felt almost like a movie.  I thought his performance great and really added a lot to this audio.

I was hooked from the first page as the author gave a very interesting account of these men’s lives. The law was always one step behind until the day they were arrested. Funny how things work out if they had awaited one more day or even an hour they would not have caught the whole gang or maybe none of them at least not that day. The way these 7 minds worked I found surprising, I don’t understand how they thought they could live a normal life just by changing their names. But then again they did stay on the run without people working out who they were for a long time. The authors writing kept me very entertained, I thought he gave a lot of thought to the information he gave us giving a full account that was very interesting.

Buy Links

Audible

https://www.audible.com/pd/Nonfiction/The-Texas-7-Audiobook/B074Q1XDPB

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Texas-Story-Murder-Daring-Escape-ebook/dp/B00633W4YI/ref=cm_cr_if_orig_subj?_encoding=UTF8&linkCode=xm2&tag=audiblecom0f-20

B&N

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-texas-7-gary-c-king/1112166399;jsessionid=A7A2A6AF1D1DCEE5779F693F2A986F69.prodny_store01-atgap06?ean=9780312981570&st=AFF&2sid=Goodreads,%20Inc_2227948_NA&sourceId=AFFGoodreads,%20IncM000004

itunes

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-texas-7/id478033493?mt=11

Goggle Play

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Gary_C_King_The_Texas_7?id=2C-UXdmQd3QC

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-texas-7

Summary

"You haven't heard the last of us yet..."

These were chilling words on a note left behind by seven armed and dangerous inmates who escaped from the John Connally prison in South Texas on December 13, 2000. Their promise has apparently been fulfilled. The inmates, now known as the Connally Seven, are suspected of having first robbed a Radio Shack in Houston, and then, days later, on Christmas Eve, of having fatally shot and runover a young police officer during an assault on a Dallas sporting-goods store. For six frantic weeks, a massive manhunt with a significant reward had only turned up dead ends...until a tip came in from someone who had seen the gang on Fox-TVs "America's Most Wanted." Authorities arrested four of the seven prisoners, including suspected ringleader George Rivas, in Woodland Park, Colorado, and a fifth inmate shot himself during police negotiations.

Immediately intensifying the search for the last two heavily armed and dangerous prisoners, police and FBI closed in on them at a Holiday Inn in Colorado Springs just two days following the previous arrest. After five hours and a telephone interview with a TV news station in which they expressed their feeling that the breakout was a statement against Texas's judicial system, the two inmates surrendered themselves, putting an end to a long and frightening episode.

The Texas 7 goes behind the scenes to give you a detailed, fascinating account of the events leading up to and after their brazen prison escape--and the exciting chase that ultimately led to their capture.

Twisted Truths (Blood Brothers #3) by Rebecca Zanetti

Twisted Truths (Blood Brothers #3)

by Rebecca Zanetti

Twisted Truths by Rebecca Zanetti is a story of insight, power, psychopath, control and building the best soldiers through genetics changes with twists and turns that will blow your mind. All this is built around a romantic plot of two people who fell in love with one walking away to save the women he loves as he leaves behind a broken heart that just about destroys her.  As the plots turns you see amazing twist that holds your attention with action, adventure, some thrills and a few chills that will chill even the warmest hearts all wrapped around keeping one baby and one woman safe. Through it all you see one woman’s thrust for power, control as she works on building a small army and bring back to the folds this one’s she has lost.

Noni has lost the women she called her sister to the father of her child, now the child has been kidnapped by her father and Noni is racing against time to bring her home where she belongs. To do this she must face the one man who tore her world apart and beg him to help her find her sisters baby. The story starts off with action and never stops. It is one danger after another on this wild ride of enemies after enemies hunting them down trying to take them out or is it to bring some home to a mad woman who fights to control those she made.  Denver not only has to save the baby but he must keep them both safe from his enemies that are tracking him down it is one step forward and two steps back as they come head to head with an amazing standoff that hooks you and won’t let you go.

The author pulls you in with an amazing plot that keeps you spellbound and at times shocks you. The love Noni and Denver have is very powerful add one little baby who has been kidnapped and their world spins out of control. I loved the plot, the romance and way the story is built around his past and how he was raised. The danger is real and the love is hot. It has amazing twists and turns that will rock your world.

I had no trouble feeling the emotion coming right off the pages as a mad woman tries to get control back. The chemistry Noni and Denver is mind blowing as well as the passion they feel.  The power these men have and what they can withstand is amazing. You can feel the emotions they have for each other as they stand together to take control of their lives and hunt down the people who made them the way they are. The author has written the story that many more books can be written about these men. There are hints given that they do not know their true power which could turn in to some very interesting reading if the author chooses to take it that way. This is a very fast pace read that I didn’t want to put down, I found myself reading every minute I had from breaks at work to late at night. The hunted become the hunters as they plan missions to take out those who hunt them. You can feel the emotion and danger as you read it. You feel the passion they have for their women and the thrills as they come. Although this is based around two people the author brings in characters from the past book which adds so much to the excitement as the story builds.

I loved all the characters, the aunts were something else.  I found delightful humor that made me chuckle and some heart pounding danger that had me holding my breath. I was pulled in from the start until the end. Which makes this one of my favorite reads of the year. If you like danger, adventure, blowing things up, heart stopping moments with your romance you are so going to love this. I enjoyed it so much that I went and bought the first two of this series on audio. I can’t wait to see how it all started and do hope there are more books to this series.

I picked this up for review on Netgalley

Buy Links

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Twisted-Truths-Blood-Brothers-Book-ebook/dp/B06XFVS9CB/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504825728&sr=1-1&keywords=Twisted+Truths+by+Rebecca+Zanetti

indiebound

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781455594313

itunes

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/twisted-truths/id1212218669?mt=11

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/twisted-truths-1

Google Play

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Rebecca_Zanetti_Twisted_Truths?id=2XRFDgAAQBAJ&hl=en

B&N

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twisted-truths-rebecca-zanetti/1125896072?ean=9781455594313

Bam

http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9781455594313/

Summary

You can't escape the past . . .
Noni is desperate. Her infant niece has been kidnapped, and the only person who can save her is a private detective with too many secrets to count--and more enemies than he can name. A man who walked away from Noni without any warning a year ago, a man who broke her heart. But with Talia's life on the line, Noni needs his help now more than ever--and this time, she won't take no for an answer . . .
The moment Denver Jones sees Noni, the memories come rushing back. The fire in her eyes. The determination in her voice. The danger of having her in his life. Denver had to push her away once, but now with vicious criminals threatening Noni and her niece, he'll do whatever it takes to protect them. But enemies from his past are circling, and they'll use anything--and anyone--to get to Denver.
With twists and turns that will blow you away, TWISTED TRUTHS is sexy, action-packed suspense at its very best from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti.

Christmas in a Cowboy's Arms

Christmas in a Cowboy's Arms

by Leigh Greenwood, Rosanne Bittner, Linda Broday, Margaret Brownley, Anna Schmidt, Amy Sandas

There is nothing more heartwarming then a story about Christmas add a cowboy and the wild west and you have a delightful read that keeps you entertained. Each of these stories are by wonderful very talented authors who know how to keep their reads hook giving sorrow, compassion, hopes, dreams and love with a little adventure, excitement and danger.

My favorite is

The Christmas Stranger by Linda Broday

Hank is going to steal your heart with the love he gives to an old women as the Legend men pull together making it the best Christmas for so many people.  Hank is a drifter after getting out of prison he has no place to go that is until a little lady runs across his path making him understand true love.  Sidalee is just a sweet kind woman always putting others first giving so much of her self. Both she and Hank have lost so much, they are all alone in the world but find life goes on and new wonderful memories are made when you give your heart away. It really doesn’t matter what you do wrong or what people say you do. Even when you have reach the bottom look for the light and it will bring you lots of sunshine as it did these two. Hank is troubled he wants to make a wrong a right but he has so much against him. The Legend’s put faith in him giving him back his life as Sidalee steals his heart. This was a wonderful sweet romance that really grabs and holds your attention. I smiled a lot but I had so much sadness for these two. It was a pleasure seeing them find their away. I loved seeing the Legend men again with each of their stories they stole my heart. I have really loved this series and can’t wait to read more about these men and all they do for so many. I really didn’t want Hank’s and Sidalle’s story to end I wanted to see how their life turned out. Well written with wonderful characters you get lost in. I had no trouble picturing the snow deep with one lonely and a dog running for help. I just loved that dog that makes you smile more than anyone should. He is so full of his self he steals your heart.

Father Christmas by Leigh Greenwood

There is nothing worse than being blamed for a crime you did not do and going to jail for it, the only thing on your mind is to get out and prove you didn’t do it. Joe breaks out heading to his partner’s ranch where he finds his partners widow. As things take off you feel the pain of these two and your heart really reaches out to them. When their eyes meet they finally know what true love is but what about the baby she is carrying? A very sweet read with delightful characters that you can relate to with the true meaning of compassion, love as these two learn to deal with the hand life gave them.

A Texas Ranger for Christmas by Margaret Brownley

Sadie life is full of sorrow having a young baby and a husband who can’t seem to keep his promise. He left her a lone to run their ranch why he goes back to his old job with the Texas Ranger. Sadie is tired it takes a lot to keep a ranch up, taking care of a child and it is taking its toll on her. When Cole shows up telling her, her husband is dead what he sees is a ranch that has seen better days and one beautiful lady who is running herself to an early grave he knows he can’t leave her.  The attraction is strong but Sadie isn’t giving her heart to another man who rides off leaving her alone to take care of what should be his duties.  Cole loves his job but the love he feels for Sadie really makes him want to settle down and start a family. Who will win Texas or Sadie? It is a very touching story that really reaches in grabbing your heart and twisting it. The characters are very likable. The author gives a wonderful plot with vivid details. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to read more of her work.

Each story in this set has wonderful plots with vivid details pulling the reader in. What a wonderful way to find a new author as each one takes you a journey of sorrow, lost, love, romance giving a little twist that keeps you entertained.

Buy Links

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1492656771/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1492656771&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

Goggle Play

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Leigh_Greenwood_Christmas_in_a_Cowboy_s_Arms?id=Bn0FDgAAQBAJ

B&N

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-in-a-cowboys-arms-leigh-greenwood/1125586412;jsessionid=576517CF76CDF271A4C55DDE1471E949.prodny_store01-atgap10?ean=9781492656777&st=AFF&2sid=Goodreads,%20Inc_2227948_NA&sourceId=AFFGoodreads,%20IncM000004

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/christmas-in-a-cowboy-s-arms

Summary

In the wild and untamed West, it takes a cowboy’s embrace to see you through a long winter’s night. Stay toasty this holiday season with heart-warming tales from bestselling authors Leigh Greenwood, Rosanne Bittner, Linda Broday, Margaret Brownley, Anna Schmidt, and Amy Sandas.

The Beating Heart of Christmas
Whether it’s a lonely spinster finding passion at last . . . an infamous outlaw-turned-lawman reaffirming the love that keeps him whole . . . a lost and broken drifter discovering family in unlikely places . . . a Texas Ranger risking it all for one remarkable woman . . . two lovers bringing together a family ripped apart by prejudice . . . or reunited lovers given a second chance to correct past mistakes . . . a Christmas spent in a cowboy’s arms is full of hope, laughter, and—most of all—love.