A Real Pleasant Surprise

Through My Eyes
Tim Tebow Book

Summary: Meet Tim Tebow: He grew up playing every sport imaginable, but football was his true passion. Even from an early age, Tim has always had the drive to be the best player and person that he could be. Through his hard work and determination, he established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of college football and as a top prospect in the NFL. Now, in Through My Eyes: A Quarterback's Journey, he shares the behind-the-scenes details of his life, on and off the football field. Tim writes about his life as he chooses to live it, revealing how his Christian faith, his family values, and his relentless will to succeed have molded him into the person and the athlete he is today.


Review: This was a great book. Well written and yet sounded as if you were having a conversation with Tim Tebow about how he came to be who he is today. His faith shines through and his work ethic is amazing! I really cannot get over how much I laughed, cried and cheered him and his family on. His family was in every detail of his book. It is amazing how his parents have influenced his life and with the good stuff like faith, family and living for the glory of God. I would proudly recommend this book to anyone. While I am not a sports fan I enjoyed his excitement he has for football and the games he has played in.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Zondervan Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone.

A Pleasant Surprise

Eating Free
Manuel Villacorta M.S. RD

Author’s Summary: In 2004, I founded MV Nutrition, my private practice, in San Francisco, and since then I am proud to say that we've helped over 2,000 Bay Area residents with their health goals and received four awards 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012 as "Best Nutritionist" in San Francisco. After four years of reading the research literature, applying it in my private practice, seeing thousands of people and witnessing great success, I had a vision. It became clear to me that I have something to share with the rest of the nation. This is when the Eating Free philosophy and weight management program was born. I created Eating Free because of my love for food! And through my years of experience, I have witnessed suffering, deprivation and the demonization of food in order to lose weight. I hope to put an end to that with Eating Free by spreading the word nationwide. I want readers to love and celebrate real food while reaching their health goals. I have a personal passion for eating as a way to strengthen bonds and enhance the quality of life (a custom I adopted from my native Peru), I offer something more than another diet, fad, or trend. As I attest, Eating Free is a lifestyle--a nourishing and satisfying, as well as sensible and effective, way of eating, every day.


Review: I was uncertain at the start if this was going to be a waste of time or more informational. I came to be persuaded by his knowledge and information. After a time I realized that more of what he was stating and relaying informational was more accurate than anything I had ever thought of. I read it every day for an hour a day and in 4 days I was sold. It was the most logical and helpful book on weight loss I have read in a long time. Having been on the treadmill of diets and other weight loss programs this one makes the most sense. I can control my eating and lose weight but much of weight loss is about permanent change. This being the case I really became excited that I could eat healthy and loose weight. For me I love to exercise but I want to be healthy and weigh the proper weight. He also talked about as we age how to meet that to keep the weight off. I am very glad that I read this book and how helpful it is to a life change and not just a life sentence of what I cannot eat.

I would like to thank Net Galley and HCI Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone.

A Thrilling Ride Through a Great Book

Downfall
Terri Blackstock

Book Summary: Book 3 of the Intervention Series. Emily Covington has turned her life around after a drug addiction, but her family still has trouble trusting her. Though Emily has committed herself to a year-long treatment program and has been sober for almost a year beyond that, even her mother walks on eggshells around her, fearing she'll relapse. After her behavior during her drug years, Emily realizes she has a lot to prove. When police discover a homemade bomb under Emily's car, and she then learns the wife of one of her friends was murdered that same morning, she knows things are deadly serious. But who wants Emily dead? And why? A conversation she had with two men, an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and a plan for a double murder all conspire for one explosive ride ... and Emily is the only one who can identify the killer and save the life of the next potential victim. As she frantically works to solve this ever more complicated puzzle, Emily finds herself playing right into the killer's hands.


Review: I read the first book in this series own the second one but have not read it yet. I did finish the third and loved it. It was a roller coaster ride with brief periods where you can catch your breath. I was able to make a correct attempt to figure out ‘who did it’ and yet nothing spoiled this story. This was easily a standalone and a series! It was great to read of people I had visited in the first book and yet they were fresh and exciting to hear how they have grown. The only question that came to mind on believability was if Emily did it ‘Where was the GUN!!! that she used????’ However that was hardly a sticking point for me. I can’t wait for Terri Blackstock’s next mystery! I want another ride on the mystery roller coaster.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Zondervan Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone.

Great New Characters

The Accidental Bride
Denise Hunter

Book Summary: When a wedding reenactment turns real, this cowgirl suddenly finds she’s an accidental bride. Shay Brandenberger is raising her daughter in Moose Creek, Montana on her childhood ranch, nestled against the Yellowstone River. Despite her hard work, she can’t seem to keep her head above water—and now the bank is threatening to foreclose. She prays for a miracle, but the answer she receives is anything but. Having agreed to play the bride in the Founders Day wedding reenactment, Shay is mortified to be greeted at the end of the aisle by none other than Travis McCoy, her high school sweetheart—the man who left her high and dry for fame and fortune on the Texas rodeo circuit. Then the unthinkable happens. Thanks to a well-meaning busy body and an absent minded preacher, the wedding reenactment results in a legal marriage. But before Shay can say annulment, Travis comes up with a crazy proposal. If she refuses his offer, she’ll lose her home. But if she accepts, she may lose her heart. Shay isn’t sure if the recent events are God’s will or just a preacher’s blunder. Will trusting her heart to the man who once shattered it be the worst mistake of her life? Or could their marriage be the best accident that ever happened?


Review: I liked the 2 main characters and thought they had good chemistry. I did think there were almost too many secondary characters at the start of the book and this made it a little more confusing at times to recall who was who. It did get easier to follow as the book continued. I enjoyed the main characters. Shay was tough and did a lot of manual labor and yet was still feminine. Travis was very masculine and yet very sensitive to Shay. It was believable and yet very enjoyable to see how things were going to be resolved. The marriage license that was old and yet still valid seemed unlikely, although it was easy to suspend belief when the story flowed so nicely and the main characters were enjoyable. It was worth the read and the fact that it was a in a series was not a deterrent it was a good stand alone story.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Thomas Nelson for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone.