Stranded by Dani Pettrey {Book Review}

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Darcy St. James just wanted to help out a friend with an undercover story. She knew it sounded ‘big’, but had no idea that same friend would go missing without a trace mere hours after her arrival on the cruise ship. None of the staff on board the ship is aware that Darcy is really a reporter, and everything surrounding the disappearance leaves Darcy with so many questions to ask - and no concrete answers from anyone.

One of the last people Darcy expected to see on her undercover trip was Gage McKenna. His family has been hired to lead several of the excursions the cruise ship offers, and he is not happy to see Darcy on board the ship. He believes she is sticking her nose into something that isn’t a problem and hopes her digging doesn’t lead to a loss of business for the family.

Their past relationship of butting heads continues to get in the way, but the more time they spend together, the more suspicious the disappearance of her friend seems. Pieces of the mystery are not fitting together and more oddities keep popping up - some with harmful results. Fearing for Darcy’s safety, Gage and his family and friends attempt to help Darcy uncover the mysterious happenings onboard and off the cruise ship - but will they remain safe in the process?

My Thoughts on Stranded and Dani Pettrey

A good suspense book is hard to put down, and Stranded by Dani Pettrey is a book that falls into that category. Years ago, I began reading the O’Malley series by Dee Henderson and didn’t think that I would find another that equaled it in writing style and character development.

Thank you, Dani Pettrey for providing that series for me. {I’m sure it was just for me, a fellow homeschool mom - right?}.

Filled with suspense and an undercurrent of romance, Stranded {and the other books in the Alaskan Courage series} will keep readers engaged, glued to their books, and anxious for the next installment. Stranded can be read as a stand-alone novel, but you will want to dive into the small Alaskan town of Yancey and meet everyone there. Be sure to block off a chunk of time once the book arrives though. You won’t want to put it down!

You can pick up Stranded, book 3 in the Alaskan Adventure series by Dani Pettrey, from Amazon. While you’re there, you may also want to add Submerged and Shattered to your cart too - you’re going to want them {trust me}.

Enter the Alaskan Adventures Sweepstakes

To celebrate the release of Stranded, Dani Pettrey and Bethany House are hosting the Alaskan Adventures sweepstakes, with over $600 in prizes to be awarded! Entries will be accepted until September 20, 2013, so head over now to enter.

 

This book was provided for review by Bethany House. All opinions expressed are my own.

Apple Crisp with Zucchini Instead of Apples

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Yes, you read that right. Apple Crisp without apples. Instead, you can use the plethora of zucchini that the garden seems to be putting out this time of year.

And your family won’t be able to tell the difference. Trust me.

You may even decide to grab all that extra zucchini that others are trying to unload. But don’t take my word for it - just try it and see!

Ingredients for Zucchini {not Apple} Crisp

• 8 cups of diced zucchini
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tsp. cinnamon, divided
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 stick butter

Directions

1. Peel zucchini and dice into small bite-sized pieces. Put in frying pan and add lemon juice and cinnamon. Bring to low boil over medium high heat and let simmer for 20 minutes or until zucchini pieces are tender. Add 1/2 cup of sugar. Stir well until sugar is dissolved.
2. Put zucchini mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.
3. Mix oats, brown sugar, flour, a teaspoon of cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Cut in the stick of butter until the mixture is well blended into small crumbs.
4. Sprinkle topping mixture over zucchini and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and the topping is melted.
5. Serve with ice cream and enjoy!

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witenmeyer {Book Review}

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Joanna Robbins loves God and has been praying for a preacher to revive the small church in her community. Her father is a reformed stagecoach robber who wants little to do with God, but wants more than anything to make his daughter happy.

So he decides to hold up a train and steal the preacher on board.

Crockett Archer is on his way to interview for a pastoral position when his train is stopped and robbed - with him as the ‘prize’ needed. He isn’t happy being held hostage and wants desperately to escape, but the redhead at the end of his journey is nothing short of intriguing.

Although Joanna explains her plight to Crockett, he continues on to his interview. Getting her off his mind is no small task though. Now he needs to figure out if his kidnapping was all a part of a bigger plan that God had in mind for him - one that includes a young lady named Joanna.

My Thoughts

Although the obvious storyline in Stealing the Preacher revolves around the developing romance between Joanna and Crockett, the underlying story of Joanna’s father was equally as wonderful. With a past that involves running from the law and a man determined to keep it all hidden, the growth in his character is so fun to watch - humorous at times and touching at others.

Joanna was such an amazingly sweet character to ‘meet’ and I had completely forgotten about Crockett, one of the Archer brothers from Witemeyer’s book Short Straw Bride. It was SO much fun reading his story as well. 

Karen Witemeyer is an author that I know I will always enjoy, no matter the book. Stealing the Preacher proved to be another wonderful addition to her list of books.

Find Out More

Stealing the Preacher is available in both paperback and Kindle format from Bethany House. See all of her available books on the Bethany House website.

 

This book was provided for review by Bethany House. All opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

Earn FREE Books from Tyndale

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Who likes free books? I know I do! If you love sharing via Facebook and other social media outlets, you need to check out the all new Tyndale Rewards program.

 

It is super easy to join and earn points. I’m already having fun earning points toward free products. I happen to know a little girl who wants a ‘real’ Bible as she calls it {grins}. I’m thinking one of the above Bibles would be perfect for her!

Incentives in the program include a free gift on your birthday, chances to share your recommendations on products, and free books in the areas of fiction, Bibles, parenting, youth, non-fiction, and audio books. Earn points as quickly as you would like and earn products for ZERO dollars. That’s a great number, isn’t it?

Tyndale even put together a fun video to give you the basic overview of the program.

Additional ways to earn points in the program including:

• taking a survey
• subscribing to a devotional or newsletter
• sharing the program with friends
• joining a focus group
• joining the birthday club
• reviewing a Tyndale product
• sharing the rewards program via social media

Joining the rewards program is easy. Just follow this link and sign up for free today!

Chasing Chickens

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If you would have asked me twenty years ago how I envisioned my life, I don’t think ‘chasing chickens’ would have been on my list. At all. Perhaps a house in the country. A few kids. But chickens – not on my radar.

This past week I took our ‘country living’ to an entire new level {at least in my book}.

 

As a bit of back story, a few weeks ago we had a rogue chicken that someone managed to find a way out of the locked run several days in a row. That same chicken also has recently resorted to laying some of her eggs on the ROOF of the run and likes to walk around up there quite a bit.

We did eventually discover the hole in some chicken wire underneath the coop, fixed it and the chickens remained contained.

Or at least I thought they were.

A few days ago the kids were supposed to let the chickens out of the coop {but not the run} since it was raining. Mid-morning I went outside to scare {aka shoot} a squirrel off the bird feeder and found one lonely chicken pecking the ground underneath the feeder.

But the rest of the chickens were in the run.

Did I mention it was raining?

I briefly chased the chicken and then ran down to the chicken run to double check and do a chicken head count and one was missing {and here I was home alone with no kids to send chasing after it}.

After several times around the run checking for holes in the wire and attempting to figure out how we managed to have another escapee, I was at a loss. No holes. Nada. And I still hadn’t caught the chicken.

Ten minutes of chasing and looking.

Did I mention it was raining?

Because I was getting rather wet and a wee bit irritated, I decided to head back inside and let the chicken roam. But I quickly checked for eggs before heading up to the house.

Inside one of the nesting boxes was the missing chicken- trying to enjoy a moment of peace and just quietly lay an egg.

Apparently that chicken I’d been trying to catch belonged to the neighbors.

Probably better I didn’t catch it, eh?

 

Monsters University {non} Review

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While attending the Disney Social Media Moms Conference in May, our family had the opportunity to watch a sneak peak of the movie Monsters University. This new film will hit theatres in just a few days, on June 21st.

Going to the movies together as a family is something that doesn’t happen often for us. With six in our family, to say it is rare is pretty much an overstatement. So you can imagine the excitement that was practically oozing out of our kids when we were invited to see Monsters University.

Now…you won’t find any spoilers in this post {and our kids have been prepped to tell you only that it was GREAT}, but one thing that really stands out to me is that it was definitely a movie we could take our family too – and feel safe doing so. Silly jokes, fun characters, and more make it amazingly fun. There are many familiar faces throughout the movie and a few new ones that we now love! The kids {and adults} laughed, cheered, and clapped their way through Monsters University.

It really was that good.

Come June 21st, I have a feeling we’ll be planning a fun night out with the kids to see it all over again. But first we need to pull out Monsters, Inc. to watch again!

 

Our family was invited to be a part of the Disney Social Media Mom Conference and  attended a sneak peek of Monsters University at no charge to us.