The Heavenly Surrender

This has been bar for my favorite McClure book so far.  It was wonderful from the get go.

I no longer have the book so I have no clue the names of the people in them....deal with it.

The story goes...a young (obviously hot) Irish farmer puts a want add for a wife in the paper.  Not a romantic wife...a woman to work side by side to cook and clean for him.  Not kiss.  He expected and hoped for an older lady who knew what she was doing.  Instead he got a young beautiful city girl.

One of the great things about these romance novels is that you know exactly how it will end...the fun is how. This book was filled with passion (clean) and some really intense moments.  When I say intense I really mean bad guys trying to kill the good guys.

So the things I didn't like about this (and probably all McClure books for that matter)  THE LONG CHAPTERS are killing me.  There is no real good stopping place.  So annoying.  Also in the last pages of the book it was so intense...the kind of intense where I was ready to stay up until 1 am to finish it.  It became a nail bitter.  SO GOOD....until I realize the last pages where MISSING.  that has nothing to do with the author but so frustrating...although Dave and I did have a good laugh about it.

I have read 3 McClure books now and this is my favorite.

Dusty Briches

Ahhhh....nothing beats a story about cowboys!  Why is that?

Dusty is the daughter of the ranch owner and she grew up surrounded by ranch hands...many of which were very handsome (duh).  One of which she fell in love with as a little girl.  When she was 14 her cowboy (who was 20) left the ranch and broke her heart...instead of dealing with that heart ache like a normal person she mopped around until the banker's son started courting her and then he broke her heart and instead of dealing with it she grew bitter and angry and held on to her hurt day in and day out.  She had a father and sister who then had to deal with Dusty being a downer all the time.  And then on glorious day her cowboy came back to work on the ranch.  Would he want a bitter Dusty?  Would he help her find her true self again?  Would she be able to let go of all that ugliness inside her black whole of a heart to find true love once again in a pair of Levi's?

Oh man.  Did he. and oh boy did she (oh did I ruin it for you?)  I guess I should have said SPOILER ALERT...but in all honestly it is pretty obvious who is going to end up with who from the start.

I do enjoy a good western romance.  And this was a page turner...in fact I turned on the TV and instead of doing dishes I finished the book this morning.  GASP.  I am that way.  At times it was a little far fetched...but isn't that why we love them so much?

Here is what I didn't like about the book....I didn't know what year it was set in.  A silly thing really but it drove me nuts.  Also...they said things to each other that I doubt they would have said back then I always picture people back then a little more reserved and proper even on a rach....but that is most books.  If a book was written so that it matched real true life it would be slightly boring.  Right?  Ryder (the handsome cowboy) would sweep Dusty off her feet carry her to the barn and "kiss her lips raw."  I mean did they really do that?  The hired help making out with the daughters?  I bet so.  I think my biggest issues was how possessive the handsome cowboy was.  He would practically force the girl to kiss him.  Granted she wanted to and all that but did he have to hold her hands behind her back.  There were a few things that he said to her and did that I thought was a sign of a horrible future relationship.  Having said that....he is still a cowboy and there is something great about that.

I am glad I read this book and although it might seem like there was more wrong about it than right I liked it and would suggest it to others to read.  It was a page turner.  Also...it is a romance and since there isn't a sex scene that lasts pages like many romances it is clean with lots of wonderfully long kissing scenes.  And kissing passionately doesn't make me feel like I should be skipping it.  So that is a nice thing about this book.

If you have a week without anything to read pick it up...and be ready to fall for a cowboy...or at least start talking like one in your head.

The Best of Me

WOW!  What a great story.

I have missed holding a book and turning pages (I have been using the Kindle mostly).  So I was very excited to read this "real" book anyway.  But the story is amazing.

And unlike many Nicholas Sparks books there are pages of love making.

Dawson and Amanda couldn't come from more different worlds.  Dawson was born into a family of law breakers and drug dealers...although the apple couldn't have fallen further from the tree if the tree was on a hill.  Amanda came from a well known family on the right side of the town with all the comforts a girl could want.  In high school they were paired together in lab and were inseparably for the rest of the year and summer.  They fell madly and deeply in love and when their parents tried to pull them apart the grew closer together.

But as kids do...they grew up and events forced them to part.  Life took them in very different directions.  25 years later they find themselves back home for the funeral of a mutual friend.  Neither of them could realize what it would be like seeing each other again after so long...and what would unfold as a result.

Intrigued???

You should be.  And then you should read it! I have a copy if you want to read it.

I am a Mother

What a wonderful book.  I highly suggest all mothers take a moment to read it!  It is a very easy read, but it is a great one.  The author used to be an anchor or a new lady or something in the media and was moving up the ladder of importance in that area.  She was a little older when she got married and felt that she had to choose between being a stay at home mom or to further her career and keep going in that direction.  She chose motherhood.

It is Jane Johnson's story from choosing to be a stay at home mom, the reaction from her former colleges and decided that her job is "a mother" and not "just a mother."  She shares her testimony of the importance of mothers, and the influence we have on the world and future generations.  She also talks about the support we can be to each other rather than judging and comparing.

It is very well written and made me proud to say I am a mother....I always have been but even on the worse day this book helped me see that it is true no matter how many poopy diapers I have to change.

I'd rather be a mother than anyone on earth

Bringing up a child or two of unpretentious birth...

I'd rather tuck a little child all safe and sound in bed

Than twine a chain of diamonds about my [carefree] head.

I'd rather wash a smudgy face with round, bright, baby eyes

Than paint the pageantry of fame or walk among the wise

-Meredith Gray, from The Beauty of Motherhood

It is a blessing and honor to be a mother.  I have always known and felt this and this book teaches me the truth of that once again.  I love my children and the family my husband and I are creating.  What a wonderful life I am blessed to live.  

I am back!

So sad to think that it was NOVEMBER since I last posted books that I read.  What is even more sad are the books that I have read since then.

I was limited.

I have been reading books mostly in the middle of the night while I nursed Ryan.  Doesn't help me retain much of what I read.  But I do remember they were pretty lame.

I guess that is what I get for reading free books from my kindle.  Free sometimes means "awesome great deal.  its my lucky day"  or it means " we couldn't get anyone to spend anything on this...so here.  have it.  Please take it...by the way it is crap"

But at 1 in the morning who cares really?

Then my computer broke.  Awesome....or not.

But I am back now.  I am reading a great book and I have 2 more waiting to be read.  I am very excited.  I have been reading books mostly off the kindle for the last year and I have missed turning real pages.

So...for those three of you who glance my way...I have returned

All is right with the world once more.

Have you ever watched Castle the tv show?  Oh it is one of our favorites in the Stark home.  It is mysterious, funny, clever, and there is romance and fighting and chasing.  One of the main characters (Richard Castle) is a murder mystery writer and on tv he tags along with a detective for ideas.

I was curious if this was a real author or not so I looked him up and there are a TON of books by Richard Castle.  I bought and read the cheapest one...must to my disappointment it was very short but still very good.

It is about a man named Storm who was some kind of unknown agent, the kind that did the job without anyone knowing it was him and no one was supposed to since it wasn't always legal.  He is called back into work after a 3 year leave and has to solve a kidnapping case.  A congressman's son has been kidnapped and the father is a very hated man so the guilt party really could be anyone.  As Storm investigates he begins to see how far and deep this goes.  There are bombs that go off, and money burnt up and some flirting and all that good stuff.  It also takes place in Washington DC and that is always fun since some of the places I have been to and that is cool.

It was a tease of a book thought, it ended quickly with a note saying if I wanted to read part two I would have to buy it...

stink.

It was a good read, now I am trying to remember if there was a lot of swearing.  I don't remember.

If I could find these books at the library I would read them.  But I wouldn't spend money on them.

I then was curious about this lucky man who is a successful author AND has his own TV show.  As it turns out he is a fake and someone is ghost writing all this.  that was a disappointing.  I think that is a big reason why I won't spend money on it.

(I couldn't get the picture to download.  grrr)

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Recently Amazon was offering two of President Uchtdorf's talks for free!  I realize that they are talks turned into books so what does that make them really?  But they are wonderful still.  It will be nice to refer to both of these talks on both good days and sad days.  And since they are talks and not beefy books it will be perfect for this busy momma.

If you have read them, do so.  What you get out of these talks will be different than what I do.  Just like every time I read them I will learn something different that is the gift of the Holy Ghost and the power of living scripture.  What a tremendous blessing it is to have living Prophets and Apostles on Earth today.