love to paint

I have to admit that I use books as an escape.  Life can overwhelm me and so I escape into books at times.  Thankfully, I read very fast and can set down a book after reading only a few pages.  But, I really enjoy a good book. This week I started reading Irene Hannon's Hope Harbor series.  I started late in the series, but it still made sense.  I think it is a strength of a book when you can read it as a stand alone if it is in a series.  Sandpiper Cove  is the third book in the series. The book begins with Adam Stone and Lexie Graham.  Adam Stone is starting life over after getting out of prison.  He came to know the Lord while in prison through a prison ministry.  But, he's a loner, struggling to trust people and believe that he could have a different life.  Lexie Graham is a single mom dealing with her own pain.  She also happens to be Hope Harbor's police chief.  The story is really a romance more than anything e...

A few years ago, I read a book by Irene Hannon.  I enjoyed it.  She's written many books and I haven't read one in a while, but I decided to read the new one that has come out this spring.  It is titled One Perfect Spring . The story begins with Haley Summers.  She's 11 years old and is living with her mom in a home that needs a lot of repair work.  Next door to them lives Maureen Chandler, a 60 year old professor at a local Christian college.  Haley writes a letter to a businessman asking for help to find Ms. Chandler's son that she gave up for adoption when he was born.  The man responds.  Enter Keith, the business man's executive assistant, who is asked to follow up on the request and pursue the matter.  Keith connects with Haley's mother, Claire, and sparks fly.  The back of the book says all of this, so I'm not giving anything away.  Much of the rest of the book is very predictable.  There are a few minor unexpected tw...

In some ways, we have to understand our pasts and come to terms with them.  Sometimes the people who have shaped us will apologize and take ownership for their mistakes and sometimes they won't  What do you do when they don't?  Or won't? A friend shared with me recently that it's hard to forgive when the person you need to forgive won't apologize or repent.  Sometimes that is the case.  Yet, we're still called to forgive--as Christ has forgiven us.  I think that can be really hard. Two weeks ago, I read a fictional novel that explored this idea.  It was Irene Hannon's new novel That Certain Summer .  The story centers on two sisters, Karen and Val.  Karen has stayed close to home and cares for her mother and her teenage daughter, while coping with working full-time and being newly divorced.  Val has left the nest and run far away, intentionally.  She became a high school drama teacher.  Karen needs Val to come home for t...

In Harm's Way by Irene Hannon I'm going to cut to the chase with this book.   I read it in a day.   It drew me in and I was hooked... Writing:   I haven't read the previous two books in this series.   It is a stand alone book.   Irene Hannon is a gifted writer and I did enjoy this book. Story:   The plot drew me in and had great twists and turns--many predictable, but still good.   The story centers around a woman my age, 35, who finds a doll in a snow drift in the parking lot of a restaurant.   It gives her a physical reaction when she touches it.   She takes it to the FBI and meets a dashing FBI agent in the process.   Normally, I wouldn't include that description of the agent, but in this case it gives you just a taste of what this book is like. Plot:   A child is missing and the doll is linked.   Are there any other connections?   Of course!   There wouldn't be much of a story without them.   This is tru...