3.45/5 Stars The Saloon Girl’s Journey by Angela Castillo

November 12, 2021October 23, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, historical Angela Castillo, Clean, historical

Narrated by J. Grace Pennington

Run Time: 4 hrs and 49 mins

Genre: historical-ish fiction

Summary:

Darla North escapes life as a saloon girl and comes to live in a place for “unfortunate women.” Ethan Downs is the saint that falls in love with her.

Additional Comments:

This kind of book generally relies upon one of the characters (usually the woman) doing something incredibly stupid and the other (usually the man) chasing them. It’s true to form. In this case, it’s an frustrating series of misunderstandings nobody bothers asking about that leads the MC to basically run away from a loving home.
There is one tiny spot of danger that sort of redeems some of the nonsense.
Narration is fine.
The book started out fine. I liked the small bits of her character in the two other books in this series. Largely, Darla was a disappointment though.
Oh, it ends with presumed happily ever after, but with the past the author gave Darla, there was so much more potential for her shady past cropping up. I felt like that part never panned out.

Conclusion:

If you’re a completionist and have read the others, might as well finish the series. It’s a clean, historical style Christian book.

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Many of my 50+ audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
River’s Edge Ransom – Prequel to Redeemer Chronicles (Amazon) (email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)

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Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian. (Amazon) (free codes)
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live. (Amazon) (Please email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift. (Amazon) (free codes)
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma. (Amazon) (free codes)
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother. (Amazon) (free codes)
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble. (Amazon) (free codes)
More Scifi:
Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there. (Amazon) (free codes)

Guardian Angel Files:

Spirit’s Bane – Allister and Mina are training to be Guardians. Satan’s out to get them. (Amazon) (free codes)
Kindred Spirits – Mina’s exiled to Earth. Allister’s stuck in the Heavens. (Amazon) (free codes)

2.75/5 Stars A Familiar Evil by Anne Patrick

November 11, 2021October 23, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, mystery Anne Patrick, Leonor A Woodworth

Narrated by Leonor A. Woodworth

3 performance

2.45 story

Summary:

Jordan Russell left her husband and the FBI career to become chief of police of her hometown.

Additional Comments:

This deviates very slightly from the formula for most Christian suspense books. This time around there’s a married couple whose relationships is on the rocks. Expect some mention of sex once they both come to their senses. Still fits the clean category though so it’s all fade to black or talk about in passing.
I don’t buy that the husband didn’t know where she was until the cousin said something. He works for the FBI. She left the FBI. If she up and disappeared, there would be a very thorough search.
If you have very high suspension of disbelief, you may enjoy this more than I did.
It’s about 4 hours too long to be interesting.
Story’s kind of forgettable. That could legit be that the author write very similar stories. Tragic past. Check. Troubled present. Check. Bad guy obsessed with her. Check. Handsome dude trying to win her back. Check.
I read it a few weeks ago and had to think hard to recall the character.
For as hyped up as this lady was, I fully expected her not to become the damsel in distress.
Exciting section was kinda cool, but it took a LOT of visit here and visit there and pitch a fit in between to get there.
They’re clean. The Christian parts are probably a tad heavy handed for most people, but it doesn’t hide that part. It’s probably filed under Christian fiction.

Conclusion:

The author’s worth trying, but I’m not sure this would be my first recommendation if you’ve never tried her before. (I think the one about the psychic artist was better.)

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Guardian Angel Files:

3.75/5 Forbidden Legacy by Barbara Goss

October 28, 2021October 3, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, historical Barbara Goss, Christian, Leon Nixon

Narrated by Leon Nixon

Run Time: 5 hrs and 2 mins

Genre: Christian historical-ish fiction

Summary:

Sarah Clarke travels with her aunt down from Chicago to Texas to take over the ranch her father left her. She’s in the company of Storm, who’s half-Indian.

Additional Comments:

Things work out in the end, but the main character annoyed me for about 1/3 of the book. It shows some decent development but made that first section tough to get through. I almost outright quit listening.
With stories like this there’s a man and a woman main character, but I was sort of surprised that a man narrated it, since most of it focused on Sarah. It’s fine. He did a nice job, just a surprising choice.
Sarah and Storm’s relationship is kind of all over the place. There’s a bit of deception involved, but it didn’t bother me this time.
I loved the mother’s way of fixing furniture.
I liked the addition of the other few antagonists. Not sure their threads wrapped up as nicely, but it’s fine. Can’t win ‘em all.

Conclusion:

Barbara Goss writes formula Christian romance stories. You basically know what you’re going to get every single time. If they’re your cup of tea, you won’t be disappointed. Boy meets girl. One may/may not be Christian and a hot mess. By the end both are Christian and they’re either married or engaged to be married.

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Many of my 57 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Review copies for many titles are available from StoryOrigin.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Books 1-4 were re-released in audiobook form in 2021.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift. (Amazon) (Request a Review Copy)
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma. (Amazon) (Request a Review Copy)
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother. (Amazon) (Request a Review Code)
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble. (Amazon) (Request a Review Code)
More Scifi:
Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there. (Amazon) (click for sample)
If you’re all in and want to review the entire trilogy (~35 hrs!) go here.

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

Guardian Angel Files:

I have Author Direct codes from Findaway Voices for the combo book that has Spirit’s Bane and Kindred Spirits. (Click here for a review copy.)

3.5/5 Shadow of Deceit by Barbara Goss

October 22, 2021September 16, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, historical Barbara Goss, The Shadow Series, Tom Jordan

Narrated by Tom Jordan

Run Time: 3 hrs and 34 mins

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

*spoiler in discussion

Summary:

Caleb gets duped into paying a LOT of money. Julia needs the money to save her brother, but she comes to care for the guy she scams.

Additional Comments:

These stories are always fluff pieces, but this plot is more of a stretch than usual.
I liked the characters, but they were dumb and didn’t always have realistic reactions.
Forgiveness is a powerful thing, but I have serious issues with a guy who has legit trust issues from being scammed employing the same/similar tactics and the lady being all “oh, I guess I had that coming, shucks” about it.
Caleb having unholy sums of money sort of took away the power of the scam. I’d be ticked if somebody scammed me out of $5K now, let alone back in a time and place when that was like $100K or more in terms of value. Caleb’s reaction to losing that much was kind of pathetic. He was hurt but more about the broken trust, not ballistic. He could have found out where Julia had gone and tracked her down no problem. Or hired somebody to do it. That’s a big fat plot hole.
Tom Jordan has a nice voice.

Conclusion:

If you’re a completionist, go for it, but you can enjoy the other books in the series without the entry.

*Found a code on a free code site. I have freely chosen to leave this review.

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Audiobook Promotions …

Many of my 55 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Guardian Angel Files:

3.75/5 Stars Ties that Bind by Anne Patrick

October 13, 2021October 3, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, mystery Anne Patrick, Christian Mystery, Leonor A Woodworth

Narrated by Leonor A Woodworth

Run Time: 9 hrs and 34 mins

Genre: Christian romantic suspense

Summary:

Jo McDaniels has a psychic gift to see and hear and experience what the victims do if she visits the crime scenes. She’ works with Sheriff Austin Garrett to catch a killer dropping bodies all over the sheriff’s county.

Additional Comments:

This was 75% romance with about 25% crime solving and about 95% of the page time got dedicated to dinners, swooning, or stating the MC’s a strong, independent woman.
Austin’s the typical knight in shiny badge armor.
Jo’s the typical stellar FBI agent who happens to have a cool psychic gift. That angle surprised me because it’s not usual for this brand of story.
The book is about 3 hours too long for the story here. The fluff just rehashed stuff.
The conclusion and bad guy could be seen from about 9 miles away, but some serious effort went into the red herring suspect too.
The Christian aspects were reasonably well integrated.
Jo’s brother didn’t ring true. His anger at her didn’t seem to have any substance.
Why do all Anne Patrick’s characters have mommy issues?

Conclusion:

Overall, a solidly okay story.

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Review copies for many titles are available from StoryOrigin.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

Guardian Angel Files:

I have Author Direct codes from Findaway Voices for the combo book that has Spirit’s Bane and Kindred Spirits. (Click here for a review copy.)

New Release by Annie Douglass Lima

October 3, 2021October 3, 2021 Julie Gilbert children's, Christian, Family Annie Douglass Lima, coloring book

Coloring Book Description:

Featuring inspirational verses from the Bible, these coloring pages will help you relax, unwind, and enjoy some creative fun while hiding God’s Word in your heart! All the passages have a theme of thankfulness, so you’ll be encouraged to cultivate gratitude and be reminded of all you have to thank God for as you color.

The verses are printed in color-able word art with decorative borders, blank on the back to make them easier to remove and frame or display, if desired. Each coloring page is accompanied by thought-provoking journal questions that will help you dig into the Scriptures even more as you focus on their meaning and application in your life.

Hide it in Your Heart with Thankfulness is an ideal Scripture memorization aid for Christian schools, homeschool programs, Sunday schools, or your own personal use.

Children and adults will enjoy learning, practicing, and meditating on these artistically presented verses from the New International Version Bible. Order your copy today and start hiding God’s Word in your heart with thankfulness!

Author Bio:

Annie Douglass Lima considers herself fortunate to have traveled in twenty different countries and lived in four of them. A teacher in her “other” life, she loves reading to her students and sparking their imaginations. Her books include science fiction, fantasy, YA action and adventure novels, a puppet script, poetry, Bible verse coloring books, and a fantasy-themed cookbook. When she isn’t teaching, writing, or editing, Annie can often be found sipping spiced chai or pomegranate green tea in exotic locations, some of which exist in this world.

One Link to Rule Them All – Check out this lovely coloring book today.

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Audiobook Promotions …

Review copies for many titles are available from StoryOrigin.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

Guardian Angel Files:

I have Author Direct codes from Findaway Voices for the combo book that has Spirit’s Bane and Kindred Spirits. (Click here for a review copy.)

Guardian Angel Files Books 1 and 2: Spirit’s Bane and Kindred Spirits by Julie C. Gilbert

October 3, 2021August 23, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, Fantasy Christian fantasy, Julie C. Gilbert, Reuben Corbett

Narrated by Reuben Corbett

Run Time: 13 hrs and 13 min

Genre: Christian fantasy

Summary:

Allister and Mina share a Kindred Spirit bond. It makes them powerful, but also paints a target on them. Satan and his minions want to control them.

Additional Comments:

Spirit’s Bane has a lot of Mina and Allister trying out the various roles a Guardian Angel could have: Comforter, Protector, Healer, etc. Then, things get serious.
There’s a war on in the heavens and on Earth. Mankind’s just caught in the middle.
Kindred Spirit picks up where Spirit’s Bane leaves off. Mina stays on Earth and tries to keep the weapon out of Satan’s hands. Allister tries his best to find her.
This short series has a lot of philosophy for a fantasy series.
The story seed came about from a musing about what had to happen to meet somebody you know in a grocery store.
It’s a very different flavor of fantasy for me. Probably the closest I come to urban fantasy.
Young adult genre fits well enough, but it’s not really a shapeshifter, shirtless dude kind of fantasy.
It features first person narration from Allister, Mina, and Hadeon – Director of Operations for Satan (and Than, another demon).

Conclusion:

If you like the style of writing in the Screwtape Letters, you might like this.

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Audiobook Promotions …

Many of my 50 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Guardian Angel Files:

3.5 Stars Shadow of Regret by Barbara Goss

September 7, 2021August 6, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, romance, Western Barbara Goss, Christian romance, Tom Jordan

Series: The Shadow Series Book 3

Narrated by Tom Jordan

Run Time: 3 hrs and 29 mins

Genre: Christian Romance

Summary:

Rose has been hopelessly in love with Quinn. He’s suddenly on the marriage market but he’s broken, so she has to put humpty dumpty back together again.

Additional Comments:

For a clean book, this Christian western talks an awful lot about sex. I’m not even sure it’s named once, but about 80% of the book is some sort of reference to Quinn’s messed up life or the problems that gives his new marriage.
For a womanizer, this dude gets tricked an awful lot.
There’s some excitement and danger in the middle and end of the book.
I would not have picked it up based on the cover. It fits the genre right, but that’s about it. The title doesn’t mean much either, except that it ticks a box for the series.
Narration was fine. I like the narrator. He does a credible job with male and female characters. He also fits westerns reasonably well.
I did like the amount of action in this book compared to some of the author’s other works.
There was conflict, but most of the characters came in 1 of 2 shades: saintly or drunk good-for-nothings.
I like Rose’s side business.
The fix to Quinn’s marriage was a bit of a cop out, but it worked.
Rose’s attempt to be more seductive was hilarious.

Conclusion:

This series can be read in any order. You pretty much know what you’re going to get with this author. She’s pretty reliable for clean, Christian romance set in the west.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Guardian Angel Files:

4/5 Stars Trespasses by Anne Patrick

September 6, 2021August 23, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, mystery Anne Patrick, Leonor A Woodworth, wounded heroes

Wounded Heroes 2

Narrated by Leonor A Woodworth

Run Time: 5 hrs and 55 mins

Summary:

When the bodies of 3 women show up in a US senator’s back yard, FBI Special Agent Gabe Sullivan crosses paths with Mackayla Kensington, a freelance forensic sketch artist.

Additional Comments:

Of course, Gabe and Mackayla are attracted to each other. And of course, there’s a killer out there trying to kill the lady. The book fits the formula perfectly and still works.
Seems everybody in the book has a tragic past, except the bad guy.
It’s not quite money and power = evil, but it’s pretty darn close.
The PI side was a bit of a stretch in that it relied upon a few convenient things, but that’s fine.
Characters are likable. They’re not super memorable, but they’re likeable.
Performance fell in the decent realm.
Clean book. Christian themes were reasonably well handled. There’s one questionable use of God’s name, but I don’t think the character meant it that way.
There’s not much suspense. Things happen, but one never really gets the feeling Mackayla could be in real danger.
It’s a fine story. I would read more by the author.
The title doesn’t make much sense to the story. It fits the genre okay though.

Conclusion:

If you enjoy Christian romantic suspense and have a free afternoon, this is a light one. Go for it.

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3.45/5 stars Murder at Black Lake by Anne Patrick

August 29, 2021August 23, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, mystery Anne Patrick, Christian romance, Leonor A Woodworth

Narrated by Leonor A. Woodworth

Run Time 6 hrs and 45 mins

Summary:

A Hollywood actress returns to her roots to solve a mystery and face some past trauma. Jamie Riedel witnessed her father’s murder. Years later, she returns to figure out what really happened and close out her mother’s estate.

Additional Comments:

The danger never seemed real.
The bad guy had about a zillion chances to off the leading lady, but it’s not that kind of book.
Gage played the perfect hero well enough.
Jamie’s somebody you can root for. Her mommy issues were an interesting twist, but the conclusion to that thread was ho-hum.
The entire mystery builds and builds at molasses in January speeds and then concludes in about 4 seconds.
It’s a fine Christian mystery.
This is my second experience with Anne Patrick’s writing. It’s par for Christian romantic suspense. I liked the other story I heard better, but I’d definitely give her stuff another go. Everybody misses sometimes. This one’s a near miss to me.
Some of the side plots were interesting to watch unfold. I think several threads were laid just in case the author wanted to write a second in the series with Gage’s sister and the other cop.
As a mystery, it’s all right. The conclusion’s satisfying even if it’s predictable. Jamie’s life choices are also predictable. She basically has everything at the beginning and has everything at the end, plus the handsome hero.
There’s no real substance to the romance. They kiss a few times but everything seems to hinge on what they had in the past.
I do like that not every character was a saint. That lends credence to the credibility angles.

Conclusion:

You know essentially what you’re going to get with these stories. Handsome hero. Damsel in distress who can handle herself and everybody else but still likes a hero.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Guardian Angel Files: