This was another short and sweet novella in The Quilted Heart series by Mona Hodgson. Similar to my review of the first in the series, this is a simple love story telling the story of Emilie, the shopkeeper's daughter, and Quaid, the son of Irish "teamsters". Emilie finds that her father, who she always thought to be accepting of all people, is less than thrilled to see his daughter showing interest in Quaid (and vice versa!). He asks Quaid not to "encourage her" and the story follows their response as a couple to this. Similar to the first, it is a simple story, without edge of your seat action, but an excellent, quick, uplifting read. I recommend it to those who enjoy a nice, clean romance. As with the first novel, I felt it could stand alone as it's own story. It follows characters introduced in the first book, but one does not have to read the first book to enjoy the second.

I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

This book was the one I thought looked the most interesting of the series, but disappointed me most at the end. The story was similar to the others, simple and sweet. This one did not have much romance in it though, but focused on the female character, Caroline, and also shared more of Anna's story as well. There was some romantic interest but it did not lead anywhere in this story; instead it focused on Caroline's feelings of being unwanted in her living situation (as well as not wanting to be immersed in the negativity there) and her dilemma as a single widow as to her plans for the future. She decides to leave on the wagon train with other families looking for new opportunities, but is denied by the leader. While the other two books in the series offered complete stories for their characters, this one really felt like a "throwaway" book. It felt like the author was just enticing you into the story to get you to buy the next series. It did not feel complete at all, and was really disappointing. I'm not a fan of the whole "novella" phenomenon. To me, its a money making ploy selling chapters of a book. It seems that the author is continuing with these characters, however, looking at the description of the first novel, it does not even continue with Caroline's unfinished story, but tells Anna's, which was a side story in the first book. This makes this novella even more of a throwaway for me; what is the point of starting a story that she doesn't plan to finish... WHile i was interested in the story, i'm not really interested in reading more "novellas" so i'm not so sure that I will be reading this next series, which is disappointing as I did enjoy the first two novellas, and the beginning of Caroline's story.

I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

The Passionate Mom is a great book that challenges you to be passionate about your kids. The author studied the story of Nehemiah and relates that to a mother's work of raising her children. I enjoyed the details of the story of Nehemiah, and really appreciated the stories from the author's life as well. It makes the book even more readable and enjoyable and brings the ideas alive. I loved that the book was not just ideas, but also included practical application ideas. When she discusses the importance of Prayer, she shares the 4 step pattern (I learned it as ACTS in high school) that Nehemiah follows (Adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication). She discusses the story of Nehemiah, makes parallels to a mom's mission, gives concrete steps and suggestions and then makes it even more understandable with examples from her own family. I recommend this book to christian moms who are passionate and intentional about raising their children and/or have a desire to become even more so!

I recieved a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.