This book is a spin off of the Love and Respect in marriage book. The premise as applied to the family is that kids need love and parents need respect. The main points of the book make sense, though i don't really see myself sitting down and explaining the cycle to my kids as the book suggests. For me, this book is better used as a reminder that i need to love my kids unconditionally and not react to their misbehavior in inappropriate ways. It is an attitude check for me. I think most kids know that parents expect respect and it seems unncecessary to have "the discussion" about it. My favorite parts of the book were the chapters towards the end. The author uses the acronym GUIDES to present the six ways of Godly parenting which i agree with. If you want a book to tell you what to do in certain situations, this is not the book for you. The book more presents general guidelines, even in the D section which is about discipline. Chapter ten, about teamwork is a powerful chapter. The author talks about the most important relationship in the family- the marriage! He says that the relationship that most impacts the family is the parents relationship with each other. He encourages parents to work as a team when parenting, and to put the marriage relationship first. i agree that this is a vital point that so many parenting books don't even touch on. The book also includes a chapter on "Parenting pink and blue" where the author discusses the differences when parenting boys and girls. He suggests that boys need respect and girls need love reinforced in their interactions (just as men need respect and women need love with respect to the marriage relationship). My husband and I found this book to be so true in our marriage, and it is interesting to see how it begins to play out at a young age as well. The part that was most convicting for me however, was in the section 3 about the family rewarded cycle. The book discusses how parenting is more about our relationship with Christ, and having the right attitudes and responses because of our faithfulness to Christ and not necessarily because of how our children behave and respond to us. It talks about how sometimes we get our self worth from how our kids behave (or misbehave!) when it should come from our worth as a child of God. One particularly good quote was where the author states that our kids don't cause us to sin in our responses, rather they reveal the sin in us. My takeaway from this book is most from those last few chapters- if I am having such a difficult time with remaining calm and loving, then my faith is not where it needs to be and I need to lean more on Christ and firm up my faith. I would recommend this book to all Christian parents, and strongly encourage that you read through to the end, even if the first few chapters don't speak to you. THe best in this book is at the end!

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

This book is authored by the author of the popular blog Moneysaving Mom. I've loosely followed her blog for a while, and I will say that a lot of the info I felt I had already read on the blog. However, I LOVE having a hard copy all in one place to work through. i'm sure there is new information and it's expanded from what I remember reading on the blog. Its exactly what the title says, simple strategies. It is doable and it will get your crazy house and life pulled back into a more doable, normal lifestyle. I love that she talks about doing what is right and enough for you, for example with housecleaning. I don't feel like i'm being pushed to turn into a crazy, OCD cleaning freak, but that she urges you to think about what is enough for you and your family. Throughout the chapter, she offers exercises and ideas to get your mind going, and at the end, always summarizes with a few thoughtful prompts or exercises to do. While I don't feel like my life is out of control, I do struggle with motivation to get things done, and I think this book will be really helpful to read through a second time, and really think about and do the exercises. As I said, I love that it's a hard copy all in one place and I don't have to go hunting for individual blog posts from series. I think this is a very helpful book for any homemaker at any stage of life, whether they are just starting out (how amazing to get on top of things from the beginning, before you get overwhelmed!), to working moms and stay at home moms of any number of kids (or no kids!). I would definitely recommend it and plan to work through it again and apply principals to my own homemaking experience!
The author is a Christian and while she doesn't hide it, it is not overwhelming for those who are not of the same faith. For me those parts add so much to the experience of the book, but one could easily skip over those sections if not interested.

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

I really enjoyed this novel. In summary, Caroline is an investigative agent sent to a chocolate factory after the death of a fellow agent in order to determine whether his death was an accident or murder. She meets and is attracted to Ollie Moore, who turns out to be the son of the owner, undercover in order to understand the inner workings of the factory and its employees in preparation for taking over the management from his father. Caroline's compassion leads her to help Letta, Lank, and Lesley, three poor children left alone when their father dies. Ollie also becomes attached to the children and both they and Carrie change him from a good man to an even better one. There is mystery as Carrie tries to investigate the goings on at the factory and romance. The children's story is intertwined throughout the story and definitely adds to the book as they affect all the characters lives. I thought the author developed her characters well and I definitely felt attached to them. Carrie's faith and compassion are so real, and the children's heartbreak and joy are well expressed too. I found myself tearing up with them as things are settled at the end of the book.

Overall, it was an excellent book and I would recommend it to those who enjoy Christian mystery or romance novels.

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

I was disappointed in the middle of the book where he goes all psycho and eats whoever he wants. The book sounded like he was going to try harder to be a "good" zombie, when really he only ate 1 bad guy before he went nuts. He redeems himself at the end I guess.

This book was a fast read for me, it's a mystery novel mainly concentrating on four siblings, 3 of whom dabble in working for a private detective (who is dating one of them) and who are drawn into another mystery when Juliet's successful doctor husband is executed before her eyes.  They conduct their own investigation, partly working with the police and FBI. This book is a tough one. I liked the story idea, I was drawn in and wanted to know what happened.  The idea of the hidden life of the husband was intriguing.  Now, if you typically enjoy Christian mystery novels and Blackstock's work in particular, and are not super detail oriented when reading,  stop reading this review right here and go get the book.  You'll probably enjoy it immensely.


For me however, there were just too many things that seemed illogical or tweaked to fit what the author wanted to happen. The first was that Juliet as sent home the night of the murder with a bag of her husband's effects, cell phone, wallet etc. She is the first to hear a message threatening her husband and their family. Now, I'm not in law enforcement, but I have never read a book or seen a movie where the victims personal items were not kept as evidence. It seemed like the author just wanted to advance the story and give Juliet a reason to start digging. There were many similar things. The police did not gain access to his computer files, home office, work office, etc until Juliet and Co. had a chance to search it and offered it to the police because of what they found. When Juliet is wired by the FBI to talk to her husband's mistress in hopes of gaining information, she is allowed to decide where they go afterward and who she tells what she found to (she includes the PI and her sister) and the FBI just follows her around like puppies. There were so many things like this that took the enjoyment out of the book for me. And the end of the book was terrible.


SPOILER!!!!!



Everything wrapped up so quickly and when the FBI come in and start executing everyone, there is never any explanation of why or how they were involved in the drug ring. I did appreciate Juliet's "sacrifice" at the end, but again it felt just thrown out there, and that the author could have done a better job of fleshing it out.



I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them but I don't think I would recommend this unless you are a reader who can whiz through and not focus on the details!


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