The Help Meet Wife

When I first saw the cover of Still Life by Christa Parrish, it immediately caught my eye. The cover is absolutely gorgeous and made me want to pick it up and see what the story inside was about. The description was so compelling, that I knew it was a book I wanted to read. The description reads: "Ada escaped her family’s self-enclosed world to elope with a mysterious stranger. Five months later, she’s a widow in a strange new world. Ada was born into a fringe religious sect named for her father, The Prophet. But her lifelong habit of absolute obedience was shattered when she fled the family compound to elope with photographer Julian Goetz. Katherine Walker’s marriage was a sham. She and Will rarely spoke without yelling—and never touched. Her affair brings her both escape and guilt. When a tragic plane crash takes Julian from Ada and exacerbates Katherine’s sense of shame, both women become desperately unsure of where they belong in the world—until the devotion of an art...

Supermarket Healthy: Recipes and Know-How for Eating Well Without Spending a Lot by Melissa D'Arabian promises to help you eat healthy on a budget - and without all those weird ingredients you can never find on your local supermarket shelves. The description reads: Food Network star and New York Times bestselling author Melissa d'Arabian proves that healthy eating at home is easy, achievable, and affordable. Everyone wants to feel good about what they are eating, serving guests, and feeding their families, but most of us don't do our weekly shopping at pricey specialty stores-- we do it at the local supermarket and we don't want it to break the bank. In her second book, Melissa demystifies the task of preparing nutritious and delicious food by showing exactly how you can make your grocery store work for you. She offers helpful strategies for shopping, cooking, and entertaining, as well as meal blueprints and nutritional information throughout. This book will make y...

Paper Hearts by Courtney Walsh is a delightful contemporary romance. The back cover reads: "Could the loss of her dream lead to her happily ever after? Abigail Pressman never would have guessed that love notes penned on paper hearts by an anonymous couple could challenge her doubts about romance. A business owner in a quaint tourist town, she dreams of expanding. But lately, she’s more focused on resisting the matchmaking efforts of the Valentine Volunteers, who gather in her store to continue Loves Park’s tradition of stamping mail with the city’s romantic postmark. When Abigail is unwillingly drafted into the Volunteers, she encounters the hearts, a distraction that couldn’t come at a worse time. A hard-to-read doctor has become Abigail’s new landlord, and he’s threatening to end her lease. As she fights a growing attraction to this man intent on crushing her dreams, Abigail is inspired to string the hearts in her store, sparking a citywide infatuation with the artsy tre...

A Fifty-Year Silence: Love, War, and a Ruined House in France by Miranda Richmond Mouillot sounded so intriguing that I just couldn't help but pick it up. It sounded like half memoir and half mystery, and those are two of my favorite genres, so I had to give it a shot. The book description reads: "A young woman moves across an ocean to uncover the truth about her grandparents' mysterious estrangement and pieces together the extraordinary story of their wartime experiences In 1948, after surviving World War II by escaping Nazi-occupied France for refugee camps in Switzerland, the author's grandparents, Anna and Armand, bought an old stone house in a remote, picturesque village in the South of France. Five years later, Anna packed her bags and walked out on Armand, taking the typewriter and their children. Aside from one brief encounter, the two never saw or spoke to each other again, never remarried, and never revealed what had divided them forever. A Fifty-Year...

Keep It Shut: What To Say, How To Say It, And When To Say Nothing At All by Karen Ehman is one of those books that I thought, the second I saw it, "I need to read this book immediately!". I have major issues with the tongue - I feel like I'm always putting my foot in my mouth! I haven't seen a good book about speech in a really long time, so I immediately snatched this one up, because I can use all the help I can get! The book description reads: "Keep It Shut by Karen Ehman explores how to better control your tongue, knowing what to say and how to say it, and realizing when it is best to say nothing at all. From Bible times to modern times women have struggled with their words. What to say and how to say it. What not to say. When it is best to remain silent. And what to do when you’ve said something you wish you could now take back. In this book a woman whose mouth has gotten her into loads of trouble shares the hows (and how-not-tos) of dealing with the to...

Own Your Life: Living with Deep Intention, Bold Faith, and Generous Love by Sally Clarkson is a great book for the new year. Many people are looking for a fresh start in the new year, and reading this book is a good place to start. The description reads: "Do you ever long for days full of joy and energy—days that bring out the best version of you rather than leave you exhausted? Do you sometimes catch yourself wishing life was more impactful and fulfilling? In a world that’s moving so fast, it’s easy to lose your sense of purpose. So now is the time to make each moment of your ordinary, everyday, beautiful existence count. It’s time to own your life. Sally Clarkson’s Own Your Life is a breath of fresh air into the life and soul of a busy woman. Like a faithful friend, Sally journeys with you to explore what it means to live meaningfully, follow God truly, and bring much-needed order to your chaos. Each page offers deeply personal, authentic, and practical guidance to help you...

The Expats by Chris Pavone is an exciting espionage thriller. I was immediately drawn in by the description: "Can we ever escape our secrets? In the cobblestoned streets of Luxembourg, Kate Moore's days are filled with playdates and coffee mornings, her weekends spent in Paris and skiing in the Alps. But Kate is also guarding a tremendous, life-defining secret—one that's become so unbearable that it begins to unravel her newly established expat life. She suspects that another American couple are not who they claim to be; her husband is acting suspiciously; and as she travels around Europe, she finds herself looking over her shoulder, increasingly terrified that her own past is catching up with her. As Kate begins to dig, to uncover the secrets of the people around her, she finds herself buried in layers of deceit so thick they threaten her family, her marriage, and her life. Stylish and sophisticated, fiercely intelligent, and expertly crafted, The Expats proves Chris...