The Help Meet Wife

Through a Man's Eyes: Helping Women Understand the Visual Nature of Men is Shaunti Feldhahn's latest offering (cowritten with Craig Gross). I've loved many of Shaunti's previous books, including For Women Only, The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages, and The Good News About Marriage. This book expands upon one of the principles in her earlier work, For Women Only, about the highly visual nature that is ingrained in men. This is a very difficult topic, and had trouble reading it - not because it was dry or unhelpful, but because it stirred up lots of uneasy feelings due to the hard truths that are shared! However, you will ultimately leave the book encouraged and better equipped to pray for and help not only your husband, but your sons. Chapters included are: -What Men See -Why Men Are So Visual -Just Because They Want To Look Doesn't Make Them Jerks -The Internal Outcome of External Attraction -Different Men, Different Draw -Nixing The Knee Jerk An...

'Til We Meet Again: A Memoir of Love and War by Ray and Betty Whipps (with Craig Borlase) is the sweeping and epic love story of two young people caught in the grips of World War II: Ray an infantryman and Betty a field nurse. As soon as I saw this book, I knew it would be one I'd want to read. It reads like a historical romance novel, except it's a true story! The story is shared in the first person by Ray, with letters from Betty sprinkled throughout the book. This is a wonderful story of a steadfast faith in God, regardless of outside circumstances. The back cover reads: "Ray and Betty Whipps both served in Europe during WWII: Ray as an infantryman under General Patton in the trenches of Normandy, Paris, and Belgium, and Betty as a field nurse in Cherbourg, France. The two met when Betty tended to Ray after he was injured in a mortar blast. Both strong Christians, the two bonded over their shared faith, and as Betty nursed Ray back to health, they fell in love an...

Drawing Fire is Janice Cantore's sixth book, and the first book in her new Cold Case Justice series. I love crime and police procedural books, so the fact that Cantore blends those genres with Christian fiction makes her one of my favorite new authors. I also love the fact that her books are all set in southern California, since that's where I live. It's fun intimately knowing the locales she sets her books in. Her new series focuses on detective Abby Hart and private investigator Luke Murphy. The back cover reads: "With a possible serial killer stalking elderly women in Long Beach, California, homicide detective Abby Hart’s best lead is Luke Murphy, an irritating private investigator who saw a suspect flee the scene of the latest homicide. But as she works with the handsome PI to unravel the serial killer case, she must also confront the spark between them. When Abby discovers that the most recent victim is related to the governor, she’s anxious to talk to him abo...

Bradstreet Gate is author Robin Kirman's thrilling debut novel. I was immediately drawn to this book because I love a good thriller, and it sounded like it fit the bill. Bradstreet Gate is less about the murder mystery and more about the lives and friendships surrounding it, but it was still a great page turner with a little mystery and drama thrown in. The back cover reads: "A tour de force about three friends affected by a campus murder, for readers of Donna Tartt, Meg Wolitzer, and Jeffrey Eugenides Georgia, Charlie and Alice each arrive at Harvard with hopeful visions of what the future will hold. But when, just before graduation, a classmate is found murdered on campus, they find themselves facing a cruel and unanticipated new reality. Moreover, a charismatic professor who has loomed large in their lives is suspected of the crime. Though his guilt or innocence remains uncertain, the unsettling questions raised by the case force the three friends to take a deeper look...

The Last Con is up and coming author Zachary Bartels' second offering. I read his debut novel, Playing Saint, and enjoyed it quite a bit, although I did have some small complaints about it. So when the opportunity arose to read and review his next book, I was excited to read it. I was kind of hoping for a sequel to Playing Saint, since it left off on a semi-cliffhanger, but The Last Con is a stand-alone novel. The book description reads: "THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA WERE THERE WHEN JERUSALEM FELL, THEY WERE THERE WHEN THE TEMPLARS DISINTEGRATED, AND THEY’RE THERE NOW . . . WAITING IN DETROIT FOR A BORN-AGAIN CON MAN TRYING TO SAVE HIS FAMILY. Former con man Fletcher Doyle is finally home after six years in the pen. He’s working a menial job, regaining his bearings in the world, and trying to revive his relationships with his wife and twelve-year-old daughter. No easy feat. But when Fletcher and his family go on a mission trip to Detroit—in the company of the condescending chur...

I was super excited to receive a copy of the third book in Joanna Weaver's Mary and Martha Bible study "trilogy", Lazarus Awakening. I have read and loved her two prior books, Having A Mary Heart In A Martha World and Having a Mary Spirit, and enjoyed them immensely. Somehow, however, it had escaped my knowledge that Weaver had written a final book in the series - Lazarus Awakening. As soon as I found out, I knew I had to read it - and I wasn't disappointed. The back cover reads: "Now includes a bonus chapter! For many of us, moving the truth of God’s love from our heads to our hearts is a lifelong process. You believe that God loves the world… but sometimes you wonder if He truly loves you. In Lazarus Awakening, the final book in her life-changing Bethany trilogy, Joanna Weaver invites you to experience a divine shift in how you view your relationship with God. Shattering spiritual formulas for performance-driven faith, Lazarus Awakening clears a...

Hiding in the Light: Why I Risked Everything to Leave Islam and Follow Jesus is Rifqa Bary's story of faith, bravery, and hope. Stories by people who have converted from Islam to Christianity have always fascinated me, so I knew this was a must-read book for me. The description reads: “After four years of hiding my faith from my family, I knew that it was time. I wrote with shaky hands, ‘Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I refuse to deny him….’ There was no turning back now. I had to get out of that house if I wanted to live. Was this worth risking everything for? Yes.” Rifqa Bary grew up in a devout Muslim home, obediently following her parents’ orders to practice the rituals of Islam. But God was calling her to freedom and love. He was calling her to true faith. He was calling her to give up everything. Leaving Islam for Christianity cost her more than she imagined but gave more than she could have dreamed. Hiding in the Light is the story of Rifqa’s remarkable spi...

Center Of Gravity is Laura McNeill's stunning debut novel. Often, I'm nervous about reading an unknown author's debut, because I don't know what to expect, but the description of this one was just too intriguing to pass up! This novel follows Ava Carson, her deranged husband Mitchell, her stepson Jack whom she adopted, and Ava and Mitchell's infant son, Sam. The description reads: "The truth could cost her everything. Her whole life, Ava Carson has been sure of one thing: she doesn’t measure up to her mother’s expectations. So when Mitchell Carson sweeps into her life with his adorable son, the ready-made family seems like a dream come true. In the blink of an eye, she’s married, has a new baby, and life is grand. Or is it? When her picture-perfect marriage begins unraveling at the seams, Ava convinces herself she can fix it. It's temporary. It’s the stress. It’s Mitchell’s tragic history of loss. If only Ava could believe her own excuses. Mitc...