Author: Kristi

Book Review: A Tale of Two Hearts

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A Tale of Two Hearts
Once Upon a Dickens Christmas #2
by Michelle Griep
read by Nan McNamara

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Christian historical romance, Christmas fiction

When William Barlow, the man Mina Scott has a huge crush on, asks her to pretend to be his wife so that he can remain in the running to be chosen as his uncle’s heir, she jumps at the chance. But things get complicated when Uncle Barlow puts off the decision, William’s rival and cousin starts to play dirty, and Mina begins to regret deceiving the kind uncle.

I really liked the previous book in this series, 12 Days at Bleakly Manor, so I was excited to start off my Christmas-season reading by continuing the series. Unfortunately, I didn’t like this one nearly as much. There were some tropes and cliches that I’m a little tired of, I don’t think I liked any of the bigger characters, and the plot was pure contrivance. Obviously any plot is going to be full of contrivances–they are made up by the author, after all. But it felt so much more like it was only a vehicle for the romance this time, and a lot of it seemed unrealistic.

One of the things that bugged me most while reading this book was the amount of times that William and Mina decided to tell Uncle Barlow the truth, and even started to, but couldn’t follow through for some reason. Frankly…they didn’t try very hard. Especially one moment in particular, when the uncle was up late and having a conversation with a woman who knew about the lie and knew they were looking to tell him the truth…rather than say he needed to have a moment alone with his uncle, at which point the woman in question would likely have agreed to leave, William just left. And on it went, dragging the plot on. And it turned out there were other secrets that were even worse for the uncle to have dropped on him.

Overall, I think what I really saw is that the story lacked much heart. Characters paid lip service to their morals and values, but didn’t follow through very well. And Mina’s dad was really hard to get a handle on. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator’s voice took me some time to get used to, but in the end, I think it was the characters themselves, along with the plot, that made this book a bust for me. I plan to listen to the third book in the series later this month, and I have high hopes that it recaptures the charm of the first book in the series.

Find out more about A Tale of Two Hearts

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November in Review

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I read 13 books last month, which is a startling amount for me, considering that it was the month of NaNoWriMo. Though not so surprising when you factor in how many of those were audiobooks, which I read at different times than my normal reading time that tends to suffer during NaNo.

Here are the books I read in November:

monster
new leaf
to steal
DC
29080789
Obsessed
unclaimed-1
Castaway
TCW 1-3
Dad
Prophet
Cooper2
2 Hearts
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The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson (5 / 5)
A New Leaf by Thomas Kinkade & Katherine Spencer (3.5 / 5)
To Steal a Heart by Jen Turano (3 / 5)
The Death Cure by James Dashner (3 / 5)
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (5 / 5)
Obsessed by Ted Dekker (4 / 5)
Unclaimed Legacy by Deborah Heal (2.5 / 5)
A Castaway in Cornwall by Julie Klassen (4.5 / 5)
The Cat Who Turned on and Off by Lilian Jackson Braun (5 / 5)
Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan (4 / 5)
Prophet by Frank E. Peretti (4 / 5)
Escape from the Island of Aquarius by Frank E. Peretti (4 / 5)
A Tale of Two Hearts by Michelle Griep (review pending)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 2 re-reads*. My favorite book from November was A Castaway in Cornwall (yes, I know it wasn’t my highest-rated for the month; I’m complicated). I finished 3 series**, continued 4 series, and started 0 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

*One of the re-reads involved listening to the author read a few chapters of his book every night live on Facebook/YouTube to beat the quarantine blues. I count it the same as listening to an audiobook.

**This includes 2 series that I did not reach the end of but decided not to continue reading, after being at least 2 books into the series.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: Escape from the Island of Aquarius

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Escape from the Island of Aquarius
The Cooper Kids Adventure Series book #2
by Frank Peretti

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian adventure

Archaeologist Dr. Cooper and his kids, Jay and Lila, travel to an island in the South Pacific to find a man thought dead, after a recent letter in the man’s handwriting was found floating in the ocean, on the dead body of a man whose cause of death was not completely clear.

I liked this book a lot more than the first one. While the first one had supernatural elements that require a lot of suspension of disbelief, the things that happened in this one were a lot more believable. The danger felt more real. And it had shades of two of my favorite Peretti books, The Oath and Hangman’s Curse.

I love the way Dr. Cooper stands up to everything with his faith and trust in God. I’ve gotten to a point while reading these books that when someone tries to warn his family away because the evil spirit or god in the area is dangerous or scary, I just smile as I wait for Dr. Cooper to tell them how much greater his God is. It’s a great lesson for the kids these books are written for. While they’re not likely to face anything close to what the Cooper family faces, their trust in God really can combat any fear.

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If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Prophet

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Prophet
by Frank E. Peretti
read by Cameron Beierle

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christian suspense

News anchor John Barrett just wants to live his life in peace, without his over-zealous Christian dad causing problems. Or his estranged son making him feel guilty for how he does his job. Or his co-workers skewing the news to promote their worldviews. But all of these things come to a head when his dad dies under mysterious circumstances. With the help of a fellow reporter, his own son, and a number of other people along the way, John is determined to get to the truth.

This is a classic Peretti book that I had never read before. I was a little hesitant going into it, because as much as I love Peretti, I know that some of his theology in the past has been a bit questionable to me as I’ve gotten older. And while I’m not sure that modern prophets exist, it was still a very interesting take on what it might be like if they did. I really liked the way that the different threads came together, in true Peretti fashion, but to be honest, in the end, I’m not sure the prophet angle was necessary. 

A lot of behind-the-scenes views were shown of the news station, as well as political ads for the state’s governor who was running for re-election. I thought I might find some of that tedious, but for me, they really added to the feel of the story. I did listen to the audiobook, though, so I don’t know what it would have been like if I’d been reading (maybe no different). I also appreciated the way that John often saw real life through the lens of making the news show, because it’s his whole life and how he relates even to his own son.

Though the book was published in 1992, it was very timely to what’s going on in our world, proving that the question of truth in politics and in the media is nothing new. Some of it was a little disturbing, to be honest, because I fully believe that this kind of thing does happen in real life. I’m really glad I took the time to read this book and didn’t just pass it off as old and outdated, like I thought about doing.

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If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Dad Is Fat

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Dad Is Fat
by Jim Gaffigan

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Parenting humor

Comedian Jim Gaffigan shares what he’s learned about parenting in his time so far as a dad of 5 kids, living in NYC, in a 2-bedroom apartment. There is plenty of opportunity to see the humor in that situation.

While a lot of what he deals with doesn’t really relate to me (I have 2 kids in a 3-bedroom house in rural Indiana), it’s still a fun read. It’s basically a series of essays with a range of topics from pregnancy to playdates to the sheer noise involved with having a house full of kids.

I’ve liked Jim Gaffigan’s comedy for quite a few years, and I think that seeing a lot of his stand-up helped with the enjoyment of the book. Make sure you read the Foreward with Gaffigan’s “audience member” voice in mind, for example. I wouldn’t say you have to have seen his stand-up to appreciate the book, but if you haven’t, you should just check him out anyway.

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Outcast Released!

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My second full-length novel, book #2 in a series of futuristic speculative fiction with a Christian worldview, is now available to purchase as both an e-book and a paperback! I’m so excited to see this series continue! See synopsis below and go here to buy the book.

Outcast on Goodreads

OUTCAST

Deep in the desert of Pithea lives an order of mercenaries. Assassins, thieves—they’ll do anything for a price. They are known in whispers and rumors as the Class of Morano. To this unconventional family belongs one Natos Morano, a member since birth. When a woman he’s never met kidnaps him in order to convince him to leave the order, he will be forced to choose between the only family he’s ever known and his true family that is long gone.

Remiel Azrael thinks his choice is easy when he discovers a woman in desperate need. But sometimes the noblest intentions result in the most unfavorable repercussions. And when the woman’s situation turns out to be more dangerous than he realized, Remiel comes face to face with a demon he thought he’d buried.

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NaNoWriMo Day 30

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The Words: 1187 words total for the day.

Still feeling less than stellar today, I did a lot of reading, playing, watching, and just generally nothing productive today. But I kept in the back of my mind that I needed to write, knowing that it wouldn’t take me long to finish the draft. I finally got to it at around 9:30 pm and took about 20 minutes to write the final scene. And I broke 75k words, which amazingly enough was my estimate of word count for this draft!

The Story: The final scene jumped ahead several years from the rest of the story. Part of me wonders if the scene is worth including in this book, but I like how it provides this mystery for the reader, since it shows the villain in a completely unknown place. It’s a teaser for a future story arc, but I’ll still have to decide whether to keep it or not.

FINAL word count: 75,082

Enjoy today’s NaNoToon from this day in 2009!
The final episode of the NaNoMusical is perfect for the final day of NaNo. Be sure to watch the wrap-up!

NaNoWriMo Day 29

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The Words: 1278 words total for the day.

We kept the writing time short today, just a couple of sprints, partly because I’m close to the end of the book, and partly because our whole family just feels crummy right now. At least I was healthy most of the month, which allowed for another great NaNo!

The Story: I got a little too…technical, and also very dark, with the explanation about what the villain gets up to in this book. I really didn’t like it, and probably won’t use any of it. I’m not sure, then, if the best thing to do is to continue to be vague about what she’s doing, or if there’s a way I can just make it sound better. And less dark, because I don’t want to suddenly go down that rabbit hole when the rest of this series is, at least generally, not quite so dark.

I have one scene left, and frankly, I can’t see how it will be very long. Tomorrow will probably be a very short last day of NaNo, unless I’m feeling much better and feel like rewriting some of the scenes from the beginning (an idea I held in reserve in case the draft came up too short and I needed more to write about to finish out the month), because I realized after I wrote them that they were from the wrong character’s POV. But we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Total word count: 73,895

Enjoy today’s NaNoToon from this day in 2010!

NaNoWriMo Day 28

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The Words: 2023 words total for the day.

I had to spend some time today doing last-minute changes and formatting work on Outcast, because it’s release date is Tuesday. So my daughter went on writing without me and reached her YWP goal of 20,000 words! But she still did a couple of sprints with me later, which gave me my words for the day.

The Story: Today was a meeting between this book’s villain and a future book’s villain, which was interesting. Though I think the conversation was a bit too calm and civil. Not that it can’t be calm, it just didn’t seem in-character for the current book’s villain, so I’ll have to work on that in editing.

I stopped writing when I moved onto a new scene, because I only have 2 scenes left in the draft. Neither of them do I anticipate to be any longer than 2500 words, so it seems that the best way to reach the end of the draft right at the end of the month is to write one of those scenes tomorrow and one on Monday.

Total word count: 72,617

Enjoy today’s NaNoToon from this day in 2010!

New Mailing List

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In advance of my new book releasing in a few days, I’m doing something I’ve been putting off for long time: starting a newsletter. Most news I do share here on this blog as well, but I know how bad I am at checking blogs that I follow regularly, so I’d imagine others are too. There will also be some extra tidbits now and then that are only in the newsletter. At most, these emails will be monthly. At the least…is there a term for every 6 months? As I think of it? Really, though, if you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any big news or announcements I have to share, enter your email address below and join my mailing list:

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