Bringing Maggie Home

**I was given a copy of this book in return for an honest review.  This post may contain affiliate links.  This review is my honest opinion of the book.**

I just finished Bringing Maggie Home, Kim Vogel Sawyer's latest release, and wow!

Happy tears.  So many happy tears.

The book is a tale of love, family, hope, and reconciliation.  The story revolves around a family of three women, a family like any other family, with drama, conflict, and sometimes underlying love.

Hazel, the matriarch of the DeFord family, has a secret that she has kept for nearly 70 years.  When she was ten years old, Hazel was picking berries with her three year old sister, Maggie.  All of a sudden Maggie disappears.  Still missing seventy years later, Hazel projects the guilt of losing her little sister onto her daughter, Diane, through fierce overprotectiveness.  Diane's daughter, Meghan, is forced to take a six-week recovery/vacation after an accident, which brings the women back together.  When Meghan uncovers Hazel's secret, she can't help but want to use her experience as a cold case detective to solve the mystery of what happened to little Maggie.

Hazel is my favorite character of the book.  She's so spry and faithful and wonderful despite dealing with such loss.  My heart ached for her, especially as we learned more about her life as a child and the way that the loss of her sister haunted her.

Diane, her daughter, was well, a spoiled brat.  I couldn't help but to be annoyed by her and her attitude toward her mother, toward her daughter's relationship with her mother, with her dogs, with her skepticism of her mother's faith.  How could she not understand her own mother once she became a mother?  Personally, being a parent has opened my eyes to my own parents motives.  I really could not identify with her at all, but I suppose that is the point.

Meghan was such a sweet character, who somehow turned out to be well-adjusted despite her mother, Diane's laissez-faire attitude toward parenting.  She has a strong, positive relationship with her grandmother Hazel that seems to ground her.  But it is easy to see that she has had to constantly be the mediator between her mother and grandmother, which seems like such an unfair role to have to play.

Bringing Maggie Home is Kim Vogel Sawyer's first time writing in a style that switches between the past and the present.  At first, I was unsure if I would like it, but I found it to be very effective in telling this story.

As a parent, this story was hard to read as I cannot imagine losing any of my children.  (My son happened to be three years old as I was reading it, so that may have played a role.)  But, let's just say that I shed some tears throughout Bringing Maggie Home.  Some sad tears, some happy tears.

Bringing Maggie Home is an amazing story.  I would highly recommend it.  The plot itself will leave you wanting to keep reading to find out, what did happen to little Maggie?  The writing is just superb, as expected from Kim Vogel Sawyer.  The historical pieces of the story bring a time of the past to vivid life.  And true to the Christian Fiction genre, the elements of Christian faith woven throughout the story create a beautiful picture of God's overwhelming grace.  Over the years, I've read a dozen or more Kim Vogel Sawyer books; you can read a few other reviews here. 

Get your copy of Bringing Maggie Home at Amazon -- click here.

Intentional Marriage: The Art of Loving Your Husband {Book Review}

Intentional Marriage: The Art of Loving Your Husband

The book, Intentional Marriage: The Art of Loving Your Husband by Crystal Brothers, reminds me of a cross between The Love Dare and good common sense advice, but specifically for a wife.  And honestly, sometimes we need that common sense to be forced into our lives.  The idea behind the book is that you cannot change your spouse, but you can change yourself. 

"You cannot pout, or argue enough to change your husband.  What you can do is change yourself."

For each of 31 days, Crystal provides a biblically based idea to intentionally love or serve your husband.  After the short devotion and idea for the day, Crystal poses related questions that will engage wives in thinking about how they can love their husbands, how they can have a contented attitude, and how God views their role as a wife.  The questions will engage wives in being intentional about loving their husbands. 

For me, the book really hits home.  I love my husband, but certainly there are days when I allow love to just be a feeling.  I'm not intentional about showing him love.  In fact, sometimes I'm just not willing to change, and I expect him to do all the changing.  Fair, huh?  In Intentional Marriage: The Art of Loving Your Husband, I can see that the problem isn't just what I'm not doing, it's my attitude.  God calls us to give cheerfully, to be filled with grace, to be unselfish.  And I love that this book calls me out on these things and more. 

I look forward to implementing the devotions into my daily life.  The daily action items can be those that go directly to your husband (like making his favorite dinner), but they also include conversations with the Heavenly Father, changes to yourself and your internal attitudes, and examining God's Word in the Bible. 

Not only is Intentional Marriage: The Art of Loving Your Husband a 31 day devotional, it is also a resource guide.  At the end of the book, Crystal includes even more valuable ideas for wives including:

• 101 Ways to Bless Your Husband
• 101+ Free or Cheap Date Night Ideas
• 101+ Conversation Starters

I love the ideas for ways to bless your husband.  There are many things that sometimes we, as wives, just expect our husbands to do for themselves.  What if we took the time every so often to show love by doing the expected (theirs) or the unexpected?

And the date ideas . . . Well you know me, I love being frugal!  One of my favorites is: go geocaching.  I used to think that people going geocaching were crazy, but now I think it sounds like a little adventure! 

And the conversation starters . . . I would say that my husband doesn't have any trouble finding topics of conversation, but there are some great questions in the book!   Everything from deep questions like, "What incident in your life has most shaped your faith?" to humorous questions like "If you were in the circus, what would your job be?"

I believe that Intentional Marriage: The Art of Loving Your Husband is an excellent resource for wives.  You can also find related resources and free printables on Crystal's website.  Click HERE to access them. 

You can purchase the book now until April 28, 2014 as a part of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle!  The bundle is only $29.97 for over $700 worth of books, printables, and more! 

You can purchase Intentional Marriage: The Art of Loving Your Husband directly for $3.99 HERE.

Check out my review of more books in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle:

·         The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule

·         Intentional Marriage: The Art of Loving YourHusband

·         Healing with God's Earthly Gifts (coming soon)

·         More than a Holiday (coming soon)

·         My Simple Healthy Life (coming soon)

·         How to Build a Strong Christian Home (coming soon)

This post contains affiliate links.

The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule {Book Review}

I've been drafting posts about routines and scheduling for a couple of months, but nothing I haven't gotten anywhere with it.  And I need a schedule.  Desperately.

There truly are many resources and printables out there, and I've found several that I like, but usually I don't even get around to printing them.  Forget about actually implementing them.

So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review Amy Roberts' The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule.  

Like I said,

I need a schedule.

Amy from Raising Arrows, is a homemaker AND homeschooler to 6 children.  Six!  If she can do it with six, then surely I can do it with one.  Right?

The amazing thing about this book is that Amy outlines steps to follow in creating a schedule.  And instead of starting from scratch, she encourages you to work from where you are.  I always had the mindset that my schedule should be the perfect ideal, and that I should just make up what I thought would be ideal.  Well, Amy takes a different approach, and I like it.

No creating drastic changes.

No adherence to specific times if that doesn't work for you.

No one size fits all mentality.

This book outlines your organizational type, the schedule creation process, example schedules, how to involve children in homemaking, and tips on how to stick with it.  The second part of the book covers scheduling for homeschooling.  Baby Prez isn't old enough to even think about schooling, but more on that later. 

As soon as I opened my review copy, I literally sat down and read the book cover to cover.  I didn't even intend to, but I couldn't stop reading!  And now I am following the steps outlined in the book.  I will admit that it has only been a few days, but already I am feeling better about my schedule/routine.  Now, unlike any time before, I am truly convinced that this will work. 

The first question the book asks is: Are you a schedule person or a routine person? 

My honest answer: I have no clue.  But I want to be a schedule person.  I've tried to be a routine person, and that hasn't worked particularly well (not that I really stuck to my routines anyways).  The good news is that both types can have an effective, but different schedule.

So I'm working on the steps and plan for a schedule person.  Since weekdays are not alike at my house, I have my handy-dandy notebook for recording my activities and drafting my tentative "I'm already doing that" schedule in Step 1.  Today was my first day to record my activities for the two days a week that my little guy is in daycare.  So, I won't be able to put the tentative daycare-day schedule into place until next week, but it felt like a good exercise to keep track of what I'm actually doing each day.  The exercise was beneficial not only in terms of creating a schedule, but also in terms of understanding where and when I'm wasting time.  I don't know about you, but too often, I get to the end of the day and wonder what I even did during all my waking hours.

Not only are the steps and exercises in the book useful, I was also struck by this quote at the beginning of the book:

"Let me entreat you to consider the God you serve and His attributes in this respect (remember, we are created in HIS image).  God set forth timing and order to nearly everything.  Our day is 24 hours, with a sunrise and a sunset.  We have a 7 day week, with a day set aside for worship.  The tides, the seasons, the revolutions and rotations of the planets are all in a set order.  Even God’s plan for mankind’s salvation and reconciliation to Himself was set forth in a certain order.  God is not a God of chaos." - Amy Roberts, The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule

Isn't that an amazing thought?

That God created the first schedule.

And it is incredibly inspiring to me.

These are a few of my favorite tips from the book:

• Daddy's Comin' Dash - Implement a 15 minute mad dash around the house at 4:30pm to get the house ready for Daddy to come home.
• Age-appropriate children's chores - It's time to start teaching my 10 month old to put his toys away and to turn lights on and off!
• Start with what you've got - And tweak, tweak, tweak.
• Chore cards - Hoping to get Baby President in on these as soon as he is old enough!
• And Prayer - praying for the right attitude about homemaking really can make a difference.  How did I not think of that before?

I also want to mention a bit about the homeschooling portion of the book. . .

Baby Prez is obviously not old enough for us to start any kind of schooling, but the idea of homeschooling has come up a time or two. . . or three.  If we decide that homeschooling is right for us, I will most certainly be referring back to The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule.  Probably every day.

Amy gives incredible advice, at least in my own inexperienced opinion.  She includes example schedules and resources for when family dynamics change.  My favorite piece of advice is this,

"I believe every homeschool parent should be working themselves out of a job.  When children are young, it is so vital we teach them to love learning so much they seek it with every inch of their little bodies! " - Amy Roberts, The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule

To finish up, I want to point out one more time, the incredible benefits I've found in reading The Homemaker's Guide to Creating a Perfect Schedule:

• The actual schedule-making process is provided
• Example schedules from the author's own life are available as resources
• Multiple scheduling methods are presented with each being unique and valuable
• Advice on how to make the schedule stick is right there!  (And I tell you what, that has always been a missing piece for me.)

You want to buy her book immediately, right?  Trust me, you won't regret it!

The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule is available right now as part of an 87-book homemaking bundle that you can purchase for just $29.97!  The book is $4.99 if you purchase it separately, so why not buy the bundle?

It is one of 8 books and 2 sets of printables on homemaking.

You can find more information about the bundle HERE or purchase it now:

The book is also available to buy separately at RaisingArrows.net, but if you purchase the bundle, you'll save nearly $700, plus receive bonuses worth $200!

*This post contains affiliate links.

Free Dave Ramsey eBook

The husband and I are just getting started reading some of Dave Ramsey's stuff, and it's great so far!  We are excited to get started with his Total Money Makeover next month.  And here's another one of his books for FREE!

Download a free eBook copy of Dave Ramsey's Complete Guide to Money HERE.  

Note: While the book is free, you are encouraged to give a "tip".  All tips go to the Young Life organization, which is a fantastic organization for high school students.  

Echoes of Mercy: Book Review

Being a part of an author's launch team is an incredible blessing for someone who loves to read!  My last review was back in September of What Once Was Lost.  And then there was the short fiction, Just As I Am, which bridges between What Once Was Lost and my newest book, Echoes of Mercy.  So, I was excited to find Kim Vogel Sawyer's newest historical Christian romance novel in my mailbox.  And the only thing I like more than a historical Christian romance novel, is a historical Christian romance novel with a hint of suspense.  And Echoes of Mercy certainly delivers!

Buy it on Amazon HERE.

Echoes of Mercy follows the adventure of Caroline Lang, a young woman driven to uncover the ills and misfortunes of child labor.  I think I am a woman who is passionate about God and that God has called my heart beyond just compassion for the children of the world who lack for love and comfort.  So Echoes of Mercy really spoke to me and pulled on my heart strings.  

I don't often review books here at Harvey Ever After and there are a couple of reasons for that.  The first one is that I simply enjoy reading, and so I like almost all books I read.  But the second reason is that if I were reading a review, I'd like to come up with some objective criteria through which I can compare books.  So, with this review I'm starting a scoring system along with some "vital statistics".  Like anyone trying to find an answer, I googled book review criteria, and there are all kinds of systems out there, but honestly, none of them really worked for me.  My inspirations, however, were from JeriWB, Mother, Daugher & Son Book Reviews (yes, one for children's books), and BookLook Bloggers.  My new book criteria are: organization, voice, word choice, character development, plot, and the faith factor.  (And a short summary!  I almost forgot that.  Oops!)

Vitals Stats 

Title: Echoes of Mercy

Author: Kim Vogel Sawyer

Genre: Historical Christian Fiction/Romance

Setting: Kansas, 1904

Summary

After a suspicious death at the Dinsmore Chocolate Factory, Caroline Lang takes on an undercover assignment as a factory employee to investigate the working conditions for children as well as the death itself.  Caroline is especially suited for the work through her background, passion, faith, and compassion, and fervently believes that children should be able to go to school instead of working in factories.  

The heir to the Dinsmore Chocolate Factory, Oliver, is also undercover at the factory.  He pretends to be a common laborer and takes a janitor job.  His goal is to fully understand the business before he takes over from is father.  Oliver and Carry hit it off immediately, but their bond is strained because each is trying to keep their identity a secret from the other.  They are brought together to help a destitute family, but discover that they have very different views on a key issue - child labor.  Will their differences keep them apart?  Or will God lead them down a path together?

Organization

Echoes of Mercy flows well throughout the story.  The voices are outlined clearly so that the reader always understands whose perspective we are seeing the world through.  The chapter beginnings and endings work well to move the story along.  And the appearance of the book cover, interior, chapter headings, etc. are pleasing to the eye.  

Voice 

I've noticed that in many of Kim Vogel Sawyer's books, the point-of-view, or voice, changes throughout the story among the primary characters.  The same is true for Echoes of Mercy.  I thoroughly enjoy this type of writing because I enjoy learning about the way each of the characters think.  There is a balance, however, in that the number of viewpoints is limited to two or three, which allows the reader to switch back-and-forth with ease.   

Word Choice 

The language used in the book is appropriate, especially given the historical nature of the book.  It is clear to me that the author has done extensive research and also understands the characters fully so as to maintain an obvious distinction throughout the story.  In Echoes of Mercy, I particularly like that the accents and speech tendencies are pointed out, and that they are consistent from beginning to end.

Character Development 

Caroline Lang - our heroine, who investigates child labor issues through undercover work at the Dinsmore Chocolate Factory

Oliver Dinsmore - heir to the Dinsmore Chocolate Factory, who is doing his own version of undercover work

Letta - a destitute teenager, who is desperately seeking work to support her brothers and father

Kesia - a sassy cafe owner with the biggest heart 

Gordon Hightower - factory manager, who has worked for the Dinsmore Chocolate Factor since he was a child

Noble & Annemarie - Caroline's boss and mentors who display incredible faith

Like so many of Kim Vogel Sawyers books, the characters in Echoes of Mercy are easy to like (and easy to dislike in some cases).  I could easily identify with the main character, Carrie Lang, in that we both are passionate about less fortunate children, though admittedly, our backgrounds are worlds apart.  Nevertheless, I found myself living out an adventure and a love story through Caroline's eyes.  Likewise,the male lead, Oliver, has a character that is endearing and admirable.  And the minor characters in this story are just fantastic - a sassy, compassionate cook/entrepreneur and three penniless, deprived siblings with the most adorable spunk, and determined, loving, and vigorous adoptive parents.  

Plot

As I mentioned above, the plot of this story drew me in at the start and didn't let up until the end.  I'm one of those people are so curious about the characters' lives after the story ends that I make up my own continuations of the story.  The plot builds up slowly enough so that the reader gets to know the characters before jumping into the action, and then the action is suspenseful with just the right climax.  In addition, the plot line and even the romance timeline are believable and probable.  So often characters are just thrown together and fall in love after meet a handful of times, but not here.  Not in Echoes of Mercy. 

Can loved ones keep secrets and still end up together?  In this tale, you will find yourself nervous and anxious for the characters.  Angry at others.  And still in awe at some of the incredible acts of faith and heroism.  Beyond that you'll wonder how the Caroline and Oliver can carry the burden of their secrets and how on earth they'll ever be able to come clean, especially to each other!  

Faith Factor

Since Kim Vogel Sawyer's books are Christian stories of hope and inspiration, the last criteria is the "faith factor".  I have read books in the past that claim to be stories of faith, but that seemed to pull a few verses in here and there all willy nilly at the last minute, almost as if the story wasn't written as a Christian novel, but that the author thought they'd have a better chance at getting published if they went that route.  I've never experienced that with a Kim Vogel Sawyer book.  And Echoes of Mercy was no different.  The faith of the characters and the stories of redemption and conversion were interwoven into the story as an integral thread.  Love it.  

Echoes of Mercy is truly an inspirational tale of love, adventure, redemption, trust and faith.  It now sits on with the books that I've read dozens of times because I plan to read Echoes of Mercy dozens of times.  The historical setting was believable and fascinating.  The characters were lovable and hateable.  The plot line kept me intrigued throughout the book.  I couldn't wait to get to the ending and yet I dreaded that the ending would be the end of the story.  And what an amazing message of God's mercy and grace.  Loved it!

You should also check out some of my other Kim Vogel Sawyer favorites - My Heart Remembers, Sweet Sanctuary, and A Promise for Spring!

Going forward, I'd like to start some sort of point system for each criterion above and an overall score.  Something like stars, but related to books.  What do you think?  Do have any ideas?  I'm thinking chapters, apples, fan mail . . .   

*I received this book from the author/publisher for my honest review, which is above. This post may contain affiliate links.

Reading List: Just As I Am

Just As I Am by Kim Vogel Sawyer is the next segment in the saga of Levi and Christina Johnson, and it will be released in just one week!  Preorder your copy today!

This newest story comes after What Once Was Lost, a full length fiction that I reviewed in September in this post, and sets the stage for the next full length fiction by Sawyer, Echoes of Mercy.  

Echoes of Mercy will be released January 14, 2014.  

"In this romantic 19th century-set short fiction follow-up to What Once Was Lost, while setting the stage for Sawyer's next novel, Echoes of Mercy, a young woman must let go of past rejections to find hope in the meaningful future God wants for her.

Daisy Forrester has been raised in Brambleville, Kansas at Dunnigan's Orphan Asylum by Levi and Christina Jonnson. As she has watched younger, more appealing orphans come and go on to new families, Daisy has spent years becoming a valued helper for Ma and Pa Jonnson, as the orphans call them. However, she is coming up on her sixteenth birthday, and it will soon be time for her to make her own way in the world.  Nervous about leaving the farm, she turns to the one connection she has out in the world--Robby, a friend who left the asylum before her and is now employed in Sinclair, Kansas at Dinsmore's World Famous Chocolate Factory.

Daisy heads for the safe harbor that is his friendship, but the outside world doesn't offer the friendly welcome  that Daisy dreams of and Robby faces unique challenges of his own in the form of an eager co-worker bent on sending Daisy back to Brambleville.  Can Daisy look beyond her own insecurities to embrace a young man with great affection for her, and a God who calls her 'beloved'--just as she is?" -- Amazon.

This is definitely on my reading list for this month, and at under a dollar, how could I not buy it?!?

Available for Preorder at Amazon: Just As I Am 

Available for Purchase at Amazon: What Once Was Lost

Available for Preorder at Amazon: Echoes of Mercy

*This post may contain affiliate links.*

What Once Was Lost: Book Review

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read What Once Was Lost before its release.  As a Kim Vogel Sawyer fan, I was excited to read another of her historical fiction books.  I'm a sucker for historical fiction in general, but Sawyer really goes above and beyond.  In What Once Was Lost, I was not disappointed.  Sawyer's attention to detail allows me as the reader to feel as if I understood what it would be like to live in times past.  

Not only is the historical accuracy there, but there is something unique about Sawyer historical fiction as compared to other historical fiction authors I have read.  Sawyer present a setting or event with which I was, as I would expect most readers would be, unfamiliar.  In My Heart Remembers it was the orphan train; in A Promise for Spring it was a sheep ranch; and in What Once Was Lost it is a poor farm.  

The characters in What Once Was Lost are captivating, especially Tommy, a blind child from the poor farm who must live with a rather stubborn loner after the poor farm is destroyed by fire.  Sawyer drew me in immediately through Tommy's character.  He is a lovable character who the reader can find an emotional connection with and who the reader will want to know more about and follow his story, hoping for a happy ending for Tommy.  The characters of Christina and Levi are also compelling; Sawyer develops the characters in such a way that causes the reader to want to keep reading.  

Not only has Sawyer created compelling characters, she has also developed a plot line that draws the reader in, wanting more.  What can be done after the poor farm is burned to the ground?  What caused the fire?  Where will the residents of the poor farm live?  Will the poor farm be rebuilt?  Where will the money to rebuild come from?  What will happen to Tommy, Christina, and Levi?  How will the Lord work in their lives?

In What Once Was Lost, Kim Vogel Sawyer delivers once again.  I would highly recommend this book as a great read for historical fiction fans and Christian romance fans.  

Available September 17th

at

Amazon & Christian Book