NEW BOOK REVIEW

Trusting God through Cancer: A Collection of Cancer Survivor Stories of Faith and Hope ...By Ed Adams


After providentially meeting Kayla Hudson, a courageous young woman who has dealt with several cancer diagnoses, Ed Adams followed a nudge from God and collected stories of hope from cancer survivors—including Kayla—and their families. In each author’s unique voice, the stories detail the survivor’s diagnosis and treatment as well as the faith, love, and support that sustained him or her through the cancer journey. The survivors range from Izzie Pittman, diagnosed with leukemia at just eleven months old, to LeeAnn Lapum, who discovered she had breast cancer in her mid-fifties after nearly twenty years of dealing with MS. This book is relatable and encouraging for anyone who has dealt with cancer or is currently walking through this daunting disease as each story reminds readers that God is always with us.



OUR REVIEW

Trusting God Through Cancer: A Collection of Cancer Survivor Stories of Faith and Hope by Ed Adams is a beautiful dedication of love to and by cancer survivors or their care givers. Loving stories that will grip your heart, bring you to tears and yet you will come away with knowing how God has touched so many lives.

What's important about this book is that first of all, these cancer patients want to share their stories, no matter what the outcome is or has been (since these are very current stories) and secondly, people who have never been exposed to the battles of cancer need to know how important it is to give loving support in a non-judgmental way. 

Caregivers share their feelings of "why wasn't it me" or feel guilt for one reason or another, but the common thread through these stories was the hope and faith they grew in God.

I did find a passage in one of the stories the really grabbed my heart..."My encouragement to people who have cancer is that it is not the end of the world, but rather, the beginning of a new life."

All share a favorite Bible passage, their struggles and sorrows, and yet they are the ones sharing their faith of love of God to us.


                          Amazon Review

NEW BOOK

Love Defined ... By Leila Tualla

In their final summer before graduating college, three childhood friends expect an uncomplicated transition to adulthood…but learn they all still have some growing up to do.

Alex Makapulo is facing a crisis of faith.

Raised a Catholic, Alex is considering becoming a member of her best friend Jack Page’s church—against her family’s wishes—but she can’t quite take the final step of baptism. Jack loves Alex and doesn’t understand her hesitation, and Alex wonders if Jack’s love is a blessing or a distraction to test her religious conviction.

Lori Hanson embarks on the trip of a lifetime.

For her twenty-second birthday, Lori’s grandfather presents her with a summer vacation in England. While preparing for her adventure, she meets British musician Colin Watson online and quickly falls for him. They plan to hook up when she lands in London, but her grandfather forbids it. Due to complicated family dynamics, Lori must regretfully comply with his wishes, though she vows never to forgive him.

Andy Taylor is looking for love in all the wrong places.

When Andy runs into an old crush, she decides she wants a more meaningful relationship with sexy Miles Webber. But when she confides in Alex, her friend warns her Miles only wants her for sex. Andy becomes angry and devises a reckless plan to distract Alex’s attention from her relationship. Things don’t go quite as she expected, though, and Andy is left facing a crushing moral dilemma.

As the summer unfolds, three young women learn love and faith go hand in hand, not everything is black and white, and sometimes in a fast-paced world you have to slow down, breathe a little, and find your own definition of love.


OUR REVIEW


Right from the get go, I knew this was going to be an intriguing YA book. The cover of Love Defined by Leila Tualla, confirms this marvelous contemporary story of three college girls on the brink of discovering their new adult lives in the working world.

Author Tualla sets the stage where we are hooked into some kind of distressing event that is causing a lot of emotional tension between the girls.

Backing up three months to the start, we are introduced to college girls that have been friends for eternity, but even though their personalities are being constantly defined by age and life, friends stick together no matter what.



Three different girls, three different storylines, but uniquely blended together with some of the chapters opening with one of the girl's quotes, directing our attention to the storyline at hand and moving it forward.

Linda    

I have to admit I loved Alex's story, as she developed strength and maturity in her devotion to God. Her struggles were real, but her faith continued to grow and deepen as her friend's problems spiraled out of hand.

I loved the style of the author's writing, as Love Defined is as true to life as you can get. This is not a sugar coated book, but definitely a Christian story that is probably happening all over the world to young adults and older teens, over and over again. Although, as in real life, we don't know what will happen in the long run with these girls,  Tualla does give us a satisfying ending, knowing that God is faithful and His love endures. As the author reminds us: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Cor. 13:13

There must be a sequel to this book!

                                         Amazon Review

 

NEW BOOK REVIEW

Restored ... by Tanya Eavenson

Dr. Steven Moore is known nationally for saving lives. If only he could save his own. Unable to deal with his cancer prognosis, he retreats to a happier time in his past—to the woman who once stole his heart.

Four years after the death of her beloved husband, bookstore owner Elizabeth Roberts still struggles to sustain her faith and joy in the Lord as she raises her two sons. She strives to find a way through her family's grief, never suspecting a man from her past might offer hope for her future.

But how can there be a future when he's only come to kiss her and says good-bye?

OUR REVIEW

Author Tanya Eavenson blends life and death in the heartwarming  Christian romantic story Restored. Is it possible that love from the past can ever be forgotten or forgiven? 

Linda      

Eavenson's style of writing has a balanced rhythm to it. She incorporates the feel of heartache with the joy and love that the main characters develop as they find their way around some troublesome past events. As it is in real life, Restored has a nice Christian "flavor" flow to it. The story isn't pounding you over the head with trying to change your view of God, but speaking as we do in everyday life, expecting God has a plan for us.

Trust me, you'll need your tissues, but Eavenson doesn't leave us disappointed.

                                       Amazon Review