A Riverwalk Christmas: Four-In-One-Collection

Authors: 
Elizabeth Goddard, Martha Rogers, Lynette Sowell, Kathleen Y’Barbo
ISBN: 978-1-60260-967-9
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.

*To purchase click the image to the left*




It’s Christmas in San Antonio and the river walk is the perfect spot for romance. This wonderland is festive and full of hot spots for locals and tourist, but does it have enough magic to put the love spell into four couple’s lives? I think it does! In this novel you will read four different short romance stories about four women living around the San Antonio river walk. Each relationship has its own past, present and future to delight the reader.

In the first story, Riverside Serenade, you meet Ecko Lewis and Joshua Sheppard. Ecko and Joshua are strangers connected in more ways than they realize at first. Their story is a whirlwind, love at first sight romance. It is a little corny but satisfying to the reader. In the second story, Key to Her Heart, Valerie and Colt’s story weaves the past of former love, old hurt and mistakes with the present, a homecoming, a reunion, understanding and the possibility of love if they can forgive. The third mini-novel, Lights of Love, chronicles lost trust, past mistakes, and the attraction that used to exist between Gabriela Hernadez and Miguel Rivera. The story addresses the subjects of forgiveness, new deeper love, hopes and dreams. The question is will love prevail? In this story on page 181 the title “The Hearts Harbor” appears at the top of the page. I assume this was an editing mishap as there is no such title anywhere else in this compilation. The final mini-novel, "Remember the Alamo", gives the reader the chance to meet Sienna Montalvo and Joe Ramirez. These two lovers relationship failed when they put their jobs ahead of one another. Now they are re-united by fate and the failed relationship, and its love not lost is re-kindled with forgiveness and understanding. It is a story of love to last a lifetime.

I enjoyed each of these short stories. As with all short romance stories, they can be a little corny and predictable at times, however they are completely satisfying, uplifting and comforting. The back drop of the river walk at Christmas time was perfect for these stories. Most all of the mini-novels centered on the river walk with the exception of “Remember the Alamo”. The authors even interweaved the stories with the others, giving the reader the impression of one town, one river walk and four simultaneous stories. If you love a good sappy romance this book is for you.

In the back of this book is a letter to the reader that asks for a quick moment of your time to help the authors better contribute to your reading enjoyment. I have included my answers to these questions for this review. First, I did enjoy “A Riverwalk Christmas” and would like to see more like it; however I would prefer two stories to a book in order to make them a little more realistic. Second, I did not purchase this book because I was given a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. However, the decision to choose this book above the others for review had to do with the cover, both front and back sides, the title, and the fact that it was four stories in one, which sparked my interest. The third question deals with the price of the book. I personally think the book is wonderfully priced with a great amount of entertainment and pages for the price. I would not hesitate to pay $7.99 for any 342 page book. Fourth is a question about my favorite of the stories. My favorite story was “Key to Her Heart” with “Riverside Serenade” as a close second. My least favorite was “Remember the Alamo”, I had a hard time getting through this story as it was so much different from the others. Lastly, I probably spend about 25 -30 hours a week reading. It is my passion and my nose is in a book as often as it can be. I usually like a book if I can give it 3 stars (average) or higher.

 
Reviewed for Reader Views

Flightless Goose

Written by Eric D Goodman
Illustrated by Nataliya Goodman
ISBN: 978-0975440254
Publisher: The Writer’s Lair Books
*To purchase please visit http://www.flightlessgoose.com/ or click the image to your left for Amazon*

Gilbert the goose is just like all of his other geese friends. He can swim, run, and fly. He loves to play with his friends and is very happy on his pond, until one day when Gilbert is hit by a car. The doctor patches Gilbert up but warns him that he will never be able to fly again. Though helpful at first, soon his friends are teasing him and playing mean tricks on him, calling him “The Flightless Goose”. Gilbert is very sad and when winter comes he is left all alone during the migration. Gilbert learns a lot over the winter and soon is as fast as can be on his feet! Gilbert learned to run! When some strangers visit the pond that spring and attempt to kidnap the geese Gilbert saves the day and soon learns being different is what makes him great!

I loved this story! The book is a great reminder to make the best of every situation. It shares a valuable lesson that being different and unique from others makes us special and great. Along with the story were some wonderful illustrations that made me smile. The illustrations capture the essence of the story along with the child like mid set. I was very pleased. The only thing I would change about this book is the odd orientation of six of the pages. While the rest of the book reads in a horizontal set up, these six pages read vertical making the reader rotate the book in order to read it. I found this transition awkward and unsmooth.

Overall the book is a wonderful story full of great illustrations. The book comes with a bonus CD that holds the audio version of this book if you buy it directly from its website at http://www.flightlessgoose.com/. I highly recommend this! My four year old daughter loves listening to the audio version of this book in the car or while she falls asleep at night. I recommend this book for children ages 2-8.

*To purchase Flightless Goose and receive the companion Audio CD visit http://www.flightlessgoose.com/*

 

The Enchanted Flounder

Author: Susan Meredith
ISBN: 9780984286669
Publisher: Rocking Chair Publications Inc.
*To purchase click the image to the left*




The Enchanted Flounder is a clean, humorous and important fairy tale that teaches the value of contentment. The story is about a fisherman who meets a flounder with the power to grant wishes. Completely content with his life the fisherman passes on the wish and the flounder promises to grant any wish he needs if he thinks of what, he should just ask. The fisherman’s wife is irate with him. She demands her return and asks her wish to the flounder. While the fisherman never ask for anything because he is happy with what he has, his wife keeps wishing for more and more until she gets exactly what she wants! Or is it? The story emphasizes a valuable lesson in being thankful and happy instead of greedy.


Grams Fairy Tales is a series of fairy tale stories written without scary stuff. The motto “Just tickles and giggles” is true for this book! As a parent I do not like to read books that could possibly scare my children or give them bad dreams. This story was fun and whimsical yet taught a lesson. The book is stamped with the “grandparent approved” label which I find endearing. The book consists of seven chapters that are two to four pages long which help break the story up. There are pictures mixed in but I didn’t notice any lack of pictures due to the great tale and how it is told.


Over all, I really enjoyed this book and my children and I enjoy reading about the talking fish who grants wishes! They think it is so silly and laugh. I enjoy the laughter along with the story and everyone is happy at the end! I would suggest this book for children ages 2-10, though it is sure to be enjoyable for all who read it. I look forward to reading and reviewing other titles in this series.



Reviewed for BookPleasures

Really Woolly Bible Stories

Author: Bonnie Rickner Jenson
Illustrated by Julie Sawyer Phillips
ISBN: 978-1-4003-1633-5
Tommy Nelson – Thomas Nelson Publishers
*To purchase click the image to the left*



Really Woolly Bible Stories is full of 17 wonderful Bible stories that show God’s faithfulness and protection along with Jesus’ promise that he will always take care of his children. The stories start with creation and travel through the Old Testament and into the New, ending with a goodnight prayer. Children will learn about Noah, David & Goliath, Jesus birth, The Good Samaritan and Easter along with many more reassuring Bible Stories.


Really Woolly Bible Stories is a great bedtime storybook. It is easy to read a story a night and discuss it with your child, answering questions and reassuring them of God’s faithfulness, love and protection. My daughters really enjoyed the cover of this Bible book along with the illustrations and easy to understand stories. Each story is written in a four stanza rhyming pattern making it easy to read and simplistic in meaning. I would recommend this Bible story book for children ages 0 – 6 years. It would make a wonderful gift!

I have 1 copy to giveaway thanks to the publisher!

To Enter:  Click here to access the form!

The winner will be chosen on 11/14 at 11:59pm (CST)

(US/CAN Only) Good luck!

**I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze book bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC's 16 CFR, Part 255**

Lois Lane Tells All

Author: Karen Hawkins
ISBN: 978-1-4165-6027-2
Publisher: Simon and Schuster


Susan Collins has an explosive attraction to her temporary boss, Mark Tremayne. Mark has returned to their town of Glory in hopes of making The Glory Examiner profitable again. Susan and Marks attraction is mutual and irresistible but Mark will not be staying in Glory permanently and he is her boss! When the towns “murder mystery club”, a group of extremely bored assisted-living center residents, start investigating strange “accidents” around town, Mark and Susan’s resistance breaks down. While Susan investigates the annual Baptist Church Bake off, Mark discovers more and more about this charming and crazy woman and the town she loves. The question is will he be able to love it too?

Lois Lane Tells All is an exquisite novel of humor and romance, combining the charms of small town life with everyday people and believable occurrences. Susan, who has always had a thing for Clark Kent, is looking for her own real life superman. Mark quickly discovers Susan is much like Lois Lane and together their steamy scenes are kryptonite. The novel is full of charming characters that made me laugh on numerous occasions. Both Susan and Mark have past that could hinder their future together if neither is willing to change. This light suspense throughout the book was great! I wondered multiple times what was really going on.

Overall this book was highly enjoyable and I am now a fan of Karen Hawkins! I will not hesitate before reading another one of her books. My initial fears about this novel being to superman filled for me were quickly distinguished. The author used Susan’s love for all things superman at the perfect dosage for the story. I was instantly captivated and didn’t want to put the book down. I loved that I could feel the heat and desire between the characters in between steamy scenes. The book has a very realistic feel to it. It was a pleasure to read and is definitely in my “re-read” pile.


Reviewed for Author Exposure

It's Friday! Let's Blog Hop!

 

I created a special page just for Blog Hop Friday!  I would love for you to look over my reviews and my blog but if you want to find my blog hop page (where my answer to this weeks question is safe and sound.....) Click Here.  Don't forget to stop by my giveaways!  There is a convenient link on the top right hand side of my blog above the followers!  Did you miss anything this week?!?  Below are this weeks links to my reviews and post please visit one and leave me a comment so I can visit you back!

Fabulous Franko and his Fabulous Toys

Enter to Win 'Simply Suppers'

Season of Miracles

The Peacemaker Parent

The Wishing Trees

Life is Good Award

 Thanks for Hoppin!

Fabulous Franko and his Fabulous Toys

Written by Jane Matlock
Illustrated by Kate Seeley
ISBN: 0-9756719-0-1
Publisher: Think-a-lot Toys
*To purchase click the image to the left*


Fabulous Franko has quite a lot of fabulous toys which he takes on fabulous adventures! When Franko’s favorite new red car breaks, Franko finds a new favorite toy, until it also breaks down. The toys don’t quit coming until Franko’s imagination is too tired to handle more. Even then, he still has a few ideas in store.


My 4 year old daughters’ thoughts:
It was great! He had a car but that broke. He had a tank but that broke. He had a spaceship, but that broke. He had and airplane, but that broke too! When they broke he sat and was sad until he got a new toy. When he had no more money in his bank he played new games, read, drawed a picture and had fun still. I’m going to draw a picture too!


This book was amazingly adorable and imaginative! My daughter and I had a grand time reading about Franko and his many adventures with his favorite toys. The book used some British English but comes with a handy glossary in the back for those few that might be unfamiliar. My daughter enjoyed learning the British English words and found a few of them funny. The book has some wonderful illustrations! They are imaginative and bring the story of Franko and his toys to life. The book is written in an easy rhyming format with four line stanzas making it easy to read. It is full of imagination and color with a humorous side!


Fabulous Franko and his Fabulous Toys was a great break from the crowd of books available for young readers. My daughter and I really enjoyed every minute of this book and we read it quite often. There are so many things to look at and draw attention to in the illustrations. I would highly suggest this book for children ages 2-8. My two year old didn’t sit for the entire book but instead she enjoys looking through the pages at all of the pictures. It is a book that parents can enjoy along with their children and book children can grow with.
 
 
Reviewed for Bookpleasures