Lena, a former pastor's wife, had been falsely accused of embezzlement and sent to prison. This story begins at her release from the correctional center and follows her struggles to begin life anew. A new town, a new job ... it should be fairly easy to start over, right? At first it appears to be...
What a lovely story, especially when you read it during this holiday season. Betty, a widow, is feeling lonely and not in the Christmas spirit. Part of it is due to her new, unfriendly neighbor Jack. Then, two things enter her life - a mongrel dog and her adopted run-away granddaughter.It is grea...
Think Hallmark Christmas special. If you like them, I think you'll like this book and most of this author's other Christmas stories. If you don't like them, you will probably want to pass this by. Yet, this book is a little more mature than most of her other Christmas stories. We don't get page u...
Homecoming Queen seems like a novel that would be about the race for homecoming queen. Fortunately there is some action and surprises that are not expected. This book might not relate as many readers, but it does keep your attention. I really enjoyed this book's unexpected turns. The title i...
I thought the second book in this series was a whole lot better than the first. We learned more about the characters, their lives, and their personalities. Megan is the Christian in the group, dealing with a non-Christian boyfriend and trying to deal with an extremely difficult boss at work. She'...
Viva Vermont is another great book in the Carter House Girls series. This novel tells a good story as well. This was another great story that gives some good advice for teenage girls. It relates to a lot of readers and their struggles. There were a few unexpected things in this book, but mos...
Anything But Normal - Melody Carlson(*SPOILER ALERT!!!*) 3.5starsFrom the few Melody Carlson books I've read, I've seen that she writes about problems. The certain subjects that desperately need to be dealt with but no one wants to write about for fear of offending others. This was another one of...
Whether you're a Christian or not, whether you're a teen or not, everyone needs to read this book. This book is about how a shy, awkward teenage girl is transformed into a pretty, confident girl. Chelsea Martin is what one would call a jerk magnet (hence the title).In this book, Chelsea realizes ...
I have to admit, I am shocked. Normally with Melody Carlson's books and think "PTL, that is not a series, now I won't have to feel obligated to read more!" or "Oh, it's a series...I should probably read them all...". You may ask "why? why does she read them if she doesn't like them?" I will tell ...
In the second book in her On The Runway series we see both Paige and Erin Forrester go to New York City for fashion week. Before they leave for New York they interview local designers, including a green designer. She also includes some of the girls from her Carter House series in this book wher...
This book is described as "Edgy Christian YA lit." I could see how some teen/tween girls would like it. I found it painful- in writing, plot, and substance. The Christian piece is definitely there, as the models are often "praying for" one another and "learning how to be a good Christian," and Ta...
Even though this book follows the "The Gift of the Magi" storyline, I still wasn't sure about the ending. The description of the book led me to believe that someone was going to die at the end. (Spoiler) No one did. I thought the book was a real downer, even if it did have a happy (or somewhat ha...
I enjoyed this book, although it did not hold up to my expectations.I purchased this book as I was in a pinch and needed something to read on the train - this was available and caught my attention so I picked it up. I found the book was sort of dumbed-down... it was written from the perspective o...
When I began reading this story, I just had to laugh… imagine a single guy who inherits six fussy felines from his grandmother; there are restrictions on who they can be given to…Who could possibly place all six cats with happy homes before Christmas?Then it really hit my funny bone – hard – when...
Reading this book was a very interesting experience for me. Being a make, a good portion of the book kept feeling quite trite & girlish. But beneath it all was the constant feeling that I could relate to every character's thoughts and experience (which at times made me blush as a dude)Janie, Marl...
Daphne had huge dreams when she graduated college and headed to New York City to become the New York Times best reporter ever. After years of writing the wedding announcements she returns home to Appleton, to attend the funeral of her Aunt Daphne. After learning that Aunt Daphne was secretly a w...
First read with this author. My Kindle is giving me all kinds of recs. of these to read. If you are in the mood for a feel good story with kind of a pioneer twist to it I strongly suggest this book. There is another in the series and it is downloading as we speak. If I like it half as much I will...
I am hooked on books by Melody Carlson, she is most certainly one of my favorite authors! This is a wonderful story,it has Amish and Englishers characters in it. I loved all the characters,and Holly, a sweet and loving little girl, made me shed a tear or two. This story brings out how important i...
Extremely disappointing novel. Not well written AT ALL. This book could not have been more disappointing. Unfortunately Carlson waited until the end of the book to make the love story take shape between the lead character and her love interest. Throughout the book she doesn't interact with him an...
I enjoyed every part of this book. The writing is very well-done and the story is well-paced. The characters are believable and fully developed. I love pioneer fiction, but I sometimes find that books in this genre seem overly trite. This book was great. I really look forward to reading the rest ...
This book was about Katrina Yoder, a young Amish girl living out in the country with the rest of her community. Katrina has the voice of an angel but with the Amish singing is viewed as a sin. Katrina's father has had very bad health problems and they just seem to get worse and worse and Katrina'...
I really enjoyed reading this title. I especially liked the way that the mother and father got back together. I liked this book a lot and would recommend this book to all my friends and family. I would love to read more of Melody Carlson's books. If you like romance at its best in my opinion this...
Excellent! This is the fourth of the Four Lindas books. I hadn't read the first three (although now I have to hunt for them) but it didn't matter, although I admit I had to make up a "cheat sheet" to keep all of the characters and their various families straight. Melody Carlson's books always ...
I Do is my go-to book for when I’m feeling upset. Not because I think the storyline is particularly scintillating, but because for me, it was the perfect ending to a series I’d followed and loved.The series itself follows Caitlin O’Connor and her journey as a teenage Christian girl. There are ups...
I found in this diary, the author lacked with racial and ethnicity issues. She tidied everything up with a perfect bow, when in reality, this issue is going to be one of the most dominate throughout her life. "I get way too focused on the here and now and as a result I sometimes forget. I lose pe...
If you have ever wondered what the average high school girl would write about in her diary, then look no further than Melody Carlson's, Diary of A Teenage Girl, Becoming Me. The reader is taken into the diary of Caitin O'Connor, a sixteen-year old Junior in high school dealing with all the things...
After reading Its My Life, I decided that it was my favorite book. I have chosen to rate it with four stars. I did not put five because this book is a Christian book and it limits it audience. The author, Melody Carlson, creates a very tense mood and makes the reader more eager to read on. With g...
I really am loving this series. Lots of interesting things happened in this book with the characters and with the band in general. I still related to this book but differently and not much mainly because I am obviously not in a band (but that would be awesome!!!). I still really liked the poems/s...
So many characters, several of whom are related in some way or about to be.There's Elizabeth whose husband Phil doesn't pay her much mind. At this point, she's thinking about what life might be like without him in the picture. Elizabeth is aunt to the bride, Jennifer. Conner and Patrick, usher...
So I’m in Value Village. I don’t know if you Americans have Value Village down there, but if you don’t know what it is, it’s a thrift shop chain of stores. There’s like, four in every town. It’s basically like the Tim Hortons of thrift shops. (I guess you wouldn’t know what Tim Hortons is, either...
I found this book to be a quick and enjoyable read. Alice finds her father's diary that he had written while in high school. Then the Howard sisters gather in the evenings to read it together, discovering their father's difficult family situation and the roots of his faith journey. Also they l...