Book Review: When Love Blooms

I am very super stoked to announce that I get to be a blog book reviewer for Zondervan! Some women go gaga over shoes or clothes or make-up... for me... it's books. I can spend a better part of a day in any bookstore and I'd survive just fine on a desserted island with food, water, shelter and books. No volleyball needed.

My first set of books Zondervan sent me consisted of a romance novel, a suspense novel and non-fiction book. Hmmmm... what did the hopeless romantic pick up first, yup that's right- the suspen... oh, wait! HaHa, just kidding. It was the romance novel When Love Blooms by prolific writer, Robin Lee Hatcher. (One of my favorite authors.)

The premise for the book: The main character, Miss Harris, takes a job as a governess for two little girls in the remote Stanley Basin of Idaho in the late 1800's. Unbeknowst to her, the girls mother, Dru, is dying and is desperately hoping that Miss Harris and Dru's husband, Gavin, will fall in love so that her girls have a new mother in place when she is gone.

If you are looking for a light read and don't want to dwell in deep thought then this is a very enjoyable book. However, I felt the characters were flat and underdeveloped, the story line too entirely predictable, and some of the situations forced upon the characters by the author. This is not Hatcher's best book. I will say, spending two years living in Boise, Idaho, that the author caught the magic of the Stanley Basin, which truly is one of the most beautiful (and harsh in winter) places in the world. Putting me into the late 1800's Stanley Basin made the read entirely worthwhile. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate it a 5 and given Hatcher's track record I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another of her novels.

What the first born has been up to...

Making a cloth ball for her little sister! 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons- each from a different piece of fabric. She persevered and worked hard. Her little sis loves it.

Selling cookies and lemonade!

Helping little sisters climb trees.

AND.... starting to blog! Check out her new project at http://simplysevenlewis.blogspot.com/ !
Leave her a comment... you know we all live for those! Oh... and try and guess what her favorite color is.

What a busy month!

The cherry tree really blossomed in May.

Taylor's personality blossomed as well!

Tay has learned to pick up and eat cereal.

Tay is mastering sitting!

Tay has learned to sit in her chair at the table.

We had our first trip to the park and our first swing experience!

So many things filled last month. It just whizzed by! I expect June to be just as busy. The funny thing is we aren't busy with worldly activities but just the addition of a garden seems to have taken up any spare time. I guess I have two babies... one human and one plant based.

(The human baby is seven months old now and likes to sit on momma's lap and "help" type.) Just wait till we add a few chickens next spring.

Sorry for the false post below

Everyhouse needs a super hero!

I know, I know... I got you all excited by posting... but it wasn't an actual post. I sat down to write a post and got interupted. (Which is why I haven't been able to write lately.) Anywhoo... I thought I deleted it and saved it to draft but nooooo.... I did delete it, but it posted- a big post of nothing. Sigh.... I have so much to post but my day time runs out. Anyway... sorry to get your hopes up.

The Subversive In Me...

I was watching the news this morning. Some bright bulb got himself pulled over and arrested. He had a "rolling" meth lab in the back of his van. As I was shaking my head over this man's stupidity, a funny thought came to me... my big thing, currently, is wanting to be able to have access to raw milk- legally, of course. But I thought of, in light of Mr. Illegal Drug Manufacturer, this news headline... Mrs. Cyndi Lewis was arrested this morning after being pulled over. She is accused of operating a rolling milking operation! I was picturing a cow in the back of a van all hooked up to milking apperatus. Sorry, sometimes the subversive in me takes over.

Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal!

This is the title of the book I'm currently reading by Joel Salatin. I recommend it heartly!

Anyone who thinks we live in a free country or that the American Dream is still within reach needs to read it. Here is my favorite quote so far..."How much evil throughout history could have been avoided had people exercised their moral acuity with convicitonal courage and said to the powers that be, 'No, I will not. This is wrong, and I don't care ifyou fire me, shoot me, pass me over for promotion, or call my mother. I will not participate in this unsavory activity.' Wouldn't world history be rewritten if just a few people had actually acted like individual free agents rather than mindless lemmings?"

My criminal thoughts? I want to be able to bake bread in my own home and... wait for it... SELL IT! How deviant is that!? It is a sad state of being we Americans find ourselves in. We have given ourselves over to the entity that is government. A government that allows women the freedome of "choice" to kill their unborn but not to sell bread from an un-government inspected kitchen. Even if I were to move to one of the few states that do indeed allow this, I'm still probably not allowed to buy or sell milk directly from... wait for it... A COW! The government thinks it's too dangerous. We must make it "safe" first. Thank you, but I think I can make decisions on my own. Certainly there is a place for processed milk but I should be able to buy a gallon of straight from the cow milk if I desire too. When did simple living go the way of the dinosaur?