Review: Jennifer by Dee Henderson

Series: O'Malley Prequel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Bethany House
Released: Jan. 1, 2010
155 pages

About the Book:

It’s a summer of change for Jennifer O’Malley. The busy physician has a pediatrics practice in Dallas, and meeting Tom Peterson, and falling in love, is adding a rich layer to her life. She’s sorting out how to introduce him to her family–she’s the youngest of seven–and thinking about marriage.

She’s falling in love with Jesus too, and knows God is good. But that faith is about to be tested in a way she didn’t expect, and the results will soon transform her entire family.

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a prequel to the O’Malley series, featuring the youngest O’Malley Jennifer. The blurb on the cover says it is an O'Malley love story. I went in expecting a romance, but it is so much more. Jennifer she is a pediatrician at a hospital in Dallas working primarily with kids who have serious illnesses. We see her met Tom and watch their relationship develop. We also see Jennifer discover God, learn about him discovering him and become a Christian. The relationship with God was described so well and so great for a new Christian or somebody that's seeking and looking for answers because it talks about things that all Christians have questions about. It provides straightforward answers that were easy to understand. I would have appreciated a little bit more of the romance because a lot of it happens off the page. We don't see some events happen, you go from one scene and then the next describing what happened in between. It is a novella I did expect this to be the case. Because I have read the rest of the O’Malley series previously, I knew where Jennifer’s story was headed. There is a difficult situation that happens and most likely will make the reader cry. Jennifer’s story does not wrap in this book and carries on through the series. I am slowly making my way through rereading the series. I recommend this story.

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

Other books from this author that I have reviewed:   

   

Danger in the Shadows - O'Malley Prequel

Taken
Traces of Guilt - An Evie Blackwell Cold Case #1

Threads of Suspicion - An Evie Blackwell Cold Case #2 

 

Review: Directed Verdict by Randy Singer

Genre: Legal Thriller
Publisher: Tyndale House
Released: Oct. 15, 2002
420 pages

About the Book:

In Saudi Arabia, two American missionaries are targeted by the infamous religious police―Muttawa. The man is tortured and killed; his wife arrested on trumped-up charges before being deported to the United States. Compelled by the injustice of her plight, young attorney Brad Carlson files an unprecedented civil rights suit against Saudi Arabia and the ruthless head of the Muttawa. But the suit unleashes powerful forces that will stop at nothing to vindicate the Arabian kingdom. Witnesses are intimidated and some disappear; jurors are bribed; and a member of Brad’s own team may be attempting to sabotage the case. As Brad navigates a maze of treachery and deception, he must gamble his case, his career, and the lives of those he loves on his ability to bring justice to one family, challenge the religious intolerance of a nation, and alter the course of international law.

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐

This is a legal suspense and I seriously thought about dnfing while reading the first three chapters. It begins in Saudi Arabia with two missionaries Charles and Sarah Reed and the Mwata police come to arrest them because they are Christian missionaries try to convert from Muslims to Christianity. In these first few scenes we are witness the torture of Charles and Sarah Reed and it was so descriptive and so unsettling to my spirit I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue reading. Because I had read the book summary, I knew that there was a trial in America involving how these two American’s were treated in Saudi Arabia so I was thinking, okay we are just getting the background of what happened and it will not be like this the whole way through so I decided to keep going. We then meet Brad Carson who is the American lawyer working in Norfolk, Virginia. In his opening scene he is in the courtroom defending a case, we get some background information on him and this particular judge. However, this particular case is about pro-life and there was a scene that was pretty descriptive of how a certain abortion procedure happens and I was like I don't want to know this, this is way too descriptive for me. So again, I was questioning if I wanted to keep going. However, I knew this book received the Christie award for being a mystery suspense in 2002/2003 so I thought it can’t be that bad let’s keep going. I am happy to say that the abortion thing is in that one chapter and is never brought up again. However, the torture scenes that happen do get shared a bit during the trial as witnesses and victims must explain what happened, however this is not as detailed as it was at the beginning. By the trial part of the book I was invested in the characters and cheering for Sarah and Brad's team. Everything seems to really be stacked against them in this case, will they be able to win? We learn shortly after the case is filed that there is a mole inside Brad's team, and they are providing information to the other side leaving us to ask who this person is and why are they doing this? There are little hints dropped throughout the book about who this person is but very generic. We learn their gender but that only narrows it down so much. We don't learn who it was and why until the last few chapters. When it was revealed I was shocked as I was positive it was somebody else and I was also blindsided by their motivation. I really enjoyed this part of the book. However, I gave this book three stars because even though I didn’t like the opening scenes and due to the vast number of characters to keep track of it, I was hooked for the last third needing to know who the mole was. This is a very heavy subject matter, Christians being persecuted and attacked for their faith in Saudi Arabia.  If you're going to read it know going in that it can get very descriptive with the torture scenes. 

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

Check out my reviews of other books by this author: 

   

By Reason of Insanity

Fatal Convictions 

The Judge 

Review: At Lighthouse Point by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Series: Three Sisters Island #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Revell
Released: May 4, 2021
291 pages

About the Book:

Blaine Grayson returns to Three Sisters Island with a grand plan--to take Camp Kicking Moose to the next level. Her dream starts to unravel when she discovers Moose Manor's kitchen has been badly remodeled by her sister, Cam, who doesn't know how to cook. Added to that blow is the cold shoulder given by her best friend, Artie Lotosky, now a doctor to the unbridged Maine islands.

As old wounds are opened, Blaine starts to wonder if she made a mistake by coming home. Little by little, she must let go of one dream to discover a new one, opening her heart to a purpose and a future she had never imagined.

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Three picks up two years later from book two and focuses primarily on Blaine, the youngest sister. When Blaine first arrived on the island she just wanted to leave, but now she has dreams to make the island her home. The family thinks they are helping, but in reality they have made things tougher for her. Blaine has grown up quite a bit since we first met her in the first book. Blaine quickly became one of my favourite characters as I progressed through this series. She tended to be overshadowed by her older sisters and gets ignored making her feel like her opinions don’t really count. She has been through some hard situations and it was uplifting to see her rise above the challenges and try to make her dreams come true. There is a side character that we know has romantic feelings for Blaine and I was cheering for them to get together, but when it happened it fell a little flat for me as all of a sudden it is there, I would have liked to see it develop a little more. I never fully connected with Cam and some of her actions in this book annoyed me and had me not feeling the sympathy for her that maybe I should have due to her situation. I loved watching Blaine’s interactions with Miss Peg

I really enjoyed that each book was told in multiple perspectives and allowed us to follow what was going on with each family member while still following one primary character. As their storylines continue throughout the series, I highly recommending this series back to back. 

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

Other books from this author that I have reviewed:   

   

On a Summer Tide - Three Sisters Island #1 

On a Coastal Breeze - Three Sisters Island #2  

Review: On a Coastal Breeze by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Series: Three Sisters Island #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Revell
Released: May 5, 2020
288 pages

About the Book:

For Madison Grayson, life is good. Newly licensed as a marriage and family therapist, she can't wait to start her practice. Despite the unfortunate shortage of eligible bachelors on the island--they're all too young, too old, or too weird--Maddie feels like she's finally found her sweet spot. Not even one panic attack in the last year. Not one.

And then Ricky O'Shea drops in. Literally. Floating down from the pure blue sky, the one man in the world she hoped never to see again--the one who'd been her archnemesis from kindergarten through her senior dance--parachutes into town, landing on Boon Dock, canopy draping behind him like a superhero. Ricky O'Shea. Now Pastor Rick, the new minister on Three Sisters Island.

Time to panic.

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Two picks up a year after book one finished, again it is early spring and the family is getting the camp open for the season. Maddie and a second change romance is the primarily focus of this book, but we still got quite a bit of the other family members storylines as well, which I truly enjoyed. I’m not a big fan of second chance romances, but I liked the guy in this one and it was funny how Maddie’s memories of their younger years was so different from how he thought he came across at the time. The church scenes were entertaining with the island residents piping up in the middle of the sermons. The Jonah and the whale story truly fit the environment. The sisters continually bursting into Maddie’s office was entertaining. Maddie would get so frustrated with them, but she still handled it well and was able to get them to realize for themselves what was truly frustrating them. 

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

Other books from this author that I have reviewed:   

   

On a Summer Tide - Three Sisters Island #1