The Fugitive Grandma by Dmitri Ragano

My book today is not a Christian book but is a very good read, there isn't any sex or foul language. I was asked to read it and do a review of the book, my words are my own. I enjoyed this book very much. It deals with a real life situation but in a humorous way. We all feel like Stella at times. The story is well written and his character are quite believable.

Stella Valentine is a retired grocery clerk. She lives on Social Security and a pension that she receives from Caruso's Grocery. Stella is a cancer survivor but must take a new wonder drug to keep the cancer at bay. This wonder drug costs "a few thousand bucks a pop" but is making her doctor rich and famous because of her trial.

Johnny Valentine just turned eleven and his only ambition in life is to be a hero like the ones in his comic books. He is small and is tormented by a set of twins at his school. His mother and father are divorced and his mother is out of the picture. Johnny spends a lot of time with his grandma and her friends.

Frank Valentine is a failure at everything he does. His last attempt to become rich has got him a million dollars in debt to a criminal. Now Lester wants his money.

Caruso is taken over by a big national chain, Great American. Stella's close friends are fired, she loses her pension, her health benefits, and her doctor refuses to help her. Frustrated she goes to the new store and confronts the manager, Lowry. The confrontation ends up Stella attacking Lowry. Stella is taken to the ER, the doctor puts her on some heavy meds, her son sells her home, puts her in an assisted living home run by the mobster.

Johnny runs interference and dumps the meds. He and his grandma decide on a plan to take her life back.
These two become the terror of Lowry, of Great American, and Lester. Running from the police, Lowry, and the mob they have an intriguing adventure. I think you will love it.

The Next Big Step

The last few months have been very difficult for me. When Paul and Kendra (my grandson and his girlfriend) moved back home it brought the total of people in our house to nine and another on the way. We also have two dogs but Paul and Kendra have three that come to visit at times. (to get baths and such) We have a small five bedroom house. All of the room are really small so putting to or three people in them is difficult. Kendra  is on total bedrest, Scott is disabled, Schanae goes to school and everyone else works so that means I get to do the housework, laundry, make meals, and clean up after everyone. Did I mention that Harmony is 20 months and I also get to babysit her. (We are trying to potty train her) I am sixty-seven years old and things have been becoming more and more difficult for me.

A few weeks ago our dishwasher broke down, we got a used one but it wasn't able to clean the large loads so I got a new one. Our dryer broke down Scott worked on it but it didn't dry very well. My spiritual daughter, sensing my frustration, asked me to come visit for a week. (I was getting to the end of my rope) The rest did help. For a week I did nothing but spend time with God, read, and write. It was awesome.

When I came home the drains in the kitchen kept clogging up so the kitchen would flood each time I did a load of laundry. Then the dryer broke down completely so I got to spend several hours a day at the laundromat. Scott does have it working again now but it still takes four hour to dry a load of towels.

I couldn't handle all of these attacks so for the first time in seven years I am moving out. I have a small apartment and will be moving in at the first of the month. I am excited. This is a big leap of faith on my part. I was struggling financially before now I will have to pay rent and buy food, plus there are many things that I am going to need to buy, but I will have time to pray, read the Word, and write again. I am thrilled. God is so good!

Trinity Military War Dog by Ronie Kendig

My book review today is on the book Trinity  Military War Dog by Ronie Kendig. This book was very well written. The characters although highly flawed were people you fell in love with, especially Trinity. This book was truly awesome and I enjoyed every bit of it. I highly recommend you run out and get a copy of it. It is action packed and filled with intrigue.

Trinity is a military dog that has been through three tours of duty, she was one of the best. She was retired when her handler was injured and sent home. She had refused to work with anyone else so she was sent to Heath Daniels.

Green Beret Heath Daniels was injured in Afghanistan. One year later he was still suffering from the Traumatic Brain Injury. Because of black outs and severe headaches he would never be able to serve in the military again. He had applied to the chaplaincy but had been turned down. It seemed as if God had turned his back on him. He was asked to join A Breed Apart. A private group of ex-military dogs and handlers. He and Trinity would go and talk to the soldiers about military dogs and the work they do. He and one of the teams are sent back to Afghanistan to speak.

Darci Kintz is a Chinese American. She's an intelligence agent in our military and is posing as a part of a survey team in Afghanistan. She is drawn to Heath but knows they can't have a future. Heath tries to convince her that she should give him a chance.

Heath realizes he has no business being over here, he is not ready. Darci's team is attacked and Heath and Trinity are sent out with his old team to find her and bring her home. He finds out she has been captured by her worst enemy, can he save her.

The story of faith is so much a part of this story that you just have to love it. When everything is against you and there is no way you can survive, God always makes a way. He is a God of miracles. I love to read stories that show you what he will do. You can find out more about this book and Ronie's other book by going to Amazon or www.facebook.com/rapidfirefiction

Home Run

My review today is on an amazing movie. As a Christian I believe when a Christian film is released we should all support it. This movie is an incredible story of redemption and God's all powerful love. I hope you will all run out and watch it.

This is a story about Cory Brand, a major league ball player struggling, to find love and acceptance. He is the son of a broken, abusive ex-ball player. To the world Cory appears cocky, know it all but his life is spinning out of control. An alcoholic, full of rage it begins to effect his game. After several bad instances Cory is suspended. His agent tells him to go home and get into a twelve step program. Unfortunately the only program she could find is Celebrate Recovery. He returns home only to wreck his car and injure his brother. His agent tells the press that Cory will take over his brother's coaching position for a little league team. Cory meets his son whom he has never seen before and is forced to work with his ex-girl friend who is the other coach. Cory is forced to deal with his past and the mistakes he has made. Through the Celebrate Recovery program Cory becomes the man of God he was created to be.

 Scott Elrod does a great job in this movie. I know you will really enjoy this film, so please go out and watch it. Let producers see that we want good family movies. God bless you all, have a good week end.

Lone Star Protector by Lenora Worth

My book review today is on the last book of the Love Inspired Suspense Texas K-9 Unit Series. Finally, the last book of the series, six months of waiting the last book came. Lone Star Protector by Lenora Worth was worth (no pun intended) the wait. The whole series was awesome and I recommend it to everyone. These books were written by some of my favorite authors and they did great work but I wondered how they could pull off the last one and not lose the power. This book managed to pull the whole thing together. Lenora did an excellent job.

Kaitlin Mathers is the trainer for the K-9 unit. She is training a new, all purpose Belgian Malinois, named Warrior, when there is an attempt to kidnap her. Captain Slade McNeal manages to rescue her. Now Slade must keep her safe and figure out who is after her. Can he find out who the "Boss" is and save his dog Rio before they take Kaitlin again? How can he be drawn to this woman with all the trauma going on in his life?

Kaitlin a woman of faith is trying to trust God with all the attacks but her mother's murder is always at the back of her mind. Will God save her when he didn't protect her mom? Is her faith strong enough to help Slade put his life back together?

Slade is a widower with a young son. His dog was stolen and his father was beaten so badly he was in a coma for weeks. His father is now home but in a wheelchair. His son was suffering from the trauma and a wedge was between Slade and his son. His marriage had been a mess when his wife was murdered. Where was God in all of this?

A journey of faith, forgiveness, and redemption. I know you will love this story. I hope your week is going great, see you Friday, God bless you all.

Movie review of "42" by Warner Brothers

My review today is not a book review but of the movie,"42". I was able to attend this movie last week and I thought it was exceptional.

“42” is the inspiring story of the rise of baseball player Jackie Robinson, who, wearing the number 42 on his jersey, challenged segregation in America at a time when baseball was truly America’s pastime. Jackie, played by Chadwick Boseman, is discovered by Brooklyn Dodgers’ manager Branch Rickey (played by Harrison Ford). Robinson is given a chance to play baseball by Rickey. Robinson is also given a choice: accept the challenge of becoming the first African American baseball player on the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team.

This story is one man's struggle to play ball in a world that is filled with hate and violence. I was just a child when he started his career but I do remember how things were back then. I lived in a rural community in Missouri in the sixties and there were two black boys in our high school. They were allowed to play ball but were unable to even speak to the white girls in the school. I remember feeling bad about this situation, my brother played ball with them and was friends with them but I couldn't even talk to them.

The movie showed a love between Jackie and his wife that kept Jackie grounded. Jackie was a man of God and so was Rickey. I loved the way faith was brought up into this film and the Word of God was in evidence.
They don't make a lot of inspiring movies now days so I feel that when they do we should all be out there supporting them. I loved this movie and I hope you will go to see it and show movie producers that we don't want a lot of sex and violence. That movies with good values and morals will sell.

Well God bless you all and have a good week.

Yankee Gold by Beth Rodgers

My book review today is on the historical book Yankee Gold by Beth Rogers. This book takes place in the civil war and the years following it.It is easy to see that Beth has done massive amounts of research on this time in history. Unfortunately I found the historical facts and statistics to be a hindrance to the actual story, it was so full of facts and details it was hard to stay on the story line. It is a great accomplishment for Beth. If you are a history buff I know you will want to read this book

 This story was about a man's struggle to stay true to his principals in a world of corruption, slavery, and changing times. Steve Elkins is a young attorney who had served as a spy through the war, he has now moved to the southwestern part of the country. He is sent to the area to write contracts for several mines. The army was being paid to protect the mines and although they aren't doing much with the mines there is resentment towards Steve. He is in office when a family emergency sends him home, while there he marries and brings part of his family back with him. Steve strives for statehood for New Mexico. Though the politicians want the benefits from statehood there is much resistance to his efforts. He faces great personal and political difficulties with from his efforts.

This man's struggle with his faith and his principals is an inspiration to us all. I hope you enjoy the book you may find it on amazon. God Bless you all. Have a really good weekend.