Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Maranatha, The Victory Battle by Blossom Turner Blog Tour Book Review

 

About the Book

Book: Maranatha, The Victory Battle (The Victory Series Book 3)

Author: Blossom Turner

Genre: Christian Suspense on Spiritual Warfare

Release Date: July 22, 2025

 

What if the greatest battle you’ll ever fight is the one you cannot see?

Mara has faced the unthinkable—abuse, betrayal, and loss—but nothing can prepare her for the final battle ahead. As demons scheme in the shadows and angels stand guard, she must confront her deepest fears. With her marriage hanging by a thread, an abandoned child thrust into her arms, and a relentless enemy determined to destroy all she holds dear, Mara must decide: will she trust in God’s sovereignty, or will fear consume her?

As darkness closes in, her faith is tested like never before. The forces of evil will stop at nothing to break her spirit. But Mara clings to one truth—God’s love is greater, His power stronger, and prayer can change everything. Yet, in her final days, with her life at risk, will she find the courage to stand victorious?

A breathtaking conclusion to The Victory SeriesMaranatha: The Victory Battle is a heart-pounding Christian suspense novel that will challenge, inspire, and awaken you to the unseen war raging around us all. Your prayer life will never be the same.

“A powerful, faith-filled thriller in the vein of Frank Peretti. Turner delivers an unforgettable journey of spiritual warfare, redemption, and unshakable faith.”  — Creston Mapes, Bestselling Author

Click here to get your copy!

My Review

This is an emotionally intense novel. It really portrays the unseen world of spiritual influence we Christians all too often forget. We get to see angels and demons in action and the results on humans. It deals with a number of themes, such as how the sin of one person can affect so many, how demons sow doubt, and how there are ramifications for sin even if the sin is forgiven.

This novel is part of a series and that is evident when reading it. Much of what happens here has its roots in earlier novel so I would suggest you read them before this one. Since this novel deals with real world relationship issues, there are a number of possible trigger situations. Since it deals with many intense relationship issues within families, it may be hard for some to read, especially if they have had similar experiences.

This is a good novel exploring the issue of the influence of the spirit world on the one we see and experience as well as staying faithful to the Lord in the midst of adversity. Be sure to have tissues ready when you read it.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

 

About the Author

Blossom Turner is an award-winning author, multiple-time Canadian Word Guild Awards recipient, and ACFW Carol Award finalist who began her writing career later in life. An adventurer at heart, she enjoys skydiving, gardening, and singing for fun. She has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul and other anthologies, worked as a newspaper columnist on health and fitness, and ultimately found her true passion in writing fiction with purpose. Her latest series, The Victory Series, brings to life spiritual warfare, weaving love, deep relationships, and hope into every page. She is also the author of the award-winning historical romance series The Shenandoah Brides, featuring five sisters and their love stories. Blossom and her husband, David, have two grown children and live in beautiful British Columbia, Canada, with their Shepherd/Bernese dog, Lacey. Learn more at blossomturner.com.

More from Blossom

Have you ever felt like something, or someone is watching you? Have you ever experienced darkness in a fully lit room? Or wondered if a malevolent force was working against you?

We all love stories on angels and God’s love and protection, but we also have an enemy… a living, breathing adversary who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Ephesians 6:12 says: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (NKJV)

This series—The Victory Series—found me. My genre is historical romance. I was building a following, won some awards, and loved what I was doing. But as I finished up my last series, the Holy Spirit made it very clear that Mara would be my next project. From my own experiences of childhood abuse and my marriage under fire, I added enough fiction to protect real-life people and created a story that reveals the unseen spiritual world hard at work—both benevolent and malevolent forces.

We do not fight alone. In this third and final book of this series, Mara comes face-to-face with evil attacks on her children and on the very life force within her. She must choose whether to remain faithful to the end or give in to the narrative the enemy of her soul whispers to her and to us all: God does not love you or care what you are going through—He never has.

Mara’s birth to death story unfolds in a unique, riveting, and page-turning experience that will alert you to events taking place in the unseen spiritual realm.

You will be entertained, (nothing wrong with that) but you will also come away with a greater appreciation for prayer, for Christ, and for His work on the cross. You may even view the trials of life in a new encouraging way. The battle is real—but the One by our side is victorious.

Blog Stops

The Lofty Pages, July 24

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, July 25

Devoted Steps, July 26

Fiction Book Lover, July 27 (Guest Review from Lily)

Blogging With Carol, July 27

Where Crisis and Christ Collide, July 28

Simple Harvest Reads, July 29 (Guest Review from Marilyn)

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, July 30

For Him and My Family, July 31

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, August 1

Blossoms and Blessings, August 2 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 2

Artistic Nobody, August 3 (Author Interview)

Leslie’s Library Escape, August 4

Texas Book-aholic, August 5

Stories By Gina, August 6 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

 

To celebrate her tour, Blossom is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54257

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

The Bible Companion Book 2 by Karen Westbrook Moderow Blog Tour Book Review

 

About the Book

Book: The Bible Companion Book 2 Leviticus-Deuteronomy

Author: Karen Westbrook Moderow

Genre: Bible Study/ Devotional

Release Date: May 5, 2024

Do you struggle to relate to God in the Old Testament?

The Bible Companion Book 2 can help. Its simple one-chapter-a-day format lets you engage with Scripture without the pressure of schedules, homework, or heavy reading loads. Short daily readings and thought-provoking questions help you recognize God’s faithfulness even in your most difficult journey.

Though filled with unfamiliar symbols and rituals, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy hold treasures—the great promises of God. They show us the lengths to which God goes to be in our daily lives. Hard-to-read passages come alive as we travel with Israel to the Promised Land and discover the same God who guided His people in ancient times guides us today. If you want to know what God is like and what matters to Him . . . if you question His love for you . . . if you wonder how believing God can change your life, these books of the Law will speak to you. For personal and group study.

Click here to get your copy!

My Review

This is another excellent book in this series. I am impressed with the vast amount of back ground material Moderow provides. I like her informative charts and that she relates everything to Christ. She has good insights that reveal underlying principles to some puzzling laws. An example is Lev. 21:18 where a physically deformed Levite cannot serve as a priest. The underlying principle is a spiritual concept, a spiritual imperfection that can only be made right through Christ. A surprise for me was her reference to Ezekiel 22:26. The misbehavior of the priests was the primary reason God removed the people from the land. (73)

I highly recommend this book and this series. It contains good information to help Christians understand some difficult or puzzling passages in the Bible. Moderow includes suggestions as to using this book for a group study so it can be used that way or for individual study.

My rating: 5/5 stars.

You can read my review of the first book, The Bible Companion Book 1.

About the Author

KAREN WESTBROOK MODEROW is a Bible teacher and author who brings a storyteller’s perspective to Scripture. She holds master’s degrees in theology and creative writing and loves introducing others to Jesus through the stories told in God’s Word.

 

More from Karen

Breakfast with Leviticus

My father was a pastor and a man with lofty ambitions. He was known for setting goals others deemed impossible then achieving them. However, there was one that got the best of him. He determined our family would read the Bible through from cover to cover—together. On January first of each year, a morning ritual of Bible and Breakfast began. On cold days, Dad would entice us to the table with his version of a Hot Toddy. We’d sip on hot grapefruit juice and eat while one of us read the day’s Scripture out loud. We read Genesis… Exodus… then came Leviticus. No one had the nerve to say the book was boring and we didn’t understand it, but perhaps Dad felt the same. At some point we gave up. The next year, we’d start anew. Genesis… Exodus… then Leviticus. The next year, same thing. We started the day with images of bloody sacrifices exploding in our heads more mornings than I could count. We never made it past Leviticus.

We teased my father about this epic fail, but he took away something from this experience—the realization that most of us need a little help with some parts of the Bible. He started writing short daily devotionals to help people get through hard-to-understand passages. Years later, I took over where he left off. The Bible Companion series is the fruit of that “failed” venture.

Pastor Floyd’s Grapefruit Toddy

My dad’s version of a teetotaler’s “hot toddy” is easy, delicious, warming, and great for sore throats.

  • Squeeze juice from one half grapefruit into a mug.
  • Fill to the top with boiling water.
  • Sweeten with a half teaspoon of honey, if desired.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, July 29

Girls in White Dresses, July 30

Lots of Helpers, July 30

Tell Tale Book Reviews, July 31 (Author Interview)

Fiction Book Lover, August 1

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, August 2

Blossoms and Blessings, August 3 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, August 3

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 4

Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, August 5 (Author Interview)

Older & Smarter?, August 6

Texas Book-aholic, August 7

Cover Lover Book Review, August 8

A Reader’s Brain , August 9 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, August 10

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, August 11 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

 

To celebrate her tour, Karen is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54261


I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)

Monday, July 28, 2025

The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison Book Review

About the Book:


With a leading role on a hit TV show and a relationship with Hollywood’s latest heartthrob, Meg Bryan appears to have everything she ever wanted. But underneath, her happiness is as fake as her stage name, Lana Lord. Following a tiny nervous breakdown at her thirtieth birthday party, she books an impromptu trip to Ireland. Specifically, to the village where she and her best friend Aimee always dreamt of moving.

When Meg arrives, the people in town don’t just recognize her, they seem to know her. She quickly—reluctantly—realizes she has somehow slipped into an alternate reality. One where she did move to Ireland as a teenager, one where she never got famous, and—most shocking of all—one where Aimee is alive and well.

She just wants nothing to do with Meg.

Despite her bewilderment, Meg is clear-eyed about one thing: this is a once-in-two-lifetimes chance to reconnect with her friend and repair what she broke . . . or else risk losing Aimee all over again.

My Review:

This novel presents an interesting concept of entering into an alternative universe where a tragic event had not happened. This is a tricky concept but I think Harbison did a good job of pulling it off. I like how Meg was able to grow from the experience. I wondered how the ending could possibly work and I was surprised that it came out well.

This is a good adult debut so I will be looking for her future works.

My rating: 4/5 stars.


About the Author:


Paige Harbison is the author of three YA novels, the first of which was published in 2011 when she was just nineteen years old. More recently, she's worked on several celebrity projects as a ghostwriter. The Other Side of Now is her adult debut. A woman of many talents, she's also a visual artist, records music with her brother (band name: Thalo), hosts and produces the podcast Nameless Best Friends, and has a solid social media presence, amassing millions of views on her one-minute-movies. She lives in L.A. with her partner, Richie, and their dog Tarot. Photo credit: Ellyn Jameson

St Martin's Press, 320 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. Mine is an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.) 


Sunday, July 27, 2025

He's to Die For by Erin Dunn Book Review

About the Book:


At 29, Detective Rav Trivedi is the youngest member of the NYPD’s homicide squad, and his future looks bright. He may be a bit of an outsider in the department—an ivy-league educated gay Brit with a weakness for designer suits—but his meteoric rise and solve rate prove he belongs.

So when his CO assigns him lead on the high-profile murder of a record executive, Rav is ready for action. He won’t be distracted by TV crews, tabloids, or what’s trending on social media, nor by the ridiculously hot rock star with a clear motive and no alibi.

This is it, his shot, and he is not going to screw it up—certainly not by falling in love with his number one suspect…

My Review:

This is a different kind of mystery, more of a romance than I was expecting. I began to feel really uncomfortable when the romance became prominent. I have enjoyed romantic mysteries before but not of this style. And I prefer any romance to happen after the mystery is solved, not while the investigation is ongoing. I am always a bit leery when an author writes a main character of the opposite gender. Rav seemed almost too female at times, but then, I am not familiar with the type of character he represents. I do wish there had been more mystery and less romance.


My rating: 3/5 stars.

About the Author:


Erin Dunn loves twisty mysteries and swoony rom-coms, so she decided to combine the two. A native of Calgary, Canada, Erin has lived in Brooklyn long enough to officially call herself a New Yorker, or so she is informed. When she's not writing, you can find her playing music, cooking, or sampling other people's cooking. Photo credit: Erin Dunn

Minotaur Books, 320 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)

Them Bones by David Housewright Book Review

About the Book:


A stolen dinosaur skull is at the center of a complex mystery laid at the feet of unofficial P.I. Rushmore McKenzie.

There are two things that Rushmore McKenzie hates to turn down—a request from a friend and a challenge. Both of them show up in his wife's nightclub in the person of Angela Bjork, who has come to request McKenzie's help. McKenzie, once a homicide detective, now through a series of unlikely events, is a retired millionaire. But occasionally, for friends, he will do some unofficial private detective work. Over the years, he's hunted down a stolen Stradivarius, the hoard of 1930's gangster, and recovered a stolen, apparently cursed, artifact but McKenzie never imagined a case like this. An exceedingly rare dinosaur skull has been stolen.

Angela, a doctoral candidate, was out on a dig site in Southeastern Montana, when she found a skeleton of an Ankylosaurus. And no sooner than when the skull was removed and placed on a truck then they were attacked, the truck and skull stolen. Worried that nothing is being done to find the stolen skull, she turns to McKenzie. Worth millions on the black market, the chance to recover it becomes fainter by the day. And the people behind the theft are likely willing to do anything, to anyone, to hold onto it.

My Review:

This mystery got off to a slow start for me. The lengthy beginning section about digging for dinosaur bones was informative in that area but did not draw me into the plot. I like a novel that captures me with a soon happening murder or some other compelling action.

McKenzie ultimately comes in and I like the sly humor and sharp tongue that came along. But even this part of the mystery progresses slowly. There are many suspects since there are so many people involved in the dig.

This is the first novel I have read by this author. While I ultimately liked it, I did not find it a compelling read. It is part of a series but I felt it read well enough on its own.


My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:


David Housewright has won the Edgar Award and is the three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for his crime fiction, which includes the modern noir Twin Cities P.I. Mac McKenzie series (starting with A Hard Ticket Home). He is a past president of the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA). He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. Photo credit: Renee Valois.

Minotaur Books, 320 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)

Saturday, July 26, 2025

The Crier Stone by Lindsey Lewellen Blog Tour Book Review

 

About the Book

Book: The Crier Stone ( A Sequel to The Chaos Grid)

Author: Lyndsey Lewellen

Genre: YA Sci-fi

Release Date: July 8, 2025

Brave the Plex. Unleash the stone. Embrace your destiny.

Freshly freed from an earth-dwelling monster, Juniper Conway is stuck with a promise she never intended to make. But if rescuing Plex City from a deadly nano drug is what she vowed, it’s what she’ll do.

Miles of wasteland stretch between Juniper and the domed city. In the Texas Outer Grid, following a tribe of whalers seems to be her best bet at surviving the chaotic storms. But when the nomadic tribes prove just as dangerous as the Grid itself, Juniper realizes her streak of bad luck is far from over.

Only her shipping crew friends can help her through the waste and into the Plex. When the crier stone guiding her mission only shows her fragmented steps, Juniper will need more than the stone around her neck and a halfhearted promise to make it out alive.

Click here to get your copy!

My Review

This is an action packed dystopian and science fiction novel. Lewellyn has quite an imagination and takes readers on an adventure with Juna where she faces a variety of challenges and obstacles. There is all kinds of advanced technology and many dangerous beasts too. There is also an evil ruling group Juna must battle. There are plenty of twists and interesting activities Juna experiences. Events reveal that friends may be enemies or actually vice versa. Loyalty is tested over and over and Juna must rely on the help of others to succeed.

This adventure gives readers a sense of what it means to follow God's direction even when you don't want to, even when the ones you are to go to are the ones who killed your parents and are doing other horrible things. I must admit I could not visualize all of the events as so much was going on in each scene. I do think this would be a good book for young adult readers, however. I have read both books in the series but felt this one read relatively well on its own.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

You can read my review of the first book in this series, The Chaos Grid.

About the Author

Lyndsey Lewellen grew up on a healthy dose of comic books, punk music, and sci-fi. She infuses all three loves into novels written for young adults. Inside her “what if” worlds, her characters take risks, grow, and fight for what matters. When she’s not writing or whittling down her endless TBR, she designs novel covers and paints on shoes. She lives on a small Texas farm with her best friend/husband, five children, and what some might call a zoo of animals (especially after meeting the peacocks).

 

More from Lyndsey

Justice. Mercy. Grace.

Teen girls in my youth group hear these words often. Maybe that’s because the simplest words are sometimes the hardest to define—and even harder to live out. So, we talk about them a lot. In fact, we go over their meanings so often that when our church’s youth pastor asked the main group to define grace one Wednesday night, girl after girl turned to look at me sitting in the back. They knew the answer. I was proud.

But knowing that justice is getting what you deserve, mercy is not getting what you deserve, and grace is getting what you don’t deserve is only half the battle. The real challenge? Learning when—and how—to apply them.

In The Crier Stone, the conclusion to The Chaos Grid duology, Juniper Conway comes face to face with God’s mercy in direct conflict with her sense of justice. We love it when He relents in His wrath toward us. But what happens when He stays His hand against our enemies?

The people of Juniper’s futuristic Texas experience justice daily for the sins of the past. In their attempt to fix the climate, their ancestors instead turned the world into a wasteland. Now, the last remnants of civilization hide away in domed cities, clinging to their technology like a drug—willing to sacrifice anything for the next upgrade. The government forbids advanced tech outside the domes, trapping its people inside their artificial paradise.

But a life of confinement and convenience is hardly the justice Juniper wants for those who orphaned her. And when visions confirm God’s call for her to save the worst of the domed cities from destruction, she rages at His mercy. Of all the people He could choose to show kindness to her enemies, why would He choose her?

If she had His power, she would do things differently.

At its heart, Juniper’s struggle is one of trust. Is God just in showing mercy to those who don’t deserve it? Would she see His choices differently if she knew everything He did? We may not always understand why God allows suffering on this side of eternity. In Juniper’s world, deadly nano-drugs run rampant, corrupt mega-corporations kill without consequence, and inhumane tech enhancement labs push the boundaries of morality for the next upgrade. Yet, God’s mercy does not mean He has abandoned justice.

Paul says in Acts 17:30-31:

“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

It was at the cross that justice, mercy, and grace met—a breathtaking harmony orchestrated by a sovereign God.

Juniper’s journey is filled with trials, betrayals, and impossible choices as she is forced to confront the full weight of justice, mercy, and grace. Will she step into her destiny and save the domed city, or let it all burn?

Find out in the thrilling conclusion to this wild Texas dystopian duology.

—Lyndsey

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, July 26

Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, July 27 (Author Interview)

The Lofty Pages, July 28

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, July 29

Simple Harvest Reads, July 30 (Spotlight)

Blogging With Carol, July 31

Tell Tale Book Reviews, August 1

Guild Master, August 2 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, August 3

Pens Pages & Pulses, August 4

A Reader’s Brain , August 5 (Author Interview)

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, August 6 (Author Interview)

CeCe Reads and Sings, August 6

Fiction Book Lover, August 7 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 8 (Spotlight)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, August 8

Giveaway


Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54259


I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Celebrate Lit.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)

Friday, July 25, 2025

The Difference That Makes The Difference by Josh Davis and Greg Promushkin Book Review

About the Book:


Take control of your life and create profound change today using NLP and the science of positive change!

Learn why people resist change, why they sometimes embrace change, and how to lead change quickly and in lasting ways.

It all comes down to finding the difference that makes the difference for each person and context. 
Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) is great for finding that difference. NLP helps us understand what makes people tick. When we understand how they think, feel, and act in key situations, we have the raw material with which to make change happen, often quickly and profoundly.

In the 1970s, a linguist and his partner studied the language patterns and nonverbal cues of great psychotherapists, as well as how people are affected by the systems they’re part of. The two pinpointed key aspects of what enables human beings to change. Their findings formed the basis of NLP. Since then, NLP has often been taught to therapists and life coaches aiming to master one-on-one interactions in those contexts.

When the lawyer 
Greg Prosmushkin discovered NLP, he realized how incredibly valuable these tools could be outside a therapy context. How to communicate with confidence, model excellence, and influence your own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are useful for many people in many situations. Greg used NLP to make huge breakthroughs in his trials and to step into his own as an entrepreneur.

In 2022, Greg met 
Josh Davis, PhD, a Columbia University PhD who studied psychology and neuroscience, and the Founder and Director of the Science-Based Leadership Institute. Josh is an NLP expert who grew up in the 1970s and 80s as the child of two pioneers in the field of NLP. He’s an NLP native. He’s been training others to use NLP for over a decade. Josh is also the internationally best-selling author of Two Awesome Hours, a science-based set of strategies to work less and get your most important work done.

Greg and Josh set out to make NLP easily accessible for everyone. They show how the tools of NLP can be used by anyone in their daily work and personal lives, and connect these actionable tools to the science of change. 
The Difference that Makes the Difference is a result of their rigorous and dedicated collaboration.

In this book, readers learn how to:
-Communicate with confidence
-Model excellence, to learn and master new skills
-Influence their own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in positive ways
-and much more!

You’ll get:
-Step-by-step instructions with tips
-Guided prompts to follow that help you apply these time-tested tools to your own specific needs
-Examples of how to use the tools in everyday situations
-Simple explanations of the theory and science behind the tools
-Clear explanations of why the tools are so powerful

NLP has been time-tested for fifty years, but until now it has only been accessible for a select few. Books and methods of teaching NLP were complex because the subject matter was highly sophisticated and derived from the work of professional psychotherapists. 
Greg Prosmushkin and Josh Davis, PhD have spent a combined 35+ years studying and unlocking the value of NLP. Josh has been teaching these concepts and tools in specialized NLP trainings, as well as one-on-one and group coaching settings, to Fortune 500 audiences and beyond. They have been using these concepts and tools in their professional practices of trial law, entrepreneurship, and leadership development. They have made a careful study of how to make the complex simple to learn and apply.

It’s time to move past simply waiting and wishing for your life to be different―dive into the tools of NLP and the science behind change that supports those tools, to make a real impact in your life, right now.

My Review:

It took me a while to get into this book. Once I got to the place of understanding a mental model and how it can differ from reality, the book began to flow. I realize now that as I understand my mental model, that understanding increases my ability to change. I understand I can enhance my model, that is, add options. By understanding the models of others, I am better able to help them.

I am beginning to realize how powerful belief is, believing I can change or that I have all I need within me. I can find learning opportunities to empower me where I lack knowledge. I really like the concept that there is no failure, only feedback. I appreciate the information given on communication too, getting curious about how my words are received and understood.

The authors give many personal examples of implementing their concepts. They include tools to understand the models of others. There are many tools for better communication and many exercises on modifying models.

My rating: 4/5 stars.


St Martin's Essentials, 336 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. Mine is an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.) 

Experience. Jesus. Really. by John Eldredge Book Review

About the Book:


In this present age, we are all becoming disciples of the Internet. We are addicted to distraction. We idolize our instant access to a never-ending avalanche of information. We think we're finally holding the keys to a better life. But if that's true, why are we wrestling with ever-increasing levels of anxiety, dissatisfaction, and despair? The fact is, we live in a world of weary, skeptical pragmatism--and it's keeping us from experiencing the God we are dying without.

In Experience Jesus. Really. John Eldredge guides you to a beautiful alternative to the soulless, disenchanted existence you find yourself living in today: the path of the “ordinary mystic.” To walk this path means to experience the daily presence of God, as did David, Daniel, Esther, Isaiah, Christ's disciples, and Paul . . . all the way back to Adam and Eve in Eden. When you join John on this journey, you will find stories, practices, and prayers to help you:

  • Recover your capacity to believe again
  • Take refuge in the mighty presence of God that surrounds you all the time
  • Discover the exquisite comfort of actual communion with Jesus every day
  • Connect with ancient, biblical ways to heal your soul, protect your family, and revive your faith
  • Learn practices, habits, and prayers that will transform your ability to hear the voice of Jesus in your day-to-day life

Every human yearns to return to Eden, to a state of unbroken communion with the God who created us for adventure and intimacy with him. The mystic is awake to the truth that God is still with us--and we experience the refuge of his powerful, healing presence if we learn to open our hearts to him. This book is your invitation to experience the everyday refuge, strength, and wonder available to the friends of Jesus.


My Review:

Eldredge has great insight in this book. He really spoke to my spiritual needs. I have long tried to understand why I didn't sense God. I longed to experience communion with God, to have a very real sense of His presence. Some time ago I thought the answer was a charismatic experience. That did not produce a lasting sense of nearness to God, however.

I feel Eldredge identified the issue. I live in an age of instant results and I was expecting the same in my spiritual life. Eldredge writes of Christian mystics and the long lasting practices they did resulting in an experiential relationship with God. He gives many practical steps to hide myself in the shelter of God, to have God be my refuge in chaotic times.

I'm on my second reading of the book because this process takes time and repeated effort. But Eldredge provides sample prayers and statements to set myself on the right path. I may have to go through this book time after time to get my inner being to the path Eldredge suggests.

I highly recommend this book to Christians who really want to know about the life of a Christian mystic and how to be on that journey to really experiencing God's presence.

My rating: 4/5 stars.


About the Author:


John Eldredge is a bestselling author, a counselor, and a teacher. He is also president of Ransomed Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God, recover their own hearts in God's love, and learn to live in God's kingdom. John and his wife, Stasi, live near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Thomas Nelson, 256 pages.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)