The Sign Painter by Davis Bunn

Genre: Fiction/Christian/Genre 

Publisher:  Howard/Simon & Schuster

Reviewer:  Jean Eastwood

JAGS: 8

Good vs Evil:

This is a book about faith and that believing in God will get you through the tough times and find a way. It is true what they say, “Money is the root of all evil.”

The main character Amy and her 4-year-old daughter, Kimmie have had a rough life so far. Amy has been doing odd jobs like painting signs for businesses when she gets a job at Bob Denton Chevrolet. Amy brings the camper she and her daughter have been living in to work and immediately hits it off with Bob. Mr. Denton was losing his long time secretary to retirement when Amy showed up. He offered her the job and of course, she needed the stability of the job and a new family to be part of so she gladly accepted it.

Just when she thinks life is going good, she finds a large sum of money left out in plain sight at the dealership that the owner’s son was trying to steal from his dad, Bob and she returns it to Bob. Now the bad guys (Bob Jr. and his gang) are after her for the money. They are brutal in their car chases and looking for her at her home. Bob decides to take her and Kimmie under his wing to live at his home while this is going on. Bob admits to Amy that he fell in love with her the very first time he saw her. 

The book is well-written and there were times of suspense – on and off throughout the book. It was a good weekend read. I enjoyed reading it.

Somebody Like You by Beth Vogt

Genre: Fiction/Christian

Publisher:  Howard/Simon & Schuster

Reviewer:  Jean Eastwood

JAGS: 7

Stephen Ames is an identical twin to his brother Sam, who gets killed by a sniper in Afghanistan. Sam was married to Haley, who is pregnant with Sam’s child. Haley was never told that Sam had a twin brother. There was a long time of silence between Sam and Stephen once Sam had decided to join the military against Stephen’s wishes all those years ago. Sam’s mother, Miriam never offered any information to Haley either in this regard even at Sam’s funeral. 

There are clear differences in the personalities of the twins. Stephen is more caring and supportive of Haley and her newborn. Haley remembers Sam being very independent and always traveling, making her wonder if he ever really loved her. Stephen is at the right place at the right time when Haley goes into labor and gives birth to a baby girl. Haley is quite surprised because up until now she had reason to believe it was a boy and had a name picked out for him.  Now she had no name for the baby girl, but Stephen suggested Katherine Elizabeth, a female Marvel comic hero, which Haley liked, and called her Kit for short. Kit was born six weeks premature and her lungs weren’t fully developed at the time, but she got up to speed in no time.

In the end, Stephen realizes he sought out Haley and Kit to get to know his long lost brother and remember the good times they had as kids. But, along the way he did fall in love with Haley and she seems to fight him until the end when he does propose and she accepts his marriage proposal.

The book is a bittersweet story about true love and will keep you reading until the end. The title “Somebody like you” has a much deeper meaning once you have read the book. I truly enjoyed the author’s way of keeping your suspense. It was a good weekend read!

Fair Play by Deeanne Gist

Fair Play by Deeanne Gist

Genre: Fiction/Christian/Historical 

Pages: Soft Cover

Publisher: Howard Books 

Reviewer:  Jean Eastwood

Jags: 7

Set in 1893 at the World’s Fair in Chicago, IL, this love story will keep you reading until you are finished with the book. Dr. Billy Jack Tate is a woman doctor in a time when women as doctors were unheard of.

Dr. Tate tried to get in the Women’s building at the fair where she was to give a speech through the front door, but the Centurion guard would not believe she was a lady doctor and refused to let her in. Some women took her around to the back, to the basement window and propped it open for her to sneak in that way. After managing to get in without hurting herself, she finds herself face to face with another Centurion guard (Hunter Scott). She manages to get away from him and up the stairs to the room where she delivers her speech. She has no idea that this guard she ran away from will find her again and fall in love with her, and she with him.

The guard (Hunter Scott) is a Texas Ranger, temporarily on duty as a Centurion guard at the Chicago’s World Fair when he finds an abandoned infant boy. He turns it over to Dr. Tate to see if she can find the parents and/or provide a home for the child. They both took him to the Hull House which served as a temporary orphanage for some of the children, but it was in the slum areas of Chicago. Hunter and Dr. Tate soon took an interest in cleaning up the slum area and built a playground for the children. The infant boy whom Dr. Tate called “Joey” was adopted one day and Hunter did some research to find the boy was adopted by a millionaire. 

Hunter and Dr. Tate get involved in saving and adopting a 9-year old boy (Derry) who was wrongly accused of murder. Hunter and Dr. Tate get married and move to Texas with the boy. They have a total of 5 children and Hunter becomes a sheriff in a small town in Texas. Dr. Tate still practices medicine in Texas after a prominent person puts in a good word for her with the locals.

The author has a way to keep you interested by subtle humor from the main characters, both adults and children alike. I enjoyed it very much!

The Jag Review has received a free copy of this book from Howard Books, for our honest review. The opinions expressed here are our own. 

Vow Unbroken by Caryl McAdoo

Vow Unbroken by Caryl McAdoo

Genre: Fiction/Christian Romance

Pages: Paper Back 

Publisher:  Howard Books Simon & Schuster

Reviewer:   Jean Eastwood

Susannah Baylor’s vow is to never marry again without her father’s blessing. She hasn’t seen her father in over ten years and doesn’t even know if he is still alive. He has never answered any of her letters.

Susannah is a cotton farmer in Texas and lives with her young daughter Rebecca and nephew Levi who are a tremendous help with the farming and chores. It is time to take the cotton to harvest and get enough money to make it through another year. The local cotton buyer renegotiated on his original offer from 4 cents a pound to now only two cents a pound. Susannah told him that was way too low of a price to pay. She decided to load her cotton and hire a helping hand by the name of Henry Buckmeyer to take her family and cotton to the town of Jefferson where they were paying 6 cents a pound. 

There definitely is an adventure waiting to be experienced in this book. I could not put the book down for more than a day, and could not wait to find out what happens next. Henry, Susannah, Levi, Rebecca and Blue Dog begin a long suspense-filled journey of two mule-driven cotton-loaded wagons over hills and rivers, fighting off wolves, drunks, thieves, gypsies, bad weather and snakes to get to Jefferson to sell their cotton.

Once they get there, the cotton buyers have bought enough cotton and will return in nine days. Henry saves the day by selling the mules, making deals with the locals, and getting their cotton to New Orleans where they get 10 cents a pound for their cotton. With the money they get, they travel to Memphis, Tennessee to see Susannah’s father and get his blessing to marry Henry whom she has fallen in love with and he with her. Her father is still alive and gives his only daughter his blessing to marry Henry who has become “born again”. They get married at her father’s home in Memphis while visiting him. 

Excellent read! Easy to read and follow, keeps your suspense and can actually make you cry! Loved it!

The Jag Review has received a free copy of this book from Howard Books, for our honest review. The opinions expressed here are our own.