Becoming Us (Haven Makers Book 1) by Robin Jones Gunn Review and Giveaway

About the book:

Title: Becoming Us
Series: Haven Makers Book 1
Author: Robin Jones Gunn
Publisher: Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers

From the author of the best-selling Christy Miller and SisterChicks series comes a new book of community, friendship, and tackling the hard things of life with God and loved ones around a table.
Five young moms, including beloved Gunn character Christy Miller, gather to share meals and soon become unlikely best friends. The regular gatherings provide opportunities for the women to reveal their stories, and those life stories endear them to each other. They experience their lives naturally meshing as they raise their children together in community. In Becoming Us the group find ways to challenge, encourage, and help each other become the nurturing mothers they wished they'd had when they were growing up. They unite to be remembered for what they do as moms and not for what was done to them.

You can purchase a copy and get a free excerpt HERE 

About Robin Jones Gunn

ROBIN JONES GUNN is the much loved author of over 100 books with more than 5.5 million copies of her titles sold worldwide. Her Father Christmas books have been made into 3 Hallmark movies. Her popular Christy Miller series now continues in Christy & Todd: The Married Years and The Baby Years. Robin's novels and non-fiction works have received multiple awards and are a favorite with book clubs and study groups. Robin and her husband have a grown son and daughter and live in Hawaii.

Website || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram 

My Thoughts:

I am not usually a fan of a book that is released in the spring starting out with a Christmas party. However, I loved how Ms. Gunn started with a favorite things Christmas party. It opened the book perfectly and starting with it gave a great frame to the entire story.

I didn't read any of the Christy Miller series so I wasn't familiar with Christy and Sierra's backstory but I wasn't lost. I love how author's use favored characters in a new series yet they give just enough about them so new reader's aren't in the dark.

Ms. Gunn creates real situations between these character's that made me immediately care about them and want to know more. I enjoyed watching each of them grow in their friendship as they did life together.

Life is messy and this book not only shows the messy stuff, but shows how God turns messes into beauty. This is a great springtime read. I highly recommend it!

Giveaway:

Random House is launching a giveaway in celebration of Becoming Us! You can enter HERE

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Reason to Breathe (Chandler Sisters #1) by Deborah Raney Review with Giveaway

We are excited to introduce Deborah Raney's new series with a blog tour and giveaway for book #1 - Reason to Breathe - hosted by JustRead Tours.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Reason to Breathe  
Series: Chandler Sisters #1  
Author: Deborah Raney  
Publisher: Gilead Publishing  
Release Date: October 23, 2018  
Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction/Romance  

Phylicia thought life was passing her by, but maybe this was love’s plan all along. . .

At twenty-nine, Phylicia Chandler put her life on hold to care for her dying mother with her sisters, Joanna and Britt. Now Mom is gone and their father stuns them all by running off with a woman young enough to be their sister. Life is moving forward all around her, but Phylicia feels stuck—until her father’s protégé, Quinn Mitchell, presents the sisters with an intriguing business opportunity to purchase a trio of cottages just outside of Langhorne, Missouri. Joanna and Britt are convinced the three of them should launch a vacation rental venture, but Phylicia remains skeptical.

 To complicate matters, Quinn soon finds himself falling hard for Phylicia. But how can he pursue this beautiful, talented woman twelve years his junior when she’s still reeling over her father’s hasty engagement to a younger woman? Quinn is determined to give Phylicia her happily-ever-after. But first, he must help her come to terms with her discovery of long-held family secrets and persuade her that true love can transcend their differences.

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | CBD | Book Depository

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DEBORAH RANEY dreamed of writing a book since the summer she read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books and discovered that a Kansas farm girl could, indeed, grow up to be a writer. Her 30-plus books have garnered multiple industry awards including the RITA® Award, HOLT Medallion, National Readers' Choice Award, Carol Award, and have three times been Christy Award finalists. Her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, shed light on the ravages of Alzheimer's disease and inspired the highly acclaimed World Wide Pictures film of the same title. A Vow to Cherish continues to be a tool for Alzheimer's families and caregivers. Deborah is on faculty for several national writers' conferences and serves on the executive board of the 2600-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization. She and her husband, Ken Raney, traded small-town life in Kansas—the setting of many of Deb's novels—for life in the city of Wichita. They often travel to teach at writers conferences across the country and to visit their four children and a growing brood of grandchildren who all live much too far away.

CONNECT WITH DEB: website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram 




My Thoughts:

The moment I started reading this book I was pulled right into the story. The Chandler Sister's have just lost their mom, something I myself can envision since my parents are in their 80's. As they deal with their grief their dad makes things even more painful by telling them he's staying in Florida leaving them in a situation that they weren't prepared for but had to find their way out of, together.

Ms. Raney showed the sister's honestly, with all of their flaws, scars, and strengths. I found myself caring for each of the sisters, even praying for them as I read the book.

I had lots of different emotions as I read this book. Frustration at the father's abandonment of his daughter's during a very difficult time in their lives and confusion as to why he was doing what he was doing. Even with those feelings the thread of hope winds its way in, through, and around the story. We all need hope and Ms. Raney uses the worst emotion of grief along with horrible circumstances to show that hope is always there we just have to look a little harder during those times.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to more installments of the Chandler Sisters.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a blogger with Just Read Tours. All thoughts and opinions are my own.





 

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TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive (US only):

• a print copy of Reason to Breathe
• $15 Amazon gift card

Enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Giveaway will begin at midnight December 3, 2018 and last through 11:59pm December 10, 2018. US only. Winners will be notified within a week of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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