"My Stubborn Heart" by Becky Wade

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When traveling to Pennsylvania to help her grandmother renovate her childhood home, Kate Donovan was excited for the break.  With her career as a social worker feeling lackluster following a tragedy and no Prince Charming in sight, Kate began to question God's plan - and then she met Matt Jarreau, the man hired to complete the renovation.  Suddenly Kate begins to see purpose in the journey as the two begin to grow close, despite the tragedy in Matt's past.  Can each be obedient to God's instruction, however, even if it means giving up what they want most?

As a reader, you have to cheer Kate on.  She's persistent, kind, and yet real in her desire for a husband.  She takes a stand for the underdog, the hurting, and yet bleeds while she does it.  She isn't perfect and has her own doubts and sometimes gives in to them.  Wade writes amazing, funny, touchable characters that you want to befriend and invite over for dinner.

Wade's writing is smooth with fantastic word choices and character quirks.  She's written the best kind of romance - one that makes you fall in love with the characters while simultaneously crying for their problems.  This isn't a piece of beach fluff, for they've endured real pain and real tragedy.  Their faith and their doubts and their questions can't be brushed aside, but instead she digs in deep and helps them find the answers for which they search.  Forgiveness, true love, faith - this book is about so much more than romance.

I can't wait to see what Wade writes next.

I received a free copy of My Stubborn Heart from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review. 

You can read other reviews about My Stubborn Heart here.  If you'd rather purchase it immediately, you can do so here.  (You won't be sorry.)

About Becky: 

During her childhood in California, Becky frequently produced homemade plays starring her sisters, friends, and cousins. These plays almost always featured a heroine, a prince, and a love story with a happy ending. She's been a fan of all things romantic ever since. 

Becky and her husband lived overseas in the Caribbean and Australia before settling in Dallas, Texas. It was during her years abroad that Becky's passion for reading turned into a passion for writing. She published three historical romances with Avon Books, then put her career on hold for several years to care for her kids, then recently returned to writing sheerly for the love of it. She felt led to move to the genre of contemporary Christian romance and couldn't be more thrilled with it. 

These days Becky can be found failing but trying to keep up with her housework, sweating at the gym, carting her kids around town, playing tennis, hunched over her computer, eating chocolate, or collapsed on the sofa watching TV with her husband. 

Learn more at: www.BeckyWade.com 

Win a Nook Simple Touch(™) with GlowLight in Becky Wade's My Stubborn Heart Giveaway!

Celebrate with Becky by entering her My Stubborn Heart Giveaway and connecting with her during the Author Chat Party on 5/24!

One fortunate winner will receive:

• A Brand New Nook Simple Touch™ with GlowLight™
• A $25 Barnes & Noble Gift Certificate
• A copy of My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends at noon on May 24th. Winner will be announced at the "My Stubborn Heart" Author Chat Facebook Party on 5/24. Becky will be hosting an book chat, testing your trivia skills and giving away some great prizes!

So grab your copy of My Stubborn Heart and join Becky on the evening of the May 24th for a chance to meet Becky and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book - don't let that stop you from coming!)

GratiTuesday - A Jelly-Making Helper

Last week My Little Man and I met some friends at a local strawberry farm and picked berries for a few hours.  When we left, we took over 20 pounds of berries with us.

Craziness ensued for the rest of the day, and so after the kids were in bed I settled down to make our supply of strawberry jelly for the year - well, I tried to.  I've been making jelly for as long as I can remember, and it was always a fun event - Mom and I together, capping berries, washing them again and again, the blender pulsing, the sugar spilling, the smell of ripe berries permeating the house.

I love it.

Except it wasn't looking to be such a happy experience that night.  Because it was a school night, the kids couldn't stay up to help, and the South was suffering from a crazy heat wave.  My berry-induced sunburn hurt, but mostly ... I was alone.  No help.  No hanging out, no sticky memories, no singing to the radio while dripping juice everywhere.  On what was typically our date night.  Unfairly, I was being rather grumpy about the whole thing, despite the fact that my husband was hanging out in the kitchen with me. 

Suddenly, my husband stood up, walked over and looked at the empty pot on the stove, and said, "What do I do?"  He grabbed the crushed berries and began to pour.  Soon he had the first batch bubbling away on the stove as I kept capping and washing and crushing.  

I soooo wanted to stop and take his picture because this was a most wonderful event, but I was afraid I'd ruin it, so ... no picture of my man sweating his way through his first-ever jelly experience; however, this is something I won't ever forget.

It would've been quite easy for my husband to give up on date night, remind me of the long day he'd put in at work, and head off for some peace and quiet.  Instead, he braved a sticky kitchen, a cooking unknown, and the hottest job in the room with windows that won't open.

I'm so glad he chose to hang out with me.

And in the end, we ended up with enough jelly for the year in a decent amount of time, but best of all, we did it together.  

Together.  I love that word.

For more GratiTuesday, visit Heavenly Homemakers.

Menu Plan Monday - May 7th, 2012

** Be sure to check back at noon for my entry to this month's Crazy Cooking Challenge:  Caramelized Apple Pie Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!

We're doing a lot of repetition this week, I believe, because we didn't follow our meal plan much last week.  Things kept cropping up at the last minute and so our eating plan changed.  I'm continuing to work our our freezer challenge, however, and so here's this week's plan:

Breakfast:

- Better-than-the-Baker Blueberry Muffins, fruit

- Applesauce Muffins, fruit

- Yogurt parfaits with fresh strawberries and Cinnamon Almond Granola

Lunches will be our usual assortment of leftovers and sandwiches with sliced fruit or veggies and cheese or yogurt.

Dinner:
- Salad with grilled chicken, strawberry pie
- Mexican lasagna, salad
- Black bean burgers, roasted carrots, fruit
- Chicken pot pie soup, Grandma's biscuits

- Pizza, zucchini cakes
- Dinner at church
- Grab it and growl

We're also making strawberry muffins.  The Little Man has requested them!

What are you cooking up this week?

For more Menu Plan Monday, visit OrgJunkie.

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

I had to hurriedly snap this picture, because these biscuits did not remain on the tray.  Or on the table.  Or on the plates, or anywhere else you might think to look for a biscuit.  Every single one was gobbled up in record time.

My Big Helper made these to go with a pot of soup, and there weren't any left.  Although I thought they looked a little strange - the wheat flour made an interesting color contrast with the orangeness of the cheese, nobody else seemed to care.

They reminded us of those cheddar-y biscuits you get at that seafood chain restaurant.  Know the one I mean?  Except they're healthier.  And still really, really good.


So, if you like those bad-for-you biscuits, try this version.  They'll make a much healthier side to some soup or a nice salad than the restaurant version, and your taste buds will never know the difference.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 c. white wheat flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 - 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 5 T. cold butter
• 1 c. milk
• 1/2 c. shredded cheddar 

Here's what you do:

1. Mix the dry ingredients together.
2. Cut in the butter.
3. Add the milk and stir until just blended.
4. Add the cheddar and stir until just blended.
5. Drop onto a greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes.

What would you serve your biscuits with?

Strawberry Mango Salsa

Salsa is a totally fun food to me.  You can do so many things with it - as a dip, as a topping for meat, as a fun addition to a wrap or sandwich - and fruity, spicy ones are my favorite kinds.  When I heard about a strawberry-mango combination last week, I decided to try it.

The kids and I mixed this up last night.  It's super simple and has a great fresh, summery taste.  We ate it in grilled haddock wraps, and we're planning to scoop some up with cinnamon-sugar tortilla points next, and then on grilled jerk chicken after that.  I think it would be great in a salad, too!

Ingredients:

• 1 c. diced mango (about 1 whole)
• 1 c. diced strawberries
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1/3 c. diced red onion
• dash of freshly ground salt
• dash of freshly ground black pepper

This is so simple to make!

1. Dice and combine all ingredients.
2. Allow flavors to meld in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

I wanted to share a picture of our wraps, but we ate them too fast!  There was nothing left to photograph.  So how would you eat your strawberry-mango salsa?

"Need You Now" by Beth Wiseman

Darlene Henderson and her husband Brad recently moved from big city life to a farm in rural Texas, where the kids are turning over a new, peaceful leaf and they're all settling into life in the slow lane.  That is, until Darlene realizes that with their youngest child now doing well in middle school and less involvement with her children's activities, she has more time on her hands than ever - and nobody seems to need her.  She takes a teacher's position in a local school for students with special needs, and the family scrambles to fill her homemaking shoes.  In the commotion of the move, Brad's long daily commute, and Darlene's new schedule, however, nobody notices as each teen finds new temptations in small town life - and the Henderson marriage has trouble finding a new balance.  When the handsome dad of Darlene's new student enters the picture, will he be just another ripple in the pond - or the final straw on the camel's back?

I've been a fan of Wiseman's work for a while - you can read my reviews of some of her other books here and here - and this one is even better.  From the very beginning, although my children are still small and need much daily help, I could identify with Darlene, especially in her quest to be useful.  She wants her work, whether at home, with her family, in her marriage, or at a paying job, to be of significance to somebody, and her family no longer notices the effort she puts forth for them each day.  

As a wife and mom, I think that this is something that most of us can relate to: do we stay home?  Do we work outside of the home?  Is being available really that important?  Are relatively clean floors and healthy meals of value, and if so, to whom?  Today's American culture doesn't seem to value these efforts in the same way that it did 50 years ago, and Darlene feels the pressure to fill her time and be important.  This struggle initally made me identify with Darlene, but it was her quest to find a solid friendship in her neighbor Layla and the issues with her kids that made me unable to put this book down.

Books where you can predict the ending are not fun.  It's the question, the unanswered dilemma, the what-if that keeps the pages turning, and Wiseman has heaped them upon this book - in spades.  What makes this book completely fascinating is that each question is a pressing concern in our society today, and yet they're all woven realistically into a tapestry that looks like a typical, caring American family.  One wouldn't expect the Cleavers to have a rebellious son, a daughter who cuts, or a wife on the brink of an affair, and yet real families have real problems.  The Hendersons do, too.

That is the best part of Need You Now.  It reads like reality.  It's taken from today's headlines and written in such a way that these issues could be a part of anybody's family.  The script flows smoothly, so well written that it allows the text to fade away as the characters and scenes play out in front of you.  

That is the excellence of Wiseman.  I love her past work.  This is my favorite so far.  I can't wait to read the next one.

I received a free copy of Need You Now from B&B Media Group in exchange for an honest review.

Roasted Turkey and Brie Grilled Sandwich

With lots of leftover roasted turkey last week, I was looking for new ways to use it.   With the temperatures all over the place and busy birthday plans in place, we decided to put them in fun, new sandwiches.  Since I love Brie and hadn't had it in a while, this became our go-to cheese.

Paired with some yummy soup, this made a great meal for a chilly day, but it's hearty enough to stand alone or with a light salad, too.  With the richness of the Brie, the sandwich has a big, stand-up taste - and yet most of the ingredients are actually pretty light and healthy.

So try it and tell us - is this a keeper at your house?

Ingredients:

• hearty, healthy whole wheat bread
• Brie
• fresh spinach
• shredded mozzarella
• freshly ground black pepper
• thin tomato slices
• red peppers, sliced thin
• a few tablespoons of Italian salad dressing
• melted butter

Here's how to put together your very own Roasted Turkey and Brie Grilled Sandwich:

1. Marinate the red peppers in the Italian salad dressing.
2. Grill in a grill pan until cooked through and almost caramelized.
3. Lightly butter the outside of the bread.  
4. Build the sandwich with thin slices of Brie next to the bread, then turkey, then a light sprinkling of mozzarella between each layer, with another thin layer of Brie on top.
5. Brown over medium-low heat for a few moments on each side until lightly toasted.  Using two flippers may facilitate the flipping process.  :-)
6. Serve immediately.  YUM!

What do YOU like to put into your grilled cheese?

Come back on May 7th for a fabulous new take on grilled cheese!