The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews

What a wonderful opportunity to be able to review this book. First of all, I had not heard of Andy Andrews. But the summary of the book definitely had me curious because I love any kind of literature about World War II. Mind you, I am not a history buff. But my library is full of books by those who have survived that horrible war.

Thus said, The Heart Mender had me captivated from the beginning. German war submarines in the Gulf of Mexico? By Louisiana? Who knew?? This was the first time I had ever heard of such. Mix in a true life experience by the author, followed by what seemed to be a fictitious story, and then wind up in the living room, so to speak, of the real characters. Amazing.

I'll have to admit, I was not as intrigued in the subtitle "A Story of Second Chances." I was more interested in whether Helen would ever fall for Wan and.....will Wan be okay if she doesn't. You know, important details like that. Hey, it's a great book. Check it out!!

I am grateful to Thomas Nelson for providing me this book to review. In addition they have given me a book to give away free to someone who loves reading as much as I do. If you are interested in receiving this book, completely free, please leave a comment about why you love reading about World War II stories. Deadline is Wednesday, June 2nd. I will post the winner on my blog and will email you for your mailing address.

Plan B by Pete Wilson

Through Thomas Nelson Publishing Company I was able to read an advance copy of Pete Wilson's upcoming book entitled Plan B. In this book Pastor Pete discusses the situation many Christians face sooner or later in which they react by saying....."This isn't what I planned", or "This isn't what I expected" or maybe there is no reaction at all because we are just in shock. What do you do when God doesn't show up the way you thought He would?

This was the first time I heard of Pastor Pete and his ministry. I can tell he is a Pastor of a large congregation and thus probably has many people that have been discipled under his ministry. So I hesitate critiquing his book since I certainly don't have his expertise or training. However, I'm afraid this book didn't keep my attention at all. And believe me, if there is a Plan B, I am on Plan M & N by now. And I have definitely read books by Christian authors to help me get through some tough times. But the illustrations in this book have been experienced by many people. And the examples of Bible characters. Well, didn't their Plan B really turn into Plan A?

I think the biggest disappointment for me was that I kept looking for Romans 8:28 to be applied somewhere in this book and how all things work together for good. NOT that ALL things are GOOD. But that they work together for good for those who LOVE GOD. That has helped me the most in my Christian life and also in helping others along the way.

Even though this book fell short in my expectations, I would recommend using it in a Bible study as it has some good study questions at the end. Also a new believer might benefit from this book.