The Corruptible

Ray (not Raymond) Quinn has been run through the ringer.  A shattered hip, a dead finance, not much cash, and a couple of big guys who want to permanently remove Ray's head from his body - nothing this retired-cop turned PI can't handle.  A wealthy new client and a few bottles of Jack Daniel's will have Ray back on top in no time.  But when finding his client's missing information leads him to a seedy motel and a dead, dirty cop, Ray quickly learns that PI work is not the same as police work and completing the job he was paid for is not the same as seeking justice and righting wrongs.

The second book in the Ray Quinn Mystery series by Christy nominated author, Mark Mynheir, starts out slow but picks up speed about half-way through.  I was tempted to set it aside and not even finish it.  Not having read the first book, I didn't particularly like Ray and found his partner/sidekick Crevis to be too-goofy to be believable.  But as I delved further into the story, I was caught up in the details Mynheir sprinkled into the story about detective work and police life. Little by little, the curmudgeonly private investigator shows his softer side and Crevis' eagerness to please Ray becomes endearing.

Ray is not your typical Christian publishing house hero - he doesn't buy the whole religion thing and you can forget about Jesus - but I really liked that.  I want to see Ray battle his demons one day at a time rather than have a big miraculous conversion in the final chapter.  He's ultimately lying to himself about how well he can cope with the trauma he experienced and the darkness and oppression seen during his time as a homicide detective.  But when the time comes for Ray to make a choice between sinking into the bottle or becoming a stronger, better man, he finds the courage to be honest with himself and the people he cares about.

After a rocky start, I genuinely look forward to catching up with Ray's story in Book One, The Night Watchman and Mynheir's subsequent books.



Corruptible by Mark Mynheir (Chapter 1)

**I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review**

Cherished by Kim Cash Tate

Have you ever done something so bad that you didn't feel as though God would ever forgive you?  Or found His forgiveness only to have someone remind you of your past wrongs at every turn?  Maybe you were the one pointing out others' sin?

Cherished by Kim Cash Tate is a heartfelt story of fresh starts, forgiveness and reconciliation.
Ten years ago, Kelli London had her heart broken by her high school sweetheart. While he went on to accept God's grace and forgiveness for his sin, she allowed the regret, guilt and bitterness to stifle her dreams.  An unexpected meeting brings them together after years apart, and opens up past wounds as God seems to ask the impossible.

Heather Anderson searches for validation in the arms of one man after the other.  Humiliated and broken she finds forgiveness and a new identity in Christ.  Through their friendship and support of each other, Kelli and Heather realize their dreams as they never thought possible.

Set aside a big uninterrupted chunk of time to read this book.  I couldn't put it down and read into the wee hours of the morning.  Tate does a wonderful job of creating characters that evoke strong emotions in her readers. I found myself sobbing along with Kelli and Brian then bursting with pride and joy for Heather.

While the story was uplifting and encouraging, every time a character was facing a decision someone would say "let's pray about it!" or "God's opening doors!"  It seemed unrealistic and cliche that someone could be so spiritual all the time.

If you like stories with strong female characters you'll probably enjoy this book.  While I liked it and am glad to have it in my library, I probably won't read it again and again like I do with some of my favorite titles.

*I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*

Guest Post: (Great) Aunt Mary Jane

Today's post is brought to you by my Aunt Mary Jane (and Baby Mange's Great Aunt Mary Jane) from our visit at the beginning of August.  (I FINALLY got the pictures to format correctly!)

Baby Mange was here for a little visit yesterday. He met Myrtle-The-Turtle and it was love at first sight.

Luckily Myrtle weighs a ton or he would have taken her away from her pond-side happy home. By the way, Myrtle has never been much of a swimmer. It's probably due to her "lucky" front legs. You know.....just like Nemo in the movie "Finding Nemo" who had a smallish "lucky fin".

See that smile. That's his "I love Myrtle-the-turtle" smile.

Then Uncle Bill and Baby Mange had a man-to-man talk.

Baby Mange smiled and said he'd remember what Uncle Bill said.

And then it was time to check out the curious fish that squirts water out of its mouth...

and then head on out. It's hard to stand still when you have rocket ships on your feet.

Come back again Baby Mange and Mama Mange.  The piazza/terrazzo/whatever you call it will be done by then.

Love, GUB (Great Uncle Bill) and GAMJ (Great Aunt MJ)

Attack of the Killer Baby Raccoon

**This is an old post that somehow found its way to the top of my blog feed. I don't know what day I oringially posted it, so I'm just gonna leave it.**

We have a feral cat problem in our neighborhood. Naturally, my husband has taken it upon himself to solve the problem. Surprisingly, when some of the neighbors got wind of it, they were totally cool with the idea and have offered to borrow our cat trap every once in a while in order to launch sneak attacks from their yards.

Last night Matt did not succeed in catching a mangy feral cat who had been digging under our fence but instead caught the little baby raccoon who had been digging under our fence. This morning, one of our neighbors trotted out to us as we left the house to go to church to let us know that we had a really angry mama raccoon on our hands. We assured him that it was okay, it was just the baby in the trap. Eventually everyone realized that where a trapped and scared baby raccoon an angry and vicious mama raccoon is sure to follow.

Matt gathered reinforcements in the form of a couple of our college students and went to work after church to free the cute little guy (who was chirping, groaning and muttering at me as I washed dishes and watched from the kitchen window as if to say, "How can you let this happen? You're going to be a mom, can't you do anything about this?")

When I saw the baseball bats go out the door with the boys I knew I had to document the event for you all to see. I hope it's as enjoyable for you as it was for me - though I feel the need to clarify that the baseball bats are for defense - not offense. (Kecia, I remarked to my husband while he waited for the boys to show up that this whole situation felt like something that Mike would have called Matt come help him with when we were in Idaho.)

Here We Go!!!

August 15!  Just a few more weeks now before we pack up and head out.  New job, new town, new home.  There are still quite a few things up in the air.  As of right now our house has not sold and we are going to attempt to rent it.  We're getting closer to our monthly financial goal but we're not quite there yet.  But in spite of the uncertainty, we are confident that we are within God's will in our decision to embark on this new adventure.  He has given us little bits of encouragement and confirmation along the way and these "bread crumbs" keep us going when doubt starts to creep in.

As we enter a new phase of life, it seems only natural the blog enters a new phase as well.  Don't panic!  It's not really changing - it'll just be more organized and I'll be posting on a more consistent schedule.  The look will pretty much stay the same and because Baby Mange is in his "chew everyone's face off" stage, our little Mange Monster up in the corner over there is quite appropriate.  At the bottom of each post, I'll be adding a gadget for you to find other stuff around here that you might like (thanks to Michelle for having this feature on her blog - I had no idea that I could do it too!)

I'll also be putting all of the posts into new categories:

• Drama Queen (where I release my inner Drama Queen - the sole reason we I started this thing in the first place)
• Baby It! (The best of Baby Mange)
• Live It! (General stuff about our life)
• Buy It! (Where I tell you what to buy)
• Read It! (Where I tell you what to read - or not to read)
• Eat It! (Yummy stuff to eat)
• Love It! (Stuff I love that you need to love too)

So there you have it.  I'll be spending some time getting all of my posts into the new format so it might be a little while before I have something new for you.  In the meantime, I have a guest post from someone special coming and a couple of book reviews to post as well.  Stay tuned!!

God's Love Letters to You

I recently received a book from BookSneeze to review called God's Love Letters to You.  It's a 40-day devotional book based on Dr. Larry Crabb's , 66 Love Letters.  Every day, Crabb summarizes a different book of the bible and explains how it is God's way of encouraging you and showing that he loves you.  Each day starts with a Love Letter from God followed by a few points to reflect upon and a short prayer.

God's Love Letters to You is easy to read and understand.  There were a few days that felt "theology light" but overall, most of the days directly spoke to my current struggles and journey and were very encouraging.  The tone of the book was very Message-like in that it really did feel like a conversation between friends.  (So for those that are not Eugene Peterson fans might not find that this suits their tastes.)  There were many days that made me want to crack open my bible and read the entire book that was being summarized to see if I could come to the same conclusion as Dr. Crabb - not an easy feat (hello, Leviticus!) - and I am certainly interested in reading Crabb's 66 Love Letters to get a more in-depth perspective.

While I'm not sure I would recommend to a friend that they purchase this book, it's certainly worth a library check-out and may be good to use with a pre-believing friend or a new believer.



*I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*