Book Notes: March 30, 2022 - Suspense Romance I'm Currently Reading

 Welcome back! Today's going to be a little bit different. I hope you don't mind me not sharing reviews today. The internet, or rather, Goodreads and I are at odds, it seems. Since I couldn't get the site to load (perhaps it's under maintenance), I'm going to share the books which I'm currently reading, as well as list a few I'd love to read soon. I've done my best to link to them so you can check them out, too. Just click on the photos of each book. Apprently I can browse as a guest, but can't sign into my account for some reason. It's got to be some kind of site maintenance...

Currently Reading: Tate (The Montana Marshalls book 2) by Susan May Warren

When I first started The Montana Marshalls series, I knew I'd want to read all of books, or at least as many as possible. It's going to be a slow victory, though, since these are not priced happily for my budget. They're worth every penny so far. 

I'm currently reading this book aloud with my husband. When we're out driving around, or when we have a few spare minutes to just chill, we will usually pick it up. However, that means it's slow going for me. I have to confess, I'm impatient. I must know how it all ends! 

So my current assessment of Tate is that it's going to end up 4.75 stars. A couple of jarring phrases keep it from being a full five star rating. "Her eyes in his"? And "a grin slid up his face"? Those sound pretty painful to me. Some might not be bothered by these phrases, but for me, the first phrase pulls me out of a moment which is supposed to be moving, deep, serious. The second one is just oddly jarring. 

What I absolutely love about these books so far is how important family is to the Marshalls and how much integrity each of the siblings has. You can count on them to give their best. They're also honest about who they are, or they learn to be that way. And they do look to God for their help and for guidance, which shows in how they live, too. It's not an overt inspirational message and it's definitely not preachy, but you can clearly see a Christian worldview driving these characters. 

Just Finished Reading: Warrior (Spiritual Warfare Series book 1) by Linda K. Rodante

I just finished reading this book which is the first in the series. (Goodreads has this listed at book 7 in the Dangerous series...?) The second one was offered either free or at a discount a few months ago. I started the series with Roar (book 2) and knew immediately that these books would be added to my Kindle shelves. I managed to get all three before my husband got laid off. 

I'm currently re-reading book two so I can watch these stories unfold in chronological order. They are stand-alone novels. I confess that if I had to wait to read the others, it wouldn't bother me too much, as far as being without the content. These are good enough that if I had to wait three years for a new installment, it would be worth it to me. Most people haven't yet discovered the beauty of a slow and steady life...

What makes these amazing to me is the subject matter. Spiritual warfare is a tough topic to tackle because there are a few differing opinions on the topic within the different denominations of Christianity. But I believe Ms. Rodante has done a beautiful job of showing what spiritual warfare is and how we as Christians are to do battle. 

While some might say the books have unrealistic scenarios, that no one could make such a complete turn-around in their lives, to them I would reply, "You are correct." We can't make those kinds of life changes on our own. That's why we need the help of the triune God. 

Ms. Rodante presents a pretty clear picture of what it means to live the life of a Christian. It's not always pretty. It's never easy. And if you're living an easy life, never having to fight to stay on the path, then I urge you to dig deep into the scriptures. The Savior wouldn't have said we have to take up our cross to follow Him if there wasn't going to be some suffering involved. 

I hope you'll find something in this post which will interest you. If you decide to give one of these a try, or if you've read either of them, please tell me about it in the comments below. 

Until next time...