Book Review: My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren/4 Stars

About the book:

Unknown to her tiny town of Deep Haven, Isadora Presley spends her nights as Miss Foolish Heart, the star host of a syndicated talk radio show. Millions tune in to hear her advice on dating and falling in love, unaware that she’s never really done either. Issy’s ratings soar when it seems she’s falling in love on-air with a caller. A caller she doesn’t realize lives right next door.

Caleb Knight served a tour of duty in Iraq and paid a steep price. The last thing he wants is pity, so he hides his disability and moves to Deep Haven to land his dream job as the high school football coach. When his beautiful neighbor catches his eye, in a moment of desperation he seeks advice from My Foolish Heart, the show that airs before his favorite sports broadcast.

Before he knows it, Caleb finds himself drawn to the host—and more confused than ever. Is his perfect love the woman on the radio . . . or the one next door?

My thoughts:

Ok, so don't shoot me, but I've never read a Susan May Warren book before.  *ducking for cover*  It's not intentional or anything.  She just happens to be one of many authors that I just haven't gotten around to yet.  But ya know, I think I'll be coming back for more...and soon, too.  :o)


My Foolish Heart is part of the Deep Haven series, although it's come along several years after the original 3 books were released.  Being that this was my first book by Susan, I was a bit nervous that I wouldn't be in the loop about this sweet little town.  Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about.  I jumped right in with both feet to read about Issy and Caleb, and got a bonus with Lucy and Seb's story thrown in.  And I won't lie...the romance was enough to make me down-right giddy, butterflies in my stomach, holding my breath--the whole nine yards!

The intro was a little slow for my taste because Issy and Caleb both came with a lot of baggage.  Issy suffered from agoraphobia, which meant that panic attacks were a frequent occurrence for her.  Caleb was a vet from the Iraq War, and came home a scarred and wounded soldier.  As a reader, it was necessary to really get into their characters before reading their introductions to each another, but I think it could've been done effectively in less than the almost-100 pages it took.

What impressed me the most was the story's realness.  Never before have a read a novel that dealt with these types of issues (agoraphobia, PTSD, etc.).  Everything felt so current, especially with the references to Caleb coming home wounded from the Iraq War.  The book also addressed struggles with fear and pride, and how those two tiny words had the power to control a life. 

All in all, I liked that My Foolish Heart had a good mix of the funny with the serious.  For readers like me who read books for an escape from everyday life, it's such a pleasure to read a book that not only brings a smile to my face, but can also bring a tear to my eye.  And believe me...both happened quite frequently.  ;o)  I am very happy to give My Foolish Heart a solid 4 star rating, along with a promise to read (many) more of Susan May Warren's books in the future. 

Southern?  No-set in Minnesota
Sass?  No

**Many thanks to Litfuse and Tyndale for providing a copy for review.

Mailbox Monday

Ok, so I barely made it on getting this post up this week, but I had a good excuse...

I was reading.

*happy smiles*

Top stack is what actually came in the mail.

Pompeii by Tracy Higley (publisher/CFBA)

She Makes It Look Easy by Marybeth Whalen (publisher/CFBA)

A Claim of Her Own by Stephanie Grace Whitson (PBS)

The Dark Sun Rises by Denise Williamson (BookMooch)

Single Sashimi by Camy Tang (PBS...been wanting this book for the longest time so I can read the whole series in one fell swoop)  :o)

Never Without Hope by Michelle Sutton (PBS...another I've been wishing for, and a happy surprise when I saw it's a signed copy)  :o)

Since my MM posts have morphed into listing everything I got in the previous week, you may as well know that I couldn't stay away from the used bookstore this past week.  Hauled off 8 books from there.  Shhh...don't tell my hubby.  :o)

Love Finds You in Hope, Kansas by Pamela Griffin

Love Finds You Under the Mistletoe by Irene Brand and Anita Higman

Love Finds You in Lahaina, Hawaii by Bodie Thoene

Inside Story by Susan Page Davis

Missing Mabel by Nancy Mehl

Simple Deceit by Nancy Mehl

Love Me Back to Life by Missy Horsfall and Susan Stevens

Goodbye Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson 

What about you?  Haul home any great books this week?  :o)

Book Spotlight: The Fine Art of Insincerity by Angela Hunt

About the book:

Three grown Southern sisters have ten marriages between them—and more loom on the horizon—when Ginger, the eldest, wonders if she’s the only one who hasn’t inherited what their family calls “the Grandma Gene”: the tendency to like the casualness of courtship better than the intimacy of marriage. Could it be that her two sisters are fated to serially marry, just like their seven-times wed grandmother, Mrs. Lillian Irene Harper Winslow Goldstein Carey James Bobrinski Gordon George? It takes a “girls only” weekend, closing up Grandma’s treasured beach house for the last time, for the sisters to really unpack their family baggage, examine their relationship DNA, and discover the true legacy their much-marrying grandmother left behind . . .

**Click here to read a preview.

**Many thanks to Glass Road PR for providing a copy for review for today's blog tour.  I hope to have it read soon!  :o)

Book Review: Finding Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson/4 Stars

About the book:

Prayer?  Really?

Scotty and Charley are headed for Marshall, Texas, with Biker Guy once more close on their trail. As Scotty tries to come to terms with the reality of her parents’ deaths, she grows friendly with the locals. That makes staying hidden challenging.

But there’s got to be more to life than fear, and through new friendships, Scotty learns that this prayer thing might work after all. Will prayer be enough when the situation is life and death? What happens when Biker Guy finally catches up to her?

My thoughts:

**I'm going to be mentioning things from this book as well as the previous book in the series, Hollywood Nobody, so be aware that you may come upon a spoiler or two.**

To be perfectly honest, I was a little hesitant to read the next book in the Hollywood Nobody Series.  I read book one, and while I loved the opening and Scotty's fun sense of humor, I just wasn't crazy about the religious portions of the book (more on that later).  But I'm a firm believer in giving an author a second chance, so I plunged ahead and read book 2, Finding Hollywood Nobody.

The opening of this book...awesome!  I couldn't believe it started out in Memphis, TN which, for one, was great for this local native, and for two, simply because it was set in the South.  Happy smiles all around.  :o)  I loved reading about Scotty's trip to Graceland, as well as trip to a local food joint, Pirtle's.  For some, seeing local places mentioned in a book may not be a big deal, but when you're familiar with an area, you like to see and hear about the *actual local places*.  So...for those of you that don't know, Pirtle's has GREAT fried chicken, and it was indeed a pleasure to see it get some love in this book.  ;o)

Scotty was her typical self in this book--pretty opinionated, maybe a little bit ADD, and frankly, more mature than most 16-year-olds that I know.  Sometimes, it was soooo hard to follow her train of thought because she kept jumping from one topic to the next.  It was more prevalent in the first book than in this book, so I was pleased that her character had a little more focus here.  I also missed the frequency of her "blog posts" in this book compared to the first, but as this book reached the end, it made perfect sense why they had slacked off.

The biggest thing I was happy about was her spiritual journey advanced a great deal in this book.  When I read book one, I won't lie....I was not crazy about how church/Christianity/denominations were portrayed.  I'm probably very much in the minority on that, but still...just my opinion.  See, I was raised in a Pentecostal church, complete with people speaking in tongues and everything else that goes with it.  As I've grown older, I've come to my own conclusions about their particular teachings, and it was just best that we parted ways.    So, when I started reading about Scotty's visits to a local tent meeting in book one, I was very surprised that a Pentecostal preacher was the one conducting the services....complete with the speaking in tongues and healing services.  You name it, it was there.  The reason it bothered me was that, for someone not familiar with all the many denominations there are (and yes, we all have some reason why we believe the way we do, or go to this church or that church), that particular denomination is so universally misunderstood.  I just think that the author didn't need to make it that complicated because even Scotty's character questioned whether or not they were legit.  I don't thing a YA book should be tackling those kinds of issues that early.  It can be overload.  Believe me, I know...I had the same questions when I was growing up and seeing it at church every week.  It wasn't that I was offended by the content...just very, very suprised.  Maybe I'm way off base here to some, and if I am, I apologize (especially if I've offended anyone...that is not my intention at all).  Maybe Scotty was more mature and discerning at that point in life than I was at her age...I don't know.

So, I said all that to say that Scotty figured out her place with God in book two, and it was written perfectly.  Her character even alluded to a bit of confusion from the services mentioned in book one, but I think it was just like water off a duck's back in her mind.  She figured out her own way to Christ...no denomination needed.  :o)

Now that I've gotten past all that I didn't like from book one, I'm really eager to read the rest of the series and find out what happens with Scotty.  Lesson for me--it just goes to show that you can never judge a book by it's cover, and just because one book experience was bad doesn't mean that all books by that same author will be bad, too.  :o) 

4 Stars

Southern?  Just enough  :o)
Sass?  Some

**Many thanks to NavPress for providing a copy for review.