Wishing on Willows

Wishing on Willows by Katie Ganshert is a novel about a young widow who is facing the loss of her beloved café when a developer and over half the town want her to sell to make room for some new condos that are supposed to be built. Robin, the young widow, is determined to fight it with all she has, not only for her café, but for a ministry center nearby that means a lot to her.

The developer, a handsome divorcé, is just as determined to get her to change her mind. Can they come to a mutual agreement, or will one of them have to give in?

The ending of this book was a little more interesting than the first 2/3. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the storyline and the execution, but romance novels aren’t really my thing, either. If you enjoy Christian novels set in the modern day Midwestern, small town America, then you would probably enjoy this.

I received an advanced reading copy of this book free from Waterbrook Press through the Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review.

Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe

I thoroughly enjoyed Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe by  Sally Clarkson and Sarah Mae. That title could describe me perfectly a lot of the time! I never realized how tough this motherhood gig is until I became a mother, and then I was like “Whoa! Why didn’t anyone tell me it would be this hard? Why didn’t anyone warn me?!”

I could have used a book like this as soon as my oldest was born, but it still has so much wisdom, so much insight on the struggles of motherhood. Partway through the book, my computer crashed and I lost all my bookmarks and the parts I highlighted because they were either so me, or they spoke truths that I needed to hear and wanted to remember. I wanted to have those to reference when I wrote this review, but I don’t have that anymore.

However, this is hands down one of the best books I have ever read written for moms, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a mom, especially of little ones, who sometimes feels like she can hardly breathe (or go to the bathroom in peace!!) or anyone who wants to understand moms.

I like the way Sarah Mae, who is more “in the trenches” so to speak, writes about challenges she’s facing, and Sally, an older mom and Sarah Mae’s mentor, responds. I can identify with Sarah Mae, and I am blessed by Sally’s honesty, wisdom, and experience.

I was given this book free by Thomas Nelson publishers through the Booksneeze program in exchange for an honest review.