Beauty For Ashes: A Hickory Ridge Romance

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com Beauty For Ashes by Dorothy Love
{Paperback, 330 Pages, Christian Fiction, February 28, 2012, $15.99}

Publisher's Synospsis:
She's a beautiful young widow.  He's a southern gentleman with a thirst for adventure.  Both need a place to call home.

After losing her husband in the Civil War, Carrie Daly is scared she will never have the family she longs for.  Eligible bachelors are scarce in Hickory Ridge, Tennessee, but Carrie has found love.  Not the weak in the knees kind, but something practical.  Still, she isn't quite ready to set a wedding date with Nate Chastain.

Griff Rutledge is a former member of Charleston society, but has been estranged from his family for years.  He's determined to remain unattached, never settling in one place for too long.  But when asked to train a Thoroughbred for an upcoming race in Hickory Ridge, he decides to stay awhile.

Despite objections from townsfolk, and fear that true happiness has eluded her, Carrie is drawn to Griff's kindness and charm.  It will take a leap of faith for them to open their hearts and claim God's promise to give beauty for ashes.

Dorothy Love is a native of Tennessee and now lives in Texas with her husband and two dogs.  She is the author of Beyond All Measure.  You can find her online at www.DorothyLoveBooks.com.


My Thoughts
This is the second book in the Hickory Ridge Romance series.  I haven't read the first, but it didn't leave me confused and stood on its own.  Carrie is a young widow living with her older brother on a farm.  Their parents died long ago, so it's been just the two of them for a long time.  That is until Henry decides to get married to Mary, who also has two young boys who aren't very well behaved at all.  After moving in you know the two women are going to clash something awful since they have such different personalities.  It doesn't take long before Carrie moves out and finds a room in town to live.

Carrie wants a family but doesn't really want to marry Nate, who owns a bookstore in town.  He keeps asking her but she keeps telling him she wants to wait.  Then one day while going about her errands, Carrie almost gets run over by a wild horse.  She is saved by the good looking stranger, Griff.  From that encounter  the two fall for each other, but keep trying not to, but circumstances just keep bringing them together.  There is plenty of heartbreak along the way which makes the story that much better.  I Rated This Book:  4/5 Stars.

Disclaimer: This post was written for the sponsor who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

Little Girl Gone

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com Little Girl Gone by Drusilla Campbell
{Paperback, 308 Pages, Fiction, January 2012}

Publisher's Synopsis:
Madora was seventeen, headed for trouble with drugs and men, when Willis rescued her.  Fearful of the world and alienated from family and friends, she ran away with him and for five years they have lived alone, in near isolation.  But after Willis kidnaps a pregnant teenager and imprisons her in a trailer behind the house, Madora is torn between her love for him and her sense of right and wrong.

When a pit bull puppy named Foo brings into Madora's world another unexpected person--Django Jones, a brilliant but troubled twelve year old boy--she's forced to face the truth of what her life has become.  An intensely emotional and provocative story, it explores the secret hopes and fears that drive good people to do dangerous things...and the courage it takes to make things right.

Drusilla Campbell is the author of The Good Sister, Blood Orange, The Edge of the Sky, Wildwood, and Bone Lake.  She had crossed the Pacific Ocean three times before she started school, and in her twenties lived in Europe and Central America.  Today she lives in San Diego with her husband and their two dogs and three horses.  You can find her online at www.DrusillaCampbell.com.

My Thoughts
A quick and pleasant read, this book follows Madora from her teen years to her twenties when she finally comes face to face with what she is doing with her life, thanks to the help of Django.  She thinks Willis is perfect and doesn't question him or anything he does until that time.  Then she realizes that she has been fooling herself all that time living without her family and friends.  Interesting characters, including a lovable pit bull.  It also includes a reading group guide.  I Rated This Book:  3/5 Stars.


Disclaimer: This post was written for the sponsor who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

Loose Girl

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com Loose Girl by Kerry Cohen
{Paperback, 225 Pages, Memoir, June 2009}

Publisher's Synopsis:
For everyone who was that girl.
For everyone who knew that girl.
For everyone who wondered who that girl was.

Loose Girl is Kerry Cohen's captivating memoir about her descent into promiscuity and how she gradually found her way toward real intimacy.  The story of addiction--not just sex, but to male attention--this is also the story of a young girl who came to believe that boys and men could give her life meaning.

Never less than riveting, it re-creates what it feels like to be in that desperate moment when a girl tries to control a boy by handing over her body, when the touch of that boy seems to offer proof of something but ultimately delivers little more than emptiness.

The unforgettable story of one young woman who desperately wanted to matter, it will speak to countless others with its compassion, understanding, and love.

Kerry Cohen received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Oregon and an MA in counseling psychology from Pacific University.  A psychotherapist and the author of the young adult novels Easy, The Good Girl, and It's Not You, It's Me.  She lives with her husband and two sons in Portland, Oregon.  You can find her online at www.kerry-cohen.com.

My Thoughts
I can't say this was an interesting book, but it was short.  I can see how many girls go through this type of thing, especially these days.  Trying to find love in all the wrong places is something too many of us do.  There is no 'helping' in this book.  The author has sex with countless men up into she gets married.  It just tells her story from the age of 14 until then.  Sex, drugs, drinking.  I Rated This Book:  2.5/5 Stars.




Disclaimer: This book was a gift--sitting on my shelf for a few years-- and this is my honest opinion only.

The One Ingredient Label You Have Never Read...But Should

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You Probably Know What’s In Your Kids’ Peanut Butter, But Do You  Know What’s In Their Toothpaste?

Most parents are careful about learning what’s in the stuff their kids eat and drink. They avoid artificial dyes, preservatives, chemicals, and sweeteners. Yet ask just about any of those same folks if they have ever looked at what is in their toothpaste and you’ll likely get blank stares.

Considering the fact that children – and adults -- ingest toothpaste twice a day every day, it’s probably the most frequent thing we put in our mouths other than water or other beverages. And still, most people have never looked at what is in their toothpaste.

Dentist and national oral health care expert Harold Katz, (www.therabreath.com), suggests that needs to change. Many ingredients in some commercial toothpastes are of questionable benefit and some are just plain bad for you.

Consumers have become increasingly aware of the hidden toxins in foods, beverages and eating and drinking utensils, he says. They avoid high fat and high sodium foods, sulfates in their personal care products, aerosol sprays, and toxic chemicals in their household cleaners.

“They’re taking no chances, and rightfully so. Remember the rush to replace plastic baby bottles with glass ones after the BPA scare in 2008?” he asked.

However there has been a surprising lack of attention to toothpaste, Katz says. The dentist suggests that all consumers – but especially parents – take the time to read their toothpaste tubes today. Effects of potentially unhealthy toothpaste ingredients are multiplied in the smaller bodies of children.

Here are a few ingredients to stay away from:

• FD&C blue dye No. 2: This commonly used toothpaste dye is one of several on the list of additives to avoid, maintained by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. It’s said to be linked to learning, behavioral and health problems, severe allergic reactions, and headaches, among other problems.

• Sodium lauryl sulfate: The American College of Toxicology reports this ingredient in cosmetics and industrial cleaning agents can cause skin corrosion and irritation. Doses of .8 to 110 grams/kilogram in lab rats caused depression, labored breathing, diarrhea and death in 4 out of 20 animals.

• Triclosan: An anti-microbial ingredient, the federal Environmental Protection Agency lists triclosan as a pesticide and regulates its use in over-the-counter toothpastes and hand soaps. According to the agency’s fact sheet, “Studies on the thyroid and estrogen effects led EPA to determine that more research on the potential health consequences of endocrine effects of triclosan is warranted. … Because of the amount of research being planned and currently in progress, it will undertake another comprehensive review of triclosan beginning in 2013.”

• Saccharin and aspartame: Both of these artificial sweeteners are on the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s list of additives to avoid.

Toothpaste buyers should look for natural ingredients, such as aloe vera juice, which cleans and soothes teeth and gums and helps fight cavities, according to the May/June 2009 issue of General Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry's clinical, peer-reviewed journal. Aloe vera tooth gel is said to kill disease-causing bacteria in the mouth, Katz says.

Also, avoid all toothpastes that contain sodium lauryl sulfate, a harsh detergent that has been linked to canker sores. Toothpastes that are free of sulfates include Weleda’s Salt Toothpaste, TheraBreath and Tom’s of Maine.

Brush your teeth at least twice a day and get children into the habit from a young age, Katz says. You’ll have fresh breath, avoid painful dental problems, and be far more likely to have your teeth in your mouth when you go to sleep at night as you age.

Just be sure to check what’s in your family’s toothpaste and avoid buying anything with problematic ingredients. And when it comes to brushing kids teeth use a pea-sized drop of paste on the brush – no more – and oversee brushing to ensure young children don’t swallow their toothpaste, says Dr Katz.

About Dr. Harold Katz

Dr. Harold Katz received his degree in bacteriology from UCLA and is the founder of The California Breath Clinics and author of The Bad Breath Bible. He has been featured on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” CBS’s “Early Show” and “The View” with Barbara Walters and countless other TV shows. Dr. Katz’s formulated the TheraBreath oral care program in 1994 and has continued to update products in order to make use of the most effective and most natural ingredients.


Disclaimer: This is a guest post.