Category Archives: secular titles

Stand-In Wife by Debbie Macomber

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Stand-In Wife – book 2 of The Manning Brides Series by Debbie Macomber

If your sibling died, could you marry his/her spouse?

In Stand-In Wife, Leah Baker’s sister, Diane, dies. Diane leaves behind her husband, Paul, and three small children. Paul struggles to care for his family while working full-time. Leah steps in, helping whenever she can. Leah finally decides to quit her job and move in with Paul and his family. She wants to do this because she wants to care for her sister’s children. Since their mother is gone, they are struggling to adjust to their lives without their mom.

However, Leah and Paul are attracted to one another. Is it wrong for them to feel this way? After all, Paul was Diane’s husband, and Paul loved Diane. As a matter of fact, everybody loved Diane. Diane was a beautiful outgoing woman and Leah recalled that Diane was always favored by their mother. Plain, intelligent Leah always took a backseat to her beautiful, vivacious sister. Could Paul realistically love Leah, when he was also in love with Leah’s beautiful sister, Diane?

I really enjoyed this book. This story showed how people can struggle with romantic feelings which inadvertently result from the death of a spouse. Also, I really felt for Leah – it’s so sad for a woman to grow up, playing second fiddle to their sibling. Growing up like that would certainly create emotional scars, and Leah struggled with how Diane had been favored by their mom.

Like most of Macomber’s books, this is a clean, sweet romance and I found it to be highly appealing and realistic. I loved seeing the bond developing between Leah and the children.

So, if your brother or sister died, could you imagine yourself marrying his/her spouse? Would you feel guilty for having romantic feelings toward your deceased sibling’s husband/wife?

Starry Night by Debbie Macomber

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Starry Night by Debbie Macomber
Have you ever done something aggressive/out-of-the-ordinary to get ahead in the corporate world? If so, what did you do?

Carrie Slayton is a society page columnist for a major newspaper. Although she’s grateful to have a job at this prestigious newspaper, she finds her work unfulfilling and boring. Dressing up to cover stories about the rich and famous, wining and dining at social and charitable events, is not what she wants to do with her life.

Carrie approaches her boss. Can’t he allow her to write more meaningful  stories? Her boss gives her an impossible task – do an exclusive interview with author Finn Dalton – if she’s successful writing this story, then she can write more meaningful stories for the newspaper.

Carrie is floored. Finn Dalton is a world-famous novelist – his book, Alone, has been on the best-seller list for months. However, nobody has been able to find the elusive Finn Dalton. Nobody has even seen a picture of him! Reporters trying to find Finn always reach a dead end. Carrie is determined to find him – this story could make or break her career.

Finn enjoys his hermit-like life in the Alaskan wild. The only companionship he needs is from his big pet dog, Hennessey. He loves living alone, surviving in his secluded log cabin. Besides, he doesn’t trust women – all women are out to manipulate men to get what they want. His mother abandoned him when he was a child, and he’s never gotten over that heartache.

This book was great! It’s a sweet, heartwarming, emotional read. Like most of Debbie Macomber’s books, it’s a novel that most Christians can read and not get offended. I especially loved the characters. Finn is so stubborn, not willing to admit his feelings for Carrie. Carrie loved her career, but, her feelings for Finn are totally unexpected. There’s just something about a big, strong, rugged, handsome man living alone in the wilderness…living off the land…the whole concept is intriguing and sexy!

I also loved reading about Alaska. It’s a place I’d like to visit one day and by reading this book, you’ll get a good taste of what life in Alaska is like. This is a romance that you need to read. It’ll be sure to light up your holiday season!

Thanks so much to Ballantine Books/Random House LLC for providing me with a free review copy!

Have you ever done something aggressive to get ahead in the corporate world? If so, what did you do?

– See more at: http://ceceliadowdy.com/blog/category/debbie-macomber

WOOL – Silo Series 1-5

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Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) (Wool, #1-5)

WOOL by Hugh Howey

***Note, this is a secular title.

Can you imagine living hundreds of feet below the earth with your people, having no contact with the outside world?

That’s the premise of WOOL, a five-part series about large group of people who live underground in their home, a SILO. The SILO is huge, several hundred feet beneath the earth and the population makes their living by doing a host of jobs: machinery (to run the electricity in the huge underground home), agriculture, cafeteria worker, etc. These people live without contact with the outside world – they have little knowledge of what lies beyond the great door leading outside.

However, being below ground for decades can cause strife amongst people. Some get depressed, curious about what lies beyond those underground walls. Sensing their fate of death, they volunteer to “clean.” This means they are suited up, sent Outside, and when they’re sent out, they clean the SILO window, giving the people a clear view of the outside. The suit does not hold up under the strife of the outside world – so people are sent to die – both voluntarily, and non-voluntarily. The non-voluntary cleaners are those who create strife in the SILO, firing up the people, giving them all sorts of forbidden ideas that go against the Pact.

One SILO worker, Juliette, who works in the Mechanical department is particularly strong and courageous. Her life takes an interesting twist after a certain man is sent to clean.

This is a sci-fi title (I don’t read many of those). I kept hearing about this book in my writers’ circles so I felt that I should read it. I was NOT disappointed. I LOVED this  book! Although the plot mesmerized me, I still felt there were a few things that were not fully explained – like, what happened to make the world unlivable beyond those SILO doors? A couple of the characters talk about this briefly, but, I was still left wondering. Is the entire world unlivable outside of the silo?

So, could you imagine living hundreds of feet below the earth with your people, having no contact with the outside world? How would  those living conditions affect your mind?

 

 

Never Say Never by Victoria Christopher Murray

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Never Say Never

Never Say Never by Victoria Christopher Murray

Your best friend has an affair with your husband – could you forgive them?

That’s the question which created the catalyst for this novel. Miriam is grieving – her firefighter husband (Chauncey) has recently died in a fire and now she’s a single mom, forced to raise her three sons alone. She clings to her sister friends, Michellelee and Emily, hoping their love and support will help her get through this difficult time.

She also turns to Jamal, Emily’s husband, for support. Jamal and Miriam share a similar pain. Miriam’s husband, Chauncey, was Jamal’s best friend. The two were as close as brothers, and both were firefighters – so Jamal has lost his “brother” and Miriam has lost her husband. Both need to find a way to get through this difficult grief. They turn to one another for comfort – and that’s when their affair starts…

I enjoyed this story. Like all of Victoria Christopher Murray’s books, it was a page-turning novel, and I thought the characters were very realistic. Although both Miriam and Jamal were grieving, I still felt that they could’ve worked harder to resist temptation. Miriam feels bad about hurting Emily, and Jamal loves his wife. However, he just couldn’t resist the temptation – the grief seemed to make both Miriam and Jamal especially vulnerable.

Honestly, I doubt if I could forgive my best friend for such a deception. I know the Lord wants us to forgive, but…I think it would take me a LONG time to forgive my best friend, if ever.

So, if your best friend had an affair with your husband, could you forgive them?

***My e-book, Milk Money, is only 99 cents! Download it now before the price goes up! :-)

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~Cecelia Dowdy~

The Millionaire’s Nanny Arrangement by Linda Goodnight

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The Millionaire’s Nanny Arrangement by Linda Goodnight

***note – this is a sweet romance!

The Millionaire's Nanny Arrangement (Harlequin Romance, #4053)

How would you cope if your cheating husband has died, leaving you pregnant and alone?

Workaholic Ryan Storm runs his multi-million-dollar company to ensure his motherless daughter, Mariah, has a better life than his. Widowed, he finds himself lacking a nanny/tutor for his highly-intelligent daughter. When he meets Kelsey Mason, a woman he knew in high school, at the airport, he realizes that Mariah and Kelsey get along well. There’s only one big problem, Kelsey is very pregnant – can he be sure that her pregnancy is safe – he’s not the best person to have around when a woman is expecting a child.

Kelsey recalls Ryan from her high school days, and wonders about his commitment to his daughter. He never spends time with her since he’s always working and poor Mariah craves to spend more time with her daddy. Kelsey and Ryan argue over the best way to raise Mariah while Ryan worries about Kelsey’s pregnancy – she’s recently widowed and alone – plus she’s beautiful. Although they disagree on many things, their mutual attraction sizzles.

This was a delightfully enjoyable read. A short, sweet romance that you can finish in a few hours.

So, how would you cope if your cheating husband has died, leaving you pregnant and alone?

***My e-book, Milk Money, is only 99 cents! Download it now before the price goes up! :-)

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~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

The Secret Life Of Bees – A Secular Title

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Have you read this book (or saw the movie)? If so, what do you recall liking about this story?

This book has been sitting on my shelf for several years. My sister loaned it to me because she’d said it was an awesome novel. Of course, I’ve heard a lot about this book over the years, and I know a movie was made starring Queen Latifah. I plan on watching the movie and compare it to the book for one of my Saturday Matinee blog entries.

Lily lives in the south with her mean, unlovable, abusive father. Living on her dad’s peach orchard proves a bane existence. She’s an outcast at school and her only friend is Rosaleen, her father’s African-American housekeeper. Lily wonders about her mother. Her mother died when she was four, and she has vague memories about her mother’s sudden death – was she the cause of her mother dying?

Due to a racially tense incident, Rosaleen gets arrested and beaten. Lily is able to help Rosaleen escape from jail. Fearful for Rosaleen and herself, Lily sets foot to Tiberon, a town where she believes her mother used to live.

With images of a Black Madonna and a weird succession of events, Rosaleen and Lily are taken in by three beekeeping sisters (named August, June and May) who live in a quirky pink house.

This book was an excellent story. I really loved how you learned about beekeeping. Also, as you get to know the beekeeping sisters, you find out about their struggling relationships and personalities. This book takes place in the South during the times of racial tension – during a time where it would appear strange that a white girl would live with a family of black women.

I especially enjoyed reading about the sisters. Each has a side to them that adds a good amount of momentum to the story. August is the oldest, the leader of their group. May has serious emotional problems which she has trouble controlling. June has been heartbroken once, so she refuses to marry again. June resents Lily’s invasion into their home.

Most of all, this story is poignant because of Lily, who is determined to find the truth about her mother. What really happened to her?

One thing about this novel that kinda bugged me a bit was how the sisters and Lily use a Black Madonna image to worship. The sisters have a “church-like” service and it includes praying to this Black Mary. I guess this bothered me a bit because I’ve never been one to use a token/idol to pray. I prefer praying directly to Jesus himself. The sisters had a historical story about how the Black Madonna/Mary had come into their possession.

This book reminded me of the novel, The Help. One reason is because the author is white, yet a lot of the characters are black. Another reason this book reminded me about The Help is because it takes place during the racially-tense days of the south. I could imagine if you enjoyed The Help, then you’d enjoy The Secret Life of Bees.

Have you read this book (or saw the movie)? If so, what do you recall liking about this story?

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~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

Marriage Of Inconvenience (Book One In The Manning Brides)

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Have you ever had a best friend of the opposite sex for several years, without having a romantic relationship with that person? Did either one of you have a secret crush on the other?

The Manning Brides by Debbie Macomber

Marriage Of Inconvenience is the first book in The Manning Brides collection. Jamie Warren wants to have a baby. However, there’s just one problem – who will be the father? Rich Manning, her best friend since high school, seems like the perfect choice. After all, he’s good-looking and she figures his genes will make a great baby. She wants to do artificial insemination, however, Rich doesn’t want to be just a sperm donor. He wants to do what’s right for his child. Therefore, since Jamie wants to have a baby, he suggests their getting married. Stunned, Jamie finally agrees to the marriage. After all, it won’t be a “real” marriage – they’ve signed an agreement and will plan to divorce once Jamie is pregnant with their child.

Marriage between Jamie and Rich is weird, after all, they’re best friends, not lovers. The marriage forces both Jamie and Rich to see one another in a new light. Also, they keep their marriage a secret from most of their family members, and Rich and Jamie continue to live in their separate homes. However, Rich finds himself jealous when he spots Jamie with a platonic male friend. After all, even though their marriage is only for the convenience of their future baby, she is still his wife. Shouldn’t she treat their “marriage” with more dignity and respect?

This book was a light, whimsical, feel-good story. Although it’s not Christian fiction, I think most Christians would still enjoy this book since nothing offensive happens. I really thought it was interesting how Rich and Jamie could be friends for so many years, but, not be romantically involved with one another.

So, have you ever had a best friend of the opposite sex for several years, without having a romantic relationship with that person? Did either one of you have a secret crush on the other? Leave a comment!

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~Cecelia Dowdy~

The Lifeboat – A Secular Title

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Have you read this book? If so, did you like it?

I first heard about this book on literary agent Rachelle Gardner’s blog. I’d made a mental note to read it since it dealt with a group of people trying to survive on a lifeboat after their ship explodes. There’s a lunchtime bookclub at my day job, and when they chose this book, I recalled that I wanted to read it, so I went ahead and downloaded it onto my Kindle.

Grace has recently gotten married. She’s a survivor and when her father ends his life due to financial strain, she’s determined to survive without taking on a job as a governess (unlike her sister). To avoid working, she plots and snags a rich man as her husband (Henry). She sets sail from Europe to America with Henry in 1914 and the boat suffers from an explosion when the story begins. She manages to get onto a lifeboat with 30 plus people and it’s a tight fit, the boat is not really big enough for all of them. They refuse to allow others on the boat. They even ignore a child drowning in the water, and they beat away those passengers who try to clamor onto their boat. These 30-plus people stay in this boat for about 21 days with little food or water. At one point, a group of birds drop right into the boat and they eat the raw birds. They also eat raw fish.

Grace writes in first person, giving an account about the events that happened on the boat each day as she remembered them. Several of the people die, and when it’s suggested by Hardie (a crewman from the exploded ship) that there are too many people in the boat to weather a storm, they draw lots to see who should sacrifice himself so that the others may live. At one point, it’s suggested that they eat some of the deceased members, but, they refuse to do so.

This book is extremely thought-provoking. It kinda reminded me of Lord of The Flies. It’s a survivor type book and you really feel the hunger of the characters. Over half of them die and one of the lifeboat passengers are murdered, landing a few of the passengers into prison. I don’t want to give spoilers but, it’s hard to talk about the depth of the book without giving away too much of the story.

I thought the book was kinda slow in the beginning but it got better later. I actually put it aside for a week or so to read something else. I then went back to it and really got into the story. It really moved, and as you felt the characters’ starvation, dehydration and will to survive, it makes you all the more anxious for these characters to get rescued.

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

Belong To Me – A Secular Title

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Belong To Me by Marisa de los Santos

Please note that this is a secular title.

If you didn’t know your biological father, would you search for him so that you could meet him? That’s one of the story threads in this book.

I enjoyed reading this book, to a certain extent. I’m not sure if this is classified as literary fiction. It was written in a way that I’m not used to reading.

Cornelia and her husband Teo relocate from the city to a small town. She’s currently not working and her husband is a doctor – an extremely good-looking doctor – a fact that the female neighbors notice immediately. I had a hard time liking some of the characters in their new town. It appeared that they were concerned about liking/disliking people at the drop of a hat – some of their conceptions based upon the way a person looked or dressed. For example, Piper, one of Cornelia’s neighbors, initially doesn’t like Cornelia because of her short, petite stature and her choice of dress for a welcome-to-the neighborhood party. Also, the neighborhood women seemed to have too much time on their hands – none of them worked full-time, and it appeared they were more concerned about appearances and who was doing/saying what in their neighborhood moreso than running their household and raising their children, or minding their own business.

You also have Elizabeth, Piper’s best friend who is dying of cancer. Piper takes care of Elizabeth, placing her own health and family on the back burner so that she can minister to her friend. When you see Piper caring for her friend, she doesn’t seem to be so cold-hearted, which endeared me to the story a little bit.

Cornelia and Teo are childless, a fact that bothers Cornelia. They “mentor” a thirteen-year-old girl, Clare, who is like a daughter to them. Cornelia is also befriended by Lake, the mother of a thirteen-year-old genius boy named Dev. Lake has also recently moved to the area so that Dev can attend a school for highly-intelligent children.

As the story unfolds, you discover Lake’s real reason for moving to the area. You also see a deep friendship form between Dev and Clare.  Dev has always wondered about his father, so Dev and Clare “play detective” and search for Dev’s dad, hoping to clear up Dev’s questions about his parentage.

Dev also befriends two kids at his new school, one of his new friends, a girl named Lyssa, has serious mental and emotional problems and he supports her during her difficult times. Dev is also befriended by his school mate Aiden, and they go into business together raking leaves.

This book was not written in a simple, straight-forward manner – which is why I had mixed feelings about the writing style. The story would often go off on a tangent, giving paragraphs of background detail, before getting to the point at hand. I found this style a bit bothersome since I’m not used to reading books written like this. The story itself was mesmerizing, however, it does have a little bit of graphic language.

So, if you didn’t know your biological father, would you search for him so that you could meet him, like Dev did in this book?

Have you read this book, if so, what’d you think about it?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Catching Fire And Mockingjay – Books 2 and 3 In The Hunger Games Series – Secular Titles

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Have you read The Hunger Games series? If so, feel free to share your thoughts with a comment.

I finished book three in the Hunger Games series last night. Since I read books 2 and 3 back to back, I figured I’d blog about them together. After Katniss and Peeta win the Hunger Games in book one, they still have problems. The Capitol/President Snow feels threatened, Katniss has power that causes fear within Snow. Katniss’s attempt to swallow the poisoned berries in the arena has caused a definite stir within the oppressed people in the districts. She goes on tour with Peeta as the victors in the Hunger Games and for the 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell), President Snow announces that the players will be former Hunger Games winners. Peeta and Katniss, as well as a host of other victors, both young and old, are sent back into the arena to fight one another for their lives.

Due to a pre-determined planned, the Games have been rigged and Katniss and some of the other victors are rescued from the Game and taken to the supposedly extinct district 13. Katniss is worried about Peeta’s safety since he’s been taken by the Capitol. Katniss loses her mind as she’s “nominated” by District 13 to be the Mockingjay, a spokesperson/support person for the war. She’s seen enough blood and guts to last a lifetime, and the gory details of book three are too numerous to mention in this blog post.

Although both of these books were riveting stories, and I felt compelled to read books one, two, and three back to back, I still felt that it was written from the viewpoint of somebody who has little/no faith/belief in God. I felt that the characters in all three of these books were functioning in a Godless, cruel world. There was so much danger, blood, guts, negativity in the stories, that I felt that most people, when in such an oppressed society would call upon God. But, it was almost as if religion doesn’t exist in this futuristic 13-district North American world. However, it’s possible that I feel this way because I read so much Christian fiction that it’s second nature for me to seek a faith element in a story.

I do think these books are thought-provoking. The novels make you think about morals within our society. It also makes you think about war, and about how the actions of war can affect innocent people, like unarmed women and children.

I also felt that these books were too dark to be marketed as young adult novels. I feel they were marketed as such because the characters were so young.

I did enjoy reading these stories, because they are very compelling and you can really feel for the characters, especially with all that they lose in the war. I plan on seeing the movie soon.

Have you read these books? If so, did you like them?

~Cecelia Dowdy~