10. Found: God's Will

10. Found: God's Will. John F. MacArthur Jr. 1972/1998. 64 pages. [Source: Bought] [Five stars, christian nonfiction, Christian living]

First sentence: As I travel around, one of the questions I am asked most often is "How can a Christian know the will of God for his or her life?" Most of us acknowledge that God has a plan for the life of every believer, but often we have trouble in finding just which way this play goes at a particular juncture.

Found: God's Will may be a short book, but it's a relevant book with substance. The premise is a simple one,

"Let's begin with a simple assumption. Since God has a will for us, He must want us to know it. If so, then we could expect Him to communicate it to us in the most obvious way. And how would that be? Through the Bible, His revelation. Therefore, I believe that what anyone needs to know about the will of God is clearly revealed in the pages of His Word. God's will is, in fact, very explicit in Scripture."

The chapter titles: "Is God a Cosmic Killjoy?", "The Crucial First Step," "The Fizzies Principle," "The Priority of Purity," "Silencing the Critics," "Facing the Flak," and "You're It."

MacArthur argues that God's will is simple and easy to understand. There are five things that are God's will for every one. First, God wills everyone to be saved. If you are saved, if you are trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation, you are in God's will. Second, God wills everyone to be filled with the Spirit and to live in the Spirit. Third, God wills everyone to be sanctified. It isn't enough to profess your belief, one must live by it. Fourth, God wills everyone to be submissive. Every one has to submit to someone--authority is God-given authority unless submitting means violating God's direct commandments. Fifth, God wills everyone to suffer. To suffer?! Is suffering really God's will for believers?! Surely we're misreading this last one, right?! Nope. Read the Bible. It's there in black and white. (And perhaps red.) If you're saved, spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, and suffering...then you are living in accordance with God's will and the rest is up to you.

Quotes:

• The doctrine of salvation is unpopular because it includes the recognition of sin. Nobody likes to admit sin. And many people resist the idea that they need to be saved.
• There is a world out there that needs Jesus Christ. God wants them to be saved, and you and I are the vehicles for the transportation of the gospel. That is God’s will.
• When you were saved, the moment you received Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came to live within you. There is no Christian who does not possess the Holy Spirit.
• So many times we ask for what we already have! We pray for the Holy Spirit, and He is already here.
• Let me share how I study the Bible and how the Bible has come alive to me. I began in 1 John. One day I sat down and read all five chapters straight through. It took me twenty minutes. Reading one book straight through was terrific. (The books of the Bible weren’t written as an assortment of good little individual verses. They were written with flow and context.) The next day, I sat down and read 1 John straight through again. The third day, I sat down and read 1 John straight through. The fourth day, straight through again. The fifth day, I sat down and read it again. I did this for thirty days. Do you know what happened at the end of the thirty days? I knew what was in 1 John. You might say, “My, are you smart!” No, I am not smart. I read it thirty times. Even I can get it then!
• The more you study the Word of God, the more it saturates your mind and life. Someone is reported to have asked a concert violinist in New York’s Carnegie Hall how she became so skilled. She said that it was by “planned neglect.” She planned to neglect everything that was not related to her goal.
• Some less important things in your life could stand some planned neglect so that you might give yourself to studying the Word of God.
• The more you would study the Word of God, the more your mind would be saturated with it. It will be no problem then for you to think of Christ. You won’t be able to stop thinking of Him.
• The only way you can be saturated with the thoughts of Christ is to saturate yourself with the Book that is all about Him.
• Evangelism involves living a godly life in the face of an ungodly world.
• And that will bring persecution, because the world does not like Jesus.
• The Bible never sees a Christian at any time who doesn’t suffer—because anybody who lives a godly life in the world will get the flak that the world throws back.
• One of the problems of evangelism today is that Christians are not willing to stand nose to nose with the world and tell it like it is concerning Jesus Christ.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon #5

Bible reading 

1611 KJV Bible

• Psalms 120-150
• Proverbs 
• 1 Kings 12-22
• 2 Kings
• John 6-17

NASB 1977 

• Job 32-42
• Psalms 1-18
• 1 Chronicles
• 2 Chronicles

KJV Journal the Word LP

• Deuteronomy 28-34
• Joshua
• Judges
• Ruth
• 1 Samuel 1-15

NKJV

• Genesis 41-50
• Job
• Exodus 1-13

ESV

• Deuteronomy
• Joshua

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

9. People Pleaser

People Pleaser: Breaking Free From the Burden of Imaginary Expectations. Jinger Duggar Vuolo. 2025. 224 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, christian nonfiction, christian living]

First sentence: The apartment was clean and cozy.

Jinger Duggar Vuolo's newest book is about breaking the habit of being a people pleaser; it is about her journey of breaking free from that specific issue. It is a personal book with personal stories but with practical applications for everyone. Long story short, don't do it: seek to please God by serving others instead.

There are twelve chapters:

• Confession: I'm a People Pleaser
• New Tools
• We Need Each Other by Beautiful Design
• Desperate Is Not a Good Look
• Trading Down
• The Critics
• I Can't Let You See Me Mess Up
• Arguments Are Not Rejection
• It's Showtime!
• The Solution May Surprise You
• It's Just Us Now
• Yours To Give

There are discussion type questions at the end of each chapter. I do think she wrote with the best of intentions to help people pleasers like herself break free from that mindset, that burden. 

I realized fairly early on that I am not a people pleaser--at least not of the traditional, average sort. I don't regret my time reading the book. But I think I could have gotten more out of it if I had actually been a people-pleaser. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

8. Left Behind

8. Left Behind (Left Behind #1) Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. 1995. 470 pages. [Source: Library] [christian fiction, 2 stars, contemporary fiction]

First sentence: Rayford Steele's mind was on a woman he had never touched.

When I was in my late teen years, there were two book series that were being talked about--Left Behind and Harry Potter. I was slow to read them both, though I did read the first books in both series around the same time--when I was in college. Both books I considered slow, slow, slow, super slow. I recently read the Harry Potter series and appreciated it for the most part (though it's not for everyone). I decided I'd give this series a go. Or at least attempt to do so.

The premise is simple: The rapture occurs in the first chapter of the book and everyone else has been....drumroll please....left behind. The story follows three or four main characters as they try to piece together what happened and why. Rayford Steele and Buck Williams are the two male leads of the story. (Chloe, Rayford's daughter, and Hattie, Rayford's flight attendant, round out the cast.) Rayford is almost certain right from the get go that it is the rapture, that this was a supernatural occurrence, that Christ has returned for the saints, that these are the last days. Everyone else takes more convincing---for the most part. 

I am a Christian.

I am a Christian who genuinely believes in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

I believe the Bible to be the Word of God, inerrant, infallible, God-breathed--the whole works. 

I mention all of the above so that you know where I am coming from in my review. I am not mocking the Bible. I am not mocking the second coming. I am not questioning the existence of God. I am not doubting God's promises. 

But this book suffers from two or three issues.

1) The writing is bad especially in terms of characterization and dialogue. Nails on a chalkboard bad. 

2) The writing comes across as cocky and condescending. I think this has to do with being a little too confident in their particular interpretation of the end times than perhaps anyone should be. 

3) The book has an obvious point and becomes repetitive in trying to reiterate the point. Now the point itself--believe in Jesus Christ, repent of your sins, turn to him, have faith, all of it--none of these are bad points. But they don't make for the absolute best fiction. That is when you are crafting a novel, crafting characters and dialogue, it might be a good idea to go a little deeper and broader. 

I can't say that the book is theologically awesome. Because while I am sure that Jesus Christ *is* returning, the way everything is laid out in the novel makes a lot of assumptions, presumptions, goes way above and beyond what can be clearly supported by Scripture. I am reminded of old cartoons where a character is running and happens to run off a cliff. The character keeps on running--on air itself--until that moment when they look down and there is nothing below. 

I think it is easy to mock the writing--just read some reviews on GoodReads and the like--and somehow turn it into a mockery of the end times itself. Or to turn it into a mockery of those who do believe. But the two shouldn't have to be linked together. You can believe in God and also not enjoy a book. 

I will say this in the book's defense. IF THE PACING OF THE LAST HUNDRED PAGES had been the pacing from the start, then the book might not be so bad. The book is just so incredibly dull until it isn't. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon #4

Bible reading 

1611 KJV

• Psalms 95-119
• 1 Samuel 19-31
• 2 Samuel
• 1 Kings 1-11
• Luke 12-24
• John 1-5

ESV

• Exodus 33-40
• Leviticus
• Numbers

KJV

• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy 1-27

Amplified (finished and reviewed)

• Romans
• 1 Corinthians
• 2 Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2 Thessalonians
• 1 Timothy
• 2 Timothy
• Titus
• Philemon
• Hebrews
• James
• 1 Peter
• 2 Peter
• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John
• Jude
• Revelation

NASB 1977

• Jonah
• Job 1-31

NKJV (audio only with Tinasha LaRaye)

• Genesis 1-40

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

7. Poems and Prayers for the Very Young

7. Poems and Prayers for the Very Young. Martha Alexander (compiler and illustrator). 1973. Random House. 24 pages. [Source: Bought] [3 stars, vintage picture book, poetry]

First sentence: I wake in the morning early

And always, the very first thing,

I poke out my head and I sit up in bed

And I sing and I sing and I sing.

I enjoy collecting vintage picture books. This one has a slightly Christian theme. I would say ninety percent celebrate nature and common joys in life and ten percent give a nod to God. It does include the Lord's Prayer and a few other familiar poem-prayers that you might have heard depending on your background.

I think it is a lovely-enough collection of poems. The poems aren't so religious and "Christian" that you are in any way teaching your children theology. But the poems are pleasant enough and not anti-Christian either. 

I definitely liked the soft, soothing illustrations.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

6. Across the Ages

6. Across the Ages. (Timeless #4) Gabrielle Meyer. 2024. 384 pages. [Source: Library] [2 stars, christian fiction, historical fiction, speculative fiction, historical romance]

First sentence: My bare toes dug into the hardpacked earth as I beat the rug on the back line, watching the dust melt away into the setting sunlight. It moved through the drooping Spanish moss on the ancient oak trees overhead, making me long for my troubles to fade away so easily.

The Timeless series has a relatively unique premise. I'll clarify if I can, for christian romance it has a definitely unique premise. Each book stars at least one heroine--sometimes two--that can time cross or cross time. They live two lives; they go to sleep in one time and awake in the other. Each book features a "love triangle" of sorts. Of sorts being the key word. For better or worse, the development of the love interest, the love story, the romance is ALL in one time period--for the most part. That might not be fair. It might be closer to 90/10 or 85/15. But without a doubt, ANY reader can predict which man will be chosen extremely early on. And despite the fact that the stories are about to be deeper and more layered than just falling in love, that development is on the lighter side. Every book *is* different. Which has kept me coming back. I am not always frustrated or disappointed. Sometimes I am entertained.

Caroline (aka Carrie, Caro, Carl) lives in 1727 and 1927. She has not known any other time-crossers which makes her in far worse shape than the reader of the series. She is clueless while the reader is not. This can be frustrating at times, but it is mostly forgivable and understandable. 

The heroine--in both times--was annoying to me personally. Her life-choices while perhaps necessary for plot reasons are poor, very poor. Her reasoning or lack of reasoning is frustrating. In both time lines she decides to hunt for her birth mother. She runs away from home (in 1727), dresses up as a boy, joins a pirate crew, and goes off in search of her birth mother last known location some island. (I *can't* remember off hand which island.) She ignores all potential dangers going off the clue from a letter dated twenty years previously??? Anyway, it was the letter she arrived with as a baby to her grandfather's estate. in the 1927 timeline, she KNOWS her birth-mother is an outlaw (inspired by the real life Bonnie of Bonnie and Clyde) and she seeks out all the clues so she can go meet her and have a little chit-chat. As if you could just approach a bank robber and say, HEY, I THINK YOU'RE MY MOM. I guess you could. But that takes a certain mindset. 

I tentatively like the two timeline in theory. But it almost always comes to the point where you're tolerating one to get back to the other. I am never as invested in both stories equally. 

I do think this book will be a better fit for other readers. You do have to suspend your disbelief and NOT overthink things. The more you are an over-thinker, the less you may enjoy this one. I do think you need a bit of patience allowing for the heroine to get caught up with things you already know. I think certain readers may be charmed by certain real-life inspirations. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

1. The Amplified Bible (1965)

1. Amplified Bible (1965 first whole Bible edition, 1978 seventeenth printing). God. Zondervan. 1485 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars (because all Bibles get 5 stars regardless of translation]

First sentence: In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned,) and created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving, (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

This was my first time to read through the Amplified cover to cover. I read the New Testament last year. I skimmed the New Testament this time around. This is not the newest edition of the Amplified, but the first edition that published both Old and New Testaments together. I do not how know how this text edition differs to those published in the 80s and beyond. 

The Amplified translation turned out not to be my favorite or best. I found it awkward at times--going a little too far. However, I tried to keep in mind the original audience(s) that would have only had the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version. I thought about how the translation might have helped bridge the gap in terms of understanding and comprehension. Probably most readers were not looking for a total and complete replacement, just an additional resource or aid for helping understand difficult passages. Maybe. That is pure speculation on my part. At the very least, I am reminded that translators wear the second hat of COMMENTATOR as well. It isn't always super obvious in most translations, but in the case of the Amplified that becomes clearer and clearer.

From the foreword: "Its intent is to progress beyond the point where the others have stopped. Its purpose is to reveal, together with the single word English equivalent to each key Hebrew and Greek word, any other clarifying shades of meaning that may be concealed by the traditional word-for-word method of translation. Now, possibly for the first time the full meaning of the key words in the original text is available in an English version of the Bible....In a sense amplification merely helps the English reader comprehend what the Hebrew and Greek listener understood as a matter of course."

I do think as a resource on the side, it has its place. I found it tiresome to read Genesis to Revelation. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon #3

Bible reading 

1611 KJV

• Psalms 62-94
• Deuteronomy 18-34
• Joshua
• Judges
• Ruth 
• 1 Samuel 1-18
• Mark 7-16
• Luke 1-11

Amplified

• Lamentations
• Ezekiel
• Daniel
• Hosea
• Joel
• Amos
• Obadiah
• Jonah
• Micah
• Nahum
• Habakkuk
• Zephaniah
• Haggai
• Zechariah
• Malachi
• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John
• Acts

ESV

• Genesis 12-50
• Exodus 1-32

KJV

• Job
• Exodus 

BSB

• Leviticus 17-27
• Hebrews 9-13
• Psalms 17, 19

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

5. Pilgrim's Progress in Today's English

5. Pilgrim's Progress in Today's English. John Bunyan. Retold by James H. Thomas. 1678/1992. 260 pages. [Source: Bought] [4 stars, christian fiction, christian classic, allegory]

First sentence: As I walked through the wilderness of the world, I came to a place where there was a den. There I lay down to sleep; and as I slept, I dreamed a dream. In my dream I saw a man clothed with rags, standing by a path with a book in his hand and a great burden upon his back. His face was turned from his own house, which stood nearby. I saw him open his book and read, then begin to weep. No longer being able to control his feelings, he broke out with a mournful cry, saying, "What shall I do?"

What you see is what you get--Pilgrim's Progress in today's English. The original can be perhaps a little intimidating in its language and format. If memory serves it is written in a blended style most associated with plays and poetry. The language definitely leans towards poetry in terms of being lyrical perhaps like the King James Version reads "more poetic, more lyrical" than say the New International Version. 

The story remains the same. I can't honestly say if it was abridged or just adapted. I last read the original in 2017, I believe. 

Christian, our hero, journeys from the City of Destruction--via the Wicket Gate--to the Celestial City. Along the way he'll have adventures and misadventures. The journey will be long and dangerous. Sometimes his companions will be true and good and helpful in his journey. Sometimes they appear to be so but really aren't. Some are more obvious foes. Each conversations serves as a window of opportunity if you will for readers to be catechized. These conversations somewhat sit at odds with the allegory if you overthink it. Because the theological conversations don't necessarily aline well with the fictional framework. 

Most copies of Pilgrim's Progress contain both the original and the sequel. The first book stars Christian on his journey. The second book stars Christian's wife, Christiana, and their children. Their journeys are night and day different. (Not that Christian journeys have to be the same). Her journey has virtually no adventures and misadventures. The problems Christian faced are not issues the second time around. Not even Vanity Fair. In this one, Vanity Fair instead of being a dangerous--cruelly dangerous--place seems to be a happy place where they spend some time with good saints in the city. I'm not sure why the books are so different from one another. I don't know if Christiana's adventures are lacking in danger and struggle because she is a woman, or, if because she has GreatHeart as a guide. I am so conflicted on the sequel. 

I don't necessarily love allegories as a genre. I tend to overthink everything and when I can't make pieces fit together logically on all the levels--every layer, level--I tend to get upset. But the original story definitely packs a lot of impact. The conversations are timely and relevant. I learn something new each time I read it. That being said, I'm not sure I agree 100% theologically with every single little thing. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

4. Faith, Hope and Hilarity

Faith, Hope and Hilarity: The Child's Eye View of Religion. Dick Van Dyke. Edited by Ray Parker. Illustrated by Phil Interlandi. 1970. 153 pages. [Source: Bought] [3 stars] [humor]

First sentence: I've always thought that kid humor is the funniest kind there is, because it's so honestly spontaneous and truly human.

Did you know Dick Van Dyke is a former Sunday School teacher? I didn't either. This book is a collection of kid stories that relate in one way or another--one degree or another--to religion and faith. Don't expect anything resembling theology or doctrine. These are just funny stories gathered together. 

It has the vibes of a faith-themed America's Funniest Home Videos. Don't expect anything super amazing or life changing. A few stories did make me laugh out loud. (One a little girl was confused when her mom wanted her grandma to live to be very very very old when the little girl thought she should just ask Jesus to make Grandma younger and younger.) A few of these are misheard lyrics of hymns and Christmas carols. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon #2

Bible reading 

NET Timeless Truth (which I've decided to drop for now since I over-committed)

Genesis 20-50

1611 King James Version (which I'm using with Morning and Evening devotions from the Book of Common Prayer)

• Psalms 24-61
• Leviticus 17-27
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy 1-17
• Matthew 10-28
• Mark 1-6

Amplified

• Ecclesiastes
• Song of Solomon
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah 

BSB (audio) (which I'm using the To the Word plan with)

• Exodus 26-40
• Leviticus 1-16
• 1 Peter
• 2 Peter
• Galatians
• Hebrews 1-8

KJV Journal the Word

• 1 Chronicles 
• 2 Chronicles
• Ezra
• Nehemiah
• Esther

ESV Everyday Gospel Devotional Bible

• Job
• Genesis 1-11

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

3. The Lord of Psalm 23

3. The Lord of Psalm 23: Jesus Our Shepherd, Companion, and Host. David Gibson. 2023. 157 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, christian nonfiction, christian living]

First sentence from the introduction: Some texts of Holy Scripture are hard to preach on or write about, not because they are especially difficult for the pastor or theologian to understand but because they are already so profoundly precious to the hearer and reader. I suspect this is more true of Psalm 23 than of any other part of the Bible.

The Lord of Psalm 23 could be classified as a weighty devotional or a light commentary. It isn't properly either absolutely. It approaches all six verses of the psalm and invites the reader to take a closer, deeper look to the psalm, to perhaps see it with fresh eyes, though the author is not pushing a "new" or "improved" way of reading it. He breaks the psalm into three main sections: The Sheep and the Shepherd, The Traveler and the Companion, The Guest and the Host. He also encourages readers to link the psalm with the exodus story or exodus theme which is prevalent throughout the Bible--but certainly appears 'again-again' throughout Israel's songbook--the Psalms. 

I enjoyed reading this one. 

Something to think about:

Some of us want Jesus to protect us from our enemies with his rod, but we don't want Jesus to protect us from ourselves with his staff. We like the idea of Jesus coming down hard on others; we are less enamored when he reaches us personally and directs us somewhere we don't want to go. But what is my greatest enemy right now as I type these lines? It is my own sinful heart. My love of myself, my self-pity, my distorted belief that the path of righteousness might not be the path of happiness. "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,/ Prone to leave the God I love," the hymn says. Oh how I need Christ's staff in my life to continually pull me back to him. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

2. The Heart of Jesus

2. The Heart of Jesus: How He Really Feels About You. Dane Ortlund. 2024. 128 pages. [Source: Review copy] [4 stars] [christian nonfiction, devotional]

First sentence: This is a book about the heart of Jesus Christ. Who is he? Who is he really? What is most natural to him? What flows out most freely? Who is he?

The Heart of Jesus is an abridged "concise" edition of the super popular  Gentle and Lowly by the same author. This one has been edited with "young readers, new Christians, and seekers" in mind. 

I read Gentle and Lowly twice last year--once in November, once in December. I was conflicted about Gentle and Lowly. On the one hand, I saw a lot of truth in it. It provided a lot to think upon, plenty to 'chew the cud' about. On the other hand, there were sentences or paragraphs that if taken at face value may lead down a slippery slope to some potentially dangerous unbiblical ideas. One could always give the author the benefit of the doubt, to assume the best. One could also question the author in terms of consequences of ideas. 

I wanted to read The Heart of Jesus particularly because it was concise. I found the book to remove a lot of the things that I found almost semi-problematic. I think this is because it was in the elaboration of details that my confusion began. When the book keeps to the point and on track, I found less confused. 

If I had to recommend one book over the other, I would recommend this one instead. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon #1

Bible reading 

1611 KJV

• Genesis 37-50; 
• Exodus;
• Leviticus 1-16 
• Psalms 1-23; 
• Matthew 1-9;

Amplified

• Psalms 36-150
• Proverbs

BSB

• 1 Corinthians 10, Acts 7, Hebrews 11,  Matthew 5-7, Psalms 6, 105, 90, 146
• Exodus 1-25

KJV Journal the Word Large Print

• Isaiah 40-66, 
• Genesis 

NET Timeless Truths

• Genesis 1-19
• Psalms 8, 104, 12, 
• John 1:1-3

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

1. Cloaked in Beauty

1. Cloaked in Beauty. (Texas Ever After #3) Karen Witemeyer. 2024. 352 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, historical fiction, christian fiction, romance]

First sentence: Nightmares were supposed to stop once little girls woke up, but when five-year-old Scarlett Radcliffe opened her eyes, things only got worse.

Cloaked in Beauty is a retelling smash-up of Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood. It is set in Texas in the 1890s (IF my math is correct, circa 1896.) Letty Hood (AKA Scarlett Radcliffe) has lived in hiding with her grandmother since she was five. Her [wicked] uncle is out to kill her so that he inherits her father's estate [his brother's estate]. They have been on the move throughout her life, but they have been settled for several years in Cass County living a very secluded, rural life. Her grandmother goes into the nearest town only rarely and never mentions that she's the caretaker for her granddaughter--or anyone for that matter. But her [wicked] uncle has not forgotten her, and as her twenty-first birthday nears, Letty's life is increasingly more in danger. 

Her mother has hired a Pinkerton agent, Philip Carmichael, to try to find her daughter before her birthday. She wants to warn her that her latest letter--which included a photo--has been discovered and that she is no longer safe staying put. 

Can Letty, Philip, and Rusty (her oh-so-trusty wolf) make their way to safely and outwit the wicked uncle?

If you ask me five minutes after I finish reading any Karen Witemeyer book if that book is my favorite, I'm prone to say yes. However, this time I truly think it will have sticking power. I really loved this third entry into the series SO much. I appreciated the first two--all are stand alone novels, by the way--but the third was near perfection. 

Quotes:

"I'm not a helpless damsel looking for a man to slay my dragons," she said, her gaze locked on the man before her. "I'm a woman heading into battle who needs an experienced warrior at my side. one I can trust to guard my back. One who will discuss his plans with me and treat me like an equal. Is that arrangement acceptable to you?"

"Sweet girl, there's nothing new under the sun. Strong, handsome young men have making young ladies' knees wobble since Eve first got a look at Adam."

Letty awoke to a kiss the next morning, only it wasn't the kiss she'd been dreaming of most of the night. Eyes squinting, she reached for the furry head she knew would be on the other end of the tongue that licked her face.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible