Monday, June 13, 2011

Book Review and Win a Night on the Town Giveaway: My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren

Book Description from The Back Cover

Unknown to her quaint town of Deep Haven, Isadora Presley is the star host of My Foolish Heart, a popular syndicated talk radio show. From her home studio, she gives listeners advice on romance...even though she's never had a date.

It's not that she doesn't want to, but since a tragic accident took her mother's life, panic attacks have trapped her inside her small neighborhood. And though she always reminds listeners that their perfect love could be right next door, it can't possibly be true for her. Especially when a new neighbor moves in. Sure, he's handsome, but with his unruly dog and Neanderthal manners, Caleb Knight is the last man she'd ever fall for.

To Issy, love isn't worth the risk. Until she starts to have feelings for a caller-a man she's never met but finds honest, charming, and sensitive. A man she doesn't realize lives right next door.

My Thoughts

First off, this is a pretty good book. I have never read a book by Susan May Warren prior to this one so had no expectations. I give it four stars. A couple of things that stood out to me...

When the book first begins, the author sets up four different seemingly main characters right away. My immediate thought was it was going to be too confusing to keep track of all four main characters and their individual story lines. But, I was pleasantly surprised by how well Warren told each character's story, intertwined them together and eliminated all confusion.

A second thought I had was, "Susan May Warren doesn't hold back. She attacks the tough stuff head on!" When you pick up a fiction work, it takes you into an imaginary world and you expect most of the time that life is good in this world of fiction. Books make me happy. A small town. A ranch out West. A top secret mission overseas. Worlds you read about and momentarily wish you could live in. While My Foolish Heart is based in a small town that rallies around their high school football team and knows everyone by name, these characters deal with some real hardships. Life wasn't imaginary and perfect. It was real.

Another aspect of the book I found interesting is each character in their own way was trying to overcome their own hardships and fears by focusing on other people, giving advice to their friends, hiding weakness and refusing to ask for help. In the end, what rescued each of them from their own hardship was allowing themselves to be "healed." Asking for help, admitting weakness, taking their own good advice.

I look forward to picking up another book by Susan May Warren.

Susan May Warren is thrilled to announce the release of her latest Deep Haven book, My Foolish Heart!

Read what the reviewers are saying here.

To celebrate this charming novel about a dating expert who's never had a date, Susan has put together a romantic night on the town for one lucky couple. One grand prize winner will receive a Miss Foolish Heart prize package worth over $200!




The winner of the Romantic Night on the Town Prize Pack will receive:

* A $100 Visa Gift Card (For Dinner)

* A $100 Gift Certificate to a Hyatt/Marriott Hotel

* The entire Deep Haven series

To enter just click one of the icons below. But, hurry, the giveaway ends at noon on June 16th. The winner will be announced that evening during Susan’s Miss Foolish Heart Party on Facebook! Susan will be chatting with guests, hosting a book club chat about My Foolish Heart, testing your Deep Haven trivia skills, and giving away tons of great stuff! (Gift certificates, books, donuts, and more!) Don't miss the fun and BRING YOUR FRIENDS!



Enter via E-mail Enter via FacebookEnter via Twitter
Disclaimer: This book was given to me free for this review. All opinions are my own.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Oldy but goody...

Written at the beginning of the year, 2004...

Everyone creates resolutions. Deep down we believe we will follow through. What makes 2004 any different? Nothing, except that we mean well. One of these days that will be enough. My resolutions...to eat right and exercise more. Goodbye coca-cola and ice cream! I mean well. My last resolution is I'm going to save the world! When I get tears in my eyes, a knot in my throat and it is hard to breathe...for me it is not just an ordinary emotion.

At a memorial service I listened to a son speak about how is father loved. How he loved his God, his family, his friends, his neighbors and how he loved...well, everyone. I heard how this man made a difference. Do I make that kind of impact? Do I love like that? What if I don't? Then I will never be a world changer. I used to be when I was passionate about making a difference, about loving the unlovely, about loving my God.

There was a night several years ago...but only two months after I started a job working with the unlovely. I began to feel the kids I was around were not worth the stress to even try. As I watched them sleep so seemingly peaceful, my God said this...

Frustration. Confusion.
Is it all worth it?
Threats. Rudeness.
Is it all worth it?
Depends on who you are.
Depends on what you are made of.
Are you strong?
Are you bold?
Do you have courage?
Do you have compassion?
It's the heart, not the mind.
Do you care?
Do you love?
Can you love the unlovely?
Is it possible?
Make up your mind to open your heart.
Open your heart to let them in.
Let them in to make a difference.
Make a difference to change the world.
Change the world because they are worth it!

So there! It's a choice. It's not, "Will I make a difference?" It's "I WILL make a difference!" I've made up my mind and I mean well.

Maybe I should look at this old resolution and make it a new one...

My new blog...


From June 4, 2007...

hi all. i've decided to start this blog thingy....more for my own benefit than for anyone else's, simply because i need to start writing again. so, i've decided to mix some current thoughts and writings in with some of what i will call "oldy but goody." those will be entries from my original online blogs. some of you may have read those and may remember some of them. some of those entries were full of raw emotion and for me reading them again reminds me of some good times and some trials and the emotion that was felt during those times. and by reading them i am reminded of the resolutions i had made at those times and need to refocus on..so, enjoy, or not...but i'll write and enjoy it myself...