Angels Walking by Karen Kingsbury

                Somewhere in heaven, a decision has been made. An Angels Walking team has been assigned to a desperate mission: a broken baseball player, the love he left behind, and the miracle that might save a whole city. When angels walk, most people never know, never see. But they are there. And sometimes the stakes are so high, all of heaven stands ready.

                One-time national baseball hero Tyler Ames has lost everyone he loves on a quest to make it to the big leagues. Then, just when things seem to be turning around, Tyler hits rock bottom. Across the country, Tyler’s only love, Sami Dawson, has moved on.

                A series of small miracles leads Tyler to a maintenance job at a retirement home and a friendship with Virginia Hutcheson, an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s, who strangely might have the answers he so desperately seeks.

                A team of Angels Walking takes on the mission to see hope restored for Tyler, Sami, and Virginia. Can the small and seemingly insignificant actions of the unseen bring healing and redemption? Can the words of a stranger restore lost love? Every journey begins with a step.

                It is time for the mission to begin.

            I just finished Angels Walking by Karen Kingsbury yesterday, and I enjoyed it immensely. Since I borrowed it from a friend and it wasn’t something from my actual bookshelf, I decided I wouldn’t post it on Tuesday as I usually do. Clearly I just had to review it, however. Angels Walking was such a wonderful story that brought me to tears—in a good way—and left me reminded of how amazing God really is.

        Tyler Ames just wanted to make them proud. With intense determination, he wanted to show them all—his parents, Sami, everyone who doubted him—that he could do it, that he would make it in the big leagues. But along the way, he got a little lost. Without those who loved him most, Tyler failed remain focused, forgot to be real. So when he hit rock bottom, with nothing left and nowhere else to turn, he felt it. He had failed. Although he did not have a clue how he was going to get out of the mess he made, God did. He was working everything out in ways Tyler never could have imagined. After a series of miraculous events that led Tyler to a job he so desperately needed, there was one question that stood out above the rest. Was this the end, or just the beginning?

        Samantha Dawson had moved on. She had a nice apartment, a successful job, and a perfect boyfriend whom she had everything in common with. Although her life was different now, deep down inside, she still knew of herself as Sami. With her days almost as stuffy and boring as her grandparents’, it didn’t look like it, but she knew she was. Somewhere deep inside of her was the girl who was fearless, not afraid to live life, not always striving to be perfect. The girl who Tyler knew. But she had been shoved into a closet after Tyler left, along with all the memories of the year they had shared. Working towards her dreams, Sami still thinks of him, still wonders where he is, still knows that things would have been different if he hadn’t gone. She can’t help being curious if he misses her, if their happily ever after never was meant to be.

        Angels Walking is a heartwarming tale of loss, love, and forgiveness, full of God’s amazing grace and the small but significant acts of the unseen. It is a story that will strengthen your faith and your hope for the future, and for that I give it five out of five bookshelves. Karen Kingsbury has knocked it out of the park once more with this captivating story.

        If you pick up this book, you’ll definitely have happy reading!

All credit for the above italicized synopsis go to Karen Kingsbury and her publishers.

My Bookshelf: The Chance by Karen Kingsbury

            The day before a teenage Ellie moved from Georgia to California, she and her best friend Nolan sat beneath the Spanish moss of an ancient oak tree where they wrote letters to each other and buried them in a rusty old metal box. The plan was to return eleven years later, dig the box up, and read the letters. But now, as that date approaches, much has changed. Ellie has abandoned the faith she grew up with, her days consumed with loving her little girl and trying to make ends meet. Sometimes she watches TV to catch a glimpse of her old friend Nolan, now an NBA star, whose faith is known by the entire nation. But few know that Nolan’s own personal tragedies have fueled both his faith and athletic drive. Despite his success, Nolan is isolated and lonely, plagued by a void in his heart that has remained since that night beneath the old oak tree with Ellie. For both Ellie and Nolan, the coming date is more than just a childhood promise. It’s the chance to make sense of it all—the chance to find out if it’s ever too late to find love again.

            Today on our journey through my bookshelf, I’m sharing a book that I finished over a year ago, but is still one of my favorites. And, the best part about it is, my copy is signed! I found a really great deal for The Chance and Fifteen Minutes, both signed copies, not long after Fifteen Minutes came out, and I had to snap them up. Now I’m so glad I did!

            Ellie Tucker is a hardworking mom, one who devotes all her time to creating a life for herself and her daughter Kinzie. She tries her hardest to give Kinzie the life she deserves and to show her that everything is alright, but after Kinzie goes to sleep, Ellie cries as she remembers all that she once had and all that she wishes life could be. As the eleven years come to an end, Ellie wonders what would happen if she went back, if she saw Nolan, if they dug up their letters.

            Nolan Cook has achieved his dreams of being a basketball player in the NBA, but there’s something missing. Ever since his father died, Nolan has suffered from a loneliness he cannot describe, nor get rid of. As each day passes he wonders where Ellie is, what her life is like, if she misses him. The answer he wants most, however, is how to get her back.

            The Chance is a book of lost love, regrets, redemption, and happy endings. I give it five bookshelves out of five for being absolutely amazing, one of Karen Kingsbury’s best novels (though I have thoroughly enjoyed EVERYTHING she has written), and a story I would recommend to anyone and everyone.

            Happy reading!

You can pick up this book here.

All credit for the above italicized synopsis and wonderful story go to Karen Kingsbury and her publishers.

Fifteen Minutes

Zack Dylan made a promise to God and his college sweetheart as he left his family's horse farm in Kentucky to compete on the popular reality television show Fifteen Minutes: If he makes it, the fame won't change him.

Overnight, Zack is the nation's most popular contestant, a country singer with the looks and voice of a young Elvis. As his star rises, Zack is asked to compromise and quiet his beliefs, and also something more. Something Zack could never have imagined. Just as America is falling in love with Zack, just as he's on the verge of winning it all, his choices lead him to the brink of personal disaster.

At the same time, Reese Weatherly, a therapeutic horse instructor, is no longer sure about her relationship with Zack, or the wedding they had dreamed about. While Zack advances from one round of the competition to the next, an offer comes to Reese- one that will take her to a home halfway around the world.

Then Chandra Olson- reigning diva pop star and one of the Fifteen Minutes judges- intervenes. Chandra has suffered so much public pain and private agony since her days as a Fifteen Minutes contestant. Now she wants just one thing: meaning.

Can Chandra’s private losses help Zack find his way, or will his fifteen minutes of fame cause him to lose the life he once loved?

I just finished Fifteen Minutes by Karen Kingsbury (the book that goes to the info at the top), and I have to say, it is now on my list of some of the best books I’ve ever read. Of course, I don’t have an actual list, but if I did, it would be quite long, but Fifteen Minutes would definitely be on that list.

I’m not trying to be a commercial; this book was seriously really good. I would recommend it a thousand times over. I love to read Inspirational and Christian fiction, mainly romances, but I also like a good book that makes you realize what’s going on in this world. And I guarantee, if you like any of those things, you will enjoy Fifteen Minutes.

I would rather tell you all about the book rather than just rave about how you should read it, but that would spoil it, and then you wouldn’t need to read it. So, my point is, go read it! Let me know what you think. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

All credit for the above synopsis and the wonderful book goes to Karen Kingsbury