The Little Green Jacket by Jodi Dee

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

What I Loved:

We are huge donators and shoppers of second-hand stores. I LOVED that this book followed the life cycle of one coat as it is passed down, donated, and sold for reuse after reuse! What a lovely way to feature such a charitable act.

My Synopsis:

A green jacket is given as a Christmas gift to a child. The jacket is happy. It likes the feeling of supporting its child and keeping him warm. When the child outgrows the jacket, it is given to a church donation and finds a new owner to hold tight and keep warm.

The jacket’s story takes the reader on its journey from owner to owner. We see the different children it keeps warm and the love the children have for the jacket.

How I Felt:

I thought this was such a unique story. I don’t think I have ever read a children’s book focusing on the donation life cycle of something. It was really nice to see the variety of ways the jacket finds its way to the new owners, and I liked that it helps so many different types of people!

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Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

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Rating: 5 out of 5.
Copy of Science Fiction with pink background and oversized moon with reflection in water
Oona Out of Order Cover with girl's face and book title
White library with lots of stairs and "Contemporary" text

What I Loved:

I LOVED everything about this book! The time travel was fabulous, Oona was a wonderful character, and the story unfolded with surprises big and small.

My Synopsis:

It’s New Year’s Eve, and the Eve of Oona’s birthday. She is partying with her friends and boyfriend to count down to the new year (and turning 19). The clock strikes midnight, and she awakes…in a new house and a significantly older birthday.

This is the beginning of Oona’s new life. As she turns a year older, she bounces to a new year in her body, sometimes older, sometimes younger. There’s no explanation as to why, it’s just the life she must now live.

As Oona travels from year to year, she finds struggles in the knowledge of things to come, and the unknown of what happened in years she hasn’t lived. This story takes the reader on Oona’s life as she experiences her life, out of order.

How I Felt:

I love time travel. I talk about my love of it all the time, so sorry, but here’s another FABULOUS time travel book! Holy moly, I enjoyed this book! The time travel was such an interesting twist. She can’t control it, and it’s not a one-time jump. She jumps at each birthday into another year in her life.

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The Green Door book sitting on a wooden block with green leaves around it.

The Green Door by Heather Kindt

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
A pink box with "Fantasy" written and a fantasy view of a forest with mountains.
The Green Door book cover. A green door covered with leaves.
Four young adults sitting together. Text of "Young Adults"

What I Loved:

I loved all the questions this story provided! The main characters are as lost as the reader as they step through the green door to an unknown world. It was fun and exciting, and I really enjoyed it!

How I Felt:

This is my second book by Heather Kindt, and I am really starting to enjoy her writing! I think that she has a way of creating these fantastic fantasy settings that are rooted in today’s world. It’s a great mix!

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Yummy Me Feels So Good by Lion I Am

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Welcome to the Yummy Me Feels So Good blog tour hosted by iRead Book Tours!

Rating: 3 out of 5.

What I Loved:

The illustrations throughout Yummy Me Feels So Good are children’s artwork. My daughter really enjoyed looking at each page and discussing the drawing. It was a lot of fun and a great addition to the book!

How I Felt:

Yummy Me Feels So Good has a great message for children, and adults really, about the different “Me’s” that we experience. They are all a part of who we are, and we can embrace them.

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The Dirt Girl by Jodi Dee

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

What I Loved:

I absolutely adored the illustrations in this book! They are stunning with vibrant colors and wonderful details for the kids to really look at and enjoy!

My Synopsis:

Zafera is starting school for the first time. She’s different than the other children, but she doesn’t know it. They give her weird looks and talk about her, but she doesn’t notice any of it. She doesn’t know that the twigs in her hair and dirt on her clothes make her different. She’s a happy, healthy girl happy to be experiencing school and other children.

It’s time for her birthday party and she invites everyone! When the children get to the party they are all blown away by the location. Zafera’s home is beyond anything they could have ever imagined! Tucked into a hillside, it’s part of the earth. They play and explore the wonders of her home, and get to know Zafera for who she is, not what she wears.

How I Felt:

I really enjoyed the message this story provides. I liked that the children were not horrible to Zafera, it was more that they didn’t understand her. Her birthday party provided a wonderful opportunity for the children to see her in her own setting, and appreciate her.

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Never an Amish Bride by Ophelia London

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

What I Loved:

Can I give a book more than 5 stars? I loved every word of this story. The two main characters were adorable together, and I loved their relationship growth.

My Synopsis:

Esther Miller lost her fiance, Jacob, two years ago, and she’s still mourning him. Her wedding dress still hangs in her closet, and her heart is not open to others. She spends her days helping her mother teach the children, and making soap to sell in an extended family member’s store.

Visiting town, Esther bumps into Lucas Brenneman, her fiance’s older brother. Lucas went on his Rumspringa ten years ago and never returned. Now it seems he is back in Honey Brook and is working as a Physician’s Assistant. Esther immediately has questions for him. He might hold the answers she has been looking for to be able to move on from the loss of Jacob.

One meeting turns into two, then three, as they find an unlikely friendship. They both have internal struggles that they are trying to resolve and find solace in each other’s conversation and company.

Their relationship, however, would not be taken well within the Amish community, as Lucas is not part of the community any longer. Guilt and doubt overtake Esther as she tries to figure out where this “platonic” friendship could be headed.

How I Felt:

It has been quite a while since I have read an Amish fiction book, and I’m now kicking myself for falling away from this genre for so long! This was a beautiful, slow-burn romance filled with Christian themes, the strength of family, and some fabulously humorous scenes.

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The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

What I Loved:

I absolutely adored the main character, Samiah! She is a super-smart, successful woman with this fabulous geeky side that I really enjoyed!

My Synopsis:

Samiah’s boyfriend has just been exposed as a cheater and a snake. It was unfortunately done through Twitter, creating a social media storm that caused her breakup to be in the spotlight. Now, she has made a pact with the other two women Samiah’s boyfriend was also sneaking around with. They will take six months for themselves. No men and no dates.

As Samiah works to secretly develop her very own app, she thinks this pact is the perfect opportunity for her to focus on her project. She just doesn’t expect coincidental coffee run-ins with Daniel Collins to sidetrack her. But Daniel has secrets of his own… 

How I Felt:

This is my first book by Farrah Rochon, and I really enjoyed it! The story was an easy read with some steamy moments and a great plot. The opening scene of this book is all you need to be hooked. It’s an amazing mix of embarrassing moments, romance gone wrong, and women uniting against a jerk.

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Rachael’s Return by Janet Rebhan

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

What I Loved:

I loved this story’s idea of how souls interact and communicate. I thought it was such an interesting plot, and I couldn’t put it down!

My Synopsis:

Caroline Martin has always wanted a daughter. Unknowingly pregnant, she goes in for a hysterectomy. She shares a recovery room with a pregnant woman, Mary Anne, shot by her boyfriend.

The soul of Caroline’s accidentally aborted baby decides that Mary Anne’s baby may be an opportunity for her to be born and know her mother.

How I Felt:

Rachael’s Return is such a different book. This story features both the human characters and the characters of souls within the storyline. The souls play a huge role in the story and provided a fresh perspective. The story discusses a lot about spirituality, reincarnation, and destiny. It was written well, and when I wasn’t reading it, I found myself constantly thinking about the plot and the role fate plays in our lives.

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The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

What I Loved:

I loved the location of this story. Every time I come across a story set in Australia, I find myself just succumbing to the lovely descriptions of the land and people. Tea Cooper did a fabulous job of placing the reader in the setting. It was written beautifully.

How I Felt:

The Woman in the Green Dress is told through two timelines. One in 1853, and one in 1919. I really enjoyed the perspective of the story from these two different times. I felt like the author did a fabulous job of transitioning between the two periods.

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The One and Only Dylan St. Claire by Kamen Edwards

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

What I Loved:

The message that this story gave was just amazing. I closed this book and thought I might have a book hangover from a children’s book! 😂 I just absolutely loved the way the message of being who you are and making the most of your situation was given!

My Synopsis:

Dylan St. Claire is the star of the show, always! He is getting ready for the school audition, fully intending to get the “star” role of the Star.

He instead is cast as the Squirrel…in space. Dylan is outraged, of course, because what is a squirrel doing in space?!?!? Dylan soon discovers though, that being the Squirrel is the best thing that could have happened to him.

How I Felt:

Well, I thought The One and Only Dylan St. Claire was absolutely adorable! Disappointment is an emotion that will come up for all children, and showing them that it is okay to feel the way they do was great.

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Damage in an Undead Age by A.M. Geever

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Rating: 5 out of 5.
Damage in an Undead Age book cover - broken glass in the shape of a heart with zombie hand coming through.

What I Loved:

I loved the adventure that Damage in an Undead Age took me on! I enjoyed the new characters that were introduced and the twists created by their addition to the story! What I loved the most though, was the emotional journey that I wasn’t expecting. It was beautifully woven into the zombie apocalypse and left me unable to put the book down.

My Synopsis:

Damage in an Undead Age picks up just after book 1, Love in an Undead Age. The group has escaped on a boat and is healing from their injuries. They have Jeremiah, the crazy man that is immune to zombies, safely secured as they sail to their next destination in hopes of finding help to create a vaccine.

Unfortunately, help isn’t there and they must move on. Their next stop does have a lab where they can set up to start working on the vaccine. It turns out that they are not alone though. They’ll soon discover zombies aren’t the only dangerous thing around them.

How I Felt:

Damage in an Undead Age was so much more than a post-apocalyptic zombie story! The characters each have their own internal struggles that created such an emotional roller-coaster!

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Knucklehead Fred by Arias Williams

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Welcome to the Knucklehead Fred blog tour
hosted by Silver Dagger Book Tours!

Rating: 4 out of 5.

What I Loved:

I’m a mom, and I have two kids that struggle to clean up after themselves…I think all moms live this life! I loved that this story offered a fun way for children to see what responsibility is, and how wonderful it is to feel proud of yourself after having accomplished something!

My Synopsis:

Fred is a normal young boy who chooses not to pick up after himself. He brushes off his chores to do things that he wants to do instead. His actions have not caused him any issues until the day he wants something and his parents say

“NO“

Whoops, Knucklehead Fred, it might be time to start taking the time to do the chores.

Knucklehead Fred follows a boy as he learns the value of following directions and helping out at home.

How I Felt:

I liked this story. It’s a simple, easy to follow picture book that had my children’s full attention. They connected with Fred. They had both been there themselves. It was nice to see their reactions to the positive behavior that Fred shows as the story progresses. Overall, the both enjoyed this book, and would absolutely ask for a second reading!

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