A Day at the Fair: Something for Everyone

The distinct, tantalizing smell of the fair drifted to the parking lot. Smoking ribs, sizzling sausages and swirling cotton candy assaulted the senses. There is nothing quite like fair food ... overpriced, high in calories, fat and all things unhealthy, yet, irresistible.

As a child, the rides were the reason for the tingle of excitement tinged with fear and little tolerance for food, games, and looking at farm animals.

The teenager sought out the rides for a thrill and the games for impressing friends, tolerated the food, and ignored the farm animals. The adult wanted to take it all in ... watching the children ride the "kiddie" rides, riding with them on the "big" rides, playing games, enjoying the food and looking at the farm animals.

As time passes the rides and the games lose their appeal, but the food and the farm animals still delight the senses. Alas, something for everyone.

Big Sky Dreams series

I picked up Cassidy (book one) and Sabrina (book two) of the Big Sky Dreams series by Lori Wick off the clearance rack. Since I had read a couple of her other books (Bamboo & Lace and White Chocolate Moments) and enjoyed them as light, easy reads and a change from adrenaline-laced suspense novels, I thought I would also enjoy these.

Cassidy is about a Token Creek seamstress, with a difficult past, in the Montana Territory during 1880. The story was predictable and slow-moving with an awkward thought thrown in every now and then. It also bothered me when she would refer to one of the characters as "that" lady instead of using a pronoun.

Sabrina is about a prostitute, estranged from her family, who is rescued from the streets by a policeman and his wife. After becoming a Christian, she also moves to Token Creek where she interacts with characters from Cassidy, befriends other prostitutes and eventually becomes involved with the pastor. This book held my attention more than Cassidy, however, grammatical errors in this one also distracted me from the characters and the plot.

This series is probably more suitable for mature teens.

In Search of Eden

In Search of Eden by Linda Nichols is the story of an unwed teenager who is forced to give up her baby for adoption and the subsequent search for her child.

Miranda DeSpaino begins her search after her mother's death when her aunt gives her an envelope postmarked "Abindgon, VA" containing a baby picture. While she eventually finds her child, along the way she also finds out about her family heritage explaining her deceased mother's coldness, an unexpected visit from her long-lost father, a brother she didn't know existed and a new family.

In the end, she makes a decision of love and also finds forgiveness, redemption and God's grace.

Saint

I attempted to listen to the audio book version of Ted Dekker's Saint several months ago to no avail. My attention span for listening I soon discovered is much shorter than it is for reading so I put the audio book aside and read the actual book.

Those who enjoy supernatural suspense will be glued to the pages while anticipating the next move. I enjoyed this book, like many of Ted Dekker's books, because I kept thinking I had it figured out until the final chapters  took an unexpected turn in another direction.

The main character is Carl Strople, a professional killer, trained as part of a covert secret group in Hungary. He begins his journey of betrayal, government cover-ups, and political conspiracy in New York, but  in his search for truth ends up in an unexpected place confronting unexpected forces.