Mailbox Monday - May 25

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share what came in their mailbox. This meme has a permanent home at Mailbox Monday and was created by Marcia at To Be Continued I am linking up to Mailbox Monday. 

To be reviewed

The Great Estate by Sherri Browning

To be released in August 2015

Pulled apart by past mistakes. Sophia Thorne was young and inexperienced when she arried the dashing Earl of Averford ... and through dark and troubled times, their relationship nearly came to an end. Now she's determined to transform herself into the fiery, ardent lover she always wanted to be, giving them a second chance at love ... before they're lost to each other forever. 

Driven by a passion neither could deny. It took nearly losing Sophia for Gabriel to realize he had allowed the love for his great estate to distract him from his beautiful wife. But that time is over. Despite all the obstacles standing in their way, Gabriel vows to teach Sophia what it is to truly love ... and to be loved by a husband devoted heart and soul to her every desire. 

Thornbrook Park Series

#1 Thornbrook Park

#2 An Affair Downstairs

#3 The Great Estate

Hutterite Diaries by Linda Maendel

Imagine life on a prairie. What would it be like to share your possessions and live in Christian Community? In Hutterite Diaries, Linda Maendel offers a rare glimpse into the daily routines and relational faith of her people, the Hutterian Brethren. With stories ranging from accounts of Hutterite weddings to a hilarious tale of an accidental baptism by salad dressing, Maendel invites readers into her colony. Here, nestled on the prairie of western Canada, children and adults work, play, eat, and worship together, crafting a community of goods and living out an alternative to the individualism and consumerism of mainstream society. 

Few outsiders know anything about the Hutterities, a plain Christian group related to the Amish and Mennonites. Maendel's story invites readers into deeper understanding of this community of faith, calling us to take seriously the example of Jesus and the early church in our daily living. 

Hear straight from plain Christians as they write about their daily lives and deeply rooted faith in the Plainspoken series from Herald Press. Each book in the series includes "A Day in the Life of the Author" and the author's answers to FAQs.

Plainspoken Series

#1 Chasing the Amish Dream by Loren Beachy

#2 Called to be Amish by Marlene C. Miller

#3 Hutterite Diaries by Linda Maendel

A Heart's Betrayal by Colleen Coble

Emmie finds shelter in the arms of a soldier, but her secret could drive them apart. 

When Emmie Croftner answered teh door to her late husband's home, she discovered an awful truth: her deceased husband was a bigamist. And what's more, the home she thought she inherited never belonged to her at all. 

Suddenly displaced, powerless and ashamed, Emmie can't stay in Wabash, Indiana. She makes a hopeful start for Fort Laramie, Wyoming, to find her friend Sarah Montgomery and a new beginning. But when she arrives, she discovers she's pregnant - and without a husband. The new start she'd hoped for slips from her fingers. 

But then she meets Isaac Liddle, a handsome soldier with a kind heart. When he begins to court her, Emmie wonders whether she could never really be his - and whether she dares to tell him she is carrying another man's baby. 

Journey of the Heart Series

#1 A Heart's Disguise

#2 A Heart's Obsession 

#3 A Heart's Danger

#4 A Heart's Betrayal

Bought:

Crazy Rich by Jerry Oppenheimer

Power, Scandal and Tragedy Inside the Johnson & Johnson Dynasty

One of the most iconic American dynasties, the Johnsons have often mirrored the Kennedy clan's dark side. Their entrepreneurial prowess has brought them enormous power and success in business, but in private their lives have been haunted by misfortune. Now, in this scrupulously researched biography, New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer places the Johnson & Johnson dynasty under a journalistic microscope, as he reveals the secrets behind their immense power, extraordinary wealth, and provocative dramas. 

There was "The General", the contemporary patriarch who humiliatingly fired his son as president of the family business, both dying of cancer soon after. Dynasty legal wars were rampant over wills, inheritances, paternity, and even the word "spouse". One Johnson scion went through a $100 million divorce before his second marriage gave him the namesake he so desperately wanted. 

From the founders in the late-nineteenth century who brought the world scores of health-care and first-aid products with the Red Cross as their logo, to the contemporary Johnsons, including the billionaire owner of the New York Jets, Robert Wood "Woody" Johnson IV, Oppenheimer explores how the family's riches have had a corrupting and toxic impact. 

Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury

The 150-year Rivalry Between the World's Greatest Chocolate Makers

In the early nineteenth century the major English chocolate firms - Fry, Rowntree and Cadbury - were all Quaker family enterprises that aimed to do well by doing good. The English chocolatiers introduced the world's first chocolate bar and ever fancier chocolate temptations - while also writing groundbreaking papers on poverty, publishing authoritative studies of the Bible, and campaigning against human rights abuses. Chocolate was always a global business, and in the global competitors, especially the Swiss and teh Americans Hershey and Mars, the Quaker capitalists met their match.  The ensuing chocolate wars would culminate in a multi-billion-dollar showdown pitting Quaker tradition against the cutthroat tactics of a corporate behemoth. 

Featuring a cast of savvy entrepreneurs, brilliant eccentrics, and resourceful visionaries, Chocolate Wars is a delicious history of the fierce, 150-year business rivalry for one of the world's most coveted markets. 

Winds of Skilak by Bonnie Rose Ward

A Tale of True Grit, True Love and Survival in the Alaskan Wilderness

With that grim sign, Sam and Bonnie Ward arrive at their new home. Leaving behind friends, family and life as they know it, the Wards embark on a journey into the Alaskan wilderness that will change them forever. 

Winds of Skilak traces a young couple's adventurous move from the suburbs of Ohio to a remote island on ill-tempered Skilak Lake. As Sam and Bonnie adapt to a life without running water, electricity and telephones, the unforgiving, desolate environment tests their courage early on. Facing sub-freezing temperatures, unfriendly bears, and cabin fever, the Wards find strength in new friends, each other, and the awe-inspiring beauty of "the last frontier". Just when they finally settle in, a freak accident proves to be the ultimate test of their resolve. Will they be able to survive in this isolated wilderness filled with unseen dangers? 

Author Bonnie Ward chronicles an exciting and thought-provoking tale of one couple's faith in God and dedication to each other through all of Alaska's curveballs. Winds of Skilak is a true tale of absorbing force, sure to bring out your own sense of adventure. 

Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl by Susan McCorkingdale

The traffic in Jersey was bad. As her husband's prompting, suburban mom and career woman Susan McCorkindale agreed to give up her job and her friends in the big city and move south with their two sons to a five-hundred-acre beef-cattle farm. Her husband never looked back. Soon after playing "spot the religious billboard" on teh drive to rural Virginia, she did. And she has a lot of confessions to make about life on the farm...

But at least there weren't any large animals in it ... From adapting to a world without Starbucks to planning bright orange hunter-resistant wardrobes for the kids so they wouldn't get shot on their own property. Susan had to learn the hard way that Manolos and manure just don't mix. For a city slicker to love - or at least tolerate - country life, she had to make some radical adjustments and learn some surprising things about herself. 

Fresh out of the wilderness, Susan reveals life in the sticks in a sharp, smart and hilarious voice sure to delight readers as well as provide a cautionary tale if you're ready to leave the city behind.