Nightingale, written by Susan May Warren, is a novel that is, quite frankly, hard to put down.  The story is about Esther, a nurse during the time of World War II and the post-war era.  Esther cannot forgive herself for one night, in which she made a mistake, though this one night had a positive outcome, down the road, with the birth of her beautiful daughter Sadie.  However, that one night keeps her bound in a loveless relationship with her daughter’s father, Linus.  Linus is a soldier, away in Germany fighting for his country.

Soon, the story takes a turn as Esther starts receiving letters from Peter Hess, a medic who attended Linus and got to know him, as Linus seemingly lay dying of his wounds.  The correspondence between Peter and Esther continues.  I love how the author not only writes the story, but she shares the letters between the two, as if they were real letters, written back in the time of the war.

Esther doesn’t fully know Peter, though, and this book has several twists and turns, which make the book interesting, suspenseful, and of course, hard to put down.  It’s a story of tragedy, love, mistakes, and triumphs.  It’s an inspirational story that will encourage the reader to live freely through God’s grace.  Susan May Warren spares no detail; her writing is so descriptive that I could see everything as I read.  The story became very real.  I definitely recommend this book; you can purchase Nightingale for $9.99 from Christian Book.  Read on to find out more about it and to find out how to enter Susan May Warren’s awesome contest.

About Nightingale: Esther Lange doesn’t love her fiancé—she’s trapped in an engagement after a mistaken night of passion.

Still, she grieves him when he’s lost in battle, the letters sent to her by the medic at his side giving her a strange comfort, so much that she strikes up a correspondence with Peter Hess, an Iowa farmboy. Or is he?  Peter Hess is not who he seems. Indeed, he’s hiding a secret, something that could cost them both their lives, especially when the past comes back to life. A bittersweet love song of the home front war between duty and the heart…a battle where only one will survive.

Don’t miss book 1 in this stand-alone collection, Sons of Thunder.

About Susan May Warren: Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning author of twenty-four novels with Tyndale, Barbour and Steeple Hill. A four-time Christy award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Book of the Year.

Susan’s larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!. She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

Susan makes her home in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!) A full listing of her titles, reviews and awards can be found at: www.susanmaywarren.com.

Link to buy the book:  http://www.christianbook.com/nightingale-susan-warren/9781609360252/pd/360252?event=AFFp=&

Contest info:  The Letters From Home Giveaway!

Enter the Contest: Nightingale is about letters, the power of written correspondence to convey thoughts and emotions to those far away. And sometimes near. Letters are forever, they are something we savor and pull out to read again and again. They are often cherished and kept in a special place.

To celebrate the release of Nightingale, Susan would like you to write a letter. One grand prize winner will receive a Flip HD Camcorder. 5 runner’s up winners will win a signed copy of Nightingale. There are two ways to enter the contest by writing letters.

1. Write a letter to a soldier. At the end of the contest we’ll print out and mail your letter for you.

2. Write a letter to a friend, loved one, family member, enemy. Tell them something you wished you’d told them before. Tell them you love them, or maybe how they touched your life. Perhaps an apology is in order or a thank you. Or perhaps you’d like to relate a funny tale or just share life. Whatever it is, submit it here along with your email address and we’ll send it for you.

Enter here or at the SHARE page on the Brothers in Arms website. Or simply click on the button to the right.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse Blog Tour.

(Disclosure: I received a copy of Nightingale, free of charge, from Litfuse Publicity Group, for the purposes of this review.)

Eden’s Way, by Beverly Money Luke, is a story about one couple’s marriage.  Misty and Day seemed to have the perfect marriage, or so Misty thought, until one day something just changed.  When her neighbors’ house blew up, as part of a suicide attempt by Mr. Merryweather, leaving his wife dead but him still very much alive, Misty’s perspective suddenly changes.  She wonders about her marriage, and she doesn’t really know if her husband truly loves her.

As time goes on, Misty believes their marriage can get better if they have a child.  Little JJ is born, and Misty enthusiastically takes on the role of mother to her precious newborn.  Even Day is mesmerized by their child, and at times things seem to be better….at other times, not so good. The story goes back and forth between Day and Misty’s perspectives and thoughts, between each of their lives both separately and together. Misty’s two girlfriends are there to support her and encourage her throughout, even challenging her at times when she needs it.

As the reader, I felt that the story was more about Misty and her struggles, frustrations, and feelings concerning Biblical submission and marriage.  I could see both sides of  the story at times throughout the book, but at more times than not, as a woman, I could feel Misty’s heart in trying to discern what Biblical submission truly means.   Toward the end of the book, I just about bawled my eyes out, as little JJ was killed….but even then, I became angry toward Day and the way that he blamed Misty and the way that he treated her, even serving her divorce papers on the day of the funeral.  Even though it wasn’t a real story, it had that much effect on me.  It was a very emotional story.

I won’t tell you how the story ends, though.  You’ll have to read it for yourself.  I have a feeling that this story could be a blessing to so many women’s hearts today.  You can purchase Eden’s Way for $12.99 from Genuine Joy Ministries.  You can also read Chapter 1 here.  The great news is that I am giving away one copy of Eden’s Way to one RHP reader! You can enter to win by doing one or more of the following; just be sure to leave a separate comment for each way that you enter.  I’ll draw the winner, via random.org, on Friday, December 3.  This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada.  Good luck, and have a wonderful day!

1. Visit Genuine Joy Ministries, and sign up to receive their newsletter.
2. Leave a comment, telling me your views on Biblical submission; let’s get a discussion going.
3. Follow Real Heart Prints or subscribe to my posts.

(Disclosure: I received a copy of this book, free of charge, from Beverly Money Luke, for the purposes of this review.)

With boys it seems that laundry just automatically picks up certain smells.  My husband’s even commented that when they go outside, it seems like they stink when they come back in.:)  We also love to hike, and Jacob takes Tae Kwon Do….so it’s easy to acquire some pretty smelly laundry, especially when camping/hiking with no showers available.

Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator is here to save the day.  I recently had the opportunity to test this product out with our smelliest laundry.  Since Jacob’s Tae Kwon Do gi was in the laundry, I decided to try it out with my whites.  First of all, I noticed that the Febreze had a pungent odor to it….not too strong, but it was very fresh smelling.  It’s a blue liquid (with the consistency of laundry detergent) that you just add into your wash along with regular laundry detergent.  How much you use depends on how strongly your laundry smells.  I used the lowest amount, which was probably about 1/4 capful.  I was afraid of trying it with whites, but it did fine.  My whites looked and smelled great, but it didn’t leave a strong odor on them.  My husband also has very sensitive skin, so I have to be careful what I use for laundry; he has not complained at all of problems so far.

Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator has a scent that is designed to not work against your other laundry products.  It captures the odor during the wash cycle and gets rid of it during the rinse.  It works especially for odors from sweat, smoke, cooking, or pets, etc.  It actually works with any water temperature (I used hot), and it can be used with any of your other laundry products (I used laundry detergent, whitener/brightener, & Solumel along with it).  You can find out where to purchase Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator on the Febreze website.  I picked mine up at Walmart, and it was available for around $8. You can get a $2 off coupon here.

Thanks to Febreze, two readers will win a bottle of Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator! Each winner will be provided a coupon for a free product.  You can enter to win by doing one or more of the following; just be sure to leave me a separate comment for each way that you enter.  I’ll draw the winner, via random.org, on Monday, November 22.  This giveaway is open to U.S. only.  Good luck, and have a wonderful day!

1. Visit Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator, and let me know exactly what you’d use this product for.
2. Like Febreze on Facebook.
3. Follow @Febreze_Fresh on Twitter.
4. Tweet about this giveaway; you can tweet daily to earn extra entries.
5. Follow Real Heart Prints, or subscribe to my posts.
6. Follow @mamabzz on Twitter.
7. Blog about this giveaway, being sure to link back to Real Heart Prints.
8. Tell me your most harrowing laundry story in the comments.

(Disclosure: I received a coupon for a free bottle of Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator, free of charge, from Febreze and Empower Media Marketing.)

1American Heart Association, 2008
2Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol and rich in fruits, vegetables, and grain products that contain some types of dietary fiber, particularly soluble fiber, may reduce the risk of heart disease, a disease associated with many factors.

Heart disease is something that I’m all too familiar with, not because I have it, but because I used to see the faces of heart disease every day in my job as a nurse at a busy cardiology clinic.  It’s something that is affecting younger people, as well as old.  Just lately, I’ve heard of a few people in their 30′s/40′s who have had heart attacks, in some cases, fatal heart attacks.  It definitely hit home for me when I attended Blogher ’10 and had the free heart health screen with cholesterol check.  My LDL (bad cholesterol) was fine, but my HDL (good cholesterol) was a bit low….however, this is something I can change with exercise and even my diet.

It’s important to watch the foods we eat.  Lowering sodium intake can significantly reduce the risk.  Progresso has come out with a line of reduced sodium soups that are both healthy and delicious.  We had the opportunity to try their Chicken Gumbo soup and their Tomato Parmesan soup.  The Chicken Gumbo soup had a little bit of a kick to it, but it had really good flavor, even with the reduced sodium.  It had chicken and rice and vegetables, along with a spicy broth.  The Tomato Parmesan soup was more like a chunky tomato soup with spices, although it wasn’t spicy at all.  I could definitely notice a difference with it, as it didn’t seem to have quite as much flavor (without the sodium).  It still tasted good, but it tasted more natural.  Both soups were super easy to cook, as we just poured them into a pan and cooked, without even adding water.  It only took a few minutes, and we served them with a bit of cheddar cheese and French bread.

You can purchase Progresso Reduced Sodium soups at your local supermarket.  They come in a variety of different flavors, including Chicken & Wild Rice, Garden Vegetable, Minestrone, Beef & Vegetable, Chicken Noodle, and Italian-Style Wedding.  You can also find a ton of recipe ideas on Progresso’s website.  By looking for the “May Help Lower Cholesterol”2 banner and the Heart Healthy2 logo on certain varieties of Reduced Sodium soups, Progresso makes it even easier for you to stick to a heart healthy diet. Five Progresso Reduced Sodium favorites – Italian Style Wedding, Minestrone, Garden Vegetable, Beef and Vegetable, and Chicken Gumbo – contain hearty vegetables and legumes to provide 1g of heart healthy soluble fiber in every bowl.

Now another product that came in my Progresso Pack was an Everlast Exercise Ball (with DVD & Pump), as well as a Progresso soup bowl, which I love!   The exercise ball is great for doing all sorts of exercises; I happen to like situps on the ball because it works my abs, which definitely need work right now.  My soup bowl feels like a type of crockery, and it’s very heavy duty with a handle, so I don’t get burnt.  It’s deep and holds a large amount of soup, as well.  My husband and I argue over who gets to use it.:)The great news is that you can enter to win your own Progresso Healthier You Prize Pack! You can enter to win by doing one or more of the following; just be sure to leave a separate comment for each way that you enter.  I’ll draw the winner, via random.org, on Thursday, November 18.  This giveaway is open to U.S. only.  Good luck, and have a wonderful day!

1. How do you try to lower cholesterol/eat heart healthy with your food choice?  Let me know via comment.
2. Which variety of Progresso Reduced Sodium Soup are you most thinking you’d like to try?  Let me know via comment.
3. Like Progresso on Facebook.
4. Follow Real Heart Prints, or subscribe to my posts.
5. Follow @mamabzz on Twitter.
6. Tweet about this giveaway; in fact, you can tweet daily to earn extra entries.
7. Blog about this giveaway, being sure to link back to Real Heart Prints.
8. Share your exercise regimen, or even if you do or don’t have one, via comment.

(Disclosure: Progresso provided me with the product, information, and prize packs, free of charge, through MyBlogSpark.)