The last year has found me diving heavily into marketing, public relations, writing, and working with brands and companies. When I saw the title of this book, I was intrigued. It made me ask myself, “What if Jesus could be marketed or branded, especially in today’s times when so many brand/consumer relationships are being forged via social media?” Think about that for a second….

Honestly, I could NOT put this book down. You can ask my husband. He walked in one day to see me standing over the stove, stirring a pot of noodles, book in hand, reading away. Branded, by Tim Sinclair, is written from the perspective of a very experienced marketer who has worked with big-name brands and knows what it takes to help a company or brand succeed. He really gets down to the nitty gritty of why people are turning away from Jesus, away from true Christianity….he will step on your toes in this book, let me tell you. He’s just not afraid to go there, and I think that’s one reason I couldn’t stop reading.

Tim calls on all Christians to break tradition, to step out of their comfort zones, and to look at their Saviour through a new, different kind of lens. There are things that just aren’t working to further the Gospel, and he brings those things to the table. Some things might include promising those who come to Christ that they will be healthy and wealthy the rest of their lives; judging another/promoting intolerance before ever looking at one’s own heart (he gives examples of the life of Jesus and the people that Jesus “hung out with”); how simply handing out tracts or keeping with traditional methods of evangelism just isn’t reaching the hearts of people, etc. He talks about how there are so many religions and types of spirituality, that it’s a bit like going to the cereal aisle. People might stand there scratching their heads, wondering what the heck they should pick out and take home. He makes so many great points that I wish I could remember every single one and take the time to share them here….but you’ll just have to read the book.

Tim doesn’t just show what is wrong with today’s evangelism, though; he gives examples of big-name companies with outstanding marketing strategies, as well as suggestions and ideas for how Christians can shake it up in their own communities and churches. Think about Apple. Think about not just creating customers for life but true followers who love the brand (in this case, Jesus) and want to share that brand (Jesus) with everyone they know. Thus enters the world of social media (at least in my thinking as a blogger). The last chapter is full of What Ifs….things we can effectively do to share our Saviour in real life with our friends, family, neighbors, etc.

I can’t recommend this book enough; in fact, I think every Christian should have a copy, it is that good. You can purchase Branded for $8.81 on Amazon. Be sure to Follow @timjsinclair on Twitter and Like Tim Sinclair on Facebook.

About Tim Sinclair:

Tim Sinclair is a radio personality on one of the top Christian morning shows in the country, Mornings with Tim and Pam. For over a decade, he has been helping radio stations and various other businesses creatively and effectively market themselves. His award-winning productions have been heard on more than 2,000 radio stations worldwide and recent clients include McDonald’s, Word Records, Moody Press, and the country’s most-listened to Christian nonprofit radio station KSBJ/Houston. Tim has written for CCM Magazine and the Huntsville Times. For more about Tim, please visit his website, http://www.tim-sinclair.com.

Kregel Publications is sponsoring a $50 Amazon.com Giveaway, and you can enter by sending a tweet (using the hashtag #litfuse) about Branded or sharing on Facebook. If you tweet be sure to link to @litfuse, and they’ll have you entered. If you Facebook, you can send your status link to info@litfusegroup.com.

Be sure to check out Litfuse to read more reviews of this book.

(Disclosure: I received this book, free of charge, from Litfuse, for the purposes of this review. All views/opinions remain solely my own.)

I have a confession to make….I love Amish stories, so I was thrilled to read another great book, only this story incorporated the Amish countryside of Missouri as its setting. Patchwork Dreams, written by Laura V. Hilton, is her first book in The Amish of Seymour series. One reason I wanted to read this book is that I live fairly close to Seymour, Missouri, so I was kinda curious to see how the story would go.

This book tells the story of how two people fell in love, pretty much from the moment they set eyes on each other. Jacob had been sent to Missouri on false pretenses, mainly so his father could get him away from his girlfriend, an influence who wasn’t the greatest for a man about to commit to the Amish church for life. Even though he’s upset, he’s instantly intrigued by Becky, or Bex as he nicknames her. Becky has enough heartache of her own and has pretty much resigned herself to being an old maid for life. You see, her reputation had been tarnished within the community when she’d made a mistake not so long ago. It’s uncanny how circumstances throw these two together, and as you read, you get to share in their roller coaster ride of emotions, obstacles, and life issues that seem to get in the way of their love for each other.

Reading this story, I felt like I got to know each character on a deeper level, as the author really has a way of describing each character and taking the reader along for the ride. The story was really a simple love story, but it had enough human emotion and real-life scenarios that it was easy to identify with on a human level. The book was interesting and kept me wanting more. In fact, I’d love to see a second book come out.

You can purchase Patchwork Dreams for $6.99 on Amazon. You can also read the author’s blog, Lighthouse-Academy.

Great news! You can enter to win a giveaway hosted by KCWC. All you have to do is leave a comment below, and you’ll be entered to win the Grand Prize, an Amish Gift Set ($50 value).  I will be randomly choosing, via random.org, a finalist’s name to send to KCWC, and they will then pick the final winner of the grand prize on June 20. The gift set includes the following:

(Disclosure: I received Patchwork Dreams, free of charge, from KCWC, free of charge, for the purposes of this review. All views/opinions remain solely my own.)

Missions of Mercy is a 3-book series recently written and published by Susan May Warren. This series is part of the Love Inspired Suspense collection. Just to give you a little snippet of each book, along with my own thoughts….

Point of No Return is the first book in the series. In this book, we meet Chet Stryker who is put to work to help find a missing American and a warlord’s daughter in a war-torn Eastern European country. Going in, Chet realizes that he will have to work with his old fiancee….just one of the many seemingly obstacles he will encounter along the way. Not only that, but he will uncover secrets that’ll mean change to his life. This story is full of action, adventure, romance, and family ties. Not only that, but as it implies, it’s an inspirational book that’ll leave the reader with food for thought.

Mission: Out of Control is the second book. The reader will follow Brody Wickham as he becomes bodyguard to a tempestuous singer named Vonya, also the daughter of a senator who has put some very controversial policies into place. Vonya (or Veronica) is going on her European tour, but her father feels that she is not safe and must be protected from the likes of people like Mubar who trains up children to be child soldiers. This part of the story is very person to Veronica as one particular child holds a very special place in her heart. As she continues to harbor a secret, Brody seeks to protect her ever more.  This story again is full of action, adventure, and romance.

Undercover Pursuit is the third book. This story follows Scarlett, who’s been asked to be a bridesmaid in her sister’s wedding in Mexico. Only she doesn’t expect to be mistaken for an agent by Luke Dekker, who’s on a mission to bust a drug cartel. Scarlett’s wedding adventure turns out to be way more than she bargained for, and Luke is left trying to protect Scarlett, as he finally realizes she’s not the agent who was supposed to be helping him. Scarlett’s also dealing with deep personal hurt….one reason she just doesn’t feel like celebrating the wedding of her sister and fiancee. You’ll have to read the book to find out more.

While thin romance books aren’t always my choice of reading….I will say that Susan May Warren has certainly changed my perspective. She’s written three awesome novels that lead not only to romance but like I said, plenty of action and adventure. The suspense in these stories makes them absolutely worth reading, and the stories are not cheesy in the least bit. She has a way of weaving chapters together to form a story that is both interesting and leaves the reader asking for more. I would definitely recommend these books for a relaxing weekend or maybe even a beach day.:) To read more reviews, be sure to check out the Litfuse Blog Tour. Read on to find out more about the books, the author, and about an awesome giveaway going on right now.

About Susan:

Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning author of thirty novels with Tyndale, Barbour, Steeple Hill and Summerside Press.  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 Carol Award.  A seasoned women’s events 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 ofwww.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

For more about Susan and her other books, please visit www.susanmaywarren.com.

Three heroes, all on missions of mercy, who discover that God not only saves us from evil, but from the darkness inside.

Point of No Return: Can God deliver us from our mistakes? This question is posed to Chet and Mae as they race to save Mae’s nephew from an evil warlord in the Republic of Georgia. More here.

Mission: Out of Control: Does God turn his back on us when we fail? Brody and Vonya discover the answer as they conspire to capture an international smuggler and free a child soldier from war. More here.

Undercover Pursuit: What if we deliberately sin and harbor bitterness in our hearts? Is there a rescue from the dark places inside? Luke and Scarlett find out as they work to protect a bride-turned-informant whose courage could dismantle a human trafficking web. More here.

To celebrate the series, Susan is giving away a Missions of Mercy Prize Pack worth over $200! One grand prize winner will receive:

* A brand new FLIP HD Camera
* The entire Missions of Mercy series

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. You may enter once per email, facebook, and twitter. The contest ends on May 31st. Tell your friends! Winner will be announced on June 1st at the Litfuse Publicity site and at Susan May Warren’s website. (While you’re there, check out her rockin’ new website!)

The Life Ready Woman, written by Shaunti Feldhahn & Robert Lewis, is a guide for moms that helps them with Thriving in a Do-It-All World. Lately, I’ve personally been so overwhelmed by everything that at times, things aren’t getting done because I just can’t handle it all. There’s too much going on at once. We moms have a hard time understanding that we can’t do it all; we need the guidance of our Heavenly Father to even make it through one hour, let alone a whole week.

In this book Shaunti really examines what the Bible says about our lives as women and the responsibilities we have both toward our God and our families. She examines women and their roles throughout history, as well as myths and things we tend to take to heart. She examines all of this from a Godly perspective, really digging into Scripture to guide us along with her, in a totally non-threatening, non-judgmental way.

One reason I really like this book is that it’s written partially by Shaunti, a woman who struggled with the juggling act herself. I like that she’s been where I’m at….she’s lived this balancing act called motherhood. I also like that she makes the tips and guidance she gives very easy to apply to your own life by giving hands-on things we can do to examine our own situations, our own lives.

You can purchase The Life Ready Woman for $9.64 from Amazon. You can also read more reviews on Litfuse.

About The Life Ready Woman:

Are you a ‘Doing it all’ or ‘Do what matters’ woman?

Whether a stay at home; or working mom, an airplane-hopping executive, an empty-nester caring for multiple generations or a single juggling high demands of career and personal life, today’s fast-paced modern world leaves women gasping for balance. We as modern Christian women want to look to the Bible for guidance on how to manage our lives — but because the world of women looks so different today than it did when the Bible was written, it is hard to find chapter and verse that seems to apply to our situation today.

Thankfully, God has given us exactly that timeless, unchanging guidance for how to find peace, clarity, and God’s best for our lives once we know where to look! The Life Ready Woman: Thriving in a Do-It-All World, reveals a profound biblical roadmap for how each of us can find the abundant life we are longing for, rather than the stressful, torn, how-do-I-balance-it-all life we often feel like we are trying to keep up with today. Actually being a LifeReady Woman means that you are clear about your life, bold in your faith, and able to find God’s best for you, and the end result will be that you not only survive but thrive in our do-it-all world.

God has given every wonderfully unique woman different skills and abilities, different desires, and different temperaments — and every woman around the planet and through the ages is certainly living in different circumstances. But no matter what a woman’s life looks like, the Bible says that God has an individual mission and plan that He’s carefully designed for each of us. And He wants us to find it. Starting January 2011, The Life Ready Woman and the Life Ready Woman Video Series will help every wonderfully unique woman to thrive as she identifies and courageously pursues God’s unique design and callings for her. LifeReady Woman puts you on a roadmap to make decisions that will lead to relief, delight, and fulfillment instead of regret.

About Shaunti Feldhahn:

Shaunti Feldhahn is a former Wall Street analyst, best-selling author of the book For Women Only, national speaker, and regular commentator in the media. She has been featured on The Today Show, PBS, TNT and Fox News- to name a few. You can learn more about her many activities by visiting her website Shaunti.com or get some great mom advice from her at MomLifeToday.com. She and her husband live with their two young children in Atlanta, Georgia and enjoy every minute of living at warp speed.

About MomLife Today:

At MomLife Today you will enjoy community with real moms experiencing every age and every stage of MomLife—right alongside you.

Moms need friends we can walk through life with, but more importantly we need friends who will encourage us and equip us in our role as moms in an honest and transparent way … and that’s just what you’ll find by becoming part of our MomLife Today community! We believe that every MOMent counts!

We admit it, being a mom 24/7 is not easy. Rather than lament the role of motherhood, however, we choose to embrace that role and learn from each other how to make it through each day with the right attitude. Come share the joys, sorrows, insanity, and special moments of motherhood with us as we live it and candidly write about it…we’ll have lots of fun along the way! Join us, and do tell… What’s happening in your MomLife Today? www.momlifetoday.com

In celebration of Shaunti Feldhahn’s Life Ready Woman, MomLife Today is giving away 2 Weekend To Remember Gift Packs and much more!

Weekend To Remember Get-Aways offer marriage-changing principles that you can take home and apply to your daily lives to strengthen your marriage. Whether you are newly engaged or have been married for 50 years, you will find value in the tools provided at the getaway.

Don’t miss this opportunity to receive a conference registration for you and your spouse … and more! MomLife Today will be randomly selecting NINE lucky recipients to receive one of these great gifts:

1. 2 Weekend To Remember Get Away conference registrations for two. $259 value each pair (Two couples will receive this.)
2. 2 Life Ready Woman DVD packs. $149 value each (Two different people will receive this gift.)
3. 5 The Life Ready Woman books. (Book will go to 5 people.)

To enter click one of the icons below then tell your friends. Winner will be announced on March 2nd on the MomLife Today website.

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