Book Reviews by Ehlen Administration

I don’t know if you’ve seen or not, but over the past few days I’ve been telling you about a collection of 20 herb and essential oil resources that I’m honored to be a part of. It’s called The Herbs & Essential Oils Super Bundle and it’s only on sale for 6 days. After that, it’s gone forever! You guys know I love my EOs (essential oils, for those of you who don't know the lingo) and I use them daily on both myself and my family. But I confess I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about herbs. As this bundle includes ebooks and ecourses about both, I was very excited to dive into some of the herb books, and as per the usual with Ultimate Bundle sales, they did not disappoint. The first thing I did was sign up for the 5 Multi-use Herbs (And What to Do with Them) eCourse. Yep, it's a course, and they send you a link to 5 videos about some common herbs, chamomile and rosemary, to name a couple. I use these both in oil format, but wasn't sure how to handle the actual p...

To Parts Unknown by John Anthony Miller My rating: 4 of 5 stars George Adams is running from his past. To get out of London he persuades his editor to post him in Singapore. Unfortunately for him he arrives in 1942, just in time for the Japanese to invade. While trying to keep up some semblance of journalism he runs into the most fascinating character, Lady Jane Carrington Smythe. She too, is running away. But will they be able to escape together, and will their respective pasts prevent their future? Author John Anthony Miller paints a vivid scene of the Pacific theater during WW2, and then inserts seemingly ordinary characters put into an extraordinary circumstances. While he does a good job moving the story along, brief interactions with otherwise extemporaneous characters become the foundation of main character George Adams’ introspection and healing from the death of his wife, Maggie, and move him towards forgiving himself for his part and and his interest in Lady Jane. Whi...

Raise your hand if you’ve been let down by the conventional medical system. Me too! My oldest is special needs. Probably on the autism spectrum, although honestly we don't have an actual diagnosis of that yet, but similar sensory and social issues for sure. When he was 5 or so, a neurologist told us that really the only option to treat him medically was risperidone, which is basically an anti-psychotic. Even the neurologist told us that finding the right dosage was unlikely, and it only helped 20% of the time anyway. While David is certainly challenging, he isn't psychotic. I was pretty determined not to use a medicine that probably wouldn't work and would kill his liver eventually. I think there are lawsuits about risperidone now. (Check out these side effects!) I became "that mom" - the one that does all the crazy stuff to help her kid. Because honestly, it's only crazy if it doesn't work. We do all sorts of therapies, conventional and unconventiona...

Ripped Apart: Quantum Twins - Adventures On Two Worlds by Geoffrey Arnold My rating: 4 of 5 stars Tullia and Qwelby are twins, but not just any old twins. They are quantum twins, meaning they are genetically identical twins but are a boy/girl pair. This has only ever happened once before on Vertazia, and it didn’t end well. When they interfere with an experiment they are hurled through space/time to Earth, which severs their telepathic connection. Will they be able to reconnect and find their way home? And why are their people fighting their return? Do you like to nitpick science fiction? If so this is the read for you. I was totally fascinated by the science involved, as I’ve been interested in the concept of the multiverse and higher dimensions ever since I saw the TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” as a child. Although a little lengthy, I thought the storyline was interesting and it didn’t delve too sciency for those who don’t want the nitty gritty. I’m hoping the next book...

The Rainbow Bridge: Bridge to Inner Peace and to World Peace by Brent N. Hunter My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have always heard of the Rainbow Bridge poem for dearly departed pets; I have a few who have crossed myself, and have no doubt they will be waiting for me, wet nosed and butt wiggling. However, until recently, I had never heard the rainbow bridge in any other context. I was pleasantly surprised to read that Mr. Hunter has a much broader application. Thought I fully admit to being too cynical to buy all of it, I appreciate the hope that it embodies, and the advocacy of personal betterment and acceptance of the beauty and humanity of every soul. I really appreciated the devotional, personal nature of this book, but fully admit my shortcomings in the belief that it would work on a global scale. I hope I’m wrong. Honestly, and this is coming from someone who hates being wrong. Perhaps though, eventually, a global rainbow bridge movement will gain traction. I’m just a little...

PK: Preacher's Kid - Volume One by Samuel Omega Salt My rating: 2 of 5 stars Zac’s father just died, and he is running from the memories. He runs straight to Dr. Phoenix, who resolves to peel away the layers until she can reveal his true soul. She has to get past the fact that Zac is not just a preacher’s kid, but a PK who still believes in the God of his parents, even though he was abused as a child and rejected through college because of his party boy ways. Can she figure out who he really is and how to help despite her ignorance of the Bible? I know preacher’s kids, and it’s kind of a joke among Christian teenagers that the PKs are always the ones to go off the deep end, because the expectations on them are always just ridiculously high, so they have to rebel. This story played out in Preacher’s Kid, although I’m hoping that my friends didn’t have the added layer of abuse that was described by Mr. Salt. I’m assuming this is at least semi-autobiographical, and if not there...

Dog Gone by Diane Moat My rating: 4 of 5 stars Sam just can’t get the picture of that poor, abused dog out of her mind. Elvis had been tortured and killed cruelly before she found him on the side of the road, and she had to bring his killer to justice, no matter what it took. Can her mission of righteous vengeance succeed, and if it does, will she lose everything in the process? She’s willing to take the chance, even if she has to use extra-legal methods. Dog Gone is a fictionalized story of a very real problem. I was very happy to see real warnings woven into the story, such as never list a dog for free on online classifieds, as that draws dog fighters and baiters. I too am a dog lover, and it infuriates me to see some of the cruelty inflicted on such sweet animals. However, I was a little alarmed that the methods used by Sam to justify the ends were basically written off, as if two wrongs make a right. The story was engaging and the emotion was real, but for a story that was t...

Van Laven Chronicles: Shadow Reign by Tyler Chase My rating: 4 of 5 stars Vaush has successfully been installed as the empress, and Comron could not be more proud, even if they still have to keep their relationship under wraps for now. He is frantically trying to economically bolster the image of his own House, Nethic, so that Vaush won’t have to pretend to court other houses for a marriage of convenience, and so far he has done a bang up job as her financial guru. But can Comron continue to hide his newfound gifts of the Murkdahl and use them for the common good, rather than the revenge he so desperately wants to enact? And can they put that aside to address the bigger threat of the Kurukaii? Book 2 in the Van Laven Chronicles, Shadow Reign is the highly anticipated sequel to the Throne of Novoxos, and it delivers a fantastic continuation of the story. I loved the character development of Comron and Vaush, and honestly I loved some of the economic underpinnings and explanation ...

 Just a quick note today to tell you about what is perhaps the coolest stockpile of awesome stuff for Indie authors I’ve ever seen. It contains brand-new courses from K.M. Weiland, Matt Stone, and Rob Archangel (worth $677), and over a dozen awesome books for authors and self-publishers. I figured that since I do book reviews there was a chance that some of you might want to be authors, and this can help you do it! It was put together by the brand new site Digital Freedom Academy as part of their launch, and it’s called the “Indie Author Superpack.” It’s amazing value at just $99. Thing is though, it’s only available UNTIL FRIDAY! So go check it out and snag it before it’s gone forever… CLICK HERE Please note, while there may be affiliate links or payment for reviews, all opinions are my own. You can't buy a good review from me, people. I am way too mouthy for that.

The Dreadmore Saga: Dawn of Sathram by A.A. Walker My rating: 2 of 5 stars Three teenagers who only wanted to compete at their regional swordplay competition find themselves thrust into a quest that they must complete to save their realm. Yarrin, Rygar and Novvus are sent to find the translator stone which is protected by deep magic, but must survive the perils along the way. Their mage council is counting on them to help prevent the return of the great evil Mallus, who wreaked havoc on their realm before, and all signs point to him gearing up to do it again. Can they find the stone or will they perish on the dangerous journey? On the surface this has the makings of a great fantasy story, but honestly the writing was just awful. To make it slightly readable there needs to be some serious editing. There were redundant descriptions, superfluous prepositions, tense hopping, fragments, and flat out wrong words used. Some of the words were just in wrong form, such as “constance” in...

Bitter is the Wind by Jim McDermott My rating: 4 of 5 stars George Johnson, Jr., has suffered some heartbreak in his short life, having lost his mother and 2 year old sister to a car accident when he was only 7. But he has been getting in trouble at school and his dad doesn’t know how to handle it. He knows his son is smart, and getting an education is important to getting ahead in life, but how can he help his son through school when he is struggling to deal with being a single father? Bitter is the Wind is a late 70s/early80s, Baby Boomer coming of age story for George, who struggles to distinguish himself from his father’s monotonous, small town, factory job life. George’s story is really very well written, and not nearly as rambling as I thought it might be, as this is a common problem with coming of age stories. George is a very endearing, and at times infuriating, character, and many parents will likely identify with George Sr.’s struggle to be a good single father whi...

Remember how yesterday I told you that the 2 day flash sale for the UHB2016 started? That means today is it! You can get this until midnight tonight then it is gone forever! This is an amazing resource for homemaking and mothering, and includes my ebook, Adoption Options: For Prospective Adoptive Parents! (Check the Motherhood category - but check out all the other categories too!) So why am I promoting this? Does being a mom and homemaker ever feel a little too hard? There’s no question that you love your family like crazy and you’d do anything for them, but we all know it can be an exhausting job. If you’re anything like me, I bet you wish your home felt more put together and peaceful, you kept up with housework better, you were more consistent about serving healthy, homemade meals and you weren’t running ragged so much of the time. Because these families of ours? They matter more than anything else. Our job is so important, and we really want to do it right. But so of...

Imagine your kids eating vegetables, helping prep for dinner, and making breakfast for you while you sip your coffee. Working with food encourages kids to try new things, but fruits and vegetables almost always require knives... Does the idea of letting your kids use knives make you squeamish? Let a trained teacher bring knife skills and safety to your children in the comfort of your own home. For two weeks only, you can get 3 free classes from the  Kids Cook Real Food  eCourse. Watch one with your kids like a regular class and polish your own skills with the other two (they're just for adults).  What you'll learn in these short videos: Basic knife skills and techniques for kids age two to teen Mastery of the three safe ways to hold food while cutting How child development impacts your child's readiness to learn new skills The #1 mistake that destroys your chance of enjoying time in the kitchen with your kids A tested 3-step process...