“Anything (King’s Daughters Story Collection, #1)” by Erika Mathews, Rebekah A. Morris, Andrea Renee Cox, Jaybird Summers, Jae Fisher, Chelsea Burden, Angie Thompson, Hannah Foster, Tiffany Michele, Mary Polyakov, Sarah Susanna Rhomberg, Courtenay Burden, & Brianna Burden

Anything

(King’s Daughters Story Collection, #1)

by Erika Mathews, Rebekah A. Morris, Andrea Renee Cox, Jaybird Summers, Jae Fisher, Chelsea Burden, Angie Thompson, Hannah Foster, Tiffany Michele,  Mary Polyakov, Sarah Susanna Rhomberg, Courtenay Burden, & Brianna Burden

Synopsis: 

He was willing to do anything.
Talk about anything, they said.
She hadn’t ever done anything.
You can do anything.
In this heartwarming collection, thirteen Christian authors weave tales both historical and contemporary in a variety of imaginative settings. Anything features characters stretched to their limits: a pencil and a crayon who are best friends, a Tea-Dragon with a mischievous and mysterious habit, a terminally ill child with a lovely wish. In these pages, you’ll discover an eccentric gentleman who never stops reading, a foster boy who makes up in appetite what he lacks in conversational skills, and a single mother with a fault-finding mother-in-law and five rambunctious children who haven’t learned respect for a living room.
Watch as a couple sacrificially prays for a lost and dying sister-in-law, a young lady tearfully talks her best friend through a coma, a courageous brother offers to lay down himself for others, a camera-shy teenager faces her greatest fear, and a music camp applicant struggles mightily with writing an interesting bio. Warmth, hope, and encouragement pervade the pages, echoing the theme of “anything” from a refreshing variety of angles both insightful and entertaining, spiritually profound and eternally valuable. These short pieces will delight and encourage the whole family.

(From Goodreads)

My Review:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ & ❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

5 stars & 5/10 hearts. Oh my, what a lovely collection! I enjoyed it so much. The stories were short but all so good.

Anything by Rebekah A. Morris — I loved this message. It was very good. 

Anything by Angie Thompson — Awww, this was just so sweet <33

Anything by Jaybird Summers — This story was super cute and reminded me of one I’ve written myself XD 

Anything by Jae Fisher — An excellent little poem. <3 Well done.

Anything by Courtenay Burden — This story was just hilarious and super sweet and had a great message. Wonderful work! 

Anything by Tiffany Michele — Okay, humorous and cute and totally original XD 

Anything by Brianna Burden — Ow, this one hit too close to home… and it was so good. Probably my favourite of the lot.

Anything by Chelsea Burden — How much more adorable can you get?! Ah! loved it! 

Anything by Hannah Foster — Okay, this was unexpected but fun XD 

Anything by Sarah Susanna Rhomberg — Okay wait this one was my favourite. MY BABY DANIEL. <3333 

Anything by Erika Mathews — Lovely message and such a fun addition to the Taerna stories ;) 

Anything by Andrea Renee Cox — Wow. This wasn’t what I expected but it was nice. I felt for Sarah Mae.

Anything by Mary Polyakov — Mmm, yes, I really liked this one!! 

A Favourite Quote: “But maybe, after all, it wasn’t really her job to worry about any of those things, anyway. Her job was just to give God something to work with. Something. Anything. Anything but silence.” (Courtenay Burden)

*I received a complimentary copy of this book for promotional purposes. I was not required to write a positive review. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.*

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“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Brontë

Synopsis: 

Orphaned as a child, Jane has felt an outcast her whole young life. Her courage is tested once again when she arrives at Thornfield Hall, where she has been hired by the brooding, proud Edward Rochester to care for his ward Adèle. Jane finds herself drawn to his troubled yet kind spirit. She falls in love. Hard.
But there is a terrifying secret inside the gloomy, forbidding Thornfield Hall. Is Rochester hiding from Jane? Will Jane be left heartbroken and exiled once again?

(from Goodreads)

My Review:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ & ❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

5+ stars & 9/10 hearts. I LOVED this book. Wow. I did not expect to love it so much! I read it several times as a kid and was profoundly impacted by the setting and storyline. Rereading it as an adult, I was impacted by the themes, messages, and characters. 
Jane Eyre is often seen as a dark book. I, instead, found it very beautiful and hopeful. I loved Jane. She was so wise and strong and loving. Really, she became one of my favourite female characters ever. Her story is so sad and yet it is hopeful too. I would love to be a Jane—so willing to help, so eager to love, so strong in trial, so full of faith. 
Mr. Rochester was another character I loved. I related to his weakness and his desire to do good but his lack of willingness to TRY to be good. After all, he had a good heart. He could have done any number of things to the woman he was chained with and yet he did do her the best he could—as he thought. I loved seeing his redemption. And as a man, he was just a very entertaining, fascinating, interesting man.
St. John I strongly disliked. What a hypocritical, supericilous Pharisee. He was a “good” man and yet he was not a good man. He was certain that he and he alone was right. He even tried to play God with Jane. If she had obeyed him, she would have killed herself (no use at all to the Lord) and have run right by her true calling. And he was cruel and harsh to her—while pretending to be as merciful and long-suffering as Christ Jesus. 
The plot was fascinating. Jane went from depression and misery to being dependant on God and able to find joy in the worst situations. Of course there was the whole thing of Mr. Rochester having had many mistresses, Adèle maybe being his illegitimate child, and attempted bigamy. But I think it was well handled and was only used to make redemption and Light stand out. I really appreciated the narration and the writing style and characters and setting. Overall, it’s a simply beautiful book with a really beautiful message. Recommended age: 18+

A Favourite Quote: “I hold another creed … in which I delight, and to which I cling: for it extends hope to all: it makes Eternity a rest—a mighty home, not a terror and an abyss. Besides, with this creed, I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last: with this creed revenge never worries my heart, degradation never too deeply disgusts me, injustice never crushes me too low: I live in calm, looking to the end.”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “I saw the fascination of the locality. I felt the consecration of its loneliness: my eye feasted on the outline of swell and sweep—on the wild colouring communicated to ridge and dell by moss, by heath-bell, by flower-sprinkled turf, by brilliant bracken, and mellow granite crag. These details were just to me what they were to them—so many pure and sweet sources of pleasure. The strong blast and the soft breeze; the rough and the halcyon day; the hours of sunrise and sunset; the moonlight and the clouded night, developed for me, in these regions, the same attraction as for them—wound round my faculties the same spell that entranced theirs.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “‘What age were you when you went to Lowood?’
“‘About ten.’
“‘And you stayed there eight years: you are now, then, eighteen?’
“I assented. 
“‘Arithmetic, you see, is useful; without its aid, I should hardly have been able to guess your age.’”

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“The Mystery at Lilac Inn” by Carolyn Keene

The Mystery at Lilac Inn

(Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, 4)

by Carolyn Keene

Synopsis: 

Nancy and Helen visit a charming old inn, recently purchased by friends. Soon after her arrival at Lilac Inn, Nancy discovers someone is impersonating her! The young detective’s enemy alters her appearance to resemble Nancy and uses stolen identification! When Emily Willoughby's diamonds are stolen, Nancy is determined to find Emily's inheritance. A mysterious ghostly figure roaming Lilac Inn's grounds, a strange message with the phrase “blue pipes,” and other unexplained incidents lead credence to the belief that the inn is actually jinxed! This revised text is a new plot from the 1930 original text. Some of the same or similar character names remain. 

(From Goodreads)

My Review:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ & ❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

1960 EDITION REVIEW:

5+ stars & 6/10 hearts. This is my favourite Nancy Drew mystery so far! It was exciting and intense, but not creepy. I loved the characters and the plot and mystery, and although I figured some of the mystery I didn't get it all and was surprised at the ending! This was just funny and intense and enjoyable and I loved it.

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