REVIEW: Dead Dog Like Me - Max Davis

***Disclaimer: I received this book via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Any thoughts and opinions are my own.***

Nick Gregory regains consciousness after a horrific car accident to find he’s been transported back in time and that he has become Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son and King Saul’s grandson. Aware that he’s experiencing another man’s life, he has to learn fast. When mega-church pastor, Nick Gregory, regains consciousness after a horrific car accident, he’s on the ground in agonizing pain. Nick realizes he is in a bizarre place – a foreign, parched, ancient land, having been transported back in time to 800 B.C. Unbelievably, he is in the body of a prince named Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan and King Saul’s grandson. Nick is fully aware of who he is and that he’s now living in Mephibosheth’s body, strangely able to speak and understand Hebrew. This experience helps him see that he, like Mephibosheth, is a broken man desperate for God’s outrageous grace and healing (2 Samuel 9:8). Returning to present day, Nick’s experience motivates a changed life.

Review: 

Dead Dog Like Me is one of those books that you read and you automatically start counting your blessings. Meeting Nick in the beginning of the story was quite an adventure. An aggravating adventure at that. I could feel his frustration and anger, especially right before the car accident. I was reading and saying "Give this guy a break!" But it's that just the way life really is? Sometimes you feel like you're drowning and just when you think you're going to be able to keep your head above the water it starts raining again? 

I could easily relate to Nick. Even though I've never been a Mega-Church pastor, I can understand those feelings of hopelessness, helplessness. and everything in between. I can also understand that feeling of wonder if God can even hear me. Especially when I'm broken-hearted and feeling like the deck is stacked against me. There were parts of this book where I just had to put it down and go have me a good cry and thank God that I'm not in that same place that Nick was anymore. 

I loved how Max Davis took a small story about Mephibosheth and used to it to teach Nick a lesson about the kind of man he really is and what is most important in life. I do wish maybe there had been a few more scenes with him as Mephibosheth but the ones that are in the book are very well written. The characters in this book, especially Nick and his relationship with his little dog Duece. 

This is a great story about redemption and a reminder that your plans will never trump God's plans. He is always in control and when you're hurting is when he wants you to come to him the most. Great book with a great message! 

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REVIEW: Empire's End - Jerry B. Jenkins

***Disclaimer: I received this book via Worthy Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Any thoughts and opinions are my own.***

Jerry B. Jenkins’s new novel is filled with adventure, drama, historic people and places, and even romance. Empire’s End tells the story of a man who single- handedly turned the Roman Empire on-end. It will be the heart-stopping story of the year! Only a few snapshots of Paul’s life are revealed in the Bible. In this fictional account, Jenkins tells of a devout Jewish scholar, who after only three years in the Arabian wilderness, emerges as the greatest Christian theologian in history. This novel explains how, after supervising the death of Jesus’s disciples, Paul would be moved to effectively conquer the Roman Empire with a message about a Jewish man named Jesus. You’ll be captured by the shocking “thorn in the flesh” that burdened Paul’s heart. Empire’s End will cause you to rethink whether Paul ever experienced the love of a woman or the embrace of a child. Read on.

Review: 
On a star rating system I would give this book three stars. I was really excited to be receiving this book for review because I have loved Jerry B. Jenkins' past work and I've always been interested in Saul/Paul. This book was really not what I expected.  The beginning of the book starts out with Saul's encounter with Jesus on the road in Damascus. I expected a little more elaboration on that encounter but received little more than what it says in the Bible. I wanted to feel as if I had been on that road with Saul when he was blinded and fell from his horse. Instead I felt as if I was just re-reading it from the Bible. From there we read of Saul's trip into the desert. This part of the book was actually one of my favorites. I loved the part about him being lowered down the wall in a basket and I loved seeing that Paul had a bit of humor about him during his basket ride. The trip he and his stallion made was also fascinating because without God that journey would have quite literally been impossible. Shortly after he sets up his own space in the camp is when things started falling apart for me.  I know that this is a fictional telling of Paul's life. But I expected it to kind of paint me the same picture that the Bible paints of Paul. He's a spunky guy with a real zeal for spreading the Gospel. This man I met in Empire's End was not that guy. To me he seemed weak, as if he were living up to the meaning of Paul- "small". He didn't resemble that same guy I've learned about in Acts for years and years of my life.  I did thoroughly enjoy his time out in the wilderness with God. Even though his conversations with God could get a bit exhausting (parts of conversation looked as if they were copied and pasted directly from the Bible), it was awe-inspiring to think about what God had done in Saul/Paul's life. He took a man who was persecuting Christians and changed him to be a mouthpiece for The Way. God changed his heart and used his unique past to tell others about Jesus Christ. It's a humbling thing to think about. Saul was an evil man and yet God forgave everything he'd done. As a Christian, those times of Paul in the wilderness made me think about how lucky I am to have a relationship with God. I think that was about the only positive thing I got out of this book.  I was also a little bothered by Paul's relationship with Taryn and how that whole situation played out. It was a little too much to think that God changed Paul's heart, sent him into the desert to a camp where Stephen's wife and child just so happened to be living, let Paul fall in love with Stephen's (the same Stephen he helped stone) widow, and then just in the nick of time saves Paul from death all while letting the rest of his believers in the camp die horrible deaths. Oh, but conveniently allowing Taryn and her son to be captured by the General instead of being killed. It was too convenient to me. I know that God works in mysterious ways and did allow tragedies to happen in the Bible but this just didn't sit right with me. Oh, and Paul's letter that he wrote to Taryn where he quoted the Beatitudes didn't work for me either. This made it seem like that was just something Paul came up with on his own to show his love for her instead of something divinely inspired by God.  The rest of the characters left much to be desired as well. This book feels half-written to me. It feels as if Jerry dreamed up a little filler and then just lifted everything else straight from the Bible.  The book loses it's pacing shortly after Paul leaves the camp on his journey back to Damascus. And the book also does not end with the fall of the Roman Empire which left a bad taste in my mouth because I was expecting a lot more action than what there was. It starts to get tedious and boring towards the end and I skimmed the last few pages just so I could be done with it.  It wasn't a bad book but it wasn't a good book either so I feel like three stars is fair. Some people will really love it and some people will be like me and delve way too far into it. I would label this one with a Read At Your Own Risk.  I do thank Jerry B. Jenkins and Worthy Publishing for the opportunity to review this book! 

REVIEW: Beyond Orange County - Lydia McLaughlin

**Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Any thoughts and opinions are my own.** 

Real Housewives of Orange County fan-favorite, McLaughlin inspires readers to a life of purpose—not fame.

I used to be a reality TV addict. Especially when it came to the Housewives franchise! I could tell you all of their names, all of their business, and all the beef between the women. I loved those shows. Orange County was my favorite because it was the first and has had so many crazy women on that show! When Lydia first came onto the scene during Season 8, I was a bit weary. One of the first things I saw from her on the show was talking about her faith, which I thought was great BUT I was still skeptical. One of the other housewives on the same show talked about her faith a lot when she first got on the show; she even filmed in her church. But other than talking about her faith, she didn't really do much to show that she really even believed in what she was saying. It was very confusing and disheartening. After watching Lydia on the show and seeing how different she acted from the rest of the women, I thought maybe she was genuine. My husband calls me Doubting Thomas, though, so of course I was still skeptical. Especially when the opportunity to review this book came up. 

This isn't an Orange County tell-all. If that's what you're expecting, then I feel sorry for you. This book is so much more than that. Lydia really inspired me while reading this book and following along with the discussion questions and scripture passages. I've let my relationship with God slip away and I'm trying to build that relationship back up. It was inspiring to see someone who seems to have everything she could ever want, struggle with something like I have. It was also very refreshing to see someone who proclaimed their faith from the very beginning of their fame and never falter or change their beliefs in order to make more money. Yes, Lydia admits that she really wanted to do Season 9 because of the money and the dresses and all the glitz and glamour. Who can blame her? The fact that she didn't because she knew God was telling her no, really spoke volumes to me. 

Lydia seems like a very down-to-earth type of woman and seems like someone that you would want as a best friend. From the things she says in this book, she genuinely loves God and loves people and wants to share those loves with anyone and everyone she can. She's a woman after God's own heart and I believe that she and her husband will continue to reach people and touch their lives in the years to come. Not only is she a successful business woman, but she seems to be a great mother as well. She learned quickly that all the fame and the parties was not as important or even as rewarding and special as being home and being a mother to her children. 

I've read some reviews about this book that talks about how the print is really large so it's a quick, easy read and that the reading level is on a 3rd or 4th grade level. I've also read some other really negative reviews and at the end of the majority of them it was all because she didn't spill secrets about the other wives. This book is easy to read which I think is important for a book like this where you are able to turn it into a study of the Bible and how to live a happy life. People do not want to read something that feels like they're being preached at or talked over. I also liked the print being big, too, but I'm half-blind so I may be biased. 

This is a great book for anyone who is a new baby Christian or is a Christian struggling with how to be in the world without being "of" the world. Lydia brings up a lot of good points and never fails to back up what she says with scripture. Her enthusiasm for God, her family, and living a happy life in general is very contagious and uplifting. Thank you, Lydia and Worthy Publishing for the opportunity to review this book!