Half Finished By Lauraine Snelling

In bestselling author Lauraine Snelling's new novel, a group of women realize that life is full of half-finished relationships and projects. However, they discover that the outcome is not as important as the journey.

Recognizing how common it is for crafters to start many projects and finish few, a group of women join together to form a guild-Unfinished Projects Anonymous-to keep each other on track and accountable. Three of the friends are tasked with the job of home visits for their guild. Laughingly called "the Cartel," they snoop around craft rooms and knitting baskets to report on progress for the members. They even expand their mission to include checking on half-trained dogs and half-weeded gardens.

As life unexpectedly changes for one of the members, this ensemble of women in bestselling author Lauraine Snelling's new novel discovers that much of life is half-finished-projects, friendships, the raising of children, even our very relationship with the Lord. And that may be perfectly fine.

Pick up your copy here...

 https://www.amazon.com/Half-Finished-Novel-Lauraine-Snelling/dp/1478920076/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=2G4LKAQPQTA12&keywords=half+finished+by+lauraine+snelling&qid=1552856087&s=gateway&sprefix=half+finished%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Award-winning and best selling author Lauraine Snelling began living her dream to be a writer with her first published book for young adult readers, Tragedy on the Toutle, in 1982. She has since continued writing more horse books for young girls, adding historical and contemporary fiction and nonfiction for adults and young readers to her repertoire. All told, she has over eighty books published with more than 4 million copies in print.


Shown in her contemporary romances and women’s fiction, a hallmark of Lauraine’s style is writing about real issues of forgiveness, loss, domestic violence, and cancer within a compelling story. Her work has been translated into Norwegian, Danish, and German, and she has won the Romantic Times Career Achievement award for Inspirational Fiction, the Silver Angel Award for An Untamed Land and a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart for Song of Laughter.


As a sought after speaker, Lauraine encourages others to find their gifts and live their lives with humor and joy. Her readers clamor for more books more often, and Lauraine would like to comply ... if only her paintbrushes and easel didn’t call quite so loudly.

Lauraine and her husband, Wayne, have two grown sons, and live in the Tehachapi Mountains with a watchdog Basset named Winston. They love to travel, most especially in their forty-foot motor coach, which they affectionately deem “a work in progress”. 

My Thoughts...

 This felt a little bit different from Snelling's other books that I have read in the past. Slow, and an over load of characters to keep up with. The friendships and the settings were real good but I had a hard time with this book for some reason. I like a bit of a faster paced read I guess. You read and see if you feel the same way.

I gave this book 3.5 stars. Let me know what you think of it after you read it.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

The Second Half By Lauraine Snelling

Mona and Ken Sorenson are approaching the best years of their lives. Mona's greatest concern is that Ken will learn of the surprise party she's planning for his retirement from his job as Dean of Students at Stone University. They've already been making plans to travel, spend limitless hours in the garden, and Ken is looking forward to working on his woodworking and fishing with his grandchildren. It's what they deserve after years of careful planning.

But things begin to unravel when Ken learns that office politics are about to destroy his department. Can he really just leave, abandoning the work he spent a lifetime achieving? Mona is eager to build her event planning business with Ken's help, but rather than supporting her, he expresses concern that the stress of the work will send her back into the depression she struggles with.

Then, just days before Ken's last official day of work, their son, a Special Forces officer in the Army, learns he's being immediately deployed on a six-month mission in Pakistan. Since his wife left him, the only people he trusts to care for his two young children are his parents. In an instant, everything Ken and Mona spent their lives planning changes, and they will need to find strength, both physical and mental, to become parents once more. This is not the second half they wanted, and when their son fails to contact them as planned, they struggle to trust that it is God's plan, not theirs, that matters most.

Pick up your copy here...

https://www.amazon.com/Second-Half-Novel-Lauraine-Snelling/dp/145558617X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467752858&sr=1-1&keywords=the+second+half+by+lauraine+snelling

LAURAINE SNELLING has been writing since 1980, with over 65 books published, both fiction and non-fiction, historical and contemporary, for adults and young readers. She received a Career Achievement Award for inspirational fiction from RT Book Reviews and her books consistently appear on CBA bestseller lists. A hallmark of her style is writing about real issues within a compelling story. Lauraine and her husband, Wayne, have two grown sons and live in the Tehachapi Mountains with a Bassett named Sir Winston.

I don't normally read Snelling's books but this one was sent to me and I was surprised it was a cute story. Very true to life you never know what is going to be thrown at you.

The characters are easy to relate to and the little bit of suspense that's thrown in the story was nice as well.

I gave this book 4 stars and I recommend this book as a good summer read.

I was given a copy of this book by the publisher for my honest review.

Review of Reunion by Lauraine Snelling

Keira Johnson, a 50-year-old mother of two grown sons, believes she lives a good Christian life without secrets-- until she discovers a life-jarring fact her late mother kept hidden all her life. Kiera was born out of wedlock, and the man she had always known as her father had adopted her as an infant. Meanwhile, Keira's beloved 17-year-old niece, Kirsten, has just discovered an unwanted pregnancy. Her boyfriend, Jose, is bound for college and Kirsten does not know what to do. As the family comes together for a reunion, Keira and Kirsten struggle with their fractured pasts and jumbled present. Will truth and honesty be the catalysts that allow the entire family to find peace? Inspired by events in Lauraine Snelling's own life, REUNION is the author's finest novel to date.   Lauraine Snelling has been writing since 1980, with over 65 books published, both fiction and non-fiction, historical and contemporary, for adults and young readers. Her books consistently appear on CBA bestseller lists, and have been translated into Norwegian, Danish, and German. A hallmark of her style is writing about real issues of forgiveness, loss, domestic violence, and cancer within a compelling story. Lauraine and her husband, Wayne, have two grown sons, and live in the Tehachapi Mountains with a watchdog Bassett named Chewy. My Review What an emotional read. This is the first book that I have read by Lauraine Snelling and I am very happy that I picked it up. She weaves a bunch of plots together and you can't wait to find out what is going to happen next. As you are reading this book you feel as if you are right there part of the family and all of the issues that they are facing. I really liked how everything turned out in the end! I highly recommend this book!

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