Pit of Ambition by Ta’Mara Hanscom Book Review
February 28, 2018
Ta'Mara has published her Caselli Family series before, but she is now relaunching the series starting with The Pretender and Pit of Ambition! Join this super fun blog tour and find out more about the first two books (of five). Also, make sure you check out the great giveaway!
About the Books
The Pretender: A Blackguard in Disguise is the first volume of 5 in the family epic series
The
Caselli Family Series. It begins in South Dakota in 1975 where
eighteen-year-olds could order 3.2 beers in a bar and loaded guns were kept
under the counter. Frankie Valli sang My Eyes Adored You, and American
soldiers returning from Vietnam struggled with their new reality.
It’s within this
tumultuous season of American history that Tillie Caselli meets Noah Hansen,
and they are never the same again. Their lives were mysteriously intertwined –
and had been for many years – yet they had no idea.
From the moment
they met, Tillie and Noah wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, but
a deliberate omission will keep them apart – and that same omission will be
responsible for the escape of a murderer, and a bride’s deception.
These compelling
stories are interwoven with Biblical truths and light-hearted, real life events
from the author’s own past. Easy to understand and relate to, as well as
encouraging.
Five years have passed since Noah and Tillie’s “chance”
meeting. They’ve married other people by now, and are both beginning their
families.
In the pursuit of professional and political success, Alex
runs headlong into a pit of pride and ambition...and Giuseppe begins to hate the
husband he chose for his daughter.
Alex and Noah are doing business on many fronts, which will
bring Noah to town for an unintended meeting with Giuseppe. Tension abounds as
he attempts to conceal his daughter’s identity from Noah.
Alex strays when Tillie needs him the most, and it’s Noah
who will bring him home. But, instead of learning Tillie’s identity, he
connects with her brothers, especially Marquette.
Unbeknownst to Noah, his new foreman is a member of the
crime family Marquette has sought since 1968.
About the Author
I was born and raised in South Dakota, and I love her people
and rich history. For many years I’ve also had a deep love for Italy and her
colorful chronology. I was fortunate enough to visit Italy on my 25th
wedding anniversary, and I added some of the details of my travels to my
fictional series The Caselli Family
Series.
My favorite sport is baseball – Detroit Tigers – and I can’t
wait until the next time I get to see them play in Comerica Park.
I live for the next family barbeque.
My husband and I own a national pizza franchise in Iowa,
where we currently reside. We have three grown children and one grandson. We’ve
rescued two cats and one Pomeranian.
I teach AWANA Cubbies and speak at women’s events.
Giveaway
Ta’Mara is generously offering a $50 Amazon gift card! There are many different ways in the Rafflecopter to enter. The more you choose, the better chance you have of winning.
Excerpt/Interview/Review
Tour Schedule
February 26
Bookish Orchestration – Introductory post
Rachel Rossano's Words – Author Interview
Adventures in Publishing – Author Interview
Rebekah Lyn Books – Book Review and Character Spotlight
February 27
Simply Kelina – Book Review
Letters from Annie Douglass Lima – Character Spotlight
February 28
Little Homeschool on the Prairie – Book Spotlight
Seasons of Opportunities – Book Review
Because I said so -- and other adventures in Parenting – Book Review
March 1
Moments – Book Spotlight
Bookish Orchestration – Introductory post
Rachel Rossano's Words – Author Interview
Adventures in Publishing – Author Interview
Rebekah Lyn Books – Book Review and Character Spotlight
February 27
Simply Kelina – Book Review
Letters from Annie Douglass Lima – Character Spotlight
February 28
Little Homeschool on the Prairie – Book Spotlight
Seasons of Opportunities – Book Review
Because I said so -- and other adventures in Parenting – Book Review
March 1
Moments – Book Spotlight
Reader's Cozy Corner – Book Review
Fiction to Ignite Your Faith – Post from the author
March 2
New Horizon Reviews – Book Review
God's Peculiar Treasure Rae – Book Review
Adventures Of A King Daughter – Book Review
March 3
Bookish Orchestrations – Giveaway Winner
New Horizon Reviews – Book Review
God's Peculiar Treasure Rae – Book Review
Adventures Of A King Daughter – Book Review
March 3
Bookish Orchestrations – Giveaway Winner
My Thoughts:
I was excited to read book 2 in the Caselli Family Series. Sometimes a story captures your heart. I just loved the first book in the series and all the characters and the story line just grabbed my attention immediately. If you haven’t read the first book, The Pretender: A Black Guard in Disguise the second book could be read as a stand-alone book as the author does a wonderful job getting you up to speed with what transpired from the first book. However, I highly recommend that you read it first as you will really get to know the characters and fully understand all the details in this story. The first book is also a wonderful book.
The author has many stories going on within this book with the different characters. However the main characters are Noah and Tillie and you will get reacquainted with them even more. I just adore these characters. They are very realistic. I really like that they are down to earth and very realistic characters. Noah is easy going and has a tender heart that truly cares about people. Noah puts his family first before his construction company. Tillie is trying her best to be happy and keeps herself busy as her husband’s ambition keeps him more and more away from home. She loves Alex unconditionally.
Tillies’s family is fun and each one unique but, all have strong Godly character. Tillie’s father Giuseppe is tearing himself up with guilt with his deception as he sees his son-in-law Alex’s drive and ambition for his career. His daughter is precious to him and what he sees going on is heartbreaking. Giuseppe is even more torn with the situation that happens around Tillies birth of her and Alex’s twins. Giuseppe meets Noah after praying for the man for so many years. He sees the man that he has become, husband, father, and a man of integrity.
Then you have Marguette and Tara who are the most intriguing characters as they search for clues finding Mario Ponerello not knowing how truly close they are.
Marguette is just a big bear when it comes to his sister Tillie and I love the relationship that he builds with Noah after he figures out who Noah is. Marguette decides to make peace with his sister’s husband Alex despite how he feels about him inside for the sake of his sister.
I’m not going to give away any spoilers. The story surprised me and I have to say that I didn’t expect many things in this story to happen.
You are left with a cliff hanger that made me wish I had book 3 right away-I’m ready for book 3 in the series and can’t wait to read it.
This series has been an all time favorite of mine. I read a lot of books and I have few that grab my heart like this one has. Thank you Ta’mara Hanscom for an amazing heartfelt story.
I received a free copy of this product from Reata Publishing in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this information accordance with the FTC Regulations.
Labels:Book reviews | 0
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27 February 2018
Drive Thru History Adventures Review
February 27, 2018
My family loves
history and was excited to get started with Drive Thru History Adventures!
Drive Thru History has always been a favorite homeschool history curriculum in
our home. This year we are studying ancient history and decided we would put
most of our focus on the Ancient
History curricula. I
received a one year subscription of Drive Thru History Adventures for my entire
family. The curriculum intended for older kids 12 and up. Younger kids will
learn a lot from watching the videos.
After you have signed
up for Drive Thru History Adventures you have access to all the content on the website. The
website is easy to navigate. You have tabs at the top that take you where you
need to go.
The Dashboard is the
main hub that shows you some of the latest resources. It looks like
many articles are still being added. There is always new archeological discovers
and history uncovered. You see the current social media feeds, several videos
to watch. There is also a video on how to use the Dashboard.
The Curriculum tab
takes you directly to the three areas to explore in history.
Resource tab has all
the articles, expert papers, and all the goodies that are in each of the areas
of history.Within the Resource
tab there is a welcome page and a getting started page. I suggest that you
click over there first to before you utilize the rest of the website.
The Community is the
private Facebook page for subscribers. I’m not on Facebook so I can’t tell you
much about this section.
Account tab gives you
access to your subscription information.
Adventures TV tab is included
in your subscription. This is all the videos all packed in one place. The
videos are streaming. You can watch Bible History, American History, and
Ancient History on your computer or on your devices.
All the videos are
available like Digging Deeper, Side Roads, Dave’s Adventures, topics on current
events, and much more are there. If you’re wondering what’s the difference is? I
like to think of it as videos only. You don’t have all the worksheets, expert
papers, and readable material on the Adventures TV area. My daughter has
enjoyed watching the videos from my iPhone when we are out at appointments and at home.
You have three areas
to explore three in history:
Bible History ~ this
adventure has 18 weeks that cover the Gospels. Your journey begins in Jerusalem
investigating the coming of our Messiah. You will venture into Bethlehem to the
birth of Jesus and then to Nazareth. Learn about the people and the many places
from the 4 Gospels. Get ready to explore the archeological places in the land. The adventure doesn't stop there.
American History ~12 weeks
on early American history where you start out with the birthplace of
Christopher Columbus and the monarchy. You will journey to the discovery of the
New World across the sea. Meet the Pilgrims in their homeland. The Mayflower, Plymouth
Rock and learn about the first Thanksgiving. You will get acquainted with our
forefathers, battles, constitution, and places that birthed our country. You
will visit many incredible places.
Ancient History~ I
will explore more in detail as my family spent the majority of our time on our
adventure.
Drive Thru History
Adventures ~ Ancient History has 12 weeks of content. The format is basically
the same in each series. Each series starts out with a video. The videos are slightly
over 45 minutes(the other series run around 30 minutes). Dave
Stotts is the host and focuses
on the critical points in history in each episode. Dave Stotts isn’t your basic
host. He’s very energetic and humorous while he is taking you through the facts
of history.
After you
watch your video if you have older kids and want to expand the studies you
scroll down the page where you will see photographs of paintings depicting that
time period from various artists. They mention the name of the artist and the
date. This is great if you like to add a bit of art history into your studies. Next,
is a “Brief Summary” of the contents of the video along with a few of the
images of the portion you just watched from the video.
Next is a “Suggested Reading” which could
be written source from that time period, short story, or a famous literary work
of the time. Example: excerpt from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar or an excerpt
from Virgil’s Aeneid. You can read these online or download load it to print
off in a PDF format.
Next, is the “Side Road”. An example on Episode 1: talks
about Mark Antony which expands from the video in a paragraph giving you a
little more detail on a topic.
You have the options to go even deeper with the “Discussion
Questions”. This portion gives you a set of questions that you can ask your
scholar.
If you would rather have them write the answers on paper you scroll
down to the next section and you can print off the “Worksheets and the Answer Guide”
for this section. The sheets are in the PDF format, Usually there is another
excerpt for further study.
The last section is “Dig Deeper” Not all the episodes have
something in this section. This could be an article written about this subject
or a post that will give you information to enhance the topic.
If you’re curious about
the episodes for Ancient History here is a basic synopsis:
Episode 1: The Rise
of Western Civilization
Episode 2: The Age of
Conflict
Episode 3: Times of
Challenges
Episode 4: Roots of
Democracy
Episode 5: Challenges
of a New Religion
Episode 6: The Spread
of Christianity
Episode 7: East Meets
West
Episode 8: Ruins and
Romans
Episode 9: The
Advancements of Knowledge
Episode 10: Heart of
Stone
Episode 11: Constantine
and Constantinople
Episode 12: The Best
of the Ancient World
To put Ancient
History in a nut shell- I love that the gospel is being taught about of our
Lord and Savior is throughout all the pagan culture you are going to learn
about. You travel to Rome and learn about the beginning of the culture to the emperors.
You visit all the amazing archeological sites from the Colosseum in Rome to
Jerusalem. You see some of the amazing engineer wonders of the ancient world.
You learn about the fall of the Roman Empire, gladiators, and much more. You
travel to Greece to see more interesting sites. You travel along the route of
Alexander the Great. You will learn about some of the Greek philosophers and
see how the Greek and Roman culture are prevalent even in the modern era.
I had my son work on the
worksheets. I would print them off prior to the video. We typically split the
videos into two days much to my kid’s dismay. My daughter who is 15 with
special needs just watched the videos with her brother. My son had the
worksheet in front of him and when it came across the topic on the worksheet he
would mark it on the paper where it was found on the video. That way if my son
needed help with the worksheets and remembering the facts he could easily go
back and preview it to complete the worksheet if he needed. I’m grateful for
the answer sheets as some of the questions are challenging. Typically we would
do a video lesson a week. My son would spend two days on the worksheets and other extras. I felt that a week was a good pace to schedule if your doing all the extras.
We received a surprise package in the mail. My son was really excited as he thinks Dave Stotts is awesome! I ironed the patch on his jacket!
My 12 year old son and
my 15 year old daughter begged me to do Drive Thru History Adventures on a day
that I don’t even have it scheduled! I love that my kids are learning about
history from a Biblical Worldview. I love that they are seeing the actual
places in history while they are learning about it.
Drive Thru History Adventures
has an amazing special going on. They are currently offering the set of The Gospels
DVD with an annual subscription. You can read my review of The Gospels DVD.
Social Media:
Facebook:
http://facebook.com/drivethruhistory
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/drivethruhistory/,
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/drivethruhistory/ Tag: @drivethruhistory
Explore Drive Thru History Adventures by seeing what others have to say.
If you are a reader of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine Drive Thru History Adventures is offering 20% of its readers. Look for the ad on page 19 in the Winter Edition.
Labels:TOS Crew Reviews | 0
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26 February 2018
The Lost Castle By Kristy Cambron Book Review and Giveaway
February 26, 2018
Broken-down walls and crumbled stones seemed to
possess a secret language all their own. What stories would they tell, if she
finally listened?
Ellie
Carver arrives at her grandmother’s bedside expecting to find her silently
slipping away. Instead, the beloved old woman begins speaking. Of a secret past
and castle ruins forgotten by time. Of a hidden chapel that served as a
rendezvous for the French resistance in World War II. Of lost love and deep
regret . . .
Each
piece that unlocks the story seems to unlock part of Ellie too—where she came
from and who she is becoming. But her grandmother is quickly disappearing into
the shadows of Alzheimer’s and Ellie must act fast if she wants to uncover the
truth of her family’s history. Drawn by the mystery surrounding The
Sleeping Beauty—a forgotten castle so named for Charles Perrault’s beloved
fairy tale—Ellie embarks on a journey to France’s Loire Valley in hopes that
she can unearth its secrets before time silences them forever.
Bridging
the past to present in three time-periods—the French Revolution, World War II,
and present day—The Lost Castle is a story of loves won and lost,
of battles waged in the hearts of men, and an enchanted castle that stood
witness to it all, inspiring a legacy of faith through the generations.
My Thoughts:
This is the first book that I have read by
author Kristy Cambron. The Lost Castle was an intriguing book. It has several
stories going on in different time periods –actually three stories that all
center around a lost castle in Loire Valley, France, which in an area known for
wine.
I love books that have historical settings
that weave together. For me there is nothing better than curling up to a good
book that has some complex setting, and strong characters.
The story goes back and forth between three
women with the story always centered around the family estate.
One era is the French Revolution and the
year is 1789. It is t suppose to be a happy time for a young noblewoman and a
winemaker-Aveline Saint-Moreau is about to be married but, the castle is
overtaken during a turbulent time in Frances history. Aveline is the “Sleeping
Beauty” of the mysterious ruined castle.
The next era is during War World right
before D-day. You get acquainted with Viola Hart. She is an English woman that
escapes the Nazis in France. Viola is part of the French Resistance and an
English spy. Her story ties together the 1789 timeline and the modern day
timeline of the characters.
Next is the present day Ellie Carver who is
an American and the heir of the Domaine du Renard Ellie was raised by her English
grandmother. Her grandmother has one last request for her granddaughter and
that is to find the castle, the Sleeping Beauty and to send a message that she
never got to do. She gives her a photograph with a mysterious man by the
castle.
It takes a few chapters to put it all
together but, wow, was it worth it. The story is complex but, not so complex
that it’s confusing. Not many authors can jump back and forth like this and
make the story flow so easily. I have to say that not many books surprise me
throughout a book but, The Lost Castle was intriguing, a mystery, and very
heartfelt. The author makes you feel like you can see the setting in your mind
while you are reading the story. I was thrilled that all three stories had
endings and not cliff hangers.
This was an unexpected read that I was
extremely delighted with. I think I’m going to have to explore more books by Kristy
Cambron.
There is a giveaway on Instagram:
I
received a free copy of this product from TLC Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. I was not
required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All
opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing
this information accordance with the FTC Regulations.
Labels:Book reviews | 1 comments
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