The First Gardener by Denise Hildreth Jones
433 pages, 53 of 57 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled
Jeremiah Williams has been tending the gardens of the Tennessee governor’s mansion for over twenty-five years. And like most first families who have come and gone, this one has stolen his heart. Mackenzie and her husband, Governor Gray London, have struggled for ten years to have a child and are now enjoying a sweet season of life—anticipating the coming reelection and sending their precious daughter, Maddie, off to kindergarten—when a tragedy tears their world apart. As the entire state mourns, Mackenzie falls into a grief that threatens to swallow her whole. Though his heart is also broken, Jeremiah realizes that his gift of gardening is about far more than pulling weeds and planting flowers. It’s about tending hearts as well. As he uses the tools that have been placed in his hands, he gently begins to cultivate the hard soil of Mackenzie’s heart, hoping to help her realize what it took him years to discover. A Southern tale of loss, love, and living, The First Gardner reminds us that all of life is a gift, but our heart is the most valuable gift of all.
Infinitely More by Alex Krutov and Jackie Davis
216 pages, 63 of 63 reviews are 5-star, Lending Enabled, Previously Free
Abandoned by his mother in a St. Petersburg dumpster when he was only three days old, Alex Krutov should not have survived. But God had something else in mind.
Raised in the harsh Russian orphanage system, Alex’s life was one of hopelessness and despair until the arrival of Christian missionaries from the West when the Soviet Union collapsed.
Infinitely More is the inspiring true story of a young man who would not give up, and the God who relentlessly pursued him. Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” This is the story of God coming to Alex, and the hope He offers to all of us.
The Parrot Talks in Chocolate by Everett Peacock
164 pages, 48 of 50 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled, Previously Free
The bartender, and his incredibly smart Macaw parrot both explore the magical paths of love and the tropics in this escapist tale from Hawaii. In his family run Tiki Bar, and from his bedroom in the treehouse just above, our storyteller describes the characters surrounding his idyllic existence. Not immune to danger or mystery, each adventure leads him further and further toward a self realization of just how perfect the world can be.
252 pages, 50 of 55 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled, Previously Free
Ben used to be a cardiothoracic surgeon before he suddenly abandoned his career and became a janitor at a retirement facility. Now, other than dealing with minor problems such as an unhealthy obsession with prime numbers, an inept boss, and a feud between two cantankerous retirees, he lives a relatively stress-free life. There is even hope for romance when an attractive podiatrist shows an interest in him.
But it is not long before his past catches up with him and his carefully protected world begins to unravel. He is forced to face deep issues about life and God head-on, rather than hide behind his cleaning cart.
P. D. Bekendam is a practicing eye surgeon. Prime of Life is his debut novel.
305 pages, 35 of 38 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled, Lending Enabled
City gal Dani Davis just wants a place to call home. With quirky residents, quaint country charm, and loads of business potential, Miller’s Creek Texas seems like the perfect place to start over . . . except for the cowboy who gives her a ride into town. Dani secretly finances renovations to downtown Miller’s Creek, but malicious rumors force her to choose between keeping her involvement a secret and the home for which she’s always longed. Then a devastating discovery propels her down a road she never expected to travel.
Steve Miller is determined to rescue his dying hometown. When vandals jeopardize the renovation, he can’t help but suspect Dani, whose strange behavior has become fodder for local gossips. Can Steve and Dani call a truce for a higher cause, and in the process help Dani recognize the true meaning of home?
133 pages, 23 of 23 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled
I married an idiot–and so did my spouse. The word, “idiot” is derived from the Greek word meaning “common man.” Aren’t we all common man? In fact, there is only One who was uncommon man–Jesus Christ. Elaine W. Miller encourages couples to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus and run a marriage marathon like an idiot, but not like a fool. An idiot may stumble or fall, but a fool runs the wrong way.
We All Married Idiots teaches husbands and wives to stop concentrating on the three things you will never change in your marriage and begin focusing on the ten things you can. Then, you will esteem your mate as a gift to treasure, not as an idiot to tolerate.
Living Successfully With Screwed-Up People by Elizabeth Brown
250 pages, 27 of 30 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled, Previously Free
You can be positive–no matter who tries to bring you down.
Unfortunately, the world is full of screwed-up people. But the good news, says Elizabeth B. Brown, is that your world no longer has to revolve around them. With brilliant insights and a keen sense of humor, this trusted author shows you how to: take back the power from the difficult people in your life respond productively when confronted remain poised and in control when everyone around you loses it win fairly in unfair battles
let go of the past and live triumphantly now.
Dozens of real-life success stories, brief diagnostic tests, and practical tools are included to help you assess your own unique situation and gain the confidence to live successfully with screwed-up people.
You can stop being the victim of others and start loving life in spite of them.
Distant Relatives by John Agostino
263 pages, 21 of 22 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled, Previously Free
Jack Treglia suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. An unfortunate result of two tours of duty in Vietnam. In an effort to forget, the ex-Marine keeps his Bronze Star tucked away in his underwear drawer—well, he did before the tornado. After one of his Vietnam War flashbacks—the one when he can’t save a small child from enemy fire—he wakes up in a hospital, blind and suffering from partial amnesia. He remembers his wife and children. He just can’t remember what happened to them.
Jack befriends a nurse who resembles his wife. Together they try to discover what happened to his family. She helps him remember things, bizarre things, including the massive Coronary Embolism that killed him. That’s right, dead. But that won’t stop him from finding his family. And yet the revelation of his death is nothing compared to what he learns about his nurse.
177 pages, 7 of 9 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled, Previously Free
Still struggling to come to terms with the accidental death of her husband, feeling as if God has betrayed her, Lacy Erikson focuses on her position as the crime reporter for Bismarck’s major newspaper, and shoves thoughts of involving herself romantically again to the back burner.
Then she meets Mike Lindahl, a former police officer and gorgeous hunk of man who has his own troubled past. When the unusual murder of a young woman first brings them together, the pair finds themselves increasingly attracted to one another. Can either of them learn to trust again–in each other as well as the Lord?
So You Plan to Marry a Man: Words of Wisdom for Single and Married Woman by Jean Oathout
101 pages, 4 of 4 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled
Praise for So You Plan To Marry A Man
“I can’t tell you enough how many changes I have recently seen in my husband and our marriage, since starting to read these poems and praying…along with taking some of the advice and quieting my mouth when I need to.” – Kylie J., Mother and housewife
“Jean Oathout’s poems have personally touched and taught me. Thank you, Jean, for being obedient to God, and for sharing your blessing with me. I like the personal feeling. These poems brought tears to my eyes. Great advice. Wow. Did you write these for me? Ouch, back in the ‘refinery’ I go. I have much more respect for my husband now.” – Mary H., mother, housewife, and nurse
“I am glad to recommend Jean Oathout’s ministry of poetry. As you reflect on the message of these poems, you will encounter the Holy Spirit’s presence in fresh, new ways.” – Dennis King, pastor Owego (NY) Church of the Nazarene
“I was flabbergasted to open Jean Oathout’s volume and read these instructive devotional poems. What a variety of topics. What practical counsel. I hope these poems will bless many as they have impressed me.” – Bob Hostetler, speaker, and author of 27 books
515 pages, 11 of 12 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled, Previously Free
“The city wasn’t attacked, Oliver.”
“What?”
“Look out at the guardhouses on each point. Neither one is damaged. How could an attack have come from the sea without damaging those? And where are the attacking ships and soldiers?”
“Not sure, I guess. There are clear signs of fighting, though, and no signs of meteors. Someone was here.”
Ponce grabbed a burlap sack that had lost nearly all its grain on the ground and held it up. “But who attacks and takes no spoils and causes no casualties? You think the city could have staged it?” That sounded stupid the second it came out of his mouth. “Let’s follow the trail.”
The damage path turned southeast from the pier and up the defensive hill but didn’t break through the outer wall, so they had to go back up through the city gate to follow it.
…
The market square shared the eastern part of its district with a chapel. The chapel had a huge grassy courtyard in front of it, and in the center of that courtyard stood a lone tree that was always burning. Ponce had never had the chance to get close to the tree or the chapel; both were supposedly bewitched and were heavily patrolled at all times. It sat on the head of his curiosity like a crown. The trail passed through the south edge of the market and ended at this tree. The crackling fire seemed to drown out a nearby guard’s angry murmurs.
“Look at that, Oliver . . . the trail stops in front of the only thing in town more mysterious than the trail itself.”
The city of Arkis stands on the precipice of rebirth and destruction along with all of Lencia. Its greatest hope for survival is Ponce, a city architect, inventor, and unfettered young man whose soul is in constant search of greater possibilities. He has spent his entire life trying to figure out what’s really going on in the world, and when the is city mysteriously attacked and the path leads directly to the mysterious tree burning perpetually at its center, Ponce is pushed to the limit—and he escapes.
Ponce is thrust into the center of an ancient wager between the same cosmic leaders—Sotare and Perfidious, good versus evil—who hold Lencia’s future in their hands. Through redemption and love, Sotare uses Ponce to try and heal a broken world while Perfidious uses him to destroy it. The love of a woman sent to tempt Ponce will determine the victor and restore—or destroy—Everburn.
More C.S. Lewis than J.R.R. Tolkien, Bunch’s debut is a sweeping epic that strips bare the dangers of conformity and reminds us all that great things can be accomplished with nothing more than devoted friends and unflagging perseverance. His multi-layered allegory has a mythological complexity rarely seen in the fantasy genre, looking far beyond the physical world to expose universal, underlying truths as razor sharp dialogue and well-developed characters drive this rich, detailed world toward its ultimate date with destiny. A riveting journey full of danger, intrigue, and almost unbearable tension, Everburn signals the arrival of an important new voice in the world of fantasy.
Beyond the Mirror by Ashley Weis
189 pages, 9 of 9 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled, Previously Free
Your husband or boyfriend has confessed his addiction to porn, or maybe you found it on your own. Your romance is broken. Your heart is in a million pieces. And on top of that … you can’t seem to get over the aching wound that you are not enough.
It doesn’t matter what other people tell you. There is no pain that compares to this one. The burning desire to be the apple of your husband’s eye and to feel like you’ll never measure up, no matter how hard you try. And is life supposed to be one big beauty pageant anyway? Where is the hope and rest? Is it even possible to feel like enough?
There is rest.
When our husband’s or boyfriend’s porn addiction comes out into the open it completely destroys our trust and security, not to mention our self-esteem. It’s difficult to find the broken pieces of our marriage and heart, much less put them back together, especiallywhen we have no support and we’re told to just get over it or grow up.
Beyond the Mirror defines true beauty – beauty that transcends time and reflects the character of Jesus Christ vs. the counterfeit beauty that leads women down a path of endless striving. Ashley Weis, who has been down this long journey of never measuring up and then discovering her husband’s lust for other women, relates to readers and challenges each of us to break the glass of our own reflections and discover the joy and freedom that is waiting beyond the mirror.
Women who want to learn how to find the beauty in the storm and feel content in who God made them to be, women who have spent their entire lives trying to live up to impossible expectations of this world and themselves, women who have felt the numbness of never being good enough … this book is dedicated to you.
Writing to a Post-Christian World by Ann Tatlock
37 pages, 3 of 4 reviews are 5-star, Lending Enabled
Is our nation on a downward spiral? Can the corrosion of our culture be reversed? Or are we experiencing the end of God’s blessing due to our depravity?
For the past 50 years our culture has undergone a monumental shift as the media has pulled people into a whole new way of thinking. Gone is the idea that absolutes exist. Instead our leaders and educators preach a belief that everything is relative….including truth. How do we respond to such muddled thinking? How do we present the one true Truth to a culture that worships diversity of thought and morals? In this concise, easy-to-read book, Ann Tatlock answers these questions and more:
* What is a biblical worldview?
* What is The Great Literary Conversation?
* How has revisionism affected the Church?
* How has relativism affected our culture?
* What is postmodern literature?
* What is our greatest task as Christian writers?
Take a stand for truth. Take a pen and write.
Wisdom is a Heart Thing by BL Landis
171 pages, no reviews, Lending Enabled
Where are the wise? In this world now saturated with learning, technology and communication are we getting any wiser? Are the graduates of high schools and colleges armed with wisdom when they leave? Knowledge is not the same as wisdom. People are ravenous information seekers, but where is the life changing wisdom? Education and technology don’t seem to quell the erosion of the moral fabric of our society or fill the hungers within mankind. In the Christian world you might hear that Christ is the answer, but how? How is Christ the answer? He is the answer because He is God’s wisdom to man. True wisdom is found in Him and accessed through Him.
We find Jesus introduced as the Savior or the Messiah. He is called the Lamb of God, or the Son of God. Around the Holidays He is presented as the Prince of Peace or Wonderful Counselor. These and many others are all correct portrayals of Him, but there is one more that you don’t hear as often. He is also Wisdom. God’s wisdom is where the power lies to change lives and circumstances.
Jesus Christ is the channel for this powerful, amazing, healing and life changing wisdom to come into our lives and impact our world. Wisdom is a heart thing and Jesus Christ is the pathway to it.
418 pages, 2 of 2 reviews are 4-star, Lending Enabled
The true story of Captain James Riley and his crew of ten men, who were shipwrecked off the coast of West Africa in 1815. Captured by locals, they are enslaved and suffer years of abuse and intolerable hardships.
Based on the journal of James Riley; wrecked with his crew off the coast of Africa, enslaved and seeking redemption in the desert.
Church Discipline by Thomas Bear
131 pages, no reviews, Lending Enabled
This book explains the principles of biblical church discipline based on passages like Mathew 18. It is an indispensible guide to biblical counseling, pastoral counseling, pastoral care, church counseling and is useful for pastoral training.
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I have not read any of these books, so they may not be any good. Some of the free Christian Kindle books from previous Free Book posts are still available for free. If you want to see all free books as they come out you should follow Books on the Knob on their RSS or Twitter Feed. Or Ireaderreview or the many free book threads on Amazon’s Message Boards.
As always please check to make sure the books are still free before you “buy” them, especially from Amazon. Prices can change quickly. This may be a one day offer. Pick it up quick. If you do buy a book and realize later you have been charged for it, here is a guide on how to return a kindle book.
