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Changed Forever: Eliza’s Story Hercules Series Book 1 by Kelly-Beth Cagnon

September 12, 2016 by Julie 1 Comment

changed forever

Changed Forever: Eliza’s Story (Hercules Series Book 1)

I really enjoy fiction books about military life, especially when they are written by someone with first-hand experience. What better way to explain how military life really is than a story. I just finished reading the brand new book Changed Forever: Eliza’s Story (Hercules Series Book 1) by new author, Kelly-Beth Cagnon.

Eliza is a bored stay-at-home mom. She desperately wishes for some excitement in her everyday humdrum life. She is living vicariously through her dreams as a Queen in Ancient Egypt. Some nights, the dreams are so vivid, so life like, she wakes up overcome with emotions. Other nights, she wakes up pleasantly surprised by the action in her dreams.

Eliza’s husband, SSG Scott Jackson has just been assigned to a brand new unit at Fort Polk, Louisiana. After months of settling in, Eliza begins to suspect infidelity and confronts her husband. The answer she receives is more than she can bear.

Little does Eliza know, Karma has heard her requests for some excitement and she is about to be sucker punched and have her life flipped upside down.

I love how the two stories come together and both of them kept me wanting to know more. I am so glad this is going to be a series because I can’t wait to read what happens to Eliza and what happens in her dream life in Egypt.

As a military spouse, I felt that the modern parts of the story were so real. As you know, military life is hard and can be messy sometimes. Us spouses have to deal with so many different things from solo parenting to keeping up with the house to supporting our spouse even when it is hard to do so. The author does a good job of bringing all of that into the book.

I was able to interview Kelly-Beth Cagnon and learn a little bit more about her writing and her plans for the future. Kelly is a military spouse of 12 years with two elementary aged children.

I asked Kelly why she wanted to write Changed Forever. She told me that she wanted to write about the military but was also inspired after visiting a museum on Egyptian history. She was fascinated by what she saw and then created her story.

I asked her why she liked writing and she told me that the story came to her and she had to write it. She just hit the ground running and found the writing to be a great stress reliever as well as a creative outlet.

I then asked Kelly if she had any advice for anyone who wanted to write a book and she said to write what’s in your heart, to be true to yourself and to just start writing.

So what’s next for Kelly? She is currently halfway through writing her 2nd book which will show us what is going to happen next with the characters from Changed Forever.

You can find Changed Forever: Eliza’s Story (Hercules Series Book 1) on Amazon!

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Filed Under: Giveaways & Reviews Tagged With: Book Review, books

5 Fiction Books To Put On Your Reading List

December 15, 2015 by Julie 3 Comments

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5 Fiction Books To Put On Your reading list

2015 is almost over and it has been a good book year for me. I have read 55 books this year which is up from previous years. I read a lot of fiction this year. I love to lose myself in a good book. As I look back over all the books I read this last year, I wanted to talk about my top 5 and encourage you to add these books to your list if you haven’t read them yet yourself. I think you will enjoy them.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

This book takes place in WW2 France. Vianne has to say goodbye to her husband as he goes off to war. Her sister Isabelle is a young 18-year-old looking for her purpose. She is sent to stay with her sister when the Nazis invade France. The book goes back and forth between the sisters and what they are dealing with during the war. This is one of those books that really gets to you. Even though it is fiction, you know that a lot of what the sisters experience really happened to people during the war. This was such an emotional book, but even weeks later I can’t stop thinking about the characters and how their lives were changed because of what they went through. Purchase on Amazon.

 

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

This one was a pretty quick read for me. I have never read a book like this before and I found it hard to put down. Louisa Clark takes a job working as a caregiver for Will Traynor. He is wheelchair bound after an accident. Up until that time he lived a pretty amazing life and he is having a very difficult time with the way life is after the accident. The book is about their relationship and how Lou grows as a person. I really liked her character and you just didn’t know how the book was going to go. The other characters, like her family also play a role and add a little bit of humor to the book as well. Purchase on Amazon.

 

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

If you are a fan of historical fiction you will love this book. It is the first book in a three book series about five families. This books has them going through WW1, the Russian Revolution and the struggle for women’s suffrage. There are the stories of a Welsh working class family, an American law student, the aristocratic family, a German spy and two Russian brothers. It is so interesting to watch all these characters interact and go through their lives interacting with real events and people. The story starts in 1911 and ends in 1925. It is a long book but worth it, even if it takes you a long time to read it. Purchase on Amazon. 

 

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Alice is 29, in love with her husband and expecting their first child. Then she comes to on the floor of a gym to find out that she is 39, getting divorced and has three kids. She can’t remember any of the time in-between. The book is all about her learning about her “new” life and trying to adjust, but it isn’t always easy. I can’t imagine what it would be like to wake up from something like that and hear that you hated your husband or that you had kids you didn’t remember. This book is a mix of humor and relationships as Alice tries to remember what she forgot. I plan to read all of Liane Moriarty’s books as I love each one of them. I have also read The Husband’s Secret and have started Big Little Lies.  Purchase on Amazon.

 

The Forgotten Garden By Kate Morton

A little girl has been left abandoned in 1913 Australia. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised along with their own children. When she is 21, she finds out how she ended up in her family but doesn’t know much more then that. Years later her granddaughter Cassandra follows up on the searching she did during her life in hopes of finding out the truth. I loved how this book went back and forth between the time periods, revealing a little more of the story the more you read. I had heard about Kate Morton a few years ago, but 2015 was the first time I read one of her books. Purchase on Amazon. 

 

What were your favorite books of 2015? What do you want to add to your reading list in 2016???

 

 

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Filed Under: Military Life Tagged With: books

Am I A Different Person Then I Was Five Years Ago?

October 28, 2015 by Julie 4 Comments

Am I A Different Person Then I Was Five Years Ago?

I just finished the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed. In it she talks about her 1,000 mile journey along the Pacific Crest Trail. She went on this trip to help her deal with the death of her mother and her recent divorce. It is also a movie with Reese Witherspoon, one of my favorite actresses. We also saw the movie a few weeks ago.

The book and the movie touched me greatly. I have not gone through a divorce or the loss of a parent but I feel like the last few years have been a journey of some kind. A lot has happened and things have been hard. I had my third baby, my husband got out of the Army, joined the National Guard and is working at a job I am not happy about. It’s a job that takes him away from us too and I thought we were pretty much done with that.

These are the hard years.

The years of day after day of solo parenting, doing the best I can, crying and hoping that things will get better, praying that everything we are doing now will help in the long run and trying to enjoy the family time we do have together. There was a time I didn’t see my husband for 11 whole months in a row. This is so much better than that.

I was thinking about the person I was five years ago. The one that was pregnant with her third little boy. The one that had been through two long deployments. The one that thought that everything would work out and I see that I have changed.

Through the last few years I have become a different person…

My faith has changed a little bit, the way I view the world has changed, the way I view how to plan my life and how things are supposed to work has changed. Five years ago I didn’t know I had a son with Autism. I didn’t know my husband would deploy two more times. I didn’t know how anxious I would become over the little things or how hard that 4th deployment would make me feel.

I assumed that if we followed the path we were on it would end up in a good place but that isn’t exactly what happened. Somedays I think my husband never should have left Active Duty Army but then I remind myself that if he hadn’t, we would probably would be in the middle of another deployment right now. And that to me is unbearable to think about.

People told us that life after the Army is a long and hard process. It might take a while to get to where we can say that things are good again. This is true. We are about 18 months out and still trying to figure it out. My husband has about 18 months left of being in the National Guard and then that part of our life will be over too. I have a lot of anxiety about all of this. I just don’t know what is going to happen or what I can personally do about our future. I feel lost and scared sometimes.

I am almost 37, shouldn’t I have my life figured out by now?

Then I tell myself, life is a journey, no matter how old you are.

I don’t think I would ever be able to hike 1,000 miles by myself but I envy the process that Cheryl Strayed went through during her journey. It was something she needed to go through to heal.

I know in my heart that everything changes. What is bothering me today won’t be the case in the future. I have seen my life change dramatically in just one day. I know it can happen.

When I can take a step back and look of who I was at 31 and who I am now, I see that life is about changing and growing. I hope that these hard years will allow me to grow and change in a good way and make me a better person. I hope to learn from them. In some ways they are my 1,000 mile journey.

How have you changed in the last five years?

 

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Filed Under: Military Life, Motherhood Tagged With: books

How To Read More Than One Book At A Time

August 26, 2015 by Julie 4 Comments

How To Read More Than One Book At A Time

How To Read More Than One Book At A Time

There are differnet ways to read a book. You have the people who can only read one book at a time. You also have the people who are always reading more than one book. Which one are you?

I am one who can read more than one book at a time. I have always been that way. Before Kindles I had a book by my nightstand, a book in the car, one in my purse, one in my backpack, one in the bathroom, etc. When I got my Kindle I thought it was perfect because I could now carry most of my books with me. I still read regular books too and still have books everywhere. You never know when you will get 5 minutes to read.

I have found that if I want to read more than one book at a time they have to be different. I can’t read Discovery of Witches and Twilight at the same time. They both include vampires and I would get really confused. It really only works for different genres. I read almost every type of book. I read fiction and non-fiction so for me, this is pretty easy to do. I can read Outlander and a Chicklit book because they are so different.

Usually what happens is that I will have a few books I am reading and waiting for one to grab me. One will, then I just focus on that book. And these days I have really been looking for books I just won’t want to put down. I also get a lot of books from the library so some of them I have to “give back” and wait in order to check them out again. This usually happens with non fiction books. Like The Fringe Hours. I am in the middle of reading that one but it is on pause until I get it again from the library.

People who only read one book at a time can’t understand this process but it is just how I roll. I feel like there are just so many books out there that I want to read that I have a hard time picking. I have tried to just read one book at a time and I can’t do it. I might spend 2-3 days reading one book because it is amazing but then I go back to all my other books until another one catches me like that.

I do feel like the older I get, the less jumping around I do. It could be that I have been picking more popular books to begin with or that I just don’t have as much patience for books that don’t draw me in right away anymore.

If you only read one book at a time, I think you are fine. There is no reason to change the way you read. It is probably less overwhelming for you anyways.

If you read more than one book at a time, join the club.

How do you like to read? Have things changed for you over time?

This post does contain affiliate links! 

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Filed Under: Military Life Tagged With: books

The Wounded Warrior’s Wife By Hannah Conway Review and Giveaway

July 8, 2015 by Julie 2 Comments

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The Wounded Warrior’s Wife

I love hearing about Military Spouses that write fiction. As a big reader, it is great to be able to read a fictionalized version about something I have experienced. The Wounded Warrior’s Wife written by fellow Army wife, Hannah Conway is one of those books.

Based in Ft. Carson, Colorado, The Wounded Warrior’s Wife is the story of Whit and Collier, an Army couple. They go through a lot of challenges from Korea to a deployment to the effects of that deployment. As an Army wife myself, I could relate to some of this book because I had gone through the same type of thing. I related to some of Whit’s feelings of not being sure about how to handle everything that was going to come her way.

This book brings up the loss of life during the war, PTSD, having a baby while your husband is gone, friendships, sick parents, sick children, life on post, depending on God and more.

Although not every Military spouse goes through the exact same thing, this is one story that could have happened during the last few years of deployments and war overseas.

Even though this is Hannah’s first book, I have a feeling she is going to have a great career as a writer and looking forward to reading more of her novels.

Want to win a copy of this book? How about we throw in a $5 gift card to Starbucks too? That way you can get your book, get some coffee and have some much deserved me time 🙂

Just enter the Rafflecopter below 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!!!
* I was provided a free book in hopes of a review. Book and gift card are provided by Hannah Conway

* This post contains affiliate links!

 

 

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Filed Under: Giveaways & Reviews, Military Life Tagged With: books

My Daddy is a Soldier Book Review

April 20, 2015 by Julie Leave a Comment

books for military kids

I love it when Military spouses write books. They can bring reality to the subject they are writing about and have a good point of view on the subject.

I was given the chance to review the book, My Daddy is a Soldier. Written and Illustrated by Brittany Mayfield.

The book is written from the point of view of a child talking about their father who is a soldier. It talks about what he can do because he is one. The illustrations show a multicultural mix of soldiers which is nice to see.

books for military kids

This book is perfect for the Military child. Either those first learning to read or to be read to by a parent or older sibling.

The book is available in paperback on Amazon 🙂

 

 

* I was provided a free copy of the book for review! 

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Filed Under: Giveaways & Reviews, Military Children, Military Life Tagged With: books, military kids

Favorite Books of 2014

December 31, 2014 by Julie Leave a Comment

This post contains affiliate links!

 

In case you haven’t noticed. I love to read. I always have. This year I read 39 books. Not my best year since I started tracking. I don’t really have a goal for books but I find the numbers interesting.

Out of the 39 books I read, here is a list of my top 10! My 10 favorite books from the year 🙂

1) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green-I started reading this one way before the movie. I was just going to read a few pages and before I knew it I was almost halfway through. It is a quick read and an interesting story about two teens with cancer who fall in love. Read the book, then see the movie.

2) The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton-I heard about this from another blogger and it sounded really interesting to me. It was the story of best friends who started meeting at the park when their kids were little in the late 60s. It takes place in the Bay Area and I was hooked right away. There is a sequel I still need to read.

3) The Longest Ride– I haven’t read too many of Nicholas Sparks books but I heard good things about this one. The story goes between an older man who is stuck in the snow and a young couple. I hear they are making a movie in 2015 and I hope it turned out to be good. It really is a great story.


4) Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs- I had seen this book before and it looked interesting to me. I started reading it a few weeks ago and it drew me in. It is the story of a 16 year old boy who grew up with a Grandfather who told him the most interesting stories. They always assumed he was making them up until the boy finds out that he really wasn’t. I also finished the 2nd book in the series but liked the first one a lot better.

5) Matched by Ally Condie- I love dystopian fiction. Ever since the Hunger Games I have found other series that are similar and this is one of them. In this world everything is controlled. People are only allowed to list to 100 songs or read from a list of 100 books. They also don’t get to pick who they marry. They are matched. This story is about a girl who gets matched with her best friend. This rarely happens and was a very interesting book. The other two in the series were not quite the same but overall I really enjoy this series.

6) Witches of East End by Melissa De LaCruz- I wanted to read this one once I saw the show. It has most of the same characters as the show but things are very different. It is about a mom and her two daughters that happen to be witches living in a small town called North Hampton.  I am on the waiting list for the next one.

7)Written in my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon- As a fan of the Outlander series, I couldn’t wait for this book to come out. I was waiting about two years for the book since I finished the last one. This book continues the story of Jamie and Claire as well as their daughter Brianna and her husband Roger.

 

8)Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter- I bought this book because of the cover and took it with me camping. It was a great story about an island near Italy, an American movie star and it takes place in the 1960s as well as present day. I would love to read more by the author in the future.

9) Full Measures– I love it when Military spouses write fiction books. This book is a love story between the daughter of a Military man who is killed in action and a local Hockey star. Their relationship is emotional and enjoyable. It was written by Rebecca Yarros who blogs at The Only Girl Among Boys.

 

10) Wedding Night By Sophie Kinsella- I loved the shopaholic series and as I wait for the next book to come out I decided I wanted to read the author’s other books. Wedding Night is the story about a crushed girl who runs into an old flame and decides to marry him right away. It’s funny and takes them to a romantic island.

What were your favorite books this year?

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Filed Under: Military Life Tagged With: books

Navy Seal Noel Book Review by Liz Johnson

December 16, 2014 by Julie Leave a Comment

Navy Seal Noel

 

A few years ago I was able to read the book A Promise to Protect by Liz Johnson. I enjoyed that book and was excited to hear about her latest, Navy Seal Noel.

A LETHAL REUNION

Abducted by a drug cartel, scientist Jessalynn McCoy’s orders are simple—release a deadly toxin, or be killed. Trapped with no options, she’s desperate for help…she just never expected it from Will Gumble. The boy who let her down years ago is now a navy SEAL. She trusts his skills, his experience. Yet trusting him is a struggle. Will’s Christmas wish is to heal their damaged relationship and get them to safety. But time is running out and the danger is rising. Any mistake could mean the difference between spending the holidays together or apart forever.

Excerpt:

          “Jess, calm down. I won’t hurt you.” The words made no sense to her muddled brain, but they continued, quiet and assured. “Don’t scream. It’s all right. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

          It wasn’t the words that made her sink into him, but the voice that, even after all this time, she’d recognize anywhere. Her eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on her that afternoon. Will Gumble was in this compound. In her very room.

          “I thought I saw you—I thought that was you, but…” Her words were little more than a whisper despite his assurance that it was safe to speak. Her stomach pitched, fear and relief mingling with alarm and the echo of a remembered betrayal. But dealing with her emotions would have to wait until she felt steadier on her feet. Exhaustion and the ebbing of her fight-or-flight adrenaline rush had left her legs like jelly. She leaned into Will. He held out his arms, as though he knew just what she needed. As though he was still someone who cared about taking care of her, being there for her.

          But she didn’t want him holding her. She wanted answers. She wanted to understand what on earth was happening. Most of all, she wanted to silence the little voice in her head that kept saying Will’s appearance was simply a dream or hallucination.

          Yanking herself upright at the last possible moment, she shoved his chest with both hands. “You scared me to death! Why did you break into my room? What are you doing here?”

          His lopsided grin had always started with a little quirk to the left before spreading across his mouth. And that hadn’t changed, even as he looked down at the tiny black-and-white-checkered floor tiles.

          He scraped his fingers over the black whiskers covering his chin. “Your dad sent me.”

          “My dad?”

          “Well, I couldn’t say no to my new XO, could I?”

          “So you’re still in the navy?” Oh, she sounded bitter—so much more bitter than she wanted to. Why couldn’t her words be flippant and nonchalant, as if it didn’t really matter that she no longer knew even the most basic things about him? He’d popped back into her life, and she didn’t want it to matter.

          But it did.

          Maybe because of the extreme situation.

          Sure. She’d just keep telling herself that.

          His smile flickered for a moment before he nodded slowly. “I am.”

          Forcing a chuckle, she said, “I figured when my dad realized I was missing, he’d send a SEAL team to bring me home.”

          “Not a full team—he just sent one.”

My thoughts: I am a big fan of books that are in a series. Sometimes that means that each book is about the same people and other times it means that the book includes the same people but changes who the main story is about. This is the case with the Men of Valor series in which Navy Seal Noel is book three. In previous books we got to hear the stories of Ashley and Matt and then Staci and Tristan. This one is about Jess and Will whom we have seen bits of before. I loved the fact that Jess was a scientist and that they came from San Diego. I wasn’t sure how this story was going to turn out. I knew somehow Will would save Jess but it was exciting waiting to find out how that was going to happen. If you like romantic suspense, you will like this book.

About the author:

unnamed (1)By day Liz Johnson is a marketing manager for a Christian publisher. She finds time to write late at night and is a two-time ACFW Carol Award finalist. Liz makes her home in Nashville, TN, where she enjoys theater, exploring local music, and making frequent trips to Arizona to dote on her nieces and nephews. She loves stories of true love with happy endings and shares about her adventures in writing at Facebook.com/LizJohnsonBooks and Twitter.com/LizJohnsonBooks.

 

 

Links to retailers carrying the book:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

CBD

Book Depository

 

I was provided a free copy of the book for review.

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Filed Under: Military Life Tagged With: Book Review, books

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About Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life

Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

Welcome to Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life! I am so glad you are here.

My name is Julie and I have been a military spouse for 16 years!

My husband of 19 years has served in the active-duty Army and now the Army National Guard. We have lived in Germany & Tennessee during our time as a military family.

We have three boys and have been through four deployments together.

I hope that you can find support for your own deployments, PCS moves, or anything else military life brings you 🙂

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