"The Austen Escape" by Katherine Reay

The Austen Escape is the fourth Katherine Reay book I've read, and unfortunately I did not find it as enjoyable as previous books.

Mary goes on a Jane Austen–inspired trip to England with her friend Isabel to stayin Bath, acting and dressing as though they belonged in one of Jane Austen's novels.  However, while there, Isabel has a sort of mental break after some cruel words from her father and believes she is actually the character she's playing. Mary's frustration at her friend's backstabing man-stealing ways get pushed aside as she must wait until Isabel remembers who she is before confronting her.

This novel had a fun, easy to read writing style. Mary was shown to be a strong woman, engineer, and  loyal to her family and friends. However, her relationship with the love interest of the story, Nathan, made her seem immature and lacking in social skills. For example, she overhears half a phone conversation and instead of talking about it, takes several drastic actions including buying a plane ticket to leave the country and attempting to leave without telling Nathan.

It's an interesting concept that you could vacation in a place where you could live out your favorite stories, but Isabel's memory problem interfered with my enjoyment of that aspect of the story too much. I'd recommend reading this book only if you really enjoyed Dear Mr. Knightley, Lizzy & Jane, and The Brontë Plot as I did. Even still, I was not as captivated by this story.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

Come As You Aren't: A Role-Playing Game for Adventurous Couples

I found Come As You Aren't: A Role-Playing Game for Adventurous Couples to be uninspiring and poorly executed. That's not to say that everyone would feel that way; for me I think it was mostly that I had certain expectations and this game did not meet them.

First, there are no rules. The two-sentence description on the back of the box is all you get. It's probably to promote creativity or something, but it just felt undeveloped to me. The concept is you choose a Who card, a What card, and a Where  card and write down a time and place and put inside the included envelope. You leave then it for your partner to find.

I have so many questions. According to that, there's only one Who card. So I'm assuming Partner 1 picks out the scenario and Partner 2 enacts all of it? Leaving Partner 1 to improvise? I find it kind of annoying that the game doesn't provide a set of people on a Who card. I suppose this is where the creativity comes in--you could add a second card maybe? Instead though, you get one with a cheesy name, occupation, accessory, and a little three sentence description of their personality (also cheesy). Every description is written with unnecessary ellipses or em-dashes for the card to explain it's own joke. Every. Time.

For example:
Name
D. Major

Occupation
Concert Violinist

Accessory
Black Bow Tie

D. Major can't seem to stay out of treble...treble clef that is. [continues for three more sentences]

or

Name
Red Inkwell

Occupation
Bestselling Author

Accessory
Notebook and Pencil

Red Inkwell has a nice, well-rounded body...of work. [continues on]

I don't particularly want to be any of these people. But I do like that they each have an accessory so there is an element of dress up involved, which would help to get in character.

For the What, I would have hoped for a scenario, some kind of storyline. Instead, it's a small thing that doesn't seem like it would naturally come up at all and doesn't relate to the "role-playing" character aspect. "Be the one to suggest to go into the bedroom" is odd because 1) aren't you at a random place as described by the cards? and 2) the adventure level here is pretty low.  "At some point spill water on your partner and suggest a change of clothes" is another card. My partner and I agreed that we'd be annoyed if this were to happen. This has going for it though that Partner 1 is choosing something that Partner 2 will do, so at least they're choosing something they would like to have happen?

Where cards range from the weird/scary "A Public Restroom," "A Bathroom," "An Alley" to the mundane "A Parking Lot," "A Hallway,""A Kitchen." I think the aspect of writing a specific place to meet probably negates the need so specify whether the restroom is public or not, but there's a separate card for some reason.

Lastly, the box design. It's a slide out tray, which led to the included envelope sliding right out of the box and is now lost forever. No idea where that went. It seems like it would be an easy way to lose all of the cards too, but to my knowledge that didn't happen to me.

I would not recommend this role-playing game, but that doesn't mean that others would have the same view. I love to play card, board, and role-playing games, and perhaps that is why this one didn't work out for me as it left too much ambiguity.

I received a copy of this game from the publisher but was not required to post a positive review.

"God Gave Us Family" by Lisa Tawn Bergren, art by David Hohn

God Gave Us Family is an adorable children's book with a great message--families can look different than your own, but they are all special and loved by God. The story is told from a wolf pup's conversation with its parents.

The types of family differences covered include family size (only child to many children), adoption, single parenting, and being raised by grandparents. It also talks about different ways lifestyles, such as raccoons staying out late at night.

It also covers the good (and not so good) aspects of the pup's own family...like dealing with cousins that are sometimes annoying, but also enjoying their company to build forts and play hide-and-go-seek.

I love the message of this book that all families are unique and that's a good thing! This book tries to teach respect, understanding, and appreciation of families.

The illustrations add a lot of value to the story as well. They are beautifully colorful and artistically drawn so that you can see individual strokes, almost like colored pencil drawings. The wolf cubs are very cute and all of their play-time activities look very fun. I also appreciated the aesthetic of the inside of the front and back covers, which is decorated with a drawing of string lanterns.

The back of the book suggests that this book is age-appropriate for 3-8 year old children. It also lists other books in the "God Gave Us" series, including Thankful Hearts, You, Christmas, Love, Easter, and Sleep. This was the first book I've read of the series though.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

"The Proving" by Beverly Lewis

The Proving is a sweet tale of discovery for a young former Amish-woman, Mandy, who returns to run her family's bed and breakfast following her mother's unexpected death. her inheritance of the inn was conditional upon her running it profitably for one year. After being moved away for five years and having given up her Amish lifestyle, there was a lot of adjustments to be made. Most of all, the rift with her twin sister Arie would be impossible to ignore once she moved back.

Mandy quickly learns that the Amish community she left isn't so willing to help out at the B&B while she owns it, dressing and acting like an Englisher. Firing Arie so she didn't have to work with her caused further strife with extended family. Soon working all by herself trying to keep up the B&B, Mandy is incredibly overworked and stressed. Still, she does her best to keep everything running, while also not working on the Lord's day.

It's not long before a difficult guest, Trina, shows up, constantly complaining and driving Mandy crazy. Desperate for help to run the B&B though, Trina may just be the answer to Mandy's prayers.

I was not a fan of the way that Trina's story line was introduced. After 3 chapters about Mandy, all of a sudden the 4th introduced Trina, but didn't go back to her again until 30 pages later. By that time, honestly I couldn't remember who she was and had to go back and look.

I was also thrown off by the epilogue being in first-person from Mandy's point of view after the entire book had been from third person point of view. Not that I'm against switching things up since the epilogue is different, but I just didn't see the benefit of it. It would have worked just the same as being in third person, so it could have stayed consistent. If anything, it would have actually worked better because it just seemed less genuine.

However, those minor annoyances did not get in the way of my enjoyment of this book. The Proving is a novel full of faith, friendships, family, love, and work ethic. I especially liked the ways that Mandy learned more about how her mother ran the inn while she was away, and  how Mandy began to have similar methods. It was immersive to read of the day-to-day tasks of running the inn. It sounded like a place that would be lovely to visit--a meadow full of butterflies, incredible homemade breakfasts, and a host who cares deeply about her guests.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

"One Christmas Bear" written and illustrated by Anne Vittur Kennedy

"Two tiny mice get a ride, and off they go!

Two funny foxes making angels in the snow."

One Christmas Bear is a 20-page board book with a unique cut-out shape. Though it is a board book, it is not as thick as many others and the pages can still bend and flex. It is a counting book that follows a polar bear and other arctic animals participating in various snowy activities.

Each page features one sentence of text, which rhymes with the adjacent page's sentence. The spreads each have a large number in the bottom right corner that indicates the number. The number begins both sentences of the spread.

The last spread breaks the pattern with four lines of text on each page, but imparts the important message that "Little acts of kindness, our friends and families dear, Merry time together--gifts from God to last all year!" This is only part of the book that has directly religious content.

The illustrations are very cute and colorful--a difficult feat in a book about snow! My favorite illustration is of four jolly snowmen because each one is a different animal shape: bunny, bear, dog, and mouse. The caribou are especially well-drawn (and are wearing wreathes, bells, or scarves around their necks!).

On the cover of the book, the words and part of the bear's scarf are metallic red. The background around the pear is dusted in glitter. Those features, added together with a cute rhyming story of winter fun with lots of different friends, make this book a nice item to gift to a child this Christmas season.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

"I'm Not a Scaredy-Cat: A Prayer for When You Wish You Were Brave" by Max Lucado, illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez

I'm Not a Scaredy-Cat is an adorable children's book about a skittish cat who has a prayer to repeat to help make it not afraid anymore. 

Written by Max Lucado, the text is funny and a joy to read. It follows several repetitions of the cat saying, "I'm not a scaredy-cat...except when:" and gives two examples of things that startle the cat, followed by a prayer. The cat's prayer is a child's version of Philippians 4:6-9: "God, you are good. God, you are near. God, you are here! And, God, you love me." 

I actually laughed several times reading this, including a fear that the cat had that seemed very familiar to me, as I have a scaredy-dog: "A leaf from a tree / Landed right on my knee. / I jumped with a bump, / fell down with a thump."

The illustrations, done by Shirley Ng-Benitez, are some of the best I've seen in children's books. The cat is so cute, with realistic fur and a cartoon face. The cat has so much personality, down to it's blue bandanna. There's also a fuzzy caterpillar that just has the best facial expression. I love the image chosen for the cover--the cat is afraid of the sprinkles on a donut. When you first open the book, the end paper is an adorable donut and sprinkle pattern.

Right after the end paper, there's a dedication page with to, from, and date, making this perfect for gifting to a child in your life. There's a letter to parents that talks about fears and how parents can help their children face their fears. I didn't find it particularly necessary or helpful. It did mention the goal of the book to instill a godly bravery in the heart of children. 

I love this book and would recommend it to anyone with children, especially those who also love cats or donuts!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

A Box of Awesome Things Matching Game by Wee Society

A Box of Awesome Things is a Matching Game for children ages three and up. It contains 20 pairs of "awesome things" to match during the game. The instructions are printed in easy to understand and explain language inside the lid of the box. It's just a normal matching game though, so the most complicated rule is that there is a blank card set that you can use to design your own "awesome thing" matching pair.

This game is a very cute idea, including little jokes about things that are not included because they're not awesome (cavities, garbage, splinters, flat tires, pink eye). The cards are sturdy cardboard and bright colors. The reverse side has a consistent white background with colorful shapes. My favorite cards were science, confetti, s'mores, trapdoors, and camouflage (truly awesome things!). I really like the way the confetti image partially obscures the word, as though it were real confetti. The camouflage card is pretty witty as well, with just a pair of eyes showing.

The back of the box says the cards are meant to spark conversation, but I found masking tape uninspiring, and also thought argyle would be a weird thing to try to teach a three year old. I was very disappointed in the picture quality of tacos and yellow. The taco is just a yellow semi-circle, with no colorful toppings or anything. Yellow is a weird half-yellow half-white box, which especially doesn't make sense when there's a pure yellow shape for taco.

I also think the box design is really poorly done. It is a flip top box, which means it would be horrible for travelling as well as would spill everywhere if it were knocked off a shelf, as a children's game is likely to have happen! The cards are snug in compartments in the box, so to get them out, you have to tip the box over, but then the divider of the box tries to come out, too.

Overall, I think it's a decent matching game and I particularly like the creative aspect of adding your own matching pair. However, I was pretty disappointed in the box design and the quality of the taco and yellow cards, specifically.

I received a copy of this game from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.