Book Review: Mile 21 by Sarah Dunster

This is one of those books that I was sitting at the library and a lady came up and returned it to me and the cover literally caught my attention.  I saw a runner and a heading that said "Running from love one Marathon at a time." I didn't have time to do anything else, except tell myself to remember the title Mile 21.
Later that day when I had a minute I put it on hold.

When it was finally my turn to pick up the hold and get the book.  While picking it up, I finally read the back of the book.  I'll be honest, it kind of made me hesitant to read it and I almost just returned it because I wasn't sure how reading a story about a 21 year old widow who was down on her luck was something I was interested in.  But luckily I ignored my opinion and brought it home and read it anyway.

After the first chapter I was totally hooked on Mile 21 by Sarah Dunster!  The more and more I got into the story, the more I realized this book was absolutely nothing of what I expected.
What did I expect?  I honestly thought it would be a cute romantic comedy filled with lots and lots of marathon running.
What did I get?  A cute romantic comedy, that really surprised me as it was better than I would have thought.  One of those feel good books, that makes you think and resonates with you as you ponder the different situations in the book.  It's also one I would call spiritually uplifting, and not by an overly high amount of religion pushing.  In fact, I loved that the author sort of made fun (in a good way) of the religious stereo types that a lot of LDS Mormon's get.
Last, yes it did have a bit of running in it, but not exactly like I thought it would be.  Which isn't a bad thing, it went along with the storyline well.

Amish is a girl who married young, and then lost her husband quite young as well.  She's been struggling over the past year to get through it and can't seem to push past the depression.  Not to mention, hasn't been able to move on and get on with her life.
But sometimes you need a bit of tough love to move on, and that is exactly what her mom gives her.  Amish fails her last chance to show her mom she can operate as a tenant supervisor, when she has a run in with the guy that was hired to come and install the wifi for the apartments.  So when she is at work, her mom comes and packs up her entire apartment and lets her know she is being kicked out.
Amish, only option is to move in with her aunt.  But when she arrives within hours she realizes living with her aunt would be worse than being homeless.  So for one night she decides to sleep at the college.
But this bad idea puts her into trouble and she is then forced to make some changes.  Her boss, whom she hates has decided to help her when he finds out about her situation.  He takes the time to find a few apartments for her to go check out, after she picks one she realizes later finds out that puts her right into the Ward that her hated boss is also the new bishop over.

Amish is forced into living with roommates again, dealing with girls who are younger than her, some are friendly and some take an immediate dislike to her and drama seems to be everywhere.  She soon finds out that who else is in her ward but none other than Bob the handsome Internet installer, the very man who's phone call to her mom was the reason she was kicked out of her home.
Nothing seems to be going her way, and even when she tries to make an attempt to bring good changes in her life, many around are not going to make it easy for her.  The only solitude and relief she can find is putting on her running shoes and heading out the door.

Bob's been down on his luck too.  Recently divorced, his wife left him to continue to explore the fun side of her youth, leaving him to be a young single dad.  He's trying to juggle being a dad, working full time and figure out what he's going to do for the rest of his life.

Attracted to each other, but both stubborn and not willing to admit it.  In time they both learn to push past a few things and let friendship blossom.
Amish soon begins a goal to run a marathon, something her husband had wanted to do but never had the chance.  Mile 21 takes you on a story of hope, never giving up and choosing happiness instead of despair.

Mile 21 is a story that will touch your heart in a humorous way.  The author tackles serious subjects with a bit of humor and a character named Amish who is a bit of an outspoken spitfire.  If you enjoy a romantic comedy, with a lot of running involved you will love Mile 21 by Sarah Dunster
This book is LDS and Christian based, and is acceptable reading for any age.  I recommend it for adults, but I think anyone 16 and older would enjoy it.

Book Review FRAMED by Clair M. Poulson

This is an author who has written over sixteen novels and I have read and loved every single one of them.  Not to mention I own almost all of them as well.  When I picked up Framed by Clair M. Poulson I already knew I was in for a great story.  I believe because this author was once a Sheriff and then a Judge this is the reason his novels always have a tendency to grab the reader and keep them entertained and guessing throughout the entire book.

Adriana Chambers pulls over to use her tire changing skills to help a stranded motorist in her neighborhood who looked like they needed some help.  The only problem is, her good deed turns into much more than she bargained for and she soon discovers she is the only witness of the man Jerzy Grabowski that morning.  Which wouldn't mean much, except that same man shortly thereafter was pulled over and brought in and charged with murder.  Murder of one of her own neighbors nearby where she changed the tire.
There is one big problem with Jerzy's arrest, he's innocent.  The other problem, Adriana's the only one who believes he's didn't do it.

Brad Osborn is the detective assigned to the case.  He falls immediately for the beautiful Adriana when he took her witness statement.  The best part is, it appears she might return the feelings.  When she walks out the door Brad wonders if he'll ever see her again, that question is quickly answered when Adriana's thrown into a tangled web of conspiracy's and mob dealings that may or may not be related to her estranged father.  Adriana's curiosity gets to her, and she begins to investigate and find out for her own what is going on.  She stands true to her feelings that Jerzy is innocent.  The only problem is, the more she digs the more danger she is in, and her life may be at stake.

Framed is fast paced and filled with the perfect amount of suspense to keep you guessing up till the end.  I really enjoyed this book.  The only thing I didn't like was Adriana's character flipped just a little in my opinion through the book.  She starts out this strong independent girl who pulls over to change a mans tire.  But I found a few times later on in the book that the character lost her strength a little and I would have rather seen her remain strong, sufficient and more independent and less needy throughout.  But that may just be me.  I love a great and strong female character in a book.  But others may not always agree and I assume trials like in the book could break any strong female character.

That aside, this is a fabulous read, and it won't disappoint!  This book is a clean read, with Christian LDS standards throughout.  So you won't have to worry about bad language, which for me too much bad language in a book can be a total turn off!  I recommend this book to adults of any age, who love suspense, mystery and crime drama.

Disclaimer: I was not asked by the author or publisher to read/review this book.  All thoughts, opinions and pictures are my own.