Math Essentials has been providing quality Math workbooks for a while now. We were blessed to review No-Nonsense Algebra in the past for them. This time we were asked to review Math Refresher for Adults.

I don’t know about you but Math is not my strong suit. It’s probably my least favorite subject educationally. I’m just not great at Math.

(Surprisingly, I was a Mathelete in Middle School though. Go figure!)

Math is just hard for me. It’s not a subject that comes naturally, like English and reading do. I need extra help in learning. I need a review of work. I need someone checking behind me and guiding me with the work. Seriously, it’s that bad.

Math Refresher for Adults gives you that extra support that you need. It’s a full text book (work book) that reviews Math concepts as you work through it. The book gives you a few pointers and then jumps right in to the Math. You begin with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division review.

(Did you know I could divide before I could multiple? Weird fact.)

This book covers it all: decimals, fractions, basic math, algebra and more. It’s designed to be a reminder and refresher of the math that you’ve been taught in the past. The lessons are short and easy to understand.

Best of all, there are video lessons that go along with each lesson to help you figure out what you’re working on if you’re just all-together lost. You do need internet to access these lessons online but they are a great bonus when you’re stuck and just can’t figure out what this math is! Such a wonderful bonus!

The back of the book contains a Math Glossary and a resource center for you to use as well. Math terms that you may find confusing, math tables that maybe you need a refresher of, and a list of important symbols can be found there. These are also great for review for you or to share with your students.

I did some work from this book and I really enjoyed the lessons. But then I passed it on to my Mother. She was the one who benefited the most from the book. Math is also not her strong suit.

My Mother dropped out of school in the 9th grade because it was extremely challenging for her. She was a military brat and her parents traveled from the East Coast to the West Coast, to the Mid-West and back again. Her life was spent moving from school to school and because of this, she struggled to keep up with the educational differences until it became too much for her. She was either ahead or behind and school just became confusing and stressful. Homeschooling wasn’t an option in those days so she dropped out and went to work. In 2000, she went back to school, got her GED and graduated. It’s one of her proudest moments.

But even with graduating, Math has still been a struggle for her. It doesn’t click mentally and is challenging for her. A few weeks before this review came up, I gave her No Nonsense Algebra to take a look at. She read a little and said that it helped her understand the Math better than she’d ever been able to in the past. So when we received this review, I knew I wanted her to look over it as well.

Math Refresher for Adults has been perfect for my Mother. She’s gleaned so much from the course in just a few weeks. She picks the book up as she has time and works on a few pages each day. Mornings are often best because the distractions are less and she can really concentrate on the work she does. It’s helped her to better under the things she couldn’t about Math before using this course. She has not used the videos but she’s able to work through the problems in the book with ease. She is also able to check her answers and correct them with the answers in the back of the book for her to review.

My Mom is 67 years old and thanks to Math Essentials and Math Refresher for Adults, she’s finally able to understand a subject that has frustrated her for years. It’s been such a blessing to our family. It’s encouraging to my children as well, to see that anyone can learn at any age if they have the right materials to do so!

You can grab a copy of Math Refresher for Adults from Math Essentials for $28.95. Check out their other books as well!

You can find Math Essentials on Facebook!

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A Place To Call Home
By Merrillee Whren

Back of the Book:

STARTING OVER
After serving six years in prison for the false charge of manslaughter in the death of his wife, Kurt Jansen must overcome a world of bitterness if he wants to start a new life. But his first priority is securing a restoration job to pay a private investigator to find the real killer and a lawyer to get his kids back.

Hiring a convicted wife-killer isn’t what kind-hearted Molly Finnerty bargains for as part of the prison ministry she supports. However, she begins to believe Kurt’s claim of innocence and gradually finds a great deal to like about him—perhaps more to like than she should.

Can they overcome the past and find forgiveness and love?

BOOKS IN THE FRONT PORCH PROMISES SERIES

1. A Place to Call Home
2. A Love to Call Mine
3. A Family to Call Ours

Each book stands alone, but the stories are connected through setting or characters.

Author bio:

Merrillee Whren is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author who writes inspirational romance. She is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award for best inspirational romance manuscript presented by Romance Writers of America. She has also been the recipient of the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award and the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of forty- plus years, and has two grown daughters. She has lived in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Florida but now makes her home in the Arizona desert. She spends her free time playing tennis or walking while she does the plotting for her novels. Please visit her Website and signup for her newsletter and connect with her on Facebook.

Amazon Link to Purchase:

https://amzn.to/2Gwk7zZ

My Review:
Kurt was wrongly accused of a crime that he did not commit. Anyone thinking he could kill his wife was absurd but he’d gone to jail for 6 years because the evidence pointed to him. He lost everything: his wife, his career, his life but most of all their two precious children that he hadn’t seen since they were infants.

Kurt met Steve who believed him, supported him and helped him find his way back to God. Now Kurt was out and trying to rebuild his life after the stigma that followed him. He wasn’t sure where to start but it seemed completing renovations for Molly was as good a place as any.

Molly needed to get this project done. She needed a new focus in life after losing her abusive husband. She wanted to give other women, like her, hope. She wanted a safe place where women could restart their lives. This renovation project meant everything to her. She only needed the right man for the job… only she wasn’t sure with Kurt’s past that he was it. His work speaks volumes but what about his temper? I mean, he killed his wife?! Or did he? Molly wasn’t sure what the answer to this was but she was sure to find out in time.

Honestly, Kurt’s story made me think of my husband. Like Kurt, his past follows him and he has to deal with that every day. He has had to start over and rebuild from who he was to who he is today. The characters in this story truly hit home. Molly, the kindhearted but scared to love widow. Kurt, misunderstood, hurting, blamed for things he had no control over, just wanting to find love and his family and rebuild his life. Their love creates a beautiful story that Marrillee Whren goes far beyond normal expectations to share. A love story as beautiful and timeless as ever.

Resurrection Of Hope
by Tamera Lynn Kraft

Book Synopsis:
She thought he was her knight in shining armor, but will a marriage of convenience prove her wrong?

After Vivian’s fiancé dies in the Great War, she thinks her life is over. But Henry, her fiancé’s best friend, comes to the rescue offering a marriage of convenience. He claims he promised his friend he would take care of her. She grows to love him, but she knows it will never work because he never shows any love for her.

Henry adores Vivian and has pledged to take care of her, but he won’t risk their friendship by letting her know. She’s still in love with the man who died in the Great War. He won’t risk heartache by revealing his true emotions.

Purchase Link:
http://amzn.to/2F2qCde

Author Information:
Tamera Lynn Kraft has always loved adventures. She loves to write historical fiction set in the United States because there are so many stories in American history. There are strong elements of faith, romance, suspense and adventure in her stories. She has received 2nd place in the NOCW contest, 3rd place TARA writer’s contest, and is a finalist in the Frasier Writing Contest and has other novels and novellas in print. She’s been married for 39 years to the love of her life, Rick, and has two married adult children and three grandchildren.
Tamera has been a children’s pastor for over 20 years. She is the leader of a ministry called Revival Fire for Kids where she mentors other children’s leaders, teaches workshops, and is a children’s ministry consultant and children’s evangelist and has written children’s church curriculum. She is a recipient of the 2007 National Children’s Leaders Association Shepherd’s Cup for lifetime achievement in children’s ministry.
You can contact Tamera on her website at http://tameralynnkraft.net.

You can contact Tamera online at these sites.
Website: http://tameralynnkraft.net
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cdybpb
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7334438.Tamera_Lynn_Kraft
Word Sharpeners Blog: http://tameralynnkraft.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/tameralynnkraft
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tamerakraft

My Review:

Henry is in love with Vivian, though he feels awful about how he feels because she was his best friend’s girl. He cannot help that James passed away in the great war, leaving a void for both he and Vivian to deal with. Upon James death, he promised to see to it that Vivian would be cared for and his love for Vivian helps guide him to her for marriage.

Vivian’s heart belongs to James. There’s no one else for her. She can’t imagine love or a life without James. She’s so distraught that she’d rather take her life than continue to live without the missing piece of her heart that James carried with him when he passed away.

And not only James, but her family as well. Her beautiful Mother, strong Father and her loving siblings have all passed. Why does God allow this is her only real question. She’s all alone with no one and she doesn’t want to keep going with a life that no one loves her.

Can Henry convince Vivian that she can have love and a life like she’s only imagined with him? Can he change her mind about death and heal the pain that she holds inside? Can he help her to find forgiveness?

Tamera Lynn Kraft writes a story that heals the heart while reading it. Vivian and Henry’s budding love is beautiful in God’s design and shows forgiveness and learning to love again through the tale her writing creates. I really enjoyed reading Resurrection of Hope and feeling the love that grew between Henry and Vivian coming to life.

About the Book

Title: Sons of Blackbird Mountain

Author: Joanne Bischof

Genre: Historical Romance

After the tragic death of her husband, Aven Norgaard is beckoned to give up her life in Norway to become a housekeeper in the rugged hills of Nineteenth-Century Appalachia. Upon arrival, she finds herself in the home of her late husband’s cousins—three brothers who make a living by brewing hard cider on their three-hundred acre farm. Yet even as a stranger in a foreign land, Aven has hope to build a new life in this tight-knit family.

But her unassuming beauty disrupts the bond between the brothers. The youngest two both desire her hand, and Aven is caught in the middle, unsure where—and whether—to offer her affection. While Haakon is bold and passionate, it is Thor who casts the greatest spell upon her. Though Deaf, mute, and dependent on hard drink to cope with his silent pain, Thor possesses a sobering strength.

As autumn ushers in the apple harvest, the rift between Thor and Haakon deepens and Aven faces a choice that risks hearts. Will two brothers’ longing for her quiet spirit tear apart a family? Can she find a tender belonging in this remote, rugged, and unfamiliar world?

A haunting tale of struggle and redemption, Sons of Blackbird Mountain is a portrait of grace in a world where the broken may find new life through the healing mercy of love.

About the Author

JOANNE BISCHOF is an ACFW Carol Award and ECPA Christy Award-winning author. She writes deeply layered fiction that tugs at the heartstrings. She was honored to receive the San Diego Christian Writers Guild Novel of the Year Award in 2014 and in 2015 was named Author of the Year by the Mount Hermon conference. Joanne’s 2016 novel, The Lady and the Lionheart, received an extraordinary 5 Star TOP PICK! from RT Book Reviews, among other critical acclaim. She lives in the mountains of Southern California with her three children. Visit her online at JoanneBischof.com, Facebook: Author, JoanneBischof, Instagram: @JoanneBischof.

Guest Video from Joanne Bischof

Blog Stops

Blog Stops
Genesis 5020, July 5

Reader’s cozy corner, July 18

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Joanne is giving away

Grand prize of a country crate, a jar of apple butter, a bag of gummy berries, journal, bath salts, honey spoons, copper earrings, and a blackbird sign!!

Click below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d140/sons-of-blackbird-mountain-celebration-tour-giveaway

My Review:
I must admit that I was really impressed with this book. It brought me to tears and was so completely enjoyable. It’s been a while since I found a story that touched my heart as deeply as this one.

Aven has come to the Appalachia unsure of what she should do. Her husband, Benn, has passed unexpectedly. Her life is in turmoil. She has no family save Benn’s aunt and his cousins.

But when she arrives at Blackbird Mountain she finds that Benn’s precious Aunt has passed and though the Sons had reached out to tell her, the letter never reached her. So she’s here on the Mountain unsure of what to do next. The loving housekeeper, Ida, assures her she’s safe but is her heart safe from the Sons who long for her hand in marriage.

There’s a rift driven between the brothers as they both wish to love her. Haakon shows his passion and love for her strongly but it’s Thor who really gains her love and attention overall. His quiet ways, his strength despite his weaknesses, the care he has for those he loves moves her in ways she never expected.

This is the first book I’ve read that shares ASL throughout. I was really impressed with how well this develops the character of Thor and brings him to life. The way Joanne Bischof uses the mix of both text and examples of ASL to create the story is amazing and wonderful.

I recommend Sons of Blackbird Mountain to everyone! I give it 5 stars! It’s such a wonderful story and one that you must not miss.