About the book:

Dallas Cowboys and NFL fans will want to know the inside, true story of superstar football player, Nate Newton and his wife. Nate was a three time Super Bowl Champion and six time Pro-Bowler for the Dallas Cowboys 

Raised near New Orleans as one of six children, Dorothy Newton was surrounded by abuse and poverty as she grew up. But she became the first in her family to graduate from college and moved out of poverty. When she married three time Super Bowl Champion and six time Pro-Bowler Nate Newton, she went from poverty to the pinnacle of success. 

But all that glittered was not gold. Before long the relationship turned abusive. She found herself living in the world she thought she had escaped in her years growing up. 

This book is not only Dorothy’s experiences of pain, loss, survival, hope, recovery, and victory. It will help readers recognize the signs of abuse in their own relationships while encouraging them that the physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds from living with abuse can be overcome. 

A gripping story throughout, Silent Cry is a testament to Dorothy’s will to live and, through her courage and honesty, will help bring hope, healing, and wholeness to those suffering in silence.

This book held onto me from the very beginning and wouldn’t let me go.  Being in an abusive dating relationship myself in the past, there were so many aspects I could relate to.

Dorothy shares her experiences of pain, loss, survival, hope, recovery, and victory. A gripping story throughout, A Silent Cry is a testament to Dorothy’s will to live and the peace that comes with hope in the God who sees and hears your tears even when no one else does

This book was provided to me free of charge by Book Look in return for my honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Before her affluent life as an NFL wife, Dorothy Newton was raised in poverty by her mother and stepfather near New Orleans, Louisiana. The oldest of six children, she put herself through college on an athletic scholarship for volleyball. Shortly after college, Dorothy married Nathaniel (Nate) Newton, now a retired Dallas Cowboy. Today, Dorothy has an MBA and is a Practice Administrator for a health care organization. She has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, speaking on the topic of abuse and she continues to accept any invitation she receives to encourage others.

Missy Robertson knew that marrying duck-hunting family man Jase Robertson would be an adventure . . . and she was up to the challenge. Their life together was good (even after Jase grew the beard). They had two children, worked hard to help build the thriving Duck Commander business, and loved and served God. 

But after a difficult and risky pregnancy, their daughter, Mia, was born with a cleft palate―a serious condition requiring multiple cranial and facial surgeries. As their baby struggled to breathe, and Missy and Jase faced a life that suddenly looked very different than the one they’d planned, they found themselves staring down one of life’s biggest questions: Where is God in all this pain? 

This is the Robertsons’ story. It’s for anyone scared and overwhelmed by a problem they can’t fix; anyone lost and searching for a way through. You’ll meet the young girl Mia who captured A&E’s Duck Dynasty viewers’ hearts, and learn how Missy and Jase have raised her and their sons to be faithful, confident, and secure in who they are. You’ll be inspired by how the Robertson family stuck by each other through the hardest times. And you’ll discover that God’s blessings are bigger than you ever dreamed―and there when you need them the most.

In this household, we love Duck Dynasty. They love God, guns, country, truth and they are silly. Sounds pretty similar to our fam. Not to mention their beards, which my husband also sports. There aren’t that many shows that promote faith and prayer and when we find one that does, we become faithful viewers.

I have to say, every single Duck Dynasty book I’ve read has had the same openness and candidness as this one, and I love that!  Missy and Jase shared their experiences very candidly. Their honesty, and love for each other and their family was refreshing.

In this book Missy shares a mother’s point of view on life as a family struggling to make ends meet {before the success of Duck Commander}, her difficulties with pregnancy and delivery, and most of all – the story of her beautiful daughter, Mia, born with cleft lip and palate.

The book reads like a journal, written from one mom who is passionate about fighting for the spiritual, emotional and physical well-being of her family to another – possibly struggling with similar issues but definitely wanting the same blessings for her own loved ones.
I cannot tell you how much I love the stories of faithful Christ followers who are transparent with us and tell us about the hard times, the excruciating times…yet go on to give glory to God! That is probably what I love most about this book!
This is the perfect book for curling up this fall with a cup of coffee and a warm blanket.  Grab the book for you and a friend here.

Thank you to Tyndale Publishers for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Missy Robertson has learned to live life in the spotlight as she plays an important part in her family’s record-breaking reality television series, Duck Dynasty. Despite the increased publicity focused on her family, their company, and their personal lives, she has managed to become a strong voice for morality and virtue both locally and globally.

Missy married Jase Robertson when she was nineteen and is now a devoted mother of three children—Reed, Cole, and Mia—who strives to have a strong, happy, and loving family. She has contributed heavily to the Robertson family business, Duck Commander, and has been an integral part of the success that the family and company have seen in recent years.

Missy is always the first to recognize the hand of God in her life, as she continually sets a prime example of humility and consistent faith in her public and personal life. In gratitude for her many blessings, she spends a large amount of her time volunteering, as a way to give back to her community. For the last six summers, she has been the crafts director at Camp Ch-Yo-Ca, a local Christian youth camp where both she and Jase spent many summers as kids. In addition, she is heavily involved in missionary work, both domestically and internationally.

In early 2014, Missy coauthored The Women of Duck Commander with Miss Kay and her sisters-in-law, in which they shared never-before-told stories about the Robertson family and how their reliance on God has enabled them to persevere through life’s unforeseen challenges, heartaches, and strife. She is currently writing Blessed, Blessed . . . Blessed, due to release in October of this year, chronicling her family’s journey after Mia was born with a cleft lip and palate.

Missy helps design modest and stylish apparel for her clothing line, Missy Robertson by Southern Fashion House, and has recently launched Laminin,a jewelry line that is made in her hometown of West Monroe, Louisiana. On her website, www.missyrobertson.com, Missy keeps her fans up-to-date on her latest clothing and jewelry lines and offers a devotional page to help encourage people to pursue a personal relationship with God.

Missy is also known for her hard work supporting the Mia Moo Fund, an organization inspired by their family’s personal journey and launched in 2014 to raise awareness and funds toward research, treatments, and causes of cleft lip and palate.

About the book:

Travel through the alphabet with this beautiful rhyming storybook that tells the story of Jesus’ birth. Begin with the angel who tells Mary that she is God’s chosen vessel and follow along until you reach the zillions of stars that paled in comparison to the star that announced the birthplace of the newborn King. Beautifully illustrated and written, this book makes a wonderful gift for young children.

Anyone else excited that Christmas is on the way?  I know, me too!  In our house, we do Christmas big.  Christmas music, baking, shopping, giving, paying it forward, Christmas movies…it’s a constant state of Christmas.  But most of all, we love Jesus!  And in every single thing we do, we keep the real reason for it at the forefront.

M is for Manger is one of the cutest Christmas books I’ve saw.  First of all, the book is completely adorable.  And it tells the Christmas story using the alphabet!  The story is told in chronological order and alphabetical order.

Each page has a letter, an adorable illustration for that letter, a short rhyme to tell that part of the story, and a Bible verse that coincides with that part of the story. 

Thank you to Tyndale Publishers for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Crystal Bowman is a former preschool teacher, author, and speaker. She graduated from Calvin College with a degree in elementary education and studied early childhood development at the University of Michigan.

Her writing career began in 1990 as a lyricist for children’s piano music. She began writing children’s books in 1993 and has since written more than 70 books for children and 3 for women. She has written books for many popular children’s series, such as Little Blessings, BOZ the Bear, MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), and I Can Read! She has also written two books of humorous poetry for children, three books for women, numerous magazine articles, Bible study materials, and educational resource books.

As a speaker, Crystal enjoys sharing her stories and poetry with students in the classroom and also with adults at teachers’ conventions, writers’ conferences, and women’s seminars. “Writing and speaking can be intimidating because in order to connect with your audience you need to be personal and transparent, exposing what’s in your heart and soul. But when readers or conference attendees respond positively to something I’ve said or written, it is humbling and rewarding all at the same time!”

Crystal and her husband, Bob, have enjoyed 38 years of marriage and are the parents of 3 grown children and 1 grandchild. They live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Teri McKinley grew up in the world of publishing, attending book signings and book conventions with her mother, Crystal Bowman. Teri began writing stories in elementary school, and her love for writing grew in college while attending Baylor University. She has been published in national magazines such as Susie Magazine and The Eleusis, and has also written greeting cards for Discovery House Publishers. She has a master’s degree in Interior Design from Arizona State University, and currently works as a student advisor for East Texas Baptist University. Teri and her husband live in Longview, Texas.