Live Without You {blog tour + book review!}

I return!  From an entirely unplanned, accidental semi-hiatus!  Sorry for disappearing.  Life got insane there for a bit.  But today, I'm back, and I bring with me a book review!

Live Without You


(is this cover not just gorgeous??)

Author: Sarah Grace Grzy
Genre: Christian fiction
Content: Piper gets shot in the first chapter, flashbacks to a gang shooting, and memories of medical trauma.
Main Characters: Piper Redding and Ezra Bryant

Synopsis:
Piper Redding is a loner, but lonely. Everyone she loves has abandoned her and opening her heart to others is just asking for more pain. She can’t help but blame herself for her brother’s tragic death six years ago, and in her guilt, she shuts herself off from the world. No one could love her—not even the God who promised to be there for her but wasn’t.
For paramedic Ezra Bryant, failure is not an option. He’s had enough of it, and only by God’s grace is he able to put it behind him. But when a traumatic event brings Piper’s greatest fear and Ezra’s failures to light, can they use that event to allow God to mend their broken pieces? Can love triumph over fear, and grace over guilt?

Add on Goodreads ~ Purchase on Amazon ~ Get a signed paperback

What I Thought:

I am an emotional mess.  My feelings are all over the place what is this.  Am I happy?  Am I sad?  What are emotions?  I went in for a fluffy feel-good time.  Why did I expect that from a title like this?
Okay but in all seriousness, this was beautiful.  Piper and Ezra's stories were perfectly realistic, and wonderfully woven.  There were a couple of times where the pacing was a bit fast for my taste, but it's a novella, so I kind of expected it.
I fell in love with the characters from the first page.  They felt like people I could be friends with (and Ezra is totally swoon-worthy, am I right?).  I loved the relationships in this story; Piper and Ezra, Ezra and Tyler, Ezra's dad and pretty much everybody, they were all great.  The faith content was presented in a way that was consistently there but not in your face.  Piper's redemption is such a sweet arc.
Agh, it was just... It was pretty darn near perfect.  If you like friends-to-lovers, kitties, pizza, or stories that tug on your heartstrings, this is definitely the book for you.

Overall rating: 5 hot cocoas out of 5

About the Author:

Sarah Grace Grzy is a voracious reader, and if it weren’t for this crazy thing called 'Life,' she’d be tempted to spend all her days in front of a wood stove, book in one hand, coffee mug in the other.
A lover of learning, she finds enjoyment in many things and has more hobbies than she knows what to do with. Sarah Grace is a freelance web and graphic designer, and when not working, spending time with her ever-growing family, or reading, she can be found painting, playing the piano, or fangirling with her sisters and friends. She inhabits the State of Great Lakes, and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else—unless it meant she could have a baby penguin, in which case, she’d gladly move to the South Pole.
Connect with Sarah Grace!
Newsletter signup ~ Goodreads author page ~ Goodreads profile page ~ Twitter ~ Instagram

There's a super exciting GIVEAWAY going on where you have THREE chances to win a copy of this sweet book!  Check it out at this link!

There are also a ton of super amazing bloggers also in on this tour, so for a full schedule, click right here!

Huge shout-out to Sarah Grace and her fabulous tour coordinator, Victoria Lynn, for including me in this tour!  Y'all, seriously, go check out this book and this lady.  Both are wonderful. ;)

~ Abby

The Christmas Tag - The 12 Days of Christmas Link-up

Merry Christmas, friends!!  (Two posts in one day from me? what is this world coming to??)

Guys!  Christmas is coming!  The goose is getting fat!  Please put a penny... okay I'll stop.  (If you don't understand that reference... click this link xD)

This is a very exciting day because today! it! begins!  The 12 Days of Christmas is starting!!!!  For the past few years, I've seen these posts popping up around the blogosphere and wanted to participate, and so this year, when dear Faith put up a post about it, I said to myself, "Self, you've been wanting to do this for several years now... in the words of Nike, just do it."

So I did.  And here we are.

Am I crazy for choosing to do this at the busiest time in my life?  Probably.  But I want to talk about more Christmas-y things, and so while you probably won't get 12 posts from me (just setting honest goals for myself here, lol), I will be posting some pretty fun Christmas content! :D

Today, we're starting with something that I'm very excited about: The Christmas Tag!!  I was going through posts from some of the peeps last year (gleaning inspiration, you know?) and came across this tag and thought it would be perfect to start off this twelve day celebration! I'm not sure who started it or I would give them credit, but I'm sure they're an awesome person because these questions are pretty fabulous.



The Questions:

1) Christmas is a season of joy, hope, and light.  What's your favorite thing to make this season bright?
I love decorating, I love singing, I love dancing around and wishing people a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, I just love this time of year.

2) Reading of the Christmas story, lighting of the tree - what's your favorite Christmas tradition?
Every year, my church puts on a living nativity with 8 scenes, people drive through and hear the whole Christmas story. As of last year, I've been in every role but Joseph and the Innkeeper.  It's pretty exciting.  (Yes, I've been a wise man... I wore all purple, of course xD)

3) Festive old hymns or glorious new tunes - what are you listening to on repeat?
I have several Christmas playlists , but what I've had on repeat for the past couple of weeks is The Hound + The Fox's new Christmas album. This is my favorite song from it.

4) Fiction and nonfiction, classics and contemporary - which Christmas books do you love so much that you just have to re-read them every year?
There aren't many books that I can consistently read every year because every year is different, but I do like re-reading the Christmas story in Luke every year!

5) Trees and nativities, bells and bows - do you have a favorite Christmas decoration?
My mom collects nativities, and I love putting them all out every year!  They're all just so pretty. *heart eyes*

6) From the prophets to the gospels, the timeless story is woven - which Bible passage that speaks of our Savior's birth holds a special place in your heart?
I LOVE John 1.  For that living nativity I talked about, we have a CD that goes into every car at the beginning and a narrator (who happens to be my Dad) reads them the Christmas story, and the first scene starts with that.  It means even more to me since he passed away, and I can hear him read me the Christmas story whenever I want.

7) Glittery snowflakes and shimmering balls to angels and one-of-a-kind creations - favorite Christmas tree ornament?
I have this gorgeous Belle ornament of her in her pink winter dress holding a poinsettia and it's beautiful and sparkly and I love it.  And I mean, obviously any of our family ornaments that hold special meaning are beautiful too.

8) Red and green, silver and gold, even purple and blue! - what's your favorite color scheme this time of year?
I looove silver and blue... or silver and purple... or silver and gold... I just really love silver for Christmas, okay?

9) Between the old and the new, the classics and the cartoons - which Christmas movie do you come back to year after year?

White Christmas, always and forever.  It's probably the only one I consistently watch every year.  My sister and I watch it together every year at the beginning of our Christmas season (though somehow this year we haven't watched it yet? Don't know how that happened...)

10) Pies and cakes, cookies and sweets - what's your favorite Christmas treat? 
((I appreciate how this one rhymes, too, haha!))  I love anything and everything peppermint.  Particularly if it involves chocolate.

And that's about all I have for you on this First Day of Christmas!  I'm off to sing in the first performance of our Christmas musical!  What are you up to?

- Abby

New Year, New Look

Hello friends!  Happy 2018!!

I thought that it was about time to update the look of my blog.  It had been the same way since I started it in July of 2016, and a new year seemed like the perfect opportunity to change it up.  I hope you love it as much as I do. 

Y'all are the best.  I could probably write some sappy note about how I love you all and you mean so much to me, but I think I'll save that for my two year blogiversary in July.  For now, know that I genuinely love you guys.  Thanks for everything.

Here's to a richly blessed 2018.

~ Abby