by admin | Apr 2, 2012 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Mystery
This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingCooking The BooksAbingdon Press (April 2012)byBonnie S. CalhounABOUT THE AUTHOR:
As the Owner/Director of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Bonnie has helped use the 220+ blogs of the Alliance to promote many titles on the Christian bestseller list. She also owns and publishes the Christian Fiction Online magazine which is devoted to readers and writers of Christian fiction. She is the Northeast Zone Director for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). At ACFW she was named the ‘Mentor of the Year,’ for 2011, and she is the current President of (CAN) Christian Authors Network. Bonnie is also the Appointment Coordinator for both the Colorado Christian Writers Conference and the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference.
In her spare time she is an avid social media junkie, and teaches Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and HTML as recreational occupations. She also has a novel coming out in the Abingdon Quilts of Love series. Her novel Pieces of the Heart will publish August of 2013.
Bonnie and her husband Bob live in a log cabin on 15 acres in upstate area of Binghamton, New York with a dog and cat who consider the humans as wait-staff.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
After her mother dies from a heart attack, Sloane Templeton goes from Cyber Crimes Unit to bookstore owner before she can blink. She also “inherits” a half-batty store manager; a strange bunch of little old people from the neighborhood who meet at the store once a week, but never read books, called the Granny Oakleys Book Club; and Aunt Verline, who fancies herself an Iron Chef when in reality you need a cast iron stomach to partake of her culinary disasters. And with a group like this you should never ask, “What else can go wrong?”
A lot! Sloane begins to receive cyber threats. While Sloane uses her computer forensic skills to uncover the source of the threats, it is discovered someone is out to kill her. Can her life get more crazy?
If you would like to read the first chapter of Cooking The Books, go HERE.
Learn more about Bonnie on her Website.
Watch the book video:
If you’d like to read interviews with Bonnie, try these:
Everbody Needs A Little Romance
A Christian Writers World
Novel Rocket
ACFW – Fiction Finder
MY REVIEW:
Move over Stephanie Plum – there’s a new kid on the block by the name of Sloane Templeton. If anything, Sloane is surrounded by an even crazier group of friends and enemies and is armed with a wacky sense of humor. Sloane is a strong and spunky character but is also somewhat lacking in self-confidence. She has absolutely NO discernment when it comes to men and she has been involved with some doozies, some of whom haven’t figured out she wants them out of her life. Like all of us, Sloane has her flaws and has made some really bad decisions along the way. But she has her faith, even if at times even that seems to desert her.
There is a lot going on in Cooking The Books. Sloane has inherited her mother’s bookstore and is doing the best she can to run it although she would prefer her old job in computer forensics. Between new boyfriends, old boyfriends, a hotly disputed valuable manuscript, pressure to sell the bookstore, death threats, and a frustrating aunt ( just to mention a few things), Sloane has her hands full. Cooking The Books is a story filled with suspenseful twists and turns tempered by a rollicking sense of humor. Although I had pretty much figured out who was out to get Sloane, things changed directions so often that I was never entirely certain until the reveal. And it was so much fun getting there.
I loved this book and the way Sloane grew in maturity and confidence as the story progressed. Bonnie, I hope you have another Sloane Templeton story on the back burner because I’d love to see more of her.
by admin | Mar 29, 2012 | Books, Contemporary Fiction
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
Today’s Wild Card author is:
and the book:
Thomas Nelson (March 13, 2012)
***Special thanks to Rick Roberson The B&B Media Group, for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
As a child growing up on the campus of a Christian school where her parents taught, Neta Jackson began creating imaginary worlds at a young age. Loving horses but not having one, she wrote stories about them instead. By the time she reached high school, she had so honed both imagination and writing skills that when her English teacher submitted one of her stories to a Scholastic magazine writing contest, it won first place. With that first win, Jackson knew beyond the shadow of a doubt she wanted to be a writer. She’s been writing ever since.
After marrying the love of her life, Dave Jackson, the couple chose to settle in the Chicago area where Neta had attended college. Throughout their marriage, the Jacksons have worked together as a team, writing a multitude of books together on topics ranging from medical ethics to stories of gang kids, sometimes sharing the task with other experts who have served as co-writers. Together, they have also penned forty historical fiction accounts of Christian heroes, called the Trailblazer Books, along with another five-volume series called Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes.
These days, both are busy penning their own works of adult fiction. Jackson began her individual effort in 2003 with the Yada Yada Prayer Group series, inspired by her real-life Bible study group, a multi-cultural gathering of dynamic women who have played an important role in her life for over fifteen years. Since publication of the first Yada Yada Prayer Group novel, the seven-book series has sold over a half-million copies and given rise to countless prayer groups across the country and the publication of a personal prayer journal for prayer group participants. In 2008, Where Do I Go?, her first book in the four-book House of Hope series, was published. The second book in the series, Who Do I Talk To?, won a Christy Award in 2010 for excellence in Christian fiction. Recently, the fourth book of the series, Who Is My Shelter?, was nominated for Best Inspirational Novel for 2011 by RT Book Reviews. Stand by Me is the first in Jackson’s new SouledOut Sisters series.
The Jacksons have been married 45 years and have raised two children plus a Cambodian foster daughter. They continue to live in urban Chicago where, together, they enjoy writing, gardening and spending time with their grandchildren.
Visit the author’s website.
SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:
How does God expect us to get along with those people who are always causing us pain? Are we supposed to keep helping those who repeatedly take advantage of us? Exactly what is the key to living in peace with difficult people? These are the questions award-winning author Neta Jackson addresses in her latest novel, Stand by Me (Thomas Nelson), the first book of her newest series, SouledOut Sisters.
Inspired by her own Bible study group, Jackson began several years ago to write about a multi-cultural gathering of dynamic women in a collection of books known as the Yada Yada Prayer Group series. Since publication of the first Yada Yada Prayer Group novel in 2003, the seven-book series has sold over a half-million copies and given rise to countless prayer groups across the country. Jackson followed the Yada Yada novels with the four-book House of Hope series. Though the series is not dependent upon its predecessors for understanding, Jackson has used the individual lives of familiar characters to introduce some of the more complex issues prevalent in our modern society. By allowing her characters to lead the way, Jackson has shed light on issues like drug addiction, the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and even the racial conflicts that can so easily arise within any culturally diverse group.
In her newest work, Stand by Me, Jackson introduces her readers to Kathryn Davis, a young college student who has left her prestigious Phoenix family behind to move to Chicago after dropping out of medical school against her father’s protests. Her newfound faith in Christ helps temper the realization that she has stepped out of her family’s good graces, but does little to alleviate the pain of their rejection.
When Kat discovers the dynamic multi-cultural membership at Souled Out Community Church, she longs to be part of it. But her unconventional behavior and brash eagerness have not helped her win favor with the church members. And, much to her dismay, Avis Douglass, the one woman in the church whom she most admires and would love to know better, is the one who is the most aloof.
Kat has no idea that, after being confronted by a number of serious problems all at once, Avis and her husband, Peter, are beginning to question God’s will for their lives. Having been recently estranged from her HIV positive daughter and being worried about her welfare, Avis would like nothing more than to quietly retreat into the recesses of her faith and find the answers she seeks. Her attempts to do so, however, are thwarted at every turn by the flamboyant Kat, who has apparently decided to foist herself on their lives whether they want her to or not.
Product Details:
List Price: $15.99
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (March 13, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595548645
ISBN-13: 978-1595548641
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:
PROLOGUE
Midwest Music Festival, Central Illinois
Kat Davies ducked into the billowing exhibition tent staked down in a large pasture in central Illinois like a grounded Goodyear blimp. She’d been at the Midwest Music Fest three days already—didn’t know it was a Christian festival until she got here—and needed a little respite from the music pulsing morning-till-night on the Jazz Stage, Gospel Stage, Alternative Stage, Rock Stage, Folk Stage, and a few more she’d forgotten.
Besides, she’d be heading back to Phoenix in two days, and sooner or later she needed to figure out how to tell her parents she’d “given her heart to Jesus” after the Resurrection Band concert last night. Maybe this tent had a quiet corner where she could think. Or pray. Not that she had a clue how to do that.
Kat had a good idea how they’d react. Her mother would flutter and say something like, “Don’t take it too seriously, Kathryn dear. Getting religion is just something everyone does for a year or two.” And her father? If he didn’t blow his stack at what he’d call “another one of your little distractions,” he’d give her a lecture about keeping her priorities straight: Finish pre-med at the University of Arizona. Go to medical school. Do her internship at a prestigious hospital. Follow in the Davies’ tradition. Make her family tree of prominent physicians proud.
Except . . . she’d walked out of her biochemistry class at UA one day and realized she didn’t want to become a doctor. She’d tutored ESL kids the summer after high school and realized she liked working with kids. (“Well, you can be a pediatrician like your Uncle Bernard, darling,” her mother had said.) And the student action group on the UA campus sponsoring workshops on “Living Green” and “Sustainable Foods” had really gotten her blood pumping. (Another one of her “distractions,” accord- ing to her father.)
Was it too late to pursue something else? Her parents were already bragging to friends and co-workers that their Kathryn had received her letter of acceptance into medical school a few months ago. Feeling squeezed till she couldn’t breathe, she’d jumped at the chance to attend a music fest in Illinois with a carload of other students—friends of friends—just to get away from the pressure for a while.
What she hadn’t expected was to find so many teenagers and twenty-somethings excited about Jesus. Jesus! Not the go- to-church-at-Christmas-and-Easter Jesus, the only Jesus she’d known growing up the daughter of a wealthy Phoenix physician and socialite mother. That Jesus, frankly, had a hard time com- peting with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
But these people talked about a Jesus who cared about poor people. A Jesus who created the world and told humans to take care of it. A Jesus who might not be blond and blue-eyed after all. A Jesus who said, “Love your neighbor”—and that neighbor might be black or brown or speak Spanish or Chinese. A Jesus who said, “All have sinned” and “You must be born again.” The Son of God, who’d died to take away the sins of the world.
That Jesus.
That’s the Jesus she’d asked to be Lord of her life, even though she wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. But she desper- ately longed for something—Someone—to help her figure out who she was and what she should do with her life. The guitar player in the band who’d challenged the arm-waving music fans last night to be Christ-followers had said, “Jesus came to give you life—life more abundantly! But first you must give your life to Him.”
That’s what she wanted. Abundant life! A life sold out to something she could believe in. To give herself to one hundred percent. So she’d prayed the sinner’s prayer with a woman in a denim skirt whose name she never learned, and a “peace like a river” f looded her spirit.
Last night, anyway.
But by the light of day, she was still heading in a direction—medical school—that she didn’t want to go.
Big fans circulated the air in the large tent, though mostly it just moved the stif ling July heat around. Thick, curly strands of her long, dark hair had slipped out of the clip on the back of her head and stuck in wet tendrils on her skin. Redoing the clip to get the damp hair off her neck and face, she wan- dered the aisles, idly picking up brochures about Compassion International, Habitat for Humanity, and YWAM. Huh. What if she just dropped out of pre-med and did something like this Youth With A Mission thing. Far from Phoenix and the Davies Family Tradition. Go to Haiti or India or—
“Nice boots,” giggled a female voice nearby.
Kat glanced up from the brochure. A cute brunette with a shaggy pixie cut grinned at her from behind a booth that said Find Your Calling at CCU! Kat self-consciously looked down at the Arizona-chic cowboy boots peeking out beneath her designer jeans and f lushed. Ever since she’d arrived at the fes- tival, she felt as if she’d walked into a time-warp—girls in tank tops, peasant skirts, and pierced nostrils, guys wearing pony- tails, tattoos, shredded jeans, and T-shirts proclaiming Jesus Freak. Kat had felt as conspicuous as a mink coat in a second- hand store.
“Thanks. I think.”
The young woman, dressed in khaki Capris and a feminine lemon-yellow tee, laughed. “This your first time to the Fest? Where’re you from?”
Kat felt strangely relieved to be talking to someone else who didn’t look like a throwback to the seventies. “Phoenix. First time.”
“Wow. You came a long way.”
“You?”
“Detroit. But during the year I’m a student at CCU in Chicago. I get a huge discount off my festival fee if I sit at this booth a couple hours a day during the Fest.” The girl grinned again and extended her hand across the stacks of informational literature. “I’m Brygitta Walczak.”
Kat shook her hand. “Kathryn Davies. But my friends call me Kat. With a K.”
“Like ‘kitty kat’ ? That’s cute. And . . . blue eyes with all that dark, curly hair? Bet the guys love that.”
Ignoring the remark, Kat glanced up at the banner above the booth. “What does CCU stand for?”
“Chicago Crista University. Usually we just call it Crista U. Located on the west side of Chicago. I’ll be a senior next year. Christian ed major.”
“Christian ed? What’s that?”
“You’re kidding.” Brygitta eyed her curiously. “Mm. You’re not kidding. Uh, are you a Christian?”
Kat allowed a wry smile. “For about twelve hours.”
The pixie-haired girl’s mouth dropped open, and then her amber eyes lit up. “That is so cool! Hey . . . want a Coke or something? I’ve got a cooler back here with some soft drinks. Wanna sit? I’d love some company.”
Brygitta dragged a folding chair from an unmanned booth nearby, and Kat found herself swapping life stories with her new friend. Unlike Kat, who had no siblings, Brygitta came from a large Polish family, had been raised in the Catholic church, “went Protestant” at a Youth for Christ rally in high school, planned to get a master’s degree at Crista U, and wanted to be a missionary overseas or a director of Christian education somewhere.
“Sorry I’m late, Bree,” said a male voice. “Uh-oh. Two gor- geous females. You’ve cloned yourself. I’m really in trouble now.”
Kat looked up. A young man about their same age grinned at them across the booth. He was maybe six feet, with short, sandy-brown hair combed forward over a nicely tanned face, wire-rim sunglasses shading his eyes. No obvious tattoos or body piercings. Just cargo shorts and a T-shirt that said CCU Soccer.
Brygitta jumped up. “Oh, hi, Nick. This is Kat Davies. She’s from the University of Arizona, first time at the Fest. Nick Taylor is my relief. He’s a seminary student at Crista—well, headed that way, anyway.”
Nick slid off his shades and flashed a smile, hazel eyes teasing. “So, Miss Blue Eyes. Has Brygitta talked you into coming to CCU yet?”
Kat laughed and started to shake her head . . . and then stopped as her eyes caught the logo on the banner across the booth. Find Your Calling at CCU.
Transfer to Crista University? Why not?
MY REVIEW:
As the first book in the SouledOut Sisters series, Stand by Me continues the fine tradition of Jackson’s previous two series – the Yada Yada Prayer Group and Yada Yada House of Hope. Readers familiar with the earlier series will welcome a cast of characters who seem like old friends. In addition, new characters have been introduced who will quickly find their place in readers’ hearts.
Long time favorite Avis is prominently featured in Stand by Me but in a bit different light than we are used to seeing her. Although still a strong Christian with a leadership role in her church, Avis seems to be in one of those “valley” periods of her life. She is terribly worried about the welfare of her estranged daughter and grandson, her husband is restless and suggesting major changes to their lives, and she has just learned that her own job may be at risk. When a group of college students move into the apartment below, Avis is less than welcoming. She finds them disruptive, especially the apparent ringleader Kat who seems to intrude in Avis’ life every time she turns around.
As expected, Jackson has penned an excellent narrative with realistic characters who struggle with the same issues most of us face on a regular basis. A major theme in Stand by Me seems to be about how we judge others – whether by racial differences, age differences, appearance, personalities, etc. A strong message of forgiveness and reconciliation is also woven throughout.
Neta Jackson’s books are always entertaining but are also thought provoking. I always come away from one with plenty to ponder and hopefully change my own life for the better.
by admin | Mar 19, 2012 | Books, Contemporary Fiction
This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingThe Dog That Talked To GodAbingdon Press (March 2012)byJim KrausABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jim Kraus grew up in Western Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. He attended the Paris-American Academy in 1971 and has spent the last twenty years as a vice-president of a major Christian publishing house. He has written more than 20 books and novels (many with his wife, Terri). His book, The Silence, was named as one of the top five releases in 2004 by the Christian Book Review website. He is also an award-winning photographer. He and his wife and 14-year-old son live outside of Chicago with a sweet miniature schnauzer and an ill-tempered Siberian cat.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
A wonderfully quirky, heart-breaking, heart-warming and thought-provoking story of a woman’s dog who not only talks to her, he talks to God.
Recently widowed Mary Fassler buys a miniature schnauzer, Rufus, and her world is turned sideways in the midst of her grief. It seems that Rufus speaks. And not just to her. He also talks to God.
Mary has no choice except to believe Rufus, the miniature schnauzer, who claims to speak to the Divine.
The question is: Will Mary follow the dog’s advice, and leave everything she knows and loves? Is this at the urging of God? Or is it something else?
Will Mary risk it all or ignore the urgings of her own heart?
If you would like to read a chapter excerpt from The Dog That Talked To God, go HERE.
by admin | Mar 1, 2012 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Suspense
This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingRuby DawnWhite Rose Publishing (January 27, 2012)byRaquel ByrnesABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Raquel married her college sweetheart seventeen years ago and you can still find them spending time together chatting over a cup of coffee like when they were first dating.
Her husband is her biggest fan and most ardent supporter. He encourages her to take time for writing as often as he can. He regularly gives her gift cards to her favorite coffee house so that she can go there to write and relax.
He has been known to whip up his famous chicken quesadillas complete with guacamole and brownies for dessert.
Raquel has written books for more than a decade. She loves to do research and has taken private detective courses, gun classes, and underground tours to get every detail right for her novels. She writes romantic suspense with an edge-of-your-seat pace. Stories filled with faith, love, and adventure.
In 2009 she signed with agent, Terry Burns, at Hartline Literary. Terry worked to get her Shades of Hope series sold and in 2010, White Rose Publishing purchased the three-book series.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
A painful past. A love returns A desperate plan.
Former street kid, Ruby now reaches out to runaways through her medical clinic in the worst part of the city, but her escalating battle with a gang leader puts that in jeopardy.
Cavalier, a risk-taker, charming… Ruby’s first love is now on the right side of the law and the center of a dangerous DEA sting involving her clinic. Tom’s disappearance ten years ago broke her heart and rattled her faith. As their romance relights, memories of what it costs to love him flood her with fear.
Ruby’s battle with the gang ignites a firestorm of danger, and a pattern of lies from within her own camp emerges. With Tom’s life in the balance and her world cast in shadows, can Ruby trust God as she once did…or has she strayed too far, for too long to ever return?
Watch the book video:
If you would like to read the first chapter of Ruby Dawn, go HERE.
Learn more about Raquel and her books on her Website.
MY REVIEW:
Looks like I have yet another author to add to my gotta read list if Ruby Dawn is any indication of Raquel Byrnes’ talent. I have already tagged “Purple Knot”, the first book in the Shades of Hope series as one I NEED and have also noted that the third installment of the series, “Bayou Blue” is to be released sometime this year. I plan to read them all. Is there a support group for Christian fiction addicts?
Not only is someone trying to destroy everything Ruby has worked for or holds dear but they are also doing a pretty good job of providing enough evidence to implicate her. To escalate her stress levels, a man from her past has suddenly reappeared and has placed himself directly in the middle of the maelstrom of her life. Can Ruby allow herself to trust Tom with her life or even her heart?
Ruby Dawn is a page turner from the very start with lots of action, suspense, emotion, and romance. Ruby is strong, stubborn, and spunky but is also more vulnerable than she thinks. Tom is the perfect hero – handsome and tough yet sensitive and caring. The villains are pretty rotten. They are violent and unscrupulous but at times even their humanity manages to peek through. The plot moves at breakneck speed with so many twist, turns, and surprises that I didn’t want to put the book down. An excellent story about trust, second chances, forgiveness, and faith, Ruby Dawn is a must read for lovers of romantic suspense.
by admin | Feb 29, 2012 | Addictions, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Suspense
MY REVIEW:
“Downfall” is the breathtaking conclusion to Terri Blackstock’s Intervention series. It grabs the reader at page one and doesn’t let go until the satisfying conclusion. Those who have read the entire series have probably formed an attachment to the Covington family as I have and are ready to see them get a break from their trials and misfortunes. Well, they will have to make it through another high octane thriller and hope that will happen before the story ends. I’m not promising anything – you’ll have to read it yourself!
From an attempted bombing of Emily’s car to several brutal murders, seemingly unconnected crimes produce enough evidence to place Emily right in the center of the investigation. When she begins to have some suspicions as to who might be behind the murders, Emily takes it upon herself to investigate and winds up under suspicion herself. Her brother Lance has his own share of problems in a new school and only one friend who he is desperately trying to protect from a classmate who seems dangerous.
Once again Blackstock has penned a novel that almost demands to be read in one sitting. She realistically illustrates the dangers and consequences of drug addiction and the very real challenges faced by those who attempt to overcome their addictions. Blackstock also effectively details the devastating toll addiction takes on the families of addicts.
As one who has seen the effects of addiction up close, I strongly recommend the entire Intervention series for all teens. I also suggest a visit to Terri’s website to view the excellent resources she provides to help families identify the signs of addiction and to find help for their addicted loved ones.
This book was provided for review by Daniel Cohen with Shelton Interactive.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The final book in Terri’s Intervention series, DOWNFALL follows Emily Covington, who has turned her life around after a drug addiction, but her family still has trouble trusting her. Though Emily has committed herself to a year-long treatment program and has been sober for almost a year beyond that, even her mother walks on eggshells around her, fearing she’ll relapse. After her behavior during her drug years, Emily realizes she has a lot to prove.
When police discover a homemade bomb under Emily’s car, and she then learns the wife of one of her friends was murdered that same morning, she knows things are deadly serious.
But who wants Emily dead? And why?
A conversation she had with two men, an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and a plan for a double murder all conspire for one explosive ride … and Emily is the only one who can identify the killer and save the life of the next potential victim.
As she frantically works to solve this ever more complicated puzzle, Emily finds herself playing right into the killer’s hands.
Read an excerpt from Downfall HERE.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Terri Blackstock (www.terriblackstock.com) has sold six million books worldwide and is a ”New York Times” bestseller. She is the award-winning author of ”Intervention” and ”Double Minds,” as well as such series as Cape Refuge, Newpointe 911, the SunCoast Chronicles, and the Restoration Series.
by admin | Feb 29, 2012 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Romance
This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingA Sweethaven SummerGuidepost Books (February 7, 2012)byCourtney WalshABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Courtney Walsh is a published author, scrapbooker, theater director, and playwright. Her debut novel, A Sweethaven Summer, will be followed by two additional novels in the series. She’s also written two papercrafting books, Scrapbooking Your Faith and The Busy Scrapper. Courtney has been a contributing editor for Memory Makers Magazine and Children’s Ministry Magazine and is a frequent contributor to Group Publishing curriculum. She works as the PR Manager for Webster’s Pages from her home in Colorado, where she lives with her husband and three kids, who range in age from 4 to 10. Courtney drinks entirely too much coffee.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Suzanne’s daughter, Campbell, has come to Sweethaven in search of answers to her questions about her mother’s history. Suzanne’s three friends-Lila, Jane, and Meghan-were torn apart by long-buried secrets and heartbreak. Though they haven’t spoken in years, each has pieces of a scrapbook they made together in Sweethaven. Suzanne’s letters have lured them all back to the idyllic lakeside town, where they meet Campbell and begin to remember what was so special about their long Sweethaven summers. As the scrapbook reveals secrets one by one, old wounds are mended, lives are changed, and friendships are restored-just as Suzanne intended.
If you would like to read the first chapter of A Sweethaven Summer, go HERE.
Learn about Courtney and her books on her Website.
MY REVIEW:
One thing I love about getting to review books is that I am blessed with frequent opportunities to discover new authors. Many of them have earned a place on my keeper shelves and Courtney Walsh is the most recent addition to my list of favorites.
A Sweethaven Summer has most of the elements I enjoy in a contemporary novel – a small friendly town with diverse characters and a plot that moves along without bogging down in unnecessary trivialities. Excellent character interaction and dialogue, especially between the hero and heroine plus a touch of mystery and drama added just the right touch. It was also nice to have a message of faith woven in that did not overpower the story.
I liked the way that Campbell allowed herself to be real in her admission of her fear of rejection and her unwillingness to forgive, yet continued to choose to face the truth regardless of the consequences. And all the supporting characters were just right in the way they accepted Campbell and encouraged her and each other through difficult situations. A Sweethaven Summer is an excellent example of friendship and the power of forgiveness. I am looking forward to Courtney’s next book. I hope she will allow her readers to visit Sweethaven many more times.
