In The Shadow of Lions by Ginger Garrett – CFBA

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

In The Shadow Of Lions

David C. Cook; 1 edition (September 2008)

by

Ginger Garrett

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ginger Garrett is the critically acclaimed author of Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther, which was recognized as one of the top five novels of 2006 by the ECPA, and Dark Hour. An expert in ancient women’s history, Ginger creates novels and nonfiction resources that explore the lives of historical women.

Her newest release is Beauty Secrets of the Bible, (September 11, Thomas Nelson) based on the historical research that began in her work on Chosen. The book explores the connections between beauty and spirituality, offering women both historical insights and scientific proofs that reveal powerful, natural beauty secrets.

A frequent radio guest on stations across the country, including NPR and Billy Graham’s The Hour of Decision, Ginger is also a popular television guest. Her appearances include Harvest Television, Friends & Neighbors, and Babbie’s House. Ginger frequently serves as a co-host on the inspirational cable program Deeper Living.

In 2007, Ginger was nominated for the Georgia Author of the Year Award for her novel Dark Hour. When she’s not writing, you may spy Ginger hunting for vintage jewelry at thrift stores, running (slowly) in 5k and 10k races, or just trying to chase down one of her errant sheepdogs. A native Texan, she now resides in Georgia with her husband and three children.

ABOUT THE BOOK


“I am the first writer, The Scribe. My books lie open before the Throne, and someday will be the only witness of your people and their time in this world.”

So begins the narration of one such angel in this sweeping historical tale set during the reign of England’s Henry VIII. It is the story of two women, their guardian angels, and a mysterious, subversive book … a book that outrages some, inspires others, and launches the Protestant Reformation.

The devout Anne Boleyn catches the eye of a powerful king and uses her influence to champion an English translation of the Bible. Meanwhile, Rose, a broken, suicidal woman of the streets, is moved to seek God when she witnesses Thomas More’s public displays of Christian charity, ignorant of his secret life spent eradicating the Bible, persecuting anyone who dares read it.

Historic figures come alive in this thrilling story of heroes and villains, saints and sinners, angels and mortals … and the sacred book that will inspire you anew. Fans of Francine Rivers and Karen Kingsbury will love Ginger’s intriguing combination of rich character development, artful settings, and inspiring historical insights.

If you would like to read an excerpt from In The Shadow Of Lions, go HERE

Come and visit some of those posting for this tour:
Amber at A Fiction-Filled Life
Amy at Simple Folk Schoolhouse
Amy at sprightly
Amy at My Life
Amy at Peek a boo ICU
Andie at frommipov
Angela at God Uses Broken Vessels
Angela at One Baby, Seven Dogs, and a Mommy
April at Projecting A
April at Living In A State Of Constant Kansas
Bonnie at Bonnie Writes
Brittanie at A Book Lover
Caleb at Reviews Plus+
Camille at There is a season
Camy at Camy Tang
Cara at the law, books, and life
CeeCee at Book Splurge
Cheri at Kudzu and Koolaid
Cheryl at Writing Remnants
Christy at Christy’s Book Blog
Christy at At Split Ends
Dave at Dave Rhoades
Dave at Novel Spotlight
Deborah at books, movies and chinese food
Deborah at Comfort Joy Designs
Debra at Soul Reflections
Deena at A Peek At My Bookshelf
Delia at Gatorskunkz And Mudcats
Edyth at Great Reads by Jasmine
Ernie at Writing: My Adventures In Words
Gina at Upon Reflection
Gretchen at Inspire Me
Janis at The Nearsighted Bookworm
Janna at Cornhusker Academy
Jason at Spoiled For The Ordinary
Jendi at Jendi’s Journal
Jeni at Allen Family Circus
Jill at Christian Work At Home Moms
Jill at Artistic Blogger
Jim B. at The Bedford Review
Karen at Mommy of Three
Karla at Ramblin’ Roads To Everywhere
Kelly at A Disciple’s Steps
Kelly at Scrambled Dregs
Kim at Window To My World
Krista at Welcome To Married Life
Kristi at Stamped With Grace
Kristinia at Loving Heart Mommy
LaShaunda at See Ya On The Net
Lauren at Books…
Leslie at A Little Bit Of Sunlight
Linda at Mocha With Linda
Linda at Reading For His Glory
Lori at Noggin Bits
Marcia at Writer-lee
Margaret at Creative Madness
Marilynn at Rhythms of Grace
Marjorie at The Writer’s Tool
Michelle at Edgy Inspirational Author
Michelle at Just A Minute
Michelle at Michelle’s Great Blogs
Nora at Finding Hope Through Christian Fiction
Pam at Pam’s Private Reflections
Pam at Daysong Reflections
Pepper at Great Christian Fiction
Rachelle at Stifled Squeal
Rel at Relz Reviewz
Rulan at Fiction Showcase
Ruth at Booktalk & more…
Ryan at loves to read
Sean at Bookmark Cafe
Shelley at Ink Scrawls
Shera at Froggy Reviews
Sonya at My Thousand Loves
Stacy at Vader’s Mom
Stephanie at Punkin’ Press
Sunny at Life In The Estrogen Sea
Takiela at Beauty 4 Ashes
Tara at Tara’s View Of The World
Tracy at Pix-N-Pens
Winter at Rodeo with A Twist Of Suspense

Apple Dapple Cake

One of the blogs I read almost daily is Southern Plate. Christy is a southern girl who posts recipes with beautiful photo tutorials. If I didn’t know better, I would think she had been raised by my mom or other close relative because so many of her recipes are ones I remember from my childhood or are still in my files that I use frequently. Last week was Apple Week at Southern Plate. The timing was excellent as we had just picked a couple of bushels from our golden delicious tree in the front yard.

The first recipe Christy featured during Apple Week was Apple Dapple Cake. I remembered my mom baking it many years ago but I haven’t even thought of it in ages. I decided to bake one this morning to take to our church women’s fellowship this evening. You should have seen those ladies – they loved the cake! They were all telling each other “You have to have a slice of that cake!” or “This is the best cake I have ever eaten!” Fortunately they left enough for my husband and son to have a slice when I got home. The photo is of the very last lone slice that was left when they finished. I forgot to take a photo of the whole cake. I may just have to bake another one soon. You can find the recipe here.

Wounded: A Love Story by Claudia Mair Burney – CFBA

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing

Wounded: A Love Story

David C. Cook (September 2008)
by

Claudia Mair Burney

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Claudia is the author of the popular Ragamuffin Diva blog and the David C. Cook novel Zora and Nicky: A novel in Black And White. She is also the author of Death, Deceit, and Some Smooth Jazz, and the Amanda Bell Brown Mysteries and the Exorsistah series for teens. Her work has appeared in Discipleship Journal magazine, The One Year Life Verse Devotional Bible, and Justice in the Burbs.

She lives in Michigan with her husband, five of their seven children, and a quirky dwarf rabbit.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

SHE HAD A VISION OF CHRIST PLACING TWO PERFECT RED ROSES IN HER HANDS…AND THEN SHE WAS WOUNDED!

If a miracle happened to you, wouldn’t you tell everyone? What if they thought you were crazy?

Gina Merritt, poor in health and rich in faith is the last person to expect a miracle to happen to her. As she sits in a pew on Ash Wednesday with throbbing pain in her knees and a raging migraine, she turns her concentration elsewhere and silently prays, “Share with me, Jesus.”

Instantly she has a holy vision of the Son of God kneeling before her. As tears fill her eyes, Christ kisses Gina’s hands, leaving two perfect red roses. When the vision fades, Gina’s hands are bleeding.

Anthony Priest, the junkie sitting beside her, instinctively touches Gina when she cries out, but she flees in shock and pain. A prizewinning journalist before drugs destroyed his career, Anthony is stunned that he is suddenly overcome with a sense of well-being and he instantly knows that he is cured of his addiction. Wanting an explanation, Anthony follows Gina home.

Is it a miracle, or just a religious delusion? It seems like everyone who knows of the mysterious stigmata has an opinion, and it’s not always favorable. Putting aside their difference and their mutual distrust, Gina and Anthony embark on a search for answers. Along the way they encounter an uncertain evangelical pastor, a gentle Catholic priest, a certifiable religious zealot, and a transvestite drug dealer, all of whom lend their voices to the tale. It’s a quest for truth, sanity, and grace…and an unexpected love story.

If you would like to read and excerpt from Wounded: A Love Story, go HERE

MY REVIEW:

I just received the book Saturday afternoon so I haven’t had a chance to finish reading it. What I have read so far is excellent. It is one of those stories that flows so well that it draws the reader in immediately. I am definitely going to finish reading it – I have to find out everything that happens. It’s just possible that I may not sleep tonight until I’m done.

Come and visit some of those posting for this tour:
Amy at sprightly
Amy at My Life
Andie at frommipov
Angela at Angela Benson.com
Angela at One Baby, Seven Dogs, and a Mommy
April at Projecting A
Bonnie at Bonnie Writes
Camy at Camy Tang
Carol at Blogging With Carol
Carolyn at Serenity
CeeCee at Book Splurge
Christy at Christy’s Book Blog
Dave at Dave Rhoades
Dave at Novel Spotlight
Dawn at Book Junkie Confessions
Deborah at books, movies and chinese food
Deborah at Comfort Joy Designs
Debra at Soul Reflections
Delia at Gatorskunkz And Mudcats
Elaina at Restore
Elizabeth at Count it All Joy
Georgiana at Georgiana D
Janis at The Nearsighted Bookworm
Janna at Cornhusker Academy
Jeni at Allen Family Circus
Jenn at Adventures At Walden’s Pond
Jill at Artistic Blogger
Karen at Mommy of Three
Karla at Ramblin’ Roads To Everywhere
Kelly at A Disciple’s Steps
Kelly at Scrambled Dregs
Kim at Window To My World
LaShaunda at See Ya On The Net
Leslie at A Little Bit Of Sunlight
Lundie at Lundie’s Life
Mandy at Mommy Cracked
Margaret at Creative Madness
Marilynn at Rhythms of Grace
Michelle at Edgy Inspirational Author
Michelle at Just A Minute
Michelle at Michelle’s Great Blogs
Nicole at Into The Fire
Nora at Finding Hope Through Christian Fiction
Pam at Pam’s Private Reflections
Pam at Daysong Reflections
Rachelle at Stifled Squeal
Rel at Relz Reviewz
Rulan at Fiction Showcase
Ruth at Booktalk & more…
Ryan at loves to read
Shauna at Shaunarumbling
Shelley at Ink Scrawls
Takiela at Beauty 4 Ashes
Tami at Tree Swing Reading
Tara at Tara’s View Of The World
Ty at CB Reviews

Loving Cee Cee Johnson by Linda Leigh Hargrove

It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book’s FIRST chapter!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today’s Wild Card author is:

and her book:

Loving Cee Cee Johnson

Moody Publishers (September 1, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Linda Leigh Hargrove blends suspense, humor, and faith into compelling stories about race and class in America. Her writings include two novels: The Making of Isaac Hunt (June 2007) and Loving Cee Cee Johnson (September 2008). The former environmental engineer currently resides in North Carolina with her husband and three sons where she occasionally designs a Web site.

Visit the author’s website.

Product Details:
List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Moody Publishers (September 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802462707

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Chapter One

Prologue
Brother was screaming. He had come from the front of our trailer, running faster than the time the black snake chased him down the lane. He hid behind some of the bushes at the edge of the woods next to Fat Anne’s doublewide.I could see his little body shaking from where I sat with my older sister Tabby on our back step. He was a fast little rabbit for a six year old but he wasn’t very smart. Daddy was sure to find his little tail hiding right there at the edge. He had run and hid in the bushes before and it was always because a beating was coming.

Tabby wiped the back of her hand across her Kool-Aid smile. I could see the red marks on her dark skin even in the shade. They curled like single cherry quotation marks on either side of her mouth. She had already finished two glassfuls. The greedy alligator!

She leaned forward and wagged her finger at the dusty boy in the brush. “He gonna get it this time. We need to teach him how to hide better.”

I giggled. The rumble of the sound mixing with the tinkle of ice in my half empty Kool-Aid glass. I was drinking it slowly, savoring it, letting the frosty droplets that covered the bottom of the glass drop on my bare knees.

“Brother, come back here,” Mama yelled through an open window. She called him Brother. Well, we all did. Not Junior. Not Quincy, Jr. Just Brother. I thought that was funny.

I was smiling about her calling him Brother when the music started. It was sudden like and way too loud. Daddy’s music. Some slow sensual tune. One of the 45s he’d bought from the records Miss Emily sold in the back of her grocery store downtown. Sade, Barry White, Earth Wind and Fire.

Mama yelled again. “Oh, no! No, Quincy!”

Then there were sounds of crashing, breaking. And then a shriek.

I closed my eyes but it didn’t stop my mind from replaying the bloody memories from the last time daddy beat her.

“Tabby, Cee Cee,” she yelled to us through a window. “Girls! Find Brother. Run. Hide!”

Hide! My mind raced but I didn’t, couldn’t move. Hide? Tabby yanked me up.

“My glass! What about my glass?” It was my favorite, a Ball canning jar from grandmamma. I looked to Tabby’s, a broken shell on the bottom step.

Tabby gritted her teeth and barked at me, “Come on!” She yanked harder on my arm. I let my glass slip from the fingers. Tabby was big for twelve and, it seemed, at least twelve times as strong as me.

Brother was already running when we reached him; Tabby grabbed his arm anyway. The movement snapped his little round head back.

“Tree house,” Tabby panted.

I wrenched myself free. “We gotta tell somebody.”

“No!” Tabby reached for me again.

“Miss Dusty. I’ll tell her and meet y’all at the tree house.”

“No!”

“But, mama ?”

“I’ll go to the grader for Mr. Abraham after I get y’all to the tree house. Now come on.”

The cucumber grader was on the other side of Thirty Foot Road. That was too far away. Anything could happen to mama by the time Tabby got back with the big white man.

“No,” I screamed back over my shoulder.

Miss Dusty was a better bet. I could see Miss Dusty’s old Ford pickup in back of her trailer halfway down the dirt lane that ran along the edge of the woods.

“I’ll meet you there.” I looked back to see Tabby crouched with Brother behind a big pine. She was breathing hard. Hate in her eyes.

“Cee Cee, you better come straight to the tree house. You hear me!”

Miss Dusty was my classmate Violet’s mama. The mother of five was always working. In fact, I was surprised, but grateful, to see her truck that day. She was forever willing to help mama and us when we needed it. Though mama only took her help grudgingly, saying the word trash under her breath.

Violet met me at the door. The sun slanted in across her bright yellow hair, her light blue eyes. She looked like a fairy princess, except that is for the black eye. It wasn’t fresh; just a puffy yellow half moon under her left eye, but I still winced when I saw it.

“Mama’s not here,” she said in response to my question.

I looked at the truck and saw for the first time that the one of the rear tires was gone. The metal parts of the wheel were sitting up on cinder blocks.

“Broke down as usual.”

The TV was blaring behind her but I could hear her daddy snoring, kids yelling and throwing mess around.

‘Y’all’s phone working,” I asked.

She stepped out onto their cinderblock steps and closed the door carefully behind her. I couldn’t see why since half the screen hung from the frame.

“Naw. Why What you need it for?”

Suddenly I was embarrassed or maybe just not certain what she could do to help mama. My mother’s screams made me jump.

I took off running for home. Violet followed. She stumbled into me when I stopped, beyond words at the sight of my father making a fire in the trash barrel behind our trailer. Mama sat on the bottom back step.

By the way she was crying I could tell daddy wasn’t just taking out the trash.

He reached into a cardboard box at his feet, pulled out a large brown envelope, and tossed it in the fire.

Mama’s book.

Tears filled my eyes. My mother had been typing on it almost every night for months. Grown folks business, she told tell me whenever I asked to read it. Now it was gone.

“Good God A’mighty,” Violet whispered and covered her mouth.

“What?” I followed her gaze.

Violet had seen what I didn’t at first. Daddy had a gun. As he turned the evil thing, barely bigger than his hand, it glinted like fresh tar in the sun. He pointed it toward mama and pulled something else from the box on the ground.

My Jesus statue.

I had recited the Twenty-third Psalm flawlessly for the VBS lady and received the all nine inches of sanctified plastic at First Baptist VBS on Freeman Street. That meddling white-Negro church, as daddy called it.

More things from VBS went into the fire. Tabby’s Noah’s Ark drawings and Brother’s David slingshot. Then three tiny New Testaments. All consumed by the flames.

I didn’t hear Tabby and Brother coming through the bushes. Neither did I hear Violet leave. I used my sleeve to wipe at my tears, choking on the smells from the trash barrel. Thick smoke climbed into the air.

Nearby pine trees had begun to drop their needles from the heat. What else had daddy put in the fire?

“Where’d Violet go?”

“Cee Cee,” Tabby hissed, shaking me like she did when it was time to get up for school.

“He’s burning it all, Tabby.”

“Come on, I gotta get y’all to the tree house.”

I followed numbly, thinking of mama’s bare feet among the broken pieces of grandmamma’s canning jar and Jesus in the fire with mama’s novel and all our VBS treasures.

MY REVIEW:

In Loving Cee Cee Johnson, Carla Celine Johnson’s assignment forces her to return to her hometown of Pettigrew, North Carolina against her wishes. A successful TV reporter, Cee Cee has lied to the public about her background because of pain and shame. There is no way she wants to go back.

Several characters from The Making of Isaac Hunt are also key characters in Loving Cee Cee Johnson as the narrative of the Benson family and the United Front continues. Filled with action and angst, drama and danger, the story quickly draws the reader in.

Like The Making of Isaac Hunt, Loving Cee Cee Johnson is a story about racial intolerance and reconciliation. But more than that, it is a story about human relationship – within families and with others. It is about love and forgiveness but most of all, finding the true source for both.

Up Pops the Devil by Angela Benson – CFBA

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing

Up Pops The Devil

Avon A (July 29, 2008)
by

Angela Benson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Angela has published nine novels, one novella, and a nonfiction writing book. Her books have appeared on national, regional and local bestseller lists. She has won several writing awards, including Best Multicultural Romance from Romantic Times magazine and the Best Contemporary Ethnic Romance from Affaire de Coeur magazine. She was also a finalist for the 2000 Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award in Multicultural Romance.

Awakening Mercy is the first book in her Genesis House series from Tyndale House Publishers. Awakening Mercy was a finalist for both the RITA Award given by Romance Writers of America (RWA) and the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction. The second book in the Genesis House series, Abiding Hope, was published in September 2001. Abiding Hope was awarded the Emma Award for Best Inspirational Romance presented by the Romance Slam Jam. The third book and final book of the series, Enduring Love, is not yet scheduled.

BET Books, now Harlequin’s Kimani Press purchased the mass market rights to Awakening Mercy and Abiding Hope in 2000 and released mass market editions of the titles in June 2002 and June 2003, respectively.

Angela’s first hardcover title, The Amen Sisters, was released in September 2005 by Walk Worthy Press. The Essence bestselling title won the Emma Award for Best Inspirational Romance. The trade paperback edition was released in November 2007.

Up Pops the Devil, published by HarperCollins (Avon A) in August 2008, is Angela’s tenth novel.

Angela has a diverse education and work history. She majored in mathematics at Spelman College and Industrial Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), and worked for fifteen years as an engineer in the telecommunications industry. She holds Masters degrees in operations research and human resources development. Her most recent degree is a doctorate in instructional technology from the University of Georgia. Dr. Benson is now an associate professor of educational technology at The University of Alabama.

ABOUT THE BOOK

This is the story of Wilford “Preacher” Winters and the four women—his fiancee’ Tanya, his sister Loretta, his old girlfriend Serena, and his new friend Natalie—who complicate his re-entry into society as a law-abiding Christian man after being incarcerated for two years for drug trafficking. Two hard years in prison have changed Wilford “Preacher” Winters for the better. He did his time, now he’s going to “do the right thing.” But the women in his life have other ideas.

Tanya, the sleek and sexy mother of his two kids, is much too comfortable with her pearls-and-Porsche lifestyle, and she’ll do whatever it takes to maintain it. His sister, Loretta, kept “the business” running smoothly while Preacher was inside, and she can’t believe he’d trade Easy Street bling for a nickel-and-dime dead-end job. His one-time girlfriend Serena, now married to his main man Barnard, is hiding a secret—and if past sins come to light, they’ll ruin several lives and a very new, very precious friendship between Preacher and Barnard’s beautiful-inside-and-out sister, Natalie.

With his world about to explode all around him, Preacher’s going to need every ounce of his new-found faith to remain strong. Because it takes a lot to become a new man, sometimes even a miracle.

If you would like to read the Prologue and first chapter of Up Pops The Devil, go HERE

Come and visit some of those hosting this blog tour:

MY REVIEW:

Up Pops The Devil is not the type book I usually choose to read but I found it to contain a wealth of spiritual truth. It is a gritty, realistic story about life after prison for Preacher who is a newly redeemed man. He quickly finds that living the Christian life is not as easy as he expected since everyone he loves seems to be doing everything they can to trip him up to return him to the man they knew before prison. Little does he know it, but there is a concerted effort in hell (aka the 3sixes) to bring Preacher back into the fold.

The characters in Up Pops The Devil are interconnected in various ways which further complicates the plot. They each have their own issues that contribute to Preacher’s problems. Benson has skillfully woven a story that depicts the very real spiritual battle for souls that is often overlooked in our everyday lives.

Alexis at Ramblings From Life
Amy at My Life
Andie at frommipov
Angela at One Baby, Seven Dogs, and a Mommy
April at Projecting A
April at Living In A State Of Constant Kansas
Bonnie at Bonnie Writes
Caleb at Reviews Plus+
Camy at Camy Tang
Carol at Blogging With Carol
Carolyn at Serenity
CeeCee at Book Splurge
Cheryl at Writing Remnants
Dave at Dave Rhoades
Dave at Novel Spotlight
Deanna at Deannna’s Corner
Debra at Soul Reflections
Deena at A Peek At My Bookshelf
Delia at Gatorskunkz And Mudcats
Erin at Life Around Here
Janis at The Nearsighted Bookworm
Janna at Cornhusker Academy
Jeni at Allen Family Circus
Jennifer at So Many Books…So Little Time
Karen at Mommy of Three
Karla at Ramblin’ Roads To Everywhere
Kelly at A Disciple’s Steps
Kelly at Scrambled Dregs
Kim at Window To My World
Kristi at Stamped With Grace
Kristinia at Loving Heart Mommy
Kristy at I Need To Read
LaShaunda at See Ya On The Net
Leah at Ponderings From My Heart
Margaret at Creative Madness
Marilynn at Rhythms of Grace
Michelle at Edgy Inspirational Author
Michelle at Just A Minute
Michelle at Michelle’s Great Blogs
Nora at Finding Hope Through Christian Fiction
Pam at Pam’s Private Reflections
Pam at Daysong Reflections
Rachelle at Stifled Squeal
Rel at Relz Reviewz
Rulan at Fiction Showcase
Sean at Bookmark Cafe
Tabitha at 123pizza’s Weblog
Takiela at Beauty 4 Ashes
Tara at Tara’s View Of The World
Ty at CB Reviews