Warren Harlan Pease, the young narrator of this spellbinding novel, returns to his native New Hampshire from the Iraq War and spends an entire day with Jesus visiting and contemplating hi own life with fresh eyes, and a willing heart. He examines his relationships to those he loves?his girlfriend, his best friend, his father, his dead mother, his daughter ? and grapples with the pain he has been carrying since the death of his mother when he was still a boy.
While in Iraq, armed with his sniper’s ‘s rifle and his deeply held faith, Specialist Pease traveled across ideological borders and earned an appreciation for his enemy’s culture and for what connect us all as human beings. He also learned how to kill and taught others to do the same. “War doesn’t test your faith in Jesus,” Warren comes to realize. “It tests your faith in yourself.” The Last Day answers some questions and asks many more. It’s a powerful meditation on religion and war, love and loss.
This work of compassion and healing grace will resonate with skeptics and believers, be shared and discussed between friends and among families. It is a book for our time, and forever.
If you would like to read an excerpt from Chapter one of , go HERE
For more than a decade, Author Sandra D. Bricker lived in Los Angeles. While writing in every spare moment, she worked as a personal assistant
and publicist to some of daytime television’s hottest stars. When her mother became ill in Florida, she walked away from that segment of her life and moved across the country to take on a new role: Caregiver.
One of Sandie’s passions revolves around the rights of animals. She’s been involved in fundraising for Lost Angels Animal Rescue for several years now; in fact, a portion of the proceeds of Love Finds You in Holiday, Florida will go to help the non-profit group with their expenses. And Lost Angels paid her back in a big way: They brought a free-spirited Collie named Sophie into her life after the loss of her 15-year companion Caleb.
It was her 8th novel that opened the door to finding her way as a writer.
In Sandie’s words: “I guess most people would see my career as a publicist as a sort of dream job. But giving it up turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me!” she declares. “Not only was I given the gift of getting to know my mother as an adult woman before she passed away, but I was also afforded the blessing of being able to focus completely on my dream of a writing career. I’m a Christian woman, first and foremost, so it was a bit of a dream-come-true when Summerside Press chose me as one of two authors to launch their new Love Finds You line.”
ABOUT THE BOOK: Lawyer Cassie Constantine has no plans to stay in Florida. She’s here just long enough to sell her late husbands vacation house, a tacky bungalow she’s always despised then she’ll hightail it back to her gracious Boston brownstone.
But the place needs more work than Cassie bargained for. What’s more, her widow status is like a target on her back and the elderly matchmakers around town manage to sidetrack her mission at every turn.
Holiday is a landmine of golf tournaments, ballroom dancing competitions, shuffleboard and day trips. But the biggest obstacle of all? Richard Dillon, the stuffed shirt she’s paired with on the dance floor.
Cassie had always considered herself uptight but Richard won’t take a walk on the beach without his socks and shoes! There’s one little problem he makes her heart beat faster than the rhythm of the quickstep. Can Cassie and Richard let loose long enough to have a little fun?
Love Finds You in Holiday, Florida is one of those rare romance novels featuring more mature love interests rather than the pretty young thing and handsome buff guy. Not that there is a thing wrong with those other novels. It’s just that us older gals might find a little hope that if we suddenly found ourselves single again there could possibly be a second chance at love despite the grey hair and extra pounds acquired during the years.
Love Finds You in Holiday, Florida is a fun romp with delightful and crazy characters. It is a pleasure to observe as Cassie not only finds unexpected love but her true self as the story progresses. Faith and humor are interwoven to make it the perfect companion to a cup of hot chocolate and a cozy chair during a cold winter evening.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Julie says: My background is in advertising and marketing, but I am blessed with a dream job—working as an editor of Christian fiction. I have been writing since childhood, but Lady of Milkweed Manor was my first novel. It was a finalist for a Christy Award and won second place in the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Awards. My second novel, The Apothecary’s Daughter, was a finalist in the ACFW Book of the Year awards. I am currently writing one novel a year.
I graduated from the University of Illinois and enjoy travel, research, BBC period dramas, long hikes, short naps, and coffee with friends.
My husband and I have two sons and live near St. Paul, Minnesota.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Olivia Keene is fleeing her own secret. She never intended to overhear his.
But now that she has, what is Lord Bradley to do with her? He cannot let her go, for were the truth to get out, he would lose everything–his reputation, his inheritance, his very home.
He gives Miss Keene little choice but to accept a post at Brightwell Court, where he can make certain she does not spread what she heard. Keeping an eye on the young woman as she cares for the children, he finds himself drawn to her, even as he struggles against the growing attraction. The clever Miss Keene is definitely hiding something.
Moving, mysterious, and romantic, The Silent Governess takes readers inside the intriguing life of a nineteenth-century governess in an English manor house where all is not as it appears.
If you would like to read the prologue and first chapter of The Silent Governess, go HERE. You can also sign up as a Follower when you get to that page, and get announcements of the first chapters for all the great books we tour!
Learn more about Julie and her books on her Website.
MY REVIEW:
The Silent Governess is the first of Julie Klassen’s novels that I have read. I am already making plans to get hold of her other two. As you may guess, I REALLY liked The Silent Governess. In fact, I don’t think there was anything I didn’t like about it. This story brought to mind the old paperback Gothic novels I used to read when I was much younger. For some reason the heroine of most of them seemed to be a governess and the hero was her single father employer. Fortunately that is about all The Silent Governess has in common with those books. The characters in The Silent Governess are more fully developed and the realistic plot does not rely on shock tactics or the paranormal to keep the reader’s attention.
The Silent Governess had just the right mixture of romance, mystery, suspense, and humor for my taste. It illustrated the life of a governess and the class differences in nineteenth-century England in a manner that made me feel as if I was there. The plot moved at a comfortable pace with plenty of opportunity to know the characters. Primary truths exemplified through the narrative included the vulnerability and risks that come from keeping secrets, the pitfalls of greed and thirst for power, and that nobility is more a state of the heart than of privileged birth.
I highly recommend The Silent Governess and encourage you to pick up a copy for yourself.
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Warren Harlan Pease, the young narrator of this spellbinding novel, returns to his native New Hampshire from the Iraq War and spends an entire day with Jesus visiting and contemplating hi own life with fresh eyes, and a willing heart. He examines his relationships to those he loves?his girlfriend, his best friend, his father, his dead mother, his daughter ? and grapples with the pain he has been carrying since the death of his mother when he was still a boy.
