Ginny Yttrup is an author, freelance writer, and writing coach. As she writes, speaks, and coaches, her prayer is that God will use her words to replace the lies so many believe about themselves with the truth of His unconditional love and grace. To see someone grasp, perhaps for the first time, the truth of God’s love, is truly an honor. Through a relationship with the Truth, Jesus Christ, the bonds of shame are loosed and freedom abounds!
When Ginny is not working, she loves spending time with her two college-age sons or with friends. She is surrounded by the most amazing people–each a gift in their own way. If she can spend time outdoors with those she love, it’s even better. And she thoroughly adores her dog, Bear. He’s a book lover too.
She has two grown sons and lives near Sacramento, California. Words is her first novel.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
“I collect words. I keep them in a box in my mind. I’d like to keep them in a real box, something pretty, maybe a shoe box covered with flowered wrapping paper. Whenever I wanted, I’d open the box and pick up the papers, reading and feeling the words all at once. Then I could hide the box. But the words are safer in my mind. There, he can’t take them.”
Ten-year old Kaylee Wren doesn’t speak. Not since her drug-addled mother walked away, leaving her in a remote cabin nestled in the towering redwoods-in the care of a man who is as dangerous as he is evil. With silence her only refuge, Kaylee collects words she might never speak from the only memento her mother left behind: a dictionary.
Sierra Dawn is thirty-four, an artist, and alone. She has allowed the shame of her past to silence her present hopes and chooses to bury her pain by trying to control her circumstances. But on the twelfth anniversary of her daughter’s death, Sierra’s control begins to crumble as the God of her childhood woos her back to Himself.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Words, go HERE.
Debra White Smith is a seasoned Christian author, speaker, and media personality who has been regularly publishing books for over a decade. In the last twelve years, she has accumulated over 50 books sales to her credit with over 1 million books in print. Her titles include such life-changing books as Romancing Your Husband, Romancing Your Wife, The Divine Romance: Developing Intimacy with God, the The Lonestar Intrigue fiction series, and The Jane Austen fiction series.
As a woman of God, Debra is committed to the highest standards of integrity and to spending hours a week being still before the Father, staying in tune with Him, and listening for His voice of direction in all she does. This commitment to romancing the Lord, coupled with her lifestyle of devouring, analyzing, and dissecting the Word of God has allowed God to bring about a miracle of deliverance and healing in Debra’s spirit, mind, and soul. For you see, Debra holds a double Ph.D. from the toughest schools in the world. The first Ph.D. from the “School of Hard Knocks” and the second, from the “School of Very Hard Knocks.” Aside from that, she holds an M.A. in English from the University of Texas.
Along with Debra’s being voted a fiction-reader favorite several times, her book Romancing Your Husband was a finalist in the 2003 Gold Medallion Awards. And, her Austen Series novel First Impressions was a finalist in the 2005 Retailer’s Choice Awards. Debra has been a popular media guest across the nation, including Fox TV, The 700 Club, ABC Radio, USA Radio Network, and Moody Broadcasting. Her favorite hobbies include fishing, bargain-hunting, and swimming with her family. Debra also vows she would walk 50 miles for a scoop of German Chocolate ice cream.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
In the small town of Bullard, Texas, the Mansfield brothers seem to have everything in order . . . except for their love lives. Jack is the lonely police chief still pining after Charli, his college girlfriend. Younger brother Sonny keeps busy on the road as a private investigator, and a secret from his past prevents him from finding someone to settle down with. But all that is about to change…
Read the two stories…
In Texas Heat, Charli is wrongly accused of a terrible crime. Now Jack must arrest the one woman he’s ever loved and risk everything to prove her innocence and save her life.
In Texas Pursuit, a single mother is a target of a relentless stalker—and Sonny finds himself both the only man who can protect her and the one who inadvertently leads danger back into her world.
Page-turning novels of romance and suspense, the Lone Star Intrigue series will give you faith in the power of love, and remind you that having faith in a God who redeems our mistakes is the greatest love story of all.
Learn more about Debra and her books on her Website.
MY REVIEW:
I have always enjoyed Debra White Smith’s novels and was especially excited to see that not only were these set in Texas but that they were also suspense. Lone Star Intrigue actually contains the first two novels of the series with the same title. Each installment features one of the Mansfield brothers, Jack and Tony and a love interest he endeavors to protect and/or rescue.
The plots were fast paced with plenty of action and romance. Spiritual content was believable as some of the characters struggled with their faith. Both stories held my interest throughout and were fairly quick reads. Now I’m ready to find out what happens with the other brother Ryan in The Chase, final book of the series to be published later this year.
For anyone who has ever wondered “There must be more than this” about the Christian life, Steve Schaefer has just the book for you. Living in the Overlap examines what the Bible has to say about the Kingdom of God in both the old and new testaments, especially what Jesus had to say about it. With an abundance of scripture references, quotes from many theologians, and his own personal experiences, Schaefer helps us to understand just what is meant by the Kingdom of God and how it should affect the life of Christians today as we wait for the final coming of Christ when he will usher in the fulfillment of His new testament kingdom promises.
Living in the Overlap is fairly easy to read with a conversational tone that should appeal to most readers. The well documented facts and an extensive section of end notes should satisfy the scholars among us. Schaefer made several excellent points that should challenge every Christian on how we can best be about the work of bringing Christ’s kingdom to those around us. I know he gave me plenty to consider.
This book was provided for review by Glass Road Public Relations.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Did Jesus already establish His kingdom on earth? ” Living in the Overlap explores the challenges and benefits of living in a kingdom that is both “already” and “not yet.” If you want a deeper understanding of Jesus’ kingdom message, and if you want to explore the kingdom’s implications for your life today, let this provocative and enlightening book be your guide.
The kingdom of God was the central message of Jesus, yet so few Christians understand what it means to live in that kingdom. Many of us think of the kingdom of God arriving with the second coming, but Steve Shaefer asserts that Jesus already established His kingdom on earth. Some of the blessings from the coming kingdom are available to us now, while we live in the overlap between the establishment of the kingdom and when it comes to its fullness. Those blessings can help us walk by faith, deal with temptation, and love others.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Because of his fascination with Scripture and its message, Steve Schaefer has repeatedly explored the land of the Bible. His experiences include hot-air ballooning over eerie Cappadocian rock formations in Turkey, trekking through the ancient “rose red” city of Petra in Jordan, sloshing through Hezekiah’s serpentine aqueduct in Israel, and scaling Jebel Musa (traditionally identified as Mount Sinai) in Egypt. But he now invites readers to embark on a different kind of biblical adventure in his new book, Living in the Overlap: How Jesus’ Kingdom Proclamation Can Transform Your World.
Steve holds a Master of Arts degree in Biblical Studies from Regent University’s School of Divinity. He has traveled the globe as a Managing Producer in the International Programming Department of CBN WorldReach, and is a popular speaker and teacher.
I have read several of Judy Baer’s books in the past and expected An Unlikely Blessing to be similar – lighthearted chick lit. I’ll admit I didn’t read the book description and accepted the blog invitation strictly because of my familiarity with the author. When the book arrived, I was somewhat surprised to find that it wasn’t at all what I expected and was afraid I might be disappointed. Of course, being the dutiful blog reviewer that I am, I opened the book and started reading. I am so glad I did!
An Unlikely Blessing has the same down home, character driven plot that kept folks reading Jan Karon’s Mitford series and Philip Gulley’s Harmony novels. I have read several books from both of those series and for my own personal preferences, An Unlikely Blessing takes first place. It is a heartwarming story with such real characters that I wanted to move right into Hilltop myself. Lots of humor, a bit of action, and just good storytelling makes An Unlikely Blessing a keeper. Read the book description below for everything you need to know without my throwing a spoiler into the works.
What can I say? I loved An Unlikely Blessing and can’t wait for the next installment so I can find out what is going on with Pastor Alex and his flock.
You can purchase a copy of An Unlikely Blessing HERE.
This book was provided for review by LitFuse Publicity.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Book 1 in the Forever Hilltop Series
A new pastor tries to shepherd his flock in North Dakota
An Unlikely Blessing is a heartfelt story about a new pastor and life-long city dweller Alex Armstrong, who reluctantly accepts his first assignment, a two-point parish in the wilds of North Dakota. Hilltop Township, a farming community, blooms from the prairie like a wild pink rose-lovely and prickly all at once, much like the people who live there.
Alex quickly finds that this lovely place is in quiet peril. Farmers are struggling to make ends meet: Jonas Owens, a faithful member of Hilltop parish, is on the brink of losing the farm. Alex believes that part of why God called him to Hilltop was to help turn things around, and steps in with ideas for saving the Owens’ land. But can even God’s minister help save this rural community?
There are a lot of firsts for the new pastor-the annual Hunter’s Breakfast, julebukking (also called Christmas fooling), King Oscar’s fish balls, and the melody of the musical saw. And the new, single pastor creates remarkable excitement among the unmarried women in the community. If you could die of hot dish overdose, Alex would be a dead man. Whether performing weddings, counseling his flock, or herding cattle by snowmobile, Alex soon discovers that his new church home has as much to teach him as he will teach them. Day by day, he falls more in love with the people of Hilltop Church. People may leave Hilltop, but Hilltop never leaves them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Judy was born and grew up on a farm on the prairies of North Dakota. An only child, she spent most of her days with imaginary people-either those she read about or those she made up in her head. Her most ambitious conjuring did not succeed, however. She kept a clean stall with hay and oats for the horse she imagined would come but unfortunately, it never did. As an adult, however, she managed to make that dream come true and raised foundation quarter horses and buffalo for some years. A voracious reader, Judy learned to read with comic books, anything from Little Lulu and Superman to the Rawhide Kid. She sold her first story for $10.00 to a farm magazine. She still has the $10.00.
She graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota with a major in English and education and a minor in religion. At the time, she was simply studying what interested her, but now realizes that she was educating herself for her future career as an inspirational christian romance writer.
Judy wanted to write for Harlequin even in high school but it wasn’t until her youngest child learned to say “No” that she realized that she’d better consider a second career to fall back on when mothering was done. Her first book was written with her little girl on her lap. Judy would type a few words, say “Now, Jennifer,” at which time her daughter would hit the space bar before Judy continued typing. It wasn’t the fastest way to work, but it offered a lot of mother-daughter time together. An over-achiever, she’s written 75 books for various publishers. The mother of two and step-mother of three, she now has lots of family to enjoy.
In 2001, she went back to school and became a certified professional life coach. Currently she is working on her Master’s in Human Development in the areas of writing, coaching and spirituality and writing inspirational Chick Lit which, she says, is the most fun she’s ever had writing. For more about Judy and her other books, visit www.judykbaer.com.
WIN A KINDLE GIVEAWAY:
Prolific author of over 75 novels, Judy Baer, is launching her new Guideposts series, Forever Hilltop, with a KINDLE giveaway! The first book in the series, An Unlikely Blessingis available now wherever fine books are sold. Read the reviews here.
In celebration of the release of An Unlikely Blessing, Judy is giving away a KINDLE prize package worth over $175.
One lucky winner will receive:
Brand New KINDLE with Wi-Fi
A $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com
To enter just click on one the icons below and then tell your friends! Winner will be announced on February 21st on Judy’s blog, http://www.judykbaer.com/wordpress
Julia is a young single mother juggling a job, school, a long distance relationship with the man she hopes to marry, and raising her son and younger brother with her grandmother’s aid. When her son’s birth father contacts her after five years, she agrees to allow him to meet their child. With that decision, Julia’s world is turned upside down and nothing will ever be the same. Will all Julia’s carefully laid plans be realized? Can she ever forgive Parker for his desertion at her time of need? Is there a chance that Julia and Simon can get over their mother’s abandonment? What is a real family anyway? These are just a few questions that are answered in Beneath the Night Tree. I hesitate to elaborate any further because it is a story that just must be read.
Like many other reviewers, I was surprised to learn that Beneath the Night Tree is part of a series because it stands alone so well. The book is extremely well written and drew me in immediately. I enjoyed it so much that I quickly obtained copies of the first two books in the series. This is one book that I definitely recommend.
This book was provided for review by Tyndale House Publishers.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Do I have a child? Julia DeSmit knew she would face the question eventually, but she didn’t expect it now. At twenty-four, she is finally content with the way her life has unfolded. A single mother to her son and young brother, she works at the local grocery store while chipping away at a two-year degree. All her free time is spent with her unorthodox family—her boys, her grandmother, and her boyfriend of five years. It’s not perfect, but Julia is happier than ever.
So when she receives the cryptic e-mail from her son’s father, Julia’s world is turned upside down. She hasn’t heard from Parker since he left her in a college parking lot nearly six years ago. But one look at her son—the spitting image of his father—is enough to convince her that, for better or worse, Parker is a part of their story. Faced with this new reality and an unexpected tragedy, Julia begins a tightrope walk between what was and what is, what she hopes for and what will be.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nicole Baart was born and raised in a small town in Iowa, where she and husband now live with their three young sons. After the adoption of their second son, Nicole discovered a deep passion for global issues and is a founding member of a nonprofit organization that works with a church and orphanage in Liberia.
Nicole is the critically acclaimed author of three novels. After the Leaves Fall was published in 2007 and was followed by a sequel, Summer Snow,which was a Christy Award finalist. That was followed by The Moment Between, Nicole’s first stand-alone novel.
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is available now wherever fine books are sold. 
