by admin | Sep 10, 2014 | Amish, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Mennonite, Romance
MY REVIEW:
I actually hesitated to accept “A Season of Change” for review. I may be one of the few readers of Christian fiction who has grown a bit weary of Amish fiction and sometimes wonder how long this trend can last. I was pleasantly surprised by a unique tale featuring an unlikely romance between an old order Amish widower and a young woman whose career in the circus has come to an end.
“A Season of Change” is a heart-warming story set in Pinecraft, an actual Amish/Mennonite community near Sarasota, Florida. It was interesting to read about the relaxed atmosphere of the community that is is such contrast to the Amish lifestyle I usually read about. The characters are well developed and the narrative held my interest quite well. I loved how Jacob’s children played an integral role. I also liked the fact that Jacob and Natalie were able to find a compromise for their differences. I usually find it difficult to believe when an Englisher converts to the Amish faith – even if it is for love.
A good story with a surprise or two, “A Season of Change” is sure to please those who enjoy Amish fiction and possibly even a few readers such as myself.
This book was provided for review by the Amazon Vine program.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Amish widower Jacob Miller believes it was a mistake to visit the Amish village of Pinecraft for winter vacation, especially after his daughter is struck by a car. Stranded in Sarasota until his daughter recovers, Jacob grows increasingly wary of events that unfold in his unfamiliar surroundings—including the strange curiosity of Englischer Natalie Bennett.
Natalie never thought her circus career as an aerial silks artist would end with a blown-out knee at the age of 25. She also never knew her late mother had a secret—that she was once Amish.
When Natalie meets the Millers at the Sarasota hospital, she is attracted to their warm hospitality and simple ways—and soon wonders if they can help her find her mother’s family. As Jacob and Natalie fall in love, their worlds collide. Will their differences tear them apart? Or will their love be strong enough to blend their clashing cultures?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lynette Sowell is the award-winning author of over 15 titles for Barbour Publishing, Harlequin, and Abingdon Press. Lynette was born in Western Massachusetts in the shadow of the Berkshire Mountains, raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, but makes her home on the doorstep of the Texas hill country. She loves reading, cooking, watching movies, and is always up for a Texas road trip. When she’s not writing fiction, she works as a reporter for her city newspaper and has a weekly column called My Front Porch.
by admin | Sep 9, 2014 | Author Interviews, Books
Welcome author Janice Thompson. Janice is the author of over 100 books for the Christian market, (mostly inspirational romantic comedies). She’s joining us today to share about her mother-of-the-bride cozy mysteries, “The Bridal Mayhem” series.
Janice, can you tell us a little about this series?
Sure! The Bridal Mayhem series was birthed (partly) out of my own experience! I have four daughters and they all got married within four years of each other. The first two weddings (in 2004) were only four and a half months apart! What a crazy period! Shortly after that one of my editors approached me and asked if I’d ever written cozy mysteries. I had not, but was perfectly willing to give it a try! In the writing biz they tell us to “write what you know” and I knew weddings! I’d been mother of the bride twice in a row, after all. So, I mapped out my story ideas with Annie Peterson, mother-of-the-bride, as the reluctant sleuth, solving crimes on her way to the wedding(s).
Sounds like fun! So, these books released a few years back? If so, why are you just now talking about them?
They released in print form between 2005 and 2007 and then released in eBook form with Spyglass Lane. Recently, the rights reverted back to me (the author) and I was given the opportunity to create new covers and upload them to kindle. I’m offering the first book free for a week to stir up interest in the whole series.
Can you tell us about the first book?
Of course! The first book is The Wedding Caper. It’s free on kindle this week (September 9th – 13th). In that story, both of Annie’s daughters get engaged, one right after the other. So, it’s weddings times two! At about that same time, $25,000 goes missing at the bank where Annie’s husband, Warren, works. She begins to suspect him of stealing the money to pay for their daughters’ weddings! Of course, she knows nothing about crime solving, but sets out to figure out whodunit before daughter #1’s big day. Did Warren take the money to pay for the weddings? Read The Wedding Caper to find out: http://amzn.to/1rUUI9T!
So, this is a series? What are the other books about?
Book two (Gone with the Groom) offers readers a rollicking good time! In this story, Annie’s future son-in-law goes missing two weeks before the big day. Does he have cold feet, or are there more sinister forces at work? In book three (Pushing up Daisies) a local florist passes away shortly before daughter Candy’s big day. Can Annie figure out who would want to murder a florist before her daughter’s wedding day? In book four (The Perfect Match) the local dating service goes up in flames. Annie’s in the thick of it, trying to figure out whodunit. In book five (Catering to Disaster) over 120 wedding guests end up with food poisoning after a wedding. Did the caterer slip up have they all been sabotaged?
There are five books in the series?
So far! Book six (Don’t Rock the Boat) is currently being written. In this story, Annie and her best friend Sheila are on a Caribbean cruise. An onboard bride goes missing just before her big day. Does she have cold feet? Has someone thrown her overboard? Did she re-board the ship after a recent excursion ashore? Annie has to figure this out so that the bride can have her big day!
You used your personal life experiences for this story?
In part! As I said, I was mother of the bride four times over, so I know what it is to be in that frenzied state of mind in the weeks leading up to your daughter’s wedding day. And though I’ve never solved a crime (to my knowledge) I enjoyed doing so through my characters. And speaking of characters: Annie’s best friend Sheila (wacky, crazy, colorful, fun) was based on my own BFF, Kay Malone. My sweet Kay passed away in May of 2013 from pancreatic cancer. The Wedding Caper is dedicated to her memory. As I mentioned above, The Wedding Caper was written in 2005, long before Kay’s cancer diagnosis. I was stunned—when reading back through the story—to see that one of the characters is battling pancreatic cancer. I’d forgotten all about that. Ironic and bittersweet, for sure.
Thanks for being with us, Janice. Any last thoughts?
Don’t forget to laugh. Life is hard, but laughter brings healing. I try to remember that when I’m having a tough day: there’s always something to laugh at, even if it’s through the tears.
www.janiceathompson.com
Facebook: Janice Hanna Thompson
Twitter: booksbyjanice
by admin | Sep 8, 2014 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Love Inspired, Romance, Suspense
MY REVIEW:
“Sunken Treasure” is the third novel in Katy Lee’s Love Inspired Suspense series set on Stepping Stones Island. A modern-day pirate tale, the plot is fast paced and filled with danger, suspense, and adventure as well as the requisite romance. The setting of Stepping Stones Island is perfect with its rich and mysterious history.
Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time! Rachelle Thibodaux found herself right in the middle of a high-stakes race to find a sunken ship that also involved revenge. Plenty of action, drama, and a few surprises kept me reading the entire book in one sitting. Realistically portrayed circumstances in Rachelle’s life made her character well-rounded and believable. I loved seeing how she slowly broke out of her self-imposed isolation and realized that her friends and neighbors did not blame her for the sins of her father. I really liked the characters and their connections to the previous books in the series.
“Sunken Treasure” is another riveting tale from Katy Lee and I highly recommend it and all her novels.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Danger on the High Seas
Shipwreck diver Gage Fontaine is used to modern-day pirates chasing after his boat and the buried treasure he salvages. But when he unknowingly leads a dangerous criminal to the waters off Stepping Stones Island, he puts a beautiful fisherwoman in grave danger. Rachelle Thibodaux has spent the past year hiding on her boat to avoid the town’s censure for her father’s crimes. But when she comes face-to-face with a gun-wielding pirate, she becomes a new kind of target. To save her own life, she’ll have to work with Gage to find the treasure before the pirates do.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
As an Inspirational Romantic Suspense author, Katy Lee writes higher-purpose stories in high-speed worlds. Through her writing, ministries, and teaching, she dedicates her life to sharing tales of love, from the greatest love story ever told to those sweet romantic stories of falling in love. Katy and her husband are born New Englanders, but have been known to travel at the drop of a hat along with their three children. But is where you can find Katy anytime.
by admin | Sep 7, 2014 | Books
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Thief of Glory
WaterBrook Press (August 19, 2014)
by
Sigmund BrouwerABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sigmund Brouwer is the best-selling author of nearly thirty novels, with close to 4 million books in print. Based on his inspiration for Thief of Glory, which Sigmund wrote as a way to learn and honor the his parent’s stories, especially of his father’s boyhood in a Japanese concentration camp, Sigmund leads The Chapters of Our Lives memoir seminars across the United States and Canada. Sigmund is married to recording artist Cindy Morgan and has two daughters.
Learn more about Sigmund and his books on his Website .
ABOUT THE BOOK:
A boy coming of age in a time of war…
the love that inspires him to survive.
For ten year-old Jeremiah Prins, the life of privilege as the son of a school headmaster in the Dutch East Indies comes crashing to a halt in 1942 after the Japanese Imperialist invasion of the Southeast Pacific. Jeremiah takes on the responsibility of caring for his younger siblings when his father and older stepbrothers are separated from the rest of the family, and he is surprised by what life in the camp reveals about a woman he barely knows—his frail, troubled mother.
Amidst starvation, brutality, sacrifice and generosity, Jeremiah draws on all of his courage and cunning to fill in the gap for his mother. Life in the camps is made more tolerable as Jeremiah’s boyhood infatuation with his close friend Laura deepens into a friendship from which they both draw strength.
When the darkest sides of humanity threaten to overwhelm Jeremiah and Laura, they reach for God’s light and grace, shining through his people. Time and war will test their fortitude and the only thing that will bring them safely to the other side is the most enduring bond of all.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Thief of Glory, go HERE.
by admin | Sep 6, 2014 | Books, Gilded Age, Historical, Romance
MY REVIEW:
I will be totally honest and admit that I did not remember entering to win a copy of “The Hesitant Heiress” when the author notified me that I had won a digital copy. I had seen brief mention of the book on Facebook a few times but had no other knowledge of it. I found I had some open space on my review calendar due to the late arrival of a book so I decided to go ahead and read it. As far as I know, this is Dawn’s first novel so I had no preconceived expectations.
Well, it looks like I have yet another new author to add to my “To Read” list. The well-paced plot with beautiful prose and captivating characters drew me in immediately. Although not exactly brooding, the overall tone of the story reminded me just a bit of the old Gothic novels by Victoria Holt or Mary Stewart that I so loved when I was younger. It is a historical romance with just the right touch of mystery and unanswered questions to hold my interest. I really liked the fact that Amaryllis and Nathan actually conversed – a lot. And sometimes they even talked about their faith. It was not just instant attraction but a relationship that grew as they got to know each other better, even though Amaryllis was so determined that she could not trust Nathan. There were times that I became a little frustrated with Amaryllis because nearly every time Nathan attempted to explain his feelings for her, she managed to change the subject.
During the first half of the book or so, the author seemed to concentrate on developing the back story for both Nathan and Amaryllis while their tempestuous relationship ebbed and flowed. Then as the story progressed toward its climatic end, the drama built, secrets were revealed, and there was even some action and danger. As all good stories do, this one ended well, leaving me anxious for the next installment of The Everstone Chronicles. I am thankful that I am on the list of influencers who will receive an advance copy to review.
So, if you are looking for a new author who writes really good historical romance, be sure to check out “The Hesitant Heiress”. I’m glad I did!
I won a digital copy of this book during its book launch contest.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
After being unjustly expelled from the Boston Conservatory of Music, Amaryllis Brigham sees her dreams of founding a music academy disappearing before her very eyes. Now the only way to achieve her goal comes with high stakes for someone set on avoiding men as much as possible: marry within the year to inherit her grandmother’s fortune. Amaryllis reluctantly takes part in her aunt’s society, intent on getting to the west coast on her own… and without a husband.
Despite her own misgivings, she soon finds herself falling in love with the most unlikely of men, Nathan Everstone, whose father not only had a part in her expulsion, but whose ominous presence has haunted her dreams for a decade since her mother’s tragic death. Nathan turns out to be much more than he seems and everything she never knew she wanted. But just as everything Amaryllis has recently hoped for comes to fruition, it all falls apart when she finds that the real culprit who has been “managing her life isn’t who she thought at all.
ENDORSEMENTS:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dawn Crandall is the author of The Hesitant Heiress (released August 1, 2014).
A graduate of Taylor University with a degree in Christian Education, and a former bookseller at Barnes & Noble, Dawn Crandall didn’t begin writing until 2010 when her husband found out about her long-buried dream of writing a book. Without a doubt about someday becoming published, he let her quit her job in 2010 in order to focus on writing The Hesitant Heiress. It didn’t take encouraged long to realize that writing books was what she was made to do. Dawn is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary.
Apart from writing books, Dawn is also a first-time mom to a precious little boy (born March 2014) and also serves with her husband in a premarriage mentor program at their local church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Dawn is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, secretary for the Indiana ACFW Chapter (Hoosier Ink), and associate member of the Great Lakes ACFW Chapter.
The Everstone Chronicles is Dawn’s first series with Whitaker House. All three books composing the serieswere semifinalists in ACFW’s prestigious Genesis Writing Contest, the third book going on to become a finalist in 2013.
