by admin | Oct 13, 2010 | Amish, Books, Historical, Romance
MY REVIEW:
Set during the Vietnam war, The Waiting primarily features members of the Zook family and Jorie King, a close friend and neighbor. Jorie’s life is somewhat on hold as she waits for Ben Zook’s return from Vietnam. Although hoping to marry, the pair parted on less than ideal terms. Meanwhile Jorie has taken on the job of teaching the local Amish school, with a board that holds great expectations of her abilities. Caleb Zook, the oldest member of the Zook siblings, has his hands full with running his deceased parents’ farm, caring for his own wife and child as well as his younger brothers. When multiple tragedies strike in close succession and he is elected as a new minister, Caleb is nearly overwhelmed with grief and stress.
To the casual reader, it may seem that the author has given her characters an inordinate amount of problems to bear. But when you think about it, real life can actually be that way at times. Sometimes it seems as if we can’t overcome one thing before several more are heaped on top. I felt that the characters and situations in The Waiting were both believable and realistic. The plot was interwoven with both highs and lows, joy and grief, love, anger, hate, and an all abiding faith in God. One thing I particularly enjoyed about the story was that it was unpredictable. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, an unexpected twist would change everything. This is one book you just have to read for yourself.
This book was provided for review by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Amish and Awaiting True Love
Will she ever find the love that she’s been looking for in her Amish community?
From author Suzanne Woods Fisher, who has written extensively about the Amish in books like Amish Peace and Amish Proverbs, comes The Waiting, an endearing fictional story about an Amish girl, looking for love.
Jorie King has been waiting for Benjamin Zook to return home to Lancaster County so they can marry. When news arrives that Ben has been killed, Jorie finds comfort in the friendship of his brother Caleb. That friendship ripens into love, and it seems that they are meant to be together.
But when the unexpected happens, their worlds are turned upside down once more. Will Jorie trust God to lead her into the arms of a new man?
A multifaceted story about complex people living the simple life, The Waiting is the second book in the Lancaster County Secrets series. Readers will find themselves transported into the world of the Amish and deeply invested in these wonderful characters.
Available October 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
S
uzanne Woods Fisher is the CBA bestselling author of The Choice, The Waiting, Amish Peace, and Amish Proverbs. Her interest in the Anabaptist cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, W. D. Benedict, who was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Benedict eventually became publisher of Christianity Today magazine. Suzanne is the host of a radio show called Amish Wisdom and her work has appeared in many magazines. She lives in California.
by admin | Oct 13, 2010 | Books, Historical, Romance, Western
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Embers of Love
Bethany House (October 1, 2010)
by
Tracie Peterson
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tracie Peterson is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than 85 novels. She received her first book contract in November, 1992 and saw A Place To Belong published in February 1993 with Barbour Publishings’ Heartsong Presents. She wrote exclusively with Heartsong for the next two years, receiving their readership’s vote for Favorite Author of the Year for three years in a row.
In December, 1995 she signed a contract with Bethany House Publishers to co-write a series with author Judith Pella. Tracie now writes exclusively for Bethany House Publishers.
She teaches writing workshops at a variety of conferences on subjects such as inspirational romance and historical research.
Tracie was awarded the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for 2007 Inspirational Fiction and her books have won numerous awards for favorite books in a variety of contests.
Making her home in Montana, this Kansas native enjoys spending time with family–especially her three grandchildren–Rainy, Fox and Max. She’s active in her church as the Director of Women’s Ministries, coordinates a yearly writer’s retreat for published authors, and travels, as time permits, to research her books
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The logging industry in eastern Texas is booming, and Deborah Vandermark plans to assist her family’s business now that she’s completed college. Unexpectedly, her best friend, Lizzie Decker, accompanies her back home–fleeing a wedding and groom she has no interest in.
Deborah, the determined matchmaker, puts her sights on uniting her brother and dear friend in a true love match. Deborah soon meets Dr. Christopher Clayton, a much-needed addition to the town. As their lives intersect, Deborah realizes that she has a much greater interest in medicine and science than the bookkeeping she was trained in.
But when typhoid begins to spread and Lizzie’s jilted fiance returns, Deborah wonders if true love can overcome such obstacles…for those dearest to her, and for herself.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Embers of Love, go HERE.
Learn more about Tracie and her books on her Website.
MY REVIEW:
Introducing the new Striking a Match series, Embers of Love is set primarily in the pine hills of east Texas. In this volume, the reader gets a bonus of two romances for the price of one. When Deborah rescues her good friend Lizzie from a potentially disastrous marriage, she talks the runaway bride into going home to Texas with her. As she watches the hoped for romance develop between her brother and Lizzie, Deborah refuses to even consider a romance for herself because she feels obliged to help with her family’s logging business. Once Deborah gets to know and helps the new doctor in town, Christopher Clayton, she finds that he is the only person in town who understands her desire to learn . . . and he actually encourages her. Their friendship develops into mutual attraction; however both deny their developing feelings due to their assumed responsibility to their families.
Embers of Love is the kind of book I have come to expect from Tracie Peterson – one that is well researched, full of historical and geographical facts, and contains both humor and drama, a good romantic story, and a strong spiritual message. I would recommend Embers of Love to those who are already fans of Tracie Peterson and also to those who enjoy a good historical romance.
by admin | Oct 11, 2010 | Books, Christmas
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Snow Day
FaithWords (October 11, 2010)
by
Billy Coffey
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
When you’re raised in small-town Virginia by a redneck father and a Mennonite mother, certain things become ingrained. And when you marry a small-town girl and have two small-town kids, all you want to do is pass those ingrained things along.
Like believing the best life is one lived in the country enjoying the pleasures it provides—summer nights beneath the stars, rocking chairs on the front porch, deer grazing in the fields. And believing that no matter how iffy life can get sometimes, there are some things that are eternal and unchanging.
But above all else, believing that in everything there is story waiting to be told.
That’s where I come in.
Billy Coffey was raised on stories. The first ones came on the front porches of relatives, tales laced with local charm and deep meaning. Then came the stories from people like Max Lucado and Robert Fulghum, who write with a charm and deep meaning of their own.
Billy lives with his wife and two children in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. If you drive by his house, you’ll probably spot him on the front porch. If you do, give him a wave. He’ll wave back.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
In this debut novel, Peter is a simple man who lives by a simple truth–a person gains strength by leaning on his constants. To him, those constants are the factory where he works, the family he loves, and the God who sustains him. But when news of job cuts comes against the backdrop of an unexpected snowstorm, his life becomes filled with far more doubts than certainties.
With humor and a gift for storytelling, Billy Coffey brings you along as he spends his snow day encountering family, friends, and strangers of his small Virginia town. All have had their own battles with life’s storms. Some have found redemption. Others are still seeking it. But each one offers a piece to the puzzle of why we must sometimes suffer loss, and each one will help Peter find a greater truth–our lives are made beautiful not by our big moments, but our little ones. (2010)
To read an excerpt from Snow Day, go HERE.
Learn more about Billy on his Website.
MY REVIEW:
Easily read in one sitting, Snow Day follows Peter through one day of his life taken off from work due to a surprise snowstorm. Much of the book highlights Peter’s trip to the mega mart and back and the people he meets or observes along the way. The remainder of the book is spent with his family and other residents of his neighborhood. Deceptively simple, Snow Day nevertheless covers a lot of ground. Each of Peter’s encounters leaves him (and the reader) with plenty to ponder about life and how much of it we miss along the way.
Snow Day is a book full of faith, love, humor and wisdom that is good enough to pick up the second time to really savor. Not what I expected but I received a real blessing from it. And don’t stop with Snow Day, be sure and check out Billy’s website, especially his blog. It is now on my favorites list.
by admin | Oct 10, 2010 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Urban Fiction
MY REVIEW:
As the title suggests, Faithful is about faithfulness on many levels. It is about three women who are faithful friends during both good times and bad. It is about faithfulness to a husband who has cheated or who is not the man of faith he should be. It is about faithfulness to Christian morality in the face of temptations. But most of all it is about the faithfulness of God who is always available to see His children through the hard times.
Faithful is a realistic story that handles some touchy subjects such as infidelity and intimacy outside marriage with honesty and restraint. The struggles of each of the three women to remain faithful to God despite their circumstances rings true and could be an encouragement to many readers who can identify with them. The power of prayer and the faithfulness of God are major themes that run throughout the narrative. By the end of the book, readers will encounter several instances of answered prayer and will probably see glimpses of themselves in at least one of the characters. Faithful is a thought provoking novel that could very well provide important assistance in a reader’s spiritual journey.
This book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishers.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Three life-long friends experience life-altering struggles. Will they find the strength to be faithful to the covenants they’ve made with God…and each other?
Cydney Sanders thought she knew God’s plan for her life. She’d marry, have kids, and then snap her body back into shape with Tae Bo. But she’s celebrating her fortieth birthday as the maid of honor at her little sister’s wedding . . . and still single. Why would God give her this desire to marry, but no husband? And why is her life suddenly complicated by the best man-who’s the opposite of what she wants in a husband?
Cydney’s best friend Dana has the perfect marriage. But when Dana discovers her husband’s affair, her world goes into a tailspin. And Phyllis is out of hope after six years of unanswered prayers for her husband to find faith. When she runs into an old friend who is the Christian man she longs for, she’s faced with an overwhelming choice.
With life falling apart around them, can they trust God like never before?
Read the first chapter of Faithful by Kim Cash Tate.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
When Kim graduated from George Washington University Law School she expected to live and practice law in Washington, DC the rest of her life—but God had other plans. Kim moved to Madison, WI where she married Bill and joined a church—which led to a complete “reshaping” of Kim’s identity. After almost a decade as a lawyer Kim resigned her partnership to stay home with her children. Now she’s the author of three books (two fiction, one non-fiction). Kim is a Women of Faith speaker and the founder of Colored in Christ Ministries Kim, Bill, and their two children live in Missouri.
