Susan grew up in Wayzata, a suburb of Minneapolis, and became an avid camper from an early age. Her favorite fir-lined spot is the north shore of Minnesota is where she met her husband, honeymooned and dreamed of living.
The north woods easily became the foundation for her first series, The Deep Haven series, based on a little tourist town along the shores of Lake Superior. Her first full-length book, Happily Ever After, became a Christy Award Finalist published in 2004 with Tyndale/Heartquest.
As an award winning author, Susan returned home in 2004, to her native Minnesota after serving for eight years with her husband and four children as missionaries with SEND International in Far East Russia. She now writes full time from Minnesota’s north woods and the beautiful town that she always dreamed of living in.
You can sample a chapter of each and every one of Susan’s novels, on her website, HERE.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
PJ Sugar knows three things for sure:
1) After traveling the country for ten years hoping to shake free from the trail of disaster that’s become her life, she needs a fresh start.
2) The last person she wants to see when she heads home for her sister’s wedding is Boone-her former flame and the reason she left town.
3) Her best friend’s husband absolutely did not commit the first murder Kellogg, Minnesota, has seen in more than a decade.
What PJ doesn’t know is that when she starts digging for evidence, she’ll uncover much more than she bargained for-a deadly conspiracy, a knack for investigation, and maybe, just maybe, that fresh start she’s been longing for.
It’s not fair to say that trouble happens every time PJ Sugar is around, but it feels that way when she returns to her home town, looking for a fresh start. Within a week, her former teacher is murdered and her best friend’s husband is arrested as the number-one suspect. Although the police detective investigating the murder—who also happens to be PJ’s former flame—is convinced it’s an open-and-shut case, PJ’s not so sure. She begins digging for clues in an effort to clear her friend’s husband and ends up reigniting old passions, uncovering an international conspiracy, and solving a murder along the way. She also discovers that maybe God can use a woman who never seems to get it right.
I have been a fan of Susan May Warren for awhile now and have enjoyed each and every book of hers that I have read. Still have a couple I haven’t gotten hold of yet – but I will eventually. There is only so much money and so much time.
I wish I had time to do justice to this review but I am already behind on everything I need to do to get everything ready for my daughter’s pre-wedding reception. She and her intended are flying to Hawaii to have a private wedding on the beach and are celebrating with friends and family before the blessed event. Mom still has a lot of cooking to do and serving dishes to locate. You know the routine.
Anyway, just let me say that Nothing But Trouble is another winner for Susan. It is a fresh and humorous tale with plenty of situations that will have you laughing out loud. The romantic storyline will keep you guessing and probably hoping that PJ will make the right choice – at least I know I was. And as in all Susan’s novels, there is a spiritual life lesson that is woven artfully into the story without a heavy hand.
Robin Lee Hatcher discovered her vocation as a novelist after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction (Whispers from Yesterday), the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance (Patterns of Love and The Shepherd’s Voice), two RT Career Achievement Awards (Americana Romance and Inspirational Fiction), and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin is the author of over 50 novels, including Catching Katie, named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal.
Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She is passionate about the theater, and several nights every summer, she can be found at the outdoor amphitheater of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, enjoying Shakespeare under the stars. She makes her home outside of Boise, sharing it with Poppet the high-maintenance Papillon
ABOUT THE BOOK:
In A Vote of Confidence, the stage is set for some intriguing insight into what it was like during 1915 to be a woman in a “mans’ world.”
Guinevere Arlington is a beautiful young woman determined to remain in charge of her own life, For seven years, Gwen has carved out a full life in the bustling town of Bethlehem Springs, Idaho, where she teaches piano and writes for the local newspaper. Her passion for the town, its people, and the surrounding land prompt Gwen to run for mayor. After all, who says a woman can’t do a man’s job?
But stepping outside the boundaries of convention can get messy. A shady lawyer backs Gwen, believing he can control her once she’s in office. A wealthy newcomer throws his hat into the ring in an effort to overcome opposition to the health resort he’s building north of town. When the opponents fall in love, everything changes, forcing Gwen to face what she may have to lose in order to win.
Gwen Arlington is a heroine who defies the standards set for women by the early 1900’s town of Bethlehem Springs, Idaho. Not only is she beautiful, but she is intelligent, independent, courageous, totally devoted to her Savior, and devoted to her family and town. At her sister’s encouragement, she decides to run for mayor when no one else steps up to oppose the only candidate who is frequently publicly intoxicated. Sparks fly when wealthy newcomer Morgan throws his hat into the ring.
I was given the opportunity to participate in the blog tour for Jane Kirkpatrick’s two newest books. A Flickering Light is a novel based on the life of Jane’s grandmother and includes several photographs of her as well as people and events that shaped her life. Aurora is a beautiful hard cover book that illustrates the history and wonderful craftmanship of the early Aurora colony of Oregon.
Aurora is a book that could easily be considered a coffee table book. It is one that can be picked up and browsed simply for its beautiful photography of quilts and other crafts as well as the historical photographs of the colony. For those who have read Jane’s Change and Cherish Historical Series, the people and settings will come to life. If you have not read the series, once you read Aurora, you will just have to.
In A Flickering Light, Jane tells Jessie’s story without fear of the tough issues. Jessie’s struggles with her attraction to her much older, married employer is handled with understanding and discretion. The book is an interesting look at the people and customs of the early twentieth century as well as an indepth character study that not only chronicles the events but the hidden ambitions and emotions that shaped them.
I would recommend both Aurora and A Flickering Light. To purchase Aurora, click here. To purchase A Flickering Light click here.
Summary for A Flickering Light:
Returning to her Midwest roots, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick draws a page from her grandmother’s photo album to capture the interplay between shadow and light, temptation and faith that marks a woman’s pursuit of her dreams.
She took exquisite photographs, but her heart was the true image exposed.
Fifteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele loves nothing more than capturing a gorgeous Minnesota landscape when the sunlight casts its most mesmerizing shadows. So when F.J. Bauer hires her in 1907 to assist in his studio and darkroom, her dreams for a career in photography appear to find root in reality.
With the infamous hazards of the explosive powder used for lighting and the toxic darkroom chemicals, photography is considered a man’s profession. Yet Jessie shows remarkable talent in both the artistry and business of running a studio. She proves less skillful, however, at managing her growing attraction to the very married Mr. Bauer.
This luminous coming-of-age tale deftly exposes the intricate shadows that play across every dream worth pursuing—and the irresistible light that beckons the dreamer on.
Summary for Aurora:
Wrap yourself in a fantastic journey, a remarkable commitment, and a spare and splendid story
Master storyteller Jane Kirkpatrick extols the beautiful treasures, unknown to a wider public, rediscovered in the Old Aurora Colony of Oregon’s lush Willamette Valley. The people and legacy of Aurora, a utopian community founded in the mid-1800s, will stir your imagination, hopes, and dreams; and remind you that every life matters—that our lives are the stories other people read first.
~Featuring~
Unique and treasured quilt pattern variations
More than 100 photographs, many never-before published, from 1850 to today
Cherished stories from Aurora descendants
Rich images of fine crafts from the Aurora Colony and private collections
An introduction by renowned American artist John Houser
Aurora is about the difference every ordinary life can make—and a beautiful celebration of a time and place in which people expressed their most cherished beliefs through the work of their imagination and hands.
Author Bio:
Jane Kirkpatrick is a best-selling, award-winning author whose previous historical novels include All Together in One Place and Christy Award finalist A Tendering in the Storm. An international keynote speaker, she has earned regional and national recognition for her stories based on the lives of actual people, including the prestigious Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Hall of Fame. Jane is a Wisconsin native who since 1974 has lived in Eastern Oregon, where she and her husband, Jerry, ranch 160 rugged acres.
I have always found Tracie Peterson’s books to be well written, thoroughly researched, and captivating. A Promise to Believe In, the first of the Brides of Gallatin County series did not disappoint. Peterson’s vivid imagery of life in the Montana Territory of the late 1800’s, excellent character development, humor, and even a bit of suspense make for an engaging story.Of particular interest to me was how Peterson began to weave in the stories of the other Gallatin sisters who will be primary subjects of later volumes of this series. How could the reader fail to follow up on characters with whom they have already connected?
Each of the Gallatin girls is charming in her own way but each has her own emotional issues that seem to tie in with their mother’s death and the subsequent nomadic life spent with their recently deceased father. A Promise to Believe In is Gwen’s story – her firm belief that she is cursed and a danger to those she loves, her fear of taking another chance at love, and ultimately her conviction that God has abandoned her. It is an example of the transformation that comes once God’s truth is accepted and taken to heart.
ABOUT THE BOOK: Gwen, Beth, and Lacy Gallatin fashion a life for themselves in the Montana wilds, operating a roadhouse that is located at the crossroads of two major stage lines. When their father is accidentally killed, the oldest sister, Gwen, reasons that she’s cursed. After all, death seems to haunt her: her mother, now her father…and she was married for a mere ten days before her husband died from a bout of measles.
As Gwen and her sisters struggle to maintain the inn on their own, an unexpected visitor adds to the mayhem. Hank Bishop claims to be searching for something in the possession of Gwen’s late husband. But mayhem of another sort builds in Gwen’s heart as she finds a growing attraction to this man. Can she dare to hope that love might again be hers?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tracie Peterson is a bestselling author who writes in both historical and contemporary genres. Her novels reveal her love for research as well as her strong desire to develop emotionally meaningful characters and stories for her readers. Tracie and her family live in Montana.
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Susan grew up in Wayzata, a suburb of Minneapolis, and became an avid camper from an early age. Her favorite fir-lined spot is the north shore of Minnesota is where she met her husband, honeymooned and dreamed of living.
PJ Sugar knows three things for sure:
Returning to her Midwest roots, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick draws a page from her grandmother’s photo album to capture the interplay between shadow and light, temptation and faith that marks a woman’s pursuit of her dreams.
Jane Kirkpatrick is a best-selling, award-winning author whose previous historical novels include All Together in One Place and Christy Award finalist A Tendering in the Storm. An international keynote speaker, she has earned regional and national recognition for her stories based on the lives of actual people, including the prestigious Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Hall of Fame. Jane is a Wisconsin native who since 1974 has lived in Eastern Oregon, where she and her husband, Jerry, ranch 160 rugged acres.
