by admin | Mar 9, 2009 | Books
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
The Passion of Mary Margaret
Thomas Nelson (March 10, 2009)
by
Lisa Samson
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lisa Samson is a Christy Award-winning author of 19 books, including the Women of the Faith Novel of the Year, Quaker Summer. Lisa has been hailed by Publishers Weekly as “a talented novelist who isn’t afraid to take risks.”
Her novel Embrace Me has been named as one of Library Journal’s books of the year.
She lives in Lexinton, Kentucky, with her husband and three kids.
She stays busy by writing, volunteering at Kentucky Refugee Ministries, raising children and trying to be supportive of a husband in seminary. (Trying…some days she’s downright awful. It’s a good thing he’s such a fabulous cook!) She can tell you one thing, it’s never dull around there.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Mary-Margaret accepts a calling that surpasses her wildest dreams . . . and challenges her deep faith.
When Mary-Margaret Danaher met Jude Keller, the lightkeeper’s son, she was studying at convent school on a small island in the Chesapeake Bay. Destined for a life as a religious sister, she nevertheless felt a pull toward Jude-rough and tumble, promiscuous Jude.
After sojourning as a medical missions sister in Swaziland, Mary-Margaret returns to the island to prepare for her final vows. Jude, too, returns to the island, dissolute and hardened. Mary-Margaret can hardly believe it when the Spirit tells her she must marry the troubled boy who befriended her all those years ago, forsaking the only life she ever wanted for a man she knows she’ll never love.
MY REVIEW:
Lisa Samson has to be one of the most versatile authors I have had the opportunity to read. From the Hollywood Nobody series to Embrace Me, Club Sandwich, and now The Passion of Mary Margaret, Lisa has written about a wide range of personalities, situations, and stages of life. She seems to have a knack for getting down to the core of what makes each person unique and what drives them.
Written as a journal in which the aging sister Mary Margaret expounds on the events of her lifetime, the reader is give a precious glimpse of Mary Margaret’s close relationship with Jesus which guides her entire life’s journey. Through her eyes is seen the depths of depravity that humans can reach and some understanding of the pain that pushes them there. At the same time, Samson illustrates the absolute love of the Lord for each of his children and His marvelous mercy and redemption if only they will receive it.
I would definitely recommend The Passion of Mary Margaret. It is well worth the time invested in reading it.
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by admin | Mar 5, 2009 | Books
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
Today’s Wild Card author is:
and the book:
Last Mango in Texas
FaithWords (March 13, 2009)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ray Blackston of Greenville, South Carolina, worked as a buyer and a broker for eleven years before cashing in his modest 401k and leaving his corporate cubicle to write full time. He serves on the missions committee of his church, has traveled to rural Ecuador on a summer missions program, and coaches his seven-year-old nephew, Action Jackson, in T-Ball.
Visit the author’s website.
Product Details:
List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: FaithWords (March 13, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446579610
ISBN-13: 978-0446579612
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Please press the Open Book Widget to read the first chapter.
by admin | Mar 4, 2009 | Books
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Double Minds
Zondervan (February 1, 2009)
by
Terri Blackstock
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Terri Blackstock hasn’t always written for the Lord. Just over a decade ago she was an award-winning secular novelist writing for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, and Silhouette. With thirty-two titles published and 3.5 million books in print, she found that she was miserable. The compromises she had made in her career had taken their toll on her spiritual life, and she yearned to renew her relationship with Christ.
After much soul-searching and wrestling with God, she finally told the Lord that she would never write another thing that didn’t glorify Him. Thinking she might never be published again, she began planning ways to supplement her income, while she worked on her first idea for a Christian novel.
Because she enjoyed reading suspense novels, she tried weaving a faith message into a fast-paced page-turner with ordinary people in jeopardy. When Christian publishers expressed great interest, she realized that a secondary job would not be necessary. God was paving the way for her to enter the Christian publishing world.
Since that time, she’s sold 2 million Christian novels. She has over thirty Christian titles, many of which have been number one best-sellers. Her latest book, Dawn’s Light is part of her popular Restoration Series. True Light, reached number one on the Top 50 of all Christian books the first full month it was in stores. Night Light was the winner of the 2007 Retailer’s Choice Award for General Fiction. Other reader favorites include her Cape Refuge Series, her Newpointe 911 Series, her SunCoast Chronicles Series and her “Seasons” books written with co-author Beverly LaHaye.
Terri is literally a native of nowhere since she was raised in the Air Force, She makes her home in Mississippi. Terri and her husband are the parents of three adult children–a blended family which she considers one more of God’s provisions.
Terri has appeared on national television programs such as “The 700 Club” and “Home Life,” and has been a guest on numerous radio programs across the country.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Struggling to succeed in the Nashville music scene, talented singer/songwriter Parker James finds the competition fierce – even deadly. A young woman’s murder, industry corruption, and a menacing stalker draw Parker into danger and intrigue. Nothing is as it appears, and unraveling the truth challenges everything Parker believes about her talent, her future, and her faith.
The young girl with the Bohemian style was on the floor where she’d fallen, between Parker’s computer case and her file cabinet. She wore a long, flowing skirt—lavender, the color of calm—and camel-colored Uggs. She lay on her back, her long, wavy blonde hair matted with blood.
For struggling singer/songwriter Parker James, the music business has just turned deadly. Her desk in the reception area of a busy recording studio has become a crime scene, and Parker finds herself drawn into a mystery where nothing is as it seems.
Unraveling the truth puts her own life at risk when she uncovers high-level industry corruption and is terrorized by a menacing stalker. As the danger escalates, Parker begins to question her dreams, her future, and even her faith.
Double Minds is a double treat—combining a compelling suspense novel with an inside look at the world of the Christian music industry in Nashville. Terri Blackstock grabs readers at page one and keeps them riveted until the final plot twist is untangled.
You can preview a Book Trailer on her site HERE
If you would like to read the first chapter of Double Minds, go HERE
Learn more about Terri and her books on her Website.
MY REVIEW:
While Double Minds could stand alone as a suspense novel with an intriguing plot that keeps the reader guessing, it is also a commentary about the very real issues that Christians face every day. Even in the midst of a murder investigation, Parker James is forced to make choices that seem to compromise her personal faith. Other characters, many of whom are also involved in the Christian music industry, have made their own choices in order to achieve fame and fortune. One struggles with anorexia – another has resorted to stealing songs.
Once again, Terri Blackstock has given the reader a book that will keep the pages turning and hopefully provide some surprises along the way. I would recommend Double Minds to all Blackstock fans and those who just love a good mystery.
(more…)
by admin | Mar 4, 2009 | Books
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
Today’s Wild Card author is:
and the book:
Milk Money (Maryland Wedding Series #2)
Barbour Publishing, Inc (2008)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Cecelia Dowdy is a world traveler who has been an avid reader for as long as she can remember. When she first read Christian fiction, she felt called to write for the genre.She loves to read, write, and bake desserts in her spare time. Currently she resides with her husband and young son in Maryland.
Visit the author’s website and blog.
Product Details:
Mass Market Paperback: 170 pages
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc (2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602602557
ISBN-13: 978-1602602557
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Dumbfounded, the accountant gazed at a cow giving birth. He dropped his briefcase when he saw the feet of the baby sticking out of the mother’s canal. A rope was looped around the legs of the young animal, and a brown-skinned woman pulled so hard that the muscles in her slender arms flexed. Her eyes squeezed shut while she grunted, reminding him of the noises people made when they bench-pressed weights.
She opened her eyes.
“Casey, hold on,” she cooed. When he watched the birth, his sour stomach worsened, and the bagel and cream cheese he’d managed to eat for breakfast felt like a dead weight in his belly. Her tears mingled with the sweat rolling down her face. She continued to pull and glanced in his direction. “Oh, thank God you came. Come and help me.”
A plethora of unfamiliar scents tingled his nose. He swallowed, losing his voice. What was he supposed to do? She continued to look at him, pulling on the rope periodically.
“I already left a message on your answering service that it was coming out backward.” Pushing the door open, he entered the room adjoining the barn, still hoping he wouldn’t throw up. She nodded toward the rope, still tugging. “With both of us pulling, maybe we’ll be able to get the calf out.”
“Okay.” He swallowed his nausea and pulled, mimicking the way he used to grunt when bench-pressing heavy weights. He followed her example, keeping tension on the rope and pulling each time the cow had a contraction. She grunted also, and their noises continued until the calf exited the birth canal minutes later. She dropped the rope, and he rushed behind her to look at the young animal. He touched the newborn, awed by the birth. She glanced at him as she cleaned gunk off the calf ’s nose and mouth.
Her sigh filled the space when she noticed the animal was breathing. “Aren’t you going to examine the cow and calf?”
Before he could respond, a young man holding a large black plastic tote entered the pen. “This the Cooper farm?”
Confusion marred her face when she glanced at Frank. Then she focused on the new arrival. The newcomer rushed to the baby cow and began examining it. “I’m Dr. Lindsey’s son. I’m taking over my daddy’s practice this week since he’s on vacation. He told you that, didn’t he?”
She nodded, still looking confused. “I left a message on your answering service earlier.”
The vet grunted. “I was down the street at the horse farm helping out with another birth, so I couldn’t leave.”
“Are the cow and calf okay?”
“They both look fine.” He stopped his examination and looked at them. “I’m glad you had somebody helping you. You might not have gotten him out in time if you’d been pulling him on your own.” He pulled a tool out of his bag. “You have antibiotic on hand for the calf, right? If not, I’ve got some.”
The attractive woman nodded, her dark hair clinging to her sweaty neck as she promised the vet she would give the new calf the medicine. Frank watched, mesmerized by the whole process. A short time later, the newborn nursed from the mother. “Thank you, doctor,” said the woman, patting the man on the shoulder.
The doctor shook his head, placing his tools back into his bag. “Don’t thank me. You two got him out in time.” He told Emily he would send her the bill, and then he left the farm.
Emily glanced at Frank, as if taking in his khaki slacks and oxford shirt. Noticing his bloody hands, she beckoned him over to a room containing a sink and a large steel tank. After ripping off the long plastic gloves covering her hands and forearms and dropping them into the trash can, she turned the water on, pumped out several squirts of soap, and washed. “I thought you were the vet,” she said, continuing to scrub her hands and forearms. “I’ve never met Dr. Lindsey’s son, so that’s why I assumed you were him.” After rinsing, she pulled paper towels from a dispenser and gestured for Frank to use the sink.
Frank shrugged and walked to the sink, placing his hands under the running water. “Sorry. I helped you out, but I didn’t have any idea if I was doing it right. It’s probably good I showed up when I did. It looked like you’d been trying to help that cow for a long time.”
She shook her head. “Cows are tough. They can be in labor for hours before giving birth. When you came, I’d just started pulling the calf out with the rope.” She continued to stare, frowning. “Well, if you’re not Dr. Lindsey’s son, then who are you?”
He offered his recently washed hand, glad the nauseous feeling had evaporated from his stomach. “I’m Franklin Reese, Certified Public Accountant.”
MY REVIEW:
Milk Money is an entertaining story about two people from very different walks of life who find themselves attracted to each other. With both personal and spiritual obstacles to overcome, there seems to be little hope that anything other than than friendship can ever exist between Emily and Frank. As they spend time together tracking down her deceased father’s missing financial records, they are forced to confront the obstacles between them.
Lisa Samson is a Christy Award-winning author of 19 books, including the Women of the Faith Novel of the Year, Quaker Summer. Lisa has been hailed by Publishers Weekly as “a talented novelist who isn’t afraid to take risks.”
Mary-Margaret accepts a calling that surpasses her wildest dreams . . . and challenges her deep faith.
