{"id":16438,"date":"2014-02-20T15:13:22","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T20:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=16438"},"modified":"2014-02-20T15:13:22","modified_gmt":"2014-02-20T20:13:22","slug":"hopeful-by-shelley-shepard-gray-return-to-sugarcreek-book-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=16438","title":{"rendered":"Hopeful by Shelley Shepard Gray (Return to Sugarcreek, Book One)"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr \/>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>MY REVIEW:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hopeful&#8221; is a story primarily about Miriam Zehr but it includes more than one side story that feature other members of the Sugarcreek community. A common thread through each person&#8217;s story is hope though at times it seems that their circumstances are nearly hopeless. I enjoyed the way the author tied the lives of these friends and neighbors together and brought healing, hope, and love to each of them.<\/p>\n<p>Miriam Zehr is one of those people everyone loves to be around because of her sunny and encouraging nature. Unfortunately Miriam does not see herself the way others view her but compares herself to other women who she believes are more attractive. Then one day a small ray of hope shines into Miriam&#8217;s life when it appears that the man she has had her eye on for years may have finally noticed her. What transpires is a story that is humorous,\u00a0 heartbreaking, romantic, and even mysterious and suspense filled. Yet through it all runs the message that if one places their hope and faith in the Lord, His grace and mercy never fail.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/divider2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10857\" title=\"divider2\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/divider2.png\" width=\"317\" height=\"61\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/divider2.png 317w, https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/divider2-150x28.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 317px) 100vw, 317px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>This book was provided for review by LitFuse Publicity.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>ABOUT THE BOOK:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-16439\" alt=\"Hopeful\" src=\"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Hopeful.jpg\" width=\"252\" height=\"378\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Hopeful.jpg 252w, https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Hopeful-100x150.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Hopeful-150x225.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 252px) 100vw, 252px\" \/>In the Amish town of Sugarcreek, love comes in many forms. But will it come at all for Miriam?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Miriam Zehr has worked at the Sugarcreek Inn longer than she cares to admit. The restaurant is a favorite of town residents as well as the many tourists who come to taste the famous Amish fare. Though she always tries to have a smile for every customer, deep down Miriam knows something\u2019s missing: a family of her own.<\/p>\n<p>Miriam has never felt particularly beautiful, especially because she\u2019s always been a bit heavier than other girls her age. When Junior, the man she\u2019s pined for all her life, suddenly seeks her out, she\u2019s thrilled to be noticed . . . until she realizes he\u2019s only asking her to help get the attention of Mary Kathryn Hershberger, her pretty friend.<\/p>\n<p>If Miriam helps Junior court Mary Kathryn, she\u2019ll get to spend a lot of time with him, but she might lose him in the process. Are these few stolen moments worth a lifetime of sacrifice? Is Miriam right to even hope for the life she dreams of?<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.shelleyshepardgray.com\/hopeful-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">Purchase a copy and learn more at Shelley\u2019s website\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ABOUT THE AUTHOR:<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"about_author clear\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-16440\" alt=\"Shelley Shepard Gray\" src=\"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/SGray-201.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/SGray-201.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/SGray-201-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/SGray-201-150x187.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>Shelley Shepard Gray is a two-time New York Times bestseller, a two-time USA Today bestseller, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time Holt Medallion winner. She lives in Southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town\u2019s bike trail.<\/p>\n<p>Find out more about Shelley at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shelleyshepardgray.com\">http:\/\/www.shelleyshepardgray.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Welcome to the blog tour for\u00a0<em>Hopeful<\/em>, the\u00a0first book in Shelley Shepard Gray\u2019s new series, Return to Sugarcreek<em>.<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nCritics have already given their thumbs up for <em>Hopeful<\/em>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00a0\u201cLovable characters and a good story, full of romance and suspense . . . a must read.\u201d (Library Journal)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Shelley and her publisher are celebrating by giving away FIVE copies of the book.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/115Reit\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9963\" alt=\"hopeful-400-click\" src=\"http:\/\/litfusegroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/hopeful-400-click.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"350\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Five winners will receive:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i>Hopeful<\/i> by Shelley Shepard Gray<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong style=\"font-size: 13px;\">Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on February 23rd.<\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 13px;\">\u00a0All winners will be announced February 24th at <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 13px;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.shelleyshepardgray.com\/category\/blog\/\" target=\"_blank\">Shelley\u2019s blog<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 13px;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><a href=\"http:\/\/litfusegroup.com\/hopeful-giveaway\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/litfusegroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/emailbutton.png\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/115Reit\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/litfusegroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/facebookbutton.png\" \/><\/a><\/center><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/115TkPF\" target=\"_blank\">Enter today<\/a> and be sure to visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shelleyshepardgray.com\/category\/blog\/\" target=\"_blank\">Shelley\u2019s blog<\/a> on the 24th<br \/>\nto see if YOU won one of the books!<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MY REVIEW: &#8220;Hopeful&#8221; is a story primarily about Miriam Zehr but it includes more than one side story that feature other members of the Sugarcreek community. A common thread through each person&#8217;s story is hope though at times it seems that their circumstances are nearly hopeless. I enjoyed the way the author tied the lives [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38,8,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amish","category-books","category-romance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16438"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16443,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16438\/revisions\/16443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}