Hidden by Shelley Shepard Gray

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Hidden

Avon Inspire (May 27, 2008)
by

Shelley Shepard Gray

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Hidden is Shelley’s first foray into inspirational fiction. Previously, Shelley lived in Texas and Colorado, where she taught school and earned both her bachelors and masters degrees in education. She now lives in southern Ohio where she writes full time. Shelley is an active member of her church. She serves on committees, volunteers in the church office, and is part of the Telecare ministry, which calls homebound members on a regular basis. Shelley looks forward to the opportunity to write novels that showcase her Christian ideals.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

Hidden is a remarkable story about the unlikely love between a modern girl on the run and an Amish boy from the family who shelters her.

When Anna decides it’s time to leave her abusive boyfriend, she doesn’t know where to turn. Rob is a successful and respected person in her community. He has completely won over her parents with his good looks and prestigious position at a top law firm. Only Anna has seen his dark side. But when Rob hurts Anna yet again, she realizes that she must finally help herself.

Desperate, she runs to the one place she’s always felt completely safe, the Amish Brenneman Bed and Breakfast, where years ago she and her mother once stayed, and where Anna met life-long friend Katie Brenneman. When Anna shows up years later unexpectedly, the family welcomes her in, with few questions asked, and allows her to stay, dressed as the Amish in Plain clothes, and help around the inn.

But Katie’s older brother Henry doesn’t take too kindly to the intrusion. Anna wonders if it’s because he’s already had his heart broken. To Henry’s shame, from the moment he sees Anna, he feels a strong attraction. To cover his infatuation, he tries to ignore her, knowing no good would ever come from keeping an eye on a fancy woman like her. But as he sees that Anna has a good heart and is not the selfish, spoiled woman he imagined her to be, he feels his heart pointing towards her.

Anna comes to realize that she’s found a home and true love in the last place she’d expected. How can she deny the life she left behind? And will her chance for happiness be stolen away by the man who can’t seem to let her go?

If you would like to read the Prologue, go HERE

MY REVIEW:

With the recent popularity of Amish Christian fiction, I was expecting pretty much more of the usual fare. I was happy to find that Hidden is a fresh look at Amish life through the eyes of an outsider.

Hidden is the story of Anna, a young woman on the run from her abusive fiancé. Anna’s life has been one of privilege and indulgence. When she seeks refuge with her Amish friend Katie, she finds the Amish way of life a place where she feels needed and content. The tension between Anna and Katie’s brother Henry is electric. The suspense that develops as as obsessed Rob searches for Anna is riveting. All in all, Hidden is an engaging story for a first time author. I look forward to future books from Shelley Shepard Gray.

Come visit the blogs on the tour:
Abi at lighter side
Adam at Northwoods Blumer
Alexis at Ramblings From Life
Amy at Simple Folk Schoolhouse
Amy at My Life
Andie at frommipov
Andrea at The Laughs Will Go On
Angela at One Baby, Seven Dogs, and a Mommy
April at Projecting A
Barbara at Victoria Hill Farm
Becky at Savvy Mom
Bonnie at Bonnie Writes
Brittanie at A Book Lover
Caleb at Reviews Plus+
Camy at Camy Tang
Carol at Blogging With Carol
Carolyn at Serenity
CeeCee at Book Splurge
Christy at Christy’s Book Blog
Christy at At Split Ends
Dave at Novel Spotlight
Dea at Been Farmin’ Long?
Deborah at books, movies and chinese food
Debra at Soul Reflections
Deena at A Peek At My Bookshelf
Delia at Gatorskunkz And Mudcats
Edyth at Great Reads by Jasmine
Georgiana at Georgiana D
Gretchen at Inspire Me
Heidi at Reviews by Heidi
Janis at The Nearsighted Bookworm
Janna at Cornhusker Academy
Jenn at Blessed is She…
Jennifer at So Many Books…So Little Time
Jenny at Come Meet AusJenny
Jim B. at The Bedford Review
Joleen at timetotalk
Karen at Mommy of Three”
Karla at Ramblin’ Roads To Everywhere
Kim at Window To My World
Kim at Rainy Day Diamonds
Kimberly at QuiddamChickee To Save The Day
Krista at Welcome To Married Life
Lacy at Novel Inspirations
Laura at Laura William’s Musings
Leah at Ponderings From My Heart
Linda at Mocha With Linda
Linda at Faith In Love
Lori at Noggin Bits
Lundie at Lundie’s Life
Lynetta at Open Book
Lynnae at Lynnae’s Bookshelf
Michelle at Edgy Inspirational Author
Michelle at Just A Minute
Michelle at Michelle’s Great Blogs
Michelle at Raising Little Women
Pam at Mom’s Mutterings
Pam at Daysong Reflections
Peg at Sips ‘n Cups Cafeteria
Rachelle at Stifled Squeal
Rel at Relz Reviewz
Sean at Bookmark Cafe
Sherry at Everything Moms
Susan at His Reading List
Tamera at Tamera Alexander’s Blog
Tara at Tara’s View Of The World
Victoria at Footprints In The Sand
Virginia at CeCe Lane
Margaret at Creative Madness

The Molech Prophecy by Thomas Phillips

It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book’s FIRST chapter!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today’s Wild Card author is:

and his book:

The Molech Prophecy

Whitaker House (July 1, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Thomas Phillips grew up with a reading disability. He did everything possible not to read. It wasn’t until he was in seventh grade that he finally read a book from cover to cover. Now a voracious reader and prolific writer, Phillips uses his accomplishments as a motivational backdrop for speaking at school assemblies.

Born and raised in Rochester, New York, Phillips has worked as a freelance journalist and currently works full time as an employment law paralegal. When he isn’t writing, Phillips plays his guitar, is active in his church, coaches his children’s Little League team, and plots his next story. The Molech Prophecy is his first published Christian novel.

Visit him at his MySpace, ShoutLife, and blog.

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Chapter One

The first things I noticed when I pulled into the church parking lot were the two police cars. Instinct wanted to kick in, but I stopped myself from turning my car around. The police weren’t there for me—couldn’t be there for me. I’d done nothing wrong. I wasn’t the same man. My days of running from the police had ended when I became a Christian. I reminded myself of this simple fact and felt a grin play across my lips. Thankfully, my days of running from the police ended four years ago.

On any given Sunday, I have come to expect many things from Faith Community Church. And why not? I have been attending weekly services for years. I expect smiles from Faith’s Greet Team—from those helping direct cars in the parking lot to those handing out programs and pencils at the sanctuary doors. I expect powerful worship music, a variety of jokes from Pastor Ross—some funny, some not so funny—and I expect, each week, a message that will impact the way I live the rest of my life.

But what I did not expect this morning was what I saw next: the complete defacing of the church building. Black spray paint covered the pecan-colored bricks in horrific graffiti. (more…)

Along Came a Cowboy by Christine Lynxwiler

It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book’s FIRST chapter!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today’s Wild Card author is:

and her book:

Along Came a Cowboy

Barbour Publishing, Inc. (May 1, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award-winning author and past president of American Christian Romance Writers, CHRISTINE LYNXWILER has numerous novels and novellas published with Barbour, including Arkansas, Promise Me Always, and Forever Christmas. She and her husband, Kevin, along with their two daughters, four horses, and two dogs live in the foothills of the beautiful Ozark Mountains in their home state of Arkansas.

Visit the author’s website.

Product Details:

List Price: $9.97
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc. (May 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1597898961
ISBN-13: 978-1597898966

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Chapter One
Babies complicate life, but the human race can’t survive without them. Maybe I should write that on the dry erase board out in the waiting room—Dr. Rachel Donovan’s Profound Thought for the Day.

Ever notice how some months are all about weddings? When you turn on the TV or pick up a magazine, everything is white tulle and old lace. Then there are what I think of as baby months. Unlike June and December for weddings, baby months can pop up anytime.

And here in Shady Grove, Arkansas—just in time for summer, when the irises are pushing up from the ground, the new leaves are green on the trees, and the crepe myrtles are starting to bloom—we’re smack dab in the middle of a baby month. (more…)

Calico Canyon by Mary Connealy – CFBA Tour

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing

Calico Canyon

Barbour Publishing, Inc (July 1, 2008)
by

Mary Connealy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

MARY CONNEALY is an award-winning author and playwright, married to Ivan a farmer, and the mother of four beautiful daughters, Joslyn, Wendy, Shelly and Katy. They live in Decatur, Nebraska. Mary is a GED Instructor by day and an author by night. And there is always a cape involved in her transformation.

Mary has also written Petticoat Ranch, Golden Days, and her latest, Alaska Brides that will debut in August.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Let yourself be swept away by this fast-paced romance, featuring Grace Calhoun, an instructor of reading, writing, and arithmetic, who, in an attempt to escape the clutches of a relentless pursuer, runs smack dab into even more trouble with the 6R’s – widower Daniel Reeves, along with his five rowdy sons. When a marriage is forced upon this hapless pair – two people who couldn’t dislike each other more – an avalanche isn’t the only potential danger lurking amid the shadows of Calico Canyon. Will they make it out alive? Or end up killing each other in the process?

Running from her Abusive foster-father, a man intent on revenge, the prim and perfectly proper Grace Calhoun takes on the job of schoolmarm in Mosqueros, Texas.

As if being a wanted woman isn’t bad enough, Grace has her hands full with the five rowdy and rambunctious Reeves boys?tough Texan tormentors who seem intent on making her life miserable. When, in an attempt to escape from the clutches of her pursuer, Grace is forced to marry widower Daniel Reeves, father of the miniature monsters, she thinks things couldn’t get any worse. Or could they?

Daniel Reeves, happy in his all-male world, is doing the best he can, raising his five boys?rascals, each and every one. Since his wife’s death in childbirth, Daniel has been determined never to risk marriage again.

When God throws Grace and Daniel together?two people who couldn’t detest each other more?the trouble is only beginning.

Will this hapless pair find the courage to face life together in the isolated Calico Canyon? Or are their differences too broad a chasm to bridge?

If you would like to read the first chapter go HERE

Mary can be reached through the Contact link on her Website

Come and visit those on the tour:
Amy at Simple Folk Schoolhouse
Amy at My Life
Andie at frommipov
Angela at One Baby, Seven Dogs, and a Mommy
April at Projecting A
Barbara at Victoria Hill Farm
Becky at Savvy Mom
Betsy Ann at Betsy Ann “Writer at Large!”
Bonnie at Bonnie Writes
Brittanie at A Book Lover
Camy at Camy Tang
Cara at the law, books, and life
Carla at Carla’s Writing Café
Carolyn at Serenity
CeeCee at Book Splurge
Christy at At Split Ends
Courtney at A Mom Speaks
Dave at Dave Rhoades
Dave at Novel Spotlight
Deborah at books, movies and chinese food
Deborah at Country At Heart
Deborah at Comfort Joy Designs
Debra at Soul Reflections
Deena at A Peek At My Bookshelf
Delia at Gatorskunkz And Mudcats
Edyth at Great Reads by Jasmine
Erica at On The Write Path
Georgiana at Georgiana D
Janis at The Nearsighted Bookworm
Janna at Cornhusker Academy
Jenn at Blessed is She…
Jennifer at Musings on This, That, & The Other Thing
Jennifer at So Many Books…So Little Time
Jenny at Come Meet AusJenny
Jessica at Praise, Prayers and Observations
Jill at Christian Work At Home Moms
Joleen at timetotalk
Karen at Mommy of Three
Karla at Ramblin’ Roads To Everywhere
Kelly at A Disciple’s Steps
Kim at Window To My World
Kim at Rainy Day Diamonds
Krista at Welcome To Married Life
Lacy at Novel Inspirations
Laura at Laura William’s Musings
Leslie at A Little Bit Of Sunlight
Linda at Mocha With Linda
Linda at Faith In Love
Lori at journey in grace
Lynnae at Lynnae’s Bookshelf
Margaret at Creative Madness
Michelle at Edgy Inspirational Author
Myra at Writer at Random
Nora at Finding Hope Through Christian Fiction
Pam at Pam’s Private Reflections
Pam at Daysong Reflections
Peg at Sips ‘n Cups Cafeteria
Pepper at Desperate Christian Housewives
Becky at Becky’s Christian Reviews
Rel at Relz Reviewz
Ryan at loves to read
Sherry at Everything Moms
Stephanie at Punkin’ Press
Sunny at Life In The Estrogen Sea
Susan at His Reading List
Tara at Tara’s View Of The World
Tracy at Pix-N-Pens
Vicki at Grace Lessons
Victoria at Overlooked Orchid

The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society by Beth Pattillo

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The Sweetgum Knit Lit SocietyBeth Pattillo (Heavens to Betsy and Earth to Betsy) knows how to follow a dream—even with a pile of publishing industry rejection slips to her name. She spent seven years on the path to her first publishing contract, and the characters in her new novel, The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society, embrace Pattillo’s persistence.

Eugenie, Ruth, Esther, Merry, and Camille are not perfect women. They each struggle with love in their own way—unrequited love, forbidden love, overwhelming love, even lost love. Yet they battle on, meeting every month in the Pairs and Spares Sunday school room to knit, discuss that month’s book selection, and puzzle out their lives.

When Eugenie throws neglected and abused teenager Hannah Simmons into their midst, however, walls decades in the making come crashing down. With secrets thrown on the table amid the tangle of yarn, needles and books, one thing becomes certain: The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society will soon discover what’s most important in the complicated lives they lead.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Beth PattilloBeth Pattillo is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and holds a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University. She and her family make their home in Tennessee. Her novel, Heavens to Betsy, won the prestigious RITA award from the Romance Writers of America. TheSweetgum Knit Lit Society is her fourth novel. To learn more, visit www.bethpattillo.com

Q&A with Beth Pattillo, author of The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society

Q. What was your inspiration behind The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society?

The book was inspired by the knitting group at my church. I loved the way a group of diverse women, from their teens to retirement age, bonded over knitting and prayer. I think book clubs experience a similar phenomenon. Something about knitting or reading together really helps to create authentic community. One of the things I enjoyed most about writing this book was looking at the world from such different points of view. Each of the women in the novel is unique. And the variety of ages and life experiences kept things interesting.

Q. In the book, troubled teen Hannah Simmons has seen her share of neglect and abuse before meeting the ladies of the Knit Lit Society. Do you see many teens like Hannah in the course of your work as an ordained minister? If so, what is your philosophy in helping them find healing?

Unfortunately, I’ve met a number of teens over the years that were neglected by their parents. I’m a strong believer in youth ministry because I know it can provide guidance and care that’s often missing in a teenager’s home. In the novel, Hannah happens to be poor, but I’ve found that income level, however high or low, doesn’t always correlate to the quality of parenting. The love and attention of a youth minister and/or youth sponsor can often keep a teen from making bad choices with disastrous consequences. Teenagers need to feel competent and valued. A strong youth ministry provides an opportunity for young people to find their spiritual gifts and use them. It also makes God’s love tangible and powerful.

Q. Since not every town has a Knit Lit Society, what would your advice be to anyone who has a “Hannah” in their life or knows of a teen in a similar situation?

Most teens need someone to listen to them without judgment or agenda. Mentoring, serving as a youth sponsor, teaching Sunday school and Bible study – these are all great ways to reach out to teenagers. As a minister, in a particular situation, I have to assess whether a teenager needs the help of social services in addition to the love and care of a church family. All ministers are required by law to report suspected abuse. Neglect, though, can be a bit trickier. Ideally, a minister can reach out to the parents as well as the teen to try and help the family become more functional and caring. I always appreciated my church members letting me know if they thought a particular teenager needed help. I think it’s better to get involved and ultimately find that the situation wasn’t as serious as you thought than to ignore something until a crisis occurs.

Q. Do you knit in your spare time?

I love to knit! I’m into hand-tied yarn right now, taking eight or nine different yarns in a particular color palette and tying 2-3 yard sections end to end. The result is wonderfully shaggy scarves or shawls that have real depth of color and texture. (I was inspired by the owner of The Shaggy Sheep in my hometown of Lubbock, Texas – a terrific yarn store!) I’m afraid I have numerous unfinished projects around the house, but one day, I hope to finish them all.

Q. You spent seven years waiting to publish your first book and now The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society is your fourth book. What advice do you have for novice or aspiring writers?

Aspiring writers have to persevere. For that matter, so do published authors. The publishing industry is a rejection-based business. Work hard, acquire a thick skin, be open to good criticism, and revise, revise, revise. As writers, we take our work personally, but the publishing industry doesn’t. Rejection is a business decision, not a critique of our value as human beings!

My other piece of advice is to write every day, even if it’s only a small amount. I run an email loop called Club 100 For Writers. The challenge is to write 100 words a day for 100 days. I’ve seen this practice transform people’s lives. Instructions for joining the group are on my website, http://www.bethpattillo.com/.

MY REVIEW:

The first time I picked up The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society I had a difficult time getting into it, probably because I have read so many different books this month I just needed a break. I put it aside and read a suspense and a romance or two. By the time I returned to The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society I was ready to see what it had to offer.

Initially, I thought it was just another book about several women who had absolutely nothing in common but their interest in reading and knitting. Suddenlya monkey wrench was thrown into their mundane group when a rebellious, rejected teen was added. As the story developed, each of the characters came alive with her own individual personality and issues. As each woman interacted with Hannah, they saw their own circumstances with new eyes. And as the women dealt with their problems and endeavored to help Hannah, the ties between the women became stronger and problems were resolved in surprising ways.