Monday, December 9, 2024
Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor by Roseanna M. White
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Return To The Wilderness by Andrea Byrd
About the Book
Book: Return to the Wilderness
Author: Andrea Byrd
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Release date: October 22, 2024
Two outcasts. One marriage of convenience. A love story forged in the fires of adversity.
Muireall Blair has finally found a comfortable life at Fort Harrod—until she experiences a recurring nightmare that warns of impending doom for her sister. Unable to shake the weight of foreboding, Muireall cannot sit idle anymore and risk the dream becoming a reality. With her near-sightedness a closely guarded secret, she seeks the help of Jude, a man with his own hidden past, to reach her sister.
Jude Browne has been gifted with a life of fighting for survival, not one of finding acceptance. Half-blinded as a youth, the scars across his face and the knowledge of his illegitimate birth serve as a reminder of his worthlessness. However, when his mother falls ill, she finally lays bare all the secrets she has kept all his life. Secrets that point to his one chance of finding who he truly is.
Jude and Muireall soon realize that a marriage of convenience is the key to reaching Pitman Station safely. But when their secrets unravel and danger closes in, will they succumb to the shadows of their pasts, or will they find the strength to forge a new future together?
Click here to get your copy!
About the Author
Andrea Byrd is a Christian wife and mom located in rural Kentucky, who loves to spend time with her family in the great outdoors, one with nature. Often described as having been born outside her time, she has a deep affinity for an old-fashioned, natural lifestyle.
With a degree in Equine Health & Rehabilitation gathering dust and a full-time job tethering her to a desk eight hours a day, Andrea decided it was time to show both herself and her children that it is truly possible to make your dreams come true. Now with over 1,000 contemporary Christian romance novellas sold, Andrea is pursuing her passion of writing faith-filled romance woven with a thread of true history.
More from Andrea
I love to read books that have historical facts, especially little-known ones, woven into their pages. Within my books, I strive to do the same and Return to the Wilderness is no exception.
This book comes in after the unrest of what some call the “Indian Wars,” in Kentucky. During that time, attacks by the native were frequent and brutal. Many of the Station Masters and long hunters in the area lost family members. If you read, Rescue in the Wilderness, you have seen a glimpse of this time and how devastating it could be.
Due to these attacks, stations and settlements were often abandoned. Sometimes the families returned after this time period came to an end and sometimes the buildings were simply left to deteriorate and become shells of a past time. I do not want to give any spoilers, but if you decide to read Return to the Wilderness, you will find out just how this little piece of history impacts the main character, Muireall (the sister from Redemption in the Wilderness).
Blog Stops
lakesidelivingsite, October 22
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 23
Lighthouse Academy Blog, October 24 (Guest Review from Marilyn)
Texas Book-aholic, October 25
Locks, Hooks and Books, October 26
Books You Can Feel Good About, October 27
Book Looks by Lisa, October 28
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 29
For Him and My Family, October 30
An Author’s Take, October 31
Cover Lover Book Review, November 1
Holly’s Book Corner, November 2
Pause for Tales, November 3
Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, November 4 (Author Interview)
Jeanette’s Thoughts, November 4
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Andrea is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf5474/
Monday, September 30, 2024
Saving Miss Swan by K. Lyn Smith
Quite a mystery. Maria's sister has been murdered and she's trying to solve what happened and find her baby niece in the process. A shipwreck and more murders enter the scene, and it gets quite involved, which makes it hard to put down. Satisfyingly brought to a romantic conclusion. Excellent way to spend your time both for the romance and the mystery.
I received this book free from the author and Book Sirens book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
#SavingMissSwan #KLynSmith #BookSirens #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #DavenwoodPress #HistoricalFiction
Friday, July 26, 2024
Stitched on My Heart: Delphina's Story - A Companion Christmas Novella
I received this book free from the author and publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
#StitchedOnMyHeart #HeidiGrayMcGill #HeidiGrayMcGillBooksLLC #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout
Monday, April 15, 2024
Love’s Winding Road by Susan F. Craft
About the Book
Book: Love’s Winding Road
Author: Susan F. Craft
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Release Date: February 27, 2024
They were forced into this marriage of convenience, but there’s more at stake than their hearts on this wagon train through the mountain wilderness.
When Rose Jackson and her Irish immigrant family join a wagon train headed for a new life in South Carolina, the last thing she expects is to fall for the half-Cherokee wagon scout along the way. But their journey takes a life-changing turn when Rose is kidnapped by Indians. Daniel comes to her rescue, but the effects mean their lives will be forever intertwined.
Daniel prides himself on his self-control—inner and outer—but can’t seem to get a handle on either when Rose is near. Now his life is bound to hers when the consequences of her rescue force them to marry. Now it’s even more critical he maintain that self-control to keep her safe.
When tragedy strikes at the heart of their strained marriage, they leave for Daniel’s home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As they face the perils of the journey, Rose can’t help but wonder why her new husband guards his heart so strongly. Why does he resist his obvious attraction for her? And what life awaits them at the end of love’s winding road?
Click here to get your copy!
About the Author
Susan F. Craft retired after a 45-year career in writing, editing, and communicating in business settings.
She authored the historical romantic suspense trilogy Women of the American Revolution—The Chamomile, Laurel, and Cassia. The Chamomile and Cassia received national Illumination Silver Awards. The Chamomile was named by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance as an Okra Pick and was nominated for a Christy Award.
She collaborated with the International Long Riders’ Guild Academic Foundation to compile An Equestrian Writer’s Guide (www.lrgaf.org), including almost everything you’d ever want to know about horses.
An admitted history nerd, she enjoys painting, singing, listening to music, and sitting on her porch watching geese eat her daylilies. She most recently took up the ukulele.
More from Susan
Colonial American medicine fascinates me. The shortage of doctors made it critical for women to maintain medicine kits that included remedies brought with them from Europe as well as those shared with them by Native Americans.
In Love’s Winding Road, my character Rose falls into river rapids and suffers serious scrapes and bruises. Daniel, the half-Cherokee scout of her wagon train, rescues her and makes witch hazel flowers into a paste.
With gentle movements, he spread the ointment on her arms, legs, and neck. When he dabbed some on several raw places on her scalp where her hair had been ripped out, Rose clenched her teeth until her face hurt. With her hand trembling, she reached up to touch her hair.
“Don’t worry. It will grow back. Just thank the good Lord, for though it may be distressing and painful to have lost some of your hair, the strands helped me keep track of you.”
Rose’s father suffers from arthritis in his hands, so he chews on the twigs of black willow trees (not weeping willows) and drinks the tea his wife prepares from the bark also used to treat back pain, headaches, and inflammatory conditions.
When a mountain lion attacks Daniel, Rose stitches the laceration. She cleans the area with whiskey and offers it to him as a painkiller.
She threaded her needle with her finest flax fiber, and holding her breath, she began the first tiny stitches. Think of it as cloth. Think of it as cloth. She repeated the words over and over in her head.
Sometimes doing research can be amusing.
The night before I was to see my doctor, I’d read a resource book, Indian Doctor – Nature’s method of curing and preventing disease according to the Indians. I showed my doctor the Indian cure for my problem.
What a hoot! We had such fun looking through the book. Seems as if every cure involved mixing something with wine, ale, beer, or liquor. We came to the conclusion that with enough alcohol, even if you still had the problem, you wouldn’t care anymore.
Two weeks later, I saw my doctor for an earache. Of course, we looked up the Indian cure. It involved lily onions, marsh mallows, oil of violet—all taken with wine. And then, bleeding.
I’ll stick with antibiotics.
I pray that my Great Wagon Road series honors the Lord and the gifts He has given me and that you will love my characters as much as I do. Soli Deo Gloria.
Blog Stops
Simple Harvest Reads, April 3 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)
lakesidelivingsite, April 4
Pause for Tales, April 4
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, April 5
For Him and My Family, April 5
Lighthouse Academy Blog, April 6 (Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, April 7
The Lofty Pages, April 7
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, April 8
Bizwings Book Blog, April 9
Life on Chickadee Lane, April 9
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, April 10
Texas Book-aholic, April 11
Connie’s History Classroom , April 11
Cover Lover Book Review, April 12
Batya’s Bits, April 13
Holly’s Book Corner, April 13
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, April 14
Books You Can Feel Good About, April 15
Blossoms and Blessings, April 15
Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, April 16 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, April 16
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Susan is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/2ac74/love-s-winding-road-celebration-tour-giveaway
Thursday, February 22, 2024
Secrets and Wishes by Kathleen Rouser
I received this book free from the author, publisher and CelebrateLit book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
#SecretsAndWishes #KathleenRouser #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #CelebrateLit #ChristianHistoricalFiction #FourStarNovel
About the Book
Book: Secrets and Wishes
Author: Kathleen Rouser
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Release Date: January 30, 2024
She only wants a fresh start, but her past might be the only hope to save his life—and the lives of countless innocents.
Determined widow Maggie Galloway dreams of a peaceful life and a successful business. And winning the Silver Leaf Flour Company baking contest could be the key to that success. She even has a chance at a prestigious position through a dashing former beau. But when her son gets into a fight with the local pharmacist’s son, Maggie’s peaceful life is derailed.
Reserved pharmacist and recent widower Thomas Harper is also looking for a fresh start for himself and his four children. But when Thomas falls gravely ill, his only choice is to enlist the help of the local baker with a knowledge of concocting remedies. He’s even more reluctant to admit that Maggie may also be the remedy for his grieving heart. And when a traveling medicine man’s medicines beget tragedy, Thomas and Maggie must overcome their differences to save the children of Stone Creek—and face the growing attraction between them—before it’s too late.
Click here to get your copy!
About the Author
Kathleen Rouser is a multi-published, award-winning author of historical and contemporary Christian romance. She is a longtime member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Faith, Hope and Love Christian Writers. She resides in southeast Michigan, a location which she often uses in her novels, with her hero and husband of forty-some years and two sweet cats who found a home in their empty nest.
More from Kathleen
Maggie Galloway’s Prizewinning Recipe
Maggie Galloway was a secondary character in my first Stone Creek Brides novel, Rumors and Promises. As the older sister and housekeeper of hero, Ian McCormick, she liked to have her say. I enjoyed getting to know Maggie as I created her character. She was so much fun to write I knew she needed her own story.
She has a knowledge of remedies from working with her pharmacist husband in the past, but Maggie is also a prizewinning baker because of her creative and cherished recipe for pecan snickerdoodles. I hope you’ll enjoy her recipe.
Increasing the vanilla in her favorite snickerdoodle recipe while adding toasted chopped pecans to the dough and the cinnamon sugar made for the delightful crunch and a nutty taste, which had won her second place in the recipe contest. (From Maggie’s musings in Secrets and Wishes.)
Maggie Galloway’s Pecan Snickerdoodles
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cup flour
½ cup chopped toasted pecans
Cinnamon sugar mixture:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped toasted pecans
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease cookie sheet.
Beat butter until creamy. Add 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar, mixing well.
Beat egg and vanilla into the mixture. Slowly add flour and chopped pecans to the mixture.
Set dough in the refrigerator (or the icebox in Maggie’s day) for at least a half an hour to make it easier to handle.
While you’re waiting, mix the cinnamon sugar ingredients together with the 1 tablespoon finely chopped pecans.
When the dough is ready, roll into small balls and roll in cinnamon sugar/nut mixture.
Place a couple of inches apart on the cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes, only until slightly golden brown along the edges. Yield is approximately two dozen cookies.
Blog Stops
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 20
Locks, Hooks and Books, February 21
Books You Can Feel Good About, February 22
Life on Chickadee Lane, February 22
Devoted To Hope, February 23
Vicky Sluiter, February 23
Texas Book-aholic, February 24
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 25
ABBA’s Prayer Warrior Princess, February 26
lakesidelivingsite, February 27
Betti Mace, February 28
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, February 29
Cover Lover Book Review, March 1
For Him and My Family, March 2
Holly’s Book Corner, March 3
Pause for Tales, March 4
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Kathleen is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/2a256/secrets-and-wishes-celebration-tour-giveaway
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
While the City Sleeps by Elizabeth Camden
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Embers in the London Sky by Sarah Sundin
Monday, October 30, 2023
Marshaling Her Heart by Mary Connealy
There's another book before this, not necessary to read but you'll be glad you did to get to know this special town in Wyoming. A state where women have some rights and a town where they are quite progressive and supportive of each other. Each person has special skills that contribute to making the town grow and they're great to learn more about. Becky has her own ranch; Nate works for her. The Deadeye gang is still at large and there the story unfolds, twists and winds. Keeps you turning the pages! Excellent story. Love, murder, danger, milestones and growing. Faith filled lessons. Incredible community.
I received this book free from the author, publisher and CelebrateLit book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
#Marshaling Her Heart #MaryConnealy #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #CelebrateLit #ChristianHistoricalRomance #FiveStarNovel
About the Book
Book: Marshaling Her Heart
Author: Mary Connealy
Genre: Historical Romance
Release Date: October 17, 2023
Will their lives and romance survive the trouble coming their way?
Becky Pruitt has always prided herself on knowing everything that’s happening on her successful ranch, so an unexpected admission from her foreman, Nate Paxton, comes as quite a surprise. With the notorious Deadeye Gang on the loose, Nate–a former U.S. Marshal–believes Becky’s ranch is the best spot for a group of Marshals to use as a base to hunt them down.
The timing couldn’t be more crucial for the town of Pine Valley, and Becky feels obligated to help. But after escaping the grasp of her harsh father, she’s never liked giving up control, of her life or her ranch. If there’s anyone she can trust with her ranch, and her heart, it might be Nate. But the outlaws won’t go away quietly, and as danger draws ever nearer, Becky and Nate are faced with impossible choices that will test their growing bond.
Click here to get your copy!
About the Author
Mary Connealy (maryconnealy.com) writes “romantic comedies with cowboys” and is celebrated for her fun, zany, action-packed style. She has sold more than 1.5 million books and is the author of the popular series Wyoming Sunrise, The Lumber Baron’s Daughters, Brothers in Arms, Brides of Hope Mountain, High Sierra Sweethearts, The Kincaid Brides, Trouble in Texas, Lassoed in Texas, Sophie’s Daughters, and many other books. Mary lives on a ranch in eastern Nebraska with her very own romantic cowboy hero.
More from Mary
Becky Pruitt has a problem. Her ranch is being invaded by good guys.
Becky wants the Deadeye Gang caught and thrown in jail as much as anyone, but the lawmen asking her to hire them on at her ranch aim to do their investigating while working undercover as cowhands. She runs a good ranch, however, and doesn’t like the idea of a bunch of low-skilled men making her look like she’s hired them foolishly.
Yet she goes along with it, suspicious and annoyed, because her foreman, Nate Paxton, a man she trusts, convinces her that these men are honorable. Then the three lawmen she hires, all of them U.S. Marshals, urge her to send every single one of her regular cowhands—except Nate, a former Marshal himself—off on a cattle drive.
Now she’s got Marshals cropping up everywhere. Her ranch isn’t being run in a way that suits her. She’s got trouble with her father, and an important speaker is coming to town to talk about women’s suffrage. So much is distracting her when all she really wants to do is make sure her herd is being tended properly.
Before long, Nate starts to question the behavior of the U.S. Marshals Service. They’re secretive to the point that they put him in jeopardy a few times before he decides to quit. Here he’d found a decent job on a top ranch, and he even shared a few special moments with his pretty, feisty boss that gave him ideas of how he’d like to change things around a little just so he could be with her. And then his brother, who’s still a U.S. Marshal, invades the ranch with a few fellow lawmen. Quite a few.
Meanwhile, the Deadeye Gang is more dangerous than ever. The woman coming to Pine Valley to speak is now at risk, which makes Becky frantic to protect her. The cattle aren’t being looked after like they ought to be. And yet Nate finds himself being drawn closer to Becky with each passing day. He’s determined to stand firmly between her and danger, but he’s got to keep up with her to do that. He soon discovers that nothing is easy when it comes to the hard-charging Becky Pruitt.
Wyoming Sunrise is a series I wrote in which I cast women as having nontraditional jobs: Forged in Love has a woman blacksmith, Laws of Attraction a woman justice of the peace, and Marshaling Her Heart a woman rancher. Those are all nontraditional for sure, but not really in my case personally. I must force myself not to make all my heroines feisty lady ranchers. It’s almost a reflex at this point. I fought that reflex as hard as I could, but I decided it would be okay to sneak one lady rancher into this series, and that’s Becky Pruitt. I slipped her into the western vernacular, the tough attitude, the riding skirts and boots and Stetsons—and I loved it.
Marshaling Her Heart is my first true lady rancher, and so I let loose and had fun with Becky. The foreman Nate recognizes intelligence and competence in his boss, and he’s smart enough to take orders from her because he knows those orders are the right way to run the ranch.
Add in the backdrops of the other books in the series, the vicious, stagecoach-robbing Deadeye Gang, the coming of the lady suffragist speaker to town, and you’ve got a story full of trouble, action, adventure, romance, and fun.
Blog Stops
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, October 27
Locks, Hooks and Books, October 28
Bizwings Book Blog, October 28
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 29
Jeanette’s Thoughts, October 29
Books You Can Feel Good About, October 30
Lighthouse Academy Blog, October 30 (Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)
lakesidelivingsite, October 31
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, November 1
Book Looks by Lisa, November 1
Connie’s History Classroom, November 2
Mary Hake, November 2
Wishful Endings, November 3
An Author’s Take, November 3
Betti Mace, November 4
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 4
For Him and My Family, November 5
Holly’s Book Corner, November 5
Splashes of Joy, November 6
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, November 6
Pause for Tales, November 7
Life on Chickadee Lane, November 7
Tell Tale Book Reviews, November 8
Cover Lover Book Review, November 8
Labor Not in Vain, November 9
Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, November 9
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Mary is giving away the grand prize of a $15 Amazon Gift Card and a paperback copy of the entire Wyoming Sunrise series!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/28976/marshaling-her-heart-celebration-tour-giveaway