Monday, April 15, 2024

Braving Strange Waters by Sarah Hanks

 

Wow, this is different! It's time-slip and time travel, so both contemporary and historical. Three college friends go on a cruise together. One of them is in an elevator and is taken to 1856, to a steamboat in the middle of the Kansas/Missouri conflict before the Civil War. She has a mission to complete and is able to have help from her old friends via a mailbox on the ship as well as now present abolitionist acquaintances.  Very real, very interesting and unpredictable as all three girls learn new faith lessons, learn to grow in their faith and in their lives in a meaningful way. Tough to put down!

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.

#bravingstrangewaters #sarahhanks #ChristianFiction #womensfiction #beachread #inspirationalfiction #historicalfiction #contemporaryfiction #timeslipfiction #upcomingrelease #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout

From the back cover:
Stella Lindy is supposed to be soaking up the sunshine with her bridesmaids on a bachelorette cruise to Hawaii. But when she hits the wrong button on the elevator, the glamorous luxury of the modern ship is replaced with the Missouri River steamboat Arabia filled with strangers—and a mysterious doctor informs her it is 1856.

Communicating through an antique mailbox, her friends on the cruise try to guide her back home before the steamboat sinks, but Stella finds herself caught in a tangled web between pro-slavery Border Ruffians and anti-slavery Jayhawkers. Standing up for what’s right in the face of peril and uncertainty might mean never making it home.

Braving Strange Waters is a riveting time-slip novel with memorable characters, exciting twists, and rich internal conflict that fans of Gabrielle Meyer will love.

My reviews

Love’s Winding Road by Susan F. Craft

 



A treasure! Greatly touching love story combined with tragedy, sorrow, danger, attacks. A wagon train that went from Philadelphia to Georgia in the early 1700s. I hadn't heard of this trail before even though we live a bit north of Phila. Such sweet and touching love scenes, they're exquisite. Irish, Scottish, English and Cherokee nationalities all come together in strength and love. There's something to learn from everyone. A dream location to live too. 

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.

#LovesWindingRoad #SusanFCraft #CelebrateLit #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #ChristianHistoricalFiction #WildHeartBooks 



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

Locks, Hooks and Books, April 3
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





My reviews

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Love’s Promise by Penny Zeller

 



Sweet story to finish the series. Silas and Amyia both are hesitant to get closer, each for different reasons. God's forgiveness and faithful wisdom weave throughout the story. Lots of good people who tug on your heartstrings. Danger, misunderstandings and heartache. 

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.

#LovesPromise #PennyZeller #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #CelebrateLit #ChristianHistoricalFiction 

 


About the Book

 


Book: Love’s Promise

Author: Penny Zeller

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: March 19, 2024

Can one man’s love win a fragile woman’s heart?
After Amaya Alvarado lost her fiancé to a senseless tragedy, she vows never to love again. Two years later, at her grandmother’s request, she travels to Poplar Springs to assist with the mercantile and help care for her ailing grandfather. During a stagecoach accident and a confrontation with nefarious outlaws, she crosses paths with a man named Silas McFadden who rescues her and the other passengers. A bond between them soon forms.
Silas is not the man he once was. After a stint on the wrong side of the law, he’s now a respectable rancher in Poplar Springs, Wyoming. After becoming a man of faith, he determines to live his life for the One who gave him a second chance. He just never imagined that second chance might include Amaya. Now all he has to do is ensure his past doesn’t return and destroy his and Amaya’s fragile relationship.
Amaya’s and Silas’s friendship soon grows, and she begins to trust him with everything but her heart. Can she push her growing feelings for him aside? After all, isn’t it betraying her fiancé to care for another man the way she has grown to care for Silas?
When the past comes back to haunt him and revenge is sought, can Silas protect the woman he has come to love?

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Penny Zeller is known for her heartfelt stories of faith and her passion to impact lives for Christ through fiction. While she has had a love for writing since childhood, she began her adult writing career penning articles for national and regional publications on a wide variety of topics.

Today Penny is the author of nearly two dozen books. She is also a homeschool mom and a group fitness instructor. Her desire is to assist and nurture women into a closer relationship with Christ.

When Penny is not dreaming up new characters, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters and camping, hiking, canoeing, bicycling/cycling, reading, running, gardening, and playing volleyball.

She is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency and loves to hear from her readers.

More from Penny

In Love’s Promise, one of the tender memories main male character, Silas McFadden, recalls is, as a young’un, making his Oma carrot cake for her birthday from her favorite recipe.

Big clumsy hands weren’t helpful when it came to cracking the eggs and scooping the batter into the pan. He’d opened the oven door at least twenty times in the course of the cake baking just to be sure he didn’t burn it. For if he did, there were no more ingredients.

The icing was runny, but Oma hadn’t minded. When she finally returned home, Silas had the cake waiting for her. She had cried, told him how much she loved him, and then together, they’d eaten the entire cake that evening.

I’d love to share with you Oma’s recipe, which in actuality, is a family recipe. 😊

Oma’s Carrot Cake

2 c. flour, sifted
2 c. sugar
2 tsp. soda
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
Sift together the above ingredients and set aside.
3 c. grated carrots
4 eggs
1 ½ c. oil

Mix well 1 c. carrots with 1 egg and ½ c. of oil. Repeat twice and add extra egg with last mixing. Combine with dry ingredients. Mix well.

Pour into greased pan and bake at 350º for one hour. Cool. Frost if desired.

Blog Stops

Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Penny is giving away the grand prize of a $25 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/2ac73/love-s-promise-celebration-tour-giveaway




My reviews

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

These Tangled Threads, A Novel of Biltmore by Sarah Loudin Thomas

 

The people in this story all start with being painfully separated from their families, coming together in different ways to work for Biltmore House, dealing with their pain differently, yet they're connected. Very good story. A special soft spot for me is the weaving and woodworking crafts they did while working at the special Biltmore Estate. Great read. Very heartfelt.

I received this book free from the author, publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#TheseTangledThreads #NetGalley #SarahLoudinThomas #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #BethanyHouse #ChristianHistoricalFiction  #FiveStarBooks

My reviews

Monday, April 1, 2024

The Sleuth of Blackfriars Lane by Michelle Griep

 



Take a run down the streets and back streets of Victorian London, even a circus. Detectives Kit, Jackson, Graybone and Charles have all lived lives fighting criminals and protecting the innocents, in such different ways that complement and make a great team. Throw in a new baby, mystery, murder and romance and you've got quite a story. A great one. Ice in their veins, deep love in their hearts. Good faith lessons throughout. 

I received this book free from the author, publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#TheSleuthofBlackfriarsLane #NetGalley #MichelleGriep #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #BarbourPublishing #ChristianHistoricalFiction 

Synopsis:
Wife. Mother. Homemaker. Detective. Kit Forge wears many hats, and if that’s not enough, she’s partnered with her father to open a new detective agency. It’s hard to be all things to all people, but Kit never shies away from the impossible. Despite her hard work and good intentions, some things fall through the cracks.
 
Namely, her husband.
 
But Jackson barely notices. He’s too busy putting out his own fires. As the new chief inspector of a busy London station, he must salvage the disaster left behind by the former police chief—an obstacle made all the harder when the superintendent breathes an ultimatum down his neck.
 
Against her father’s advice, Kit takes on a case involving a missing child, one in which she and Jackson become a little too emotionally involved. . .and end up endangering their own little girl in the process.
 
Can Kit and Jackson learn that just because they can say yes doesn’t mean they should?

About the Author
Michelle Griep's been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She is the Christy Award-winning author of historical romances: A Tale of Two Hearts, The Captured Bride, The Innkeeper's Daughter, 12 Days at Bleakly Manor, The Captive Heart, Brentwood's Ward, A Heart Deceived, and Gallimore, but also leaped the historical fence into the realm of contemporary with the zany romantic mystery Out of the Frying Pan. If you'd like to keep up with her escapades, find her at www.michellegriep.com or stalk her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

And guess what? She loves to hear from readers! Feel free to drop her a note at michellegriep@gmail.com.



My reviews

Friday, March 29, 2024

Someone Like You Movie by Karen Kingsbury

 



Get lost in the story! Another amazing movie that you'll be glad to see (rated PG). Very emotional all the way through. Heartbreaking and hopeful, a celebration of life and the connections that we have with one another. 

Very well made, seamless, acted so believingly real. Excellent messages, hope and love. Your heart will definitely be torn in two and it will also melt. If you've read other books written by Karen, you won't be surprised that it's so well written and carries such a deep message of love.

Many thanks to Karen Kingsbury Productions for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.

#SomeoneLikeYouMIN #someonelikeyoumovie @karenkingsbury @someonelikeyoumovie #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout

Giveaway: One signed copy of the book, Someone Like You
(Note: This is limited to US winners only. Please submit your full name and full mailing address by 4/10 in the comments area below. They must have this information for the giveaway. I promise not to spam you! Winner will be chosen randomly.)

SOMEONE LIKE YOU has a message of God’s healing and hope, love and redemption. 
And it’s Rated PG! So, you and your older kids truly can enjoy a special movie outing together!

• Synopsis: Based on the popular novel by #1 NY Times Bestselling author Karen Kingsbury, Someone Like You is an achingly beautiful redemptive love story. Shocking news hits after young architect Dawson Gage loses his best friend, London Quinn. Now in his heartbreak, Dawson is compelled to launch an impossible search for London’s secret twin sister, twins separated as embryos. But along the way, Dawson never planned to fall in love.

Buy tickets today to see Someone Like You in theaters starting April 2!

Social Pages:

Sunday, March 24, 2024

A Hope Fulfilled by April W Gardner

 

Pure faith. Very little is known about Obediah, the prophet who foretold that God would destroy Edom and then the Jews would return to Jerusalem. God wouldn't accept the treatment of Edom against Jacob his brother's people. There had been a few Jews taken as slaves to Edom. This is an author's idea of how it might have played out in Edom at that time. These were two devout Jews who knew the prophecy and had waited faithfully on the Lord. This was the time, as prophesied, when Babylon came to destroy Edom, and they helped make it happen. Beautifully told, so real it's as if you were there. You can feel their faith and excitement of this time. Very enriching read. 

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.

#AHopeFulfilled #AprilWGardner #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #CelebrateLit #ChristianHistoricalFiction #FiveStarNovel #BigSpringPress



About the Book

Book: A Hope Fulfilled

Author: April W Gardner

Genre: Biblical Fiction (Obadiah)

Release Date: November, 2023

One Hebrew slave’s courage and faith opens the gate on Edom’s demise.

Tikvah, a Hebrew slave in Edom, lives in hope of once again seeing Jerusalem, the Holy City. When a Babylonian general and his dashing Jewish liaison arrive at her master’s house, whispering plans of Edom’s destruction, she senses Yahweh at work. After all, there’s a prophecy foretelling His justice upon the kingdom. Tikvah clings to that promise while obediently following the call of service into the heart of danger. If only there were a promise she would come out the other side alive.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author



April W Gardner is an indie author whose great passion is historical romance with themes of Native American and Southeastern U.S. culture. Copyeditor, mother of two grown children, and non-trad college student, April lives in South Texas with her husband and two German Shepherds. In no particular order, April dreams of owning a horse, learning a third language, and visiting all the national parks.

 

 

 

 

More from April

So…Obadiah? Who ever heard of Obadiah as the backdrop for biblical fiction? I hadn’t. But that’s not where A Hope Fulfilled began…

In late December 2021, while deciding on a Bible reading goal for the upcoming year, I pondered which sections of the Bible I knew least. The minor prophets came to mind right off, then camped there as I asked myself what I knew about these little books.

I’d heard a million sermons preached from one or another of them over the years, but could I give even a one-sentence summary on any of the twelve? That question required a moment’s thought, which produced Jonah and the big fish, Hosea and his harlot wife, Joel and the locusts, Amos and… Uh, er, uh…

This was a problem. After burning some brain cells on the matter, I finally hung my head and admitted I was a minor failure. If I’d been tested right then on the minor prophets, I would have received a big red F.

How was this possible? I’m a missionary’s kid who never missed a church service, for goodness’ sake. This was unacceptable. I had an MK reputation to uphold.

Kidding, kidding. But the point remains. After 4.5 decades in church, I should be able to state every book’s title and theme. At a minimum. Anything less is spiritual laziness.

With that challenge in mind, I hitched up my trousers and set to work. My task? One minor prophet a month. I would read each one again and again, really drilling them home, absorbing their messages and banishing my spiritual “shame.”

By April, and my fourth read of Obadiah, I stared at my Bible, the verses swimming before me, and admitted to a second problem—despite my faithful rereading, the first four books were all running together in a mental smear of prophesy messages.

Warning, judgment, doom, gloom. There was hope in there, too, of course. Praise God. And a harlot wife. I had that one down. But I was no closer to being able to distinguish them, to really understand the books with any kind of true ownership.

Since I’m a goal-girl, it made me a little sad to set aside my twelve-prophet year, but there was no getting around it. If this was going to work, I would have to go deeper, get messier, put on my work gloves and knee pads, and start digging.

New goal! Understand Obadiah. I’d worry about the rest once I had this one down. Fifteen months and three written books later, here we are, celebrating the release of my first biblical fiction, A Hope Fulfilled.

So, how did I get from studying a minor prophet to writing biblical fiction? The journey from point A to point B wasn’t very long. The series (A Fire and a Flame) started out as a Bible commentary for women, but when I got to exploring the history around Obadiah, my fiction brain kinda took over. It does that sometimes. Silly brain.

I did finish the commentary, but as soon as I allowed myself to ponder all the what-ifs of the event, the novella practically wrote itself.

Obadiah gives a fiction writer almost no details to build on. So, A Hope Fulfilled is what one might call an artist’s rendition of what might have happened during the fall of Edom. There were probably Hebrew slaves in Edom. One of them probably knew the prophecy of Edom’s doom. And that somebody might have, just might have, longed to help God’s justice play out.

Thus, Tikah and her story, A Hope Fulfilled, were born.

Blog Stops

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, April is giving away the grand prize package of a $30 Amazon gift card and a paperback set of the A Fire and a Flame!!

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/2a8f4/a-hope-fulfilled-celebration-tour-giveaway




My reviews