Friday, March 28, 2025

Spark of the Revolution by Megan Soja

 



After their mother died, Patience and her brother sailed from England to America. Patience had expectations of reuniting with her father in the States and renewing their closeness. Especially because of the timing of the Boston tea party, her life there was not close to what she had expected. I found the details of the revolutionary event very interesting, especially with 3d characters who envelop you in their lives and sentiment for each side. Really good story that's good until the end and you hope there will be another to follow (there is). Great for American History buffs.

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.

#SparkOfTheRevolution #MeganSoja #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #CelebrateLit #WildHeartBooks #ChristianHistoricalFiction




About the Book

Book: Spark of the Revolution

Author: Megan Soja

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: March 4, 2025

A spark ignites a flame that could burn down everything they hold dear.

Contrary to her name, Patience Abbott has long felt unsettled and anxious to leave behind her painful memories in England for a fresh start in America. But her new life isn’t quite what she expected, and as tension grows in her new home of Boston, so does the distance between Patience and her estranged father. So when Josiah Wagner walks into her life, it finally feels like she’s not alone. If only his patriotic leanings didn’t put him at odds with her father’s loyalties.

Josiah Wagner has spent his life yearning for a true home and family, something he works toward each day, forging tools as a blacksmith, and each night, forging plans with the Sons of Liberty. But when the destruction of tea in Boston Harbor lights the spark of the Revolution, Josiah finds himself drawn into its tumultuous wake, pulling the woman he loves along with him.

As tensions mount, will their search for belonging lead to each other, or will the obstacles between them be too great to overcome? In a land on the brink of war, can they find the home they seek in the One who calls them His own?

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Megan Soja is a multi-award-winning author who writes stories with strong faith, rich history, and sweet romance. She lives in western NY with her husband and two daughters and loves having adventures, both big and small, with her family. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, hiking, canoeing and kayaking, and playing French Horn.

 

 

 

More from Megan

I have a confession. When I was in school, I didn’t really enjoy history classes. That sounds awful coming from a writer of historical fiction, doesn’t it? But it’s true. The whole concept of memorizing dates and names and places just didn’t excite me.

And yet, I have loved reading historical fiction for as long as I can remember, and have always found living history museums fascinating. I think it’s because those things made history feel real and made me feel like I was part of it. They took me deeper, beyond a list of events and famous names, into the everyday lives of ordinary people who made a lasting impact, whether they realized it or not.

It was the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things that captured my attention when I began researching for Spark of the Revolution.

They were names most of us would never recognize. Ordinary people living ordinary lives, who stepped up one night to take part in something extraordinary. Who joined an event that would go on to impact history in ways few of them likely imagined.

Names like Sarah Bradlee Fulton, who has been credited with the idea of disguising men as Mohawks and helped her husband and brothers do just that. She later rallied women to care for wounded soldiers after the Battle of Bunker Hill and traveled across enemy lines to deliver an urgent message to General George Washington.

Or David Kinnson, a farmer from Maine who journeyed to Boston with the express purpose of destroying the tea. He went on to serve in multiple battles of both the Revolution and the War of 1812, was the father of twenty-two children, and lived to be one hundred and fifteen years old.

Or Samuel Sprague, who was on the way to visit the woman he loved when he saw what was happening at the harbor and decided to join. He climbed onto a rooftop to gather soot as a disguise. Don’t worry, he did later marry his sweetheart – Joannah Thayer – and they went on to have fourteen children together. Both lived to be ninety and are buried at the Central Burying Ground on Boston Common.

I was drawn in by these stories and so many others. They reminded me that each of us are living our own stories too. And while we may often feel ordinary, we are treasured and precious in the sight of God. He has a plan and purpose for every one of us, and whether or not our names are recorded or remembered in history, we are fully known by Him.

I hope you’ll see that message when you read Spark of the Revolution. One of purpose, of meaning in the midst of the ordinary, and of belonging to the God who is unchanging throughout all of time.

Blog Stops

Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Megan is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift 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/00adcf54179


My reviews

Thursday, March 27, 2025

The Chosen - The Last Supper - episode 1

 

Awesome. They do such a good job of bringing them all to life and making them real. I am torn between wanting to see more and dreading it since I know how painful it will be, and they're making it so real, it's even harder. Beautifully made and filmed.

The Chosen is back for Holy Week, the most pivotal week in human history. Tables are turned. Friends are betrayed. And powerful leaders plot the death of Jesus. The Chosen: Last Supper is the must see event of the Easter season.

The table is set.
The people of Israel welcome Jesus as king while his disciples anticipate his crowning.
But—instead of confronting Rome—he turns the tables on the Jewish religious festival. Their power threatened, the country’s religious and political leaders will go to any length to ensure this Passover meal is Jesus’ last.

Shot in a beautiful cinematic format, The Chosen: Last Supper brings the most pivotal week in history to audiences in this special three-part theatrical release.

Buy tickets today to see The Chosen: Last Supper in theaters starting March 28!

#TheChosenLastSupperMIN #MomentumInfluencerNetwork @thechosen @thechosentvseries

Giveaway: $10 Amazon giftcard
(Note: This is limited to US winners only. Please submit your full name and email address by 4/3 in the comments below. We will not be able to accept winners submitted after this date. Winner will be chosen randomly.)

Many thanks to Come And See Foundation for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

Buy tickets: https://thechosenlastsupper.com/tickets/?booknow

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CVj41dtkIA&t=2s

Church & Ministry Resources: https://www.comeandseefoundation.org/lastsupper

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Spectrum lies

 

#dumpspectrum
We opted for the phone buyout and have been fighting for about three months to actually get the buyout money!
Our patience is at an end with this. T-Mobile does not show the phone numbers, just the IMEI number on the close out bills. Spectrum will not recognize them.
WHAT A JOKE!
#spectrumlies #spectrumdoesntcare #spectrumbuyoutisajoke
#tmobiledoesntcare #dumptmobile
@spectrum @tmobile

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

A Constant Love by Tracie Peterson

 



Wyoming after the Great Die-Up - a terrible winter after a drought, where livestock and people froze in 60 degrees below zero weather. Charlotte, her mother and their neighbor Micah suffer tragic losses during the deep freeze and get through things by working together, with love and healing. An additional deep threat also awaits them, where they all struggle and turn for aid to their Pastor and the Sheriff. Tracy is an expert at describing scenes and bringing people to life, at teaching Christian lessons through her characters' experiences, and you feel deeply for each one. Excellent story.

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.

#AConstantLove #TraciePeterson #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #CelebrateLit #BethanyHousePublishers #ChristianHistoricalFiction



About the Book

Book: A Constant Love

Author: Tracie Peterson

Genre: Historical Romance

Release date: March 4, 2025

Heartache has left them emotionally desolate, but traces of love and healing could forge a future.

In the wake of a harsh winter, Micah Hamilton and Charlotte Aldrich are grappling with loss and guilt after the disaster that took the lives of their loved ones. Struggling to cope with his grief, Micah abandons his father’s dreams of a prosperous ranch and cuts himself off from the rest of the world.

Charlotte has loved Micah her entire life and is determined not to lose him as well. With her mother’s help, she begins coaxing Micah to live again. Despite their enduring heartache, the affection between them deepens, but just as Charlotte thinks her dreams may come true, a scorned suitor threatens everything she holds dear. Micah and Charlotte must embark on a journey of healing and renewal to build a life founded on faith, hope, and love.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Tracie Peterson is the bestselling author of more than 100 novels, both historical and contemporary, with more than 6 million copies sold. She has won the ACFW Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award. Her avid research resonates in her many bestselling series. Tracie and her family make their home in Montana.

 

 

 

More from Tracie

A Constant Love is a book near and dear to my heart. The book deals with tragedy and loss that came about during and after the Great Die-Up—a hideous winter of blizzards and desperately cold temperatures that affected the prairie states and up into the Rockies. Many of the ranchers in the areas were completely wiped out and gave up their ranches when their cattle died off in record numbers.

Ranchers and farmers had dealt with the elements turning against them prior to this, but the winter of 1886–1887 was different. The summer of 1886 had brought about record droughts, and many of the crops had failed. The livestock suffered as the grass died off and feed wasn’t readily available. By November, early and heavy snows started and continued. Temperatures dropped to record lows. In eastern Montana the temperatures were said to drop to negative 63 degrees Fahrenheit.

In January, a Chinook wind warmed things considerably, melting a lot of the snow. This just made things worse, however, because when the plunging sub-zero temperatures returned, the water froze a thick layer on top of what little grass the animals had been able to dig down to eat. Mass starvation followed, and thousands upon thousands of animals were lost. In reading about the era and all that happened, I came across comments from people that showed the great despair that flooded the states involved. The hopelessness of it all was overwhelming.

During the same time I was researching and mapping out this book, a beloved family member committed suicide. The devastation we felt was overwhelming, and it all seemed to come together with what I had been reading. I felt that deep sadness and despair. I read that some people had taken their lives after that winter. People were at a loss as to what to do, and in that day and age, the church was not always very kind to the families of those who killed themselves. As I prayed about the book I planned to write, I felt compelled to write about suicide and the ripple effect it has on family, friends, and even total strangers. I wanted to share the hope that I found in God’s Word, and A Constant Love was born.

There are times in our lives when we are overwhelmed to the point of despair, when giving up seems far easier than going on. I pray if you ever feel that way, you’ll reach out to someone and talk it through. But I also challenge those who aren’t feeling that way to be observant . . . to care about those around you enough to get in their business when things just don’t seem right. You might very well save a life. As the Bible says, we need to bear one another’s burdens. I hope you’ll keep that in mind as you read A Constant Love.

Blog Stops

Pens Pages & Pulses, March 8
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 8
Devoted To Hope, March 9
Allyson Jamison, March 9
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, March 10
Simple Harvest Reads, March 11 (Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)
Texas Book-aholic, March 11
Locks, Hooks and Books, March 12
Jodie Wolfe, March 12
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, March 13
Life on Chickadee Lane, March 14
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 14
Stories By Gina, March 15 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, March 15
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 16
Maureen’s Musings, March 16
She Lives To Read, March 17
Books You Can Feel Good About, March 18
For Him and My Family, March 18
Leslie’s Library Escape, March 19
Cover Lover Book Review, March 19
Holly’s Book Corner, March 20
Jeanette’s Thoughts, March 20
lakesidelivingsite, March 21
Pause for Tales, March 21

Giveaway


To celebrate her tour, Tracie is giving away the grand prize of a $15 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

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/00adcf54169


My reviews

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

The Last Supper from Pinnacle Peak Pictures

 

I didn't like this. Scripture is strong enough to stand on its own. In the interest of illustration and explanation, they embellished on and added to scripture. I suppose that it might not do harm as it does tell the story. But I wasn't moved by it because it added to and left out the true, exact story. I suggest that you read the bible to get the story from there.

Buy tickets today to see The Last Supper in theaters starting March 14! 

Synopsis: A cinematic Biblical journey that brings to life the ultimate act of love and sacrifice as seen through the eyes of those who walked alongside Jesus. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jwAbai7k0s&t=1s

Website: https://feverup.com/movies/en/movie/28792-the-last-supper?thm=supper&cp_landing_source=thelastsupper&utm_source=direct&latitude=35.6151&longitude=-87.0353&q=Columbia%2C+TN+38401%2C+USA&date=2025-03-13

Buy Tickets: https://feverup.com/movies/en/movie/28792-the-last-supper?thm=supper&cp_landing_source=thelastsupper&utm_source=direct&latitude=35.6151&longitude=-87.0353&q=Columbia%2C+TN+38401%2C+USA&date=2025-03-13

#TheLastSupperMIN #MomentumInfluencerNetwork @TheLastSupper @thelastsuppermovie

Giveaway: $10 Amazon giftcard 

(Note: This is limited to US winners only. Please submit your full name and email address by 3/20 in the comments area below. Winner will be chosen randomly. We will not be able to accept winners submitted after this date.) 

Disclosure: Many thanks to Pinnacle Peak Pictures for providing a sample of the product for this 
review. Opinions are 100% my own. 

Saturday, March 8, 2025

Tides of Healing by Sandra Merville Hart

 

 


July 4, 1863 Vicksburg. The Union had taken the city after a hard beating and starvation, and they freed slaves as they marched through the city and surrounding area. Savannah belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Vicksburg and lost all her help that day. The Union gave them supplies but she and her mother had never learned how to use them. An opportunity presented itself, and Savanah became a spy for the Confederates. A Union soldier came to her home as they had wounded soldiers there in the house, and they begin to know each other, softening the edges of their new lives. Seeing the aftermath of the war through each of their eyes brings out your compassion for each of them. Interesting illustration of the spy network and tension, wondering if Savannah will get caught, keep you turning the pages to the end. 

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.

#TidesOfHealing #SandraMervilleHart #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #CelebrateLit #WildHeartBooks #ChristianHistoricalRomance



About the Book

Book: Tides of Healing

Author: Sandra Merville Hart

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: February 11, 2025

A Southern belle fights to reclaim her home, but will her spying destroy the Union officer she never meant to love? 

Savannah Adair has endured the unimaginable, hiding in a cave while her beloved Vicksburg was under siege. With the city now occupied by Union soldiers, Savannah cannot stand by and do nothing. So when one of the gaunt, half-starved Confederate prisoners asks her to spy for the South, she can’t refuse the chance to take back her home.

First Lieutenant Travis Lawson takes pride in the Union army’s hard-fought victory, but he quickly realizes that the challenges of rebuilding and reconciliation are just beginning . . . and not everyone is appreciative of changes he’s making. Namely, the fiery and alluring Savannah Adair. Despite their differing loyalties and the societal divide between them, Travis cannot deny the growing feelings he has for her. When he is tasked with finding Southern spies in Vicksburg and he captures a female spy, Travis is forced to consider that the woman he’s beginning to love may be the enemy.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Sandra Merville Hart, award-winning and Amazon bestselling author of inspirational historical romances, loves to discover little-known yet fascinating facts from American history to include in her stories. Her desire is to transport her readers back in time. She is also a blogger, speaker, and conference teacher.

 

 

 

 

More from Sandra

As I typed away on this final book in my Spies of the Civil War Series, it felt as if I’d written the entire series to tell this story.

Previously, I had felt a similar importance of an as yet unpublished two-book contemporary series, but the sense that the whole series climaxed with the final book was as surprising as it was welcome.

Because it seemed as if everything that happened in all the earlier books culminated in Book 6 for me as an author. Its significance reverberated in my soul while still researching the events…and weeks before I sat to pen the first page, the first paragraph, the first sentence.

That sense of importance made this book difficult to begin. The early chapters took far longer to write than normal.

I believe that those who only read Tides of Healing will have a satisfying, complete story. Those who read the entire series in order—or at least Books 4-6 set in Vicksburg—will experience a deeper impact as the characters’ stories build on one another.

There is a song in Tides of Healing. As an author, the impact of the lyrics within the story preceded it, meaning that I knew a certain song would play a significant role while still in the research phase.

Let me explain.

When I’m researching a story, I read a variety of nonfiction resources including diaries, journals, and newspaper accounts. My research for Vicksburg during the Civil War led me to song lyrics written by the enslaved.

African American Spirituals, also called Negro Spirituals, were sung before and after the Civil War. These Christian songs served a variety of purposes beyond bolstering hope and faith during dark days. They told stories about Biblical characters like Moses. Some comforted the sorrowful and some rejoiced with the joyful. They were sung in churches, in camp meetings, and in the fields.

They often contained secret messages. “Home” in a song can refer to Heaven, but the secret meaning was a free country. Author Frederick Douglas had been a former slave. He wrote that the lyrics to “O Canaan, Sweet Canaan” signified more than a hope of Heaven. Repeated singing of the lyrics “I am bound for the land of Canaan” announced an intention to go North, their Canaan.

The Underground Railroad is a theme in Tides of Healing. In 1828, Reverend John Rankin built his home on a hill overlooking the Ohio River in Ripley, Ohio. As a station on the Underground Railroad, this home was easily seen from the opposite side of the river in the slave state of Kentucky. Runaways waited for a boat to take them across the river.

It surprised me to learn that the lyrics of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” are about this station. “I looked over Jordan and what did I see?” refers to the Ohio River. The band of angels are people who rowed them across the wide river to the free state of Ohio.

Neither of these songs is referenced in Tides of Healing. The tune that is in my story was a popular spiritual leading up to the war. I listened to it many times. The message took root in my heart long before it affected my characters.

My research trip to Vicksburg’s battlefield and museums inspired the writing of Streams of Courage, Book 4, River of Peril, Book 5, and Tides of Healing, Book 6.

Avenue of Betrayal, Book 1, is set in the Union capital of Washington City (Washington DC) in 1861, where a surprising number of Confederate sympathizers and spies lived. Boulevard of Confusion and Byway to Danger are set in Richmond, the Confederate capital in 1862. Actual historical spies touch the lives of our fictional family. The heroines in Books 1 – 3 are two sisters and their cousins. Another set of characters begin with Book 4, and three friends are the heroines in Books 4 -6.

Through both real and fictional characters, this series highlights activities spies were involved in and some of the motives behind their decisions.

I invite you to read the whole Spies of the Civil War Series!

Blog Stops

Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Sandra 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/00adcf54163


My reviews:
ChristianBook

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

I Am Living Proof

 




Let go - let God.

So this isn't a star-studded movie, but it's real. Proof of miracles that have been received, and I'm sure there have been many more. If you have a chance to go to his tent meeting, go. If you feel that you should have your own tent meeting, do it. Miracles do happen. I can testify to that. Believe in God and the power of Jesus.

Is God real? If so, where is He? Meet three skeptics suffering from critical illnesses when they attend a healing meeting at a modern-day tent revival whose lives are forever changed. 

Synopsis: I Am Living Proof is a compelling and intimate look into the lives of three individuals who face an extraordinary life-altering event. Bri, once a promising student, finds her academic dreams derailed by an illness that’s deteriorating her body. For seven years, she’s caught in a cycle of failed medical treatments and excruciating pain, pushing her toward assisted suicide. Steve’s life spirals out of control after a workplace accident leaves him dependent on opioids. Jobless and desperate, he attempts to end it all with an overdose. Mary, a mother of five, faces debilitating pain from a spinal injury that leaves her unable to care for her children—until a vivid dream sparks an unexpected turning point. 


#IAmLivingProofMIN @iamlivingproofthemovie #MomentumInfluencerNetwork

Many thanks to I Am Living Proof the Movie for providing a sample of the product for 
this review. Opinions are 100% my own.



Giveaway: $10 Amazon giftcard 
(Note: This is limited to US winners only. Please submit your full name and email address by 3/12 in the comments below. Winner will be chosen randomly. We will not be able to accept winners submitted after this date.)