One Desert Rose

“When the Smoke Clears” by Lynette Eason (A Revell Tour)

2012-02-14T16:40:00.000-08:00

Infinite Suspense! Welcome…to the edge of your seat!

About Lynette:

Lynette Eason is the author of several romantic suspense novels, including Too Close to Home, Don’t Look Back, and A Killer Among Us.

She is a member of American Fiction Christian Writers and Romance Writers of America.

A home schooling mother of two, she has a master’s degree in education from Converse College. She lives in South Carolina.

DEADLY REUNIONS–Book 1

Book Blurb:
As a member of the North Cascades Smokejumpers, Alexia Allen always takes care of the equipment that keeps her safe. So when she nearly dies in a fire due to equipment failure, she knows something is up. Ordered to take time off while the investigation continues, Alexia makes a last-minute decision to recuperate at her mother’s home and attend her high school reunion. Yet trouble seems to be following her, and within hours of arriving home she’s involved with murder, arson–and a handsome detective. But the conflicts ahead are nothing compared to the ghosts of her past. As she strives to remember and forgive her family history, she must also decide if the secret she’s been guarding for the last ten years must finally come to light.

Chock-full of the suspense and romantic tension readers have come to expect from Lynette Eason, When the Smoke Clears is the explosive first book in the Deadly Reunions series.

Excerpt:

“Get out, Alexia. Now!”
“Got to check the closet first, sir.”
“Get your tail outta there. Immediately!”

She needed air. How had her
oxygen run out? She should have had
at least another five minutes. Reaching
up, she disconnected the hose from
her tank and shoved it up under her
heavy turnout. The coat would protect
her as much as possible from smoke
inhalation. And she wanted to minimize
the blast of hot air that would fill her
lungs. She caught a breath.

The dizziness receded.

The countdown was on. The decision:
leave or check the closet?

She scanned the imaging device over
the door. Bingo. “I’ve got something.Definitely a child.”
“Alexia! Get out!”
“She’s here, sir. Can’t leave without her.”

Alexia went to the door and turned the
knob. A little girl. The child looked up at
her, eyes wide, stark terror stamped on her
tear-streaked features. Then she coughed
and her eyes rolled back. Alexia slung the
imager over her shoulder and leaned in to
pick up the little girl.

Alexia took another breath and coughed.

Dizziness returned full force and she
went to one knee. Vaguely, she felt the
sweat roll down her back. “I’m in trouble,”
she said into her radio, keeping her cool,
refusing to panic. Help was just a second
away. “Where’s RIT? No air.”

She pulled in a lungful of smoke this time.
Coughing, sputtering, she turned with the
child, frantic to get her out before the flames
caught up with the smoke.

And then the spots before her eyes
merged into one big black dot. Then nothing.

Source.

Endorsements:

“I love this book. It will keep you guessing until the very end.” Dee Henderson, best-selling author.

“The suspense is high; I was turning pages so fast I had to go back and re-read a time or two.”—Suspense Magazine on Don’t Look Back

“This plot-driven third entry in Eason’s series is sure to appeal to fans of romantic suspense as well as readers who like Joel C. Rosenberg and Ted Dekker.”—Library Journal on A Killer Among Us

• Readers will be on the edge of their seat as a female firefighter tries to keep a long-held secret in the face of threats on her life
• Readers of Brandilyn Collins will appreciate Eason’s intense style and Dee Henderson fans will love the romance
• Book 1 in an explosive new series from a bestselling author

Also available: Women of Justice
1 Too Close to Home
978-0-8007-3369-8
2 Don’t Look Back
978-0-8007-3370-4
3 A Killer Among Us
978-0-8007-3371-1

My Review:

After an unauthorized, calculated call to rescue to small child in a fire, where Alexia Allen almost lost her life due to equipment failure, she decides to attend her ten-year class reunion and to recuperate at her mother’s home while that incident is under investigation and her job is under consideration.

Ten years earlier, the night Alexia graduated from high school, her friend, Jillian Carter, came running into the graduation dance with a haunted look on her face, out of breath, and mumbling that she saw something she shouldn’t have. She immediately plunged through the back door, never to be heard from for almost ten years, leaving Alexia and Serena Hopkins aghast, wondering what Jillian saw. Alexia left that night also, estranged from her family.

Since Alexia’s return to her mother’s house, her life has been in danger and considered a possible suspect in a murder/arson case. She wonders if the equipment failure and the circumstances at home are possibly interrelated.

When the Smoke Clears, by Lynette Eason, is an explosive suspense that includes murder, fires, stalking, sniper gunshots, kidnapping, secretive complicities, and one very handsome detective, Hunter Graham. I consider Lynette’s book a thriller, with twists and plots that are forever being rearranged due to unknown, outside influences. Lynette makes us privy to some of those secretive complicities, but not enough to understand the full scope. Alexia and Hunter are unaware of these outside influences that are actually fueling their fears and anxieties, as there seems to be no safe place to hide her.

To ease the tension of the dangers that Alexia and Hunter find themselves in, Lynette throws in Graham Hunter’s mayoral candidacy dinner, Alexia’s attempts to reconcile with her mother, and a tensive romance trying to bud out from under the circumstances. The ease of Hunter and Selena’s faith puts Alexia on edge. What had God ever done for her? Where was He when she needed him? Surprises abound as the story evolves.

Lynette’s book had me pumped with all the action, suspense, and danger. The characters’ interactions and relationships were real. The tension was palpable during the high intense episodes. This author knows how to create a moving story of suspense as well as interspersing the tenderness of the Lord’s interventions in unsuspecting places and people. It’s natural and real.

My reaction at the end of the book: “I just can’t believe I have to wait for the next book!” When The Smoke Clears ends in an integrated fashion for a partial resolution, but it leaves you wanting more, more, and more, opening the door for a sequel! Fantastic ride for a great suspense/thriller. Fabulous writing from a superb author. Lynette is one powerful, plot-twisting, heart-pounding writer!!

This book was provided by Donna Hausler, Publicity Assistant at Baker Publishing Group, in exchange for my honest review. No monetary compensation was exchanged.

“Embraced by God” by Babbie Mason with a Nook Tablet Giveaway/Facebook Party~~(A Litfuse Blog Tour)

2012-02-14T16:33:00.000-08:00

Embraced by God is a journey of discovering what it means to be unconditionally loved, approved, accepted, forgiven, blessed, cherished, treasured, and favored by God.

To celebrate the book’s release, Babbie is giving away a Nook Tablet and hosting the “Embrace” FB party on 3/6/12. All the details below.

Endorsements for Embraced by God:

Here’s what I love about Embraced by God: it’s as warm and caring, as biblical and wise, as Babbie Mason herself. Filled with passion and compassion, flavored with memorable stories and lyrical lessons, Babbie’s devotional invites you to spend twenty-one days basking in the truth of God’s love for you. A splendid new resource from a gifted sister. – Liz Curtis Higgs, best-selling author of Bad Girls of the Bible

If you want to enjoy the peace of knowing ‘everything is all right’ because of who God thinks you are, then read…Embraced by God. - Jan Silvious (Speaker, Life Coach, Author, Big Girls Don’t Whine and Same Life New Story)

Are you longing for the truth of God’s love and tenderness for you? Read this book! Babbie Mason has authentically, passionately, purposefully, and powerfully written words of healing for you! – Dr. Thelma Wells

{More about Embraced by God}

Have you ever wondered, “Does God really love me? Do I really matter to him?”HE LOVES YOU.As a matter of fact, God loves you just as much as he loves His own Son.

In the pages of this heartwarming, thoughtful and life-affirming 21-day journey, award-winning gospel singer, songwriter, and teacher Babbie Mason reminds you, when you know you are loved by God and that you are in His eternal plan, you’ll never again wonder if your life matters.

Click for more info.

{More about Babbie}

Babbie Mason is a Dove Award-winning and Grammy nominated gospel singer, songwriter, author, creator of the Embrace: A Worship Event for Women ministry, professor of songwriting at Atlanta Christian College and Lee University, and a television talk-show host. She was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2010 and has appeared on numerous national television and radio programs. Babbie has been honored perform for Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Lady Margaret Thatcher, Colin Powell, Steve Forbes among many others. Babbie performs a holiday special at Carnegie Hall every year. Babbie lives near Atlanta on a farm with her husband Charles.

{More about the Embraced by God Giveaway}

Embraced by God is a 21-day encounter that shares the unconditional love of God. “If you watch what the media says as to where we should find our identity–” says Babbie, “–money, beauty, power and technology–you’ll just be confused about who you are and what your purpose is. As a culture we are trying to buy or sell what can only be administered to the soul by Jesus.”

The Blog Tour sites are here.

Celebrate with Babbie by entering her Nook Tablet Giveaway!

One beloved winner will receive:

A Brand new Nook Tablet with Wi-Fi
Embraced by God by Babbie Mason
Babbie’s Embraced by God Music CD
Babbie’s Embraced by God Notecards

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends 3/5/12. Winner will be announced at Babbie’s “Embraced” Facebook Party on 3/6. Babbie will be hosting an evening of chat, music, laughter, and encouragement – bring your friends! She’ll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, Embraced by God music CDs and Notecards, and a book club prize pack! (Ten copies of the book for your small group or book club.)

So grab your copy of Embraced by God and join Babbie and friends on the evening of March 6th for an evening of fun.

Don’t miss a moment of the fun. RSVP TODAY and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 6th!

Source.

My review will follow towards the end of the month. A book was provided by Amy Lathrop of the Litfuse Publicity Group in exchange for my honest review. No monetary compensation was exchanged.

“Indemnity” by Paula Wiseman (Book Two: Covenant of Trust Series)

2012-02-12T18:16:00.000-08:00

JUST WHEN BOBBI THINKS CHUCK’S AFFAIR IS BEHIND THEM…

A SHATTERED CHILDHOOD.

A MENDED MARRIAGE.

BOUND TOGETHER BY ONE LITTLE BOY.

After years of believing Chuck’s affair is behind them, Bobbi’s marriage is tested again when Tracy Ravenna resurfaces. Tracy’s not alone, though. Jackson Charles Ravenna is the newest student in Bobbi’s first grade class and the spitting image of her husband. When Chuck decides to pursue joint custody, they discover Jack isn’t the only secret Tracy’s been hiding.

As Tracy’s past begins to threaten their future with Jack, Bobbi is forced to face the unsettling truth about God’s grace. But this time, what will it cost to forgive the unforgivable?

Excerpt.

Bio:

I was born during the Summer of Love in Ashland, KY. I’m wife and mom of three, and a former chemist. I home school, I run a little, I’m a huge football and basketball fan, a hopeless nerd with a little techie geek thrown in. I teach Sunday school, I’m the Science Lady at Washington Elementary and I am so left-handed. I have a little dog, and a hateful cat.

Well, truth be told, I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I modeled my favorite stories, or wrote sequels to them. I wrote a full length novel while I was in college, and it currently resides in a dusty folder under my desk.

After a writing exercise, a plot began to form and a story began to nag at me, so in July 2005, I started work on the book that became Contingency.

In December 2010, Contingency, Book One of Covenant of Trust Series released. Indemnity followed in April 2011, building on the success and popularity of Contingency. The highly anticipated Book Three, Precedent released in October 2011.

My Review:

Paula has attained another peak with her book, Indemnity, the second in her Covenant of Trust Series. In Contingency, Chuck Molinsky has committed adultery with Tracy Ravenna, with the subsequent fallout of Chuck and Bobbi’s marriage and roller-coaster ride of emotional upheavals that befell the whole family, hitting Bobbi the hardest. Trust almost became an obscene word to Bobbi, let alone forgiveness of her husband.

After seven years of a quiet marital reconciliation, Tracy and her son, Jackson Charles Ravenna, arrive back in town. The bombshell explodes as Bobbi finds out about Chuck’s son from his adulterous affair when she finds Tracy has enrolled Jack in her first grade class. Emotional upheavals plow through Bobbi’s mind and heart, uprooting their family system with the news of a half-brother. Trust in her husband’s fidelity, attraction to Tracy, and honesty is revisited, while she wonders if Tracy’s manipulations and Jack’s appearance will destroy their marriage. Chuck filing for joint custody is an unconscionable act in Bobbi’s mind. Will Bobbi be able to trust and forgive once again?

What makes Paula’s book so pertinent and relevant is the absolute reality and pain of the circumstances, emotions, interventions, resolutions, and family reactions. You are pulled into the family dynamics once again. It’s intimate and personal. You hurt when they hurt. The fact that Paula has Bobbi trusting in Chuck’s re-commitment to the Lord and his marriage through their months of Godly counseling shows the strength of hope, faith and forgiveness in a very personal and meaningful way. Prayer is an integral part of the story, as should be in a Christian marriage.

An added dimension of tragedy in Tracy’s life is added to the story, which tugs on your heartstrings even deeper. Paula weaves this suspense throughout the story, keeping you on edge. The shocking end brings tears to your eyes.

I am thoroughly grateful for the way that Paula shows how God can work out any circumstance if we commit everything to prayer and trust in Him. It’s what gives me hope.

If you’ve read Contingency, be sure to pick up Indemnity. It will bless your heart in ways you wouldn’t expect. I would highly suggest you read Contingency first.

This book was provided by Paula Wiseman in exchange for my honest review. No monetary compensation was exchanged.

Review of Contingency.

Posted on February 12, 2012, and tagged Christian fiction, Christian marriage, Conception out of wedlock, Contingency, infidelity, joint custody issues, Marriage, Paula Wiseman.

“Burning Hearts” by Nike Chillemi~Crime Fictionista

2012-02-12T18:13:00.000-08:00

Book Blurb: Can a young seamstress with an independent streak escape an arsonist/murderer while deciding if she trusts the dashing US Army veteran and WWII hero some claim is the killer?

Erica Brogna tries to rescue her friend and mentor when her home and dress shop is set on fire, but the smoke and heat beat her back, making her run for help.

In comes hero, Lorne Kincaid, on his Harley. He rushes into the inferno and gets Erica’s friend out, injuring himself in the process. However, she dies at the hospital. Soon he finds himself framed for this crime.

Bio:

Like so many other writers, I started writing at a very young age. I still have the Crayola, fully illustrated book I penned (penciled might be more accurate) as a little girl about my then off-the-chart love of horses. In high school I wrote the requisite poems full of angst.Today, you might call me a crime fictionista. My passion is crime fiction.

I was a 2010 Inspy Awards judge, a 2011 Carol Awards judge, and write book reviews for The Christian Pulse on-line magazine. Mostly I review serious crime fiction novels or other types of edgy Christian titles. I’m the founding board member of the Grace Awards, a reader-driven inspirational fiction awards. I’m a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), where I serve as a small critique group leader. I’m also a member of Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers on Ning, where I’ve coordinated a group summer blog tour and have taught a workshop on proposal writing.

I’m a wife, mother, animal lover, living in a coastal metro New York City, a short distance from the Atlantic Ocean. I’m crazy about the ocean.

My website is Nike Chillemi ~ Crime Fictionista… http://http://www.nike-chillemi.com/

I can be found on Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/NikeChillemi

Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_124248046980&id=10150173847766981#!/profile.php?id=1408995495&sk=info

BURNING HEARTS can be purchased:

At the Desert Breeze Publishing site. http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/StoreFront.bok

Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Sanctuary-Point-Book-One-ebook/dp/B0050PJSTY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1305423605&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Sanctuary-Point-Book-One/Nike-Chillemi/e/2940012411747/?itm=1&USRI=nike+chillemi

Christianbooks.com. http://www.christianbook.com/burning-hearts-ebook-nike-chillemi/9781612520421/pd/18913EB?product_redirect=1&Ntt=18913EB&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP

Sony Reader. http://ebookstore.sony.com/search?keyword=Burning+Hearts%2C+Nike+Chillemi

(Source)

My Review:

Erica Brogna arrives at Ada’s Fabric Shoppe, only to find it on fire. She attempts to save Ada, but finding herself unable to accomplish the goal, she runs outside to wave down help.

Lorne Kinkade was out cruising on his Harley when he smelled smoke and saw a young woman frantically waving for help. Upon arriving, Erica informs Lorne that Ada is still in the house. He goes in to rescue her and is successful, though she is badly burned on her face and arm.

Erica, Lorne and Ada end up at the Memorial Hospital, where Erica and Lorne are treated and released. Ada was in surgery, but subsequently did not survive her injuries.

Nike Chillemi, in Burning Hearts, creates a genuine story line of a senseless arson/murder, with characters that are personal, personable, cruel, and real.
Nike Chillemi, in Burning Hearts, creates a genuine story line of a senseless, selfish arson/murder, with characters that are personal, personable, cruel, and real. The conversations seemed so natural and true for the circumstances, the delightful romance was respectful for the time era (1946), the police action/non-action seemed appropriate in the days of family powers ruling, and the suspense and mystery, though slow compared to today’s action, was timely and kept my attention. Nike kept me guessing who the killer/arsonist was throughout the whole book, down to the last few pages. And even then the action was powerful, dangerous and alarming. Emotions were palpable! Definitely moved me.

For her first novel, Nike did an outstanding job of keeping the storyline moving with all the different characters, crimes, and social and daily activities. Her descriptive language gave you a sense of the era, surrounding scenery, scenarios, area, and emotions. This aspect made for a very intimate read. Powerfully written with a sense of gentility mixed in. Definitely a 1946-era book. I loved it! Looking forward to her next book!

Nike’s inclusion of the dilemmas of Lorne and Erica’s faith, their anger at God, and their spiritual growth is applicable for people everywhere. We all struggle, but we have a God who is there for us.

I received this e-book through Debra Gaynor of Readers Favorite in exchange for my honest review. No monetary compensation was exchanged.

Posted on February 12, 2012, and tagged 1946 New York, arson, Christian crimefiction, Crime, faith, love, Murder, Nike Chillemi, trust, wavering faith, WWII hero.

“Contingency” by Paula Wiseman

2012-02-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

They Never Planned for Adultery

Bobbi Molinsky’s comfortable life is shattered when a forwarded email from her husband’s account lands in her inbox. The email teases, “My whole evening is free again.” After an angry confrontation with Chuck, she is left with the broken remains of an eighteen year marriage. Bobbi agrees forgiving Chuck is the right thing, the God-honoring thing to do, but it leaves her empty and isolated. Teaching her second-graders is a burden. Taking care of her boys saps all her energy. It seems God Himself has walked away, leaving her to struggle alone. Bobbi can’t deny the transformation in Chuck, but genuine forgiveness requires trust, and trust is a risk she’s not willing to take. Can she let go of her deepest, most primal fears and save her marriage?

Excerpt: http://www.paulawiseman.com/contingency1/

In addition to buying Paula’s book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc., it’s available on unabridged audio here. (Thanks to Jeffrey K.)

BIO:
I was born during the Summer of Love in Ashland, KY, but I moved to Pedro, OH after I married Jon, and now we live in Robinson, IL. I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. I had a teaching certificate, but went to work for Ashland Petroleum Company as a chemist in the R&D department until my firstborn came along. I write about real-world faith. Faith that isn’t perfect, but is willing to struggle, to ask questions, and ultimately to answer the call to live beyond our limits.

I have three wonderful kids, a little dog, and a hateful cat.

You can email her at paula@paulawiseman.com

My Review:

Bobbi Molinsky’s life as she knew it plummeted when a forwarded email from her husband (Chuck’s) account, hinting at a secret rendezvous, lands in her inbox while he is out of town. Upon confronting Chuck with the email, he doesn’t deny anything, claims it would have been better not to have come home, turns around, and leaves, after eighteen years of marriage!

Paula Wiseman, in Contingency, doesn’t hold back on any of the emotions that occur from the fallout due to marital infidelity. It’s raw, emotional, heart-breaking, destructive, brutal, and honest. Bobbi’s emotional roller coaster tears at your heart. The destruction of the family is heart breaking. The repercussions reverberate at work, with friends, church, and family. Trust has been violated and crushed. Paula did an excellent job of portraying the character’s feelings and issues.

Forgiveness and trust are paramount to the possibility of reconciliation, but the turmoil of the broken relationship seems never-ending. Reminders pop up unexpectedly. Bobbi knows forgiveness is what God requires, but can she let down her guard, trusting that Chuck will not re-offend?

The counsel that both Chuck and Bobbi receive is Godly and full of wisdom. Paula’s book will validate the feelings of the party that was betrayed, yet doesn’t let him/her sit there in a pity party. It is Godly tough-love advice, the kind necessary to beat the enemy of our souls, who is trying to destroy marriages. It’s a great book for counselors to share with clients. In fact, this is a book that every couple, including engaged couples, should read just for the wise marital advice and warning signals that could lead to adultery.

Contingency is not an easy read, but a vital one. The situations are real, emotional, devastating, and encouraging. It’s about forgiveness. Is forgiveness easy? No, but it’s what God requires, just as He did on our behalf. Forgive and you shall be forgiven; forgive not and you will not be forgiven. But this kind of forgiveness comes only through the Holy Spirit’s power. Although scary, it’s letting go and trusting God to bring you through to the other side, trusting once again.

This book opened my eyes to the numerous repercussions of adultery, the devastating emotional upheaval, and the hard work it takes to bring reconciliation. But it’s worth it all.

This book was provided by the author, Paula Wiseman, in exchange for my honest review. No monetary compensation was exchanged.

Posted on February 12, 2012, and tagged Adultery, Christian fiction, Forgiveness, Marriage, Paula Wiseman, trust.

“That’s My Girl” by Rick Johnson (A Revell Blog Tour)

2012-02-12T18:09:00.000-08:00

How a Father’s Love Protects and Empowers His Daughter

A father impacts every aspect of his daughter’s life–for her entire life. Fathers model for their daughters how women should be treated, how men should act, and how a man shows healthy love and affection toward a woman. And, perhaps most importantly, he sets the standard for how his daughter feels she deserves to be treated by men. It’s plain to see that this is a big responsibility and one that is not always easy to carry out.

In That’s My Girl, parenting expert Rick Johnson shows men how to develop the close relationships with their daughters that they both crave. Rick’s plainspoken common sense, wisdom, and humor meets dads right where they are with stories and advice that will change their relationships with their daughters for life.

Any man who wants to be the best dad possible to his daughter, as well as mothers and adult daughters seeking to understand the men in their lives, will love this hope-filled book.

Bio: Rick Johnson is the founder of Better Dads, a fathering skills program designed to inspire and equip men to be more engaged in the lives of their children. He develops and delivers inspirational training workshops and presentations across the country for organizations including businesses, churches, civic groups, social service agencies, hospitals, prisons, and schools.

He speaks at many large conferences across the US and Canada including MOPS International conventions, Promise Keepers Canada events, Design 4 Living women’s conferences, and Iron Sharpens Iron men’s conferences. Rick is a popular keynote speaker at men’s and women’s retreats and conferences on parenting and marriage. He is a nationally recognized expert in several areas having been asked to deliver papers at venues such as the 2007 County of Los Angeles Child Abuse Prevention Conference and the 2008 State of New York Fatherhood Conference.Prior to becoming a bestselling author and speaker, Rick was a small business owner for 16 years, owning and operating an environmental engineering firm. He attended George Fox University receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management and Organizational Leadership, and has a Masters in Education from Concordia University. He is a veteran of the United States Navy, has served on the Board of Directors for several community and business associations, and coaches high school basketball in his spare time. Rick has been featured in many national publications such as New Man Magazine, Crosswalk.com, Christianity.com, Christianity Today’s Men of Integrity, and Proverbs 31 Ministries Magazine.Rick has appeared on over 200 radio programs and television shows around the United States. He is the former co-host of a live, weekly radio show called, “An Hour of Honesty and Common Sense.”Rick and his wife Suzanne have two (nearly) adult children and live in Gresham, Oregon.

Connect with Rick: http://www.betterdads.net/ and purchase his books here: http://www.betterdads.net/store.

My Review:

That’s My Girl by Rick Johnson is one of the most comprehensive books on father/daughter relationships and how that relationship affects a daughter’s life forever. Though Rick did not become a Christian until his children were eight and ten, God has used this man to encourage dads to become deeply involved with their daughters. An earthly father’s love displays the love of God the Father to girls. This is imperative for a girl to develop confidence and empower them to become the daughter of God that she was meant to become.

Does that mean every dad should be perfect? No! It means for them to seek God and His Word to guide their daughters in Godly virtues.

The chapter titles include:

What are little girls made of–biological and psychological make-up
Her father’s influence–the power of a father words
Communicating with the female species–how to listen
Bonding with girls–time and healthy affection
What a girl needs from her father–unconditional love and truth
Danger, Will Robinson!–emotional health
Protecting her–physically, emotionally, mentally, and sexually
Uh-Oh! She’s becoming a woman–her virtue and your views on dating issues
Character training–character traits all girls need
The Father Blessing–spiritual development and the father blessing

All these titles may seem familiar, but Rick’s comments and examples address the issues much more deeply than I even expected. His book is personal and profound. This is a must-read for all men and fathers.

The only topic I would have liked to have seen included is homosexuality. It’s rampant today, and God has very strong commands on the matter.

I am also aware of another book by this author that would follow suit with this one, which I have not read yet, but will–That’s My Son. So if you need more guidance in raising your children, or your church is doing a class on parenting, I feel confident in recommending Rick’s books.

This book was provided by Donna Hausler, Publicity Assistant, Baker Publishing Group, in exchange for my honest review. No monetary compensation was exchanged.

Posted on February 12, 2012, and tagged Better Dads, bonding, character training, communicating, father's impact, father's protection, fatherly advice, MOPS, raising daughters, Rick Johnson.

OctoberBaby: A Movie That Celebrates Life: Opening on March 23, 2012

2012-02-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

A Movie that Celebrates Life!

If you believe that every life is beautiful and that a beautifully told story can touch hearts—and maybe even save lives—then get ready for OCTOBER BABY! Opening in theaters on March 23, OCTOBER BABY tells the story of Hannah, a young woman who learns that the story of her life is much different from what she’s known up until now.

Jon Erwin and Andrew Erwin directed the movie. The Erwin Brothers have won numerous awards as the directors of some of your favorite Christian music videos. Jon Erwin was the also the second unit director on COURAGEOUS, whose director Alex Kendrick says this about OCTOBER BABY: “A great film with a great message!”

» Watch the Trailer

October Baby Opens in Theaters March 23

As the curtain rises, Hannah hesitantly steps onto the stage for her theatrical debut in college. Yet before she can recite her first lines, she collapses. Countless medical tests all point to one underlying factor: Hannah’s difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to discovering that she was actually adopted … after a failed abortion attempt.

Bewildered, angered, and confused, Hannah embarks on a journey with Jason, her oldest friend. In the midst of her incredible journey to discover her hidden past and find hope for her unknown future, Hannah sees that life can be so much more than what you have planned.

» Visit OctoberBabyMovie.net

Sanctity of Life

On January 22, churches across the nation will celebrate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. With the powerful theme of “Every Life Is Beautiful,” OCTOBER BABY naturally lends itself as a partner to churches in this important endeavor. Your church can access a number of FREE ministry tools at the OCTOBER BABY website, including videos, sermons, sermon illustrations, and more.

The producers of OCTOBER BABY have assigned 10% of the profits of the movie to the Every Life is Beautiful Fund, which will distribute funds to frontline organizations helping women facing crisis pregnancies, life-affirming adoption agencies, and those caring for orphans.

» Find Free Resources Now

What People Are Saying About October Baby

“October Baby is a profoundly beautiful story and a powerful testament to the importance of every human life.” –Marjorie Dannenfelser, Founder and President, Susan B. Anthony List

“I am now an October Baby activist.” –Mark Hall, Casting Crowns

Posted on February 12, 2012, and tagged Alex Kendrick, failed abortion, Film, March 23 2012, Marjorie Dannenfelser, Movie theaters, OCTOBER BABY, Pro-life, sanctity of human life, Susan B. Anthony List.

My Review: “Not in the Heart” by Chris Fabry

2012-02-12T18:03:00.000-08:00

NO GREATER LOVE…

Truman Wiley used to report news stories from around the world, but now the most troubling headlines are his own. He’s out of work, out of touch with his family, out of his home. But nothing dogs him more than his son’s failing heart.

With mounting hospital bills and Truman’s penchant for gambling his savings, the situation seems hopeless . . . until his estranged wife throws him a lifeline—the chance to write the story of a death row inmate, a man convicted of murder who wants to donate his heart to Truman’s son.

As the execution clock ticks down, Truman uncovers disturbing evidence that points to a different killer. For his son to live, must an innocent man die? Truman’s investigation draws him down a path that will change his life, his family, and the destinies of two men forever.

Not in the Heart will release on February 1, 2012. For a sneak preview, download the first chapter.

I was born in West Virginia in 1961 and grew up in a small town much like Dogwood. I was affected by my parents, my older brothers, the hills, and books. I was never a very fast reader, but the things I read really helped change me. Particularly novels. I vowed I would write if I ever got the chance.

I met Jerry Jenkins at Moody Bible Institute in the 1980s. He discovered I wanted to write and said, “I can help you do this if you want, but it will be painful.” Boy was it painful. Gloriously painful. In 1998, Jerry and Dr. Tim LaHaye hired me to write the Left Behind: The Kids series. I had published five books up to that point. I wrote 35 books in that series over the next six years, finishing in 2004. I later collaborated with Jerry on the Red Rock Mysteries series and The Wormling series, and in 2008 the NASCAR-based RPM series rounded out my work in the area of children’s fiction.

Dogwood was my first attempt at writing fiction for adults. It took more than six years to get to the page and to find a publisher. It received the 2009 Christy Award for Christian fiction in the Contemporary Standalone category, which surprised the Dogwood out of me! My next novel, June Bug, draws its themes from the classic Victor Hugo tale, Les Miserables. A nine-year-old girl walks into Walmart and sees herself on a missing children poster. Who is she? Who is her father who travels with her in the beat-up RV? Charles Martin wrote this about the story: “Anne Lamott said that ‘good writing is about telling the truth.’ Chris Fabry has done this. Beautifully. June Bug is masterful. An honest story that dove deep inside me and lingered long after I turned the last page.” June Bug was named a 2010 finalist for the Christy Award and the ECPA’s Christian Book Award.

My Review:

Truman Wiley is a man lost–out of work as a reporter; out of touch with his family; drowning in gambling, hospital and school debts; loss of his small house; car repossessed; neglectful father and husband; and most importantly, out of touch with God. His son, Aiden, is slowly dying from a heart ailment, and is desperately in need of a heart transplant to survive.

Truman’s estranged wife, Ellen, gets him a job writing a book about Terrence Conley, a death row inmate accused of murder, who is willing to donate his heart for Aiden, an impossible feat in itself without intervention. Terrence and his estranged wife, Oleta, are friends of Ellen from church, and they just want his side of the story told before his execution. As most death row inmates, he claims his innocence.

After receiving the retainer money on the book, Truman immediately goes and gambles it away instead of visiting his son and paying off bills. His daughter, Abigail (Abby) ends up finding him and working with him on the book, since he neglected to pay her college bills so she could graduate.

In his book, Not in the Heart, Chris Fabry methodically creates a real-to-life story that is heart-wrenching in terms of Truman’s estrangement from himself, God and his family. One sees into the disturbing devastation of gambling, a peek into the realms of evil, Godless men, and the anguish of his love-starved family. Truman’s circumstances, his attitude towards God, and his comments directly spoken to you, the reader, opens wide a space for him in your heart–what a great point of view insertion that gets your attention! You sense the futility of his life without God, stumbling around, trying to stay ahead of the loan sharks and bill collectors. Your heart is truly caught up in Truman’s life and relationships, and he seems to stay on your mind as someone you know. The book also touches on those on death row who maybe shouldn’t be there–a hot topic today.

The investigative, suspenseful part of the story is woven in amongst the continuing family issues. You’ll find this to be a book of superb suspense with multiple plots, and a sensitive, heart-warming book of hope for family relationships. Without the prayers of the those who knew the Lord, things wouldn’t have happened as they did.

This book was provided by Audra Jennings of The B&B Media Group, Inc, in exchange for my honest review. No monetary compensation was exchanged.

Posted on February 12, 2012, and tagged Chris Fabry, Christian Suspense, Death row, estranged family relationships, gambling, God's love, Godless men, heart transplant, investigation, Murder, prayer, truth.

“Addison Blakely: The Confessions of a PK” by Betsy St. Amant

2012-02-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

THE CONFESSIONS OF A 16-YEAR-OLD PK

My name is Addison Blakely, and I’m a PK. Yeah, I know that sounds like a confession, and trust me, some days it feels like one, too.

Addison Blakely has never had much trouble pleasing her widowed, overprotective father. After all, he’s a pastor, and she knows her reputation is closely linked to his. But when the bad boy revs his motorcycle into town and into her heart, the cute but arrogant quarterback, and a charming new guy in class all vie for Addison’s attention, she begins to doubt her resolve. When motorcycle boy begins to challenge Addison’ faith, whether it’s her own or has been handed to her, she isn’t so sure what she really believes.

To make matters worse, Addison’s best friend suddenly seems to hate her, a talent show has the entire school at odds, and a foreign exchange student from Germany is shaking everyone up.

Join Addison Blakely as she attempts to separate love from lust, facts from faith, and keep her head above water in her murky, fishbowl existence.

Addison Blakely: Confessions of a PK/Barbour Books/Available: January 1st, 2012/368 Pages/ISBN-10: 1616265558/ISBN-13: 978-1616265557

Find this book online at the following stores:
BarnesAndNoble.com
Parable.com
Amazon.com
Christianbook.com
BooksAMillion.com

Bio: Betsy St. Amant lives in Louisiana and is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers group. Betsy is multi-published through Steeple Hill and has been published in Christian Communicator magazine and Praise Reports: Inspiring Real Life Stories of How God Answers Prayer. One of her short stories, ‘Kickboxing or Chocolate’, appears in a Tyndale compilation book, and she is also multi-published through The Wild Rose Press. She has a BA in Christian Communications and regularly freelances for her local newspaper. Betsy is a fireman’s wife, a mommy to a busy toddler, a chocolate-loving author and an avid reader who enjoys sharing the wonders of God’s grace through her stories.Betsy is proud to be represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. Visit www.tamelahancockmurray.com & www.stevelaube.com

You have to go here to visit more with Betsy!

Source.

My Review:

Addison Blakely’s life is about to unravel. The new boy, Wes Keegan, is continually standing outside her window with ‘Poodle Girl.’ Austin is hot after her, constantly kicking her chair in class. Luke stands up for her when Austin keeps acting like a jerk.

Addison’s best friend, Claire Pierson, starts to change for reasons unknown, and suddenly becomes Addison’s enemy. Marta, a German exchange student, steps in and becomes a close friend to her. In fact, because of Marta, she’s now in charge of the talent show.

Addison’s dad talks only mundane things with her, i.e., cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, how’s school, etc. Nothing deep or personal. However, he has strict rules she must adhere to, though he’s not mean-spirited about it. Up until then, Addison never gave him any problems. Something else changes when her dad meets an old high-school flame.

Betsy St. Amant, in Addison Blakely: Confessions of a PK, takes you inside the mind and heart of Addison, the PK. She interweaves the wild thoughts and sneaky behaviors of Addison’s worldly ideas when she has three boys vying for her attention, while at the same time keeping cool with her dad. She normally is a not-going-to-date girl. Her foot-in-mouth disease is hilarious. Addison’s love affair with her chocolate mocha lattes with whipped cream and sprinkles at Got Beans also becomes her secret rendezvous place with Wes. The romantic tension with Wes is palpable. Is he really who he puts himself out to be? What’s behind his bad boy persona? Is he good for her?

I love Addison, but I also love the character of Marta. Being from Germany, she openly talks about sex and abortion, as well as the selfishness of American students. She asks in-your-face questions of Addison as only a close friend would dare. She challenges Addison’s way of thinking and brings out a side of her that one wouldn’t know was there.

With each rendezvous with Wes, he challenges Addison’s faith and current role as a PK, whether she wants to continue abide by the rules. While at the same time Addison is questioning her commitment to the Lord. Betsy did a wonderful job with the internal tension and pressure continually swirling within Addison’s mind.

This book brought back so many memories of high school and truly captures the distraught feelings of a teenager finding her way through high school as a PK. It’s an intimate read that pulls you into the emotions of Wes, Marta, and Addison, as well as the interactions and gossip that travel around, particularly with the other girls who are jealous. The personal decisions were sensitive and difficult, yet appropriate for the situations.

This was one of the best, perky, snappy YA read I’ve read in a very long time. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Betsy knows her way around the minds of young girls! It was real, painful, entertaining, and very informative of the issues girls go through in today’s world. You’ll fall in love with the characters, as they are so real. For a great read, pick up Betsy’s book! It’s an eye-opener and it’s entertaining.

This book was provided by the author in exchange for my honest review. No monetary compensation was exchanged.

Posted on February 12, 2012, and tagged Betsy St. Amant, boy meets girl, decision-making, faith, friendships, PK, sex, teenage dating.

“Spyglass Lane Mysteries”--A New Line Of Mysteries for Your E-Reader

2012-02-12T17:57:00.001-08:00

Feb12

A NEW LINE OF MYSTERIES FOR YOUR E-READER

Susan Sleeman here. Do you have an e-reader or maybe an iPad? Then I’d like to tell you about a line of cozy mysteries that has recently released with most books retailing for only .99 for a limited time.

Spyglass Lane Mysteries are published by a group of cozy mystery authors who have joined together to bring you a new cozy mystery every week. Currently, there are over 20 wonderful mysteries in this line. Stop by the website to view all of the available books and be sure to sign up for our email newsletter where we announce each new book that releases.

I’d also like to share a little bit about my Garden Gate Mystery Series that is releasing as part of this line. The first book, Nipped in the Bud has already released and book two, Read Between the Tines will release in February 23rd. Here’s a little bit about both books.

NIPPED IN THE BUD

WHEN YOU FIND YOUR BOSS PUSHING UP DAISIES. . .

Life in full bloom, landscape designer, Paige Turner, scores her first landscaping contract to spruce up the park, her radio talk show shoots to number one, and her retail shop is simply blossoming. Yes, her life is a bed of roses. Until she finds the city manager served up on the blade of her favorite shovel mere hours after she’s threatened to have his head on a platter, then the thorns come out. And there is none thornier than the local police chief declaring Paige the one and only suspect and threatening to plow her under.

YOU’VE GOT TO FORMULATE A PLANT OF ATTACK . . .

Paige teams up with dashing attorney, Adam Hayes to weed through the list of suspects, and clear her soiled reputation. And along the way, discovers that Adam just may be the man of her dreams.

» Read an Excerpt » Order It Now

READ BETWEEN THE TINES

IF YOUR LIFE IS A BED OF ROSES. . .

Recovered from her near death at the hand of a killer, landscape designer Paige Turner is certain her life will soon be a bed of roses. That is, until her employee, Daisy Rose Plante, finds a dead body, and the thorny police chief looks no further than Daisy for a suspect. Paige digs in and weeds through the list of potential killers, and before long, her sweet smelling rose of a life is soundly trampled.

YOU’LL HAVE TO SURVIVE THE THORNS. . .

Paige would be much happier working over-thyme on her budding relationship with handsome attorney, Adam Hayes, but it soon becomes clear she’ll be in a hoe lot of trouble with him if she continues digging for the killer. Does Paige risk all and try to unearth the killer? Or does she settle down in peaceful bliss with the man of her dreams?

» Read an Excerpt

SUSAN SLEEMAN is a best-selling author of inspirational romantic suspense and mystery novels. She grew up in a small Wisconsin town where she spent her summers reading Nancy Drew and developing a love of mystery and suspense books. Today, she channels this enthusiasm into writing romantic suspense and mystery novels and hosting the popular internet website TheSuspenseZone.com.

Susan currently lives in Florida, but has had the pleasure of living in nine states. Her husband is a church music director and they have two beautiful daughters, a very special son-in-law and an adorable grandson.

To learn more about Susan visit: Website, her Facebook page, or on Twitter

Day #6 and 5 Facebook "Frantic" Giveaways, PLUS Additional "Frantic" Giveaways!

2012-02-07T08:27:00.001-08:00

Happy release day, FRANTIC !!! (And wouldn’t you know it? Amazon doesn’t have it available yet!) Well, it’s available from other book selling sites and in stores today. Amazon’s loss.

Below are the final winners of my book-a-day giveaway and my Facebook page big giveaway since we reached and surpassed 700 likes! If you’re not one of the winners I do hope you’ll check the book out anyway.

Purchase at these sites:

Amazon . . . Kindle version is available
Barnes & Noble
Christianbook.com
Books-a-Million

Or check your local bookstore (B&N, BAM, Family Christian, Lifeway, and independents). Celebrate today by purchasing your copy of FRANTIC. And when you’re done reading it, I’d love to hear what your thoughts are.

Okay, wait no longer, here are the winners . . .

Sixth and final winner of the book-a-day giveaway: Claudia Leftwich. Congrats, Claudia!

Five winners of the Facebook page giveaway:

Cynthia Stang
Claudette Labrie-Paul
Harry Fouts
Joy Kieffer
Kristin Toney Campbell

Congratulations to all the winners! I’ll contact you all via Facebook for your mailing information.

*****************************

ADDITIONAL GIVEAWAYS ON PERSONAL BLOGS:

Into the Fire . . . guest post “Live Like You Mean It” (giveaway)
I am Believing God . . . “Mike Dellosso is Master of Suspense” (giveaway)
Examiner . . . “Mike Dellosso is Master of Suspense”
Window to My World . . . Interview (giveaway)
Nikole Hahn’s Journal . . . guest post “People Come First” (giveaway)

ON FEBRUARY 8 (tomorrow), FIND ANOTHER GIVEAWAY AT MY BLOG POST:

One Desert Rose... guest post "Being Intentional" (giveaway)

Source.

GIVEAWAY: “Frantic” by Mike Dellosso

2012-02-04T09:28:00.000-08:00

Check out the website below for a chance to win a copy of Frantic by Mike Dellosso:

http://mikedellosso.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/frantic-giveaways/

February 1-7

FRANTIC releases in six days and Mike plans to give away a book a day until February 7. If Mike’s author page on Facebook hits 700 “likes” by Feb. 7, he’ll give away an additional 5 copies. Only 22 'likes' away since 5:00 am Feb. 3. Please “like” it. Invite your friends!
(www.facebook.com/mikedellosso.).

He’s also running another giveaway on his blog. Check it out . . . www.mikedellosso.wordpress.com.

FRANTIC is the story of three unlikely heroes fighting to survive in a world where every card seems stacked against them. The story moves at a lightning pace and leaves you feeling, well, frantic. But there’s also a message in there, an important word for all of us about faith and trust and what’s really important. You won’t want to miss this one.

Can a deranged serial killer be stopped before it’s too late?

For gas station attendant Marny Toogood it’s just another day on the job when an urgent message from a young girl in the backseat of a car draws him into a daring rescue attempt. Now on the run with the girl and her brother, Marny begins to realize he must conquer his own past and surrender all to Christ.

As they face kidnapping, underground cults, and other evils, can Marny trust the simple faith of a child and stand his ground against a power so twisted?

Mike Dellosso:

Mike Dellosso writes novels of suspense for both the mind and the soul. He writes to both entertain and challenge. In addition to his novels, Mike is also an adjunct professor at Lancaster Bible College and a faculty member at the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writer’s Conference.

Related Articles:

Mike Dellosso: The Man and His Books (onedesertrose.wordpress.com)
Mike Dellosso’s “FRANTIC” (onedesertrose.wordpress.com)
Feeling . . . Frantic (hopeofglory.typepad.com)

Source.

CSS Blog Tour (and special contest)- “People of the Book” by Kathi Macias

2011-04-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Will God protect and keep them safe in the midst of persecution?

Farah lives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with her family, and wants nothing more than to develop a deeper devotion to her Muslim faith. She sees the month of Ramadan as her chance to draw nearer to Allah, and pursues that goal. All goes well until the prophet Isa—Jesus—appears to her in a dream and calls her to Himself. Her brother, Kareem, who has never liked her, seeks to discredit her.

Farah’s cousin, an only child, frequents an online chat. She discovers former Muslims discussing their new belief that Isa is much more than a Muslim prophet—He is actually the Son of God. She becomes acquainted with an American girl of Muslim ancestry—now a devout Christian—Sara. Sara has problems of her own due to her brother Emir’s suspicious behavior.

Each finds their faith put to the test. Will they be true to their beliefs? Will God protect them, or will they pay the ultimate price for their faith?

Kathi Macias is a multi-award winning writer who has authored nearly 30 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs. Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences, and recently won the prestigious 2008 member of the year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) at the annual Golden Scrolls award banquet. Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband, Al, where the two of them spend their free time riding their Harley.

Watch this dynamic trailer here!

Interview with Kathi Macias:

People of the Book is the fourth and final book in your Extreme Devotion series. Each book is set in a different country, with the theme of first devotion and commitment to Christ above all else running through all four. How is People of the Book different, and who/what inspired you to write this book?

People of the Book was the most difficult of the four Extreme Devotion series books to write, but it is also the strongest when it comes to a call to personal commitment to Christ and to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. With each of the books, I began drafting the manuscripts through Internet research, since I had never lived in any of the four countries and had only visited one of them. After the original draft, I worked with someone who either currently lived in the country or who had recently spent many years there. People of the Book was the toughest because the Saudi women I connected with via the Internet were understandably apprehensive about associating with me. Most, in fact, were terrified to do so. I was therefore quite pleased to meet a young woman named Dolly Dahdal here in the States who, until just a few years ago, had spent the majority of her life in Saudi Arabia and understood perfectly why I had chosen to write this book. We shared a passion to help expose the fallacy of “honor killings,” a horrific crime perpetrated primarily against women and girls who in some way bring “dishonor” on their Muslim families, and Dolly was a major contributor to the authenticity of this book.

Can you give us a brief synopsis of this story?

Eighteen-year-old Farah, who lives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with her family, wants nothing more than to develop a deeper, more meaningful devotion to her Muslim faith. She sees the month of Ramadan as her chance to draw nearer to Allah, and she pursues that goal throughout the holiday. All goes well until the prophet Isa—Jesus—appears to her in a dream and calls her to Himself. At the same time, her only brother, Kareem, who has never liked Farah, actively seeks an opportunity to expose her for the sham he believes she is.

Meanwhile, Farah’s seventeen-year-old cousin, Nura, has begun to frequent an online chat room where former Muslims gather to discuss their new faith, based on their belief that Isa is much more than a Muslim prophet—He is actually the Son of God. While there, Nura becomes acquainted with an American girl of Muslim ancestry—now a devout Christian named Sara—and a friendship quickly develops. However, Sara has problems of her own due to her fifteen-year-old brother Emir’s involvement with a gang.

The lives of Farah, Nura, and Sara ultimately dovetail until each finds herself at a place where her faith is put to the test. Will they remain faithful to the end? Will God protect and keep them safe in the midst of persecution and treachery? Or will they be required to pay the ultimate price for their faith?

Kathi, how did you get into writing? Has it always been your passion, or is it something you came to later in life?

I’ve always wanted to write, for as long as I can remember. I was an avid reader even before I started kindergarten. I wrote a short story in third grade that the teacher liked so much she showed it to the principal, and they decided to turn it into a play for the entire PTA. I was hooked! One day when I was about 13, I was walking home from school with my then boyfriend (now husband), Al, and I told him I’d be a writer some day. He often reminds me how blessed I am to have been able to do what I dreamed of all my life.

I understand you’re running a SPECIAL CONTEST that has to do with this book. Can you tell us about it?

Not only are there several opportunities to win a copy of the book on various blog sites included in this tour, but I’m giving away the entire four-book series at the end of the tour to someone who leaves a comment on one of the blogs, so be sure to check them all out and leave comments on each one!

In addition to writing, you are a popular speaker at women’s event, writers’ conferences, and various venues around the country. How can people find out more about you, your writing and speaking, sign up for your weekly devotional newsletter (in English or Spanish), and/or just view your many book videos, etc.?

They can find me at one of my websites (http://www.kathimacias.com; http://www.theTitus2Women.com) or on my Easy Writer blog at http://kathieasywritermacias.blogspot.com. There is a “contact” button on my Kathi Macias website if they’d like to send me a message. I always respond to all my emails!

Blog Tour: Monday, April 18, 2011 at 8:00 AM – Monday, May 02, 2011 at 5:00 PM (CT)

This blog tour is hosted by:

Visit ChristianSpeakerServices.com

I was given a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for posting the author’s interview on my blog. This blog tour is managed by Christian Speaker Services (www.ChristianSpeakerServices.com).

Revell Blog Tour (with review): The Deepest Waters” by Dan Walsh

2011-04-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a true story…

Dan Walsh Returns With A Story of Love That Defies the Odds

“I’ve written you a note, inside the pouch,” John yelled. “Don’t read it…unless you hear word that I – that I did not…” Tears poured down his cheeks. He looked away. “John!” she screamed. “I must go back…”

Award-wining author Dan Walsh brings a powerful love story reminiscent of the Titanic to readers. The Deepest Waters (ISBN: 978-0-8007-1980-7, April 2011, $14.99) is a masterpiece of historical fiction set in 1857 when newlyweds John and Laura Foster set sail on the SS Vandervere for their honeymoon. Soon, their fairytale becomes a nightmare when a hurricane causes the ship to sink into the depths of the Atlantic. John and Laura are separated not knowing if they will ever see each other again.

Walsh was inspired to write The Deepest Waters by the true story of the sinking of a paddle-wheel steamship laden with gold from San Francisco, California. The SS Central America, bound for New York City ran into a hurricane which sealed her fate around September 11, 1857.

Walsh takes readers on a journey through troubled waters as they discover the treasure hidden in The Deepest Waters, a story full of action and suspense. Through the Fosters, Walsh creates an amazing love story about what happens when miracles do come true.

Dan Walsh is the award-winning author of The Unfinished Gift, and The Homecoming. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Dan served as a pastor for 25 years. He lives with his family in the Daytona Beach area, where he’s busy researching and writing his next novel.

Endorsements

“The Deepest Waters is a story that’s been waiting to be told for 150 years. What a blessing Dan Walsh is the one to tell it. It is inspirational, spiritual, and miraculous–a hopeful message when the world needs it most.”–Jason F. Wright, New York Times bestselling author of The Wednesday Letters

“A delightful story that took me back to an era when men were gallant and women were virtuous. Dan Walsh fully immersed me in a fascinating world from 1857 and left me longing for the movie.” –James L. Rubart, Bestselling author of Rooms and Book of Days

My Review:

Dan writes about a deep, personal love story that turns into anguish amidst the tragedy of the SS Vandervere caught in the middle of a hurricane in the Atlantic. My mind immediately conjured up the horrific story of the Titanic.

In The Deepest Waters, Dan Walsh vividly writes about the grief-stricken emotions of the women being rescued by The Cutlass while the SS Vandervere is sinking with their husbands and remaining crew aboard. The voices of the men and women cry out to you as you read–haunting cries that are real and heartbreaking, touching you to the very core of your being, pulling on every heart-string. So realistic that you feel you are there with them. Eerie, when compared to the Titanic sinking.

Since we live in such modern times, with radar, weather forecasts and storm tracking, it’s hard to comprehend what goes on during desperate times such as these. Dan brings to light the loss of life and livelihood, food deprivation, lack of communication, and greed, while contrasting those who hang on to faith, hope, encouragement, self-sacrifice, and love—even the miraculous.

Dan Walsh wrote a great story inspired by the true story of the SS Central America, a paddle-wheel steamship that sank in the waters off North Carolina in September of 1857. An inspirational story of chivalry, Divine intervention, and faith. Don’t miss it!

This book was provided by Donna Hausler, Publicity Assistant at Baker Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review.

Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life. They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet.

“Available April, 2011, at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

For more information, visit www.RevellBooks.com.

"No Safe Haven" by Kimberley and Kayla R. Woodhouse

2011-04-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

"NO SAFE HAVEN"

***********************************************************************************************To cope with her husband's death, Jenna Gray learned to fly. To cope with his secrets, she must learn to survive. Stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with a man who vowed to protect her, they must learn to trust each other if they want to get her daughter home alive and prevent the most advanced defense weapon in history from falling into the wrong hand.

***************************************************************************************

At thirteen, Kayla Woodhouse isn't like most teenagers, overly consumed with themselves and their social lives. Despite a rare medical disorder, Kayla has become one of the youngest full-length series novelist, releasing with her mother, Kimberley Woodhouse, the first of a three-part series, No Safe Haven (B & H Books).

As a child, Kayla was diagnosed with Hereditary Sensory Autonomic Neuropathy, a disorder that prevents Kayla's body from feeling pain with the same intensity as other people, while her cooling function (sweating) doesn't kick in until her body reaches a lethal high temperature. As a result, Kayla needs protective cooling gear just to go outside and must always stay in a cool environment (not over 65 degrees F). Kayla also endured brain surgery when the doctors discovered her brain was growing into her spinal column.

Due to overwhleming medical bills, the Woodhouse family lost their home. They continued to hold strong to their faith, and through the campaigning of their friends and local media, the Woodhouse's were given a home and featured on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Kimberley Woodhouse is a popular speaker who has learned to face difficult circumstances with a positive outlook. "Through ever trial or tough time I've found myself in, God's joy has been there in the midst. I can always look back and see how He pruned me, helped me grow, and made His undeniable joy available to me through it all," says Kimberley. Additional information is available at www.kimberleywoodhous.com and www.kaylawoodhouse.com.

Book Blurb:
Jenna and Andi Tikaani-Gray are hoping for a fresh start. Though twelve-year-old Andie has long struggled with a rare medical disorder, she and her mom have finally received good news from an out-of-town specialist. It's news they desperately needed, especially after the recent death of Jenna's husband (Andie's dad) from a car accident, a man who invented a top-secret items for the US military.

But as they are flying home to Alaska, ready to begin again, the unthinkable happens. The pilot sabotages their small plane and crashes in Sultana, one of the most remote and dangerous mountains in the Land of the Midnight Sun. Even worse, a winter storm is headed their way along with someone who doesn't want to save them, but to kill them.

Only one man can keep them alive: Cole Maddox, the mysterious last-minute passenger who joined them on their flight. But trust doesn't come easy to Jenna or Andie, and they both sense Cole is hiding something.

Hardened by the loss in his life, Cole knows the best path is one he walks alone. No one to care for, or about. That way he is able to focus on what matters: getting a secret technology safely in the hand of the US Military.

But when the plane he's on with Jenna and Andie crashes, it will take all his skill and strength to get them out alive--and all his determination to stay in this self-imposed solitary confinement. No Safe Haven is a relentless tale of survival, romance and suspense involving military technology designed by Jenn's late husband that some would do anything to possess.

No Safe Haven: A Novel by Kimberley & Kayla Woodhouse/B&H publishers/
March15, 2011/352 pages/$14.99/ISBN: 978-14336-71166

See the trailer here.

My Review:

A year has passed since the horrific car accident that killed their husband and dad, but Jenna and Andie Tikaani-Gray are hoping for a fresh start after receiving good news about Andie’s rare medical disorder. They are returning home to North Pole, Alaska, in their own plane piloted by their friend Hank.

Unbeknownst to Jenna, Hank, a long-time friend of her and her husband, his soldier buddy, has sabotaged their plane. Mid flight, their small plane crashes into Sultana, the most remote and dangerous mountains in Alaska. Without radio or flight communication, they are unaware of a winter storm heading their way. Also unknown are the people who are heading their way and don’t want them to survive.

Only one person is available to help Jenna and Andie, and that’s their last-minute passenger, Cole Maddox. Who is this man? And can they trust him? Do they have any choice with the circumstances?

The suspense of not knowing the trustworthiness of the unknown passenger, the danger of the monstrous winter storm, and the insidious alliance of unknown killers stalking the Tikaani-Gray family were expertly collaborated together by Kimberley and Kayla R. Woodhouse into one incredible thriller from beginning to end in No Safe Haven!

I absolutely loved the identified points of view by each character, giving me an inside view of their fears, feelings, thoughts, and plans before the others were privy to them–both the group stranded on the mountain and those who intended the eradication of their lives and why.

Kimberley and Kayla build suspense as their characters are hurdled through the medical aspects involving Andie, which can be deadly, their survival on the mountain, their rescue, their safety once safely on ground, albeit the hospital, and the breaches of security. Who can be trusted to keep them safe? The culmination of the story is so mind-boggling, yet realistic. It makes you wonder how the depravity of man can be so hideous.

The book is also educational about the Andie’s medical disorder (HSAN). Though she has this disorder, don’t underestimate her. She is only twelve, but she is feisty, astute, witty, and full of faith! And she is not shy in sharing her trust in God and salvation. She will win your heart over in a second!

This is not a book to start just before bed, unless you plan to be up into the wee hours of the morning, and then some! It is riveting!

This book was provided by Susan Hunt, of Pure Publicity, in exchange for my honest review. No monetary value was exchanged.

"WORDS" by Ginny Yttrup

2011-01-31T14:28:00.000-08:00

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: B&H Books (February 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1433671700
ISBN-13: 978-1433671708

Words by debut author Ginny Yttrup is a poignant tale woven from her true-life experiences.

Ginny Yttrup: "I was sexually abused by an an authority figure in my life for over a dozen years of my childhood. For years I struggled with God, telling Him I didn't want to be the poster child for the sexually abused. But as I took my eyes off myself and instead focused on Him, my heart softened and I surrendered to His plan--whatever that may be. Part of the plan, I know, was to write this book--it is a means of sharing God's hope, mercy, and grace with others and to let abuse survivors know that they'll not only survive, but they can also thrive!

Ginny is an accomplished freelance writer, speaker and life coach who also ministers to women wounded by sexual trauma. Her blogs include Fiction Creator, My Daily Light, and Crossings Life Coaching. Ginny is available to speak to groups and can be reached at GinnyYttrup.com

My Review:

WORDS, by Ginny L. Yttrup, is the story of ten-year-old Kaylee Wren who doesn’t speak. In fact, she hasn’t talked since her drug-addicted mother walked away, leaving her in the care of a dangerous and evil man in a forest cabin surrounded by towering redwood trees. Silence becomes her refuge while in this man’s ‘care,’ and she uses the dictionary her mother left behind to occupy her time.

Sierra Dawn is a thirty-four-year-old artist who lives alone after losing her daughter, Annie, at birth. She allows the shame of her past to silence her dreams and hopes, and attempts to control her pain by controlling her circumstances. Her dog, Van Gogh, is one of her comforts, as well as her friend, Ruby and her husband. She does not think of God as her friend. However, on the twelfth anniversary of her daughter’s death, she finds that God has not forgotten her and her deceased daughter. His plans would change her life and the life of a little girl! Oh, and the life of Dr. Peter Langstrom!

Ginny uses alternate points of view with each chapter of the book, leaving you privy to the inside thoughts and feelings of the main characters. The depth of each character is richly developed and exposed, reaching deeply into your own psyche and emotions. Their feelings become yours, as you live through the pain of their lives. Some of the interactions are heart-wrenching to the bone, while others give you glimpses of success and breakthroughs.

The way that Kaylee learned to cope through her circumstances is typical for children. Adults try to cope as well, only with different means, such as busyness, TV, alcohol, drugs, etc. It’s through the prayers of friends and family that Sierra once again entrusts her life into the Lord’s hands. She in turn shows the way of healing freedom to Kaylee through the use of words, finding the True Word—Jesus Christ.

I found Ginny’s book to be an insightful story for people dealing with children (and adults) who have suffered childhood abuse at the hands of others. You will find the tender mercies of the Lord shining through.

BLOG TOUR: "Highland Blessings" by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

2010-05-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

BLOG TOUR: Godly Character Highlighted in “Highland Blessings” by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

JILTED, KIDNAPPED, FORCED TO MARRY!

Highland warrior Bryce MacPhearson kidnaps Akira MacKenzie on her wedding day to honor a promise he made to his dying father. When he forces Akira to wed him, hoping to end a half-century feud between their clans, she struggles to overcome her anger and resentment…Yet her strength in the Lord becomes a witness to Bryce. But there is a traitor in their midst…and murder is the ultimate weapon.



Author: Jennifer Hudson Taylor
ISBN: 978-1-4267-0226-6/softcover/$13.99/May 2010

Jennifer writes historical & contemporary inspirational fiction set in Europe and the Carolinas. Her debut novel, Highland Blessings, will be released May 2010 by Abingdon Press. All of her novels include elements of faith, history, drama, suspense and romance. She dedicates everything she writes to the glory of God, the one who truly inspires her. She lives in North Carolina.

My Review:

When I first agreed to read Highland Blessings by Jennifer Hudson Taylor, I was a little apprehensive about the book because of the country setting and brogue issues. I am so glad I chose to read it! It was engaging the whole way through the book, and the whole storyline flowed naturally, particularly for the time era and country setting and clan rules, keeping me intrigued.

Akira had been jilted at the altar, kidnapped on her wedding day, and forced to wed another man from an opposing clan, one that had been feuding with her side of the family for a half-century.

Akira’s character was humble and yet strong and steady when necessary, dealing with all the emotions of the circumstances. She relied on the Lord to help her through each situation, and there were many intense moments from beginning to end! Bryce’s character was just as compelling, with his deep loyalty to promises he made and his tenderness amidst the tenacity and decisiveness needed for his clan position and enemy threats and murders.

Upon reading the book, I found some similar analogies of Akira to Esther and Joseph from the Old Testament, with testings and trials to bring out Akira and Bryce’s characters. The storyline will impress you. Jennifer is one fine writer! I highly recommend her book!

This book was provided free by Mark Yeh at Abingdon Press for my honest, personal review. I consider it a privilege to recommend good novels for your reading delight.

"Refuge on Crescent Hill" by Melanie Dobson

2010-05-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

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

Today's Wild Card author is:

Melanie Dobson

and the book:

Refuge on Crescent Hill

Kregel Publications (March 11, 2010)

***Special thanks to Cat Hoort, Trade Marketing Manager, Kregal Publications for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melanie Dobson is an author as well as the owner of the publicity firm Dobson Media. A former corporate publicity manager at Focus on the Family, Melanie has worked in the fields of journalism and publicity for more than twelve years. Her first book is Together for Good. Melanie lives in Oregon with her husband, Jon, and their two adopted daughters, Karly and Kinzel.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Kregel Publications (March 11, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0825425905
ISBN-13: 978-0825425905

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

The glass door was locked, but that didn’t stop Camden Bristow from yanking on the handle. The imposing desk on the other side of the glass was vacant, and the receptionist who usually waved her inside had disappeared. Behind the desk, the Fount Magazine logo mocked her, whispering that the money she so desperately needed had disappeared as well.

She pounded on the glass one last time, but no one came to the door.

Turning, she moved to a row of windows on the far side of the elevator. Sixteen stories below, swarms of people bustled toward their next appointment. Someplace they needed to be. Not long ago, she’d been rushing too, up and down Park Avenue to attend meetings at ad agencies and various magazines . . . including the suite of offices behind her.

Human rights. Natural disasters. Labor disputes. Whenever the photo editor at Fount needed the most poignant pictures for news articles, he called her, and nothing had stopped her from capturing what he needed for the next edition. She’d dedicated the past five years to responding to Grant Haussen’s calls, but after she came back from Indonesia two months ago, he stopped calling her.

She’d e-mailed him the pictures of the earthquake’s aftermath along with her regular invoice of fees and expenses. He’d used the pictures in the next issue, but apparently discarded the invoice. She never received a check, and he didn’t return even one of her many calls.

A few years ago, she wouldn’t have worried as much about the money—those days her phone rang at all hours with freelance assignments to shoot pictures around the world—but her clients had slashed their budgets and were using stock photos or buying photographs from locals. The current results weren’t as compelling as sending a professional, but keeping the lights on—the rent paid—trumped paying for the best photography.

Her clients may be making rent, but she hadn’t been able to pay hers for two months. Her savings account was depleted. The income from her Indonesia shoot was supposed to appease her landlord and credit card company. Even though she hadn’t heard from Grant Haussen, she held out hope that she might at least recoup the expenses for her trip so she could pay off the whopping flight and hotel charges on her credit card.

All hope shattered when she read the morning’s headline.

Fount Magazine Declares Bankruptcy

Others may have skimmed past this article, but the news stunned her. Three hours ago, she left her studio apartment and started walking until she found herself in Midtown, in the lobby of the Reinhold Building. A few staff members might remain at the Fount office, packing things up. Or if there were some sort of bankruptcy proceedings . . . maybe she could collect a few thousand dollars. Just enough to pay a portion of her bills while she tried to find more work.

It appeared that no one had stuck around to say goodbye.

The elevator dinged behind her, and she turned away from the windows and watched a skinny man in overalls push a mop and bucket into the hallway. He was at least two inches shorter than her five foot six.

She forced herself to smile, but he didn’t smile back. She pointed at the offices. “I need to find someone at the magazine.”

He grunted as he dipped his mop into the gray water and wrung it out. Shoving her fists into the pockets of her long jacket, she stepped toward him. “They owe me money.”

“You and half this dadgum town.”

“Yes, but—”

“They ran outta here so fast last night that the rubber on their shoes was smokin’.” He flopped the mop onto the tile floor and water spread toward his boots. “I’d bet good money that they ain’t comin’ back.”

Camden slumped against the window. Even if she were able to track down Grant, it wasn’t like he would personally write her a check for money the magazine owed. He was probably out hunting for a job already, or maybe he was stretched out on his couch watching Oprah, enjoying the luxury of not having to report for duty. He could collect unemployment while he slowly perused for a new gig.

Unfortunately, there was no unemployment for freelancers.

The janitor swabbed the mop across the tile in straight brushstrokes like he was painting instead of cleaning it, taking pride in his work.

She understood. At one time she had been proud of her work too. There was nothing more exhilarating than flying off to a country rocked by tragedy and immersing herself into an event that most people only read about. She was onsite to see the trauma, feel the aftershocks, though she never allowed herself to get personally involved. It was her job to record the crisis so others could help with the recovery. All she needed to do her job was her camera equipment and laptop.

Because of all her travels, she hadn’t accumulated much stuff over the years. Her landlord had furnished her flat before she moved in, but for almost five years, the apartment and everything in it had felt like hers. It was the longest she’d lived in one place her entire life.

But tonight, her landlord was changing the locks. Her home had been rented by someone else.

The man pushed his mop by her, ignoring her. She couldn’t blame him for his indifference. This city was full of people who needed a job—he was probably trying as hard as he could to keep his.

She would mop floors if she had to. Or scrub toilets. It wouldn’t pay enough for her to make rent, but maybe it would keep her from having to call her mom and beg for cash. If she called, her mother would pass the phone to her latest boyfriend—a retired executive living outside Madrid. Camden would rather sleep in a shelter than grovel to him.

She hopped over the wet trail left by the mop and stepped into the elevator.

Her landlord said she had until five o’clock to pack her stuff and vacate the building. The little credit she had left on her card wouldn’t pay for a week in a Manhattan hotel. And the few friends she’d made when she wasn’t traveling were struggling as much as she was. One of them might let her sleep on a couch, but she’d be expected to help with rent.

The elevator doors shut, and she punched the button for the lobby.

Where was she supposed to go from here?

†

The basement of the town hall smelled like burnt coffee and tobacco. The navy carpet had faded to a dull gray, and the dais at the front of the room was scuffed with shoe marks. Five men and two women sat behind a table on the platform—the bimonthly summit of Etherton’s City Council.

As the town mayor, Louise Danner presided over the city council from the middle chair. Her hoop earrings jangled below the signature Bic pen she propped behind her left ear. Copper-colored bangs veiled her smudged eyebrows.

Three steps below Louise’s chair, Alex Yates drummed his fingers on a stack of proposals and tried to listen as Evan Harper begged the councilors to let him tear down the barn on his property and replace it with a guesthouse.

In the eight months since he’d moved to Etherton, he learned that Louise Danner was almost as permanent a fixture in Etherton as the town hall. Within days of him taking this job, she told him exactly how she became mayor over the eleven thousand people in their town.

She had been born in a small house off Main Street and reigned as valedictorian over Etherton High’s Class of ’67. Armed with a degree from Marietta, she returned home after graduation and worked in several businesses across town until she secured the job of hospital administrator. Louise served on almost every town committee for the next thirty years, from historical preservation to the garden club, but when she landed the mayorship almost eight years ago, she dropped anchor.

She’d spent a boatload of money to retain her position during the last election, and with the state of the town’s economy, she would be fighting to keep her job when voters went to the polls in five months.

Alex rechecked his watch. It was almost lunchtime, and Evan Harper was still pleading his case. Alex saw the dilapidated barn every morning on the short drive to his office. Guesthouse or no guesthouse, he agreed with Evan—someone needed to put the structure out of its misery. A hearty gust of wind would end its life if the council wouldn’t approve demolition.

Alex stifled a yawn as Evan named all the people who could stay in the guesthouse including his wife’s elderly parents and his daughter’s college friends. Apparently, no one had told the man he couldn’t filibuster city council. If the mayor didn’t curtail Evan’s speech, he’d probably pull out the local phone book and read until the councilors adjourned for lunch. And once they walked out of the room, they may not reconvene in time.

Alex couldn’t wait for approval. He needed an answer today.

For the past month, he’d been quietly courting the owner of the ten-acre property at the edge of town—part of the old Truman farm. If the council concurred, the owner was ready to sell the land and farmhouse for a pittance. The town could buy it and use the property to help with their plans to revitalize the local economy.

Alex caught the mayor’s eye and tapped his watch.

“Thank you.” Louise interrupted Evan before he finished listing off every construction supply he’d purchased for the guesthouse. “I think that is all the information we need to make a decision.”

Evan plucked another piece of paper from his stack. “But I haven’t read the neighborhood petition.”

“We appreciate all the time and thought you’ve put into this, Evan.” Louise propped her chin up with her knuckles. “We’ll let you know if we have any other questions.”

Evan sat down on the wooden folding chair at the end of the row, and Alex leaned back as the council began discussing the hot issue of preservation versus progress.

Most of the councilors were successful business leaders and attorneys, passionate in either their pro-growth or anti-development stance. Today he needed to convince them that voting “yes” on his proposal would commemorate the town’s history and lay the foundation for their legacy while generating new revenue and development for the town.

Alex glanced at his watch and sighed. If it took the councilors forty minutes to decide the fate of a rickety barn, how long would it take them to make a decision on his proposal?

When he parted ways with corporate mania last year, he thought he’d left behind the constricting strands of red tape that kept him from doing his job, but he’d learned that Etherton’s residents, along with the city council, rode the high of debate until they were forced to vote. Sometimes the debate lasted weeks, or even months.

Edward Paxton led the charge against development. He didn’t want his town to change nor did he want Alex involved with any of the town’s business. Rumor had it that he wanted his grandson, Jake, to take the economic development position that Louise had created last spring to solicit new business. The only problem was that no one else on the council wanted Jake Paxton to be involved. Edward seemed to hold a personal vendetta against Alex for stealing his grandson’s job.

At least the mayor was on his team. She’d gambled when she hired him, but he assured her and the council that he’d deliver. On their terms.

After almost an hour of discussion, Louise called for a vote, and Evan smacked his knees when they approved his guesthouse with a 4–3 vote. He saluted the row of councilors as he rushed out, probably on his way to rent an excavator. Alex guessed the barn would be in a heap when he drove home tonight.

He sighed. If only getting the council to approve a project was always this easy . . .

Etherton needed the tax revenue from new businesses to fix its brick streets, increase the police force, and build a high school. The city’s officials expected Alex to find a way to merge their small town charm with big city business.

Blending these two ideals was no small feat. Not long after he moved to Etherton, he worked a deal to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter on a piece of farm property at the edge of town. Some towns didn’t want a Wal-Mart, but since their local economy had tanked, he thought most of the locals would welcome the store. After all, most of them drove forty-five minutes each week to visit the Wal-Mart in Mansfield, and this would bring discount clothes, groceries, car care, and—most importantly—jobs to their back door.

He was wrong.

When the council voted last December, residents of Etherton packed City Hall, a chorus of dissension over why their town couldn’t bear the weight of a conglomerate. The icy room turned hot as tempers flared. Small business owners threatened to overthrow the seats of every council member who supported the proposal.

In the end, the council rejected his plan. The town desperately needed the revenue and the jobs, but apparently not enough to put out the welcome mat for a mega store. A local farmer bought the field to plant corn, and Etherton missed out on the much-needed sales tax that would flood into Fredericktown when Wal-Mart opened its doors there this fall.

The council told him they wanted new business, but they wanted something quaint that would fit the town’s celebration of all things old. It was a hard task—but he’d found the perfect solution. If the residents were willing to risk a little, he was ready to deliver both quaint and classy . . . wrapped up in a pretty package and tied together with a sound financial bow.

Louise slid the pen out from behind her ear and tapped it on the table. She dismissed the few people in the audience, explaining that the rest of the meeting was a closed session, and then she pointed at him. “You’re up, Alex.”

He straightened his tie and stood to face the councilors. It was about to get hot again.

My review:

I found Melanie’s book, Refuge on Crescent Hill, to be relevant to today’s society. Camden Bristow, easy to relate to and personable, is like some of today’s young women who want to have a career, with no desire to get married or to marry later in life. Her mother had died and her father remarried, so she had little family roots. Hers was an exciting life as top photographer for Front Magazine, traveling all over the world to capture the intricacies of human life in the throws of tragedy: human rights, famines, labor disputes, earthquakes, etc., until they filed bankruptcy, leaving her pretty much broke.

Camden heads out to the only roots she does know, Grandma Rosalie at Crescent Hill, the Bristow family mansion, although she hasn’t seen her in years. She finds herself late for her Grandma’s funeral by a couple days, and finds she has inherited the mansion, albeit in disrepair and no money to repair it, leaving her half-sister with little. Alex Yates, who’s been hired by the town of Etherton to help build revenue for the city, offers Camden help with her situation.

Across the states, another family is researching the whereabouts of a previous slave, and the reason for why he never returned for his family.

Melanie weaves a unique storyline between the two histories, while adding a kick of suspense and drama surrounding the mansion itself, which has a claim to be ghost inhabited, along with some family secrets and a touch of romance. Being a mystery buff, I found the book a little slow for me, but a definite good read.

This book was provided by Cat, Trade Marketing Manager at Kregel Publications, for my honest review. My thanks to Cat and Kregel Publications for this great opportunity to present another good read to you, the readers!

“CHOSEN: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther” by Ginger Garrett

2010-05-20T18:52:00.001-07:00

Don’t Just Study the Story of Esther—-Live it!

Ginger Garrett’s retelling of this classic story gives new perspective to one of Scripture’s most beloved figures.

Based on the historical account of Queen Esther of Persia, Chosen, by Ginger Garrett, is a contemporary account of this beloved and ancient story. Uniquely written in first-person diary format, renderings of Esther’s thoughts and experiences are interspersed with current-time news excerpts, which show how Esther’s tale is woven into our own lives.

Chosen tells the story of Queen Esther, the young woman with the future of her nation in her hands. Wrenched from a simple life for her beauty, Esther finds herself at the mercy of King Xerxes. Leaving behind her only relative, her cousin Mordecai, and her first true love, Cyrus, she is thrown headlong into the unrestrained extravagance of palace living. Quick of mind and strong in spirit, she refuses to suffer the fate of her harem sisters and boldly challenges Xerxes to give of his heart before taking his pleasure, thus sealing her place beside him as queen. While conspiracy spins its diabolical web, Esther’s mind and spirit waver, and she is forced to confront the past in order to save her future—and that of an entire nation.

Click here to watch the book trailer for Chosen!

An interview with Ginger Garrett

Q: Why did you include Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther in the David C. Cook series Lost Loves of the Bible?

A: I chose these diaries for the Lost Loves series because of the potential for love that Esther lost.

The moment Esther was chosen for the harem, whatever hopes she had for her future, her heart, and her family were lost. She became one wife among thousands. She lost freedom and many days, she lost her dignity in the treatment she received.

However, Esther is foreshadowing the story of Christ, who tells us that to surrender our own desires and plans will lead to blessings unimaginable, and overflow goodness into the lives of others. Esther’s loss, and her submission to a cruel turn of events, resulted in the saving of a nation. Millions of Jews were saved throughout history by her sacrifices.

Q: What are the other books in the Lost Loves series?

A: I’ll be adding two novels: the stories of Jezebel and Delilah. Both women have been sorely overlooked by history, painted as cardboard villains without any understanding of who they were and why they acted as they did. Their stories are more poignant, and disturbing, than what we’ve ever imagined.

Q: Will you ever complete the Serpent Moon series?

A: Since I get this question every day on email from readers, I thought I’d answer it here, too!

Dark Hour began what was to be a trilogy of evil women from the Bible. However, due to circumstances well beyond my control, I had to stop work on the series, while certain events sorted themselves out.

While I won’t be returning to the trilogy, I will be returning to my desire to tell the stories of two epic women from biblical history: Jezebel and Delilah. Their stories, their passions, and the loves they lost compel me to finish the work.

It’s fitting, really, that these women be allowed to tell their tales without the stigma of being in a series about evil women of the Bible. Until we get past that label, and see their hearts, we can’t begin to understand the lessons they would whisper to us across the generations that separate us.

About the author: Ginger Garrett is the author of the Chronicles of the Scribes series (In the Shadow of Lions, In the Arms of Immortals, In the Eyes of Eternity), Dark Hour, and Beauty Secrets of the Bible. Focusing on ancient women’s history, Ginger creates novels and nonfiction resources that explore the lives of historical women. A frequent media guest and television host, Ginger has been interviewed by Fox News, Billy Graham’s The Hour of Decision, The Harvest Show, 104.7 The Fish Atlanta, and many other outlets. A graduate of Southern Methodist University with a degree in theater, she is passionate about creating art from history.

Chosen by Ginger Garrett

David C Cook/April 2010/ISBN: 978-1-4347-6801-8/304 pages/softcover/$14.99

www.davidccook.com www.gingergarrett.com

My review:

I asked to review Chosen by Ginger Garrett in order to compare it to Hadassah, One Night With The King by Tommy Tenney.

I found Ginger’s novel of exquisite taste. I thoroughly enjoyed the diary format. It gave me the feel of peeking into Esther’s long-lost diary. Ginger gave intimate details that would be sensitive to a woman’s perspective. The intense communications between all the characters are so believable and dramatic. The addition of information at the back of book was of great interest as well.

Tommy Tenney’s book was equally satisfying, and had great characterization and drama.

Both books have their place, and in reading both, you get a richer, fuller appreciation of Esther’s circumstances. You are privy to their dependence of praying and listening to God’s direction in each situation. I’d highly recommend both books. To accompany these two fine books, I would also recommend Finding Favor With The King by Tommy Tenney.

Both novels deal with the travesty of young girls’ abductions, but we are not to forget the young men who also were taken into captivity as well. Much like the human trafficking we see in today’s society.

I definitely look forward to reading Ginger’s next books on Jezebel and Delilah, which are part of the Lost Loves of the Bible series. Be prepared for great reading!

This book was provided by Audra at The B & B Media Group, Inc., for my honest review, and in this case to compare to another author. My thanks to Audra and B & B for the opportunity to bring your attention to another great novel.

Addictions/Obsessions drive the story line of “THE RIGHT CALL” by KATHY HERMAN

2010-05-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

A DANGEROUS GAMBLE…

A TERRIBLE SECRET…

A DEADLY CHOICE…

Kathy Herman’s The Right Call, the third book in the Sophie Trace trilogy, has made the April ECPA Fiction bestseller list. All three titles in this trilogy are now bestselling books. Additionally in the Amazon Kindle store, The Real Enemy was listed the #1 bestseller in fiction, #1 in Literature and Fiction, #1 in Mystery, #1 in Genre Fiction, and #5 bestseller in all Kindle books.

In The Right Call, Herman looks at the topic of addictions and obsessions. Based on 2 Peter 2:19b: “For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him,” The Right Call demonstrates how we’re all slaves to something—either to God and righteousness or to the flesh and its pitfalls. Filled with heart-pounding suspense that delivers heart-changing truth, The Right Call uses the perilous story of a young college student to reinforce the importance of walking closely with God, to be armed with wisdom and strength in order to face the toughest of circumstances.

Click here to watch the video trailer for The Right Call!

An interview with best-selling author Kathy Herman:

What is the underlying moral dilemma that you hope your readers will wrestle with as they read this book?

That all human beings are born slaves to sin, and until we lay claim to the power of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we’ll never be set free from of our fleshly nature.

The Right Call is based on 2 Peter 2:19b. What truth in this passage drove you to write this book?

The fact that we’re all slaves to something—either to God and righteousness or to the flesh and its pitfalls. This is especially relevant in today’s world with so many addictions now being fed by the Internet. As long as we’re confined to these mortal bodies, the Enemy will fight to control us—body, mind, and spirit. Obviously, the vast majority of us will never experience the devastating effects of a gambling, drug, alcohol, or sex addiction, but how many of us fall victim to the more acceptable vices, such as overeating? Overspending? Overworking? Overindulging? It’s the flesh that gets us into trouble, and our only hope to overcome it is Jesus. But most of the time, we deny we have a problem until it already has a foothold. Then, rather than letting God’s Holy Spirit have the reins, we struggle to tame it in our own strength and realize we can’t—and that we’ve become slaves rather than masters, overdoers rather than overcomers. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Why were addictions/obsessions a topic you decided to write about?

All generations have struggled with addictions. That’s not new. But something this generation faces that others didn’t is EASY ACCESS. With the Internet, all it takes is a click of the mouse and kids can be exposed to every manner of evil, which makes them vulnerable at a much younger age—Often young people think they can have a foot in both worlds, but Satan plays for keeps. It’s easier to get sucked into the darkness than to walk in the light. Our best defense is to stay grounded in the Word so our conscience is tender. And to be in fellowship with trusted believers who will hold us accountable.

Why do you think humans tend to do things in excess? What are some ways we can fill our emptiness with God rather than other excesses?

We’re born slaves to sin. Our fallen nature has a propensity to do things in excess because we have an emptiness that resulted from the fall of humankind. So much of our overdoing is an effort to fill that emptiness, which ultimately can only be satisfied by God and a relationship with Him. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. The more we seek God, the closer our relationship with Him, the more that emptiness is filled with His love and the fruit of that love. But so often we don’t recognize the emptiness for what it is. Problems that come our way seem exaggerated when we’re dissatisfied with life. And we do whatever it takes to feel better. For example, how many of us tend to eat when we’re upset? We use “comfort food” as a temporary fix for a larger problem, which is an emptiness—a longing for home (paradise). This fallen world is not our home. As long as we’re here, there will be times when that emptiness cries to be filled. What we decide to fill it with is our choice. Many addictions and excesses start out small. But trying to satisfy that void inside us with anything other than God, His Word, and things that draw us closer to him can end up being a temporary fix that leaves us sorely wanting and vulnerable.

The Right Call by Kathy Herman

David C Cook/March 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-4347-6784-4/390 pages/softcover/$14.99

www.davidccook.com www.kathyherman.com

My Review:

Kathy Herman’s book, The Right Call, the third book of the Sophie Trace Trilogy, which also includes The Real Enemy and The Last Word, picks right up with another thrilling, dangerous episode that includes Police Chief Brill Jessup, which ultimately endangers her family and her daughter’s boyfriend, Ethan. If you have read the previous two books, you are well-acquainted with the well-rounded, in-depth issues and characters of the Jessup family.

The Right Call drives you right into the center of murder by hire, random shootings, greed, addiction, deeply held secrets, and poor choices made by some of her characters, affecting whole town of Sophie Trace.

Ethan learns of details behind the deaths of five people that could break open the case. However, his decision to disclose this information will affect the lives of others and maybe even himself. Even if he doesn’t disclose the information, other lives are still at stake. His walk with the Lord gives him insights and wisdom of what to do in this deadly situation.

Kathy’s novel will show you that we are all addicted to something, and what or Who we choose to follow will make all the difference in the world. Choices we make do not just affect just ourselves–there’s a ripple effect of consequences that incorporates others around us. The importance of a relationship with God, so that you can call on Him for wisdom and direction in making decisions in difficult situations, is one of the main insights gleaned from this book. I highly recommend the whole series.

This book was provided free by Audra of The B & B Media Group, Inc., for my honest review of the book. No monetary incentives were received to gain a positive review by myself. I review books for the pleasure of inviting readers to read good, wholesome books that are thrilling to read.

At vesselproject.com: Book review and giveaway of "Crave: Wanting So Much More of God" by Chris Tomlinson

2010-05-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

“From the heart of one seeking Christ, comes an exceptional book for the new believer as well as those who have walked with God for some time.”

In the fifteen chapters of Crave: Wanting So Much More of God by Chris Tomlinson, you will find provocative questions, humorous real-life stories, and perhaps even some answers to questions that have lingered in your mind about Christianity.

Popular icons anchor each topic to connect the question to reality. I especially enjoyed the Treasure Chest icon associated with the topic of Joy.

The writing style engaging. The tempo is quick and keeps your interest from Chapter One through to the end. Great illustrations and glimpses of a what a believer really asks about Christianity.

Sound teaching on truth with his own reflections about hard concepts like ‘God is good – but He is also just’ which addresses the issue of trust and justice. And the issue of suffering as instruction and eventually a blessing. And of pride, he speaks from a been-there done-that perspective, always key when connecting with others.

Recommended highly, I suggest you grab a copy and settle down for some interesting reading that may even present some new questions for you to ask God yourself.
926935: Crave: Wanting So Much More of God Crave: Wanting So Much More of God
By Chris Tomlinson / Harvest House Publishers

# Paperback: 224 pages
# Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (January 1, 2010)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0736926933
# ISBN-13: 978-0736926935

Disclaimer:
The review copy of this book was provided free of charge by Chris Tomlinson and donated to the library of Westwood Baptist Church.
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Review: "Fear to Freedom" by Rosemary Trible

2010-05-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

FEAR TO FREEDOM

FROM VICTIM TO VICTORY!
Product Details

Fear to Freedom: What if you did not have to be so afraid?

Rosemary Trible

Biography/Inspiration

ISBN: 978-1-935265-09-2/240 pages/$1495/February 2010

VMI Publishers

Does fear hold you back from living with freedom and confidence? Does anxiety rob your joy?

Rosemary Trible was a successful young woman, a television talk-show host with a husband on his way to becoming a US Congressman, when she was savagely raped at gunpoint after her show on rape. Even though she recovered physically, she found that her attacker had not only brutally violated her, he had stolen her joy and her ability to live without terror and fear.

Fear to Freedom provides practical tools from Rosemary’s own life and the transformed lives of others and discusses sexual assault, terror, forgiveness, and healing. It’s about big dreams, the death of dreams, and becoming bold enough to dream again and make a difference in the world for good.

Rosemary’s story will elicit tears, but also laughter. It’s easy to read, passionate and real. It will appeal to people who are hungry for the presence of God. It also features the stories of young women Rosemary has mentored through eating disorders, sexual violation, depression and bitterness, encouraging readers to begin their own healing process.

Photo from: dailypressbooks.posterous.com

Rosemary, originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, has been married to Paul Trible since 1971. They have two children, Mary Katherine Peters, a marketing executive married to Barrett Peters, who is pursuing his degree in dentistry, and Paul III, who has completed his MBA at Oxford University and is starting his own business, Ledbury, custom men’s shirts. On top of the list of answered prayers is a new grandbaby on the way! Visit www.feartofreedomjourney.com for additional infomation.

My Review:

Other than some differences in theology, Fear to Freedom is one very personal biography of Rosemary Trible’s brutal rape which she allowed God to turn to healing, and then turns the rape incident around and decidedly reaches out to really help women turn their issues over to God. I enjoyed Rosemary’s transparency, her personal insights, steps to forgiveness, ‘journey to joy’ section, and her in-depth devotional guide. She hits all the steps of healing. I found her book very sensitive and personal. I can feel her heart for women throughout the whole book. For that, I give her book a very high rating and recommendation.

This book was provided by Paula Krapf, Chief Operating Officer, at Author Marketing Experts, Inc., for my honest review of Fear to Freedom. My thanks.

"Catherine's Gift" by John Little

2010-05-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today's Wild Card author is:

John Little

and the book:

Catherine's Gift: Stories of Hope from the Hospital

Monarch Books (March 4, 2010)

***Special thanks to Cat Hoort of Kregel Publications for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

John Little spent 25 years working as a reporter and producer in television current affairs before becoming a full-time author. He has written eight books, including The Hospital by the River (with Dr Catherine Hamlin); Down to the Sea; Jem, a Father’s Story; Christine’s Ark; and Maalika (with Valerie Browning). He lives with his wife, Anna, and son, Tim, on Sydney’s northern beaches.

(Picture taken from John's website.)

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Monarch Books (March 4, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 185424955X
ISBN-13: 978-1854249555

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

From the PROLOGUE

It’s the rainy season in Addis Ababa. The day begins with a promise. At the hospital by the river, patients who are not confined to bed throw off their woolen shawls and gather in the sun to gossip. The girls groom one another’s hair, sew and bicker and joke. Some, perhaps speaking a rare tongue, sit by themselves on the low stone wall by the outpatients department, or squat on the ground watching the activity. In this self-contained little world, walled off from the chaos of the city, there’s always something to see – new patients arriving, mud-stained, stinking and weary after travelling on foot over flooded tracks, vehicles bringing medical supplies, ferenji visitors from another planet, gardeners tending the lawns and flower beds, workers regularly hosing away the puddles which gather under the waiting patients.

These are peasant women. The seasons rule their lives. They savor the morning warmth, for they know that by midday black clouds will begin to form over the hills which ring the city and the thunder will grumble like a cranky old man leaving a warm bed. At two-thirty the rain begins – they could set their watches by it if they owned such things – and it does not stop until late at night.

In the highlands where many of these women come from, the rains can cut off villages for weeks on end. When doctors Reg and Catherine Hamlin first began treating the women half a century ago they could always count on some respite at this time of year. But for the past few years the rainy season seems to have made no difference. Is it because there are more cases than ever? Or just because the hospital has become so well known? Whatever the reason, every day up to half a dozen women arrive seeking help.

Sometimes they are alone – bewildered and frightened by the brutal indifference of the city. Sometimes a friend or relative has come with them. A few, with injuries so severe they are unable to walk, are carried in. They come from the desert, from remote highland villages, from the plains and the rainforest. They speak 80 different languages. They are Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Animists, or sometimes a mixture of faiths. They all have one thing in common – they are suffering from the medical condition known as obstetric fistula.

It is a cruel affliction. Ethiopia has its lepers and cripples, as does any poor African country. The diseased and the lame and the mad are on any street corner for all to see. But if there is a scale of human misery, the fistula women are up near the top. They believe they are cursed by God. And you have to wonder what God had in mind when he allowed a woman’s most cherished act, childbirth, to produce this outcome. No matter where they live, 10 per cent of all women will experience some kind of problem, such as obstructed labor, during childbirth. In the west they simply go to hospital and have a caesarean section or a forceps delivery. For a peasant girl in a remote Ethiopian village it’s not so easy. She will squat in her circular hut, or tukul, sometimes for days, trying to force the baby out. After a couple of days the baby inevitably dies. The prolonged labor, with the baby stuck in the birth canal, may cut off the blood supply to parts of the mother’s body. The tissue dies, leaving a hole, or fistula, in the bladder. Because they are so offensive to be near, fistula sufferers are invariably divorced by their husbands and banished from their village. Theirs are lives of loneliness and despair, often in some ruined dwelling away from everyone else, or they may be forced to beg for a living in the town. We are not talking about some minor medical curiosity here. There are 200,000 fistula sufferers in Ethiopia; two million throughout the world.

Amid the comings and goings, some of the girls may notice a tall, slim, grey-haired woman wearing a white doctor’s coat, passing through the outpatients department into the main ward. Dr Catherine

Hamlin is 83 now. She was 35 when she and her husband, Reg, also an obstetrician/gynecologist, first came to Ethiopia and saw the plight of the fistula women. ‘Fistula pilgrims’, Reg called them, on account of the formidable journeys they made to seek help. Since then the hospital has restored more than 32,000 from wretched despair to joyous new life.

Reg died in 1993 but Catherine carries on, and at an age when most women are content just to reflect upon their memories, she is working as hard as ever. She is intimately involved with every aspect of the hospital, still doing rounds, still operating.

At the nurses’ station inside the ward she consults her colleagues about tomorrow’s list. There are seven cases of varying degrees of difficulty. She pores over the notes, contained in green cardboard folders. They give a brief history of the patient – how many days she was in labor, where she came from, how she got here, how many previous children she has borne, any medical information that will affect her management. The doctor who did the initial examination has drawn a diagram showing the location and size of the fistula. Catherine chooses her cases.

Let us meet them…

My Review:
Catherine's Gift by John Little was a complete eye-opener for me in regards to the plight of women in Ethiopia and surrounding countries. Living in the US, fistulas following obstructed labor, are basically unheard of due to pre-natal care and labor and delivery practices--something I have to admit that I have taken for granted. John Little's stories are his point of view as a reporter, but also as a concerned citizen who got emotionally involved with many of the women as he followed them over time. This is a book I would recommend to everyone to awaken their knowledge of the the lack of resources in these countries and get involved. For us here in America, you can visit www.fistulafoundation.com. See also the bestseller The Hospital by the River by John Little.

"Fear to Freedom" by Rosemary Trible

2010-04-28T08:08:00.000-07:00

Today's Wild Card author is:

Rosemary Trible

and the book:

Fear to Freedom: Victim to Victory - What if you did not have to be so afraid?

VMI Publishers (February 1, 2010)

***Special thanks to Paula Krapf - Chief Operating Officer - Author Marketing Experts, Inc. for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rosemary Trible’s experiences as the wife of former United States Congressman and Senator Paul Trible provide fascinating insights into the challenges and opportunities of public life. During their twelve years in Congress, Rosemary’s involvement in the inner city of Washington gave her a fresh perspective of the need for reconciliation and the importance of the “power of love” over the “love of power.” Rosemary’s compassion for the poor led her to travel widely hosting mission trips around the world to places such as Cuba, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and India. While in Calcutta she was greatly impacted by the opportunity to work with The Sisters of Charity. Mother Teresa challenged Rosemary to “be a woman of prayer,” which continues to inspire her today.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: VMI Publishers (February 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1935265091
ISBN-13: 978-1935265092

AND NOW...AN EXCERPT:

Chapter 18

Abiding In God’s Presence

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13). These words invited me to draw near to God in my everyday life. I had felt such an incredible closeness to the Lord during my near-life experience and now my passion for living in God’s presence is greater than ever.

Jesus certainly knew the importance of dwelling in God’s presence. For him, prayer was a priority. Jesus taught, healed, preached, and then went away to spend time with his Father. Here he received the guidance, strength, and comfort he needed for each day. Likewise prayer strengthens our faith, helps us appreciate the joys of life, and brings us into the delightful presence of God.

St Augustine said, “For you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”1 What a difference prayer can make in our lives! Only here can our hearts find the true rest we long for.

I want to know God’s purpose for me and my family. To do this, I need to spend time with Jesus in the Word and in prayer. After all, the most strategic person I need to reach with the love of God is me. I have called my time of prayer an Appointment with the King since I heard Becky Tiarabassi use that expression at a woman’s retreat years ago. The pace of life today is full speed ahead, and the noise of life is so loud it can distract us from God, who is wooing us—inviting us to slow down, to sit and be still. What if we made an Appointment with the King for twenty minutes each day? We would still have twenty-three hours and forty minutes of our day left! We are so busy running and doing that we have lost what it means to just be still—to know that God is holy, faithful, and unfailing.

Elijah on the mountaintop did not find God in the storm or the wind or the fire but in a small whisper. God often whispers his love to us: “Come to me. Enter into my presence, and find rest for your soul. Come with no agenda but to be with me for you are my heart’s delight.”

I have come to believe that Jesus plus nothing equals everything. God is not concerned about our past except for the grace he gives to cover it. Today we can have a relationship through his son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. I am the way, the truth and the life, I am the good shepherd.” This is true for us today not in the past tense. I want to know Jesus now—I want to learn to walk like him, and forgive like him, and love like him.

Jesus is alive today. He is healing, forgiving, restoring, and loving today. I believe he wants us to be part of his transforming work, but this flows out of our time with him. Instead of being with Jesus to develop this intimacy, and seek his vision, we seem often to focus on the doing instead of being. If what we do is who we are, then who are we when we stop doing it?

I am comforted that Jesus did not run through Jerusalem! If we are always running throughout every day, checking off our to-do lists and responding to our e-mail and text messages, we become exhausted. We must find balance by spending time alone with the Lord. On my calendar there are many entries for every day, but my prayer time, my Appointment with the King, is my highest priority.

Find a time of prayer that works for you. After I went back to work, it was difficult to continue my regular morning time of prayer. God let me know, “That’s no problem. We’ll just meet in the middle of the night when we can be quiet together.” For the past eight years I am awakened sometime between three and four o’clock and have found this time to be the most precious part of the day. I enter into God’s presence when my mind is not already focusing on the days’ activities. If your heart’s desire is to be with God, you can find a time that is best for you.

A revelation from my near-life experience is the importance of living in his presence now. Jesus’ spirit lives in us and therefore we are never alone. Moment by moment, step by step, day by day, we can be one in Jesus as we open our lives to this transforming relationship. We are the ones who must open our hearts to the fullness of this love.

Billy Graham once said, “Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask.”2 Sometimes we do not know how to ask, what to seek, and how to begin to knock. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matt. 7:7–8). So keep knocking!

Moments With Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa is a great example of this kind of radical devotion to love and prayer. Her life epitomized love, for she reached out to everyone who crossed her path—the rich and the poor, the powerful and those who were dying in poverty and filth. When people asked her how they could make a difference, she would often suggest to them, “Simply respond to what is right before you—love the person in front of you. You are called not to be successful but to be faithful.”

I first had an opportunity to meet Mother Teresa in February of 1994 when she was the speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast. Because I was helping with logistics that year, I visited with Susan Mendies, who traveled with Mother Teresa and helped make her arrangements. She indicated Mother Teresa would rather not sit at the head table, but have a simple chair placed for her behind the dignitaries.

While others were eating their breakfast, President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, and his wife, Tipper, came behind the curtain to spend time with Mother Teresa. I watched from the wings of the stage as Mother Teresa reached her arms around these two couples while she prayed for them. The program was about to begin, but the most important event seemed to be the scene I was witnessing. Five people sitting in folding chairs as this humble woman prayed for them—the leaders of our nation and the world.

Mother Teresa was so small that we placed a box behind the podium so she could be seen when it was time for her keynote address. When she spoke, however, the authority of God seemed to come through her, and you could hear a pin drop in this crowd of five thousand who listened intently. She challenged the audience that represented some 146 nations to “Love until it hurts.” She said:

And so it is very important for us to realize that love, to be true, has to hurt. I must be willing to give whatever it takes not to harm other people and, in fact, to do good to them. This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is no true love in me and I bring injustice, not peace, to those around me.

You too must bring that presence of God into your family, for the family that prays together, stays together. There is so much hatred, so much misery, and we with our prayer, with our sacrifice, are beginning at home. Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put into what we do.

We can keep the joy of loving Jesus in our hearts, and share that joy with all we come in contact with. If we remember that God loves us, and that we can love others as He loves us, then America can become a sign of peace for the world.

If you become a burning light of justice and peace in the world, then really you will be true to what the founders of this country stood for. God bless you!3

I had another wonderful opportunity to be with Mother Teresa in the spring before her death September 5, 1997, when I traveled to Calcutta to work in the House of the Dying and the Orphanage of the Missionaries of Charity along with Susan Mendies. There I experienced Jesus as never before among the poorest of the poor.

Morning worship was in the Mother House at 6:00 a.m. Mother Teresa was in her wheelchair, and beside her was Sister Agnes in her wheelchair in the back of the crowded room. Sister Agnes was the first nun to join Mother Teresa in Calcutta. She was the contemplative nun who prayed while Mother Teresa was out serving. They were devoted friends who were paired in their lives in Christ. As Mother Teresa worked in the streets, her friend for forty-two years, Sister Agnes, kept a prayer vigil. Every morning the sisters repeated this prayer called “Radiating Jesus”:

Dear Jesus, help us to spread

Your fragrance everywhere we go.

Flood our souls with your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess our whole being, so utterly,

That our lives may only be a radiance of Yours.

Shine through us, and be so in us,

That every soul we come in contact with

May feel Your presence in our soul. . . .4

After morning prayer, I knelt by Mother Teresa’s wheelchair and felt I was beholding Jesus face-to-face. Her dancing eyes twinkled with joy as her warm wrinkled hands, leathered from years of serving and loving, held mine. It was if I were looking into the eyes of unconditional love. Her challenge has stayed with me ever since: “Rosemary, be a woman of prayer.”

I love what she said about prayer: “Perfect prayer does not consist in many words, but the fervor of the desire which raises the heart to Jesus. Love to pray. Feel the need to pray often during the day. Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of Himself. Ask and seek and your heart will grow big enough to receive Him and keep Him as your own.” Another of her favorite sayings I have engraved on a rock by my bed: “Do no great things, only small things with great love.”5

I thought often of Mother Teresa’s words as I worked in the House of the Dying. I saw all around me great love and felt blessed, in a small way, to care for those on the threshold of death. The hurt and pain was evident, but God’s peace and love was even more present.

On this weekend nuns from across the world had gathered to determine who would follow Mother Teresa as head of the Missionaries of Charity. To help with the daily jobs, teenage novices had come from another province to work that weekend. That made me the oldest person serving in the House of the Dying. The doctor asked if I would give out the medications to each woman. He paired me with one of the novices, who checked the name on the individual cups of pills and bottles of liquid to determine the medicine was going to the right woman.

My mother had recently died, so my heart was particularly tender when I was with these women in their last days. I held each woman in my arms and spoke softly about my own mother’s dying and how she had said, “Jesus is coming. He is coming for me.” I will never know if any of these dying women could understand what I was saying, but I felt a deep peace in the midst of this the dying. As I told them about my own experience in the vision of heaven, I looked into their eyes and felt somehow they at least knew they were loved and cared for.

I asked one of the nuns later, “How is this unusual peace possible?” She replied, “The peace comes from love. These women, many who have been picked up out of the gutters, now know they are loved. God loves them. They have been forgiven and may soon be free from their pain. She told me how one person had said, “I lived my life in filth, but I will die as an angel.”

The next day I was not expecting to see Mother Teresa. Then I heard tiny footsteps coming from behind me and there she was. Her eyes sparkled as she asked, “Do you have one of my business cards?” “No, I’d love to have one!” I replied in total surprise. I told her about my time at the House of the Dying and how the next day I was going to spend time in the orphanage. She asked, “Do you love children?” I replied, “Oh yes, I have two children who I adore.” “I’ll give you one!” Mother Teresa exclaimed!

My jaw must have dropped open. But before I could speak, the nuns had come for Mother Teresa and whisked her away. Her business card read:

The fruit of Silence is prayer.

The fruit of Prayer is faith,

The fruit of Faith is love,

The fruit of Love is service,

And the fruit of Service is peace.

Mother Teresa changed the world through her life of loving everyone. Whether a leper everyone despised, an abandoned baby, the pope or the president, each person was special to her and to God. She is buried, as was her request, in a simple pine box. This tireless and compassionate woman was loved by the poor and powerful alike. She lies in the Mother House where her last simple message reads, “From Mother—Love one another as I have loved you.”

I will post a review at a later date.

"No Greater Love" by Kathi Macias--New Hope Publisher's Amazon Blast!

2010-04-27T17:00:00.001-07:00

Extreme Devotion

Release Date: April 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59669-215-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-59669-215-2
Retail Price: $19.99
Format: Hard Cover

Forbidden romance, an unlikely martyr and an even more unlikely hero. Orphaned four years earlier when their parents, active in the African National Congress (ANC) movement against apartheid, were murdered—16-year-old Chioma and her 15-year-old brother Masozi now live and work on an Afrikaner family’s farm.
When Chioma and Andrew, the farm owner’s son, find themselves attracted to one another, tragedy revisits their lives. Chioma escapes to join an ANC rebel band in her effort to survive and gain revenge for her family and culture. When cultures clash in life-or-death struggles, Chioma must choose between violence and revenge—or forgiveness and selfless love.
Loosely based on historical events and set near Pretoria, South Africa, in the violent upheaval prior to ANC leader Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990 and his ascendance to the presidency of South Africa, this story of forbidden romance produces an unlikely martyr who is replaced by one even more unlikely.

Kathi Macias
is a multi-award winning writer who has authored nearly 30 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs. Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences, and recently won the prestigious 2008 member of the year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) at the annual Golden Scrolls award banquet. Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband, Al, where the two of them spend their free time riding their Harley.

www.kathimacias.com

http://kathieasywritermacias.blogspot.com

Purchase here. For multiple book orders, contact Kathi directly at ezyrtr@ca.rr.com.

Review and Giveaway: "Glaen" by Fred R. Lybrand

2010-04-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

How do you find the right person to marry?

Glaen by Fred R. Lybrand

The Barnabas Agency February 2010

ISBN: 978-0-578-04652-5/softcover/171 pages/$14.99

Website: www.glaen.com Blog: www.glaen.wordpress.com

Become a fan of Glaen on Facebook!

In a world where love is romanticized by vampires and far-off adventures of undying love-at-first-sight, audiences don’t always have the opportunity to read stories that reflect God’s design for love. Author Fred Lybrand takes an in-depth look into relationships and dating, plus a little common sense for the real day-to-day world, in his latest book, Glaen.

Lybrand has chosen a unique and effective way to present his knowledge of human relationships and romance by creating a story line that allows readers to walk alongside believable characters as they discover and explore an exciting and more effective way to relate to those with whom they will share life’s most intimate relationships. Having spent more than twenty-four years as a pastor, Lybrand is deeply involved in caring for people, and he wants others to know the freedom that can be found in relating to others truthfully and without pretense.

Glaen introduces the character of Annie Hughes just as she suffers the loss of one of life’s foundational relationships–her parents’ marriage. As a graduate student, Annie suddenly finds herself at a loss to understand how any relationship finds and maintains lifetime power, especially a relationship as intimate as marriage.

Then Annie meets her new writing professor, a rather unconventional teacher named Glaen (rhymes with rain), and her life is set upon a path of both self-discovery and the exploration of romantic relationships. She begins this class with the intention to help others, but quickly learns that she must first develop a teachable spirit, and her own faith proves to be the pivotal starting point for her journey. Annie then begins to honestly explore how men and women relate to one another as God designed them to do.

Lybrand’s character development of Annie allows him to outline several foundational truths. Using Annie’s ‘research’ and ‘journal’ entries as the vehicle to present thought-provoking ideas to the reader, Lybrand first uncovers the lies of a secular world-view and counters those lies with the truth of God’s design for the marriage relationship. These observations are made even clearer as the reader observes Annie’s interaction with other couples and friends who are in the process of dating and considering marriage. As she questions her friends’ choices, she also takes an honest look at the relationship she is developing within her own life.

Annie’s discoveries are both simple and profound–truth itself proves to be the foundation upon which all relationships hinge. The discovery that truth can only operate effectively within a relationship when people relate to one another without pretense and unrealistic expectations proves to be life-changing for the characters in many ways.

The life-changing principles found in Glaen are the gems Lybrand wants the reader to take from the story and experience in their own lives and relationships. Thus, Glaen is a book that demands a second reading as those who read its story will want to go through it again and highlight and examine the truths Annie uncovers throughout her journey. This book will serve as a great teaching tool for parents to use with their children as well as for church leaders guiding couples who are seeking a more satisfying marriage relationship.

Fred R. Lybrand attended the University of Alabama and majored in English Literature, with a double-minor emphasis in speech communication and fiction writing. He went on to teach the introductory speech communications class while also attending law school at Alabama. A hunger to understand the Word of God, however, led him to withdraw in order to pursue theological studies ad Dallas Theological Seminary. Lybrand graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1989 and received a doctorate from Phoenix Seminary in 2007.

In January 2020, Dr. Lybrand retired from a 24-year career as a pastor of two churches in TX. At Midland Bible Church he helped build a church which has launched ministries in several continents (church-planting efforts in Uganda), as well as serving as a founding board (and faculty) member for Midland Classical Academy high school. The school provides a “classical education” focused on teaching students through the Socratic Method using classical books, interactive science, and math, logic, fine arts, and the creative process–all built on the foundation of the Bible. At Northeast Bible Church (Evangelical Free Church) in San Antonio are, Dr. Lybrand helped redesign the church to grow as a disciple-making center for promoting the grace of God. Teaching and counseling in the church contest has been a long-term focus of Lybrand’s labors.

Lybrand is also the founding executive director and a past president of the Free Grace Alliance (www.freegracealliance.om), an organization committed to coordinating and connecting the various “free grace” leaders, organizations, and churches in the USA and abroad.

Fred Lybrand and his college sweetheart, Jody White Lynbrand, have been married for 27 years and have five children. Jody has a Master’s degree in early childhood education. All of their children have been home-schooled from birth to college. Fred has also recreated “The Writing Course,” a curriculum to teach kids to overcome every fear of writing on the way to writing well.

Trailer.

My review:

Glaen was one of the more unique ways I’ve seen to present information about the subject of relationships, particularly marriage. The ‘research’ and ‘journal’ notes of Annie are the principles that Lybrand expounds on. The relationships in the story are real, especially in today’s world, so the premise is extraordinarily realistic. You will come away with the truths of God’s way for a great, thriving marriage if you are willing to apply what you learn. The secular world-view ideas are contrasted against God’s views, and are pivotal in building a strong relationship. A definite recommendation to young people considering marriage and for marriages that could use a boost to their relationship.

Giveaway!!! Please leave a comment on a piece of advice you received about dating/marriage that helped you. One entry per person. Chances of winning will be determined by the number of comments. Limited to the USA.

Audra at The B & B Media Group, Inc. provided a book for my review and a second copy to give away. I read/review to encourage Godly books for people to build their lives upon.

"Faith Path" by Mark Mittelberg

2010-04-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

FAITH PATH: Helping Friends find their way to Christ

Faith Path (Workbook & DVD) by Mark Mittelberg

David C Cook

Workbook-ISBN: 978-1-4347-6513-0/softcover/128 pages/$12.99

DVD-ISBN: 978-1-4347-6514-7/$24.99

www.davidccook.com

Many Christians cringe at the thought of talking with non-Christians about faith. It’s almost like trying to explain music to a deaf person or a painting to someone who is blind. But one important thing any Christian can do is understand their friends–listen to them and consider how they think. Then it becomes possible to truly communicate God’s truth.

Now there is an exciting new resource for church groups and individuals with a heart to more effectively engage unbelievers in faith conversations. Based on Mark Mittelberg’s book Choosing Your Faith, the eight-lesson Faith Path workbook and Faith Path DVD, are designed to be used in a group and build on Mittelberg’s sensible, evenhanded approach to evangelism.

“Faith. Everybody lives by it–even skeptics and atheists! That’s right. Everyone you know trusts something they believe in but can’t prove or know absolutely. They take it on faith,” Mittelberg says. “If you want to talk to your friends about your faith, it helps to understand what they believe and how they got there. Because badgering people to change their minds just doesn’t work.”

DVD segments include teaching from Mittelberg, as well as short interviews with fascinating people talking about the faith paths they were on before they came to Christ. Approaches such as relativism, traditionalism, mysticism, authoritarianism, and others are explored. Interviews seen on the DVD are then discussed in a thought-provoking, enjoyable group format, as well as in workbook entries. Among other things, participants will learn to recognize the danger of paths that lead away from Christ and will deepen their own faith in Christ and reinforce their reasons for believing.

No other DVD/workbooks exist for Choosing Your Faith (workbook includes leader’s guide materials), so Faith Path–with live interviews–promises to set new trends for learning how to engage other in spiritual conversations.

“Relativists, traditionalists, mystics, authoritarians, and others…they’re all here. And after you understand how these folks think about faith, you can help them find a trustworthy pathway to truth,” Mittelberg says. “Because no matter what your friends believe, they still matter to God.”

Author Bio:

Mark Mittelberg is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and a leading outreach strategist. He is the author of Choosing Your Faith, co-author (with Lee Strobel) of The Unexpected Adventure, and co-author (with Bill Hybels and Lee Strobel) of the Becoming a Contagious Christian curriculum. He previously served as the evangelism director for Willow Creek Community Church and the Willow Creek Association. Mark earned a master’s degree in philosophy of religion from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He lives in Southern California with his wife, Heidi, and their two teenage children.

My review:

I was intrigued with Mark Mettelberg’s explanation of the different faith paths: relativism, traditionalism, authoritarianism, intuitive, mystical, and evidential. His list of faith paths help to differentiate how people came to the basis of their faith, so that one can reason with them accordingly and lead them to Christ. He helped me to understand where I came from in my faith walk prior to receiving the Lord.

Along with this list of faith paths, he also addresses the “Arrows of Truth” that point to the sixth path, evidential, that help you clarify these truths. I found them to be helpful.

The last section helped me to understand the barriers people have to faith, and outlines how one can help their friends overcome them. Knowing these barriers, using the ‘arrows of truth,’ and knowing the different faith path one’s friend is on, in my opinion, is pertinent to pointing them to faith in Christ.

This is a very effective format for small groups or even larger Sunday School classes, to lead people to Christ. I did not read Mark’s book, Choosing Your Faith, but it’s one I think would be helpful with the discussions in this workbook and viewing the DVD. The only thing that was confusing to me was the lack of definition of some of the groups individually. They were clumped together in one chapter.

This workbook and DVD were provided free by Audra at The B & B Media Group, Inc., for my honest review. My purpose in reviewing is to encourage people to find good Christian materials to enhance their faith and pass it on to others. Thanks to Audra and B & B Media Group.

"The Last Word" by Kathy Herman

2010-04-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

Suspense that speaks to the heart!

The Last Word Book 2: Sophie Trace Trilogy by Kathy Herman

David C Cook/October 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4347-6785-1/ 390 pages/softcover/$14.99

www.davidccook.com www.kathyherman.com

In The Last Word, heart-pounding suspense meets heart-challenging truth as best-selling author Kathy Herman returns to Sophie Trace in her new page-turner. Based on Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile,” Herman’s second installment in the Sophie Trace series triumphantly demonstrates God’s miraculous ability to heal the broken.

This theme comes to life in Vanessa Jessup, a twenty-year-old college student who becomes pregnant while having a secret love affair with her psychology professor and has to make a choice: either end the pregnancy or end the relationship. The Biblical truths she learned growing up prompt her to choose life and to go home to the refuge of her parents’ counsel and a right relationship with God.

When Vanessa arrives home, her mother, Sophie Trace Police Chief Brill Jessup, is stunned to see that she’s pregnant–and by one of her professors. While Brill is glad her oldest daughter rejected the father’s abortion ultimatum, she’s also hurt that Vanessa ignored her upbringing, and that the professor has disappeared without as much as a nickel of child support.

But that’s not all Brill’s got on her plate. One of her detectives has been killed, and the attacker has threatened to come for her next. When a second cop is wounded, public criticism mounts as Brill attempts to stay alive long enough to catch the perp. At the same time, she’s trying to find the deadbeat dad as Vanessa struggles to make decisions about her future.

In Spite of Brill’s best efforts to stay safe, the murderer finally kidnaps and threatens to kill her and then commit suicide. As her life hangs in the balance, Brill becomes concerned that her attacker is about to die and is not saved. She refuses to be silenced in her witness of God’s love for him. In a show of grace under pressure and fierce determination, Brill decides she will manage to have the last word, even if it kills her.

Chapter 1

Police Chief Brill Jessup pored over the department’s budget for the rest of the fiscal year and couldn’t see any way she could afford to hire another patrol officer without going to the city council. She sighed. The last time she asked those tightwads for additional funds she practically had to beg.

A strange noise interrupted her thoughts. She peered through the blinds on the glass wall into the bustling detective bureau and listened intently. There it was again.

A burly man appeared in the doorway. He bumped off either side, then staggered into her office. Face down. Hands dripping with blood, clutching his abdomen.

“What in the world …?” She jumped to her feet, frozen in place.

Detective Sean O’Toole looked up and stretched out his hand toward her, his eyes screaming with pain. He collapsed in front of her desk and hit the floor.

“Officer down!” she shouted. “I need an ambulance—now!”

She hurried around the side of her desk, grabbed the clean hand towel next to the coffeepot, and got down on her knees. She laid the towel over the bloody wound and applied pressure.

“Sean, talk to me. What happened?”

The detective’s face was ashen. “He c-came from behind … put me in a chokehold … stuck a knife in my gut … said he was coming after you—to f-finish the job.”

“You never saw his face?”

“No. Hairy arms. White guy. Navy-blue short sleeves. Smelled like c-cigarettes. Deep voice.”

“Where did this happen?”

“Hallway. Water cooler.”

Sean moaned, his face pallid and contorted with pain, his eyes slits of icy blue.

“Come on, Sean, stay with me.”

Detective Captain Trent Norris burst into her office. “I’ll take it from here, Chief.”

“How did he get from the water cooler to my office without someone in the DB seeing he needed help?

“I guess we were all focused on other things. It’s been crazy.”

Trent got down on the floor and swapped places with her, his palms pressed over the wound. “Hang in there, buddy. The paramedics are just down the block. They’ll be here any second. You’re going to be fine. Stay with me. Talk to me.”

Brill sprang to her feet and hurried over to the officers who crowded outside her door. “O’Toole was just stabbed by some lowlife who snuck up behind him at the water cooler. We’re looking for a white man wearing a short-sleeve, navy-blue shirt, possibly bloodstained.”

She locked gazes with Sean’s partner. “Detective Rousseaux, secure the scene and make sure it’s not compromised.

“Captain Dickson, lock down the building and search every corner of every room.”

“Sergeant Chavez, set up a containment for two blocks around the building.

“Sergeant Huntman, clear the route to St. Luke’s and make sure we have officers in radio cars ready to escort the ambulance. Come on, people, move it!”

The officers scrambled in all directions, and she ran out to the restroom.

She tore off paper towels until she had a stack, folded them in half and held them under the faucet, then pressed out the excess water and rushed back to her office.

She got on her knees and gently pressed the wet towels onto Sean’s forehead, all too aware he was sweating profusely and still bleeding despite the pressure Trent was keeping on the wound. “We need something to elevate his legs.”

She went over to the bookshelf and grabbed several thick books and put them under Sean’s feet, hoping he wouldn’t die of shock before the paramedics arrived.

Lord, don’t take him now. He’s young. He’s got a wife and three kids.

“Come on, buddy, talk to me.” Trent patted Sean’s cheeks. “What else do you remember about this creep?”

“Tell Jessica I love her. The kids, too. Promise me.”

“You’re not going to die,” Trent said. “The bleeding’s slowing down. Talk to me, Sean. We want whoever did this to you.”

“He’s coming after the chief. Going to kill her.”

“Who’s going to kill her?” Trent’s dark eyes shot Brill a glance. “Give us something else. You’re too sharp of a detective to have missed anything.”

“Had a mark. Top of right hand.”

“What kind of mark?”

“A tattoo. Or b-birth mark. Size of a quarter.”

Brill heard voices and heavy footsteps in the DB, and seconds later two paramedics glided through the door and asked her to stand aside with Trent.

She observed in disbelief as the pair worked to save her detective’s life, heartsick that she might have to tell his wife and children he’d been murdered on her watch—and just feet away from armed police officers.

She started to brush the hair out of her eyes and realized her hands were bloody. She shuddered with the realization that whoever thrust a knife into Sean O’Toole had threatened to finish the job when he got to her.

***

Five hours later Brill sat at the conference table in her office with Detective Captain Trent Norris, Detective Beau Jack Rousseaux, Patrol Captain Pate Dickson, and Sheriff Sam Parker trying to assess where they were in the case.

“It’s a miracle Sean made it through surgery.” Brill looked from man to man. “We could be sitting here planning his funeral.”

“He’s too stubborn to die,” Beau Jack said.

“Stubborn’s no match for a knife blade, Detective. I want this animal locked up.”

“Don’t forget he threatened to come after you,” Trent said. “How’d he get in here, anyway?”

Pate’s face turned pink. “One of my sergeants, Tiller, reported that a white man dressed in navy blue coveralls with the Miller’s Air Conditioning logo on the pocket was standing outside the door when he arrived this morning. The guy said was here to fix the AC. He had a toolbox and big smile. Dark hair and mustache. Big guy. Looked fifty to fifty-five.”

“So the sergeant just keyed in the combination and let him in without checking with maintenance?” Beau Jack said. “Real smart move.”

Pate stroked his chin. “Come on, Miller’s service people are in here all the time. The sergeant let down his guard. We’ve all done it.”

“Yeah, well, my partner nearly died because Sergeant Tiller let down his guard.”

“What’s done is done,” Brill said. “It’s not like we have a precedent for this kind of thing in the Sophie Trace PD.”

Beau Jack stuck a Tootsie Pop in his mouth. “I guess we do now.”

“We definitely need to tighten security,” Trent said. “Since we have no idea who this guy is, everyone we bring into the DB to be interviewed will be suspect.”

“I can’t spend the rest of my life in fear of this nutcase coming after me,” Brill said. “I have a job to do. Trent, you take charge of tightening security. All of us need to heighten our awareness of our surroundings. Anything or anyone that doesn’t feel right, check it out.”

Sam’s white eyebrows came together. “I can’t believe y’all were that trusting. My deputies would never let unauthorized individuals into a secured area. They’re trained to follow protocol.”

“So are my officers.” Brill forced herself not to sound defensive. “But those of you in the county sheriff’s department deal with a broader range of criminals. Until now, the Sophie Trace PD had no reason to fear an officer being attacked in a secured area.”

“I’ll cover it in each briefing,” Trent said. “From this day forward, no one gets in the secured area until he has clearance. I don’t care how inconvenient it is to check him out.”

Brill looked over at Pate. “Tell me about your search of the building.”

“No evidence was found in the building, ma’am. My officers searched every nook and cranny and checked the sinks for hair and blood. Doesn’t appear the attacker stopped to clean up.”

“How’d Chavez do with the containment?” she said.

“He contained a two-block area around city hall, checked license plates, and talked with pedestrians. That yielded one female witness who passed the suspect on the sidewalk around 10:45—just after O’Toole was stabbed. The suspect was headed down First Street at a pretty good clip. Our witness says he was overweight, average height, dressed in navy blue coveralls and a black windbreaker and carrying a gray toolbox. She said he was wearing sunglasses and did not have a mustache. She’s working with Tiller and our sketch artist. We ought to have something soon.”

“Did she see which way he went?” Trent said.

Pate shook his head. “Once he passed her, she didn’t give him a second thought until Chavez questioned her.”

“Well,” Brill said, “I’m eager to see the sketch. If this man has threatened to come after me, I’d sure like to see if I recognize him.”

***

A short time later, Brill sat at her desk and studied the artist’s sketch of the man who stabbed Sean O’Toole. Sergeant Tiller was the only one who saw the suspect’s eyes, and the female witness was the only one who saw his mouth without the mustache. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t put a name to the face or even explain what it was about him that looked familiar.

Her cell phone vibrated, and she read the display screen.

“There you are,” she said. “I guess you got my message?”

“Honey, I’m so sorry,” Kurt Jessup said. “I’ve been following the news. I’m glad Sean pulled through. Must’ve been horrible for you.”

“I thought we were going to lose him.”

She told Kurt everything that had happened from the time Sean O’Toole staggered into her office until the paramedics took him to St. Luke’s in an ambulance—except that the assailant told O’Toole he was coming after her to “finish the job.” Why get into that over the phone?

“Sounds intense. You must be emotionally drained.”

“I don’t think it’s caught up with me yet. It was surreal washing Sean’s blood off my hands, and I had to throw away my uniform shirt. Beau Jack lent me the extra shirt he had in his locker so Emily wouldn’t have to see the mess. Does she know about the stabbing?”

“Yes, but I made sure she’s not planted in front of the TV, listening to the gory details. It’ll just trigger thoughts of the hostage ordeal, and we both know she’s not over it.”

Are any of us? Brill glanced up at the clock. “I’ll be home in forty-five minutes. Is Vanessa there yet? I can hardly wait to see her.”

“She’ll be here between seven and eight. Said not to plan on her for dinner.”

“By the time I get home, it’ll be too late to cook anything,” Brill said. “And you know what Friday night is like. If we go out, we’ll have to wait forever, and I don’t want Vanessa to come home to an empty house.”

“I’ve got it covered, honey. I bought a baked chicken and quart of potato salad at the grocery store. We’ve got stuff here for a green salad. That should work.”

“What would I do without you?”

Kurt laughed. “I have no idea.”

“I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Brill hung up the phone and looked out the window. Through the leafy trees and beyond the ridges of hazy green foothills, the blue-gray silhouette of the Great Smoky Mountains dominated the early evening sky. She sat for a moment and just enjoyed the beauty and the calm.

Lord, thank you for letting Sean pull through.

Her office phone rang, and she picked it up. “Yes, LaTeesha.”

“Captain Donovan from the Memphis PD is on line one for you.”

“Thanks.” She pushed the blinking button. “Hello, John.”

“Hey. It’s great to hear your voice. Saw you on the news last fall. I figured you’d make a name for yourself, but I didn’t think you’d go to such extreme measures.”

She smiled. “Things got pretty crazy, all right. So are you enjoying my old office?”

“Not today. I’ve got bad news … Zack Rogers was stabbed night before last. Happened in his driveway. Some worthless piece of garbage came up behind him and stuck a knife in his gut, and said to tell District Attorney Cromwell he was coming after him. I didn’t call you because the doc said Zack was going to be all right. But his heart gave out …”—John’s voice cracked—“an hour ago. None one saw it coming. His kids are still in high school, and with their mother dead … well, it’s a tragic loss. I knew you’d want to know since you and Zack were partners for so long.”

Brill felt a wave of nausea sweep over her, a decade of memories flashing through her mind in an instant.

“The thing is,” John said, “we knew Zack was being targeted because one of my detectives was stabbed last week, and the perp told him he was coming after Zack. We offered Zack protection, but you know how independent he was—bound and determined he could take care of himself.”

Brill’s heart pounded so hard she was sure he could hear it. “John, one of my detectives was stabbed today just outside the detective bureau. The attacker told him he was coming after me, to finish the job. This can’t be a coincidence.”

There was a long moment of dead air, and she figured John was processing the implications.

“You and Zack helped put away lots of perps, Brill. And Jason Cromwell was district attorney during the time you two were partners. Did anybody ever threaten you?”

“Are you kidding? All the time. We blew it off.”

“Well, looks like one of them was dead serious. Anybody in particular stand out?”

“Sure, Bart and Sampson Rhodes. But they’re lifers and not eligible for parole. Zack and I busted them what, nine or ten years ago? If they had been serious about taking us out, they could’ve snapped their fingers and gotten it done in nine or ten minutes.”

“Maybe they’re patient,”

“Or maybe this is someone else,” Brill said. “Someone who was forced to wait a long time for the chance to get even—someone who served out his sentence. Someone who wouldn’t think of hiring a hit man, but rather delights in the systematic elimination of the people who put him away. Someone who enhances his enjoyment by first stabbing a person who is close to the intended victim and making sure that person lives long enough to tell the intended victim that he or she is next.”

“You’ve worked with the FBI profilers so long you actually sound like one.”

“Unfortunately, John, I think I’m right.”

Author Bio:

Best-selling suspense novelist Kathy Herman has written fifteen novels, including CBA bestsellers The Real Enemy, Tested by Fire and All Things Hidden, since retiring from her family’s Christian bookstore business. Kathy and her husband, Paul, have three grown children and five grandchildren, and live in Tyler, TX.

My Review:

This is my first introduction to Kathy Herman, but it won’t be my last! She delves deeply into the lives and hearts of her characters, revealing their personal thoughts and deep feelings throughout all the turmoil: Vanessa showing up at home pregnant and unmarried; Brill’s disappointment in her daughter’s lack of morals; her daughter’s indecisive decision-making about her future with or without her baby; her youngest daughter’s PTSD from a previous trauma (book one: The Real Enemy); her own marriage to her husband and his issues and concerns, finding the deadbeat father of Vanessa’s baby; and the safety of her family, her officers, and herself while the murderer is still at large.

Kathy’s fast-paced rhythm of suspense throughout the book keeps you gripping the pages of this novel till the end. Her use of personal prayers and Scripture makes the book special to me–faith in action. Many of her characters are well-grounded in Scripture and are living it out. For those who aren’t, there is always God’s grace. This is the type of Christian fiction that endears books to me.

I highly recommend you read this book, but encourage you to start with the first in the series, The Real Enemy. If The Last Word is any indication of her other writings, I’ll be reading more!

This book was provided free from Audra at The B & B Media Group, Inc., for my review and blog. I enjoy reading, and blog on books I can feel confident in highly suggesting. Thanks to Audra and B & B Media Group.

Revell Tour Blog: "In Harm's Way" by Irene Hannon

2010-04-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

Intrigue, suspense, romance.

“In Harm’s Way” by Irene Hannon

By Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

ISBN978-0-8007-3312-4 Softcover $14.99

Author Bio:

Photo by Laszlo Bencze

Irene Hannon is a bestselling, award-winning author who took the publishing world by storm at the tender age of 10 with a sparkling piece of fiction that received national attention.

Okay…maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. But she was one of the honorees in a complete-the-story contest conducted by a national children’s magazine. And she likes to think of that as her “official” fiction-writing debut.

Since then, she has written more than 35 romance and romantic suspense novels. Her books have been honored with a coveted RITA award from Romance Writers of America (the “Oscar” of romantic fiction), a HOLT Medallion and a Reviewer’s Choice award from RT Book Reviews magazine.

Irene, who holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in journalism, juggled two careers for many years until she gave up her executive corporate communications position with a Fortune 500 company to write full. She is happy to say she has no regrets! As she points out, leaving behind the rush-hour commute, corporate politics and a relentless BlackBerry that never slept was no sacrifice.

In her spare time, Irene enjoys hamming it up in community musical theater productions. A trained vocalist, she has sung the leading role in numerous musicals, including “South Pacific,” “Brigadoon,” “Oklahoma” “The King and I” and “Anything Goes.” She also regularly performs with a six-person musical revue troupe and is a soloist at her church (where she does NOT ham it up!).

When not otherwise occupied, Irene loves to cook and garden. She and her husband also enjoy traveling, Saturday mornings at their favorite coffee shop and spending time with family. They make their home in Missouri.

My Review:

Rachel Sutton is impatiently waiting for her take-out lunch at a fast-food restaurant before going back to her music classroom. On her way to her car, she sees a bright orange clump frozen in the icy snow. When her foot dislodges a chunk of ice, she finds a button eye staring up at her. Digging it out, she finds a Raggedy Ann doll, which she plans to place on the restaurant’s air conditioner so the owner might find it.

Problem is, when she held the doll, she got the shakes, a racing pulse and had difficulty breathing, much like a panic attack. The doll fell from her arms, and the episode ceased. She knew she had been tense and stressed, which she couldn’t seem to shake, with multiple sleepless nights for about a month.

Surely a doll couldn’t cause all this. To prove it wasn’t so, she picked it up again, and terror hit the pit of her stomach. Jarring, crashing sounds and a baby’s cry hit her. She opened her car door and slung the doll across the seat. The symptoms stopped, leaving her with a sense of anxiety.

Rachel told her friend Marta, who thought she was crazy and told her to dump the doll. But she couldn’t. She had to get it to the ‘right’ person, so she has Marta talk to her policeman husband. He recommended the FBI, though he thought they’d think her crazy.

Meanwhile, Claudia Burnes, a St. Louis tabloid writer, was listening in on Marta’s conversation with her husband at a restaurant and took notes. This could be her leap to the National Inquirer if she could connect this lead article of ESP or clairvoyance in crime fighting.

Rachel brings the doll in a bag to FBI Special Agent Nick Bradley, who seemingly listens to her, after seeing her reaction to the doll. He stumbles onto a link between a doll and an abducted child. His world and Rachel’s takes on a whole new realm when Claudia’s article reaches the papers. Someone wants her silenced. Why? She only found a doll. Is there a connection to the doll and the person(s) trying to silence her? Again…why?

This haunting suspense and light romance keeps you turning pages late into the night. A definite nail-biter!

This book can be purchased here.

This book was provided free by Revell for my honest opinion of the book. I do this for the purpose of sharing good Christian books for other to read. Thanks to Revell.

"Sworn to Protect" by DiAnne Mills

2010-04-14T15:11:00.001-07:00

“Sworn to Protect” by DiAnn Mills from Tyndale Fiction

ISBN 978-1-4143-2051-9 Soft cover: $12.99

Author Bio:

Award-winning author, DiAnn Mills, launched her career in 1998 with the publication of her first book. Currently she has over forty books in print and has sold more than 1.5 million copies.

DiAnn believes her readers should “Expect an Adventure.” DiAnn Mills is a fiction writer who combines an adventuresome spirit with unforgettable characters to create action-packed novels.

Six of her anthologies have appeared on the CBA Best Seller List. Three of her books have won the distinction of Best Historical of the Year by Heartsong Presents. Five of her books have won placements through American Christian Fiction Writer’s Book of the Year Awards 2003 – 2007, and she is the recipient of the Inspirational Reader’s Choice award for 2005 and 2007. She was a Christy Awards finalist in 2008.

DiAnn is a founding board member for American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Inspirational Writers Alive, Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope and Love, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn is also a mentor for Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writer’s Guild.

She lives in sunny Houston, Texas. DiAnn and her husband have four adult sons and are active members of Metropolitan Baptist Church.

My Review:

McAllen, TX. Border Patrol Officer Danika Morales, the only female agent in the BP, took the oath to protect our borders at the Rio Grande River. Little did she know it would come with a great personal price–the death of her husband, Toby, leaving her to single parent her deaf daughter, Tiana.

Two years later, she has no intentions of leaving the Border Patrol, and is ever more vigilant in her job, so that she can also help solve her husband’s death, even though there is a price on her head.

She deals daily with drugs, gangs, terrorists, illegals, and human trafficking along the border. To make the situation even more desperate, there is a potential leak within the ranks of the Border Patrol, derailing their work. Attacks are being perpetrated on her and her co-workers in the field. Everyone in the operation is under suspicion.

When things get out of control on the home front, she turns to a local doctor, Alex Price, for help in finding the truth and help in protecting her daughter. Little does she know the relationship Alex had with her deceased husband.

Who’s behind it all? The men whom she captures know her by name. How? Why was her husband murdered? Where can she keep her daughter safe? Quick-turning twists keep you pushing the pages for answers into the wee hours of the morning!

This book gives you a healthy respect for the work of the Border Patrol on our behalf. It could easily have come off the pages of current newspapers, such as areas in TX.

In communicating with the author, I found she researched for a month on this book directly with McAllen, TX, Border Patrol to get the detailed information she writes about. She even ‘rode the line’ to get the feel of the danger involved. Be sure to get a copy and read this book! It’s worth your time!

Here is DiAnn’s trailer.

It can be purchased here and here.

This book was supplied by the author though Tyndale for my review. These are my own personal views of the book. Thanks to DiAnn and Tyndale for the opportunity. It’s a pleasure to post so you can choose good Christian books to read.

"By Reason of Insanity" by Randy Singer

2010-03-28T20:57:00.001-07:00

BY REASON OF INSANITY

Randy Singer–pastor, lawyer, and author. Randy is a critically acclaimed author and veteran trial attorney. He has penned seven legal thrillers, including the award-winning debut novel, Directed Verdict. In addition to his law practice and writing, Randy serves as a teaching pastor for Trinity Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He calls it his “Jekyll and Hyde thing.” He also teaches law at Regent University and serves on the board of legal advisers for the American Center for Law and Justice. He and his wife, Rhonda, live in Virginia Beach. They have two grown children.

My review:

By Reason of Insanity has to be the most intellectual, emotional, and psychological novel by Randy Singer that I’ve ever read. The multiple twisted plots take you from the full realm of innocence to the possibility of insanity, possibly multiple personality, based on a prior traumatic event in her life.

Catherine O’Rourke is a well-known and respected Virginia Beach reporter accused of being a serial killer, known as the ‘Avenger of Blood,’ based on her dreams that divulge detailed information that only the killer would know. She claims she sees the crimes in her dreams and shares them only to be helpful to the investigators. Her claims ends her up in the slammer, where abuse and inhumane conditions occur.

Throw in Quinn Newberg, a pricey lawyer from Vegas, and the trial begins. It’s the trial of his life. He believes his client, but a wrench is thrown in every time he turns around, making him wonder if he will get his client off.

I’ve worked in trials in my past, and believe me, just when you think you are gaining ground, plaintiff’s counsel/prosecutor throws you for a loop, again and again, sometimes on a daily basis. This book kept knocking me off my feet, trying to figure out the end result. If you are open for a great thriller, this is the book for you. I, personally, do not give credence to the paranormal, but that aside, the book is terrific!

This is a book I retrieved from my local library.

It can be purchased here.

"Deliver Us From Evil" by Robin Caroll

2010-03-28T20:56:00.001-07:00

CHILD TRAFFICKING AND POLITICAL CORRUPTION!

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: B&H Academic (February 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805449809
ISBN-13: 978-0805449808

Robin’s novel, Deliver Us From Evil, follows a beautiful yet tough woman, Brannon Callahan, who works in a beautiful yet tough setting, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, as a search and rescue (SAR) helicopter pilot. Brannon has a strong faith and a decorated history of service in the Coast Guards and currently at the National Park, which have kept her one step ahead of on-the-job dangers. However, there’s no precedent for what’s about to happen.

After a blizzard takes down a small plane carrying U.S. Marshall Roark Holland (who’s already haunted by a recent tragedy), Brannon must save him in more ways than one, and safeguard the donor heart he’s transporting to a government witness on the edge of death. Otherwise, the largest child trafficking ring in history–with shocking links from Thailand to Tennessee–will slip further away into darkness along the Appalachian Trail.

Robin Caroll has authored eight previous books including Bayou Justice and Melody of Murder. She gives back to the writing community as conference director for the American Christian Fiction Writers organization. A proud southerner through and through, Robin lives with her husband and three daughters in Little Rock, Arkansas. She’s an author of Southern stories of mystery and suspense.

Visit the author’s website.

My Review:

Robin’s novel, Deliver Us From Evil, has death-defying moments, along with some romance, that keep you reading into the wee hours of the morning. As we read above, U.S. Marshall Roark is haunted by a recent tragedy, but Brannon has her own set if issues that keep popping up. The tension between them is palpitating throughout all the plot twists in the book, even in places you don’t expect!

The storyline brings out the horrors of child trafficking, along with the travesty of justice, in a way that opens your eyes to the plight of this horrific dilemma. It will give you a more healthy respect for the law enforcement and government officials who risk their lives for our safety and the children caught up in child trafficking.

This is a powerful book that opened my eyes to the vastness of child trafficking today! In one of the following sources, the United States and Japan are two of the leading countries involved, which shocked me. Here are some sites the author used for facts, but can also be used if you want to become involved. One could ‘Google’ child trafficking to find others, but use caution.

1. www.lirs.org Do a search under “child trafficking.”

2. www.childtrafficking.org

3. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4038249/

4. www.gooddeedsinternational.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view*id=41

The book may be purchased here.

This book was supplied by Julie Gwinn of B&H Publishing Group for my honest review. I do this for the delightful purpose of suggesting good books for others to read, and where able, to get involved. Thanks to Julie and B & H Publishing.

"The Gospel Revolution" Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX May 20-22, 2010

2010-03-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

The Association of Biblical Counselors presents The Gospel Revolution

Conference to Feature Line-up of International Speakers

An experience designed for both the young and old of our culture and those who lead them. The Gospel Revolution: Rediscovering the Power of the Cross, will teach a new generation of Christians how to effectively apply the Gospel of the Cross to the real issues of everyday life.

Click here to watch Tullian Tchividjian and Jeremy Lelek discuss the theme of this year’s conference!

Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX—The Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC) has announced its annual conference to be held on May 20-22, 2010 at Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth, TX. The keynote speaker will be Tullian Tchividjian, addressing this year’s theme of The Gospel Revolution.

Tchividjian is the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, founded by the late Dr. D. James Kennedy, and is the grandson of renowned evangelist Dr. Billy Graham. Tchividjian has authored several books, including Unfashionable and Do I Know God?, and speaks at conferences throughout the US. His sermons are broadcast daily on the radio program Godward Living.

The conference is an experience designed for both the young and old of our culture and those who lead them. The Gospel Revolution: Rediscovering the Power of the Cross will teach a new generation of Christians how to effectively apply the Gospel of the Cross to the real issues of everyday life. Tchividjian explains, “I am absolutely convinced that most Christians believe that the gospel ignites the Christian in life, but they fail to believe the gospel is the fuel that keeps Christians going and growing every day.”

Although the conference is targeted to counselors, the event is open to anyone who would like to better apply Biblical principles to own their lives, as well to those who are seeking to become better equipped to offer counsel within their churches and ministries.

The Gospel Revolution conference will feature several authors and international speakers, including Dr. Paul David Tripp, Elyse Fitzpatrick, and Dr. Mike Emlet. Speakers with local ties include Beau Hughes (Lead Pastor of The Village Church in Denton, TX), Elliott Greene (Redeemer Seminary), and Jeremy Lelek (President of ABC).

Based in Bedford, TX, the Association of Biblical Counselors exists to encourage, equip, and empower all believers everywhere to live and counsel the Word. ABC offers resources designed to equip professional counselors, pastoral staff, and all Christians to provide wise counsel that comes straight from Scripture—and only from Scripture. ABC believes that the Bible answers every single question that psychology tries to answer.

For more information about ABC and for conference details and registration, visit www.christiancounseling.com.

"The Raven Saint" by M. L. Tyndall

2010-03-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

Romance and Intrigue on the High Seas! The Raven Saint by M.L. Tyndall.

List Price: $10.97
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Barbour Books (January 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602601585
ISBN-13: 978-1602601581

Book Trailer
M.L. Tyndall, a Christy Award Finalist, and best-selling author of the Legacy of the King’s Pirates series is known for her adventurous historical romances filled with deep spiritual themes. She holds a degree in Math and worked as a software engineer for fifteen years before testing the waters as a writer. MaryLu currently writes full-time and makes her home on the California coast with her husband, six kids, and four cats. Her passion is to write page-turning, romantic adventures that not only entertain but expose Christians to their full potential in Christ.

Visit the author’s website.
Visit the author’s blog.

My Review:

Grace Westcott was en-route to minister to an ailing Timothy Roberts on a dark, rainy night with her maid, Alice. She had been specifically warned by her father and brother-in-law not to go on any more of these dangerous expeditions. But Grace was doing God’s work: feeding the poor, tending to the sick and spreading the Gospel! However, when she arrived at the Roberts’ cabin, she found that Mr. and Mrs. Roberts had not called for her.

Betrayal! Grace was accosted and taken captive by men with swords and guns to the ship of a Captain Rafe Dubois, a mercenary who helped the poor. Only his mission with Grace was to sell her to Don Miguel de Salazar in Columbia, in retribution for the death of Don’s son by Grace’s father.

Betrayal, bitterness, revenge, piracy, and anger make for bitter decisions made by the Captain throughout the book. Grace prays for God’s rescue, but she receives no answer. Surely God must have sent her on this mission to save the Captain and his men! But no one listened to her.

The Captain, vacillating about his decision to sell Grace, takes a detour to Port-de-Paix, his childhood island, where he distributed food and clothing to the poor. It’s here that Grace is helped to escape, only to be robbed and left homeless for days, upon which she then met Nicole, a ‘woman of the night.’ She arranged for Grace to go to a Christian man’s home, Henri DuBois, The Captain’s father, in order to secure her way back home.

Rafe found out Grace was at his father’s home. The seething anger and revenge almost overtakes Rafe due to his father betrayals. Upon returning to the ship, Rafe finds unwanted people aboard the ship.

Grace finds herself helpless in reaching these men for the Lord. She’s again held captive aboard ship, and she finds herself weak to do anything. Does Grace find God’s will for this horrifying adventure? Will she be used to redeem these men and women? Does she find her way back home?

This book will keep you turning the pages, as scenes change from moment to moment. The suspense doesn’t seem to ever end. Although I found the ending a little sudden, I was enthralled throughout the rest of the book. Enjoy!

You may purchase the book here.

This book was provided free through Barbour Publishing in return for my honest review and blogging about it. My thanks to Ms. Tyndall and Barbour Publishing for the privilege. I do not receive compensation for my review.

"When You Lose Someone You Love: Comfort for Those Who Grieve" by Richard Exley

2010-03-28T20:52:00.001-07:00

Comfort for those who grieve.

Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX—There is nothing more devastating than the death of a loved one. And whether it comes suddenly and unexpectedly, or at the end of a long and painful illness, every death is experienced anew, a shocking loss that takes your breath away and leaves you disoriented and lost.

Grief is mysterious, misunderstood, and experienced differently from individual to individual. Yet there are certain universal elements to the grieving process. In When You Lose Someone You Love: Comfort for Those Who Grieve (David C Cook, October 2009), author Richard Exley offers a compassionate handbook on grief. The book is written as a series of letters between a pastor and parishioner he seeks to comfort. As he offers understanding to a man suffering a profound loss, the pastor shows that grief is a healthy process that God can use to mend broken hearts.

When we lose someone we love, we are often overwhelmed by the strong emotions and confusion that come like tidal waves in our lives. Sometimes we hardly recognized ourselves or the world in which we live. Exley’s personal and empathetic epistle communicates the mercy and grace of the heavenly Father to grieving people.

Exley states, “This is not a book about grief; rather it is comfort extended to those who are even now walking through the valley of the shadow of death.”

This book is the perfect gift for anyone suffering a profound loss. It has been endorsed by many a reader who, having drawn great comfort from its pages, has passed it along to a grief-stricken friend or loved one. Pastors and ministries that regularly interact with grieving people should keep multiple copies on hand.

Revised and updated, this twentieth anniversary edition features prayers and Scripture meditation, as well as a new introduction and epilogue. Simple, profound, personal compassionate, … this book tenderly walks the grief-stricken through sorrow to peace and eventually, renewed joy.

Author Bio:

Richard Exley is the author of 29 books and has written both fiction and nonfiction. His articles have appeared in numerous magazines, including Leadership Journal, Charisma, Ministries Today, The Pentecostal Evangel, Advance, Enrichment and New Man. He has served as senior pastor of churches in Colorado and Oklahoma, hosted several popular television and radio programs, including the nationally syndicated Straight from the Heart, and appeared on the 700 Club, Richard Roberts Live, Actions Sixty, the former PTL, The New Jim Baker Show and The Harvest Show. Richard and his wife, Brenda Starr, spend their time in a secluded cabin overlooking picturesque Beaver Lake in Northwest Arkansas.

When You Lose Someone you Love by Richard Exley

David C. Cook/October 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4347-6480-5/128 pages/softcover/$9.99

www.davidccook.com

My review:

I recently reviewed a book by a different author on my blog on the grieving process from a man’s perspective and directed specifically to men. It mentioned practical ways for a man in grieving to take care of himself. I found it to be very informative and helpful to learn about and to help men cope with grieving in a healthy way. Being a woman, it took on even more importance.

Richard Exley’s book, “When You Lose Someone You Love” is, to me, a deeper continuance of the previous book. It, too, is a man’s perspective and directed to men, although this one could definitely be helpful for women as well.

Richard’s book is written in letter form so he can “speak to you directly and in a very personal manner.” His letters are in response to letters written to him. He claims, “Nothing I have written will take your pain away—only God can do that—but it will help you understand what you are experiencing, and how to get through it.”

Chapters include (italics are my descriptions):

1. When Death Comes–initial moments to days after the funeral

2. Without Warning–unspeakable pain to tragic truth

3. The Truth About Grief–emptiness to encouragement

4. The Tides of Grief–unimaginable tidal waves to redemptive work of grief

5. The Pitfalls of Grief–temptation to pretend to wallowing in grief

6. The Promise of His Presence–questioning God’s presence to Godly comfort

7. The Depth of His Love–can you trust God to God’s love

8. If God Is for Us–senseless tragedy to redemption

9. In My Father’s House–is there life after death to new life

Richard goes into great personal detail on each chapter subject, ministering, encouraging and empathizing. Each chapter also includes a prayer and Scripture reference pertinent to the subject handled. The prayers are so heartfelt that they minister straight to your heart. This is a very personal and intimate resource of great value for someone who has never been through the grieving process, bringing them back to a state of joy, or for someone who wants to minister to the grieving.

This book was provided by Audra at B&B Media Group, Inc., for the sole purpose of giving my honest review. I count it a privilege to suggest great books that may help you, whether fiction or nonfiction. Thanks to Audra and B&B Media Group and David C Cook.

This book can be purchased here and here.

"Transforming the Valley of Grief" by Thomas O. Mason

2010-03-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

Transforming the Valley of Grief by Thomas O. Mason

Author:

Tom Mason is a founding member and elder of Evanston Bible Fellowship in Evanston, IL. He has served for many years on the Faculty of Northwestern University in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He is well acquainted with “The Valley of Grief,” having lost his wife of 31 years, Karen, to cancer. His healing process and suggestions for others who find themselves (or friends) in “The Valley of Grief” are the subject of this book.

My Review:

There are many books out there on grieving, but few specifically meant for men. “Women usually process grief verbally; but men retreat to their caves to grieve in isolation, or at least they are expected to do so.”

Transforming the Valley of Grief is a book on grieving for men written by a man. Thomas O. Mason takes you through his own loss of his wife, Karen, to cancer, hoping to help men work through their grief. He interprets his wife’s passing to the likes of a personal Tsunami, overwhelming and powerful, trying to drag you under with grief.

However, Thomas takes you through the ‘Valley of Achor’ (trouble) on through the ‘Re-entry’ period and ‘Up-Valley of Living.’ How long that journey lasts is individualistic, but he hopes to share his glimpses of glory and ideas that got him through. What to do to keep yourself busy, yet focused. Not allowing any days to linger on indefinitely in grief with nothing to occupy your time. Friendships, especially an accountability partner, to get you through and keep you on target. He deals with topics of Staying Afloat, Doing the Work, Flash Floods, A Door of Hope, and Re-entry in life again.

As a woman, I found this to be a very insightful book on the process of grief for men. Definitely a good book for a man you know going through the death of a spouse.

This book was provided to me by Audra of B & B Media Group, Inc., for my reviewal. I review books to offer insights to great books, whether fiction or nonfiction, for your pleasure and growth. My thanks to Audra and B & B Media Group.

This book may be purchased here.

Blog Tour: "Thin Places" by Mary DeMuth

2010-03-28T20:49:00.001-07:00

THIN PLACES : MEDIA REVIEW

Thin Places by Mary DeMuth.
Every two minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted and of the millions of sexual abuse and rape victims, 15 percent are under the age of 12, according to a 2007 study by the U.S. Department of Justice. Critically acclaimed author Mary DeMuth is among the millions of adults who are victims of childhood rape and are living with the emotional scars of the haunting abuse.

DeMuth bravely shares her painful story in her new memoir, Thin Places (February 2010). Repeatedly raped by two neighborhood boys at a young age, DeMuth details her traumatic and disturbing childhood in the memoir. Raised in a broken home, she lost her biological father when she was ten and was stripped of her innocence growing up in an unstable environment where drugs were commonplace.

But Thin Places is about hope and healing more than it is about the traumatic events of DeMuth’s childhood. According to DeMuth, thin places are “snatches of time, moments really, when we sense God intersecting our world in tangible, unmistakable ways.” When she encountered the true love of Jesus at a Young Life camp in high school, DeMuth’s life trajectory changed. God reassembled the pieces of her emotionally fragile self, which initiated true healing and peace.

“Folks may wonder why I’ve spent all this time looking back,” says DeMuth, “dredging up what God sees of my story, what my eyes see. Jesus says truth sets people free. This is my way of doing that—of telling the stark truth on the page so others can be set free.”

DeMuth’s desire is to see readers set free from their family secrets. In light of that, she’s started a blog for readers to anonymously share their family secrets. Since the blog launched in February 2009, over 200 survivors have emailed their family secrets for DeMuth to anonymously post, and the blog was featured on Christianity Today’s blog, Her.meneutics. For more information, visit: http://blog.myfamilysecrets.org.

“Thin Places offers a poignant look at the development of a well-known Christian writer,” says Christian Retailing, and author Tosca Lee calls Thin Places, “brave, moving and poignant.”

Writing is a cathartic experience for DeMuth, and remnants from her past influence her books. They are infused into her nonfiction parenting advice as well as her fictional characters and plots. Her literary fiction features gritty story lines and touches on the dark subject of abuse. Her first novel, Watching the Tree Limbs, featured a 9-year-old girl who was raped by a neighborhood bully, and the Defiance Texas Trilogy examines the emotional pain that results from the disappearance of a young girl in Texas. DeMuth talks about these writing projects in Thin Places. “Writing [Watching the Tree Limbs] is a thin place where I see
God’s desire to heal me,” says DeMuth, “and I understand that He loves me no matter what emotions I express.”

Thin Places
Release: February 2010
Soft cover, 224 pp., $14.99
Zondervan
ISBN: 031028418X

About the Author:

Mary DeMuth
Author and speaker Mary DeMuth helps people turn their trials to triumph. Her books include Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God; Building the Christian Family You Never Had; Watching the Tree Limbs; Wishing on Dandelions; Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture and the first two books in the Defiance, Texas Trilogy: Daisy Chain and A Slow Burn.
National media regularly seek Mary’s candid ability to connect with their listeners. Her radio appearances include FamilyLife Today, Moody Midday Connection, Point of View and U.S.A. Radio Network and is frequently featured on Chuck Colson’s BreakPoint. She has published articles in In Touch, HomeLife, Writer’s Digest and The Writer.

You can read my testimony on my website (www.marydemuth.com). I came from a difficult upbringing, but Jesus saw fit to find me at fifteen. He has utterly changed my life.I’ve been married 18 years to my husband Patrick (who’s been told he looks like George Clooney on more than one occasion). Interesting side note: I’ve been told I look like Laura Dern, and we share the EXACT same birthday. Twins separated at birth? Possibly. If you’re reading this and you’re chums with Laura, could you probe a bit?

George (er, Patrick) and I have three kids: Sophie, Aidan and Julia. Sophie’s learning to drive—and what’s interesting is that I’m not worried about it. She’s a careful driver. My son Aidan is thirteen. He’s passionate about finding water for a small village in Ghana. We got to go on the trip of a lifetime to meet the village of Sankpem last summer. Our daughter Julia is ten and is deeply kindhearted, beautiful inside and out. We also have an overly needy (farting) dog and a fat & fuzzy (sometimes cranky) cat. Mary lives with her husband Patrick and their three children in Texas.

Learn more about Mary at http://marydemuth.com.

THIN PLACES–MARY’S STORY

My True Story
By Mary DeMuth

When I started my writing journey toward publication, I thought I’d always be a novelist. My agent at the time suggested I write parenting books, something I balked at for quite some time. I was a storyteller after all. And because of my upbringing, I suffered from deep wells of insecurity in my parenting. And yet, I sold three parenting books. I wrote them from a position of weakness, and I prayed other parents with struggles similar to mine would be encouraged that they’re not alone. One facet strung its way through all my books: story.

I can’t help but tell stories, whether they be fiction or nonfiction. As I brainstormed with my next agent and my editor about who I wanted to be when I grew up, we all came back to story. I am a storyteller. We decided it would be best for me to place my primary focus on novel writing, but keep the storytelling alive in nonfiction.

Two years ago, I sensed the need, urge, and desire to write a memoir. I’d come a long way in my healing journey, enough that I could write it without bitterness, with a view toward God’s intervention. Thankfully, my vision for a memoir fit well within the story idea, and Zondervan took a risk and bought the book.

I wrote the book much like I’d write a novel, with an inciting incident, some flashbacks, a rising action and a late climax. Of course, as memoirs go, I had more freedom to explore and meander through the story, but I kept the book mostly in scenes, written in first person present tense to create intimacy and immediacy with the reader.

It was difficult to create me as the main character, to place the potential reader into my own head, to play it out in a way that would woo the reader to turn the page. In doing that, I learned even more about myself, how I viewed the world (sometimes in a warped way!), and what possible impact my journey might have on fellow strugglers.

Though I knew well the landscape, setting, and characters of my life, it proved difficult to give myself permission to truly delve in deeper, to re-feel my pain, angst, joy, frustration, anticipation, and worry. Once I let myself go there, the memoir progressed. And my editor helped me shape the book more chronologically, something for which I’m deeply thankful.

The end result is story: mine. It’s the story of a little girl who faced sexual abuse, neglect, drug-using parents, fear, death of a parent, and a host of other malevolence. And yet it’s a hope-filled story, where the bright light of God’s climactic redemption outshines the dark places. It’s a story of God’s nearness when I thought I’d nearly lose my mind and will to live. How grateful I am for the beautiful love of Jesus, how dearly He chose frail me to shame the wise. It’s really His story after all.

Interview:

What trials did you face as a child?
Childhood sexual abuse at five
Parents with addictions
Feelings of being unwanted
An unsafe home
Neglect
Death of a parent
Loneliness
Suicidal thoughts
Three divorces

It’s hard to write all that out and not feel bad for little me. But even in the recounting, I’ve been able to see the thin places in my life, those snatches of moments where God came near. That’s the message and hope of Thin Places, being able to see the nearness of God amidst heartache.

What compelled you to write Thin Places?

I felt sufficiently healed from my past, which had been a long, long journey. And in that healing, I knew I had the perspective I needed to be able to communicate my story with hope. In the past, I’d vomit my story of sexual abuse and neglect on any poor soul who’d listen, not with the intention to help her grow through her story, but to gain empathy.

But now I marvel at the path God’s brought me on, how gently He’s led me to this place of wholeness. From that abundance, I share my story. Why? Because I believe sharing the truth about our stories helps others see their own stories.

While I recorded the audio book for Thin Places, the producer asked me why I’d splay my life out this way.

“Because I don’t want folks to feel alone,” I told him.

“You’ve given a gift,” he said.

I sure hope so.

In this memoir you give readers a candid glimpse into your upbringing. Was it hard to share particular parts of your story?
In some ways, it was easy. I’ve shared my story over a decade now. What was hard was giving myself permission to say it all, to not hold back, to explore the emotions I experienced during the rapes, the drug parties, the feelings of loneliness.

Oddly, though, it was harder for me to share what I’m dealing with now as a result of my upbringing than the actual initial trauma. It’s hard to admit that I’m still so needy, so insecure. After reading the book aloud, I saw I still had areas of growth, particularly in being so hard on myself.

What do you hope readers gain from reading your memoir?
I hope they see hope.

I hope they realize how profound and surprising and radical God’s redemption is.

I hope they’ll see the irresistibility of Jesus.

Some folks wait until grandparents and parents are deceased until they write a memoir, but you wrote yours with some still alive. Was that difficult?

Extremely. In many ways, agonizing. You can be assured that I prayed through every word. I’m thankful for my critique group who walked me through the writing and my stellar editor who helped shape the manuscript into a redemptive story. My goal was not to impugn or point the finger at what went wrong way back when, but to shout about God’s ability to transform a needy, incomplete girl.

It’s never easy to tell the truth, and I know my words may hurt some. But, thankfully, I’ve sought God’s heart in this and I can rest peacefully in knowing that.

Anne Lamott says, “Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer, you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act—truth is always subversive.”

Thin Places is my answer to her quote.

But why go there? Why examine the past? Hasn’t the old passed away?
Yes, of course we must move forward. We must move beyond our pasts. But in order to do that, we must mourn the reality of what happened, not bury it under a rug. I love what Sam says in The Two Towers movie about the importance of telling our stories, no matter how dark: “It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad has happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you.”

It’s my sincere hope that my story will stay with readers, not because of its sordidness, but because the Light of Jesus has shined so brightly upon it.

What encouragement or cautions do you have for those wanting to write their story?
First, prayerfully consider if this is something you need to do for therapy rather than publication. It’s very exposing to write a memoir. And sometimes we mistake the compelling feeling we have with publication. God sometimes calls us to write unpublished words, to get everything out on the page for the sake of our own personal healing.

Many of you have read memoirs that are self-indulgent or a poor-me fest. You need to evaluate whether you’re at a good place of healing before you embark on writing your story for everyone to read.

Do you worry that writing a memoir makes you out to be narcissistic?
Of course. Because I’m the main character! As I’ve edited, read and re-read the book, I’ve agonized over that. Now that the book’s released, I am resting. What’s done is done. And I honestly believe that the story isn’t about me. It’s about a rejuvenating God who stooped to rescue a needy, frail girl.

What fears have you battled as this book released?
Because this is such a personal book, I’ve worried about negative reviews. In some ways that’s good because it will force me to find my security and love from the One who made me, rather than the opinions of others. I’ve received some great endorsements, but also some harsh reviews. And those are the ones that knife me! Because the book’s about me!

I worry that I’ll be misunderstood. Or that telling the truth will hurt others. I’ve made a point to disguise nearly everyone and everything in the book, but of course the potential for hurt feelings is high.

I fear opposition by the father of lies. Since this is a truth-filled book, displaying authentic struggle, I have a feeling he won’t like it. I’m thankful for a specific, targeted prayer team around me to pray for protection regarding the release of this book. It’s humbling, actually, to see how God brought those pray-ers together.

What do you like to do in your spare time? Hobbies?
I love to cook and garden and sew and decorate and take pictures. I’m really quite a homebody. I also keep in shape by training for small triathlons, emphasis on small.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
This may sound strange, but I wanted to be a doctor. But even then, the writer in me came out because I liked the cadence of my maiden name with the title doctor. Mary Walker, Medical Doctor.

How did you get involved in writing?
I’ve been writing since college when the bug hit me. I wrote my first short story about a missionary going to Russia (when it was firmly encased behind the iron curtain) and having to do all these clandestine things to share the gospel. I’m embarrassed to write this, but the piece started with these four words: Thump, thump, thump, thump (representing the protagonist’s heartbeat, of course).

I’ve been actively writing since 1992 when my daughter Sophie was born. I created a newsletter that helped moms manage their homes. I bought my first computer from the proceeds. I also designed and edited church newsletters, wrote homeschooling curriculum, and even wrote a script for an ultrasound training video. Soon after, short stories started flying out of me. When we moved from East Texas to Dallas for my husband to go to Dallas Seminary, I decided to get serious. I met my friend Sandra Glahn then, a professor at the seminary and a published writer. She shepherded me through the query-letter-writing process and has been an incredible cheerleader.

In 2002, I wrote my first novel. In 2003, I signed with an agent, then signed two nonfiction books. Since then, I’ve had five books published (those included), Daisy Chain being my sixth book. The first novel I wrote is yet to be published.

How do you find time to write?
I make time to write. I give myself word count goals every day. While my children are at school, I work full time. Lately I’ve been writing and promoting like a crazy woman, pulling 10-12 hour shifts. Even so, it’s a priority for me to have a sit-down dinner with my family every night. It helps that I love to cook.

What do you enjoy most about the writing process?
I love the initial flurry of words on the page where I’m uninhibited. I love fleshing out a story as it comes to me. I see my novels on the movie screen of my mind, which may account for the visual nature of my narratives.

What was the most difficult aspect of the writing process?
I am not in love with rejection.

I also don’t cherish rewriting. But it’s a necessary and important evil.

What would you say to someone who wants to become a published author?
Here’s the analogy you need to memorize and internalize: Beginning the publishing journey is like wearing a sweatshirt and toting a sack lunch at the base of Mount Everest, thinking, Hmm, this should be a breeze!

In addition: know you are called. Know you have talent. Know you’re full of tenacity. All three things will help you succeed along the journey.

Another idea is hang out at The Writing Spa and its corresponding blog WannabePublished. I tackle nearly every question a new writer would have. I offer weekly free critiques and I have guest authors cameo there. I evaluate the saleability of a book idea. Hop on by at http://www.thewritingspa.com.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Thin Places on Amazon

Thin Places Trailer

Video Discussion

Mary DeMuth’s Website

Mary DeMuth’s Blog

Mary DeMuth’s Facebook Profile

Follow Mary DeMuth on Twitter

List of all participating bloggers

Thin Places: Writing Memoirs

Writing Memoirs
By Mary DeMuth

I wrote Thin Places only after I gave myself permission to say it all. More on that later.

First, one clarification about memoir: no memoir can be 100% accurate. Every memoirist must recall, to the best of his/her ability what happened in the past. Only God knows what truly happened! And to protect the people listed in a memoir, I’ve changed names and distinguishing characteristics. That’s allowable in a memoir, and is often expected.  To make a memoir work, it must be:

From someone famous.
Or a story so strong and surprising, the story carries the book.

I’m of the latter category since I am by no means famous. But my story is raw and redemptive. And a bit out there. Find out more about Thin Places here.

The most important thing for a memoir is that it be memorable and beautifully written. If you don’t have a platform, near perfect writing is a must backed up by an intriguing/surprising story. Think of a memoir as a novel with rising action, climax and denouement. Consider writing it as you would a novel, with characters, dialogue and a plot (even if the plot is your life!)

A great example of a memoir that tells an amazing story is Parting the Waters by Jeanne Damoff.

But even though the story is beautifully written, Jeanne shopped the story to every publishing house far and wide through her agent. Though it was a great story, she faced a lot of rejection.

Eventually, after much prayer and seeking wisdom, she decided to self-publish the book through WinePress. It’s got a wonderful cover and is selling well.

Another amazing memoir is Startling Beauty by wife Heather Gemmen. Wow. It’s one of the most beautifully written, achingly painful memoirs I’ve read.

It’s not easy to write a memoir. I fear that some people are so afraid to do it because the people involved aren’t yet dead. So they work on a fictionalized version. Is that really honest? What is the purpose of telling your true story if you make it fiction? Of course, you can take elements of your struggle and life and place that in fiction, but I’ve found that tacked on messages seldom make a book.

My best advice: obey God. Write what He tells you to write. If you’re too afraid to write a memoir, then don’t do it. Prayerfully consider whether your need to get it all out is, instead, a form of catharsis that no reader really needs to see. And if you add some of your story to the memoir, consider that story is the king. The story must support what you write about.

My Review:

The unspeakable has been perpetrated against five-year-old Mary multiple times, along with threats of death to her and her parents if she tells. Her father died when she was 10, leaving her feeling abandoned. Her mother was ‘unavailable’ when she needed her, throughout all of her marriages and other relationships, leaving her feeling neglected. Her grandparents weren’t as loving to her as she thought. She spent much time alone, fearful of who was ‘out there’ to get her. She was lied to, stolen from, and not believed many of her years. She felt unloved, unlovable, unworthy to even be on the earth. She considered suicide for over a year, but a school counselor helped her through that year. She had years of envy due to a lack of the basics that made her feel as if she didn’t fit in with other kids. She had a large “daddy hole” in her heart through all the losses of her father and step-fathers.

What really pulled her through was a relationship with Jesus at the age of 15. Not that all things went perfect from that point on, but she has what she calls “’thin places,’ snatches of time, moments really, when she senses God intersecting her world in tangible, unmistakable ways. They are the ‘aha moments,’ beautiful realizations, when the Son of God bursts through the hazy fog of her monotony and shine on her afresh.” He came to Mary’s life and brought her healing. She will tell you how.

Thin Places, Mary’s memoir, was written for specific purposes. To help others find hope and reconciliation with God and family. To get the counseling help they need. Get people talking about their abuse to gain healing. Help the abused women gain insights to be a good mother. To find hope for herself, etc. It’s not an easy read, but press through and you will find poignant moments that you can relate to and find hope and healing in Jesus. This is a book on freedom and triumph!

Although the story seems to flit about for me, my take on it is that triggers don’t necessarily happen in chronological order. Push through. It’ll all make sense in the end.

If you suffer from abuse, please check out http://blog.myfamilysecrets.org, to anonymously share your family secrets.

I came to know Mary and her writing through reading Daisy Chain. Daisy Chain has two more sequels, one of which has already been published, A Slow Burn. Mary has a very in-depth manner of pulling you deep into her stories through touching the very core of the emotions of her characters and the intense suspense. I can hardly wait for the third book in this series!

This book was provided free by Mary through Zondervan as a review copy. These are my own opinions on the book. I blog for the love of sharing books I think can help others and provide the titles of books I consider worth your time to read. Thank you Mary and Zondervan.

Blog Tour: "Finding Jeena" by Miralee Ferrell

2010-03-28T20:47:00.000-07:00

BLOG TOUR:

Finding Jeena, the sequel to my first book, The Other Daughter (which many of your read) releases in April. It’s also available now, but only for pre-order on Amazon, Christianbook.com and BarnesandNoble.com.
Jeena Gregory’s life is unraveling. Her shady boss has disappeared and unpaid salaries and mounds of bills have attracted the attention of the federal authorities. As she experiences financial ruin and alcoholic relapse, she lands in a homeless shelter–where she’s confronted with a God she’s long forgotten. A moving story of grace and redemption!

Miralee Ferrell

Novels of Restoration and Renewal

4 1/2 Stars in Romantic Times Review Magazine

Web Site: www.miraleeferrell.com

Blog Tour: Love Finds You in Bridal Veil, Oregon by Miralee Ferrell

2010-03-28T20:46:00.001-07:00

Blog Tour: Love Finds You in bridal Veil, Oregon by Miralee Ferrell.

Miralee Ferrell is excited to announce that her newest historical romance (with a suspense twist) just released. Love Finds You in Bridal Veil, Oregon, set in 1902. It’s now available on Amazon, Christianbook.com, Wal-Mart stores, Borders, Barnes and Noble stores and most Christian book stores. Here’s a picture and summary of the book:

In the thriving 1902 lumber mill community of Bridal Veil,accidents happened.

But nobody expected murder.

Against the backdrop of the breathtaking Bridal Veil Falls in a historic Oregon logging community, a schoolteacher finds herself torn between a past love and the man who could be her future. Sixteen-year-old Margaret Garvey promised her heart to Nathaniel Cooper the night he disappeared from town. Four years later, just as she’s giving love a second chance with Andrew, a handsome logger, Nathaniel suddenly returns to town with a devastating secret. While grappling with the betrayal of those she trusted most, Margaret risks her reputation and position by harboring two troubled runaways who might be involved in the murder of a local man. As disaster strikes the town and threatens the welfare of its citizens, Margaret will be faced with the most important choice of her life.

"Why Did God Give Us EMOTIONS" by Reneau Peurifoy, M.A.

2010-01-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

A Biblical Perspective on What Science Has Discovered About Emotions

In his book, Why Did God Give us Emotions?, Reneau Peurifoy stresses the importance of recognizing how the individual aspects of emotions interconnect. Emotions are complex and mysterious. They can bring us to heights of ecstasy down to the rocks of despair. They can bind us together or tear us apart. They move some to perform nobles acts of courage and self-sacrifice, while in others they are the force behinds terrible acts of evil and destruction.

Peurifoy focuses on four main aspects of emotions:

Their subjective nature
Their physical side
Their mental side, and
Their spiritual side.

Why Did God Give Us Emotions? addresses topics like:

Core Beliefs
The Window of the Soul
Emotions and God’s Will
How God Speaks to You (What Stops us From Hearing God?)
Emotions That Come Out of the Blue
Emotions That are “Taboo”
True Emotional Healing

From the very start Peurifoy had two goals in mind:

He wanted to look at what science has learned about emotions from a biblical perspective, and
He wanted to do it in a way that would strengthen the reader’s walk with God.

He states, “Over the last two decades, I’ve seen the strengths of science and psychology in helping people and making our lives more comfortable. I’ve also become acutely aware of the inability of science and psychology to address the true source of human misery: sin and our separation from God. I believe that God has helped me write a book that will be useful to many.”

My Review:

I feel that with Reneau Peurifoy accomplished his two goals in a very concise, yet easy-to-read method for individuals to comprehend. He has many subtitles to each of his chapters that capture the nature of each of his subjects. He doesn’t leave us with a ‘knowledge-only” book. He has recommended activities after each chapter that help you apply his principles while looking into your own emotional being, past and present, as well as God’s perspective.

His book also contains “discussion questions for small group study, provided along with guidelines for managing emotions more effectively so they glorify God, rather than bring Him disgrace.”

I definitely recommend this book as a good resource for anyone suffering from emotional issues, big or small. I am specifically excited that Peurifoy’s book is from a Godly perspective.

About Reneau Peurifoy:

Reneau Peurifoy holds a masters degree in counseling and attended Fuller Theological Seminary. His is the author of several books, including Anger: Taming the Beast, Anxiety, Phobias and Panic: Taking Charge and Conquering Fear, and Overcoming Anxiety: From Short-Term Fixes to Long-Term Recovery.

Peurifoy is a frequents guest speaker for organizations, including the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), the nation’s primary organization for anxiety-related problems.

Peurifoy was in private practice for 20 years as a marriage and family therapist specializing in anxiety disorders. He retired from this practice in 2000, and is currently teaching at Heald College in Sacramento, CA.

Recommendations:

This is a book that could change your life. If you are struggling with issues that keep you chained to your past or insecurities and you want those chains gone get a copy of this one. Lunch.com – Kelly Klepfer More…
Why Did God Give Us Emotions? is most definitely not an overnight read, but rather a spiritual workbook that requires effort and insight – after all, you can’t expect an epiphany in the form of instant gratification, can you?

The most outstanding characteristic of this book is its clarity. The author, Reneau Puerifoy, uses an allegory of how six blind men “see” an elephant as being a completely different object, depending on which part of its body they each feel: a leg; its tail; its trunk; its ear; its side; and a tusk. From what they feel, they, in turn, perceive the elephant as a pillar; a rope; the thick branch of a tree; a big fan; a huge wall; and a spear. In short. They all get it wrong.Lois Henderson More…
I felt this was an exceptional book for any Christian to read with the mission of understanding the many whys of our emotions. Each chapter has applications/activities that the reader can work through. The book would be excellent for individual use or group study. At the back of the book are suggestions for finding a church, developing a prayer life, and for further counseling. Small group discussion is provided in the back of the book as well.

Some of the topics in this book are: the physical side of emotions, core beliefs, and emotions that are taboo. The book is not lengthy, it is not a textbook style book, it is easy for any lay person to read and understand. A Well Watered Garden More…
Reneau Peurifoy has done it again. Another insightful book on the human dilemma, done in his usual artful, instructive, and clear manner… Reneau is a gifted communicator, and helps make the seemingly complicated issues understandable to his readers. Why did God Give Us Emotions? is a strong tool in helping us mere mortals understand how to integrate a knowledge of God into our emotions. The reading of this book will reap rich benefits. Rev. N. Rhodes Pringle, Senior Pastor, Antelope Road Christian Fellowship, Citrus Heights, CA. More…
Finally! A Christian book that discusses, explores, and deals with emotions, such as depression, anxiety, and anger in a Biblical, scientific, and therapeutic way… I believe this book will show you how you can control and use your emotions in a way that glorifies God. Tony Donato, MS, MFT, LPC More…
Unlike other books which offer very little practical advice, this book is full of wisdom and insight the reader can immediately apply. I am certain many will find freedom within its pages. From beginning to end, it calls readers to contemplate God’s part in their emotions. I personally can’t wait to recommend this book to clients. I think it will make a wonderful complement to their therapeutic process. Krysta Dancy MA, MFTI More…
Your book undertakes a comprehensive and practical treatment of the subject that does not stoop to self-help trendiness and nostrums but instead takes a high road. You offer insights both from medicine and psychology as well as from scriptural study. Anyone who is looking for a broad and well-founded understanding of emotions and how to deal with them will find what they are looking for in your book.m Paul Hawley, Editorial Consultant More…
A wonderful book that everyone should read! …As a Christian, registered nurse I realize how difficult it can be to understand our emotions at times. Why Did God Give Us Emotions? helped me to look more deeply into myself for clarification of some of my emotions. After reading this book I am able to better understand patients and their emotions during their time of stress in the hospital. Barbara P., RN More…
Mr. Peurifoy has an astounding ability to get right to the heart of any matter, and his insights are profound. My husband and I have both read his books, did the recommended activities at the end of the chapters, and found our lives transformed. His latest book is a revelation, shining a light on the darkest corners of our emotions, and guiding us to a closer relationship with God. Rachael D. More…
The clarity of Mr. Peurifoy’s writing challenged me to grow in areas that I did not even realize were there! I so much enjoyed this book that I will continue to reread it. Jacquelyn N.More…

This free book was provided by Tracy McCarter of B& B Media Group for my opportunity to read, review, and blog about my honest opinion of this book. I do this for the express privilege of sharing good books for people to read. Thanks to B & B Media Group.

"THICKER Than BLOOD" by C. J. Darlington

2010-01-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

“THICKER Than BLOOD” by C. J. Darlington

Tags: Christian fiction; Strong Ties; C.J. Darlington

TitleTrakk.com Blog Tours Presents:

Thicker than Blood by C.J. Darlington
Published by Tyndale House

Winner of the 2008 Christian Writers Guild Operation First Novel Contest!

Christy Williams finally has her life on track. She’s putting her past behind her and working hard to build a career as an antiquarian book buyer. But things begin to unravel when a stolen Hemingway first edition is found in her possession, framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. With no one to turn to, she yearns for her estranged younger sister, May, whom she abandoned after their parents’ untimely deaths. Soon, Christy’s fleeing from her shattered dreams, her ex-boyfriend, and God. Could May’s Triple Cross Ranch be the safe haven she’s searching for? Will the sisters realize that each possesses what the other desperately needs before it’s too late?

My Review:

Thicker than Blood is a story of two sisters, Christy and May Williams, who have drifted apart after the tragic death of their parents. Two young women, two very different choices of lifestyles.

Both young women are heartbroken over the loss of their relationship for different reasons. May, more so, when she finds out their lawyer, Harvey Kurtz, knows Christy’s whereabouts but won’t disclose it to her.

After the funeral of their Aunt Edna, and subsequent life-changing (lost her job), life-threatening (being stalked) circumstances, Christy finds herself in a difficult situation, and determines to go see May. Through heart-wrenching events (lost in a blizzard), they find what they’ve both been looking for. A book of hope for torn apart families.

The ending definitely leaves room for a sequel. Hopefully so!

Author Endorsements:

With careful attention to detail, emotion, and scene-setting, C.J. Darlington scores with her début effort. Here is a special writer you won’t want to miss.
–Jerry B. Jenkins, New York Times best-selling author

If you love a good read filled with adventure and ultimately redemption, I encourage you to brew the tea, settle into your favorite chair and pick up the page turner that is C.J. Darlington’s imaginative new novel of a modern-day sisterhood that triumphs over separation and the raw challenges of life to find the real endurance of both family ties and God’s amazing grace.
–Rebecca St. James, Grammy award-winning Christian singer and bestselling author

With Thicker than Blood, C.J. Darlington proves she’s a novelist for the long-haul, a strong new voice in Christian fiction. This book speaks to the heart, from the heart, about the heart. Readers will not soon forget it.
–Sibella Giorello, Christy award-winning author of The Rivers Run Dry & The Clouds Roll Away

Watch the trailer

About the Author:

C. J. began writing the story that would become Thicker than Blood (her first novel) when she was a fifteen-year-old homeschooled student. She has been in the antiquarian bookselling business for over a decade, scouting for stores similar to the one described in the novel before cofounding her own online bookstore. Thicker than Blood was the winner of the 2008 Christian Writers Guild Operation First Novel.

C. J. co-founded the Christian entertainment Web site TitleTrakk.com with her sister, Tracy, and has been actively promoting Christian fiction through book reviews and author interviews. She makes her home in Pennsylvania with her family and their menagerie of dogs and cats. Visit her website www.cjdarlington.com for more info.

QUICK LINKS:

* The 1st chapter of Thicker than Blood
* The “Story Behind the Story” of Thicker than Blood
* More endorsements from Jenny B. Jones, James Scott Bell, Susan Meissner, and more!
* Our interview with C.J. at TitleTrakk.com
* Buy Thicker than Blood at Christianbook.com
* Buy Thicker than Blood at Amazon.com
* List of the other 85+ Thicker than Blood blog tour participants!

“THICKER than BLOOD” by C. J. Darlington

2010-01-07T21:33:00.000-08:00

Thicker than Blood is a story of two sisters, Christy and May Williams, who have drifted apart after the tragic death of their parents. Two young women, two very different choices of lifestyles.

Both young women are heartbroken over the loss of their relationship for different reasons. May, more so, when she finds out their lawyer, Harvey Kurtz, knows Christy’s whereabouts but won’t disclose it to her.

After the funeral of their Aunt Edna, and subsequent life-changing (lost her job), life-threatening (being stalked) circumstances, Christy finds herself in a difficult situation, and determines to go see May. Through heart-wrenching circumstances (lost in a blizzard), they find what they’ve both been looking for. A book of hope for torn apart families.

The ending definitely leaves room for a sequel. Hopefully so!

Check out the trailer for Thicker than Blood here. You can purchase her book here.

C. J. Darlington has been in the antiquarian book-selling business for over a decade, scouting for stores similar to the one described in Thicker than Blood before co-founding her own online bookstore. She also co-founded the Christian entertainment Web site, www.TitleTrakk.com. She is also the winner of the 2008 Christian Writers Guild Operation First Novel contest. A homeschooled graduate, she lives in Pennsylvania with her family. Visit her Web site at www.cjdarlington.com, where you’ll find a section of interviews. Check out both sites!

I received this book free from Ms. Darlington through Tyndale for my honest review of her book. My thanks for this opportunity to share a good Christian book for you to consider reading.

"The Sweet By and By" by Sara Evans w/Rachel Hauck

2010-01-05T21:00:00.000-08:00

“The Sweet By and By” is a poignant story of love, dysfunction, wrong choices, anger, abandonment, heartbreak, bitterness, and multiple secrets haunting Jade Freedom Fitzgerald before she gets married to Maxwell (Max) Charles Benson.

Jade was born into the home of hippie parents, who later divorced, setting her up for abandonment issues and bitterness to run her life, and leaving Jade responsible to help raise her siblings, with the help of her grandmother, while her mother toured the country with multiple husbands for her own selfish ideals of life.

Underage, Jade and her high school boyfriend secretly marry, which was to be annulled once their parents found out. She makes a deadly decision that also haunts her for years to come. And, unfortunately, she finds herself still married to this young man just weeks before her marriage to Max.

Then Jade’s mother and younger sister come three weeks before the wedding. Untold secrets unfold, along with having to reconcile with her mother, dealing with a pushy mother-in-law-to-be, and run her vintage shop.

Oh, but God had a plan for her to reconcile with this decision and the years of estrangement from her parents, just as He is ready, waiting and willing to remedy your own issues! A quick read, but a great message of honesty and forgiveness.

You can purchase Sara’s book here and here. Check out the trailer about this new series.

This free book was provided by Thomas Nelson, Inc for the purpose of reviewing and blogging. I do this out of the pleasure of reading and sharing good books for others to read. My thanks to Thomas Nelson Publishers.

“Make Love, Make War: Now Is the Time to Worship” by Brian Doerksen

2009-12-31T20:24:00.000-08:00

Living a Life of Radical Worship

Award-winning songwriter, Brian Doerksen, shares insights behind some of the most beloved songs of our time as he provokes readers to love and war.

Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX–What is true worship? It can elevate us into the presence of God, renew and refresh our spirits, and offer the deepest expression of love for our Savior. Yet worship can also be a call to arms, a battle cry, a salvo in an ancient spiritual war that continues today. In his first book, Make love, Make War: Now Is the Time to Worship (David C Cook, August 2009), award-winning songwriter Brian Doerksen challenges Christians to make their lives an offering of radical worship.

An acclaimed songwriter, recording artist, author, conference speaker, and pastor, Doerksen believes God is calling us to love and to battle–to spread peace and wage spiritual warfare. ” Each is essential to our daily spiritual walk,” writes Doerksen. “We do this through how we live, how we serve Him and how we protect and fight for what matters most. One of the ways I make love and war is through music.”

In his first book, Brian shares the powerful stories behind some of the most influential worship songs of our time, including “Come, Now Is the Time to Worship”, “Refiner’s Fire”, and “Hallelujah (Your Love is Amazing)”. Brian’s hope and prayer is that the stories surrounding these songs and the truths they sing will awaken your heart to ‘Make Love & War’ for the glory of God! While offering special tips for aspiring songwriters, he also reveals rich truths and insights about the nature of God and His calling for us.

Doerksen believes “we know love and war are at the heart of everything inside us, and everything going on all around us. We sense that there is nothing that Satan hates more than the worship of Yahweh by those who are faithful to the Lamb. He spends more than a little energy convincing us that there really is not a war going on, and that the sum total of our lives’ calling is to be nice. But God is provoking us to rise up and fight. The war He calls us to make is always for the sake of love.”

Author Bio

Briand Doerksen has always had a passion for expressing worship through music. He is an award-winning songwriter of some of today’s songs of worship. He has also just completed co-writing a musical (a 7 year process!) with Christopher Greco (a playwright based in Boston) based on Luke 15 called Prodigal God, ‘a tale of 2 sons and one wastefully extravagant father’. It’s the story of the prodigal son and his father seen through the eyes of the elder brother. The musical features more than 20 new songs written or co-written by Brian. The recording of the music will be released 2010.

He and his family (wife of 25 years Joyce, and 6 children) live in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.

My Review

Make Love, Make War has been one of the most enriching books I’ve read in a very long time. I learned much about the heart of this man, his devotion to God and family, his intimate and intense love for God and the His Church (The Bride), and his musical works. He has a specific purpose for writing each and every song. The reasons may surprise you. I know I delighted in them.

Although I have no background in music, Brian’s life history behind his songs have been an inspiration to me. To top it off, you get some thoroughly in-depth teachings about who God is, little nuggets of truth throughout the book. He also shares song-writing tips to aspiring musicians and current worship leaders.

This is one book everyone should have on their shelf to read. It will give you a greater insight into the words of the songs and inspire you to respond in love and/or war.

I received this book free from The B & B Media Group, Inc., for the express purpose of reading and reviewing this book. I do this for the express purpose of encouraging others to read great books. My thanks to B & B for the privilege of doing so.

"A Soldier's Devotion" by Cheryl Wyatt (blogblast)

2009-12-30T09:58:00.000-08:00

A Soldier’s Devotion by Cheryl Wyatt

(Steeple Hill Love Inspired)

ISBN-0373875754) is IN STORES NOW.

About the Book
U.S. Air Force pararescue jumper Vince Reardon was headed to a lifesaving mission. Until a too-pretty lawyer crashed her fancy car into his motorcycle—sidelining him for two weeks. Vince can barely accept Valentina Russo’s heartfelt apologies. Ever since his brother was wrongly convicted—and killed in prison—Vince has lost respect for lawyers. But wait—is that Val volunteering at his refuge for underprivileged kids? If Vince isn’t careful, this lady of the law might just earn his respect and his heart.

About the Author
Born Valentines Day on a naval base, Cheryl Wyatt writes military romance. Her Steeple Hill debuts earned RT Top Picks plus #1 and #4 on eHarlequin’s Top 10 Most-Blogged-About-Books, lists including NYT Bestsellers and she is a Reviewers Choice Award nominee. http://www.facebook.com/l/5c31e;www.CherylWyatt.com

Excerpt

This is the second-worst day of my life.

U.S. Air Force Pararescue Jumper Vince Reardon lay pressed to wet asphalt. Rain pelted his face.

The woman who’d seconds ago smashed her sizzling-red sedan into his chrome-and-black-lacquered motorcycle hovered in his periphery. Smoky eyes bulged with worry from a trepid face that begged him not to be mad. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry.”

“I can’t look at you, or I’ll erupt.” Vince pushed a groan through gritted teeth and tried like mad to distract himself from blowtorch-caliber pain searing through the palms of his hands, left arm and outer left leg. “Saw you on your cell phone seconds before you hit my bike.”

Correction. The custom, one-of-a-kind masterpiece on wheels that his late brother hand-built weeks before his death.

Once again the woman murmured soft words, rested a shaky palm on Vince’s shoulder. And prayed. He tried not to flinch away from her. Wanted to yell at her to leave him alone. Wanted to scream out in pain. Alone.

He clenched his eyes to shut out the pity on the strained faces of bystanders who’d come to his aid. More specifically, he wanted to shut her out.

But the truth was her presence and her prayers soothed. Besides, it wasn’t like he could get away from her.

“Lord, help him be okay. Please don’t let anything be broken.”

Vince found her face and lashed a hard look at her remorseful one. “I’m not one for religion, lady.” He beamed visual warning flares. Tried not to get his gaze snagged by eyes that were heavily lined and radiantly luminous. Or the stylish pixie cut that caused jagged angles of hair to hug prominent cheekbones.

Anything to distract from discomfort.

Other than desert-sand-colored swaths streaking through dark brown hair, giving her a youngish, trendy look, she smacked of “career woman.” She wore sleek high-end shoes with some seriously dangerous skyscraper heels and a conservative charcoal business suit which could not camouflage her curves.

He wouldn’t be so perturbed if she weren’t so glaringly pretty.

French-manicured nails rested once again on his shoulder.

No ring.

And just why would he care, other than to feel scolded for noticing her curviness, if she were married? The fact that her barren finger hitched his eyes a little too long on her hand drew a second frustrated sigh.

He might be down, but he wasn’t dead. The gal was stunning.

“You need to get out of the intersection. Least till the cops get here,” Vince ground out.

He didn’t want both of them to be in danger of getting reamed by oncoming traffic should some other driver pull her gig and forget to pay attention. He brought his hands up to carefully remove his helmet.

“I’m not leaving you,” came her soft but firm reply.

She helped him take his helmet off. Turned it over, gasped then set it aside. Her bugged-wide eyes closed and her lips moved in frenzy. Something about thank you.

Against his wishes and his will, she prayed.

That it brought the slightest measure of peace angered him more than anything. He clamped his lips to keep from cursing. Sure, she’d smashed his bike, but he didn’t want to disrespect a lady.

Even if she had just destroyed his most prized possession.

And ruined his chance to join his team on the type of mission that came few and far between. An allied pilot shot down and in need of rapid-reaction rescue on hostile soil.

Vince not being at the chopper when it was ready to lift could cost that pilot his life.

Shivers claimed him. Adrenaline OD. Had to be.

Once his team figured out crucial minutes too late that he wasn’t coming, they would have to pull his weight plus manage their own.

Way dangerous.

Especially since they all had specific jobs they were trained to do during a rescue. There’d be no time to replace him.

Nothing rapid-reaction about him writhing here in the middle of a rain-driven road, wishing like crazy this irksome brunette hadn’t been driving under the influence of distraction.

Water soaked his back, seeping cold to his bones. A rock dug into his skin below his shoulder. He tried to reposition without moving his neck.

Pain streaked across his shoulder blade. Numbness trickled down his arms and tingled fingers on his left hand. A frustrated sound scraped its way up his throat again but he clamped his lips against it. Despite the early-April cold, sweat broke out over his upper lip. He puffed out breaths but the pain didn’t relent this time.

He was sure he was fine, but as a military paramedic, he knew enough to be still and quiet just the same. A killer headache was building at the base of his skull and he knew better than to move until someone slapped a C-collar on him.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you until too late.” Words wobbled from unsteady lips. Hand remaining on his shoulder, she leaned forward, blocking rain from thrashing his face. She continued her prayers.

“You’re getting soaked.” Crazy lady. Her hair was dripping. Her expensive soft suede suit was probably ruined. She didn’t act like she cared. In fact, the deceptively calm body posture he could tell she fought to maintain looked ready to crumble. Like she was nearing her breaking point.

Rain-mingled tears hovering on long lashes threatened to fall. She blinked rapidly. “Help will be here soon.”

Who was she trying to convince? Him? Or herself?

And how could her voice be soothing and grating at the same time? No matter about his bones. His main concern was his bike.

“How’s my ride?”

Her eyes startled open. “What?”

He clenched his teeth. She was probably some rich chick who didn’t understand one stinking mutilated syllable of street lingo. “My chopper. Bike. Motorcycle. Thing with two wheels that goes down the road. How is it?”

That she didn’t answer and only scanned the area around them with ever-widening eyes revved his headache through the roof of his skull.

Incensed, he released the pent-up groan.

“I am sooo sorry. The ambulance will be here soon.”

The urge to laugh hit him full force from nowhere. “For me or the bike?”

A startled look stole over her face before she averted her gaze. “Both, I think. This was all my fault. I—I’ll pay for it.”

Again, her words made him want to laugh. “The bike? Or my hospital and ambulance bills?”

“Both. Of course, both.” She looked like she could cry.

“The cycle—is it drivable?”

She bit her bottom lip until it turned white, then looked around like Refuge’s traumatized mayor after last year’s bridge collapse. “Um, I think not. It… It’s…pretty smashed.”

He tensed and wished she’d get her soft hand off his aching arm.

“How bad?” If this crazy lady broke the only tangible reminder remaining on earth of his late brother…he’d never forgive her. At her blank look, impatience mounted, twisting his shoulders into knots. “How. Bad. Is. It?” He enunciated the words like a phonics teacher with a mouthful of molten lava.

“Um… so-ome of the pieces broke off.” Her face blanched the more her eyes scanned their periphery and whatever carnage littered it. “Maybe even… well, all of the little ones.”

He didn’t doubt that since he’d felt tiny insignificant cosmetic pieces break off on impact. That wasn’t his main concern. “How’s the frame?”

“B-bent. Definitely, but not horribly. I—at least I don’t think so.” Her lips rolled inward as if her own words daunted her. Distress mounted in her eyes and tears finally trickled down her cheeks. She blinked furiously. “I—I’m not m-much of a motorcycle person.”

No kidding. For an instant, he almost felt sorrier for her than for himself.

Nah.

Her remorse probably only meant she feared he’d sue her.

Didn’t matter. She shouldn’t concern her pretty self with petty litigation. He’d be the last person to go near any sort of legal office. His family had a thing against lawyers. Far as Vince was concerned, they were the reason his brother…

Sirens whined closer, blared louder, derailing his train of thought, causing the throbbing in his head to expand.

Flashing emergency vehicle taillights reflected off the wet surface, giving eerie red hues to the watery seal-coat layer over asphalt smothered in oil and gasoline. Doors creaked open and slammed shut.

Several sets of black shoes hooded in blue scrub pants sloshed across the lot. Drizzle sprinkled Vince’s face as the woman divorced her hand from his shoulder and leaned back, allowing EMTs to access him.

Staying as still as possible, Vince issued himself a mental reprimand for instantly missing her fruity perfume, her lullaby voice, her presence and even her prayers.

Missing her. Just—her.

Anger welled in him that a complete stranger and her connection to the God he loathed brought comfort in this momentary nightmare. He needed to let team leader Joel Montgomery know why he was late. Tell him what was going on without compromising the mission or his teammates’ safety.

How to do this? What to say?

He wouldn’t be telling the truth—that he’d probably just fractured or dislocated something—that’s for sure. But trying to go injured could cause a new set of problems. No way would he be stupid enough to put his brothers in harm’s way. Even if it meant he had to lay down his angry pride and let this mission go on without him.

He looked at the woman—the very beautiful woman—who caused all this and felt like growling at her and howling at the moon all at the same time. Absurd. Musta hit his head harder than he thought. Err, his helmet rather.

Speaking of his helmet, Vince remembered how crazy-soft her hands felt as she’d helped him off with it.

“You still got that phone on you?” Vince asked her through clenched teeth.

“Yes. Who can I call for you?” Quaking hands fumbled in the pocket of her power suit. The one that hugged a figure any guy would be nuts not to notice. Even an injured one. He jerked away his gaze like the rip cord on a screaming parachute and ground his teeth. He wanted nothing whatsoever about her to be appealing.

He’d been headed to the drop-zone facility following an emergency page from Joel. But, on impact, his cell phone had bounced across the road and broken into particles.

Frustration surged. He became even more irked that he’d been placed in the position of having to use his assailant’s phone for help.

Vince refused to restrain the disapproval from his voice as he recited the number of Refuge’s DZ. The guys were probably convening there prior to being flown to their insertion point.

Without him.

Not only had this bad-driving woman risked his life, she’d rendered his team one man short.

Slender fingers punched the keypad. “It’s ringing.” She held the phone to his ear.

“Yeah, Chance? Lemme talk to Joel.” Vince huffed a breath. Ribs sore. Hurt to talk.

She must have sensed it because she moved the phone from his ear to hers. “Who am I talking to?” she asked Vince in a take-charge voice that he would have appreciated any other time.

The last thing he wanted was to feel anything remotely positive toward the enemy—who was, at the moment, namely her. And the terrorists who’d shot down the pilot he couldn’t go help save.

His anger hit boiling point again. And he let her know it with a lethal look. Didn’t faze or rattle her. Must be one mortar-tough chick.

“Ask for Montgomery. Tell him I’m in a fender bender and won’t make the lift.”

“Mr. Montgomery?” she said into the phone. “Yes, I’m here with… Excuse me a moment.” She covered the mouthpiece and leaned in to Vince. “What’s your name?”

“Reardon.”

“I’m here with… Reardon. I—he’s been in a substantial accident. On his bike, yes.” She swallowed. Hard. Okay, maybe not so tough.

Vince scowled at her for giving TMI but she ignored him just like she’d disobeyed the traffic signal that caused this wreck.

“Yes, he’s alert and coherent, but I think it hurts him to talk. The ambulance is on its way. Yes. Thank you. And I’m very sorry. Well, because I’m the one who caused the wreck.” Her lips trembled at the words and no doubt Joel was offering soothing words to her. Traitor.

Connor Stallings, a Refuge police officer, finished taking statements from witnesses and approached. He dipped his head toward the phone. “Is that Montgomery?”

“Yes.”

“Let me talk with him.” Stallings took the cell she handed him then he stepped out of Vince’s earshot.

Another raging hole burned through Vince. He hated to be coddled and babied. Most of all pitied. And Stallings’ face had been full of it when he’d initially rushed over to Vince upon arriving on the accident scene.

After talking with Vince’s leader and saying who knows what that could further worry them needlessly, Stallings knelt beside him. Compassionate eyes rested on Vince, which ticked him off even more. Anger surged like his headache. Did everyone have to feel sorry for him?

Vince clenched his jaw at the unwanted attention. He didn’t want anyone to see him weak or broken. He vehemently ignored the rubberneckers in cars and concerned bystanders in the periphery and focused on Officer Stallings.

“I guess I don’t have to ask how you’re doing, Sergeant Reardon.”

Vince eyed one of the few men he’d met who matched his six-foot-six stature and who sometimes skydived at Refuge Drop Zone. “I’ve been better.” He slashed a sharp look at the woman.

Although he was scraped up and in mind-blasting pain, his sense of pride and dignity were wounded above all.

Stallings’ blue-silver gaze cooled as it rested on the woman. “Were you the other driver?”

“Y-yes. I was at fault.” Her lips trembled.

Vince looked away, not wanting to soften toward her.

“That your car?” Stallings jotted notes.

She nodded.

“Name?”

“Val… Valentina Russo.” She spelled it out in breathless syllables. Something inside Vince tried to bend in mercy.

Until he conjured images of his brother’s face as he’d presented the bike to Vince on a prison-visitation weekend. The one prior to the riot that had taken his life. To make matters worse, his brother had been cleared posthumously of charges incurred by a six-man jury trial tainted by a money-hungry, truth-botching lawyer who cared more about retainer fees than ratting out false informants.

Vince hadn’t been able to free his brother or save his life, but he was determined to clear his brother’s name. Just as determined as his brother had been to work toward good behavior that had allowed him to do supervised shop work in order to finish the bike he’d started for Vince.

The very bike this senseless driver had just smashed to smithereens in a preventable accident.

Stallings scribbled on his clipboard then eyed the woman. “Where were you headed in such a hurry?”

“I was on my way to the courthouse near the square.”

“For?”

“Court. I’m an attorney.”

How could a horrid day have gotten worse?

Val brushed damp hair from her eyes and drew calming breaths as paramedics lifted the man she’d injured into the waiting ambulance. “I h-hope he’s going to be okay,” she murmured. And poor Aunt Elsie!

Val glanced at her watch then at her silent phone. Why hadn’t the ER doctor called back with word on Elsie’s condition?

This book can be purchased here.

Cheryl Wyatt www.cherylwyatt.com
15-author blog! www.seekerville.blogspot.com
Ready-Made Family, A Soldier’s Reunion, Soldier Daddy-ON SALE NOW
A Soldier’s Devotion-January 2010 SHLI
Steadfast Soldier-June 2010 SHLI

Reminder: Giveaway for "Set Apart" by Jennifer Kennedy Dean

2009-12-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

Set Apart

by Jennifer Kennedy Dean

A 6-week study of the Beatitudes

Set Apart is a 6-week interactive Bible study perfectly suited to either group or individual study. In this study, author Jennifer Kennedy Dean explores the Beatitudes. By bringing in the distinctively Jewish setting of Jesus’ inaugural sermon, Jennifer uncovers fresh nuances and overlooked undertones. Her distinctive communication style and approach to the Scripture is on full display in this challenging, encouraging , indispensable study.

See my review in earlier posts.

I do have one free copy for a giveaway provided by New Hope Publishers. Please leave a comment to be included in the giveaway, to be decided on January 13. This giveaway is only open to the United States.

"Grave Influence" by Brannon Howse as listed on Jan Markell's link below.

2009-12-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

http://www.olivetreeviews.org/

New book from Brannon Howse

Grave Influence: 21 Radicals and Their Worldviews That Rule America From the Grave

Enemies of the biblical worldview and our constitutional republic don’t want their agenda unveiled for the American people, and they don’t want us to train our children and grandchildren with a biblical worldview.

This book reveals the demonically-inspired connections between occultism and pagan spirituality, the apostate church, our educational establishment, and the government-corporate complex. Find the book at “Products” for $15 + $5 S/H. It is 340 pages hardbound.

Jan Markell has multiple other books on the link above. Please check it out. We NEED to teach our children a Biblical worldview.

Jan’s latest email:

Keep Clinging to Our Blessed Hope

By Jan Markell

www.olivetreeviews.org

December 28, 2009

Another year has passed and one wonders how the new year will play out.

I wrote two weeks ago that I believe the story of 2009 is the fact the world thought they had one man, a “messiah-like” guy who could make the world that was turning upside down set itself on a right course. While I am not in the forecasting business, expect to see more galloping globalism, a further rush to the one-world religion, an even greater “falling away” (II Thessalonians 2:3), an intensified yearning for a “global fix,” and a lot more that the Bible outlines.

Keep your eye on the “epicenter” — Israel. There is coming more conflict there than we can imagine. God will take care of Israel; it’s the nations that are coming against her — including America – that need to be forewarned. America now has new foreign policy that gives Muslims an advantage and that throws Israel under the bus. This combination is both foolish and deadly.

Clearly 2009 was the year when total “strong delusion” came over our nation’s leaders. Many Americans are even perplexed as to how to pray, for one cannot pray for policies that are anti-God. The perplexity of 2009 is how to deal with godlessness in leadership while clinging to the exhortations of the Bible. Right now, the two are irreconcilable.

The heartbreak of 2009 is the brick-by-brick dismantling of America by those in our midst who hate this shining beacon on a hill. No, God does not have a covenant with us like He does with Israel, but He has clearly blessed us abundantly. Another terror disaster was averted last week on a plane the evil ones planned to blow up in flight. That tells me God has not abandoned us as many other such attempts have been foiled this year as well. Many believe America is under judgment and that may be true. If so, things will get more difficult as perilous times are in overdrive. (II Timothy 3:1-9)

For a brilliant six-minute video presentation on the tide of our times, visit this link on my Web site.

One of the most stunning stories as it relates to Bible prophecy is the fact that oil has been found in Israel. This will give fuel — no pun intended — to the Gog/Magog invaders of Ezekiel 38-39.

Also, later in the week, my assistant, Heidi Swander, will look more carefully at the “birth pangs” we are now experiencing.

But to change America, our churches must be strong and sadly, that is the weak link. A nation is only as strong as believers and churches pray and praise. While many pastors hold to truth today, it would seem just as many have strayed into false doctrine leaving the sheep as “sheeple” and thus leaving America vulnerable. With “gospel lite” being preached in many places, the sheep don’t even know what to pray against and what to stand for. And there are too few “watchmen on the wall” (Ezekiel 33:6). As in Nazi Germany, pastors now have to watch what they say or face possible “hate crimes.” This is hardly a good scenario to help turn things around.

This year-end commentary is being sent to many who are “watchmen on the wall.” Keep it up. Always “encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:25 ). If you see a hurting Christian brother or sister — or an unbeliever who is particularly cast down — take time to give them a good word. It will make their day in these turbulent times. They may be jobless, out of money, and feel there is little that is positive right now. Remind them that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Thank you for encouraging this ministry in 2009. Thank you for not abandoning us in our truth-telling and speaking the inconvenient truth. We appreciate all who have participated both prayerfully and financially. Pray for our radio outreach and against the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” that would shut down programs like “Understanding the Times.” That effort by the current administration has been on hold while they focus on health care and the further socialization of America.

The good news is that we know the last chapter of the book — the Bible. We know who wins. We have our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) which every believer can cling to. We know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). We know our citizenship is not on earth but in Heaven. God has given each one of you an assignment for however many days, months, or years we have left before we reach the gates of Heaven. Since you are here on assignment, no Christian can say they are without a purpose, for God has one or more for you. Now is a very good time to figure out what it is and proceed with His marching orders.

We are in a war that will get hotter. One of the greatest contributions you can make to our turbulent times is to contend for the faith (Jude 3) no matter what it costs you.

In the meantime, remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am coming quickly” (Revelation 22:20).

As we exit another year and move into the new one, may Jesus, the “light of the world,” make your pathway clear.

Understanding the Times Radio: We are heading into our tenth year on air. We are live out of AM980 KKMS, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Saturday, 9 to 11 AM CST and Sunday, 12 to 2 PM CST. We air in these additional markets. For instructions on podcasting through iTunes, visit this link. You can always “listen live” at www.kkms.com as they have upgraded their audio-streaming.

All live weekend programming is posted to “Radio Archives” late Sunday. Our programming from December 26 is now posted there. Hear Dr. Mark Hitchcock and Eric Barger.

Note: Due to volume, we cannot respond to every e-mail but each one is read. To unsubscribe, scroll to the very bottom and click “SafeUnsubscribe.”

Awaiting His return,

Jan Markell

You may pass on these items or have people sign up on our Web site. We update Current Headlines twice a day, and you can access our radio programming from the last three years on Radio Archives. Also see the Web site for other options to catch the program, “Understanding the Times.” Please report e-mail address changes.

Please remember us prayerfully and financially. Donate on our Web site. (Gifts are tax-deductible with receipts sent out in mid-January.)

Olive Tree Ministries, Inc.
Box 1452
Maple Grove, MN 55311

763-493-3010 or 763-210-8291

This is not my review. It seemed important to list.

From "Writers' Rest": Avatar-- a movie review by Molly Noble Bull

2009-12-27T21:12:00.000-08:00

Avatar--a Movie Review

by Molly Noble Bull

www.mollynoblebull.com

The dictionary as well as Hindu mythology states that an Avatar is an incarnation of a god, and like most Christians, I call any God but the Lord a false god. I also pray in the name of God's only begotten son, Jesus.
Nevertheless, I saw Avatar in a movie theater recently but don’t have a lot of good things to say about it. Exotic settings, an interesting storyline and exciting special effects might cause some Christians to allow their children and teens to see the movie.
Regardless, Avatar is very much a film about what Bible believers would call “lying spirits” and false gods—with a hint of demonic possession thrown in for good measure. Cursing and bad language only make matters worse. The movie also has an anti-military message, and its “tree hugging green” theme is so clear even Albert Gore would be proud.
In the film, Jake Sully—a paralyzed ex marine, goes to the planet Pandora to help obtain certain minerals for Planet Earth. Once there, Jake is given a new body in a dark shade of science fiction blue in order to look like the natives, and he soon falls in love with a young native girl and finally switches sides.
According to the Bible, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. To me, the Lord is the only God there is, making the Hindu-like god of Pandora a false one. It bothered me that in the movie characters cursed my God while praying to Pandora’s false god.
So, should Christian parents allow their children to see this movie?
No.
However, if a Christian parent is willing to see the movie with the child, cursing and all, and then sit down and discuss the movie from a Christian perspective, perhaps it could be a good thing.
It is hard to explain Idolatry even to some adults. Avatar provides a perfect opportunity for adults and teens to discuss God’s Word, learn why cursing is a sin and what the worship of false gods really means.
I give Avatar three and a half stars for the special effects and cinematography. Zero for inspiration and content.

"Set Apart" by Jennifer Kennedy Dean (review and giveaway)

2009-12-23T14:48:00.000-08:00

Set Apart

by Jennifer Kennedy Dean

A 6-week study of the Beatitudes

My review: Jennifer Kennedy Dean has a keen style of writing word pictures that displays deep spiritual meanings to help you understand and picture the truths she is presenting. Her teaching is very indepth, personal and thorough.

She begins her study on the distinctive differences between Law and Grace, Old Testament and New Testament, which are the stepping stones to the balance of the teachings on the Beatitudes, which are thoroughly examined in the remainder of her book. Great for personal or group study!

My only ‘complaint’ would be that there are not enough study questions to make us dig out additional spiritual truths personally through cross-referencing, etc.

The study can be purchased here. She also has available a video series/leader’s kit at the same site for purchase.

I received a free copy of this study from Jonathan at New Hope Publishers for the express purpose of reviewing. I do this for the pleasure of encouraging others to read/study the books I review. My thanks to New Hope Publishers for this grand opportunity.

I do have one free copy for a giveaway provided by New Hope Publishers. Please leave a comment to be included in the giveaway, to be decided on January 13.

"Shattered, Shaken and Stirred" by Gilbert Ahrens

2009-12-22T22:39:00.000-08:00

In his candid new book, author Gilbert Ahrens shares with readers how he was able to reconnect with what matters most after experiencing loss and adversity

In the blink of an eye, life can change forever. Hopes and dreams of what we’ve envisioned our lives would be can disappear in a moment. Tragedy and heartache can instantly pierce the veil that once separated the world we knew and the one we could never have imagined. In his new book, Shattered, Shaken, and Stirred: Reconnecting with What Matters Most After Loss and Adversity, author Gilbert Ahrens recounts his own personal story of conflict, struggle, and suffering in an intimate letter to his young daughter. His story offers strength, suggestions, and encouragement to others who find themselves on the solitary journey of loss that-sooner or later-is the one thing that we all have in common.

On a beautifully clear, crisp autumn evening in 2002, while traveling outside Denver, Colorado, Gil’s car was hit head-on by a drunk driver traveling 95 miles per hour. Gil, his wife Kim, sister Margot, and three-week-old daughter Olivia had been going 60 miles per hour. The driver of the other car was only 18, and the passenger in his car was killed instantly. Gil’s family survived but just barely. Among many other serious injuries, the worst was that his wife, Kim, suffered a broken neck that paralyzed her-sentencing her to a wheelchair. Their baby daughter, however, emerged miraculously unscathed.

In a split second, the lives of this seemingly ordinary family were upended, disrupted, and derailed-just as they were beginning to learn the ropes of parenting a newborn. They were instantly transported to a new world of “survival”, which then over time transcended to the less dramatic but still unknown world of “coping.” But, in the wake of devastation and anguish is where recovery and, ultimately, redemption are found. In Shattered, Shaken, and Stirred, Gil explores and embraces the process of struggle, brokenness, and healing in a way that is honest, heartfelt, and yet at times, reassuringly humorous.

“Suffering has no purpose unless it draws us closer to God, which I think is why He allows it and created it in the first place,” writes Gil. ”It is very difficult to connect with God when we feel able, strong, and self-reliant. But it is often only in our weakness, need, and insufficiency that we allow ourselves to be open enough to let God in.”

In Shattered, Shaken, and Stirred, Gil tenderly encourages readers with an eternal truth he has learned through personal trial and affliction: When there is hardship, it is for a reason. “Any valuable tool or piece of equipment needs to be tested and pushed to its limits in the laboratory before it can be ready for service in the field. God is not testing us to see if we are worthy; He is preparing us for something greater than we can imagine. The key to everything-to surviving, coping with loss, adapting to changed realities, and managing to get by-is Faith, Hope, and Love; that is how we find and reconnect with joy.”

MY REVIEW: Gilbert Ahrens gives explicit insight into his, his wife’s and daughter’s world after a devastating car accident. He is mainly writing to his daughter, who was only a few weeks old at the time of the accident. He wanted her to know the circumstances, the setbacks, and the inner connection to a different world with the same God.

This book is a great resource that can help those who have gone through a major setback, as in this case, a car accident, giving insights on what things you will need to look at and change, how to manage your finances, work, long-term injury, insurance, etc.

The book shows the changes in perspectives of life, as to what is important, where we are with God, how to handle His answers that don’t fit into our time frame or idea. etc. It’s not comprehensive, but well thought out. I also find that it could fit other scenarios as well, i.e., major illness, financial ruin, foreclosure, natural disaster, etc.

The essential issue is reconnecting to your new life. It’s a book of hope and encouragement in God and man.

It’s also for those who have not gone through such an experience, to teach us ways to help people through a major catastrophe–the main reason for my reading the book. An informed friend can be a lifesaver in that person’s life. “God with skin on”!

Definitely a must-read for pastors to help the family connect with their spiritual needs as well.

Shattered, Shaken, and Stirred by Gilbert Ahrens

Positano Press/October 2009

ISBN: 978-0984289516/224 pages/softcover/$14.95 ISBN: 978-0984289509/224 pages/hardcover/$24.95

www.gilahrens.com

This book was provided by Tracy of the B & B Media Group for my review on the book. I write reviews to help others choose good Christian writing, fiction or non-fiction.

"Touching Wonder" by John Blase

2009-12-22T13:51:00.000-08:00

Heard the Christmas Story a Few Too Many Times?

With his instant classic, Touching Wonder, author John Blase

breathes new life into the story of the Nativity

Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX—Little children understand how amazing the Nativity story is. But, sometimes, as we become men and women, we put away the childlike with the childish. The result? We lose something vital—the wonder of it all. When author John Blase went looking for the lost wonder of Christmas, he went back to the place he’d last seen it—the stories from Luke 1-2. What he found fills the pages of his new book, Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas (David C Cook, September 2009), with flesh and bone and dust and night and a baby’s cry; the intimate union of human and divine—the Incarnation.

By boldly imagining the first two chapters of the gospel of Luke, writer, editor, and former pastor John Blase has created an instant classic for Christmastime. In a tale that reads like a novel parallel parked by the record of Scripture, Blase beckons those who could use a little wonder in their lives to step onto the stage of history and witness the long awaited coming of the Messiah. With Eugene Peterson’s The Message Bible translation as his backdrop, Blase adds his own voice and commentary to the historic events, exploring the renowned drama from an array of viewpoints.

In Touching Wonder, readers will meet a cast of unruly unlikelies—a frightened teenaged girl, a worried carpenter, a collection of senior citizens, a disillusioned young shepherd, even an angel or two—moving toward the realization that the little one just born is the One. This imaginative retelling of the grand miracle will leave readers wide-eyed, slack-jawed, and heart-full. The Lord is come!

In this lovely and distinctive book to be read…and re-read…and pondered in the heart, young and old will recapture the wonder of the Christmas story by seeing through the eyes of those who lived it. The book’s graceful design and Amanda Jolman’s beautiful line drawings combine to make this a thoughtful Christmas gift as well as a wonder that families will treasure for years to come.

Author Bio: John Blase’s work includes Living the Questions and Living the Letters Bible-study series, the Worldviews reference book (TH1NK), Real Life Stuff for Couples, and The Message Children’s Bible. A former pastor, John currently edits by day and writes by night. He and his wife, Meredith, have three children and make their home in Colorado.

My review: John Blase describes the many characters in the reading of Jesus' birth and brings them to life in his narration. He extols their doubts, fears, concerns, excitement, apprehension, rage, and hope--from 'Speechless' Zachariah all the way to 'Jerusalem's Freedom' Anna, the prophetess. You won't want to miss the rich characters he describes in between.

What I like, in addition to his rendition of the story, are his personal prayers at the end of each character's portion. They bring the story into your own personal life to apply, as well as his own, challenging us all to make changes. It's not your ordinary 'Christmas Story' book!

I would appreciate the use of a different version of the Scriptures, but the book otherwise is a new, personal insight into Christmas.

A free copy was supplied by Audra of The B&B Media Group for me to review. I review books for the purpose of encouraging others to read good fiction and non-fiction Christian books. I do not receive any compensation other than the book.

Touching Wonders: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas

by John Blase.

David C. Cook

ISBN: 978-1-4347-6465-2/hardcover/128 pages $12.99

www.davidccook.com

Book giveaway

2009-12-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

http://collettaskitchensink.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-book-giveaway-5.html

"Field of Danger" by Ramona Richards

2009-12-06T14:56:00.000-08:00

Although this book is cast as a Love-Inspired Suspense, I would categorize it as a Love-Inspired Thriller!

The danger is so intense, partly because Levon Rivers’ murder happened during broad daylight in open farmland next to a cornfield and partly because April Presley witnessed the murder first hand. Her hand-covered screams caught the killer’s attention, and as he chased her through the cornfield, a neighboring lady, Aunt Suke, came and rescued her.

During all the subsequent questionings by Sheriff Ray Taylor and others, she only remembers a blur of the person; it happened so fast, and she was concentrating on escaping the killer.

Daniel Rivers, a deputy sheriff, wants to know who killed his father, and he believes April remembers more than she’s saying, but only needs some extra prodding to bring out the memory.

The killer is stalking April surreptitiously, and they need to find the truth before the killer finds her. Even Daniel gets shot in the midst of all the chaos; a bullet that was meant for April. Daniel is the only one she trusts to keep her safe. Would their faith uphold them in the midst of such evil?

This was one book I could not put down til I found out who did it and why. It’s powerfully written with many plots and twists to keep you guessing and gripping your seat until the end! I grew up on a farm and always felt safe out in the field–until now!

I want to thank Ramona for a free copy of her book for review. I review books for the sole purpose of encouraging people to read good fiction.

Can be purchased here or here.

Glo Bible Software giveaway

2009-12-04T22:46:00.001-08:00

Cool Bible Software Giveaway (at Mimi's blog)

Mimi, at her Woven by Words blog, is giving away two copies of a Bible software that looks really interesting! It's called Glo. She has a review posted and options for entering her contest. You'll see me among those who've entered! :)

One of the features that looked most helpful to me is one called My Glo, where you can keep track of your Bible reading and even set up a plan for reading (setting goals). You're even allowed to have the copy on 3 computers, so this would be a great way to have a Bible on hand on the laptop and mini.

You can check out the Glo Bible at their site before entering the contest.
www.globible.com

To visit Mimi's blog for the review and contest, click here. And just to be totally honest about it, I should let you know I'm posting this link as an extra entry in the contest myself! :) Of course, I truly do think the program looks interesting and would probably blog about it anyway.