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The Outcast

23 Aug

The Outcast

The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim

In Jolina’s own words:

“Hi! I’m the debut author of The Outcast: a modern retelling of The Scarlet Letter set in an Old Order Mennonite community in Tennessee!”

Synopsis:

Raised in an Old Order Mennonite community, Rachel Stoltzfus is a strong-willed single woman, content living apart from mainstream society until whispers stir the moment her belly swells with new life. Refusing to repent and name the partner in her sin, Rachel feels the wrath of the religious sect as she is shunned by those she loves most. She is eventually coerced into leaving by her brother-in-law, the bishop.

But secrets run deep in this cloistered community, and the bishop is hiding some of his own, threatening his conscience and his very soul. When the life of Rachel’s baby is at stake, however, choices must be made that will bring the darkness to light, forever changing the lives of those who call Copper Creek home.

 

Thoughts:

Jolina Petersheim has a gift for writing, which is proven by her debut novel, The Outcast.  You will quickly find yourself drawn into the community Jolina so vividly describes.  The unique narration, through two different points of view, allows the reader a deeper understanding of the members of this cloistered community.  The Outcast is a story of life and death, love and loss, and secrets and surprises.  However, its most important message is that of forgiveness and the power that lies therein.

I look forward to reading more from Jolina Petersheim!  Her second novel, The Midwife, is a story about an Old Order Mennonite midwife and an Englisch woman who both claim the same child, and what it means to be a mother: genetics or love.  The Midwife will be released in Summer 2014. 

 

Biography:

Jolina Petersheim holds degrees in English and Communication Arts from the University of the Cumberlands. Though The Outcast is her first novel, her writing has been featured in venues as varied as radio programs, nonfiction books, and numerous online and print publications. Her blog is syndicated with The Tennessean’s “On Nashville” blog roll, as well as featured on other creative writing sites. Jolina and her husband share the same unique Amish and Mennonite heritage that originated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but now live in the mountains of Tennessee with their young daughter.

You can visit Jolina Petersheim at: http://www.jolinapetersheim.com/

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The Prayer Box

21 Aug

The Prayer Box

The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate

Synopsis:

When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out Iola’s rambling Victorian house.

Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola’s walls, but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully decorated prayer boxes, one for each year, spanning from Iola’s youth to her last days. Hidden in the boxes is the story of a lifetime, written on random bits of paper–the hopes and wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex woman passing through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life filled with journeys of faith, observations on love, and one final lesson that could change everything.          

   

Review:

Tandi Jo Reese, a young mother with two children, has run away from a difficult past.  The Outer Banks of North Carolina is as far away from Dallas, Texas as she can get.  Here, Tandi seeks refuge in the only place she felt safe and loved as a child.  Memories of childhood days, spent with loving grandparents, flood Tandi and leave her hoping for something better for herself and her children. 

Finding temporary lodging in a guesthouse, Tandi Jo does not come to know her landlady, Iola Anne Poole, until after Iola’s death.  Desperate to find a way to make a fresh start, Tandi agrees to help sort through the Iola’s belongings and clean out her dilapidated house. 

Through the discovery of eighty-one prayer boxes, Tandi comes to know Iola Anne Poole and her loving Father.  The thoughts and prayers of one woman, recorded over her lifetime, open Tandi’s eyes and her heart.  In discovering the woman Iola was, Tandi Jo Reese discovers the woman she, herself, will become.

While The Prayer Box is a beautifully written novel of a young woman trying to find her way in life, it is also a story of faith, hope and redeeming love.   Once again, Lisa Wingate has eloquently woven love and the lessons we learn into the fabric of her newest novel, The Prayer Box.   Don’t miss this incredible journey!

 

You can read excerpts, explore Sandy’s Seashell Shop, watch the book trailer, and so many other fun things at:

www.ThePrayerBoxBook.com 

 

For more information about Lisa Wingate and her novels, visit her webiste at: www.LisaWingate.com or on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/LisaWingateAuthorPage

 

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The Letters

19 Aug

The Letters

The Letters by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Rose Schrock is a plain woman with a simple plan. Determined to find a way to support her family and pay off her late husband’s debts, she sets to work to convert the basement of her Amish farmhouse into an inn. While her family, especially her cranky mother-in-law, is unhappy with Rose’s big idea, her friend and neighbor, Galen King, supports the decision and he helps with the conversion. As Rose finalizes preparations for visitors, she prays. She asks God to bless each guest who stays at the Inn at Eagle Hill. As the first guest arrives and settles in, Rose is surprised to discover that her entire family is the one who receives the blessings, in the most unexpected ways. And she’s even more surprised when that guest decides to play matchmaker for Galen King.

With her signature plot twists combined with gentle Amish romance, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher invites readers back to Stoney Ridge for fresh stories of simple pleasures despite the complexity of life. Fisher’s tale of God’s providence and provision will delight her fans and create many new ones. Welcome to the Inn at Eagle Hill.

Thoughts:

The Letters is a wonderfully written story of love and loss, hurt and healing.  As you read, you will fall in love with the delightful Schrock family and the people who come into their lives in the most unexpected ways.  Blessings abound in Stoney Ridge at The Inn at Eagle Hill. 

This was my first visit to Suzanne Woods Fisher’s Stoney Ridge, but it certainly won’t be my last.  The Letters is the first book in The Inn at Eagle Hill series.  The second book of the series, The Calling, will be released in January 2014.

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When Mountains Move

16 Aug

When Mountains Move

When Mountains Move by Julie Cantrell

When Mountains Move is the sequel to Julie Cantrell’s award-winning debut novel, Into The Free. If you haven’t read, Into The Free, you simply must!

My thoughts of Into The Free can be found here: https://buzzingaboutbooks.com/2013/07/19/into-the-free/ 

 

It is the spring of 1943. With a wedding and a cross-country move, Millie’s world is about to change forever.

If only her past could change with it.

Soon after the break of day, Bump will become Millie’s husband. And then, if all goes as planned, they will leave the rain-soaked fields of Mississippi and head for the wilds of the Colorado Rockies. As Millie tries to forget a dark secret, she hasn’t yet realized how drastically those past experiences will impact the coming days.

For most of Millie’s life, being free felt about as unlikely as the mountains moving. But she’s about to discover that sometimes in life, we are given second chances, and that the only thing bigger than her past … is her future.

Thoughts:

The majestic mountains of Colorado offer a fresh start for Millie Reynolds, even though secrets from her past remain. As Millie and Bump work together to establish a ranch, they are faced with many challenges. Millie continues to persevere and gradually begins to laugh and love and trust again. Slowly, she comes to the realization that she is loved, not only by those closest to her, but also by God himself. As this book so eloquently illustrates, love and forgiveness can certainly move mountains!

When Mountains Move is a beautifully woven story of human resilience that lingers, in the mind and on the heart, even after the last page has been turned. I have no doubt that Julie Cantrell has written another award-winning novel and I look forward to reading more from this wonderful author!

 

To read the first two chapters of When Mountains Move, please visit:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/159164923/When-Mountains-Move

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Moon Over Edisto

12 Aug

MoonOverEdisto

Moon Over Edisto by Beth Webb Hart

Synopsis:

Edisto Island was where it all came apart. Can the Bennett girls ever be whole again?

Once, they were the happiest family under the sun, crabbing and fishing and painting on beautiful Edisto Island in South Carolina’s lowcountry. Then everything went wrong, and twenty years later the Bennett family is still in pieces. Mary Ellen still struggles to understand why her picture-perfect marriage came apart. Daughter Meg keeps a death grip on her own family, controlling her relationships at a distance. And eldest daughter, Julia, left it all behind years ago, forging a whole new life as an artist and academic in Manhattan. She’s engaged to an art dealer and has no intentions of returning to Edisto. Ever.

Then an emergency forces Julia back to Edisto to care for her three young half-siblings. She grudgingly agrees to stay a week. But there’s something about Edisto that changes people. Can Julia and her fractured family somehow manage to come together again under that low-hanging Edisto moon?

The past has come knocking on Julia’s door. Can she summon the courage to answer betrayal with love?

Thoughts:

As I began reading Moon Over Edisto, I was quickly swept away to South Carolina.  Beth Webb Hart does a wonderful job capturing the sights and sounds of the Lowcountry.  The novel is different from most, in that it is written from the perspectives of the individual characters in the story.  Reading from this perspective allows you, as the reader, to more readily identify the complexity of each of the characters and better understand the thoughts and feelings of each individual.  Julia and the Bennett family must let go of the hurt that has gripped them for so long and move forward in different directions. 

Moon Over Edisto is a touching and heartwarming story of a family’s journey toward healing and forgiveness.  As you close the book, you will continue to think about the lives you have become so immersed in and envision where their journeys take them.  Moon Over Edisto is a beautifully written novel and I highly recommend it!

 

Beth Webb Hart, a South Carolina native, is a best-selling author.  With a B.A. in English Literature from Hollins University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, Hart serves as an inspirational speaker and creative writing instructor at conferences, retreats, schools, libraries and churches across the country, and she is the recipient of two national teaching awards from Scholastic, Inc. and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.  She lives with her husband, composer Edward Hart, and their family in Charleston.

For more information about Beth Webb Hart and her novels, visit: www.bethwebbhart.com. 

She also blogs every Tuesday at www.southernbelleviewdaily.com. 

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The Queen’s Vow

29 Jul

The Queen's Vow

The Queen’s Vow by C.W. Gortner

Synopsis:

No one believed I was destined for greatness.

So begins Isabella’s story, in this evocative, vividly imagined novel about one of history’s most famous and controversial queens—the warrior who united a fractured country, the champion of the faith whose reign gave rise to the Inquisition, and the visionary who sent Columbus to discover a New World.  Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner envisages the turbulent early years of a woman whose mythic rise to power would go on to transform a monarchy, a nation, and the world.

Young Isabella is barely a teenager when she and her brother are taken from their mother’s home to live under the watchful eye of their half-brother, King Enrique, and his sultry, conniving queen.  There, Isabella is thrust into danger when she becomes an unwitting pawn in a plot to dethrone Enrique.  Suspected of treason and held captive, she treads a perilous path, torn between loyalties, until at age seventeen she suddenly finds herself heiress of Castile, the largest kingdom in Spain.  Plunged into a deadly conflict to secure her crown, she is determined to wed the one man she loves yet who is forbidden to her—Fernando, prince of Aragon.

As they unite their two realms under “one crown, one country, one faith,” Isabella and Fernando face an impoverished
Spain beset by enemies.  With the future of her throne at stake, Isabella resists the zealous demands of the inquisitor Torquemada even as she is seduced by the dreams of an enigmatic navigator named Columbus.  But when the Moors of the southern domain of Granada declare war, a violent, treacherous battle against an ancient adversary erupts, one that will test all of Isabella’s resolve, her courage, and her tenacious belief in her destiny.

From the glorious palaces of Segovia to the battlefields of Granada and the intrigue-laden gardens of Seville, The Queen’s Vow sweeps us into the tumultuous forging of a nation and the complex, fascinating heart of the woman who overcame all odds to become Isabella of Castile.

Thoughts:

Let me begin by saying that I do not normally read historical fiction.  However, I received The Queen’s Vow through a Random House giveaway and was eager to give it a try. 

I found The Queen’s Vow to be a beautifully written and compelling story, full of vivid descriptions and intriguing circumstances.  Isabella was a strong, fascinating woman who spent her life fighting for what she believed to be right.  She defied all circumstances and married the man she desired and united her kingdom.  Even if you are not a fan of historical fiction, I think you will find this to be a fascinating novel.  I certainly did! 

 

* I received this book through a giveaway from Random House.  All thoughts expressed are mine. 

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The Blessings Jar

24 Jul

The Blessings Jar

The Blessings Jar by Colleen Coble

Synopsis:

Punky Grace is having a really grumpy morning, but Grammy has the perfect cure.  That cure is a glass jar that she calls a Blessings Jar.  Grammy suggests they have an adventure and fill her Blessings Jar to the top.  Punky soon discovers that God’s blessings are enough to outweigh any bad day.  

Thoughts:

This is a beautiful, endearing story that teaches young children to recognize even the smallest of God’s blessings that surround us.  Both young and old will delight in the story itself, as well as the illustrations.  The Blessings Jar is a wonderful board book that you will enjoy sharing with your children or grandchildren time and time again. 

I highly recommend The Blessings Jar and encourage you to buy it for the children in your life!

 

This is Colleen Coble’s first children’s book and she based the character of Punky Grace on her granddaughter, Alexa, who also loves adventures.  Colleen is a best-selling author and has just released her second book in The Hope Beach Series, Rosemary Cottage. 

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Into The Free

19 Jul

Into The Free

Into The Free by Julie Cantrell

I highly recommend this book and encourage you to read it, if you haven’t already done so. 

Synopsis:

Just a girl. The only one strong enough to break the cycle.

In Depression-era Mississippi, Millie Reynolds longs to escape the madness that marks her world. With an abusive father and a “nothing mama,” she struggles to find a place where she really belongs.

For answers, Millie turns to the Gypsies who caravan through town each spring. The travelers lead Millie to a key that unlocks generations of shocking family secrets. When tragedy strikes, the mysterious contents of the box give Millie the tools she needs to break her family’s longstanding cycle of madness and abuse.

Through it all, Millie experiences the thrill of first love while fighting to trust the God she believes has abandoned her. With the power of forgiveness, can Millie finally make her way into the free?

Thoughts:

I can’t recall ever being so thoroughly enthralled by a book or books as I was with Millie’s story.  Julie Cantrell’s lyrical writing stirs and evokes emotion with every turn of the page.  Your heart will ache for Millie through the suffering she endures; you will rejoice as she finds laughter and love.  Thoughts of Millie Reynolds and the path she has chosen will linger in your mind even after you have closed the book. 

Thankfully, Millie’s journey doesn’t end here.  The sequel, When Mountains Move, will be released September 1.  I have had the privilege of reading an advanced copy of the novel and can’t wait to share my thoughts with you in the coming days.  I will go ahead and tell you this….

Pre-order your copy of When Mountains Move today!

 

* Into the Free received the Christy Award in the First Novel category and also received the Christy Award for BOOK OF THE YEAR.  The Christy Awards honor and promote excellence in Christian fiction. 

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The Sea Glass Sisters

15 Jul

The Sea Glass Sisters

The Sea Glass Sisters by Lisa Wingate is a beautiful novella that precedes her novel, The Prayer Box, releasing in September.

You will immediately be drawn into the story as you read of Elizabeth Gallagher and the traumatic event that has occurred over which she feels much guilt.  When the opportunity arises for Elizabeth to step away from her life for a few days and journey with her mother, Sharon, to the Outer Banks, she simply goes along for the ride.  Little does she know that this journey is just what she and her mother need most.

Once Elizabeth and Sharon reach the Banks, they set out to find what they’ve come for or rather who they’ve come for.  However, Aunt Sandy has other plans and isn’t going anywhere.  Instead, she and the other residents of Fairhope prepare their shops and homes for the approaching hurricane.  As the waters begin to recede, Elizabeth, Sharon, and Sandy must weather an even greater storm together.  This one hitting a little closer to home.

This is a wonderfully written story of the ties that bind us to our family, friends, and our community.  Like pieces of sea glass, we are often tossed in the tumult of life’s ocean.  Our edges may become smooth and our view a bit frosted, but we are still unique and beautiful and face an ocean of possibilities!

Order your copy today and enjoy this touching and memorable journey!

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