Tag Archives: Inspirational fiction

Review: To Get To You

26 Sep

To Get To You image

To Get To You by Joanne Bischof

Purchase a copy:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble

To get to the girl he loves, Riley Kane must head off on a road trip with the father he never knew. Then pray for a miracle. Most teens would love to have a pro surfer for a dad. Just not Riley. Abandoned as a kid, he hates the sound of the ocean and the man who gave himself to it. When the eighteen-year-old learns that his best friend is stranded at a New Mexico hospital as her father fights for his life, Riley hits the highway to head east. But when his Jeep breaks down before he even leaves California, he must rely on the one man he despises to get to the girl who needs him the most. And when it comes to the surfer with the Volkswagen van and dog-eared map, a thousand miles may–or may not–be enough to heal the past. 

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To Get to You is a heartwarming story! 

Joanne Bischof never fails to tug at my heartstrings and make me feel for her characters and their journeys. Although To Get to You is classified as Young Adult fiction, I believe Riley and Becca’s story is one readers of all ages will enjoy!

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One thing that makes this tale especially unique is that it is written from the male perspective. I really enjoyed experiencing Riley’s journey and loved his memorable road trip with Jake and Saul. The sights and sounds along the way were palpable, as were the emotions.

I also enjoyed Riley and Becca’s subtle and sweet romance. From very different backgrounds, these two are drawn to each other from the moment they meet, and their feelings continue to grow as they spend time together with Becca’s family. 

To Get to You addresses teenage angst and coming of age issues and does so with humor, heart, and hope. I loved this story of new beginnings and second chances and can’t wait for the next book in the Wild Air series!

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.  I appreciate the opportunity to read this story and share my thoughts!

 

Joanne is celebrating the release of To Get to You with an exciting Road Trip Giveaway! Two great prize packages are up for grabs, so visit Joanne’s blog and enter now!

road-trip-giveaway-www-joannebischof

 

Joanne Bischof

Christy Award-finalist and author of Be Still My Soul, Though My Heart Is Torn, and My Hope Is Found, Joanne Bischof has a deep passion for Appalachian culture and writing stories that shine light on God’s grace and goodness. She lives in the mountains of Southern California with her husband and their three children. When she’s not weaving Appalachian romance, she’s blogging about faith, folk music, and the adventures of country living that bring her stories to life. You can visit her website at www.joannebischof.com.

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Review: A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn + 5 Book Giveaway

21 Sep

A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn

A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn by Shelley Shepard Gray

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1USUEQM

A wedding brings together two young widowed parents . . . and gives them a second chance at love.

Emma Keim was heartbroken when her husband, Sanford, passed away, leaving her to raise three young daughters alone. Though several years have passed, her relatives have made it no secret that they expect Emma to remain a widow, mourning Sanford indefinitely. But when she meets Jay Hilty—a handsome widower with three young sons of his own—Emma is delighted to have a new friend who understands her struggles. Still, she is dismayed that her family is so opposed to their friendship—and the idea of it ever becoming anything more. She honors her husband’s memory every day, but is she destined to be alone forever?

Emma’s gentleness with Jay’s boys stirs something in his heart that’s been quiet for far too long. But when his oldest son becomes engaged to a local woman, suddenly Jay, Emma, and their children are swept up in wedding preparations. Witnessing his son’s joy, Jay wonders if it’s time for him to move forward, too, and find happiness again.

Once again, love has come to Pinecraft. But can these two parties of four become a happy, healthy family of eight?

 

My thoughts:

In the third book in the Amish Brides of Pinecraft series, Shelley Shepard Gray invites readers back to the small Amish community of Pinecraft, Florida. As with each of the stories in this series, new primary characters are introduced, and familiar favorites are enjoyed in the secondary story line.

A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn is a delightful story brimming with endearing characters, including Frankie, a pesky beagle with a penchant for pizza. While Frankie was busy thieving food, he also managed to steal my heart, as did the rest of the cast of characters. In this ode to The Brady Bunch, Shelley Shepard Gray delivers a heartfelt story that completely charmed me. I love the Amish Brides of Pinecraft series, and this latest addition is my favorite so far. I can’t wait to revisit Pinecraft in the pages of the final book, A Christmas Bride in Pinecraft.

P.S. Even after the story ends, the fun continues! In addition to an author’s note and discussion guide, readers can enjoy a Cranberry Orange Bread recipe, Shelley’s top five must-see spots in Pinecraft, scenes from Pinecraft, and a sneak peek of the final book in the series. I loved the bonus material!

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Litfuse Publicity in exchange for an unbiased review.  All thoughts expressed are my own.

Landing page:
http://litfusegroup.com/author/sgray

 

Click the image below to enter to win a copy of A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn—five winners will be chosen! The winners will be announced October 1 on Shelley’s blog!

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Shelley S Gray

Shelley Shepard Gray is a two-time New York Times bestseller, a two-time USA Today bestseller, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time Holt Medallion winner. She lives in Southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.

Find Shelley online: website, Facebook, Twitter

 

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Review: The Protector’s Mission

15 Sep

The Protector's Mission

The Protector’s Mission by Margaret Daley

Purchase a copy:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Christianbook | DeeperShopping

Lydia McKenzie is the only living witness to a serial bomber’s latest threat. Surviving the explosion at the café, Lydia is rescued by police sergeant Jesse Hunt and his K-9 partner, a Rottweiler named Brutus. She’s struggling to remember details of the incident. But one thing she’ll never forget is how she once felt about Jesse—the high school sweetheart she left to marry another. In charge of her protection, the guarded cop believes the bomber’s after her, and he promises to keep her safe. But as more of Lydia’s memories return, the more the vicious killer wants her dead.

My thoughts:

Once again, Margaret Daley has shared a great suspense in The Protector’s Mission! This is the third story in the Alaskan Search and Rescue series, but each of the stories can be enjoyed independently.

When a deadly explosion reunites Lydia McKenzie and Jesse Hunt, Jesse vows to protect his former sweetheart. However, he is also determined to guard his heart. I really enjoyed the characterization in this story and the palpable tension between Lydia and Jesse. These two have a lot to work through and as the drama and danger escalate, so do their emotions.

Intertwining suspense and romance, The Protector’s Mission is a story that will keep you guessing!

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All thoughts expressed are my own.

 

Margaret Daley

Margaret Daley is an award-winning, multi-published author in the romance genre. One of her romantic suspense books, Hearts on the Line, won the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Book of the Year Contest. She has also won the Golden Quill Contest, FHL’s Inspirational Readers’ Choice Contest, Winter Rose Contest, Holt Medallion and the Barclay Gold Contest. Margaret wrote for various secular publishers before the Lord led her to the Christian romance market. She currently writes inspirational romance and romantic suspense books for the Steeple Hill Love Inspired lines, romantic suspense for Abingdon Press and historical romance for Summerside Press.

To learn more about Margaret and her books, please visit her website, http://www.margaretdaley.com.

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$0.99 Sale- This Quiet Sky

8 Sep

This Quiet Sky- $0.99

Kindle | Nook

This Quiet Sky by Joanne Bischof is only $0.99 for a limited time! Don’t miss this achingly beautiful story of timeless love and finding hope in the midst of sorrow!

 

This Quiet Sky

There is nothing extraordinary about Tucker O’Shay’s dreams. 

Go to college. Become president. Fall in love.
And pretend like he has enough time to get it all done.

Sixteen-year-old Sarah Miller doesn’t expect anything out of the ordinary when she begins her first day at the one-room-school house in her new hometown of Rocky Knob. But when she meets seventeen-year-old Tucker O’Shay—the boy with the fatal illness who volunteers to tutor her in algebra—she finds herself swept up in a friendship that changes the way she sees the world and a love that changes her life.

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Friday Freebies

4 Sep

Freebie Graphic- BuzzingAboutBooks.com

 

Light of My Heart

Light of My Heart by Ginny Aiken

Kindle | Nook

As 1892 draws to a close, Dr. Letitia Morgan boards a train in Philadelphia headed for Hartville, Colorado. The young town’s booming silver mine has attracted so many people that Hartville is in need of a new doctor to treat women and children. Letty jumps at the chance to start a new life where she’ll be appreciated as a medical professional-despite the fact she’s a woman.

But as she gets to know more about this bustling town, Letty realizes that perhaps she’s bitten off more than she can chew. Armed with determination and her trunks of medical supplies, she buckles down to minister to the wayward children of the town drunk, girls caught in Hartville’s thriving brothels, and a newspaperman broken by the loss of his young wife.

But not everyone warms to the lovely new physician, and Letty finds herself the target of vicious attacks. When she is thrust into a confrontation over the fate of three orphans, her life will never be quite the same.

 

Deeply Devoted

Deeply Devoted by Maggie Brendan

Kindle | Nook 

When Catharine Olsen leaves Holland for Wyoming as a mail-order bride, she brings some extra baggage with her: two sisters, her mother’s set of Blue Willow china, and a tragic past. As she steps off the train, Peter Andersen is glad to see that she is everything her letters showed her to be. But he is a bit perturbed by her unexpected companions. How will he support them all? And what other secrets might Catharine be keeping from him?

Filled with sweet romance and vivid characters, Deeply Devoted highlights a clash of cultures as a highborn European and a simple wheat farmer learn to love one another and trust God with the past–and the future.

 

Courting the Mrs.

Courting the Mrs. by Karen Lynn Marstaller

Kindle

Deep in the heart of Texas, Julie Duncan is just trying to get through the days after the loss of her husband. It’s been four years, and male attention is the last thing on her mind, but her new job lands her in the middle of an unwanted romance.

The first time he sees his grandfather’s new housekeeper, Lane Calahan knows that Julie is “the one,” but will he ever convince Mrs. Duncan to risk her heart again?

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To Get to You | Release Day + Giveaway

31 Aug

I’m so excited to celebrate Joanne Bischof’s latest release, To Get to You!  I will be sharing more about this special story over the next few weeks, so stay tuned!  To Get to You is a journey you don’t want to miss, and it’s AVAILABLE NOW!   

To Get To You

To Get to You by Joanne Bischof
Amazon | Barnes and Noble

To get to the girl he loves, Riley Kane must head off on a road trip with the father he never knew. Then pray for a miracle.

Most teens would love to have a pro surfer for a dad. Just not Riley. Abandoned as a kid, he hates the sound of the ocean and the man who gave himself to it.

When the eighteen-year-old learns that his best friend is stranded at a New Mexico hospital as her father fights for his life, Riley hits the highway to head east. But when his Jeep breaks down before he even leaves California, he must rely on the one man he despises to get to the girl who needs him the most. And when it comes to the surfer with the Volkswagen van and dog-eared map, a thousand miles may–or may not–be enough to heal the past.

 

Joanne is celebrating the release of To Get to You with an exciting Road Trip Giveaway!  Two great prize packages are up for grabs, so visit Joanne’s blog and enter now!  

road-trip-giveaway-www-joannebischof

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Free E-book- Sins of the Mothers

24 Aug

Sins of the Mothers

Sins of the Mothers by Caryl McAdoo

Now through Thursday, August 27, Sins of the Mothers is FREE in Kindle format. 

Propelled by blind love, Mary Rachel Buckmeyer defies her father to elope with Caleb Wheeler. The newlyweds run off to California then partner with his cousin in his dry goods business.

Unbeknownst to the young bride, her new husband sends his kissing cousin ahead. He wants his love and his new wife’s money, too. Betrayal and murder drive Mary, soon a young mother, to the depths of despair. But she hates the man who loves her enough to cover her sins and deliver her out of the horrible pit she’s dug for herself in. Or does she?

Mary Rachel travels from frontier Texas to the raw bone boomtown of 1850’s San Francisco gold rush days, then all the way to genteel New York to find redemption for the sins of her mothers.

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Review: Irish Meadows | Kindle Fire Giveaway and Author Chat

20 Aug

Irish Meadows

Irish Meadows by Susan Anne Mason

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1Mi7dDS

Brianna and Colleen O’Leary know their Irish immigrant father expects them to marry well. Recently he’s put even more pressure on them, insinuating that the very future of their Long Island horse farm, Irish Meadows, rests in their ability to land prosperous husbands. Both girls, however, have different visions for their futures.

Brianna, a quiet girl with a quick mind, dreams of attending college. Vivacious Colleen, meanwhile, is happy to marry—as long as her father’s choice meets her exacting standards of the ideal groom. When former stable hand Gilbert Whelan returns from business school and distant relative Rylan Montgomery visits Long Island during his seminary training, the two men quickly complicate everyone’s plans.

As the farm slips ever closer to ruin, James O’Leary grows more desperate. It will take every ounce of courage for both sisters to avoid being pawns in their father’s machinations and instead follow their hearts. 
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My thoughts:

Irish Meadows is a lovely story! The O’Leary family is governed by patriarch James O’Leary who expects his daughters to marry well and help secure the family’s future. When complications arise, will sisters Brianna and Colleen have the courage to pursue their dreams?

I loved the complexity of this family! There are so many personalities at work and the author does a great job of bringing the characters and their stories to life. I was pleasantly surprised to find not one, but two romantic threads woven through this story, and I delighted in them both.

Beautifully written with imagery and emotion, Susan Anne Mason swept me into her story world. Irish Meadows is a wonderful debut novel, and I can’t wait to read more from this talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of Irish Meadows through Litfuse Publicity in exchange for an unbiased review. I appreciate the opportunity to read this story and share my thoughts.

Landing page:
http://litfusegroup.com/author/smason

 

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Join Susan in celebrating the release of Irish Meadows by entering to win her Kindle Fire giveaway and RSVPing to her September 1st author chat party!

One grand prize winner will receive:

  • A Kindle Fire HD 6
  • One copy of Irish Meadows

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on 9/1. The winner will be announced at the Irish Meadows Facebook party. RSVP for a chance to connect with Susan and other readers, as well as for a chance to win some great prizes!

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RSVP today and spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or PINTEREST and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 1st!

 

Susan Anne Mason

Susan Anne Mason’s debut historical novel, Irish Meadows, won the Fiction from the Heartland contest from the Mid-American Romance Authors Chapter of RWA. A member of ACFW, as well, she lives outside of Toronto, Ontario, with her husband and two children.

Find Susan online: website, Facebook, Twitter

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$0.99 Sale- Christmas Traditions

19 Aug

 Did you know there are only 127 days until Christmas?  

While I’m not quite ready to think about Christmas yet, I do want to share this collection of holiday stories.  Whether you’re treating yourself or stuffing cyber stockings, the Christmas Traditions collection is a great gift at a great price! 

Christmas Traditions

Christmas Traditions (Christmas Romance short stories)

Purchase a copy:  http://amzn.to/1LjQs9Z

Eight heartwarming novellas of Christmas’s gone by where the true meaning of the season warms your heart and love flows as fast as apple cider. Grab your favorite drink, no matter the temperature outside, curl up in a cozy chair and lose yourself in holiday romance.

My thoughts:

Each of these gifted authors brings their heartwarming story to life with endearing characters and an engaging story line!  At the time I read these stories individually, Angela Breidenbach’s novella was not available.  However, I have since purchased the collection and plan to enjoy Eleven Pipers Piping soon.    

Nutcracker Christmas– Jennifer AlLee has written a beautiful story that will warm your heart and bring a smile to your face. Isabella Brandt is a lovely character and I loved reading her story!

An Apple for Christmas– An Apple for Christmas is a wonderful novella! Darlene Franklin has penned a story as sweet and delicious as the apples she has written about.

Christmas Lessons– Patty Smith Hall tugged at my heartstrings in this Christmas novella. I loved Claire Davenport and Billy Warner and their rekindled romance.

Handcarved Christmas– Handcarved Christmas is a beautiful tale, brimming with love! Cynthia Hickey deftly expresses the emotions of her characters when an unexpected gift becomes a great blessing.

The Fruitcake Challenge– I opened the pages of this novella and stepped into a lively lumber camp of 1890! Carrie Fancett Pagels brings to life a delightful cast of characters, as well as the sights and sounds of Northern Michigan.

Sadie’s Gift– Niki Turner shares her gift of writing in this inspiring novella. From heart-wrenching to heartwarming, Sadie’s Gift is a wonderful Christmas story you don’t want to miss!

Holly Daze– Holly Daze is a wonderful story! I love Gina Welborn’s writing and was delighted by her charming, holiday novella!

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Review: A Heart’s Home | Conversations with Colleen Giveaway

18 Aug

A Heart's Home

A Heart’s Home by Colleen Coble

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1Iyr7Im

Emmie’s hope for a life with Isaac is overshadowed by a tragic loss at Fort Phil Kearny.

Isaac Liddle is keen to marry Emmie, and she knows she shouldn’t hide her pregnancy from him any longer. But before she can tell him her secret, a widower friend asks the impossible of Emmie: Will she honor her promise to his dead wife by marrying him to care for the orphaned baby?

With the Sioux Wars threatening outside the fort, Emmie’s solemn vow threatens her happiness from within. Will she honor a promise sure to break her heart—and Isaac’s? Or is there another way to find a home for her heart?

 

My thoughts:

A Heart’s Home is an emotional conclusion of the Journey of the Heart serialization.   Secrets and surprises in the last installment set the stage for this dramatic ending and Emmie and Isaac’s story tugged at my heartstrings!  

As I read this serialization, my love for the characters grew through each of the stories.  My breath caught each time danger threatened; my heart ached when tragedy befell and rejoiced when happiness was found. Colleen Coble is a wonderful storyteller and I enjoyed this beautiful journey of the heart!

The Journey of the Heart serialization begins with A Heart’s Disguise and includes six installments. This is certainly a series that needs to be read in order!  These stories are Colleen’s early works, originally published in two books, Where Leads the Heart and Plains of Promise.

A complimentary copy of A Heart’s Home was provided to me through Litfuse Publicity in exchange for an unbiased review. I appreciate the opportunity to read this book and share my thoughts.

Landing page:
http://litfusegroup.com/author/ccoble

 

Colleen is celebrating the final book release of her A Journey of the Heart series by giving away the entire series and the chance to host Colleen virtually at your book club, local library, or women’s group to talk about the series.

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One grand prize winner will receive:

  • Books 1–6 of A Journey of the Heart series
  • A chat with Colleen via Skype or Google Hangout
  • A custom book-club kit PDF, featuring Colleen’s favorite recipes and group discussion questions

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on August 31st. Winner will be announced September 1st on Colleen’s website.

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Colleen Coble

 

Colleen Coble has sold over 2 million novels worldwide. Seagrass Pier, the third installment in her acclaimed Hope Beach series, marks a new highpoint for emotion and complexity in Coble’s addictive brand of romantic suspense.

Find Colleen online: website, Facebook, Twitter

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