Sunday, August 26, 2018

The Hope Jar

A new book by Wanda! I'm ready to enjoy the new series by Wanda Brunstetter.

Michelle had no where to go and when she was mistaken to be the Lapps' granddaughter she went home with them. She knew it was wrong but she rationalized that it was ok. I was surprised as to what length Michelle went to keep her secret.

I was upset that she deceived the Lapps. I felt like shaking her and asking her "What are you thinking"?

The Hope Jar represented Michelle's future. She discovered the jar as she was discovering her growing faith. It did give her hope.

I loved the book. I can't get enough of Wanda Brunstetter's books.

I received this free to review.

About the Book

Book Title:The Hope Jar (The Prayer Jars, Book 1)

Author:Wanda E. Brunstetter

Genre: Amish Fiction

Release date: August 7, 2018

A Brand-New Series from New York Times Best Selling Author Wanda E. Brunstetter.

What happens when making an elderly Amish couple very happy means going along with a lie that gets bigger by the day?

Michelle Taylor is not who her new family in Lancaster County believes her to be. The Lapps were looking for their long-lost granddaughter when they met Michelle and she assumed the identity of Sara Murray. Once homeless and hopeless, Michelle has come to love her new Amish friends and even considers the idea of romance among them.

Finding an old blue jar in the barn that is filled with slips of paper containing thoughts, quotes, and prayers by an unknown author becomes a boost to Michelle’s budding faith— but also convicting. How can she tell the truth without hurting the ones she has truly come to love?

Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Wanda E. Brunstetter is one of the founders of the Amish fiction genre. She has written close to 90 books translated in four languages. With over 10 million copies sold, Wanda’s stories consistently earn spots on the nations most prestigious bestseller lists and have received numerous awards.

Wanda’s ancestors were part of the Anabaptist faith, and her novels are based on personal research intended to accurately portray the Amish way of life. Her books are well-read and trusted by many Amish, who credit her for giving readers a deeper understanding of the people and their customs.

When Wanda visits her Amish friends, she finds herself drawn to their peaceful lifestyle, sincerity, and close family ties. Wanda enjoys photography, ventriloquism, gardening, bird-watching, beachcombing, and spending time with her family. She and her husband, Richard, have been blessed with two grown children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Make your own Prayer Jar!

Want to make your own prayer jar to pass along to future generations? CLICK HERE to download a printable template you can use to write your sentiments on. Simply cut out each strip of paper when you’re finished and put them in the jar of your choice.

Blog Stops

Janices book reviews, August 14

Among the Reads, August 14

The Avid Reader, August 14

Reflections From My Bookshelves, August 15

Just Commonly, August 15

Genesis 5020, August 16

Mary Hake, August 16

Bigreadersite, August 16

Lighthouse Academy, August 17

Seasons of Opportunities, August 17

Christian Bookaholic, August 18

Luv’N Lambert Life, August 18

Random Thoughts From a Bookworm, August 19

Blossoms and Blessings, August 19

Splashes of Joy, August 20

SusanLovesBooks, August 20

Ashley’s Bookshelf, August 21

Because I said so — adventures in parenting, August 21

Two Points of Interest, August 22

Southern Gal Loves to Read, August 22

Cafinated Reads, August 23

Quiet quilter, August 23

Have A Wonderful Day, August 24

Carpe Diem, August 24

A Baker’s Perspective, August 25

Bibliophile Reviews, August 25

proud to be an autism mom, August 26

Texas Book-aholic, August 26

Reader’s Cozy Corner, August 27

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 27

Jeanette’s Thoughts, August 27

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Wanda is giving away a grand prize that includes a $25 Amazon Gift Card, jar-shaped notepad, and a copy of The Hope Jar (with an autographed book plate inside).

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d19e/the-hope-jar-celebration-tour-giveaway

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Rebecca's Legacy

How could you not love Amy? She was feisty and beautiful. Was she as beautiful in the inside?

Amy didn't make the best decisions. She seemed to find herself in some terrible predicaments. Amy's journey was one of spiritual growth. She opened her heart to GOD and found peace.

I enjoyed the story and getting to know Amy and her family. The author made each character seem very real to me. I loved the care Amy's father had for her welfare and that he kept God close. He prayed often and was faithful. Amy was so very fortunate to have him and her other family members in her life encouraging and supporting her. GOD gave Amy a great gift: Love.

I received this free to review from Celebrate Lit.

About the Book

Book Title:Rebecca’s Legacy

Author:Betty Thomason Owens

Genre:Gentle Romance, 1950s Romance

Release date: August, 2018

What will it take to teach a spoiled heiress that the greatest legacy is love?

Nancy and Robert Emerson’s daughter Amy Juliana is doing her best to follow in Mom’s rebellious footsteps.

Her desperate attempt to escape Dad’s control comes at the worst possible time. A threat against their family and Sanderson Industries has Robert Emerson taking extra steps to guarantee his family’s safety. He sends Amy, an heiress and a debutante, to the country to work on a produce farm run by Aunt Rebecca. Humiliated and angry, Amy contemplates a path that will lead her even farther from home, away from Dad’s protection.

Will Aunt Rebecca’s quiet strength and unconditional love be enough to still the prodigal daughter’s rebellious ways, and open her heart to the plight of others around her?

Matt Wordsworth is the man Robert calls upon to help keep his daughter in line. She thinks the guy is an old fuddy-duddy. By the time her ideas about him begin to change, it may be too late. When an old friend tests her loyalty, she is forced to face her past to overcome a guilty conscience. But, is she playing into the hands of the enemy?

Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author

Betty Thomason Owens has been writing for almost thirty years. She’s a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), and serves on the planning committee of the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. Her writing credits include Amelia’s Legacyand Carlotta’s Legacy, in the Legacy Series, Annabelle’s Ruth and Sutter’s Landing, in the southern historical Kinsman Redeemer Series. When she’s not writing, Owens is a part-time bookkeeper, who loves to travel and spend time with her family.

Guest Post from Betty

Amy Juliana Emerson’s birth occurred about halfway through book one of the Legacy series, Amelia’s Legacy. I knew even then—this girl was going to be special. She had inherited her father’s smile with a dimple in her cheek. Amy Julianna was destined to be a daddy’s girl.

In Book 3, Rebecca’s Legacy, Amy comes of age. It’s 1947, and she’s graduating high school—barely—her grades took a nosedive during her senior year. In typical teenage fashion, she chafes against her parents’ authority and decides that Amy knows best how Amy should live. Those of you who read Amelia’s Legacymay think that sounds familiar. Yes, she’s a lot like her mother.

Amy submits to Dad’s orders while she devises a plan for a complete break from the famous Emerson clan. One that will end with her freedom, once for all. Her plan might have succeeded, if it hadn’t been rudely interrupted by a—oh, wait, I can’t tell you that—it would spoil the story!

I love this book. I was captivated by its young heroine from the moment she began her self-motivational chanting that ends with, “be a queen.” She uses it to reset after a troubling circumstance. She also uses it when she needs to make the best possible first impression.

Matthew Wordsworth caught on right away. This girl is a princess who needs a “set-down”. And Matt has no doubt it will happen at some point.

Amy is an American princess, very much in the limelight. All of Springfield has witnessed her humiliation and near failure. Now, they watch as she submits to her dad’s authority. What will happen to this willful girl with the sullied reputation?

Amy is waiting for her chance to break free. She may be down, but don’t count her out. She may be on the wrong person’s radar in imminent trouble, but the Emersons have a backup plan.

I loved writing Amy’s story. She’s unpredictable and a bit of a firecracker, but she’s vulnerable, too. Her character surprised me at times. She had a goodness that worked its way to the top and finally won.

That’s one of my favorite things about writing by the seat of your pants—the unpredictability—it ignites my interest as I write, and keeps me moving ahead, even when I don’t know where the story will take me.

Gert’s Diner’s English Chess Pie*

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ butter, melted

1 cup chopped English walnuts

1 unbaked 9-inch pastry shell

Whipped cream (optional)

Combine sugars and flour in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and butter, beating well. Stir in nuts. Pour filling into unbaked pastry shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes or until set. Cool slightly (best when served warm). Serve with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.

*Gert’s Diner is the fictional café where Matt and Amy stop for lunch en route to Perry’s Landing.

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, August 11

Remembrancy, August 12

Inklings and notions, August 13

Baker Kella, August 14

proud to be an autism mom, August 15

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 16

Reading is my Super Power, August 16 (Interview)

Janices book reviews, August 17

Bibliophile Reviews, August 18

Jeanette’s Thoughts, August 19

Carpe Diem, August 20

A Baker’s Perspective, August 21

Power of Words, August 22 (Spotlight)

margaret kazmierczak, August 23 (Interview)

Bigreadersite, August 24

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Betty is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d0d7/rebecca-s-legacy-celebration-tour-giveaway

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Argosy Junction

Lane has been hurt and has turned away from Jesus. God is waiting for her to open her heart.

Matt is ever so faithful and wants to share God's love for Lane. But he must be careful to not scare Lane away from all that GOD can offer.

Can Lane and Matt have a future together? Can Lane learn forgiveness?

It's difficult to forgive when you have been hurt. But with forgiveness we are given a gift. I know of no one whom hasn't been wronged at some point in their life. If we don't let go, we are held hostage by all that is evil. Let God heal your soul.

I received this free to review.

About the Book

Book Title: Argosy Junction

Author: Chautona Havig

Genre: Christian Fiction/Romance

Release date: 1st edition: March 11, 2010 ; 2nd edition: August, 2018

“I want nothing to do with Jesus or God.”

After over twenty years of abuses from the cult-like church she grew up in, Lane Argosy has had it with God and His people. Though the Brethrentry to make Lane and her family’s lives unbearable, freedom from their warped brand of Christianity is sweet. She’ll never go back… never.

He just wanted to visit the country he’d explored through books. So, when Matt Rushby arrives in Argosy Junction, Montana, he expects idyllic meadows and craggy rocks towering above, old-fashioned friendliness and at least one or two cowboys. Instead, he finds familiar hatred and factions very much like the ones back home in Rockland’s inner-city gangs.

The Argosy family is disillusioned, broken, and floundering. Matt knows the answer is Jesus—just Him and not the trappings of a faith He never designed.

But how can Matt help them turn their hearts back to the Lord when he suspects Lane has stolen his?

Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author

The author of dozens of books in a variety of genres, Chautona Havig lives and writes in California’s Mojave Desert where she uses story to nudge her readers to the feet of the Master Storyteller.

Guest Post from Chautona

What Do You Do When the Church Becomes Toxic?

You know how TV shows and movies like to make fun of bridezillas?

Yeah. I know. It can be funny.

But bridezillas aren’t just those gals on reality shows. They’re all over the church, too. People who allow their focus to get off the Bridegroom and onto “their day.” Instead of focusing on the One who loves them so dearly, Who has rescued them from the gutter and holds them close and tenderly, they focus on getting all the trappings right. The right wording, the right clothes, the right rules of…

UGH.

So many friendships have been ruined by a bride gone wild—so focused on details that she forgets the people she hopes will celebrate it with her. She forgets her groom. Unreasonable expectations of the day and of people lead to broken relationships and an ugly taint to what should be a beautiful occasion.

What I find interesting is that people will forgive a lot from a bridezilla. You hear things like, “Well, it’s such a stressful time,” or “She’ll come around after she settles in.”

And it’s true.

So, why don’t we have the same grace for the “bridezillas” of the church? When that deacon decides to become judge and jury of people’s spiritual state based upon what he thinks or knows someone has contributed to the church, why do we write off him and the rest of the congregation (or all congregations out there)? When the church gossip shares private information… or even falseinformation, why do we lash out with thinly-veiled, passive-aggressive rants on Facebook about brutes in the church before flouncing off in a spiritually-superior rejection of that “religious nightmare, otherwise known as the church?” (Yes, I’ve heard it called that).

When we’re blackballed by people who used to call us family, why do we reject all parts of the bride? Why do we cut off an arm, a leg, a hand, and whack away from the body known as Jesus’ bride until only a piece of an eyelash is left—us?

I get it. The bride of Christ gets ugly—like many bridezillas do. But do we love our Groom? Do we trust that He will stay faithful to us even when parts of our body fails us? When we get old, frail, and forgetful, will He remember us? Will He stay faithful and true when we wander to other loves? Can we trust that?

If Jesus can die for that person in the pew across the way, if He can forgive their sins, if He can forgive your sins, can’t you forgive His beloved?

Look, I get it. Sometimes part of the body of Christ becomes ill—gangrenous. Toxic.

When that happens, you need to remove yourself before you become ill, too. I get that. But that local body is just a tiny finger or toe of the whole body. We need to do what we can to help the rest of the body stay healthy while we pray and do what we can to help the sick part.

And I’m not condoning sin. Please understand that. This isn’t about me saying, “It doesn’t matter if the church sins against us. It does. It’s why Jesus gave us a way to deal with that.

But regardless of how someone else behaves, we still have to do what’s right. And I Peter 4:8 reminds us that “Love covers a multitude of sins.”

If you thought I’d wax eloquent about how evil the church is, how we should just abolish the “institution,” and why it’s just so bad…

You’ll be disappointed. I won’t do it.

So, What Do You Do When the Church Becomes Toxic?

I can answer the question in a word.

Love.

And really, that’s all Matt does in this book. Loves. Okay, and maybe a little prayerful ranting as well.

It’s what Jesus did when His creation—you and me—when we became toxic. He loved.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” John 13:34

Special Video from Chautona Havig

Video Player

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Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, August 7

Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, August 7

The Power of Words, August 8

Bigreadersite, August 8

Among the Reads, August 9

Multifarious, August 10

Blogging With Carol, August 11

proud to be an autism mom, August 12

A Baker’s Perspective, August 12

Texas Book-aholic, August 13

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 14

Janices book reviews, August 15

Maureen’s Musings, August 16

Jeanette’s Thoughts, August 17

Bibliophile Reviews, August 18

Carpe Diem, August 19

Godly Book Reviews, August 20

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Chautona is giving away a grand prize package that includes a paperback copy of Argosy Junction, “Matt’s” copy of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, and a $25 gift certificate!!

Click below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d143/argosy-junction-celebration-tour-giveaway

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Chaos In The Blink of an Eye by Patrick Higgins

Yikes. Quite interesting. It had me turning one page to another in rapid speed. You know something is going to happen....but what? When?

Each character has a story to tell. Who will survive? Who will disappear?

I have somewhat of an idea what's happening but of course, it leaves you guessing. Interesting that Mr. Higgins uses the buildup of his story with the annual Michigan and Ohio Game. There is a lot of hero worshipping of sports figures. My husband and I stopped watching football due to all the shenanigans.

I received this free to review.

About the Book

Book Title:Chaos: In the Blink of an Eye

Author:Patrick Higgins

Genre:Christian Mystery/Suspense

Release date: September, 2015

It was the weekend before Thanksgiving. More than 100,000 fans were jammed inside Michigan Stadium, on their feet, to witness a heated football rivalry that had spanned more than 100 years. As the football was kicked into the snow-filled sky, they were about to get the shock of their lives, as long-foretold Bible prophecy came to pass before their very eyes, causing many to vanish into thin air without a trace.

But what they soon realized was that it reached far beyond Michigan Stadium. Chaos of unimaginable proportions ensued worldwide. Shock, fear and panic filled each heart and mind. It was just the beginning of things to come, as life as humanity had known it was forever changed in the blink of an eye…

Click here to purchase your copy.

About the Author

Patrick Higgins is the author of The Pelican Trees, Coffee In Manila, the award-winning The Unannounced Christmas Visitor, and the award-winning prophetic end-times series, Chaos In The Blink Of An Eye. While the stories he writes all have different themes and take place in different settings, the one thread that links them all together is his heart for Jesus and his yearning for the lost.

With that in mind, it is his wish that the message his stories convey will greatly impact each reader, by challenging you not only to contemplate life on this side of the grave, but on the other side as well. After all, each of us will spend eternity at one of two places, based solely upon a single decision which must be made this side of the grave. That decision will be made crystal clear to each reader of his books.

Higgins is currently writing many other books, both fiction and non-fiction, including a sequel to Coffee In Manila, which will shine a bright, sobering light on the diabolical human trafficking industry.

Guest Post from Patrick Harris

What started the Chaos in the Blink of an Eye series for me stems from my deep love of sports, which, I admit has diminished considerably over the years. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy watching and attending sporting events whenever I have the time. But these days I view them from an entirely different perspective than when I wore a younger man’s face and displayed a weaker man’s faith in God.

This slow but gradual shrinking away started soon after the Lord impressed upon my heart that the fastest growing religion in America, and the world for that matter, wasn’t Christianity or Islam, but “sports”. Every day of the week—including Sundays—millions of fans fill stadiums and arenas (or shall I say cathedrals?) worldwide to worship their heroes.

Whatever the sport, fans show up in droves to cheer on mere mortals as if they were gods. When their teams win life is good. When they lose life is miserable.

As a once-guilty participant for many years, I should know.

The passion most fans have for their favorite players and sports teams is the same passion they should have in pursuing the One who saw their unformed bodies from the foundations of the world, the very One who knit them together inside their mothers’ wombs.

Tragically, this is not the case. Hence, the reason for the CHAOS series. The sporting event chosen for this story was the famed Michigan-Ohio State college football rivalry.

Prior to writing the prequel, I traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan to attend the game. I admit I was just as caught up in the mass hysteria as everyone else. It was impossible not to be swept up into the vortex that had completely engulfed the vibrant college town.

The energy was quite palpable. So much so that I had to remind myself more than once that I was there to research and observe everything connected to the game, then put it all into words for my readers. The sporting event itself was secondary.

Though the prequel initially centers on the football game, in no way is this a sports series. This will become quite clear to you when Bible prophecy comes to pass inside Michigan Stadium, and many vanish into thin air, leaving everyone still inside the stadium utterly panic-stricken.

It was just the beginning of things to come, as life as humanity had known it was forever changed in the blink of an eye…

Enjoy reading…