Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Across the Blue by Carrie Turansky Review and Giveaway





About the Book


Title: Across the Blue  
Author: Carrie Turansky  
Genre: Historical romance  
Release Date: February 20, 2018
Love soars to new heights in this Edwardian romance filled with adventure, faith, and inspiration, but how much will it cost Bella and James to follow their dreams? Isabella Grayson, the eldest daughter of a wealthy, English newspaper magnate, longs to become a journalist, but her parents don’t approve. They want her to marry well and help them gain a higher standing in society. After she writes an anonymous letter to the editor that impresses her father, her parents reluctantly agree she can write a series of articles about aviation and the race to be the first to fly across the English Channel, but only if she promises to accept a marriage proposal within the year. When James Drake, an aspiring aviator, crashes his flying machine at the Grayson’s new estate, Bella is intrigued. James is determined to win that race across the Channel and gain the prize Mr. Grayson’s newspaper is offering. He hopes it will help him secure a government contract to build airplanes and redeem a terrible family secret. James wants to win Bella’s heart, but his background and lack of social standing make it unlikely her parents would approve. If he fails to achieve his dream, how will he win the love and respect he is seeking? Will Bella’s faith and support help him find the strength and courage he needs when unexpected events turn their world upside down?

Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author




Carrie Turansky has loved reading since she first visited the library as a young child and checked out a tall stack of picture books. Her love for writing began when she penned her first novel at age twelve. She is now the award-winning author of nineteen inspirational romance novels and novellas. Carrie and her husband, Scott, who is a pastor, author, and speaker, have been married for more than thirty years and make their home in New Jersey. They often travel together on ministry trips and to visit their five adult children and five grandchildren. Carrie leads women’s ministry at her church, and when she is not writing she enjoys spending time working in her flower gardens and cooking healthy meals for friends and family. She loves to connect with reading friends through her website, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Guest Post from Carrie Turansky

Following your Dreams By Carrie Turansky In Across the Blue, Bella Grayson and James Drake both go to great lengths to pursue their dreams. Bella longs to become a journalist and write for one of her father’s newspapers, but in 1909 England, aristocratic young women did not work as journalists. A young woman’s path was set by the unwritten rules of society. At eighteen she was presented at court, and then she took part in the London social season and hoped for a marriage proposal from a young man from a wealthy family, with an estate and title. Marriage, having children, and taking part in social and charitable events was the prescribed course for their lives.

But Bella has a different future in mind. She wants to marry for love, and she won’t settle for anything less. She also wants to write articles about the important events of the day that will inform and inspire people. She wants to be a world changer, and that is a very unique role for a woman in England in the Edwardian Era. At that time women didn’t have the right to vote yet and very few pursued any kind of career.

James is an aviation pioneer, and his dream is to build an airplane that will allow him to be the first to fly across the English Channel. This is no easy accomplishment, and he faces many challenges as he pursues his dream. Aviation is brand new. Wilbur Wright demonstrated his airplane in France the year before and stunned Europeans with his skill. With the help of his mentor, Professor Steed, James conducts experiments, refines his design, and makes countless test flights. It takes great courage and determination to overcome setbacks and make it through near fatal crash landings, but James has his heart and mind set on perfecting his airplane and reaching his goal.
What about you? What hopes and dreams do you have for your future?
What goals would you like to accomplish? As you think about your dreams and future plans I hope you’ll gain some insight from James and Bella’s experiences in Across the Blue. When they considered the cost of pursuing their dreams they realized their plans and choices impacted others as well as themselves. James and Bella believed striving for their dreams is important, but they learned it must be balanced with commitments to family and friends, and most of all a commitment to following the Lord on the path He has for them.

Following our dreams and working toward accomplishing our goals, especially those the Lord puts on our heart, is important. However, sometimes we may have to put our dreams on hold and wait for the right time and season. We don’t need to be discouraged when this happens. As we listen to the Lord and ask Him to guide and direct us He will show us the right path at the right time to follow it. Just like James and Bella I hope you’ll pursue your dreams but also hold them with an open hand, allowing the Lord to guide and direct you each step of the way. When you do I’m confident you’ll be headed toward seeing your dreams become reality in His time and in His way. “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord; plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 With that wonderful promise in mind, I hope you’ll enjoy reading Across the Blue and joining Bella and James as they they pursue their dreams. You’re in for high-flying adventure, romance, and inspiration, and I can’t wait to share this new story with you. Happy reading to you!

My Thoughts:

Do you remember the old song Dream a Little Dream of Me? Here it is in case you don't  . . .



As I read this book, that song kept popping into my head.
This book is about dreams, not only about dreaming them, but achieving them, even if they may not happen when you want them too. A woman being a career woman, and a man wanting to fly an airplane might be considered unattainable for 1900 England. But is anything truly unattainable for God? Luke 1:37 says For nothing will be impossible with God -NASB, and that is the crux of Carrie Turansky's new book, Across the Blue, and how God uses the dreams of people to draw them closer to Him.

The story brought back the time in my life when I was preparing to go off to college. I chose a private Christian college because that's what was expected of me. I grew up in the Nazarene denomination so it not only made sense that I'd go to a Nazarene college, it was expected of me, I was the oldest after all. More from my mother than my father. It's probably because of that unspoken expectation that I looked for a reason to quit school, that was in freezing Oklahoma, and get home to warm, sunny Florida. I wish I would've been more like Bella in the story, and stood up for what I wanted.

The time period had to have been so exciting, and Ms. Turansky captures it beautifully. Her artistic word pictures had me wanting to jump into the pages of the story.

My Bottom Line:

Across the Blue is an inspirational story of dreams, and how trusting God, even if His timetable isn't yours, ultimately is the better choice. Bella and James are endearing characters that grab a hold of your heart. The secondary characters are just as endearing. The landscape and time period are the perfect backdrop for this story.


Blog Stops

Bookworm Mama, February 22
Carpe Diem, February 22
Blogging With Carol, February 22
Karen Sue Hadley, February 23
Christian Bookaholic, February 24
Mary Hake, February 24
Among the Reads, February 24
The Power of Words, February 25
D’S QUILTS & BOOKS, February 25
Maureen’s Musings, February 26
Rachel’s Back Talk, February 26
Smiling Book Reviews, February 26
Radiant Light, February 27
Faithfully Bookish, February 27
Bibliophile Reviews, February 28
Remembrancy, February 28
Book by Book, March 1
Bigreadersite, March 1
Pause for Tales, March 2
margaret kazmierczak, March 2 (Interview)
Pursuing Stacie, March 3
Simple Harvest Reads, March 4 (Guest post from Mindy)
Baker Kella, March 5
A Greater Yes, March 6
Henry Happens, March 7



Giveaway




To celebrate her tour, Carrie is giving away a grand prize of an autographed copy of Shine Like the Dawn and $30 gift card to Christianbooks.com!!
Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/c987



Disclaimer:

I received a copy of this book via the publisher, apart of Celebrate Lit's blogger tours for review. I was not required to write a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

7 comments:

Carrie Turansky said...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about Across the Blue! That was fun to listen to the song about dreams. Thank you for helping me spread the word about Across the Blue. I appreciate the Celebrate Lit team.

Lori said...

thanks for your review. I really am falling in love with this story. It has to go on my to buy list for sure. I love the idea of two people that are following their dreams. I am a little partial to the Wright Brothers story. This is what started my son to want to be a pilot. Sadly it didn't happen, but his dreams went in another direction still using the dream of being a pilot.

Andi said...

You’re welcome, Carrie! Thanks for stopping by. I’m not kidding that song was going through my head the entire time. I hope the book is getting wonderful reviews and new readers.

Andi said...

If you are a fan of dreams and history this is a book you will enjoy!

Kara Marks said...

This sounds really good--I'd love to read it.

Emma said...

This sounds like a great story.

Caryl Kane said...

Exceptional review! I love Carrie's books!

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