The Hatmaker's Heart by Carla Stewart

About the book: 

For Nell Marchwold, bliss is seeing the transformation when someone gets a glimpse in the mirror while wearing one of her creations and feels beautiful. Nell has always strived to create hats that bring out a woman's best qualities. She knows she's fortunate to have landed a job as an apprentice designer at the prominent Oscar Fields Millinery in New York City. Yet when Nell's fresh designs begin to catch on, her boss holds her back from the limelight, claiming the stammer she's had since childhood reflects poorly on her and his salon.

But it seems Nell's gift won't be hidden by Oscar's efforts. Soon an up-and-coming fashion designer is seeking her out as a partner of his 1922 collection. The publicity leads to an opportunity for Nell to make hats in London for a royal wedding. There, she sees her childhood friend, Quentin, and an unexpected spark kindles between them. But thanks to her success, Oscar is determined to keep her. As her heart tugs in two directions, Nell must decide what she is willing to sacrifice for her dream, and what her dream truly is.

Purchase a copy: http://ow.ly/xlicl

 

 About the author: 

Carla Stewart is the award-winning author of four novels. With a passion for times gone by, it is her desire to take readers back to that warm, familiar place in their hearts called "home." She and her husband live in Tulsa and have four adult sons and six grandchildren (with one on the way!). 

Carla can be found at: website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads

 

 

Carla is having a Jazzy Hatmaker’s Heart giveaway. Click for details and to enter.

 

My Thoughts:

 

Carla writes a book that takes you right into the heart of the Jazz age. Nell has aspirations of being a hat maker, not only creating great hat's for ladies, but seeing her designs literally make the person come to life.

This book is an entertaining read, the characters come to life, and you feel like you are right in the middle of the Jazz age. I highly recommend it!

 

 

 

A Place in His Heart

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing A Place in His Heart Revell (June 3, 2014) by Rebecca DeMarino

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rebecca DeMarino was born in Pensacola, Florida, the daughter of a Navy pilot. Her mother made a home for the family of six all over the map, including Virginia, Nevada, California, Washington, and Guam, before her parents put down anchor on a ranch in Oregon.

As the wife of a young Air Force officer, married life brought more travel. She relied on her mother’s example of how to make a home anywhere. Her three beautiful daughters were born in Florida, Alaska and Nebraska.

Retired after sixteen years with a major airline, she manages to fulfill her love of wanderlust with frequent family or research trips.

Rebecca grew up listening to her mother’s family lore of a great-grandfather from generations ago. Barnabas Horton sailed from England in the 1600’s, to Long Island, N.Y., on a ship called The Swallow. In 1999, after she found Horton Point, L.I., on a map, Rebecca and her mother made the journey to see the lighthouse named after their ancestor.

The legend goes that Barnabas brought a slab of blue slate with him from England, and had the epitaph he wrote himself engraved on it. The blue slate still exists in the Old Cemetery in Southold, L.I., with the Bible verse, “He being dead, still speaketh.” Much information was found about Barnabas, but none of his wife, save a mention in his will.

Her mother passed away in 2005, but Rebecca returned to Southold many times, drawn by her Puritan roots and English heritage. Each time she wondered about her ninth great-grandmother, a young woman who married a widower with two young boys and then followed them for the wilds of Long Island, leaving behind her home and family. What were her dreams? Her motivations? Her fears?

Rebecca’s historical romance novel, A PLACE IN HIS HEART, debuts with Revell, a division of Baker Publishing House, in June of 2014.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Anglican Mary Langton longs to marry for love. Puritan Barnabas Horton is still in love with his deceased wife and needs only a mother for his two young sons. And yet these two very different people with very different expectations will take a leap of faith, wed, and then embark on a life-changing journey across the ocean to the Colonies. Along the way, each must learn to live in harmony, to wait on God, and to recognize true love where they least expect to find it.

This heartfelt tale of love and devotion is based on debut author Rebecca DeMarino's own ancestors, who came to Long Island in the mid-1600s to establish a life--and a legacy--in the New World.

If you'd like to read the first chapter of A Place in His Heart, go HERE.

Rebecca is hosting a Giveaway worth over $300.00 in prizes. There will be 8 winners! Scroll to the bottom of the post HERE to enter!!!!!

Woman of Fortune by Kellie Coates Gilbert

Texas socialite Claire Massey is living the dream. Her world is filled with designer clothes, luxury cars, and stunning homes. But her Neiman-Marcus lifestyle comes crashing down when her charming cattle broker husband is arrested for fraud. Suddenly, she finds herself facing attorneys, a media frenzy, and a trail of broken hearts. Betrayed and humiliated, Claire must start over against incredible odds to save her family–and discover a life worth living.
Poignant and emotionally gripping, A Woman of Fortune reveals the many ways we deceive ourselves and how resilience of the heart is essential to authentic living. Drawing on her experiences as a legal investigator, author Kellie Coates Gilbert delivers emotionally gripping plots and authentic characters. Readers will love Claire’s unbending determination as she strives to keep her family from falling apart and learns to embrace the kind of fortune that lasts.

About Kellie

FIFTEEN THINGS ABOUT KELLIE COATES GILBERT . . . 

1. I fell for my skydive instructor (pun intended) and we’ve been married over thirty years.
2. I appeared on the popular television game show, Price is Right.
3. I made Ted Kennedy’s bed (as a maid at the Sun Valley Lodge).
4. Part of my skull was temporarily stored in a cooler during brain surgery.
5. I’ve been to a Rocky Mountain Oyster fry. (don’t ask…look it up).
6. I’ve herded sheep.
7. I’ve attended a presidential inaugural ball.
8. I know how to tell the difference between a male and a female crab.
9. My first office was in the Idaho State Capitol Building.
10. I was a popcorn ball in my fourth grade Christmas pageant.
11. My Gram called me her “precious puddin’ gift of God.” I’ve tried to get my husband to use that term of endearment, but he refuses.
12. The popular doll, Barbie, and I are nearly the same age.
13. There were sixteen students in my high school graduating class.
14. I decided to play golf because the clothes are so cute.
15. My life motto is: Prone to wander, chained to grace.

AND A LITTLE MORE . . . 
I barely remember a time when I didn’t have a book in my hand. My tiny hometown of Carey, Idaho had no library, no bookstore. The bi-weekly bookmobile provided the only avenue to books . . . that, and my Gram, who spent a lot of her Social Security checks on books for her granddaughter with an insatiable appetite for stories.
I grew up on a sheep ranch in southern Idaho, a business my family had been in for generations, never dreaming I’d ever see my own name on a novel. I left home to attend Boise State University and spent most of my adult years pursuing a sensible legal career, raising two boys, and learning to be happily married.
But God heard the quiet prayers of a woman who dared to dream big and ask her Lord for the outrageous. In early 2011, I signed my first book contract. Today, I am living my fantasy. I live in Dallas with my husband. I work from home, writing novels. Often by the pool.
Can life get any better?

 My Take:

Kellie's sophomore book, A Woman of Fortune is ripped from today's headlines, and I dare you to be able to put this book down. I couldn't and I know I will continue to think about these characters long after I have closed this book.
Claire's husband Tuck is charged with cattle fraud, selling cattle that are on paper, but not on his land. The Massey's are Texas socialites, and in one day they go from living on a spacious estate, to their father/husband in prison; their clothes, jewelry, cars, even their daughter, Lainie's horse, Pride being confiscated.
With Tuck in prison, they will all have to find their way. Will Claire leave her lying, stealing, husband or will she stand by her man. What will her three children, Garrett, Max, and Lainie do? How will they handle their father's crimes.
Kellie writes a book so full of emotion and heartache that you are literally feel as though you are going through this with the characters.  The spiritual element is not overwhelming or preachy, however, you will walk away from this book thinking about what Jesus told Peter about forgiveness.

Highly recommended!!

Bowe Bergdahl Freed . . . My Take

I live in Idaho and this entire state is going haywire because Sgt Bowe Bergdahl has been freed from his captors in Afghanistan.

I am so skeptical. I am amazed at how many people are just accepting his captivity and release without asking any questions.

Why did he leave his post, why didn't his captors kill him, why did the U.S. Army promote him twice during his captivity. What did he do to earn those promotions? Why is he being celebrated as a hero, by some, while the men from his unit who searched for him that were killed have not been mentioned. What about those emails he sent to his folks saying he was disenchanted with America and their mission in Afghanistan, and that he was embarrassed to be apart of the Army.

These are just a few of the questions I have, and I hope we get the true answers. I am not a fan of "honoring" someone who disobeys orders and places others in harms way.

Maybe it's the navy brat in me, but I don't buy any of his story. It's all a little too fishy.
He will be debriefed and told what he can talk about and what he can't. I am hoping that once he is officially on U.S. soil the men in his unit will be able to talk freely about what happened.

For his family, I am glad they will be reunited with him. However, I hope our government does their job and gets answers, and holds him accountable. Some say that his 5 years as a POW is payment enough. I highly disagree. His actions cost men their lives, children their fathers, and wives their husbands. He had no right to place those American soldiers in jeopardy.

All My Belongings | Enter to win a $200 Visa Card from @CynthiaRuchti & RSVP for 6/11 LIVE Webcast Event

About the book: A new life and a new identity can't protect Becca from a past that refuses to go away.

After spending years running from the shame her father put on her family, Jayne is determined not to let him steal her future in the same way he stole her childhood. Changing her name to Becca Morrow, she moves to California and settles into a new life and new job caring for ailing mother of handsome young businessman, Isaac Hughes.

But just as she's wondering if she and Isaac are headed for a relationship, Becca's patient passes away under unusual circumstances. Suddenly, her past catches up with her and the unnerving details of her heritage threaten to destroy all sense of home and all hope for love.

Even if she could clear her name, a phone call wraps a suffocating shroud around her heart. Her estranged father needs her help. But can Becca open her new life to the man who ruined her past?

Purchase a copy: http://ow.ly/x96lt

 

 About the author: Cynthia Ruchti has more than three decades of radio broadcast experience with "Heartbeat of the Home" radio and currently serves as Professional Relations Liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers.

Cynthia can be found at: website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads

 

 

Cynthia Ruchti asks what it takes to overcome your past and become who you were meant to be in her latest novel, All My Belongings. Cynthia has woven a heart-wrenching tale of forgiveness, grace, and learning what it means to truly belong.



Cynthia is celebrating the release of her latest novel with a fun giveaway and a live webcast event!

 


One winner will receive:

• A $200 Visa cash card


• All My Belongings by Cynthia Ruchti

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on June 11th. Winner will be announced at the All My Belongings LIVE webcast event on June 11th. Connect with Cynthia for an evening of book chat, trivia, laughter, and more! Cynthia will also be taking questions from the audience and giving away books, fun prizes, and gift certificates throughout the evening.

So grab your copy of All My Belongings and join Cynthia and friends on the evening of June 11th for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today by signing up for a reminder. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 11th!

 

My Take:

This is the first book I have read of Cynthia's and it won't be my last. She creates great relationship angst. 

I have been up late at night reading, saying just one more chapter and I couldn't put it down. 

What would you do if you found out that your father, a pharmacist performed a mercy killing on your mother who was dying from ALS. Jayne does more after finding out, she turns him in, so her name is mud and she decides to change her name so that she could find a job. When her close friend recommends her for a job caring for her sister in California, Jayne Dennagee, who has changed her name to Becca Morrow takes the job and moves to California. 

This book is more than a good story, it shows how our past can chain us unless we give it to God and let Him handle it, we aren't our past.

Becca's dry sense of humor was great, and I loved watching her relationship with Isaac develop. 

I highly recommend this book! 

 

Until I Found You

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Until I Found You Bethany House Publishers (May 6, 2014) by Victoria Bylin

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A word from the Author:

This may sound crazy, but I was driven to write romance by giant bugs and killer rabbits. I just couldn't take it anymore. My husband and two sons would be camped in front of the television watching a movie about spiders the size of bowling balls, and I'd be wondering when the handsome scientist would get around to kissing the spunky woman with the bug spray. When it didn't happen, I decided to write my own happy endings--without the giant bugs...

Known for her realistic, likable characters and vivid writing, Victoria Bylin writes both western and contemporary inspirational romance. Her books have finaled in the ACFW Carol Awards, the Rita Awards and RT Magazine’s Reviewers’ Choice Awards. She and her husband currently live in Lexington, Kentucky and have two grown sons.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Finding each other was only the beginning . . .

When Kate Darby swerves off a mountain road to avoid hitting a California condor, she ends up trapped in her car, teetering on the edge of a cliff. Terrified, she breathes a prayer that changes her life.

It's Nick Sheridan who comes to Kate's rescue. Nick is handsome and confident, and he seems to develop a habit of rescuing her, but Kate is in town only until her grandmother recuperates from a stroke. She's not planning to get involved with one of the locals.

Nick is a reformed veteran of life in the fast lane, a new Christian, and a travel writer. When he sees a car dangling on the edge of a cliff, the daredevil in him jumps into action. He doesn't expect to be swept off his feet by the car's occupant. He's made a vow--no dating for a year--but keeping that vow is going to be a lot more difficult now that he's met Kate Darby. . . .

If you'd like to read the first chapter of Until I Found You, go HERE.

While Love Stirs by Lorna Seilstad

Take one lovely young woman.
Add two ambitious young men.
Stir . . . and stand back.

As a graduate of Fannie Farmer's School of Cookery, Charlotte Gregory is thrilled to have the opportunity to travel, lecture, and give cooking demonstrations on the very latest kitchen revolution--the gas stove. And she certainly doesn't mind that the gas company has hired the kindhearted Lewis Mathis to entertain at her lectures.

Lewis encourages Charlotte's work, especially her crusade to introduce fresh, appetizing, nutritious food to those convalescing in hospitals. But young hospital superintendent Dr. Joel Brooks is not convinced any changes should be made--especially by this outspoken young woman.

When Charlotte and Joel are coerced into planning a fund-raising gala for the hospital, will this combustible pair explode?

Follow the second Gregory sister as she looks for true love and makes her way in a rapidly changing world in this breezy, lighthearted love triangle that will keep you guessing.

Lorna Seilstad is the author of When Love Calls and the Lake Manawa Summers series. A former high school English and journalism teacher, she has won several online writing contests and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. Lorna lives in Iowa with her husband. Learn more at www.lornaseilstad.com.












My Take:

Lorna has stirred up another sweet yet snarky book that is perfect for summer! Charlotte drives Joel crazy. As a graduate of Fannie Farmer's School of Cookery she believes she has the best menu for patients recovering, Joel takes notice of this after she wins the cooking contest put on by the company of the latest invention, a gas stove. Charlotte enjoys the opportunity to travel, cook, and lecture. What she really wants is to bring change to hospital food, yet Dr. Joel Brooks is reluctant to agree.
Joel and Charlotte are fire and oil, be careful not to light a match around them or they will explode!
Lorna's books are fun, and full of humorous banter, along with traveling back in time. I know I will enjoy every minute spent reading one of Lorna's books and this one did not disappoint. Highly recommended!