Tuesday's Top Ten

I thought for this weeks top ten I'd give my top ten favorite series since I started blogging ten years ago. A good portion if not all of these series introduced me to the author as the first book was their debut novel.

In no particular order . . .

The Daughters of Boston by Julie Lessman. This series introduced me to not only Julie Lessman's remarkable writing, but romance with true passion, and gave me a new love for history.

The Porter Family by Becky Wade. This is a true chick-lit series and I laughed til I cried.

The Ladies of Distinction by Jen Turano. Another series that introduced me to a wonderful author and the books are just laugh out loud funny!

The Ballantyne Legacy by Laura Frantz is another set of historical novels that fed my love of history.

The Lake Manawa Summers by Lorna Selstad.  Another fun laugh out loud series.

 Texas Gold by Kellie Coates Gilbert. These books come straight out of the headlines and really make you think.

The Wives of David by Jill Eileen Smith is a huge favorite because they are biblical fiction. I love biblical fiction because the books encourage me to dig deeper into God's word.

The Discarded Heroes by Ronie Kendig. A huge fave because of the military element.

The Well Spring series by James L. Rubart. When I started reading steadily again as an adult the first books I read were Frank Peretti's This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. These books by James are of that flavor and show how real the spirit world is.

Wings of Glory by Sarah Sundin. Another military series that appealed to the Navy brat in me.

All of these series hold a special place in my heart. Each book has touched my life, made me think, laugh, dig into God's word. Books are transporters to a different time and place, they also have the power for more than that.
I wonder are any of your favorite series in my list? Please let me know in the comments.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

First Line Friday . . . Week #5

                                                          

About the book: From New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee comes the much-anticipated, fast-paced sequel to The Progeny about the powerful descendants of the most notorious female serial killer of all time.

All at once, she remembers. The memories Audra had erased have returned. And now she knows why she did it—to save her daughter.

Now she must find her archenemy, the Historian, and put an end to the centuries old Progeny/Scion war once and for all. But first she has to rescue her husband, Luka, who is being held prisoner by the Scions, all while on the run from the law and struggling with her growing powers and their painful side effects.

But when a bitter betrayal stalls her plans, Audra doesn’t know who to trust. With the help of a heretic monk, her Progeny friends, and the hacker, Jester, Audra fights to defeat the Scions and find a way to save other Progeny in the process. The final confrontation with her surprising nemesis will put her powers to the ultimate test.

First Line:

Six weeks ago, I woke up in a cabin in the north woods of Maine with no memory of the last two years or any pertinent details of my life before. 

GOODREADS 

 PRE-ORDER AMAZON

Check out these other ladies first lines and leave yours in the comments.

Rachel at Bookworm Mama 

Heather at Encouraging Words From the Tea Queen 

BethErin at Faithfully Bookish

Katie at Fiction Aficionado

Carrie at Reading is My SuperPower

Robin at Robin's Nest

Sydney at Singing Librarian 

 

The Mark of the King by Jocelyn Green

About the book:

The Mark of the King (Bethany House, January 2017)

Sweeping historical fiction set at the edge of the continent

After being imprisoned and branded for the death of her client, twenty-five-year-old midwife Julianne Chevalier trades her life sentence for exile to the fledgling 1720s French colony of Louisiana, where she hopes to be reunited with her brother, serving there as a soldier. To make the journey, though, women must be married, and Julianne is forced to wed a fellow convict.

When they arrive in New Orleans, there is no news of Benjamin, Julianne's brother, and searching for answers proves dangerous. What is behind the mystery, and does military officer Marc-Paul Girard know more than he is letting on?

With her dreams of a new life shattered, Julianne must find her way in this dangerous, rugged land, despite never being able to escape the king's mark on her shoulder that brands her a criminal beyond redemption.

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/2iKM4uj

Jocelyn Green inspires faith and courage as the award-winning author of ten books to date, including Wedded to War, a Christy Award finalist in 2013; Widow of Gettysburg; Yankee in Atlanta; and The 5 Love Languages Military Edition, which she coauthored with bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman. A former military wife herself, her passion for military families informs all of her writing as well as her numerous speaking opportunities. Jocelyn graduated from Taylor University with a BA in English and now lives with her husband and two children in Iowa.

Website | Facebook | Twitter 

Here is some background about the book from Jocelyn.

The Story Behind The Mark of the King

Tell us a bit about the story behind your latest novel. Where did you find inspiration?

My brother and sister-in-law, who were living in France at the time, told me about a group of women sent from France by the king to be wives of fur traders in New France (Canada). The idea intrigued me, so I hopped online to learn more. One click led to another, and eventually I learned that in the 1700s, the monarchy agreed to clean its streets and prisons by sending those people to populate the floundering French colony of Louisiana. At that point, I knew I’d stumbled onto something with serious historical fiction potential.

What was the hardest part about writing your novel: Getting started? Keeping it going? Finding the perfect ending?

As usual, it was getting started. The first chapter carries so much responsibility as it launches the rest of the story. I tried the novel with and without a prologue, and rewrote the prologue seven times before I was happy with it.

What trait do you love most about your main character?

I love that Julianne strives to be an overcomer. She could allow the past to dictate her future, but instead, she seeks to write her own story by making her own choices—as much as she is allowed to.

When readers get to the last page, what do you hope they take away from the story?

This answer is summed up pretty well in the dedication to the book, so I’ll just share that:

To all who feel marked by judgment.
May your life be marked by the grace of Jesus instead.

In other words, I want the reader to take grace away with them.

What are you working on next?

I have a novella collection coming out in March with my co-authors Joanne Bischof, Amanda Dykes, Heather Day Gilbert and Maureen Lang, titled The Message in a Bottle Romance Collection. Right now, I’m feverishly working on the first draft of my next novel for Bethany House. I hesitate to offer any type of blurb since I’m sure so much will change, but it will be set in the late 1700s in Pennsylvania, and explore the cost of liberty while America was still in the wake of its revolution and struggling to govern itself.


My Thoughts:

Jocelyn takes you into the beauty of France and the roughness of the new colony of Louisiana.  The beauty of both France and Louisiana are visible as you read the story. She does not shy away from showing the difficulty the new settlers experience being in a new land and living around Choctaw Indians.
This story is about being an over comer, and forgiveness both of others and yourself. I was completely immersed in the story at page one and each page became a new experience into Louisiana.
The characters were real and vibrant. I cheered for them and hurt with them as they made their way through the uncharted territory of Louisiana.
Highly recommended!

Unblemished by Sara Ella

About the book:

Eliyana has always recoiled from her own reflection in the mirror. But what if that were only one Reflection—one world? What if another world existed where her blemish could become her strength?

Eliyana is used to the shadows. With a hideous birthmark covering half her face, she just hopes to graduate high school unscathed. That is, until Joshua hops a fence and changes her perspective. No one, aside from her mother, has ever treated her as normal. Maybe even beautiful. Because of Joshua, Eliyana finally begins to believe she could be loved.

But one night her mother doesn’t come home, and that’s when everything gets weird.

Now Joshua is her new, and rather reluctant, legal Guardian. Add a hooded stalker and a Central Park battle to the mix and you’ve gone from weird to otherworldly.

Eliyana soon finds herself in a world much larger and more complicated than she’s ever known. A world enslaved by a powerful and vile man. And Eliyana holds the answer to defeating him. How can an ordinary girl, a blemished girl, become a savior when she can’t even save herself?

Once upon a time, SARA ELLA dreamed she would marry a prince (just call her Mrs. Charming) and live in a castle (aka The Plaza Hotel). Though her fairy tale didn’t quite turn out as planned, she did work for Disney—that was an enchanted moment of its own. Now she spends her days throwing living room dance parties for her two princesses and conquering realms of her own imaginings. She believes “Happily Ever After is Never Far Away” for those who put their faith in the King of kings.

Connect:

http://youtube.com/c/saraella
http://instagram.com/saraellawrites
http://facebook.com/writinghistruth

My Thoughts:

I'm not sure what I thought I was going to be reading when I received a copy from Thomas Nelson, through their Fiction Guild program. What I found, was a book that was full of truth, tons of action, learning to accept yourself for who you are, and believing in yourself.
Sara does a great job creating the world that Eliyana maneuvers through, and you have to continue  reading to find out if some of the characters are good or bad. Ky had me questioning all the way to the end. I really enjoyed this book, it was a huge escape from daily life which is what reading is all about.
Highly recommended!

Top Ten Tuesday . . . Ten Favorite Childhood Books

My mom taught me to read when I was three, after that I could always be found with a book in my hand, and under my pillow. I was that kid who got in trouble for using a flashlight to read at night.

Here are my ten favorite books from my childhood, in no specific order.

I loved this set from Disney. Each book represented an area of Disneyland and the stories from there. Before I was reading chapter books, these were one of my favorite go to.

My dad gave me this book and taught me how to tell time with it. I can still remember sitting on the family room floor learning time.

Miss Suzy the squirrel was a favored bedtime read. I found out that my cousin, Susie loved it too.

The Three Little Kittens who lost their mittens. I think my gramma gave me this book, not positive. Another book that I read at least once a day.

After I read Ramona the Pest by Beverly Clearly I knew she would become a favored author and I was never disappointed with any of her books!

I loved this book and always dreamed about a cookie tree.

This was the first book I read to my little brother. I'll always remember him asking me to read it to him.

Probably my all time favorite books from my childhood. I'm pretty sure I got all the ideas to pester my little brother from Ramona.

We have family friends who had pigs at the time I read this and I remember wanting to save all of the pigs. I may not like spiders but I am not afraid of them and I attribute that to reading this book.

I will never forget my 5th grade teacher reading this book to us after lunch. I was so glad we were all crying together at the end.
I can still see my daughter, Kassi, coming into my room bawling at the end of the book.
I believe books that evoke emotion like that have a special place in our heart.









Are any of your favorite childhood books listed in my top ten? Let me know if they are in the comments and your favorite childhood books.

Do This To the Least of These . . .

With all the social media hub-bub you'd think President Trump just started WWIII. Uh-No, he just made America safer with tightening up our border. Christians all over are touting scriptures saying that since our country is founded on biblical principles we have a duty to refugees.

The scripture most believers seem to be using is Matthew 25:40, where Christ tells his followers "Truly when you do this for the least of these you have done it to me."
So. . . who are the least of these? Only refugees escaping war torn countries? Uh, no! Not in my opinion. As an American I am sick and tired of our country taking care of other countries problems and ignoring ours here at home.
Wouldn't our Veterans who are homeless, who have fought for our country count as the least of these? I would say YES! What about homeless families, abused mothers and children in shelters? Again I say YES! As a country we have been so focused on other countries and saving the down-trodden that we have forgotten to take care of what is going on in our own borders.

It is believed that when Christ said these words he was talking about the persecuted believers, not the poor. Which when you read it under this light it makes sense. Especially when we know that Paul was persecuted and in prison. It was like Christ was fore-shadowing.

Matthew 25:35-36

For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in, I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.

I think it is real easy to make noise with the crowd because going against the crowd is not the popular thing to do. Yet, where are these voices when it comes to issues going on here at home? Is it only worthwhile to say something when you have people backing you up, and they agree with you? Would you say something if you were the only one speaking? I've always been a rebel so going against the grain works for me.

I am a Navy brat, emphasis on the brat part, Mark always says. I was a Navy wife for 20+ years and I think our vets are more important than refugees who want to escape a war torn country. I believe we have a responsibility to them, they fought for our country and deserve being taken care of respectfully.

Each of us has to make our own decision about this, I'm not sure there is a right or wrong, I just think based on our own life experience we will feel pulled in one direction more than the other.

First Line Friday . . . Week #4

                                                         About the book:
Separated by an inconceivable tragedy, can faith and love reunite childhood friends and light the way to a bright future?
In a quiet corner of northern Edwardian England, Margaret Lounsbury diligently works in her grandmother s millinery shop, making hats and caring for her young sister. Several years earlier, a terrible event reshaped their family, shattering an idyllic life and their future prospects. Maggie is resilient and will do what she must to protect her sister Violet. Still, the loss of her parents weighs heavily on her heart because she wonders if what happened that day on the lake might not have been an accident.
When wealthy inventor and industrialist William Harcourt dies, his son and Maggie s estranged childhood friend, Nathaniel returns from his time in the Royal Navy and inherits his father s vast estate, Morningside Manor. He also assumes partial control of his father s engineering company and the duty of repaying an old debt to the Lounsbury family. But years of separation between Nate and Maggie have taken a toll and Maggie struggles to trust her old friend.
Can Maggie let go of the resentment that keeps her from forgiving Nate and reconciling with God? Will the search for the truth about her parents death draw the two friends closer or leave them both with broken hearts?"

First Line:

Four years later...April 1903

Maggie turned the hat block and examined the broad-brimmed, yellow straw hat.

GOODREADS 

AMAZON PRE-ORDER

Visit these other bloggers, read their first line and leave yours in the comments. 



Rachel at Bookworm Mama 

Heather at Encouraging Words From the Tea Queen 

BethErin at Faithfully Bookish

Katie at Fiction Aficionado

Carrie at Reading is My SuperPower

Robin at Robin's Nest

Sydney at Singing Librarian 

And welcome Bree to our little gang!! 

Bree at Bibliophile Reviews