Embers

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Embers of Love Bethany House (October 1, 2010)

by Tracie Peterson





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tracie Peterson is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than 85 novels.

She received her first book contract in November, 1992 and saw A Place To Belong published in February 1993 with Barbour Publishings' Heartsong Presents. She wrote exclusively with Heartsong for the next two years, receiving their readership's vote for Favorite Author of the Year for three years in a row.



In December, 1995 she signed a contract with Bethany House Publishers to co-write a series with author Judith Pella. Tracie now writes exclusively for Bethany House Publishers.



She teaches writing workshops at a variety of conferences on subjects such as inspirational romance and historical research.



Tracie was awarded the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for 2007 Inspirational Fiction and her books have won numerous awards for favorite books in a variety of contests.



Making her home in Montana, this Kansas native enjoys spending time with family--especially her three grandchildren--Rainy, Fox and Max. She's active in her church as the Director of Women's Ministries, coordinates a yearly writer's retreat for published authors, and travels, as time permits, to research her books





ABOUT THE BOOK

The logging industry in eastern Texas is booming, and Deborah Vandermark plans to assist her family's business now that she's completed college. Unexpectedly, her best friend, Lizzie Decker, accompanies her back home--fleeing a wedding and groom she has no interest in.



Deborah, the determined matchmaker, puts her sights on uniting her brother and dear friend in a true love match. Deborah soon meets Dr. Christopher Clayton, a much-needed addition to the town. As their lives intersect, Deborah realizes that she has a much greater interest in medicine and science than the bookkeeping she was trained in.



But when typhoid begins to spread and Lizzie's jilted fiance returns, Deborah wonders if true love can overcome such obstacles...for those dearest to her, and for herself.



If you would like to read the first chapter of Embers of Love, go HERE.

The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise - review & Winners

Book Description: ABOUT THIS BOOK

Brimming with charm and whimsy, this exquisite novel set in the Tower of London has the transportive qualities and delightful magic of the contemporary classics Chocolat and Amélie.

Balthazar Jones has lived in the Tower of London with his loving wife, Hebe, and his 120-year-old pet tortoise for the past eight years. That’s right, he is a Beefeater (they really do live there). It’s no easy job living and working in the tourist attraction in present-day London.

Among the eccentric characters who call the Tower’s maze of ancient buildings and spiral staircases home are the Tower’s Rack & Ruin barmaid, Ruby Dore, who just found out she’s pregnant; portly Valerie Jennings, who is falling for ticket inspector Arthur Catnip; the lifelong bachelor Reverend Septimus Drew, who secretly pens a series of principled erot­ica; and the philandering Ravenmaster, aiming to avenge the death of one of his insufferable ravens.

When Balthazar is tasked with setting up an elaborate menagerie within the Tower walls to house the many exotic animals gifted to the Queen, life at the Tower gets all the more interest­ing. Penguins escape, giraffes are stolen, and the Komodo dragon sends innocent people running for their lives. Balthazar is in charge and things are not exactly running smoothly. Then Hebe decides to leave him and his beloved tortoise “runs” away.

My Take: This was a most charming and delightful book! It reminded me of the first time I read The Chronicles of Narnia. It had childlike wonder about it. I highly recommend it!


THE WINNERS OF THIS GIVEAWAY ARE: BROOKE AND LINDA!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

Incredibly Frustrated!!!!

Between the Senior Pastor at my church and a recent comment I just read on Facebook, I am incredibly frustrated by the lack of realistic thinking. Yes, we know that God has given us a promise in Proverbs . . Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. How that plays out I have no idea, what I do know is that God has no grandchildren, and our children our responsible for their choices. Parents living in some idealistic world that if they live a "perfect" Christian life before their children that they will choose God does not make it so. Does it mean that there is a better chance that they will want to have Christ in their life . . Yes . . however, people need to be realistic and see that more and more teens are leaving the church and not returning. In my own family where my children were homeschooled, taught Christian principles from a very young age, not all of them made decisions that were in line with Christ. I think this kind of thinking sets parents up for failure, disappointment, and the feeling of letting themselves down. I know this first hand because I went through these feelings myself. I felt like I did exactly what God wanted me to do with my children and when choices were made I felt like a huge failure, not only to God, but to my children, and myself. I really believe pastors, church leaders, and accountability groups need to be very careful about how they address this, because for some whose children go astray it can be devastating to their faith. I think the biggest thing we can do is to love without reservation, remembering that God loved us first, and He would've died for each one of us if we were the only one. Our kids need to see us with outstretched arms not pointing fingers.

~Snow~

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Snow DayFaithWords (October 11, 2010)

by

Billy Coffey





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

When you’re raised in small-town Virginia by a redneck father and a Mennonite mother, certain things become ingrained. And when you marry a small-town girl and have two small-town kids, all you want to do is pass those ingrained things along.



Like believing the best life is one lived in the country enjoying the pleasures it provides—summer nights beneath the stars, rocking chairs on the front porch, deer grazing in the fields. And believing that no matter how iffy life can get sometimes, there are some things that are eternal and unchanging.



But above all else, believing that in everything there is story waiting to be told.



That’s where I come in.



Billy Coffey was raised on stories. The first ones came on the front porches of relatives, tales laced with local charm and deep meaning. Then came the stories from people like Max Lucado and Robert Fulghum, who write with a charm and deep meaning of their own.



Billy lives with his wife and two children in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. If you drive by his house, you’ll probably spot him on the front porch. If you do, give him a wave. He’ll wave back.



ABOUT THE BOOK

In this debut novel, Peter is a simple man who lives by a simple truth--a person gains strength by leaning on his constants. To him, those constants are the factory where he works, the family he loves, and the God who sustains him. But when news of job cuts comes against the backdrop of an unexpected snowstorm, his life becomes filled with far more doubts than certainties.



With humor and a gift for storytelling, Billy Coffey brings you along as he spends his snow day encountering family, friends, and strangers of his small Virginia town. All have had their own battles with life's storms. Some have found redemption. Others are still seeking it. But each one offers a piece to the puzzle of why we must sometimes suffer loss, and each one will help Peter find a greater truth--our lives are made beautiful not by our big moments, but our little ones. (2010)



To read an excerpt from Snow Day, go HERE.

The Waiting - Reviewed

She was waiting for love--and found it in the most unexpected place.

Jorie King's life is on hold. She has been waiting for Ben Zook to return to Lancaster County. Waiting for him to settle down and join the church. Waiting to marry him.

But when news arrives that Ben has been killed, Jorie is devastated. She finds unlikely comfort in the friendship of his brother Caleb. Friendship ripens into love, and two broken hearts plan for a life filled with the promise of a fresh beginning--until their worlds are turned upside down.

With her realistic characters whose weaknesses develop into strengthens, Suzanne Woods Fisher offers a reading experience that rises above the others. You will love growing in spirit with these complex people living the simple life as The Waiting transports you into a world where things aren't as simple as they seem.

My Take: Seems as Jorie has been doing nothing but waiting on Ben and just when it seems like all of her dreams are going to come true she finds out that Ben has been killed and her whole world crumbles, or does it. Just when you think you know what is going to happen in the Amish world, turn the page and it spins on a dime. This is another page turner that you just can't put down! I highly recommend it!

First Love - Tombstone Treasures Book 2 Reviewed

Book Description: Josiah and Tara had enjoyed acting in their high school plays. They had also been each other's first lover... in fact; most of the time they'd spent together had been in Tara's bed. When Josiah became a Christian, he left Tara to go to college and didn't look back.

Four years later, Josiah is back in town when his father has a near-fatal heart attack. When they meet up again they realize how much their separation had hurt each of them. But now Tara is a Christian and is trying to live a life that is pleasing to God.

Josiah wants Tara back, but neither knows how to relate to each other without the physical intimacy they once shared. They are determined to do things right this time, but find it more challenging than they'd anticipated.

My thoughts: How do two people who have already given themselves to each other, have become Christians, come back together, and not have the physical intimacy rule their relationship. That is the MILLION dollar question. For Josiah and Tara it is not an easy task. Knowing each other this way, it becomes nearly impossible to do, and they fall into the same patterns that they did before, what keeps them is the saving grace of Christ. It isn't until a tragedy that they find that the physical intimacy isn't the ALL gratifying! This is an absolutely beautiful book of grace, and healing for those who have stepped out and have experienced physical intimacy prior to marriage. God intended it for marriage, yet there is healing and He is the healer! I highly recommend this book!

The Way Home - Movie Review

A missing child. A family in crisis. A faith tested. In their darkest hour, God gives hope.

Dean Cain stars as Randy Simpkins, a husband and father torn between the demands of his job and family. Asked by his wife to watch their two-year-old son, Joe, for a few minutes, he becomes distracted by work. When he returns, Joe is gone. He and his wife search desperately for their missing son through the vast countryside. But as their fear grows, the community responds – hundreds of supporters uniting behind the family in a powerful spiritual journey that will test the couple’s love and faith, and forever change a community.

My Take: I was very disappointed in this movie. The entire blame of the two year old being missing was placed on the father, it was also his "attitude" that was wrong. Not once in the entire movie did it address how Cristal, the wife was in the wrong for her response to Randy when Joe went missing, or have her ask him for forgiveness after Joe came home. The entire movie was centered around how this father needed to get his "act" together and it used 2 yr old Joe running off as the catalyst. While there is definitely changes that happen with the father, there is a lot of loose ends that don't get tied up. I don't recommend this one, sad to say.