Friday, October 14, 2016

Wrapped in God's Grace Guest Review & Giveaway

Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway





About the Book

The crushing pain of seven years of unanswered prayer for a child. A miraculous adoption story, followed by unforeseen challenges and heartbreak.

Barbara Bras begins her memoir by sharing God’s answer to her prayers and the difficult times that followed. Although God does not provide an easy fix, the intricacies of God’s plans reveal themselves to her, and she relives her life in a new light.

Bras then recounts the stories of her grandfather Arshag and her grandmother Gulle, survivors of the atrocities of Armenia in 1915. Arshag, sent to South America for his protection, returns as a soldier of the Armenian Legion to fight for his country. Gulle is the only member of her family to survive the death march into the desert. Through God’s grace they find each other, marry and move to America in 1921. Bras is their first grandchild.

The final section of the memoir follows Bras as she marries and moves to Hawaii, only to return as a single mother to teach school in a small town. It is there she finally realizes that God has provided her with protection and direction. Bras discovers that once we truly surrender our will to God, His plan always produces blessings beyond our wildest dreams!

About the Author

In 2015, Barbara Bras left her career to pursue her dream of serving God. She believed that her first step would be to share the amazing ways God had blessed her. As she wrote of her son’s miraculous adoption and the challenging years that followed, it led to the rediscovery of her entire life, including the history of her grandparents’ remarkable survival in Armenia and her search for purpose and love. Her memoir led to her first novel, which she hopes readers will find engaging and memorable.


Guest Post from Barbara Bras

An Unanswered Prayer

I struggled for many years with one unanswered prayer. It was my “go to” request every time I came before the Lord.

Convinced that with God nothing is impossible, I also knew that the Lord may say “Not now” many times, even before he says no. I acknowledged that the Lord probably had a much bigger and better plan in mind for me, but none of that offered any comfort. As I struggled year after year with my unanswered prayer I found more questions than answers.

Was I fooling myself and ignoring God’s “No”? Could my lack of faith be the reason I couldn’t hear the Lord? And if not now, then when dear Lord?

Then I discovered that the Lord said “Not now.” because he had a miracle waiting for me, more amazing than I could have ever imagined. Like Hannah, God finally answered my prayer for a child. And through that miracle I learned that surrendering my will to God allows Him to bless me beyond my human understanding.

To my further surprise, I discovered that the miracle didn’t mean the end of the story. Experiencing a miraculous adoption didn’t come with a guarantee or a promise that the rest of my life would be free of heartache.

After all of those years of unanswered prayer, I found myself back on my knees with a new daily prayer request. The Lord had something else to teach me through this new struggle, a lesson that took me another fifteen years to learn.

Not only did those fifteen years lead me right back to where I started, surrendering my human will to His and trusting in His greater plan, but it convinced me that the Lord wanted me to share my story.  

Wrapped in God’s Grace, a Life Rediscovered begins with my unanswered prayer for a child, but as I wrote it, God’s plan for me became clear. The second section of the book recreates the events surrounding the survival of my grandparents through the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Their immigration to America in 1921 led to my existence. The book closes with the Lord blessing me with a loving husband in spite of the many missteps I made directing my own life. A reviewer found this nonlinear sequence of events unusual, and I am fine with that, since that’s how the book unfolded before me.

Captured by St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, I now view my writing as a tribute first to the God who comforts and strengthens all of us in hardships and trials, and second as my mission to encourage others.


A photo gallery for Wrapped in God’s Grace, a Life Rediscovered can be found on my website AuthorB.Bras.com. Click here to view the Photo Gallery

Blog Stops

October 11: Bibliophile Reviews
October 13: Eat, Read Teach, Blog
October 14: Book Love
October 15: A Greater Yes
October 16: Carpe Diem
October 18: Pause for Tales
October 19: A Reader’s Brain
October 20: Bigreadersite
October 22: Mary Hake
October 22: Simple Harvest Reads (Spotlight)
October 23: Christian Bookaholic

Giveaway


To celebrate her tour, Barbara is giving away a $100 Amazon gift card! Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/a561
Posted by at 2 comments:

Friday, September 16, 2016



Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Whispering to Horses + Giveaway



Guest Review from Justina Wilson

I was very surprised by this story of life, love, friendship. How the stories of the past have a way of interacting with our lives daily if we would just stop and listen. Thomas has a way of bringing you into the story by making you remember your own life growing up! To help a neighbor just because you were taught to and find a reward and Blessing that comes from it. To change one self, thinking that it is better this way to find that in the long run you were right where you needed to be. I found myself throughout the story saying many times that I had always wanted to learn from the Amish and now wish I could. Thank you Thomas for such insight and memories. I would recommend this book to anyone who would Luke to remember life is how you decide to help, love and work with each other.

About the Book


To purchase your copy, click here

 An old fence separates a modern community from their Amish neighbors, until a little boy opens the gate and breaks down barriers between them. Main characters, Matt and Eli, find friendship, hope, and a future through a mutual need, which creates an opportunity for them to learn to understand each other. Eli and his little sisters will touch your heart by Whispering to Horses.





About the Author

Thomas Nye, author of the Amish Horses Book Series, Lives near an Amish community where he grew to know and respect his Amish neighbors. During grade school Thomas developed an interest in history and loved reading anything he could find about the 1800s. His love of farm, history, and horses all came together in real-life experiences with his Amish friends, who also happen to share his Christian faith.  He purchased draft horses from Amish farmers in his neighborhood and set out to learn the art of working with horses in harness.  After years of buying, selling, and trading work horses with Amish farmers in his community, Thomas had many wonderful memories of those experiences. His novels based on those adventures. Learn more about Thomas Nye on his website.


Guest Post from Thomas Nye

Last spring, I visited numerous Amish communities throughout the state of Indiana. My original goal was to bring awareness of my Amish Horses book series to the Amish and tourists in that region. As I traveled down quiet country roads, my heart was overwhelmed by beautiful farm scenes. Conversations with Amish families, and especially Amish children, brought a new awareness and inspiration to me. Springtime and its rich aromas flooded my senses and filled my heart with a story, Whispering to Horses. Whispering to Horses is a very short novel which spans several generations. It is the story of two families that live side-by-side for years, and yet are strangers to each other. A fence that was installed to keep livestock apart has become a dividing line, separating Amish from their non-Amish neighbors. Years ago, when putting in the fence, an Amishman remembered his grandfather’s advice, almost prophetically, “… a gate opens the way for help in time of need.” Generations later, a gentle Amish boy named Eli, seems to have inherited his great-great-grandfather’s wisdom, as he opens the gate and communication between neighbors. Kalona, Iowa has been my home for the past 35 years. Living in an Amish/Mennonite community, I have experienced many situations exactly like the one described in this book. It is so easy for us to look over a fence and have a disdain for people we don’t know, or understand. Sometimes, a little child can use their simple wisdom to break through our misconceptions, and soften our crusty opinions. In my hundreds of visits to Amish farms, it has been the children that have surprised me most. Even though English is their second language, Amish children speak with wisdom that has become a treasure to me, and I want to share it with you. I hope the story of Whispering to Horses opens your eyes, and brings back memories of your own childhood, when we all shared that simple wisdom.


Blog Stops

June 7: Quiet Quilter
June 8: ArtisticNobody
June 8: Petra’s Hope
June 12: Bigreadersite
June 14: A Greater Yes

Giveaway


To celebrate his tour, Thomas is giving away an entire set of his Amish Horses Series! Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/9b7f
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

At Liberty to Love Review + HUGE giveaway!


Guest Review from Justina Wilson

atlibertytoloveFBbanner
Purchase your copy here.

About the Book

Obedience is better than sacrifice…and trumps romance, no matter how sweet. Profound loneliness propels a childless widow west to choose an orphan to share her life. On the way, a fellow traveler takes her by surprise. She never dreams, is unprepared, doesn’t need another man, but can’t get him out of her head…or heart. He’s so perfect—every bit the one she’d searched for as a young woman—except his mistrust of God has erected a wall she cannot breach. Marcus Ford blames God and struggles for peace after losing his wife and baby. Not once has he considered another woman could be the answer, but the widow is like none other he’s ever met. He falls hard, but plans are taking him east. Hope dashed sends two hearts into the pit. If only Ford could forgive God or the widow ease up on her adamant resolve. Will God’s mercy shine a beacon in the fog of despair and prove sufficient to heal their souls?

My Review

Caryl McAdoo does it again in her latest release at Liberty to Love.
Love Finds us when we least expect it- At Liberty to Love shows it over and over again. A Widow lonely after the death of her husband travels far and long to find something to fill her lonely heart. What comes her way is something that even takes her by surprise.
A Ranger trying to forget the pain of losing a wife and child is running as fast as he can from the hurt. Can he make a life without them, does he want to? At Liberty to Love shows us how life is unexpected and never planned out. At least not like we would have it. I found myself so involved with the story line that it was hard to put down. Caryl has such a way of provoking emotions and this book does it all. A Father's Devotion to his kids, A Mother's Love, Sisters who love unconditionally and Danger all around.

About the Author

Caryl McAdoo is all about loving God! She currently writes four series: the historical Christian ‘Texas Romance’; a contemporary ‘Red River Romance’; The Generations, her Biblical fiction, and the newest Days of Dread Trilogy for mid-grade readers. Known as the Singing Pray-er, she loves praising with new songs the Lord gives her and prays her story gives God glory! In 2008, she and her high school sweetheart-husband Ron moved from the DFW area—home for fifty-plus years—to the woods of Red River County. Caryl counts four children and sixteen grandsugars life’s biggest blessings believing all good things come from God. Besides glorifying Him, she hopes each title will also minister His love, mercy, and grace to its readers. Caryl and Ron live in Clarksville, the county seat, in the far northeast corner of the Lone Star State with two grandsons.

Guest Post from Caryl McAdoo

Obedience Trumps Romance Rebecca, forty-two years young, has never known true love. Oh she’s loved—and had a best friend—but that special made-just-for-her soul mate, she’d never met. She settled, instead, and lived a happy life, even though never blessed with children. Then the unthinkable happened, and she found herself alone, widowed too soon by the Civil War that claimed so many lives. Rather than throw a pity party, she prayed and formulated a plan for the rest of her life. God gave her a way to turn her mourning into dancing! She’d adopt an needy child to love and fill her lonely days with joy. And her sisters in San Francisco happened to have an orphanage. She’d never traveled by herself, but determined to put the idea into action, she left Clarksville, Texas for a month long journey to California! This new story is one of my favorites as it extols the goodness of the Lord, how His plans are always so high above mere man’s, and how He moves those who love Him into place to receive His blessings. And Rebecca had loved Him since a little girl. He’d been her father when she was born without one and then when she’d prayed for a daddy, sent Henry Buckmeyer into her life. And how do we show God we love Him? By our obedience to His Word. Before, that’d come relatively easy for her, but early on her trip, a man climbs into the stagecoach and makes her uneasy. Glad that Daddy had bought her a Derringer and taught her to use it, she rides in silence, feeling his gaze and sneaking her own peeks from her reading. With no idea of the test God was about to put her through, when the fellow traveler finally figures out who she is and speaks, Rebecca is taken aback by the surge of totally unexpected attraction. Marcus Ford was handsome, intelligent, and everything she’d looked for in a suitable man back when she’d been courted. But alas, he almost hates God, blaming Him for the premature deaths of his wife and baby girl during the yellow fever epidemic that plagued New Orleans. If she leaned one thing from her mother, it was not to unequally yoke herself. Besides, her life had been planned. She had a goal and a child to save.  Plus, when her trip took her west, he went east for a job interview. It was never meant to be. How many times do we make our plans only to be thwarted by circumstances beyond our control? We thought God had been leading us, we’d given Him the glory, and trusted the path to be in His will. So then why—when she at last had her life figured out—had she even met the man? She didn’t need another one, but never experienced what she did in Marcus’ presence. When confronted with temptation, do we quote God’s Word to the one out to kill us, steal from us, and destroy our lives? Or do we toy with doing exactly what we know we should not? I pray as you read AT LIBERTY TO LOVE, you’ll be encouraged and root for my dear heroine to do what’s right and not give in, not fall into a place God never meant for her to be…or did He?

Blog Stops

June 1: Petra's Hope
June 2: A Greater Yes
June 4: bigreadersite

Giveaway


To celebrate her tour, Caryl is giving away eight prizes including the complete print set of the Texas Romance series. Enter here: https://promosimple.com/ps/9b0e

    Posted by at 1 comment:

    Saturday, May 21, 2016

    Saving the Marquise's Granddaughter by Carrie Fancett Pagels


    Purchase your copy of Saving the Marquise's Granddaughter here.

    About the Book

    In a land fraught with religious strife, they must break the barriers between status and faith to forge a fresh future in a new world… After her Huguenot father is arrested, aristocrat Suzanne Richelieu escapes Versailles. Handsome German peasant, Johan Rousch, risks his life to bring her to the safety of his family’s farm in the Palatinate duchy, but when Suzanne’s brother and the French army arrive with a warning that they plan to burn the area, she and Johan are forced to flee. With no money or options, both become indentured servants in exchange for safe passage to Philadelphia. Suzanne falls gravely ill aboard ship and marries Johan, only to survive with no memory of the wedding—a reality made worse when Johan spots the “priest” who married them working as a surveyor and later in Quaker cleric garb. Are their wedding vows valid? When Suzanne's former fiancé arrives in port, planning to abduct her, Johan must save her again—but can he do so before Suzanne is lost to him forever?

    About the Author

    Carrie Fancett Pagels is a multi-published award-winning author of Christian historical romance.  Twenty-five years as a psychologist didn't "cure" her overactive imagination! She resides with her family in the Historic Triangle of Virginia, which is perfect for her love of history. Carrie loves to read, bake, bead, and travel – but not all at the same time!  





    Guest Post from Carrie Fancett Pagels

    Hi, I’m Carrie Fancett Pagels, so excited to see this particular book “baby”, Saving the Marquise’s Granddaughter, finally being “born!” I started working on this over eight years ago!

    Would you believe it was a genealogical search that began this story? We had a lot of research on my father’s side of the family but not on my mother’s. Sites like Ancestry.com were getting big. One of my mother’s cousins posted the genealogy that he’d found, on one of the genealogy sharing sites and I got that information but only back to where I found two Rousch cousins marrying. I honestly didn’t want to go on after that, as it appeared they were first cousins – yikes! But after praying about it, and knowing my mom was curious, too, I went forward.





    While I am interested in genealogy, as a former psychologist, I’m more interested in people’s stories.  So when I discovered that the two cousins were the grandchildren of Johan Adam Rousch, who had been acknowledged because nine of his ten sons had fought in the American Revolution, I wanted to know more about him and his family and ancestors.  Since there were books already written about him, I went up to the University of Virginia Rare Books Library and read what people had to say about the real life Johan. He sounded fascinating. He was an immigrant from the Palatinate of Germany and lived in the western part of Virginia, after immigrating via Pennsylvania.

     I had joined the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) group and had been working on a novel set in the Charleston, South Carolina area, where I’d previously lived. I got so interested in Johan and his story that I began to write. But I couldn’t wrap my mind around Susanna, his real life wife who likely also came from the Palatinate, possibly on the same ship. No matter how I tried to work on her, through various writing classes I took, I couldn’t make her “real” because she just wasn’t speaking to me. I tried and I have the old scenes to prove it!

    When I write, I pray. I asked God to show me scriptures for each scene, which were included on my rough drafts (they are not there in the final novel.) I did some research, at the library, and a massive tome about the Hundred Years War was recommended to me and one on European History from that time frame. By learning of some of the reasons the Palatinate was persecuted, such as the French punishing them for taking in Protestants, I began to imagine a different sort of heroine for my story. Of course, although the story was inspired by Johan and Susanna, this book is fictional. That freed me up for God to inspire me to make this story about faith. A core tenet of the book is that we must find our own faith – we cannot “borrow” it from someone else!


     Since I was still practicing as a psychologist, as I developed Suzanne’s character I included traits that would be common in someone is the situation she was in. She’s living in an aristocratic French family, with parents who are actually of the Huguenot faith. If they are discovered there can be drastic consequences, including death. So a young lady like that may become more obsessive and compulsive as a way of dealing with that anxiety.

     I hope those who read this story will be inspired by the message of overcoming and of finding one’s own path to faith in the Lord!!!

    Blog Stops

    May 26: Just Commonly (Spotlight)
    May 27: A Greater Yes
    May 27: Cassandra M’s Place (spotlight)
    May 29: Bigreadersite
    May 29: Mary Hake
    June 4: Southern Chelle

    Giveaway



     To celebrate her tour, Carrie is giving away a Kindle Fire 7, one signed copy of Saving the Marquise's Granddaughter along with Postcard & bookmark and Fleur de Lis Earrings. Click the link to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/9a1a
    Posted by at No comments:

    Thursday, April 7, 2016

    The Reluctant Duchess + Giveaway

    Thereluctanctduchessfb1

    Book Information

    April, 2016 Purchase your copy here. Will Fleeing the Scottish Highlands Only Leave Her in More Danger? Lady Rowena Kinnaird may be the heiress to a Highland earldom, but she's never felt good enough--not for her father, not for the man she thought she'd marry, not for God. But after a shocking attack, she's willing to be forever an outcast if it means escaping those threatening her life. Brice Myerston, the Duke of Nottingham, has never been one to shy away from manor-born ladies, yet the last thing he needs is the distraction of the newly introduced Lady Rowena. He has enough on his plate having recently come into possession of a rare treasure for which many would kill, yet those around him seem intent on pairing him with this desperate but beguiling girl. Rowena is reluctant to marry this notorious flirt. And when she learns that Brice is mixed up in some kind of questionable business with a stolen treasure, she fears she'll end up in more danger than she fled.

    About the Author

    RoseannaWhite2014
    Roseanna M. White pens her novels beneath her Betsy Ross flag, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two children, editing and designing, and pretending her house will clean itself. The Reluctant Duchess is Roseanna’s eleventh published book. Her novels range from biblical fiction to American-set romances to her new British series. She lives with her family in West Virginia. Learn more at www.RoseannaMWhite.com


    Guest Post from Roseanna White

    Though I’ve written nearly thirty books, thirteen of which will be out by the end of 2016, there’s something very special about the Ladies of the Manor Series. The first book, The Lost Heiress, is a rewrite of the first novel I ever wrote—at the age of 12-13. Once I finished that first novel, I made it my goal to keep adding more manuscripts to my “finished” file. I started in immediately on the sequel . . . and soon ran into a problem. You see, I knew who I wanted these characters to be. Brice Myerston, a duke, whom readers would have met in the first book. And a young lady from Scotland who had suffered abuse.

    That’s it. That’s all I knew. And it stymied 13-year-old me, who hadn’t a clue what it felt like to suffer such things, and whose imagination, while rich, just lacked a certain basis in the realities of human nature. Probably a good thing that I gave up on the story back then, and didn’t dust it off again until my mid-20s, when I was reworking the series. And better still that Rowena had many more drafts to go through before she finally took to the printed page in The Reluctant Duchess.

    I narrowed my setting down, during those years, to the Highlands, and I chose Loch Morar because of how perfectly the region of Lochaber suited the story I wanted to tell. Isolated. Stark. Rugged. Beautiful. Sometimes cruel. This was a land utterly perfect for my heroine’s family, for her back story. Then came the challenge of picking a clan for her to belong to—because lemme just tell you, one could quite easily offend with such choices, if not portrayed properly, LOL. And because I wanted her father to be chief of her clan, I ran the risk of people mistaking him for the actual chief, if I chose an actual clan.

    A writing friend came to rescue and offered her last name for my heroine: Kinnaird (pronounced “kin-AIRD”), which is a sept (branch) of another clan in reality, so had no chief of its own, but was still a well-established Scottish name. Perfect!

    So Rowena Kinnaird was born after many years of her character floating in and around my head and computer screen. And I got to pair this backward, sometimes shy, sometimes stubborn Scottish lass with the charming, suave, polished English duke I’d had planned out since I was 13.

     I went to great pains in The Lost Heiress to make Brice Myerston a favorite character, so that readers HAD to read his story. Mwa ha ha ha. ;-) So far, so good on that score! Brice is a hero who has his faults, but he also has character. He has faith. He has a good heart, he’s considerate, he’s understanding. And he’s also so accustomed to charming everything female that he doesn’t quite know what to do when Rowena doesn’t seem inclined to be charmed.

    There are clashes. There is tension. There’s much healing on Rowena’s part. Many trials for them both. But I hope that through this story of The Reluctant Duchess readers see what it means to triumph over past hurts. And how brightly God shines against the darkness.

    Blog Stops

    April 12: Just Commonly
    April 12: Book by Book
    April 13: Melissa Wardwell
    April 14: A Holland Reads
    April 15: Splashes of Joy
    April 15: Story Matters
    April 16: Bookworm Mama
    April 16: bigreadersite
    April 17: cherylbbookblog
    April 17: A Greater Yes
    April 19: Henry Happens
    April 19: Karen Hadley
    April 21: Proverbial Reads
    April 21: Heidi Reads...
    April 24: Giveaway Lady
    April 24: Under His Wings

    Giveaway

    To celebrate the release of her book, Roseanna is giving away a few of Roseanna's favorite things. Click the link to enter: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e146afbf20/?
    Posted by at No comments:

    Thursday, March 17, 2016

    Playing the Part by Jen Turano +Giveaway

    Playing the Part by Jen Turano is a 352 page book in the Christian historical fiction genre.  It is published by Bethany House Publishers and was released on March 1, 2016.  To purchase your own copy, click here,

    About the Book

    final ptp cover.jpgLucetta Plum is an actress on the rise in New York City, but is forced to abandon her starring role when a fan’s interest turns threatening. Lucinda’s widowed friend, Abigail Hart, is delighted at the opportunity to meddle in Lucetta’s life and promptly whisks her away to her grandson’s estate to hide out. Bram Haverstein may appear to simply be a somewhat eccentric gentleman of means, but a mysterious career and a secret fascination with a certain actress mean there’s much more to him than society knows. Lucetta, who has no interest in Abigail’s matchmaking machinations, has the best intentions of remaining cordial but coolly distant to Bram. But when she can’t ignore the strange and mysterious things going on in his house, it’ll take more than good intentions to keep her from trying to discover who Bram is behind the part he plays.


    About the Author

    jen turanoJen Turano is the best-selling, critically acclaimed author ofThe Ladies of Distinction series, and A Class of Their Own series, published through Bethany House Publishers.  Her novel, After a Fashion, was chosen as a top pick from Romantic Times, as well as being named a top ten romance of 2015 from Booklist.  It is also a nominee for Romantic Times 2015 Reviewers’ Choice Award.  Her book, A Most Peculiar Circumstance, was chosen as a top ten romance by Booklist in 2013.  Her seventh book, Playing the Part, will release in the spring of 2016, followed by a new four-book series, The Wallflowers.  When she’s not writing, Jen spends her time outside of Denver with her husband and neurotic Cattle Dog, enjoying herself as an empty-nester since her son recently abandoned her for the college life.  She can be found on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/jenturanoauthor/ or visit her on the web at www.jenturano.com. She is represented by Susan Brower of the Natasha Kern Literary Agency. Her books may be found in most fine bookstores, or follow the Baker House Publishing link to find additional places to purchase her work.

    Givaway

    Jen is graciously giving away an entire set of this series! Click on the link to enter! https://promosimple.com/ps/937b

    Playing the part prize pack.jpg

    Blog Stops

    Visit all the blogs on the tour!

    March 16: cherylbbookblog
    March 18: Bookworm Mama
    March 21: A Greater Yes
    March 21: Southern Chelle
    March 22: Splashes of Joy
    March 23: Bigreadersite
    March 23: Texas Book-aholic
    March 24: 100 pages per hour
    March 25: simpleharvestreads
    March 25: Karen Krayons
    March 26: Buwurmzzz
    March 27: The Power of Words
    Posted by at No comments:
    Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)