The Prophetess by Jill Eileen Smith from Revell

The Prophetess by Jill Eileen Smith “At last, the mystical figure of Deborah comes to life! Jill Eileen Smith gives vivid voice to the women at the center of Israel’s victory over Canaan. A tale of strength and faith that bears relevance even today. Not to be missed!”–Tosca Lee, New York Times bestselling author Canaan has ravaged Israel. The people are in hiding. All that stands between surrender and hope is one untested woman.  Deborah will never forget the day her father and brothers left to worship at the Lord’s tabernacle–or the wails of her mother after finding their bodies at the city gates. The memories of Canaan’s cruelty haunt her and all of Israel. Now in this dark time, the Lord calls on Deborah to lead His people away from the idols of other nations and back to Him.  Deborah never asked to be a prophetess or a judge over God’s people. Still, she cannot deny His voice or the visions that accompany it. Can her family ever understand? Will her people believe God’s calling on her life? And can the Canaanite menace be stopped? With her trademark impeccable research and imaginative storytelling, Jill Eileen Smith brings to life the story of Israel’s most powerful woman in this intriguing and inspiring novel. Jill Eileen Smith is the author of the bestselling Wives of King David series and The Crimson Cord, as well as the Wives of the Patriarchs and the Loves of King Solomon series. Her research has taken her from the Bible to Israel, and she particularly enjoys learning how women lived in Old Testament times. She lives with her family in southeast Michigan. Jill loves to hear from her readers. Contact her at http://www.jilleileensmith.com, or follow her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jilleileensmith or Twitter @JillEileenSmith.   MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

Always Watching by Lynette Eason

“This is one of the best romantic suspense novels I’ve read in a long time. Highly recommended!”–Colleen Coble, author of The Inn at Ocean’s Edge and the Hope Beach series

Intensity. Skill. Tenacity.
The bodyguards of Elite Guardians Agency have it all.

When it becomes clear that popular psychiatrist and radio personality Wade Savage has a stalker, his father secretly hires Elite Guardians to protect his son. But when Wade’s bodyguard is attacked and nearly killed, agency owner Olivia Edwards must step in and fill the gap. 

Olivia’s skills are about to be tested to the limit as Wade’s stalker moves from leaving innocent gifts at his door to threatening those closest to him–including Olivia. But in her mind, even more dangerous than the threats to her life is the hold her handsome client has on her heart.

“Lynette has written another fast-paced book. It’s a race against death.”–DiAnn Mills, author of Deadlock

Lynette Eason is the bestselling author of the Women of Justice, the Deadly Reunions, and the Hidden Identity series. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. She lives in South Carolina. Learn more at http://www.lynetteeason.com.

 

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

 

 

 

 

Hannah’s Choice: by Jan Drexler from Revell

Hannah’s Choice
by Jan Drexler

 

When love and family conflict, will she listen to her head . . . or her heart?

Hannah Yoder loves her quiet life on the banks of Conestoga Creek. In 1842, this corner of Lancaster County is settled and peaceful–yet problems lurk beneath the placid façade. Hannah strives to be the one person who can bind the threads of her family together in spite of her father’s worries, her mother’s depression, and her sister’s rebellious ways. But her world threatens to unravel.

When two young men seek her hand in marriage–one offering the home she craves and the other promising the adventure of following God’s call west–Hannah must make a choice. Will she stay true to the faith of her family or defy her father and abandon her community?

“Jan Drexler’s Amish family is so engaging that we’re right there sitting down with them at their supper table, sharing their joys and sorrows as they embrace the adventure of life. A great read for anyone who enjoys a page-turning mix of appealing characters, exciting story action, sweet romance, and interesting history.”-Ann H. Gabhart, bestselling author of The Innocent

 

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

Jan Drexler‘s ancestors were among the first Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren immigrants to Pennsylvania in the 1700s. Their experiences are the basis for her stories. Jan is the author of several Love Inspired novels and lives in South Dakota with her husband, their four adult children, two active dogs, and a cat.

LITFUSE presents…A Daughters Dream by Shelley Shepard Gray

A Daughters Dream
by Shelley Shepard Gray

A Daughter’s Dream (Avon Inspire, May 2016)

A young teacher and farmer discover they have much in common, especially when it comes to healing old wounds from the past . . . and finding love in one another.

Rebecca Kinsinger has always dreamed of being a teacher. But when she’s given the opportunity she’s been waiting for at Charm Amish School, she’s dismayed to discover that teaching is hard work—work she’s afraid she’s not very good at.

That is, until Lilly Yoder joins the class. A thirteen-year old who’s just lost her parents, Lilly is in need of someone like Rebecca. For the first time since starting her new job, Rebecca feels a sense of purpose. But when she meets Lilly’s uncle, Jacob, his good looks and sweet, easy-going temperament are hard to ignore. How can she even entertain romantic thoughts of Jacob when his niece is her student?

Suddenly becoming Lily’s sole caregiver, Jacob Yoder never thought he’d be a single parent—or a farmer. Having been living in Florida as a carpenter, Jacob feels more at home wielding a hammer than a backhoe. The only bright spot in his life is Rebecca Kinsinger. As Lily and Rebecca develop a bond, Jacob’s fondness for the pretty teacher grows, too.

But when a fateful accident brings them together, Rebecca and Jacob must choose between duty and desire. Will they follow the path before them? Or set out to find true happiness . . . and true love?

 

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

Rebecca Kinsinger finally gets her dream of becoming a teacher, but things are just not going right with her teaching abilities. The job is just not what she thought it would be. When a new student comes to her class, Rebecca starts feeling like  for once, she is needed. Lilly has lost both parents, and her uncle Jacob has stepped up to be her parent, even though he is single and knows nothing about parenting. As Jacob and Rebecca spends more time together, Rebecca decides she wants more out of life than being a teacher.

I  love Shelley Shepard Gray’s books, and I fell in love with Rebecca and Jacob’s story! Ms. Gray does and exceptional job of weaving together the characters and different situations in this story, making it such a heartwarming and entertaining read. There was so much good stuff in this story that I found myself going back many times and re-reading pages or chapters. This is definitely a book I will keep and read again. If you are an Amish book fan, you will love Jacob and Rebecca’s story. I am patiently waiting for the next book in this series. I know it will be just as refreshing and entertaining as this one.

I received this book from Litfuse to read and review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 55.

 

 

Shelley Shepard Gray

 

Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.

Celebration Lit Tours presents….The Quieting by Suzanne Woods Fisher plus giveaway!

The Quieting
by Suzanne Woods Fisher

About the Book

The Stoltzfus family faces serious problems, both in the church and at home. Everyone in the community expects minister David Stoltzfus to fix things–fast. But David doesn’t work fast. He prefers to wait for God to work in individual hearts. However, even he is left wondering if the solution to their most pressing problem might be a Quieting.

When David’s mother arrives, uninvited, more upheaval is in store. She has matchmaking plans for everyone in the family, including David and her eligible granddaughters–and especially for David’s niece Abigail. When Abigail stumbles onto a curious connection during her genealogical research, it could help David solve one problem–but will it create another?

Bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher takes fans back to Stoney Ridge, delivering the twists, turns, and romance they adore.

About the Author

Suzanne Woods Fisher is an award-winning, bestselling author whose most recent novels include Anna’s Crossing and The Inn at Eagle Hill series, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace and The Heart of the Amish. She lives in California. Learn more at http://www.suzannewoodsfisher.com and follow Suzanne on Twitter @suzannewfisher.

 

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

Things haven’t been going so well since David Stoltzfus arrived in Stoney Ridge, Pennsylvania. The former Bishop was caught in acts of fraud. Yes an Amish Bishop! Now David has to someway calm down and straighten out this issue. But things keep getting worse instead of better. David’s oldest daughter ends up pregnant in Book one of this series, and in the beginning of Book two David’s mamm shows up to help him in taking care of his business. But that mamm, also known as the Meddling Mammi was going to be more trouble than help. She agreed with nothing David and his family was doing. Read the story to find out how Suzanne Woods Fisher untangles these horrific church and community problems.

I was excited to read the second book in this series, to read more about the people of Stoney Ridge. The arrival of Meddling Mammi gave the story more spice, because she was such a busy body she did meddle into everyone’s life. And of course everything had to go her way. On top of that, she wanted to try her meddling matchmaking skills, which headed up the household too!

I enjoyed visiting these Amish characters again, and meeting new ones. Ms. Fisher does an excellent job of weaving together the mess this community is in. The characters play their parts wonderfully, and the tensions just get tighter and tighter. And the only thing David was happy about was that he could now eat his mamm’s good cooking instead of his daughters, who couldn’t cook! And then there is the Glick family. Bishop Glick was the bad bishop, Birdy Glick was David’s new girlfriend, another Glick young man was pursuing one of the Ohio cousins. There is so much going on in this book, it is difficult to mention it all. You will not want to miss what happens in this second book in The Bishop’s Family Series.

I received this book from Blogging for Books to read and review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 55.

 

 

Blog Stops

May 17: Singing Librarian Books

May 17: Heidi Reads…

May 18: Just Commonly

May 18: D’S QUILTS & BOOKS

May 19: ASC Book Reviews

May 19: A Holland Reads

May 20: Inklings and Notions

May 20: Quiet Quilter

May 21: Daysong Reflections

May 21: cherylbbookblog

May 22: The Power of Words

May 22: Giveaway Lady

May 23: Texas Book-aholic

May 23: Splashes of Joy

May 24: Lane Hill House

May 24: Book by Book

May 24: Mary Hake

May 25: Jeanette’s Thoughts

May 25: Seasons of Opportunities

May 26: Book bites, Bee Stings & Butterfly Kisses

May 26: For the Love of Books

May 27: Southern Gal Loves to Read

May 27: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations

May 28: Reading Is My SuperPower

May 28: Cassandra M’s Place

May 29: Bukwurmzzz

May 29: Bigreadersite

May 30: Blossoms and Blessings

Guest Post from Suzanne Woods Fisher

Twenty years ago, my husband and I attended a large church with a dynamic senior pastor. Each Sunday, we would sit spellbound during 40 minute sermons—he was that good a preacher. And then a terrible thing came to light—this very man had been taking advantage of vulnerable women during counseling sessions. Fourteen women, it turned out, and the pastor remained unrepentant. As issues were dealt with, our entire church suffered. We were a hurting community. The sins of one affected all.

As I plotted out ‘The Bishop’s Family,’ I wanted to borrow the theme of how a leader’s sins hurts the church community. (Now, I need to clarify that this is not a novel that addresses sexual sin. However, it does address unrepentant sin in an ordained leader.) First, I spoke to some Amish friends to see if my story idea had any merit. Was I was on the right track? To my amazement, a similar situation to my novels had occurred in one Amish friend’s church, and it resulted in a “quieting.” That’s an Amish phrase that means revoking the responsibilities of an unrepentant ordained leader. Just like it sounds–he is, essentially, “quieted.”

In this novel, you’ll see the behind-the-scenes of Amish church leadership, and get a sense of how a community is hurting. And how it begins to heal, too.

This series began in the Stoney Ridge, Pennsylvania community with The Imposter. More twists and turns are coming to Stoney Ridge after The Quieting—so stay tuned for The Devoted to hit bookshelves in early October. Just in time for autumn reading by a warm fireplace!

Warmly, Suzanne

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Suzanne is giving away a grab bag of Amish-made gifts worth over $100! Click the link to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/99a8

 

Litfuse Presents…Through the Shadows by: Karen Barnette

Through the Shadows
by: Karen Barnette

Through the Shadows (Abingdon, May 2016)

As San Francisco rises from the ashes, an age-old battle looms between corruption and the promise of new beginnings.

The devastating earthquake is just two years past, but the city of San Francisco is still trying to recover. Destruction of this magnitude is not so easy to overcome-and neither are the past regrets shadowing Elizabeth King’s hopeful future.

Hoping to right her wrongs, Elizabeth dedicates herself to helping girls rescued from slavery in Chinatown brothels, even if it means putting her own life at risk to sneak through the gloomy alleys and rooftops where dangers lurk.

Putting her life on the line for a worthy cause is admirable. But opening her heart is even more terrifying. So when Elizabeth meets attorney, Charles McKinley—a man who dreams of reforming San Francisco’s crooked politics—Elizabeth begins to doubt: Can she maintain her pretense and hide her past? Or will her secret jeopardize both their futures?

Learn more and purchase a copy.

 

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

The city of San Francisco is trying to rebuild after the devastating disaster of the earthquake two years before. Elizabeth King is also trying to forget about the dark dreaded places of her past, so she dedicates herself to helping girls rescued from slavery in Chinatown brothels, and just maybe get in God’s good graces. And maybe Elizabeth’s new friend Charles McKinley can help with some on the paperwork side of helping these young girls.

The real life story and ministry of Donaldina Cameron is the inspiration for this story, Through the Shadows. Ms. Cameron served at San Francisco’s Presbyterian Mission and because of her ministry, 3000 young Chinese girls were rescued from slavery and prostitution. This made the story much more appealing, knowing these situations and issues acted out by these wonderful characters actually happened. Karen Barnette does a wonderful job weaving together this special story to not only tell of what happened in early history, as well as making us away of what is happening in the world.

I received this book from Litfuse to read and review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 55.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Karen Barnett is the author of “Beyond the Ashes,” “Out of the Ruins,” and “Mistaken.” Named the 2013 Writer of Promise by Oregon Christian Writers, Karen lives in Albany, Oregon, with her husband and two kids. When she’s not writing novels, she loves speaking at women’s events, libraries, and book clubs.

Previous Campaigns

Litfuse Presents…Someone Like You by Victoria Bylin plus giveaway

Someone Like You
by Victoria Bylin

Single mom Julia Dare has a lot on her plate.

A brand new Christian, Julia is busy trying to run her own business, spend time with her widowed mother, and raise her young son, Max, despite his father’s less-than-ideal influence on him. When a big account from her event-planning business sends her to the Caliente Springs resort, she’s shocked to come face-to-face with Zeke Monroe, the resort’s general manager and her college sweetheart.

With his faith in tatters, Zeke Monroe is determined to keep the historic Caliente Springs resort running despite financial difficulties. But when Julia walks back into his life, he can’t ignore the feelings she stirs up. As they work together on an important client’s dream wedding, the fate of the resort soon depends on their success. When Zeke and Julia are pushed to their limits both personally and professionally, will their history put up walls between them or bring them together?

Learn more and purchase a copy.

 

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

Julia is excited about going to the Caliente Springs Resort to hopefully land an account with her new event planning business. What she never expected was to run into her old boyfriend Zeke Monroe. The history with these two was years ago, but as they continued to spend time together, it was clear that old feelings begin to surface. But the there is Julia’s son’s dad that is in the picture, and he is determined to marry Julia to complete his family.

This is such a sweet heartwarming story, one that I loved reading! Victoria Bylin created and developed characters that fit the story so well, characters that found a special place in my heart, and characters that I wasn’t so impressed with because of their personality. Overall, the story, characters, setting, was very well written. There is a lot going on in this one book, and Victoria does an amazing job of weaving it altogether to make this a wonderful read. The romances, the working environment, dealing with the ex, and the other issues that comes up in this book are so realistic, it is almost like watching this story play out in real life.

Another point is, I appreciate the Godly values in the life of the Christian characters was so strong in the story, however, I was disappointed that redemption through the love, grace and forgiveness of the Lord wasn’t brought out in more detail. And I don’t want to go into it  more because it will give the story away! This is a sweet, heartwarming, clean romance that you don’t want to miss.

I received this book from Litfuse to read and review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 55.

 

Enter to win a copy of Someone Like You—five winners will be chosen! Click the image below to enter to win. The winners will be announced June 1 on the Litfuse blog!

 

Victoria Bylin

 

Victoria Bylin writes contemporary and historical romances known for their realistic, relatable characters. Her work has finaled in contests such as the Carol Awards, the RITAs, and the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award. A native of California, she and her husband now make their home in Lexington, Kentucky.

GIVEAWAY!! Mars . . . with Venus Rising

GIVEAWAY!!     GIVEAWAY!!     GIVEAWAY!!  

I am giving away a print copy of the book   Mars . . . with Venus Rising  by  Hope Toler Dougherty 

Contest Rules

Please comment below for a chance to win.
You can ‘like’ my review, and sign up to follow my blog for 2 extra chances to win.
Please note in message that you have liked my review and  followed my blog.
My son will choose a winner May 17th.

ALSO    May 17th is the last day to sign up for Hope Toler Daugherty’s Kindle Fire Giveaway.

Go HERE for details and my review of Mars . . . with Venus Rising