Summer on SunSet Ridge by Sharlene Maclaren

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About the Book

 

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Book: Summer on Sunset Ridge, Freedom Series Book 1

Author: Sharlene MacLaren

Genre: Historical Christian Romance

Brought up on a Quaker farm near Philadelphia at the brink of the Civil War, plainspoken Rebecca Albright is charitable, peace-loving, submissive—and a feisty abolitionist. Determined to aid the Underground Railroad no matter what the cost, her path collides with that of formidable slave-catcher Clay Dalton. When Rebecca is assigned to nurse Clay back to health following a near-fatal gunshot wound, her uneasiness around him and the questions surrounding his mysterious past complicate their strained but developing relationship.

Sherriff Clay Dalton is grimly fighting several battles of his own as he stays on at the Albright farm to work off his debt to the family that has saved his life and taken him in. He is torn between his past commitments in the South and his unlikely present among this quiet Quaker community in the North. Almost against his will, he begins to ponder the impossible idea of a future with Rebecca.…

When tensions between North and South escalate, Rebecca and Clay find themselves propelled on a journey to discover just who God has called them to be, and they soon realize that each holds a key to the other’s answer.

 

About the Author

Sharlene MacLaren Born and raised in western Michigan, award-winning, bestselling author Sharlene MacLaren attended Spring Arbor University. After graduating, she traveled with a nationally touring Christian vocal ensemble, returning home to Spring Arbor to marry her husband, Cecil, whom she’d known since childhood. Together they raised two daughters. Now happily retired after teaching elementary school for 31 years, “Shar” enjoys reading, singing in the church choir and worship teams, traveling, and spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren. Her novels include the contemporary romances Through Every Storm, Long Journey Home, and Tender Vow; the beloved Little Hickman Creek series (Loving Liza Jane, Sarah, My Beloved, Courting Emma, and  Christmas Comes to Little Hickman Creek, a novella), and three historic romance trilogies: The Daughters of Jacob Kane (Hannah Grace, Maggie Rose, and Abbie Ann); River of Hope (Livvie’s Song, Ellie’s Haven, and Sofia’s Secret); Tennessee Dreams:  Heart of Mercy, Threads of Joy, and Gift of Grace.

 

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

Twenty one year old Quaker young woman Rebecca Albright has a determination to work with the Underground Railroad to help slaves to their freedom. Sneaking out and following her dad one night ends with a sheriff with amnesia staying in their home and Rebecca taking care of him. But where is her from? And what was he doing out at night in their neighborhood? Author Sharlene MacLaren writes a fantastic heartwarming story that will keep you entertained for hours.

Rebecca was a bit feisty, and she sure didn’t want what her parents has planned for her life. Marrying a man she doesn’t love is just not in her plans. She wants to at least marry for love, and marry a man with the same goals and loves that she has, and that is helping slaves find the freedom they deserve. I really enjoyed getting to know Rebecca and her family. I always appreciate stories about helping bring slaves to freedom, even though it is so very dangerous. And you will even find a bit of humor in the mist of this serious story. Overall, this is a most entertaining and wonderful read, one I highly recommend.

I received this book from Celebration Lit Blog Tours 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

January 19: Reading Is My SuperPower

January 19: Giveaway Lady

January 19: A Reader’s Brain

January 20: Books. Books. And More Books.

January 20: The Power of Words

January 21: Bigreadersite

January 21: just the write escape

January 22: Moments Dipped in Ink

January 22: For The Love of Books

January 23: Book Bites, Bee Stings, and Butterfly Kisses

January 23: Genesis 5020

January 24: Pause for Tales

January 24: His Grace is Sufficient

January 25:  Book by Book

January 25: A Simple Life, really?!

January 26: A Greater Yes

January 26: Connie’s History Classroom

January 26: A Baker’s Perspective

January 27: Christian Author: A.M. Heath

January 27: Splashes of Joy

January 28: D’S QUILTS & BOOKS

January 28: Christian Bookaholic

January 28: History, Mystery & Faith

January 29: Stuff & Nonsense

January 29: Bibliophile Reviews

January 30: cherylbbookblog

January 30: Daysong Reflections

January 31: Blossoms and Blessings

January 31: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations

February 1: Reader’s cozy corner

February 1: Rhonda’s Doings

Giveaway

To celebrate Sharlene’s tour, Whitaker House is giving away:

Grand Prize

Brown and tan fashion purse with cross, multiple interior and exterior pocketsand

and

Five Sharlene MacLaren titles: Summer on Sunset Ridge (Forever Freedom #1); Heart of Mercy (Tennessee Dreams #1); Livvie’s Song (River of Hope #1); Hannah Grace (Daughters of Jacob Kane #1); Loving Liza Jane (Little Hickman Creek #1)

Second Prize

“Keepers of the Light” Orange/Cinnamon/Clove candle from www.acheerfulgiver.com and

Summer on Sunset Ridge

Third Prize

Summer on Sunset Ridge

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post to earn 9 extra entries in the giveaway!

https://promosimple.com/ps/af21

 

Tune In The Beatles…All These Years

ABOUT THE BOOK

Now in paperback, Tune In is the New York Times bestseller by the world’s leading Beatles authority – the first volume in a groundbreaking trilogy about the band that revolutionized music.

The Beatles have been in our lives for half a century and surely always will be. Still, somehow, their music excites, their influence resonates, their fame sustains. New generations find and love them, and while many other great artists come and go, the Beatles are beyond eclipse.

So . . . who really were these people, and just how did it all happen?

‘The Beatles story’ is everywhere. Told wrong from early on, rehashed in every possible way and routinely robbed of its context, this is a phenomenon in urgent need of a bright new approach. In his series All These Years, Mark Lewisohn – the world-recognized Beatles historian – presses the Refresh button to relate the entire story as it’s never been told or known before. Here is a full and accurate biography at last. It is certain to become the lasting word.

Tune In is book one of three, exploring and explaining a period that is by very definition lesser-known: the formative pre-fame years, the teenage years, the Liverpool and Hamburg years – in many ways the most absorbing and incredible period of them all. The Beatles come together here in all their originality, attitude, style, speed, charisma, appeal, daring and honesty, the tools with which they’re about to reshape the world. It’s the Beatles in their own time, an amazing story of the ultimate rock band, a focused and colorful telling that builds and builds to leave four sharp lads from Liverpool on the very brink of a whole new kind of fame.

Using impeccable research and resources, Tune In is a magisterial work, an independent biography that combines energy, clarity, objectivity, authority and insight. The text is anti-myth, tight and commanding – just like the Beatles themselves.

Here is the Beatles story as it really was. Throw away what you think you know and start afresh.

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

If you are a Beatles fan, you need this book! Mark Lewisohn was hired to do an amazing job, to listen to every Beatles recording session tape that existed and catalog them. And this is what this book is. It has everything The Beatles recorded. I grew up during The Beatles era, so I love this book. I sat for hours and hours just reading through this book. Its fantastic and has a host of information. Some of the songs I had forgotten about, and it was nice to refresh my memory again. This is the book you want to add to your Beatles collection.

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.

Celebration Lit Tours presents Never Forget by Jody Hedlund

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About the Book

Book: Never Forget

Author: Jody Hedlund

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: January 4, 2017

Rose Island Lighthouse, Rhode Island

June 1880

Will she betray his trust to stay on the island she loves?

Abbie Wilson is content to spend her days clamming, crabbing, and tending Rose Island Lighthouse. Her grandpa is the head light keeper, but his senility may lead to their eviction. Since leaving the island would kill her beloved Gramps, Abbie will do anything to keep him in the one place he knows and loves.

Wealthy Nathaniel Winthrop III’s wild living has gained him a reputation as the ‘bad boy’ among the elite social circles of Newport. After a blow to the head in a yachting accident washes him up on Rose Island, Nathaniel has no memories of his past.

Abbie tends the wounded stranger in her home only to realize he assumes they’re married. Although she knows she needs to correct Nathaniel’s mistake, his presence calms Gramps and provides a way to prevent eviction from the lighthouse.

The longer the charade continues, the harder it gets for Abbie to tell Nathaniel the truth, more so as she begins to fall in love. Everyone she’s ever loved has abandoned her. Will Nathaniel leave her too, once he discovers he’s not really her husband?

 

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

If there was ever two people that was a different as day and night, it is Abbie Watson and Nathaniel Winthrop III. But when Nathaniel washed up on the shores of Rose Island, memory gone, they seemed like just two ordinary people, but were they?

I absolutely love Abbie. She is so devoted to her grandpa that she will do anything to keep him on Rose Island as keeper of the Lighthouse. Nathaniel Winthrop III’s lost memory is just too tempting not to take advantage of. Of course Abbie had no idea who he was at the time. And thinking he is Abbie’s deadbeat husband, Nathaniel is the sweet, hardworking, heartthrob that any woman would cherish. But the way Nathaniel is with Abbie’s sweet grandpa is just heart touching. I was in awe reading this entire story. There are so many emotions flying around, a lot of twists and turns, some just plane evil, and others so heartbreaking. And Jody Hedlund weaves it all together into a story that will stay with you long after you finish reading the book. The characters were so well developed, so real, by the time I finished reading, I felt I had new friends. The historical setting with the Lighthouse and what is involved in its care was new to me and I enjoy the knowledge I now have of how a keeper’s life was before modern technology. All in all, as you can tell, I love, love, love this story. If you enjoy historical Christian fiction, you can’t go wrong with Never Forget. And one more thing, I love and appreciate the way the Gospel was so neatly brought out in the lives of these characters. I enjoy giving books like this to love ones that don’t know the Lord.

I received this book from Celebration Lit Blog Tours 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

Winner of the 2016 Christian Book Award and Christy Award,  best-selling author Jody Hedlund writes inspirational historical romances for both youth and adults.

Jody lives in central Michigan with her husband, five busy children, and five spoiled cats. Although Jody prefers to experience daring and dangerous adventures through her characters rather than in real life, she’s learned that a calm existence is simply not meant to be (at least in this phase of her life!).

When she’s not penning another of her page-turning stories, she loves to spend her time reading, especially when it also involves consuming coffee and chocolate.

Guest Post from Jody Hedlund

Which Do You Prefer: Series or Standalones?

By Jody Hedlund

Readers usually have strong opinions about whether they like series or standalones.

Some readers refuse to read books that are inter-related. Others can’t get enough books about their favorite characters.

I see the pros and cons of both.

For series, I don’t like feeling lost as I try to wade through previous characters along with their backstory. I recently started a series by a well-known author and was disappointed to realize the first book was connected to a previous series she’d already published. From the get-go, I felt left out as though I didn’t quite know who all the characters were or their significance.

On the other hand, for standalones, I sometimes feel as though I would like the story to continue. I’ve invested in the setting and characters and so enjoy when I can return to that place and continue to glimpse the characters I’ve fallen in love with—even if from a distance.

My favorites are books that fall in the middle between standalone and series. I like to think of them as standalones within a series. Becky Wade’s Porter brother series is like that. Each of the books centers around one of the brothers (and a tomboy sister). While characters from other books make an appearance in the stories, each plot is separate and complete without any reliance upon another book.

My Beacons of Hope lighthouse series falls in the middle too. The books are related in that they all take place at lighthouses and share a symbolic “cross of hope” that is passed on from one book to the next. A minor character in a previous book becomes the hero or heroine in the next book. But each book can be read by itself without having read any of the others.

In other words, readers can pick up my newest release, Never Forget, which is the fifth and final book in the series, and they wouldn’t be confused about who the characters are or what their history is. The plot starts with a bang and ends with a satisfying sigh. It is complete story unto itself.

And yet, for those who’ve read other books in the series, they’ll get to see the happily-ever-after of a character from a previous book. And they’ll also get to find out where the cross of hope finally ends.

If you’re not a fan of series, I encourage you to give the Beacons of Hope series a try. It might satisfy the need for standalones and series all in one neat little package.

To that end, I’m giving away all FIVE books in the series as part of the Celebrate Lit blog tour to one lucky winner!

Tell us: What is your preference: Standalones, Series, or Standalones within a Series?

Blog Stops

January 10: Reading Is My SuperPower

January 10: Karen Sue Hadley

January 10: Bookworm Mama

January 11: Faithfully Bookish

January 11: Inklings and Notions

January 11: Blossoms and Blessings

January 12: Smiling Book Reviews

January 12: Genesis 5020

January 12: Christian Chick’s Thoughts

January 13: God’s Little Bookworm

January 13: The Scribbler

January 13: Bibliophile Reviews

January 14: Daysong Reflections

January 14: Blogging With Carol

January 14: Chas Ray’s Book Nerd Corner

January 15: Moments Dipped in Ink

January 15: Books. Books. And More Books.

January 16: A Greater Yes

January 16: Bigreadersite

January 17: Connie’s History Classroom

January 17: D’S QUILTS & BOOKS

January 18: Book by Book

January 18: Jeanette’s Thoughts

January 19: Carpe Diem

January 19: A Bakers Perspective

January 19: Splashes of Joy

January 20: Christian Bookaholic

January 20: Stuff and Nonsense

January 20: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations

January 21: Radiant Light

January 21: cherylbbookblog

January 21: His Grace is Sufficient

January 22: Neverending Stories

January 22: A Path of Joy

January 23: History, Hope, Laughter & Happily-ever-after

January 23: Henry Happens

January 23: Onceuponatime

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jody is giving away the entire Beacons of Hope series. Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/ad6d