Dying To Read by Lorena McCourtney (The Cate Kinkaid Files)

Good Evening World! 

This is the first time I have heard of Lorena McCourney. Dying to Read had such a cute title that I had to check it out! Cate Kinkaid is rather down and out. Her plans for marriage have not worked. Her plans for jobs have not worked out at all! So her Uncle kindly let's her be a "junior" PI. Their firm only handles little things. Cheating spouses, lost items, nothing major. That was, nothing major until Cate tries to find a missing girl to get her alleged inheritance to her and winds up smack in the middle of a book club and a dead woman! With Uncle Joe suddenly in the hospital Cate is very much in the middle of trying to sort out if this was a murder, or an accident. The police say it is an accident, but the book club ladies say it isn't. They are the Whodunit club and they each suspected someone else in their group! Not to mention there is a missing boyfriend - who had been a boyfriend to two of the ladies, including the one who is now deceased. 

Then there is a beautiful blue eyed white cat - formerly owned by the "dearly" departed. The cat is suppose to be deaf, but Cate winds up with her as well. And Willow, the girl she was looking for who could pass for Cate if you weren't careful. Did she cause this crime, lead someone to it, or was a it all a weird freak accident? And then there is Mitch! He paints and does odd jobs, but that is just on the surface. Mitch really likes Cate, but we aren't sure if he is a good guy or not. 

There is plenty of suspicion to pass around, a good bit of mystery and a few dashes of romance as well in this book. Clearly someone did die, but you will have to read it yourself to find out if it was because she was Dying To Read, or for quite another reason. 

Carol 

NEW MYSTERY SERIES!
THE CATE KINKAID FILES

DYING TO READ is Book #1 in the new Cate Kinkaid Files mystery series. Cate, desperate for a job, goes to work as an assistant private investigator for her Uncle Joe's Belmont Investigations. Her first assignment is supposed to be easy and uncomplicated, no danger or mayhem, definitely no murder. All she needs to do is make certain a woman named Willow Bishop is living at a certain address. Instead, she finds herself up to elbows in Whodunit ladies, a paint-blobbed hunk, a deaf white cat - and killers!

My husband and I live in southern Oregon. For many years we lived on rural acreage, lots of space and country peace and quiet. But a few months ago we decided it was time to make the move to town.
If any of you have ever lived in one home for 32 years, you'll know how difficult a move this was. Emotionally difficult, but mostly it was all that STUFF we had to get rid of. Everything from two old sofas (one given away, one chopped up and burned) to a pair of mounted impala horns to a dump truck and a 1,000 gallon gasoline tank.

But the move is, at last, accomplished, and I'm finding myself quite pleased with town living.
I have one son and a granddaughter. Jim has two daughters and three grandchildren. Our family is fairly well scattered, so we do not see them as often as we’d like.

I started writing in the fifth grade. All my stories were about horses. This love of horses carried me through a degree in agriculture from Washington State University. My first job out of college, however, was with a big meat-packing company in the Midwest, where I quickly discovered that writing about hogs and sausage making was not my life’s calling.

Marriage and motherhood intervened, and by the time I got back to writing, I knew fiction was what I wanted to write. I started out doing short stories for children and teenagers, mostly for Sunday-School publications. Then, primarily because of financial pressures, I wrote women’s short stories and romance novels, all the time promising the Lord I would get back to Christian writing. Finally, after 24 published romance novels, the Lord made plain that it was time to make good on that promise. It was time to become a Christian author and write exclusively Christian fiction. The first 6 of these books were with the Palisades line of Christian romance, but with my 7th book of Christian fiction, WHIRLPOOL, I turned to a stronger emphasis on mystery.

One of the nicest perks of being a Christian author is hearing from readers, and I’d be delighted to hear from any of you. Contact me at lorena2@earthlink.net.

The book link: http://www.amazon.com/Dying-Read-Novel-Kinkaid-Files/dp/0800721586

The Author's Web Site: http://www.lorenamccourtney.com/

Available August 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Too Good To Be Truman by Chris Well (A Crime Comedy)

Hi Everyone,

This is a fun read.
Truman, as in yes--- Harry Truman is currently a down-and-out, unemployed, reporter/writer. He isn't doing  so well since the newspaper fired him as their best reporter. His replacement can't even get a story straight, nor get it edited properly. What's a man with nose for news to do with out a job? The typewriter is haunting him because he just can't get it together to get a novel out, and the bills are all way past due. As Truman tries to make heads or tails out of his miserable days in the piles of bills comes a letter. It says he GAVE half a million dollars to the local homeless shelter-mission. Yeah right, if that were the case he wouldn't be living in the total disaster currently called "home" on the verge of loosing it all. Truman figures this is nothing but junk mail, or a joke from his nemesis, until the IRS shows up at his place. They want to know how he got the money and that he has to have an investigation now. Then the FBI appears and they want to know what crime(s) he committed to get that much money, and why his place looks like it does when the bank says he had so much cash travel through his account suddenly. And if that hadn't made his little corner of the world precarious enough some very mean thugs type guys want answers about the money and they want them fast!

Well that is just a bit too much for Truman. He is involved whether he likes it or not and he must find out who did this and why before he winds up convicted of a crime he didn't commit, or killed trying to protect himself. It is looking 50/50 that it could go either way before he can get to the bottom of the matter. The bank says that is HIS signature, and sure enough, it matches! How on Earth did that happen? Where is that missing new singer? Young Darla has been kidnapped while her record sales are skyrocketing. Her producers are happy as can be as the money pours in from her hit sales, but the clues to find her are few and far between for the police. Truman has a few ideas of his own and what might be going on with the plot that has him framed and in deep trouble.

Along the way Truman makes a few new friends and finds out some very inventive ways to turn the tables on people who have been less than kind to him. Some of that was quite funny! Truman gets his act together more and more as he works to solve his own case and clear his name. I really enjoyed this fun book!
I hear that Too Bad To Be Truman is next, and I hope to have that review for you when I get to read it.

Carol

About the book: 

You Never Had Money Trouble Like This

When unemployed crime reporter Harry Truman gets a note from a local
mission thanking him for his generous contribution—to the tune of a half-million
dollars—he's reasonably certain he had nothing to do with it. But then the IRS
comes banging on his door, followed quickly by the FBI, and some very nasty
men, and soon Truman knows he's got to figure out who stuck him with this halo
if he doesn't want to get fitted with prison stripes—or a harp and wings...

About the Author:

Here's the deal: When I was in the first grade  my life goal was that I would grow up to be Batman. Because I thought it was a vocation -- you know, policeman, fireman, Batman. Once my first grade teacher crushed the dreams of that little boy I guess I decided I would do the next best thing and make up stories about Batman. And then somewhere after that I learned about things like "intellectual property" and "copyright law" and "cease and desist" and decided that I would have to make up stories about my own characters. So today I do just that: Write stories about my own characters -- whether it's a doomed hitman named  Solomon Long, or a grumpy old amateur sleuth Earl Walker, or an out-of-work smart alec crime reporter named Truman. My novels include the crime comedy TOO GOOD TO BE TRUMAN ; the Earl Walker whodunit - NURSING A GRUDGE and the Kansas City crime shoot-em-up FORGIVING SOLOMON LONG.

Sign up for my author newsletter and get a free eBook! I promise to only email you once every 
three months (give or take). Click here to sign up today!

The Author's Web Site: http://studiowell.com/

Eye Of The Sword by Karyn Henley (Angelaeon Circle)

Hello Everyone,

Today's book is Eye Of The Sword. 

This is my first book by Karyn Henley and it was very interesting!
Most of the characters in this book are Angels, but some are humans, and yet others are a mix of humans or immortals and angels. There are three main kingdoms, and a whole lot of politics and plots involved, and there is a great deal going on in several kingdoms.

Trevin is the main man for this tale. He is in love with Melaia, but he isn't free to marry her yet. At the moment Trevin is a newly appointed comains (think of a Knight) for Melaia's father, who is the king of Camrithia. Trevin has not even been totally assigned into his roll of comain before he has a new enemy.
The price of Dregmoors, Prince Varic wants Melaia as a peace treaty prize. The problem is that that Varic is just plain evil, selfish, mean and cruel. King Laetham has mood swings, and right now his mood is to marry Princess Melaia to Prince Varic so that there will be peace.

Thus Main Trevin, now a Main because he is a comain of King Laetham, is dispatched on a mission. He is to seek out the Oracle and bring back word to King Leatham, and find out where all the missing comains have gone. King Leatham is very short on comains as of late. In addition, Trevin has a mission of his own that is for Princess Melaia. Long ago there was a tree called The Wisdom Tree. It linked Earth to the Heavens and the Angels used it as a stairway to take souls that were allowed beyond the veil to their final reward. Only, this tree had something happen to it. A fruit was taken, and the Angel that guarded the tree said you must come back, and you must bring back the three seeds from inside the fruit. That didn't exactly happen. Instead two brothers and a niece swallowed the seeds. It caused them to be Immortal, and the two brothers are forever at war with each other. One is very evil, the other rather kind, and the girl who was the niece just very strange and confused. Even so, once this happened the tree was taken apart and from its wood was crafted three harps.

Princess Melaia has one that her Mother gave her. The rest is a riddle. One harp touches the sky, and one harp is as of stone. The three harps must be put back together to form the tree so that the Angels can again walk the stairs to the veil and beyond. This big event has to have the stars lined up correctly as well, so once every 200 years. That time is coming up quickly and if the world isn't to be taken over by evil plots of men and warped creatures then Trevin must find the harps.

Meanwhile, Trevin himself has lots of self -doubt and worry, and stress, and a great dealing of not knowing who he is. Before long his quest will lead him to be accused of murdering a Prince. He will have have to face the Eye of the Sword and in it he will see the ugliness of his soul, or the man he is going to become. A scary thing to face yourself and figure out what you can and can not do, especially when the lives of those you love hang on the actions you are able to accomplish.

Eye Of The Sword was quite an adventure, and I haven't gone nearly into the depth that I could with all the characters and plots that are occurring. It did well as a stand alone novel since I have not read the first book in the series. I am curious to read the next book because while very satisfying there are words from the Oracle that are not yet fulfilled. While written by a Christian writer, this book could pass in a secular venue with out hesitation.

Carol

Publisher's Description

Where angels walk the ground and the future is told in song, does a man of low rank have a chance at love with a princess?

In Camrithia, a land of shadows and mystical secrets, Trevin lives to serve King Laetham. But his heart belongs to the princess, Melaia. When the King sends Trevin on on a dangerous quest to find the missing comains—captains in the king’s army—he must leave Melaia to the advances of a swaggering Dregmoorian prince.

Challenged to prove his worth, Trevin throws himself into his quest. Striving to prove his love, Trevin undertakes a second mission—find the harps Melaia seeks in order to restore the stairway to heaven. Through fire caves, rogue winds, and murderous threats, Trevin remains steadfastly dedicated to his quest—even when he is falsely accused of a heinous crime. As Trevin’s time runs out, he realizes he must face the shame and horror of his own past and the nightmare that has come to life. Will he have the courage to finish what he has started?

Author Bio
Karyn Henley is a best-selling children’s book author and an Emmy-Award winning musician. She is the author of the original Beginner’s Bible, which sold over five million copies and was translated into 17 languages, and Breath of Angel, the first novel in the Angelaeon Circle. An accomplished songwriter, Karyn has been a Dove Award nominee and received a regional Emmy Award as music composer for a Christmas television special. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. 

Book link - The Eye Of The Sword
Author’s Web site - Karyn Henley
Author Blog - http://www.maybeso.wordpress.com/
Author Facebook page - Karyn-Henley

Tour Group:
Julie Bihn
Thomas Fletcher Booher
Keanan Brand
Beckie Burnham
Jackie Castle
Brenda Castro
Jeff Chapman
Christine
Theresa Dunlap
Cynthia Dyer
Victor Gentile
Ryan Heart
Janeen Ippolito
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Emileigh Latham
Rebekah Loper
Shannon McDermott
Karen McSpadden
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Anna Mittower
Mirriam Neal
Nissa
Faye Oygard
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
Kathleen Smith
Donna Swanson
Jessica Thomas
Steve Trower
Shane Werlinger
Phyllis Wheeler

The Haven by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Hello Readers,

It started with The Keeper, and now continues with The Haven. In the first book we met the Lapp family, and had a pretty big adventure. That didn't slow down with this book either. Sadie Lapp, the middle of the three Lapp girls is returning home. Only she isn't coming back home as she expected, she is coming home with a baby! Yes, an unwed Amish young woman with a baby in tow. Instantly people mange to start rumors about who the baby's father is, but they sort of forgot to ask Sadie a few very important questions. Especially Gid. Gideon sees Sadie with the new English boy Will and jumps to conclusions of his own! M.K., Sadie's little sister is blurting out things that are getting contorted and totally out of hand and M.K doesn't even know what all she has done wrong. As Will lives in the cottage that was once Roman's (from The Keeper) he is tracking the progress of a nest of rare breed falcons, and helping Sadie and her family with the baby.

Why should the Lapp family keep this baby, and what kind of repercussions will Sadie and her family face if they do? What are they going to do with Stern Fern, and is Amos Lapp's body rejecting his son Menno's heart?

There is a great deal going on in this book with multiple situations and I only covered a very few. I enjoyed learning more about what happened with the Lapp family after their oldest daughter moved with her husband. I wasn't totally wild about the way this book ended, but I am hoping that the changes that are yet to come will be in the third book.

Carol

About the Book: 

When Sadie Lapp steps off the bus in Stoney Ridge after being in Ohio for the winter, she is faced with a decision–one that goes against her very essence. Yet it’s the only way she can think of to protect a loved one.

Schoolteacher Gideon Smucker has been crazy about Sadie since boyhood. But his response to her surprising decision undermines his own reputation–and his relationship with Sadie.

College student Will Stoltz is spending the spring at the Lapp farm as a guard for a pair of nesting Peregrine Falcons–courtesy of the Lancaster County Game Warden. Will needs to get his life back on track, but his growing friendship with Sadie threatens his plans.

The lives of these three individuals intertwine, and then unravel as unexpected twists create ripples through the town of Stoney Ridge . . . and through Sadie’s heart.

Once again, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher intrigues and delights with a story that explores the bonds of friendship, family, and true love. Readers will enjoy every surprise in Sadie’s story as they search for the truth hidden within these pages.

Read part of the book!!!

About the Author:

Suzanne Woods Fisher is a bestselling author of Amish fiction and non-fiction, the host of a weekly radio program called Amish Wisdom and a columnist for Christian Post and Cooking & Such magazine. The Waiting was a finalist for a 2011 Christy Award. The Choice and The Search have been finalists for Carol Awards. Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World and Amish Proverbs: Words of Wisdom from the Simple Life were both finalists for the ECPA Book of the Year (2010, 2011).

Her interest in the Amish began with her grandfather, who was raised Plain in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. She travels back east a couple of times each year for research. For fun, too.

Suzanne has a great admiration for the Plain people and believes they provide wonderful examples to the world. She has an underlying belief in her books–you don’t have to “go Amish” to incorporate many of their principles into your life: simplicity, living with less, appreciating nature, forgiving others more readily, trusting in God.

When Suzanne isn’t writing, playing tennis (badly!), or bragging to her friends about her grandbabies (so cute!), she is raising puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. To her way of thinking, you just can’t take life too seriously when a puppy is tearing through your house with someone’s underwear in its mouth.

Keep up on Suzanne’s latest news by receiving her e-newsletter, as well as connecting on Facebook, Twitter and her blog!

Available August 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of 

Baker Publishing Group.

Win a Kindle Fire or Nook Color from Suzanne Woods Fisher!!!!

Celebrate the newest book in the Stoney Ridge Seasons series with Suzanne Wood Fisher by entering her 4 eReader Giveaway and Facebook Party and RSVPing for the Live Video Chat on 8/30!

Four grand prize winners will receive:

            • A Brand new Kindle Fire or Nook Color 

            • $25 Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com Gift certificate 

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on August 29th. Winner will be announced at Suzanne's Live Author Chat Party on 8/30. Suzanne will be hosting an author chat (party will start on Facebook AND then be Live from her website) and giving away books, gift certificates and several Burt's Bees® Nourishing Radiance Kits!!

So grab your copy of The Haven and join Suzanne on the evening of the August 30th for a fun chat (both on Facebook and via Live Video), trivia contest and lots of giveaways.

Don't miss a moment of the RSVP today. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 30th!

Celebrate the newest book in the Stoney Ridge Seasons series with Suzanne by entering her 4 eReader Giveaway and Facebook Party and RSVPing for the Live Video Chat on 8/30! 

See what folks are saying about The Haven!

Four grand prize winners will receive:

• A Brand new Kindle Fire or Nook Color 
• $25 Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com Gift certificate 

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on August 29th. Winner will be announced at Suzanne's Live Author Chat Party on 8/30. Suzanne will be hosting an author chat (party will start on Facebook AND then be Live from her website) and giving away books, gift certificates and several Burt's Bees® Nourishing Radiance Kits!!

So grab your copy of The Haven and join Suzanne on the evening of the August 30th for a fun chat (both on Facebook and via Live Video), trivia contest and lots of giveaways. 

Don't miss a moment of the RSVP today. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 30th!

A Sweethaven Homecoming by Courtney Walsh

Hello All My Readers,

It started with A Sweethaven Summer. Before long, fall is approaching and here things go with trips to make to visit  A Sweethaven Homecoming. I hadn't planned to read this book in one sitting. Due to my crazy schedule I sure needed to, yet hadn't planned it, but that is exactly what happened. Once I started reading again about the ladies we last left in A Sweethaven Summer the pages just flew by fast. 

Lila, Jane and Mehgan were Suzanne's best friends before tragedy, secrets, and life just tore them all apart. 

In the first book Suzanne came back to Sweethaven and did some straightening out of a few things, mainly her long lost friendships and secrets she had kept before she died. Now her daughter, Campbell has decided to move to Sweethaven and see what happens now. Campbell leaves behind her Mother's friend Tilly who isn't at all pleased that Campbell is doing this. 

While this book had scrap booking it in, it was not driving the story as much as before. Now we get in depth into the lives of these ladies, their pain, their dreams, their joys, and their families. Wifes have to figure out if there is a chance of their marriage healing. Ex-husbands have to decide their ex-wifes are worth fighting for and winning their hearts back, or if the pain is so great that they can't win them back. 

Meghan has to choose what is more important, her two twin children, or if she is a liability and a detriment

to their lives and she should just keep staying away from them. Meghan has a huge country music star career looming, but the pull to her ex-husband and the desperate need for her children will either heal them all, or destroy them all, and she isn't sure which one! 

That just touches the surface of this book and all the people and relationships in it. I enjoyed my second visit back to Sweethaven. All I can say at the end is that I do wish it was a quick thing to have broken relationships mended, missing friendships rejoined, forgiveness and healing brought so quickly and easily. I know it happens, and maybe reading this book will soften some of the harder hearts. 

Carol 

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing A Sweethaven Homecoming Guideposts (August 2012)
by Courtney Walsh

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Courtney Walsh is a published author, scrapbooking expert, theatre director and playwright. Her debut novel, A Sweethaven Summer, was released in February, 2012 by Guideposts Books, and will be followed by two additional novels in the series. She has also written two papercrafting books, Scrapbooking Your Faith and The Busy Scrapper and is currently working on her third, The Scrapcrafter’s Idea Book (F&W Publications, February, 2013.)

Courtney has been a contributing editor for Memory Makers Magazine and Children’s Ministry Magazine and is a frequent contributor to Group Publishing curriculum, newsletters and other publications. She has also written several full-length musicals, including her most recent, The Great American Tall Tales and Hercules for Christian Youth Theatre, Chicago. Courtney is a member of ACFW and is the current PR Manager for Webster’s Pages, a scrapbooking manufacturer. She lives in Colorado with her ultra creative husband and three children.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Suzanne's daughter, Campbell, journeys there in search of answers to her questions about her mother's history.

Suzanne's three friends-Lila, Jane, and Meghan-were torn apart by long-buried secrets and heartbreak. Though they haven't spoken in years, each has pieces of a scrapbook they made together in Sweethaven.Suzanne's letters have lured them all back to the idyllic lakeside town, where they meet Campbell and begin to remember what was so special about their long Sweethaven summers.

As the scrapbook reveals secrets one by one, old wounds are mended, lives are changed, and friendships are restored-just as Suzanne intended.

If you would like to read the first chapter of A Sweethaven Homecoming, go HERE.

Courtney can be reached through the Contact link on her Website 

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0824931718 

Lethal Legacy by Irene Hannon (Guardian's of Justice Book 3)

Lethal Legacy is the third book in this series. The first two are Fatal Judgement and Deadly Pursuit. In this book the characters from the first two books are still with us. This book focuses on Cole and Kelly. Cole is the youngest son in the family, the prior two books focusing on each of the other sons. Kelly's father is dead, and Kelly is totally convinced it was a murder.Cole doesn't think so. Kelly is so sure of this that she finds the  proof she needs to get help from the police, but in doing so she has put herself in danger of being the next victim on the list. Cole has to stop that from happening or loose the woman he is now interested in. 

Things are never that easy though. As it often happens in real life, Kelly is snuggled up close to God and Cole is mad at Him. If they are going to have a lasting relationship, providing they don't die first, then Cole has to get his life back on track with God.

This book is still family themed, as the brothers are all very close to each other even though their stories are spread out over three books. There is romance, and a lot of running about called action. I am a bit frustrated though by lots of the one liners that Cole tends to use, but I think that is just probably me. I didn't find lots of twists, but it takes something exceedingly complicated for me to not see the end coming most of the time. 

A nice enough close to the series, though I wonder if Ms. Hannon might want to do a single book later with all three of the brothers and their lives several years later from the time frame they are in now. 

Carol 

About the Book:

The police say her father's death was suicide. But Kelly Warren says it was murder--and she has new evidence that she believes proves it. Detective Cole Taylor doesn't put much credence in her claim, and nothing in his case review suggests foul play. But when Kelly ends up in the emergency room with a suspicious life-threatening medical condition, the incident strikes him as more than just coincidence. Digging deeper, he discovers she's linked to a long-ago crime. Is history repeating itself? And who wants Kelly silenced?

With her trademark high-intensity action and taut suspense, Irene Hannon closes out her Guardians of Justice series with a story of old grudges and budding romance that is sure to increase her substantial fan base.

   About the Author:

Two-time RITA Award winner Irene Hannon is the author of more than 35 novels, including the bestselling Heroes of Quantico series and Guardians of Justice series. Her books have also been honored with a Carol Award, a HOLT Medallion, a Daphne du Maurier award, and two Reviewers' Choice Awards from RT Book Reviews magazine. She lives in Missouri.

Her website is: http://www.irenehannon.com/news.html
Read a little bit of this book: http://www.irenehannon.com/leathallegacy.html
The Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/Lethal-Legacy-Novel-Guardians-Justice/dp/0800734580

Available August 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Chasing The Wind by Pamela Ewen

Chasing The Wind is brought to us by Pamela Ewen. She is the author of The Secret of the Shroud, and Dancing on Glass. You can read my reviews of those two books by clicking on their links. My current life has been hectic of late that I started to not get this book, but seeing that it was my change to read a third book by Pamela Ewen I decided I would. I am glad I didn't miss out! I had not realized that Chasing The Wind was going to be a sequel of sorts to Dancing on Glass. Dancing on Glass grabbed my attention and my memory very deeply. 

So now we return to Amelise. Having just barley survived her abusive husband, and having had some of the super traumatizing parts of his death blocked from her memory, Amelise has had to return to work. She is back at the law offices again. Jude, who we met in the first book, has manged to nudge her back into her former life in the office, but she isn't quite the same as she was. Jude had given up on love with Amelise when she married her now deceased husband Philip, and he is now in a relationship with her friend Rebecca. Rebbeca who also happens to be a rival to the firm that Amelise works with now. So here stands Amelise, amazed that she is more or less intact after what Philip put her through, and how her life is changed, and how it hasn't and as she stands looking over the view of the city a gleam, a glint, a flash of light garners her notice. 

The time is 8:47 and the date is October 12, 1977. Amelise figures she is the only one who saw this little light show, that is a small plane landing, but that isn't so. 

At that exact same time a little boy sees the glint of light, but his reaction isn't quite the same. This little boy is oriental, and hasn't live in the USA always. He is a Cambodian refugee, and that same light makes him have flash backs and memories of the terrors he has endured already in his lifetime. 

That glint of light was caused by a plane landing. A plane with a well off business man on board who is coming to town for a purpose. A purpose that will soon tie Amelise together with a little boy who has lived an entire lifetime of war, pain and horror by the age of 6. It will also tie Amelise to a project to build a massive and rather tacky hotel smack next to the French Quarter of New Orleans, and to the detriment of a great many people. 

So while you maybe wondering if that is just coincidence, I am here to tell you that just isn't so. A might God is leading each and every step and before us are laid choices. Choices to act, or not to act, to care or not care, to hear the still small voice and follow, or to wish we had know what might have been. In Chasing the Wind happenstance is not just a coincidence. You will have to read this book to find out if Jude and Amelise being together is part of the bigger picture or not, and where the little boy Luke fits into this, as well as the wealthy business man Bingham Murdock, and what the outcome could mean to New Orleans and to the law firm Amelise works for. 

I am very glad I got the second book with Amelise in it, and I hope there is another one in the works. 

Carol 

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Chasing The Wind B&H Books (August 1, 2012)
by Pamela Ewen
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Until recently retiring to write full time, Pamela Binnings Ewen was a partner in the Houston office of the international law firm of BakerBotts, L.L.P., specializing in corporate finance. She now lives just outside New Orleans, Louisiana, with her husband, James Lott.

She has served on the Board of Directors of Inprint, Inc., a non-profit organization supporting the literary arts in Houston, Texas, as well as the Advisory Board for The New Orleans Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Tennessee Williams Festival in New Orleans; Pamela is a co-founder of the Northshore Literary Society in the Greater New Orleans area. She is also a member of the National League of American Pen Women.

Pamela’s first novel, Walk Back The Cat (Broadman & Holman. May, 2006) is the story of an embittered and powerful clergyman who learns an ancient secret, confronting him with truth and a choice that may destroy him.

She is also the best-selling author of the acclaimed non-fiction book Faith On Trial, published by Broadman & Holman in 1999, currently in its third printing.

Although it was written for non-lawyers, Faith On Trial was also chosen as a text for a course on law and religion at Yale Law School in the Spring of 2000, along with The Case For Christ by Lee Stroble. Continuing the apologetics begun in Faith On Trial, Pamela also appears with Gary Habermas, Josh McDowell, Darrell Bock, Lee Stroble, and others in the film Jesus: Fact or Fiction, a Campus Crusade for Christ production.

Pamela is the latest writer to emerge from a Louisiana family recognized for its statistically improbable number of successful authors. A cousin, James Lee Burke, who won the Edgar Award, wrote about the common ancestral grandfathers in his Civil War novel White Dove At Morning.

Among other writers in the family are Andre Dubus (Best Picture Oscar nomination for The Bedroom; his son, Andre Dubus III, author of The House of Sand and Fog, a Best Picture Oscar nomination and an Oprah pick; Elizabeth Nell Dubus (the Cajun trilogy); and Alafair Burke, just starting out with the well received Samantha Kincaid mystery series.

ABOUT THE BOOK

At 8:47 A.M. on Wednesday, October 12, 1977, new-to-town businessman Bingham Murdock flew his small plane into New Orleans, banking it in such a way that a ray of sunshine shot through the city at light speed.

Amalise Catoir saw the flash from her sixteenth floor law office window. Finally feeling alive after the death of her abusive husband, she imagined seeing the plane was a fate for her eyes only; a special connection between the unknown giver and she, the recipient of light.

But someone else saw it, a six-year-old Cambodian refugee in foster care for whom a sudden burst of brightness reminds him of artillery fire.

Destined to cross paths with the man and the child, Amalise doesn’t yet know the deeper spiritual lesson she will learn: that we are responsible not only for the things we do, but also for the things that we don’t.

If you would like to read an excerpt of Chasing The Wind, go HERE.

Pamela can be reached through the Contact link on her Website. 

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/080546431X