Friday, July 31, 2020

Still Small Voice by Allen Brokken (Towers of Light Book 2)


About the Book

Book:  Still Small Voice

Author: Allen Brokken

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Release Date: July 24, 2020

The Still Small Voice Leads the WayStill Small Voice - ebook (1)

Because of their faith, twelve-year-old Lauren and her younger brothers, Aiden and Ethan, prevailed in the battle for the Tower of Light. But their victory did not stop the Dark One. Darkness continues to spread across Zoura’s frontier.

Now, in a vision, Mother tells them to light a second tower in Blooming Glen. Before they can set out on their journey with the Knight Protector, their Uncle arrives with a different set of instructions. He doesn’t trust the Knight Protector or the Mighty Mercenaries and believes the children should go to grandma’s house instead.

Unyielding in his belief, Uncle unknowingly leads the children off their path. And a misguided acolyte follows them. Lurking in the shadows, he strikes at every opportunity as the dark forces prepare to descend.

Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan are Zoura’s last defense. Can they convince their Uncle of the truth—that he must listen to the still small voice—and make it to Blooming Glen before the Dark One’s forces overtake them?

 

Click here to get your copy!

My Review:

Book two picks right up where the first book left off. I love how the author did that, it was like finally watching the second episode of a favorite TV series. Now, let's get to the crux of the matter. What voice are you hearing and what voice do you follow? The children's uncle is not a believer. So how much of his voice can they head? Being a fantasy read, the creatures that are included are simply fantastic. You have to hear the voice of the Light if you are to follow the Light and not be deceived by Darkness. Going through this struggle with these kids was a read well worth reading. I love this series even more than I did before.  

5 Enormous Stars! 

About the Author

Allen Brokken is a teacher at heart, a husband and father most of all. He’s a joyful writer by the abundant grace of God. Follow his endeavors @towersoflight, @twodadsandajoke, and http://www.brokken.net. Your children can grow their own faith and love of God by following the adventures of Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan (plus their pets!) at instagram.com/towersoflight.

 

 

 

 

More from Allen

Still Small Voice is the much anticipated 2nd book in the Towers of Light series.  We will be launching the book with a Celebrate Lit tour on July 24th.  Come on the tour to learn about some of the places author Allen Brokken visited to research the unique frontier setting for the series.  Five of the tour stops are interviews where he shares what he learned at different historical locations as well as his inspiration for the second book which focuses in listing for the Holy Spirit’s still small voice.

As defenders of the light, three children embark on a journey to stop the dark forces invading their land.

Louder than ever before, the message of listening to the holy spirit’s still small voice resonates with an urgency that demands action.

“Still Small Voice by Allen Brokken is an adventure of a lifetime! Filled with mystery, action, family bonds, and a healthy dose of animal friends this second book in the Tower of Light Series is a fantastic continuation of the journey of siblings Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan. Their quest to spread the Light as Darkness creeps across the land is a faith-filled adventure worth joining. ~Katie Clark, author of the Enslaved Series”

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, July 23

For the Love of Literature, July 24

Artistic Nobody, July 25 (Author Interview)

Inklings and notions, July 26

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, July 27

Vicky Sluiter, July 28 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 29

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, July 30

A Baker’s Perspective, July 31 (Author Interview)

Blogging With Carol, July 31

deb’s Book Review, August 1

A Reader’s Brain, August 2

Through the Fire Blogs, August 3 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, August 4

My Devotional Thoughts, August 5 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate his tour, Allen is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/fe32/still-small-voice-celebration-tour-giveaway


Monday, July 6, 2020

The End of Magic by Mark Stay





Brought to you by: 

Overview Media




About the Book: 

Two powerful mages. One steeped in privilege, the other bound by a moral code. Their world is thrown into chaos by the end of magic.

‘What will you do when the magic is gone?’

Sander Bree is a royal mage. He lives an easy life advising the king on matters of court and politics, yet he still complains that he’s stuck in a rut.

Rosheen Katell is a wandering mage and, with Anzu her griffin, she’s worked hard to build a reputation as a trustworthy truth seer. She never lies, never kills. 

Very soon, their magic will be gone. A cataclysmic event will change their lives and world forever. 

Sander must keep a promise that would have been difficult enough with magic, but is a suicide mission without it. 

Rosheen is forced to side with a murderous warlord, and her once-solid principles are tested and found wanting. Both will be set against one another in a war unlike anything the world has seen before, in this sweeping fantasy of magic’s ending.

A stand alone fantasy novel for fans of Joe Abercrombie and Scott Lynch.


Get your copy HERE!

 My Review:

What an amazing read! I was totally taken by surprise by this book and pleasantly swept away.  I dare say, it's epic. Characters, adventure, humor, this book has everything you would wish for in its genre. Overnight, boom! Magic is gone. Let the adventure begin.

5 Stars 
 

 

About the Author: 

Mark Stay co-wrote the screenplay for Robot Overlords which became a movie with Sir Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson, and premiered at the 58th London Film Festival. Author of the fantasy novel The End of Magic, he is also co-presenter of the Bestseller Experiment podcast and worked in bookselling and publishing for over twenty-five years. He lives in Kent, England, with his family and a trio of retired chickens. He blogs and humblebrags over at markstaywrites.com




The Tour:





Sunday, July 5, 2020

Crystal Witness by Kathy Tyers

Crystal Witness FB Banner

About the Book

Book:  Crystal Witness
Author: Kathy Tyers
Genre:  Christian fiction, science fiction, futuristic
Release Date: June 16, 2020
Tyers - Crystal WitnessHer memories are blocked. Her freedom is gone. Her crime is a mystery.
When Ming Dalamani awakens from twenty years of suspended animation, she recalls only fragments of her former life: the life she led before she was arrested by the governing interplanetary corporation, Renasco, for a now unremembered crime.
Relocated to an alien world far from the only home she has ever known, Ming serves a powerful Renasco representative to repay her debt. But daily she lives with deadly threats from two men—the hideous mutant Zardir Huekk and the handsome, secretive musician Tieg Innig—who both want the same thing: information. Renasco-trained as a calligrapher in three dimensions, Ming begins to remember more: a clan, a mission, and interstellar piracy.
Ming must decide where her loyalties lie: with her powerful new employer, with a budding resistance movement… or elsewhere.

Click here to get your copy!

My Review:

The time? Well, 20 years later than she thought it was. Ming has been in suspended animation for a crime. Okay, but she has no memory of it, at all. That's not exactly normal, even for this situation. Thus begins the who, what, where, and why's of this story. With calligraphy as her skillset, why would more than one group be seeking her out? What did Ming actually witness, and why? That just pulled me deeper into this story. 

I enjoyed the aliens, the mystery, the cast, and the world-building is strong. While there's not a strong faith-based message, it isn't completely absent, or maybe that is how my mind works. It is a clean read, and a good Sci-Fi read too. I appreciate that. 

4 Stars
About the Author 
Kathy-20b (1)Kathy Tyers is widely published in speculative fiction, including her award-winning Firebird series and two licensed Star Wars “Legends” novels, as well as a travel book, a writing reference book, and a memoir co-written for classical guitarist Christopher Parkening. Her messiah-in-space novel Daystar, fifth in the Firebird series, won a 2013 Carol Award, and her terraforming/genetic engineering science fiction novel Shivering World won the 2019 Christy Award for Visionary Fiction. At home in southwest Montana with her husband William Gillin, Kathy focuses on writing, teaching music, and freelance editing.

More from Kathy

In 1988, after the initial release of Firebird and Fusion Fire by Bantam Books of New York, my then-editor asked for a stand-alone novel, and my then-agent presented me with a contract to write that book in just over half the time that I actually needed. So my third novel, Crystal Witness, appeared in 1989—and while the plot had strong bones, I wished I’d had several more months to polish it. Much to my delight, Enclave Publishing is re-issuing Crystal Witness in June 2020 with the layers of polishing added. While I was adding those layers, I found myself wondering what would happen next. Maybe … oh, yes … hmmm … Aha!
Now that Crystal Witness is ready to stand up and sing, I am delighted to be working on a multi-book sequel series, The Sunstone Saga, also to be released by Enclave Publishing. Book 1 of the saga, The Long Silence, is well underway. It introduces a new cast of characters and asks a powerful question: Where has God been, while humankind went to the stars?
Crystal Witness is the story of young Ming Dalamani, who wakens from twenty years of suspended animation to find herself “company property” on a distant world, with no memory of the crime she must have committed. She only knows that a powerful corporate monopoly rules interstellar space, and she has been assigned to serve a company representative. Immediately, powerful (and opposing) individuals offer threats and bribes, trying to enlist her to spy for both sides of a deadly intrigue. How long can Ming play both sides of the plot against her urgent wish to find out who she is … and what was her crime?
My background in music and the arts always manages to show up in my books. I made Ming a calligrapher in three dimensions, wielding a set of injection pens to create elegant designs in clear slabs. Another character is a court musician with futuristic technology at his fingertips. My entire family was musical; my mother played in 20thCentury Fox’s prestigious sound stage orchestra in the 1950s, and my father grew up in a family band that toured the U.S. every summer. When I was widowed in 2004 and needed to make a fresh start, I discovered that Regent College in Vancouver BC had a program in which I could study toward a Master’s degree in Christianity and the Arts—and write a science fiction novel as part of my thesis project. That book, Wind and Shadow, picked up the Firebird series at Book 4 and led to its completion in Daystar, Book 5. That series is conclusively finished—as you know, if you have read Daystar!

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Kathy is giving away the grand prize package of a still-in-box set of miniature toys that was released in 1996 to go with her novel, Star Wars: The Truce At Bakura, a signed copy of Firebird and One Mind’s Eye!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Saturday, July 4, 2020

Jane Doe by Lillian Duncan


About the Book

Book:  Jane Doe
Author: Lillian Duncan
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: June 26, 2020
A Broken Body. A Broken Mind. What If She Wasn’t The Last Victim?Jane Doe
Raven Marks survives a brutal kidnapping but just barely. Along with a broken body, her mind is broken. She wants to put the past behind her, but nightmarish memories won’t let her. . .At first because she doesn’t have them, and then because she does.
Even though her fractured memory can’t recall every detail, she’s haunted by one thought: What if she wasn’t the last victim? Her search for answers leads her to the highest politicians in the land. Each reclaimed memory brings her closer to the truth—and to even more danger.


Click here to get your copy!
My Review:
Raven is smart, she's a survivor. However, like most of us who have survived something major or massive, it has left her with more than one issue. While she struggles to survive being kidnapped and tortured, my mind occasionally goes off to think of the disciples and what they endured. I felt so bad for this brave woman! Not remembering what she went through was a plus, but not if the key to her future is in recalling what horror she survived. How is she alive and why? What plan does God have in all this? The romance was just the right level, but I was more focused on who did this, why, and getting that villain caught. I liked the suspense and loved all the faith-based messages worked into this story. 
5 Stars

About the Author

Lillian Duncan… turning faith into fiction. 
Lillian lives in a small town in Ohio with her husband. She writes the types of books she loves to read. Even though her books cross genres, they have one thing in common, faith-based stories that demonstrate God’s love—and lots of action. OK, that’s two things.
She was a school speech pathologist for over 30 years but retired in 2012 after being diagnosed with bilateral brain tumors due to Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2), a rare genetic disease.
Whether as an educator, a writer, or a speech pathologist, she believes in the power of words to transform lives, especially God’s Word. To learn more about Lillian and her books, visit:www.lillianduncan.com.

More from Lillian

JANE DOE is my latest novel and it’s a doozy!
What’s the genre you ask? It’s suspense with lots of drama and action…but it also a political thriller…but it also has a lot of mystery components…but there’s the romance element as well… and let’s not forget the spiritual message! No matter what genre you classify it as, it’s one I think you’ll enjoy!
So how did JANE DOE come about?
I’d finished all my edits on a current book and was feeling very uninspired. I had no idea for my next story, so I went on FB and asked people to send me an idea for my next suspense novel. An old high school friend sent me the suggestion to write a story where the main character struggled with memory loss.
Mmmm… but the old amnesia plot has been done and it’s a big no-no that writing experts warn against. I took the challenge and wrote JANE DOE. It’s definitely not your typical amnesia plot, but the main character is haunted by her memories.
First, because she doesn’t have them and then because she does!
Raven Marks survives a brutal kidnapping but just barely. Along with a broken body, her mind is broken. Even though she can’t remember the details of her kidnapping, she’s haunted by the thought that someone else is being victimized by the kidnapper she can’t remember.
Her journey to discover the truth leads her to the highest politicians in the state and then the country. Each reclaimed memory brings her closer to the truth—and to even more danger.
I’m not going to give away the plot, but there’s plenty of twists and turns to keep you reading late into the night!

Blog Stops

By The Book, July 4 (Author Interview)
Betti Mace, July 6
Andrea Christenson, July 7 (Author Interview)
For the Love of Literature, July 12 (Author Interview)
Bigreadersite, July 12
Artistic Nobody, July 13 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Lillian is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon Gift Card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Friday, July 3, 2020

In Too Deep by Stacy Weeks

About the Book

Book:  In Too Deep
Author: Stacey Weeks
Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense
Release Date: November 2017
Like an anchor wedged in the lake floor, Grace Stone’s heart is submerged in the past. Drowning in guilt over the role she played in her father’s and sister’s deaths, Grace prays that launching her water survival program at Camp Moshe will properly honor their memory and enable her to move on. But success depends on Grace risking everything on the man hired to rebrand the Christian camp. Kye Campton’s usual confidence wavers when his extreme sports campaign lands him in hot water with the cautious instructor and it becomes increasingly evident that Camp Moshe’s fight for survival is against more than a declining economy. Will Kye be able to save the camp—and Grace—from a saboteur determined to close the camp at any cost?

Click here to get your copy!
My Review:
Christian youth camps, I've been to many. I've attended and later served in such camps. The cover and that premise drew me to this book. Grace has been through some major trama. She's easy to connect to and feel what she's been going through. Kye, he's working with Grace to save this camp, but he's more dark and mysterious in regards to his past. Some suspense, as well as expected romance, are included. The burning question is, why would anyone go this far to take down a Christian camp? That mystery drove me through the pages of this book in a race to solve who-done-it. By the end of the book, we can say in more ways than one, there but for the grace of God, go I. The older we get the more we see God's timing and His hand in things. This book expressed that well. 
5 Stars 
About the Author 
Stacey Weeks is the multi-award-winning author of Glorious Surrender (2016), and Chasing Holiness (2020), inspirational romances The Builder’s Reluctant Bride (2016), Mistletoe Melody (2018), Mistletoe Mission (2019), and inspirational romantic suspense novels In Too Deep (2017), and Fatal Homecoming (2019). Stacey lives in Ontario where she speaks at women’s conferences, teaches writing and bible study workshops, and writes about the things of the  Lord. www.staceyweeks.com

More from Stacey

Why I Write Christian Romance
In Too Deep builds the romance between Kye and Grace through their emotional connection and growing respect. In all my novels, the plot moves the story forward—not shocking or steamy scenes. I take Ephesians 5:4 seriously, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”
I love romance because I believe that each one of us are in the middle of a love story. Some of our love stories are like In Too Deep. They’re full of heart-wrenching moments and climatic events. They might even have you biting your nails wondering if good will ever prevail. Some love stories are like a feel-good-girls-night-out, and everything falls into place at the right moment and clicks. And some of you are thinking – love story? – yeah right!
I don’t know your circumstances or life, but what I hope all my readers understand is that there is Someone who does. He is greater than any fictional prince, and He left his kingdom to pursue your heart. Not only is He pursuing you, but He is writing your story as a part of His story. He has promised that the stories of all His children end in victory for His glory.
While we wait for certain victory, we can refresh our weary souls with clean, wholesome, and God-honouring stories. Stories of purity, highlighting characters that honor God first. Stories that contain illustrations of how true satisfaction comes from a right relationship with God not from a human relationship. In Too Deep thrives within the boundaries God has created for love, and that gives hope to those who have only known broken love. Not hope in the right man, but hope in the Lord.
In this genre, you can count on your happy ending—and I like that. But more importantly than Grace finding her one-true-love is her growth in her walk with the Lord. More important than saving the day, winning the girl, and defeating the villain is Kye’s surrender to God.
So yes, I write romance. But the real story is exposing the lies Kye and Grace believe about themselves, the world, or God and proving those lies to be untrue. The real story is that God is the Hero, the pursuer of our hearts, and the lover of our souls.

Blog Stops

Remembrancy, June 24
Betti Mace, June 25
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, June 28 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, July 2

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Stacey is giving away the grand prize of a dainty “You Are Loved” bracelet with each word spelled out in morse code with beads!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.