The Christmas Pony by Melody Carlson

Oh what fun!

O.k. I love horses, and I love ponies and one day, I may tell you my own story. For now though, grab a copy of The Christmas Pony for your coffee table this year. When you have your friends and relatives over, and someone isn't as social, they can read this sweet fast read!

This is the story of small town life, and one family, trying to survive during bad economic times. Lucy is eight, and more than almost anything in this world, she wants Smoky, the grey pony that lives not too far from her. She prays about owning him every night, until it just makes Mama so sad that she can't bear to make her sad by asking for a pony when they need boarders and income at their place. They rent out most of the upstairs  as a small bed and breakfast to help make ends meet.

One day as Lucy is in town picking up the few items they can afford, Lucy meets a beautiful woman. Veronica and George are in a really fancy car, but the car is broken  Lucy is quick to jump into telling them they can come stay at her house. After all, Mama is wonderful cook and her home is fun. The two agree, and with a happy heart Lucy figures God is starting to answer her prayers after all, and that she might just get her pony for Christmas. Even more so, as life progresses with the new borders, Lucy hopes that God will bring back her Mama's smile. She has been with out it every since Lucy's Daddy died. Veronica is going to be a movie-star, once she and George make it California. That is the most exciting thing to come to this little girl's world in a long long time, but things are only starting to get interesting!

This is a sweet, clean, romantic, adventurous tale much like some of  my favorite old black and white movies! This is a book that would be fun to read to both young and "old" children as well!

Carol

About the Book:

The Christmas Pony

Eight-year-old Lucy Turnbull knew better than to wish for a pony that Christmas in 1937. Her mother had assured her in no uncertain terms that asking for a pony was the same as asking for the moon. Besides, the only extra mouths they needed at their boarding house were the paying kind. But when an interesting pair of strangers comes to town, Lucy starts to believe her Christmas wishes might just come true after all.

About the Author:

My husband Chris and I live in a cabin-style home next to the National Forest in the beautiful Cascade Mountain area of the Pacific Northwest. Our two grown sons and granddaughter live nearby and we try to see them as often as we can. We also have two “re-homed” pets to make life more interesting—our yellow Labrador retriever Audrey and a Maine coon cat named Harry.

My writing studio is in a separate building next to our courtyard (a garden area that’s off limits to the voracious deer). The window behind my desk looks out into the ponderosa pine forest, where I see deer, squirrels, rabbits, and an occasional raccoon. The other windows in my office overlook the courtyard which is frequented by numerous hummingbirds in the summertime—one August evening we counted nearly fifty of the little hummers.

Melody Carlson grew up in a small town in Oregon. She wasn't raised in a Christian home, but when she turned 15, her life turned around dramatically after she became a Christian. She became very involved in missions, and was the youngest short-term assistant that Wycliffe Bible Translators ever had in Papua New Guinea.

Melody loved to write at a young age, but she found other ways to express her creativity over the years. Eventually she found she had a compulsion to write, and that she could write quickly. In 1995, her first book was published, and she has been writing prolifically ever since. Her award-winning books include: The Prayer of Jabez for Little Ones, King of the Stable, The Gold and Honey Bible, The Ark that Noah Built, and Benjamin's Box. In the past few years, she has published over sixty books for children, teens, and adults--with total sales of over a million copies. Melody's recent projects include the Just Like Jesus Said series for children, Lost Boys and the Moms Who Love Them, and Looking for Cassandra Jane, and the upcoming releases Sold Out--the latest in the Diary of a Teenage Girlseries, I'm Zoë--part of the Little Blessings series, When Creepy Things Come Out, Miranda's Story, and Heal Me, Oh God.

In her professional life, Melody has worn many hats: from pre-school teacher to political activist to senior editor. Currently, she writes full-time, and freelances from her home. She has two grown sons and lives in Sisters, Oregon with her husband, Chris, and Bailey, her chocolate lab. They enjoy skiing, hiking, and biking in the beautiful Cascade Mountains.

Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0800719271
Author's Web Site: http://www.melodycarlson.com/

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

Journeys To Mother Love Complied by Catherine Lawton

It is time for Fall Fling again! 

FIRST of all - if you HURRY you can get this book FREE in Kindle format for a few more days! :

ALSO 5 copies in print will be included in a give-away. Enter by liking Cladash Publishing on Facebook, by making comments or following Journeys To Mother Love blog, or by sharing your story as a guest post. This closes on Nov. 12th with winners announced on Tuesday the 13th of November. You can get there to enter by reading links here on my blog, or finding Cladach's Facebook page. Come join the fun and healing! :)


Journeys To Mother Love is a book about needing our Mother's love, or growing up with out that love. It is a book about healing, and lives lived, and how they turned out. In this book, NINE different ladies lay out the stories of their lives. These ladies tell us how they grew up. How their Mothers affected their lives in positive or negative ways, and how that impacted their lives and their children's lives.

These stories are moving. These lives are open and real, their pain and their joy of dealing with their Mother's is laid wide open and shared for all of us. If you read this book, I don't see how you will not be able to identify with at least one, or maybe more, of these womens' lives. This book came at a good and bad time for me. My Grandmother has just passed. In some ways it was hard for me to read this book, and in other ways it was very very good for me. I think you will enjoy and benefit from these open and honest lives laid out in order to benefit those who read it.

Carol

About The Book:

Mother love is a beautiful thing. But giving and receiving mother love doesn't always come easy. So many obstacles can get in the way. What do we do, then, with mother wounds and losses, and the unmet needs we carry? Women readers are sure to find themselves in one or more of these true stories filled with grit and grace. The courageous authors of Journeys to Mother Love aren't merely venting about their mother wounds. Neither are they giving pat answers. The hurts were real and the healing was real. From manipulation to abandonment, from neglect to favoritism, from mental illness to emotional distance, from abortion to Alzheimer's, these nine women from several generations, tell their personal stories with heart-wrenching honesty. Each had hurts and conflicts in their mother/daughter relationship that left them wounded and affected their relationships with others. Each tells how, with God's help, they experienced healing and new freedom to give and receive love. Women with broken places in their relationships with mother or child can begin their own healing journey as they read.

About the Author/Complier AND the Nine women who's lives are shared in this one book:

Compiled by Catherine Lawton ABOUT THE AUTHOR/COMPILER: Catherine enjoys getting outdoors and observing wildlife in the Rocky Mountains and on the north Pacific coast. She cherishes moments of quiet reflection and communion with the Creator, laughter with friends, worship with other Christ-followers, and music-making with her husband (he sings, she plays piano). Born in Colorado, Catherine grew up in California, moving from one town to another as a preacher's daughter. With a BA in English and training in music, she has worked as a substitute teacher in public schools, a private piano teacher, and as a freelance writer and editor. InJourneys to Mother Love she shares a personal story of trauma, grief, and healing. Through fiction and memoir she explores the depths of our relationships with--and need for--God, each other, and nature. She sees life as a journey, an adventure, an unfolding story. CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS: A.R. Cecil Treva Brown Verna Hill Simms Kerry Luksic Kyleen Stevenson-Braxton Ellen Cardwell Ardis A. Nelson Loritta Slayton Meet all the Contributing Authors Visit the Journeys to Mother Love BLOG to read posts by the contributors, share the story of your personal journey, and find helps for healing in mother/daughter relationships.

REVIEWER'S PRAISE:
"An anthology of heartfelt true stories by Christian women about the healing gifts of God, and how He helped mothers bridge rifts between themselves and their children or stepchildren.... Profound, powerful, and emotionally moving, Journeys to Mother Love is highly recommended as a resource of faith, inspiration, and hope." -Midwest Book Review

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Ordering information:
BUY NOW:
at Amazon.com
at BN.com
from Cladach Publishing
FREE ON KINDLE:Nov. 8-10

Find in Kindle store
Get More Information about Journeys to Mother Love

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INTERVIEW with the AUTHORS:
1. Did you laugh or cry, or both, while you were writing your story?
Ellen Cardwell: Surprisingly, I didn't do either. Rather, writing the story released something inside that needed to come out. I feel lighter now whenever Mom comes to mind.
Treva Brown: I completely did both. I also felt anger, but was able to fully release it quickly.
Ardis Nelson: I went away to a secluded camp so I could focus on writing and prayer. I cried at times. Now my tears are tears of joy.
Kerry Luksic: In writing this story, I had plenty of tears. My mom's was diagnosed with Alzheimer's eight years ago. It was hard to accept that there's no cure and that it's progressive--Mom would only get worse through each heartbreaking stage. But in sharing this story, the tears I shed were healing for me.
Loritta Slayton: I don't think I did either, but I felt the emotions again--the upset, the struggle and the joy of what God accomplished in me that I couldn't do for myself.

2. What do you especially relate to in one or more of the other women's stories?
A.R. (Alice) Cecil: I can relate to all the other authors in JOURNEYS TO MOTHER LOVE. We all found the only way to healing is through Jesus Christ, and we all want to help others by sharing our experience.
Catherine Lawton: Treva Brown tells of how her mother died even younger mine did (and by much more violent circumstances). I relate to her regret over some of the words she had said to her mother, and wishing she had said certain other words before it was too late.
Ellen: The last part of Loritta Slayton's story, "White Knuckles," took me back to when my mother needed my help and our roles were reversed. God encouraged and enabled her to let go of hurt feelings and journey down the path to love.
Treva: In "Walking My Mother Home" Ardis Nelson wrote, "I was embracing the parts of my mother that were in me." I am currently doing that now, so it really touched my heart.
Ardis: I think I was the most moved by Loritta's story. I felt her pain with each decision she made along her journey with her mother. The ending to her story was a fitting ending to the book--very encouraging.
Loritta: The emotional process of their hurts being released to God and their journeys of walking it out with Him speak to me. I was moved by Treva's descriptions of this process.

3. In what point in your relationship with your mother did you realize you needed relational healing?
Alice: My mother was always closer to me than any of her other children; I sensed her unhappiness and wanted to try to be there for her. Then in my early twenties I left home for the city to work. Transported into the world, I began to see not all the ways in my childhood home matched the ordinary way of going about life.
Catherine: The need in my heart became evident when I was going through grief over my mother's death. As you can read in the book, the Lord has ways of healing our relationships even when separated by distance, disease or death.
Ellen: When I was a new Christian and learned how important it was to forgive others. Also at that time, the relationship with our mothers was a topic of discussion with my close friends, all of whom felt they had emotional gaps that their parents, especially their mothers, hadn't filled.
Treva: Years after she died. It was a hard journey because I was unable to talk to my mom and hear her respond. But I wouldn't change a thing, for that is where I truly encountered God.
Loritta: I knew most of my life that it wasn't what it should be. But when I read A Daughter's Journey Home, by Dr. Linda Mintle, some of the pieces of the puzzle came into focus. I began to pray about my relationship with my mother and ask God to work in us. And my journaling with God and the listening practice opened the door significantly.

4. What is it that makes the mother/child relationship so significant?
Ardis: I think the mother/child relationship is a mirror of the love our heavenly father has for us.
Kerry: I never realized until I had my own children, but at the end of the day, a mother's love for a child is the strongest bond that exists--there's nothing that a mother wouldn't do to help her child.

5. What events, sensory experiences, etc., trigger your memories of your mother?
Catherine: My mother had a quip, saying, or song for every situation or occasion, it seemed. Those sayings and songs pop into my head often and remind me of her, and I "hear" her voice.
Ellen: Going to the farmer's market, smelling apple pies baking ... sewing, bringing flowers in the house ... Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
Treva: A certain Dolly Parton song, camping and eating spaghetti. My mom loved spaghetti.
Ardis: This may sound strange, but I think I am most reminded of my mother in my writing and speaking opportunities. I feel that she is proud of me for who I am finally becoming that I get a great sense of her presence with me. In a way, I think it makes up for not having her there when I was young.
Loritta: My mother enjoyed flowers and colors in shades of purples, aquas, violets. Just this week I walked past orchids in the grocery store that are tinted in those tones and thought of her.

6. Do you ever see your mom in yourself?
Catherine: Every time I make the choice and the effort to be positive, to engage with other people when I feel like pulling away ... I think of my mother who modeled those attitudes to me.
Ellen: Yes. She had an authoritative way of speaking. She would make pronouncements (not always based on facts), pontificate and discourage discussion. I still find myself sounding like her, even though I've tried for years to overcome it. When I notice myself doing the same thing, it lets me know how ingrained her attitudes were/are in me. I feel frustrated that it's still there inside my personality. Then I'm motivated to revisit my efforts to change and make it more of a priority to do so.
Treva: At times I do. I used to despise it. But God was able to bring me to a place of embracing those characteristics and bring me more understanding of my mom.
Verna Hill Simms: I remind myself of Mother every time I sit in the living room and watch for the mail carrier. Mail means a lot to me as it did to her.
Ardis: This question hits to the core area of my personal healing when my mother died. I was able to integrate and embrace the parts of my mother that I had been rejecting all my life. Thanks to the Lord's work in me, I am no longer embarrassed by our similarities.
Kerry: Yes. I especially see my mom in myself when I'm faced with a tough challenge. My mom never gave up on anything and she leaned on her faith during the hardest times. When I'm going through a tough time, I think of mom and follow her example. Whenever I feel like life is a bit too hard, I remember my mom's example and immediately feel stronger.

7. In what way is mother love a journey?
Alice: I wonder how God would have brought me along without children! I know there are people who do not have children and who have a deep relationship with God, but God knew I needed children!
Ellen: For me, mother love grew from an unrealistic ideal to a reality based on experience. Each stage of our children's growth, from elementary school to junior high to high school has challenges of its own. As I journeyed along with my children, my love was tested, strengthened and developed through the ups and downs they experienced. My love grew from the tenderest feelings for our infants to caring for their needs while juggling other responsibilities, to tough love as they tested boundaries. Mother love survived the smooth and rocky places along the path because, I believe, it originates in God's love for us all.
Ardis: I am seeing this theme poignantly in my life now. Just today I had a conversation with my 15 year old son about this. We had connecting time while attending a doctor's appointment. I didn't have any of that with my parents. I am embracing the journey of learning how to mother anew, be a "sister" to Rosa, an "aunt" to Pedro, and a daughter to my stepmother. This journey is connecting me with my heart and allowing me to share it with others.
Kerry: Mother love is a journey because life is a journey. There are ups and there are downs. There are moments of joy and moments of sheer pain; but through all of it, love is the foundation. My mom has progressed to the advanced stage of Alzheimer's, and this is the final destination in our journey. It's a heartbreaking disease, but I have peace knowing that at the end of my mom's journey here on earth, she will be rewarded for her lifetime of love. faith, and determination--the gift of Heaven.
Loritta: You can't understand everything from one vantage point. You have to climb that mountain and look back sometimes, and other times you just have to put your hand in God's and let Him talk to you about what you need to know that only He can reveal in a way that you can receive.

Placebo by Steven James (A Jevin Banks Novel)

Ah!! Here we are with the newest series by Steven James. Placebo is the first of the Jevin Banks Novels. With out dropping the energy or pace that is Mr. James's writing style, we enter into a new series. Jevin Banks is a magician, an illusionist, a self made man with plenty of resources both financial and the people he needs when he needs them. However, he is a tortured one.

This story opens with him at the scene of an accident or possibly it is a crime. It is not just any scene though. This is the death of a mother and two twin boys. Horrible to start with, but worse yet, this was Jevin's wife and children! Life still goes on for Javin, but not with out a million questions and a lot of grief. In trying to survive he is doing "pieces" for TV. with out being on stage doing escapes, acts or shows. Jevin is stuck in his pain that hasn't healed, making it hard to move forward or see a future because he is constantly drowning in his past.

For this assignment Jev and his lovely long-time assistant and friend, decide to do a bit of research on a Dr. Tanbyrn. Jevin and Charlene travel to a research center to be part of a study of how positive thoughts effect people who are in love. Here in spa like settings that are also medical and Spiritual settings as well, they must faking being in love in order to be in this study. If they can fake it and they will debunk this place and move onto the next one. Jev figures that since people can get well taking a placebo, then the power of negative or positive thoughts must be somewhat real, all they have to do is prove if this Dr. is a quack or if he is onto something. However, Jevin and Charlene have stumbled into something far deeper than just sending loving thoughts and positive energy to someone you care about. They have wound up deep in the middle of a pharmaceutics drug company's agenda, as well as several people who think they can harness negative and positive energy for their own agendas. Just how much of the power of life and death really is in the tongue, or in the mind?

What I just told you about this book only starts to explain a little of the many characters in this book. It doesn't touch on any of the conspiracy theories, or the folks behind them. Placebo is going to be a very though provoking read for many people. It is filled with the story of people sorting through their pain, and making life and death decisions, even if they are a sociopaths who can't feel feelings. I enjoyed it, and I look forward to the next Jevin Banks book from Steven James!

Carol

About the Book:

One man must uncover the truth--even when others will stop at nothing to keep it buried.
While investigating a controversial neurological research program, exposé filmmaker Jevin Banks is drawn into a far-reaching conspiracy involving one of the world's largest pharmaceutical firms. He seeks answers about the questionable mind-to-mind communication program--and answers to his own family tragedy. 

Rooted in groundbreaking science, Placebo explores the far reaches of science, consciousness, and faith. This taut, intelligent, and emotionally gripping new thriller from master storyteller Steven James will keep you flipping pages late into the night.

About the Author:

Award-winning Author of The Patrick Bowers Files

Steven James has penned 30+ books spanning the genres of psychological thrillers, prayer collections, dramas, monologues, a nine book series on creative storytelling, YA fantasy, and inspirational nonfiction. He has received wide critical acclaim for his work including four Storytelling World Honor awards, two Publishers Weekly starred reviews, and 2009, 2011 and 2012 Christy Awards for best suspense. His latest thriller, The Queen, won a 2012 ECPA Book Award and the 2012 Christy Award for Best Suspense Novel. Steven earned a Master’s Degree in Storytelling from ETSU in 1997 and is an active member of International Thriller Writers, the Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, and International Association of Crime Writers.  He is a contributing editor to Writer's Digest, and has taught writing and storytelling principles on three continents. 

He lives in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with his wife and three daughters. When he's not writing or speaking, he's rock climbing, playing disc golf, or (shh....) slipping away to a matinee.

Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/Placebo-Jevin-Banks-Novel-Experience/dp/0800734254
Author's web site: http://www.stevenjames.net/books_placebo.htm

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

A Flight Of Fancy by Laurie Alice Eakes (The Daughters of Bainbridge House)

Hi Everyone,

I rather enjoyed this new book A Flight Of Fancy by Laurie Alice Eakes. Cassandra is engaged to Whittaker, and they are very much in love with each other. They have already had to postpone their wedding, and waiting isn't easy. Then an accident, or maybe something on purpose happens and alters Cassandra for life. She is now physically wounded as well as emotionally and has called off her wedding, and  is doing her best to force Whittaker out of her life. There is a LOT of guilt going on in this book! 

I was sad that Cassandra was so sure that what happened to her was God punishing her. That isn't how He is, and several people's lives were really hampered by the rather false guilt that Cassandra and Whittaker are carrying around. If they are ever going to have normal friendships or anything else this has to get resolved.

I did enjoy Cassandra's ballooning and formulas, and her Scientific mind set. The balloon parts were fun to me, maybe because I have photographed hot air balloon festivals before. They are quite exciting - although, like Whittaker, I haven't liked heights and have not been up in a balloon myself. Quite a mystery and a drama is also occurring in that someone seems to want Whittaker dead, and he keeps winding up in peril as he works to win Cassandra's trust back.

The down sides to this book is that there was a great deal of back and forth-ing with Whittaker and Cassandra. However, I know people who have gone through this so I didn't feel that it hampered the story too much, as I was quite focused on the other issues such as who is behind the issues with the looms and mills. The other down side was how frusterated I got with our leading couple not being able to figure out what love is and how it makes people feel. That became really annoying and I was glad when it finally changed. 

Carol 

About the Book:

Her head is in the clouds. His feet are planted firmly on the ground. Can love cover the distance?
Cassandra Bainbridge may be a bit of a bluestocking, but when Geoffrey Giles is near, love seems a fine alternative to passion for Greek and the physics of flight. With his dashing good looks and undying devotion to her, the earl of Whittaker sets Cassandra's heart racing with his very presence. It seems his only flaw is his distaste for ballooning, the obsession that consumes so much of her thoughts.

When a terrible accident compels her to end her betrothal, Cassandra heads for the country to recover from both her injuries and her broken heart. With time on her hands and good friends to help her, she pursues her love for ballooning and envisions a future for herself as a daring aeronaut. But when Lord Whittaker slips back into her life, will she have to choose between him and her dream?

Reviews

 Praise for A Necessary Deception, book 1 in the Daughters of Bainbridge House series

"Eakes seamlessly blends romance and intrigue, faith and history, into a story that readers won't want to put down."--Booklist

"Masquerades, English manners, romance, and intrigue abound in this historical series. Regency romance aficionados and fans of Nicole Jordan will adore this."--Library Journal

"Eakes weaves the fine silk threads of historical richness, dangerous intrigue, and forbidden romance into a flawless literary tapestry . . . that will leave readers breathless."--Louise M. Gouge, award-winning author of At the Captain's Command

About the Author:

Laurie Alice Eakes is the author of Lady in the Mist, A Necessary Deception, A Flight Of Fancy, and several other novels. She won a National Readers Choice Award for Best Regency in 2007 for Family Guardian. Laurie Alice writes full-time from her home in Texas, where she lives with her husband and sundry dogs and cats.

Her web site is: http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com/

Book Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Fancy-Novel-Daughters-Bainbridge/dp/080073467X

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

Beyond The Storm by Carolyn Zane

Hi Out There,

This was a fast moving book, on a rather terrifying topic. I didn't realize when I got this one how real Carolyn   Zane would portray the tornado and the aftermath that follows. She did a GREAT job on that. I speak from far more experience than I wish to have. In school we had more tornado drills than fire drills! In my life time I have seen three major tornado incidents and that doesn't count the ones when I was a baby. If you haven't been in one, this is a very good an accurate description.

I really enjoyed the town's store names. They were cute and fun!Quick In Go (gas station and store), Quilty Pleasures (the quilting shop), Doo Drop-In Hair Saloon, and Low Places (the bar and restaurant  made me giggle and smile. The radio announcements took my breath away because I have lived through this enough to see it coming before it came. (Maybe that is why I stopped listening to the radio for storms and things, I just couldn't stand it anymore.)

The good part is that there is a good story occurring along with the storm, new life along with the death and destruction. Abigail and Justin find that they are attracted to each other, in-spite of where they first met, and that they are not what they first outwardly seemed. As the events that this storm causes unfold they work together to help others. Heather and Rob Ray have a marriage headed for the rocks. It was very nice to see how this storm changed their lives and the lives of those around them. Most of all there were the scraps of cloth. Often all that is left among the rubble from the kind of devastation major storms and disasters leave in our lives. The quilt that was born from that brought tears to my eyes. It is a good book, a decent story, and a remind of how God pieces our lives together over and over again to make what He wants out of us.

Carol

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Beyond the Storm

Abingdon Press (October 2012)

by

Carolyn Zane

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Author of 35 books, wife, mother and yes…hot (flasher) lives with her fabulous husband, Matt and their 5 children and 3 dogs in the scenic Willamette Valley in Oregon.  When asked to describe her family, Carolyn likens her crowd to the
Brangelia Bunch saying modestly, “Only we’re better looking.”  Right now,Carolyn is back in the saddle with her new title: Beyond The Storm, coming out in October 2012!  In the mean time, be sure to catch her on the critically acclaimed TOOHOTMAMAS Blog where Carolyn and Wendy tackle Marriage, motherhood and menopause: How to do all three and stay out of prison!  They are hilarious!  You'll wet yourself, guaranteed!  Visit them at: www.toohotmamas.wordpress.com.


ABOUT THE BOOK

After a tornado rips through her town, store owner Abigail comes across a piece of fabric from a wedding dress among the devastation. Abigail is moved to start collecting other swatches of fabric she finds – her neighbor’s kitchen curtains, a man’s necktie, a dog’s bed – which she stashes in shopping bags. As she pursues her seemingly absurd quest, horrible realities spark the question, “What kind of a God would allow such tragedy?”

As she struggles to reconcile her right to happiness amidst the destruction, Abigail begins piecing together a patchwork quilt from the salvaged fabric in hopes it will bring some peace. But a new relationship with Justin, a contractor, may require too much of her fragile heart.  Will her pain and questions of faith give way to the courage to love?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Beyond the Storm, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1426745974 

The Spirit Well by Stephen R. Lawhead (Bright Empires - Book Three)

The Bright Empire Series is just as interesting and though provoking as the first books I read by Mr. Lawhead.(See below!)  Before you read The Spirit Well, you should read the first two books in the series first. You can learn a bit more about them on my reviews. The Skin Map is the first book, and The Bone House is the second. {You can also find more about them on Stephen Lawhead's web page. }

In The Spirit Well we come back to Kit Livingstone. Kit is still living with the super intelligent, telepathic, yet rather Neanderthalic creatures he wound up with from his last traveling trip. He has been learning so much from them! He has spent a good bit of time in the Bone House, and now... well now Kit has seen The Spirit Well! The Spirit Well, or the Well Of Souls is fascinating but Kit is still putting this all together.What he saw there and what it means, how it ties or doesn't tie into his travels is a bit murky. Ley line travel is still new to him, and to his friends who are in other places trying to find him. Such as Mina. In her search to find Kit she has traveled to a Monastery. There a man named Brother Lazarus has started sharing with her.

In this book we see our main characters grow, we get background and other important information. We have new people to meet! Others have stumbled upon ley lines, such as an "bone digger" (paleontologist) named Catherine. The bone digging opening was, to me, a fun touch! The new people we meet in this book who have found ley travel now their lives are changed as well. Lots of going-ons are in Egypt. This includes the coming of a new God that seems to be the only One to serve. Even so, some of the new converts are killing those who don't follow! Yikes! So is the real God we know, or another one of those gods that come and go and aren't the One real God? We have to dig into the past to understand some of the future, and this book does that for this series, as well as some lovely ways to ponder ley travel in depth.

If this book feels a little slow to you while yet careening through a multidimensional universe, then just know that it is about to be the foundation on which the next books sling-shot forward. I am happily waiting for all the rest of this amazing series!

Carol
PS...

Those who know me, or know me well, know I am extremely fond of Stephen R. Lawhead's work. The first time I read his books, they came from a salvage store! A Christian book store had gotten a great deal of damage and thus their stock was sold off and wound up at the store I was in. At my finger tips were all three book in the Song Of Albion series. I first picked up The Paradise War and then finding on the shelves the other two books in the series I got them all. After all, we were on a ministry trip and would be there a while and I was out of reading material. As soon as I started reading, I was hooked! I think you will be too!

About The Book:

The search for the map—and the secret behind its cryptic code—intensifies in a quest across time, space, and multiple realities.

But what if the true treasure isn’t the map at all . . . what if the map marks something far greater?  Something one world cannot contain? Those who desire to unlock that mystery are in a race to possess the secret—for good or evil.

Kit Livingstone is mastering the ability to travel across realities using ley lines and has forged a link from the Bone House, a sacred lodge made of animal bones, to the fabled Spirit Well, a place of profound power.

His friend Mina is undercover in a Spanish monastery high in the Pyrenees, learning all she can from a monk named Brother Lazarus. Still determined to find Kit, she is beginning to experience a greater destiny than she can fathom.


Book link - http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Well-Bright-Empires/dp/1595548068/
Author Website - http://www.stephenlawhead.com/ 
Author Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/StephenRLawhead 

In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. (For which I am thrilled, thankful and happy about!!!) 

*Participants’ links are as follows:
Jim Armstrong
Julie Bihn
Red Bissell
Jennifer Bogart
Thomas Clayton Booher
Thomas Fletcher Booher
Beckie Burnham
Brenda Castro
Jeff Chapman
Christine
Karri Compton
Theresa Dunlap
Emmalyn Edwards
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Jeremy Harder
Bruce Hennigan
Timothy Hicks
Janeen Ippolito
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Emileigh Latham
Rebekah Loper
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Anna Mittower
Joan Nienhuis
Lyn Perry Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Dona Watson
Shane Werlinger
Phyllis Wheeler

Against The Tide by Elizabeth Camden

Hello Folks,

Against the Tide is gripping, and moving. This is the story of an AMAZING orphaned girl. Lydia grew up on a boat, and over time got to work in the Navy ship yard. Her job is to be a language translator. Lydia is very gifted with langues, speaks several of them fluidly. She has a dry quirky sense of humor, but she has not really dated anyone. Entering into her life is a man named Bane. Bane has her same sense of humor, but he is closed off for the most part. He can't deny his attraction to Lydia and her plight, but at the same time he has vowed to never marry. He can't, because his mission in life has become to shut down the opium trade. The longer Lydia is around Bane, the more her eyes are opened and her struggles for freedom and for her and Bane to have a life deepen. How far will the Professor that once ruled Bane's life go to hurt or harm him, even by using those he cares about?

That only scratches the surface of this book. This could sort of be a *spoiler* so stop reading here and skip if you need to! I was deeply moved at Lydia's struggles with Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup. Frankly, the way opium was used in that, and in other things has a super strong parallel to those who are today addicted to prescription medications. Strong, intelligent people who are unwittingly addicted to medication, and watching them suffer is simply heart-rending. I think this would be a good book for anyone who has a friend or loved one who has been, or is addicted to a medication, as well as a wonderful story of some very brave people, and a well written peak into how opium was used in the Eighteen and Nineteen hundreds.

Carol

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Against the Tide

Bethany House Publishers (October 1, 2012)

by

Elizabeth Camden

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A Word from Elizabeth:

I am a college librarian in central Florida by day, but by night I can be found pounding out inspirational historical novels the moment the sun goes down. I love writing books about fiercely intelligent people who are confronted with profound challenges. As a rather introverted person, I have found that writing is the best way for me to share my faith and a sense of resilience with others.

I married relatively late in life, which turned out to be an odd kind of blessing. I had gotten very good at leading a solo life, and although I was not particularly content being alone, I had become reconciled to it.  Most importantly, it taught me never to take my husband for granted. I give daily thanks for the blessing of being able to share a life with my favorite person on the planet.

As for who I am? I love old Hitchcock films, the hour before sunset, a long, sweaty run through the Florida countryside, and a glass of good wine. After spending my entire adult life on a college campus (either as a student or a librarian) I have finally been able to pursue my ultimate goal of writing professionally.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Love and Lives are Threatened in Camden's Latest Offering

As a child, Lydia Pallas became all too familiar with uncertainty when it came to the future. Now, she's finally carved out a perfect life for herself--a life of stability and order with no changes, surprises, or chaos of any kind. She adores her apartment overlooking the bustling Boston Harbor, and her skill with languages has landed her a secure position as a translator for the U.S. Navy.

However, it is her talent for translation that brings her into contact with Alexander Banebridge, or "Bane," a man who equally attracts and aggravates her. When Bane hires Lydia to translate a seemingly innocuous collection of European documents, she hesitantly agrees, only to discover she is in over her head.

Just as Bane's charm begins to win her over, Lydia learns he is driven by a secret campaign against some of the most dangerous criminals on the East Coast, compelled by his faith and his past. Bane forbids any involvement on Lydia's part, but when the criminals gain the upper hand, it is Lydia on whom he must depend.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Against the Tide, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764210238