Argosy Junction by Chautona Havig

About the Book

Book Title: Argosy Junction

Author: Chautona Havig

Genre: Christian Fiction/Romance

Release date: 1st edition: March 11, 2010 ; 2nd edition: August, 2018

“I want nothing to do with Jesus or God.”

After over twenty years of abuses from the cult-like church she grew up in, Lane Argosy has had it with God and His people. Though the Brethren try to make Lane and her family’s lives unbearable, freedom from their warped brand of Christianity is sweet. She’ll never go back… never.

He just wanted to visit the country he’d explored through books. So, when Matt Rushby arrives in Argosy Junction, Montana, he expects idyllic meadows and craggy rocks towering above, old-fashioned friendliness and at least one or two cowboys. Instead, he finds familiar hatred and factions very much like the ones back home in Rockland’s inner-city gangs.

The Argosy family is disillusioned, broken, and floundering. Matt knows the answer is Jesus—just Him and not the trappings of a faith He never designed.

But how can Matt help them turn their hearts back to the Lord when he suspects Lane has stolen his?

Click here to purchase your copy!

 My Review:

This book opens with a scene from an old tv western I've seen. I think it was in Death Valley Days, but I could be incorrect on that. Matt has gone off in new boots to photograph sheep, an animal he is completely ignorant about. What follows next just made me roll my eyes and sigh. I hoped he would gain some sense as the book progressed because this guy needs help. 

As is typical, the ranch wise woman, Lane Argosy, comes to his rescue after she feels like he has suffered enough. She could have helped him much sooner, but let's say she wasn't oozing with kindness at the start of this story. Matt soon meets her family and the sheep farm and this book is off to a right regular western, only it's not. The characters tend to feel like they are all missing something, like answers or emotions. There are so many questions left unanswered. That annoys me! 

The cult of the Brethren was interesting. The fall out that it caused was a main focal point of the book. The romance was slow but I don't feel like this couple is going to be headed for a happily ever after. There are too many flaws still like the cult to make me comfortable with them. While I know cases where living with parents is necessary, it can also be difficult or a controlling situation. I feel like, for this story, this is yet another control situation. 

3 stars 

About the Author

The author of dozens of books in a variety of genres, Chautona Havig lives and writes in California’s Mojave Desert where she uses story to nudge her readers to the feet of the Master Storyteller.

Guest Post from Chautona

What Do You Do When the Church Becomes Toxic?

You know how TV shows and movies like to make fun of bridezillas?

Yeah. I know. It can be funny.

But bridezillas aren’t just those gals on reality shows. They’re all over the church, too. People who allow their focus to get off the Bridegroom and onto “their day.” Instead of focusing on the One who loves them so dearly, Who has rescued them from the gutter and holds them close and tenderly, they focus on getting all the trappings right. The right wording, the right clothes, the right rules of…

UGH.

So many friendships have been ruined by a bride gone wild—so focused on details that she forgets the people she hopes will celebrate it with her. She forgets her groom. Unreasonable expectations of the day and of people lead to broken relationships and an ugly taint to what should be a beautiful occasion.

What I find interesting is that people will forgive a lot from a bridezilla. You hear things like, “Well, it’s such a stressful time,” or “She’ll come around after she settles in.”

And it’s true.

So, why don’t we have the same grace for the “bridezillas” of the church? When that deacon decides to become judge and jury of people’s spiritual state based upon what he thinks or knows someone has contributed to the church, why do we write off him and the rest of the congregation (or all congregations out there)? When the church gossip shares private information… or even false information, why do we lash out with thinly-veiled, passive-aggressive rants on Facebook about brutes in the church before flouncing off in a spiritually-superior rejection of that “religious nightmare, otherwise known as the church?” (Yes, I’ve heard it called that).

When we’re blackballed by people who used to call us family, why do we reject all parts of the bride? Why do we cut off an arm, a leg, a hand, and whack away from the body known as Jesus’ bride until only a piece of an eyelash is left—us?

I get it. The bride of Christ gets ugly—like many bridezillas do. But do we love our Groom? Do we trust that He will stay faithful to us even when parts of our body fails us? When we get old, frail, and forgetful, will He remember us? Will He stay faithful and true when we wander to other loves? Can we trust that?

If Jesus can die for that person in the pew across the way, if He can forgive their sins, if He can forgive your sins, can’t you forgive His beloved?

Look, I get it. Sometimes part of the body of Christ becomes ill—gangrenous. Toxic.

When that happens, you need to remove yourself before you become ill, too. I get that. But that local body is just a tiny finger or toe of the whole body. We need to do what we can to help the rest of the body stay healthy while we pray and do what we can to help the sick part.

And I’m not condoning sin. Please understand that. This isn’t about me saying, “It doesn’t matter if the church sins against us. It does. It’s why Jesus gave us a way to deal with that.

But regardless of how someone else behaves, we still have to do what’s right. And I Peter 4:8 reminds us that “Love covers a multitude of sins.”

If you thought I’d wax eloquent about how evil the church is, how we should just abolish the “institution,” and why it’s just so bad…

You’ll be disappointed. I won’t do it.

So, What Do You Do When the Church Becomes Toxic?

I can answer the question in a word.

Love.

And really, that’s all Matt does in this book. Loves. Okay, and maybe a little prayerful ranting as well.

It’s what Jesus did when His creation—you and me—when we became toxic. He loved.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” John 13:34

Special Video from Chautona Havig

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Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, August 7

Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, August 7

The Power of Words, August 8

Bigreadersite, August 8

Among the Reads, August 9

Multifarious, August 10

Blogging With Carol, August 11

proud to be an autism mom, August 12

A Baker’s Perspective, August 12

Texas Book-aholic, August 13

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 14

Janices book reviews, August 15

Maureen’s Musings, August 16

Jeanette’s Thoughts, August 17

Bibliophile Reviews, August 18

Carpe Diem, August 19

Godly Book Reviews, August 20

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Chautona is giving away a grand prize package that includes a paperback copy of Argosy Junction, “Matt’s” copy of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, and a $25 gift certificate!!

Click below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d143/argosy-junction-celebration-tour-giveaway

Kingdom of Ruins by D.C. Marino

About the Book

Title: Kingdom of Ruins

Author: D.C. Marino

Genre: Fantasy

Release Date: July 27, 2018

In the Lands Within, history does not rest. Each archaeological layer communicates with the living generation, choosing its friends and enemies—and its kings. But an alliance has been struck no one could have anticipated, and an ancient evil is soaking into the soil. History is being erased, purchased and re-written at a terrible price. And a kingdom that shouldn’t have been forgotten is fading from memory.

In the Lands Without, archaeologist Lori Brickland has found a pottery shard with a heartbeat. The pulse might be a trick of the mind, or it might be the first sign of life in a world of ruin. An exiled traveler will say she shouldn’t search for the truth, a calculating ruler will say she’s the one he’s looking for. And the kingdom? The kingdom will need her before the end. It’s time to accept what she’s always known…

This isn’t archaeology.

This is war.

Click here to  purchase your copy!

My Review

Living artifacts, that's something I can dig. (Pun intended.) Reminiscent of some other books I've liked, this book is engaging and has a world that feels eerily familiar, like I've met it or read it before. 

An archaeologist afraid of ruins, oh my. Poor Lori, what a thing to have to cope with. I had to read more before I could decide why she would even stay in a profession that caused her so much fear. Lori winds up sucked through a wormhole. Now that she's in another world, it's even more important to fight her fears and use her gifts at every turn. 

Thane was another strong character and I look forward to the next book in this series. It's a strong fantasy read, that isn't so far fetch from my own imagination. That makes me feel connected and comfortable with the world that the author created. It's a debut book that should expand into a good series. Themes include, obviously, fighting fear, dealing with sin, good over evil, greed vs giving, and finding out who you really are.  

4.5 stars 

About the Author 

D.C. Marino is a dedicated reader of history books and fantasy novels, both of which occupy an equal amount of space on her bookshelves. But it wasn’t until she realized how one breathed life into the other that she became addicted to finding the intersections of the real world and the fairy story. Still more: what those intersections about us as a creative, curious people. Kingdom of Ruins is her debut novel.

Guest Post from D.C. Marino

Hi everyone!

I’m so excited to share Kingdom of Ruins with you! This story has been on my heart and mind for over ten years now, so this feels a bit surreal. I’d love to tell you a bit about why I wrote this book. But in order to do that, I need to tell you why I almost didn’t.

Fantasy. It isn’t real. Why should I spend time writing a story that doesn’t grapple with the actual issues of the day? Why not speak plainly, instead of inventing another world to explore the real one? These were the questions I asked myself every night before I fell asleep. I adored fiction that transported me to factual events, or introduced me to historical figures, but every time I picked up a pen, the fantastical wiggled out of it.

I was afraid I was writing the wrong story.

This story oddly (or not so oddly) enough began with Lori, an atephobic archaeologist. Meaning she had a passion for archaeology, but a phobic fear of ruins. Why would she shrink back from the work she loved? Because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make whole the broken. Life ends in dust, and that’s all there is to it. I felt the same way. Not only was I writing something I wasn’t sure would be relevant, but could it mend anything? Make a difference? Or was it futile, like trying to resurrect the past?

What I found was exactly what Lori begins to find in Kingdom of Ruins. That even though things seem unfixable, it isn’t the end. The world Lori enters is full of darkness and peril, but it also holds a chance for her to heal from more than just her fear. While I wrote, and especially as I neared the last chapter, I realized she and I had both overcome a great challenge. I won’t tell you her conclusion, but I will tell you mine:

I wrote the right story.

I hope you enjoy every bit of the journey as I did, dear reader.

D.C. Marino

Blog Stops

Carpe Diem, July 31

Remembrancy, July 31

Inklings and notions, August 1

Fiction Aficionado, August 2

Multifarious, August 3

Jeanette’s Thoughts, August 3

Connect in Fiction, August 4

Bigreadersite, August 4

Bibliophile Reviews, August 5

A Reader’s Brain, August 6

Just the Write Escape, August 7

Margaret Kazmierczak, August 8

Aryn the Libraryan, August 8

Simple Harvest Reads, August 9 (Guest post from Mindy Houng)

Blogging With Carol, August 10

proud to be an autism mom, August 10

Texas Book-aholic, August 11

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 12

Janices book reviews, August 12

A Baker’s Perspective, August 13

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, D.C.  is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/ced0/kingdom-of-ruins-celebration-tour-giveaway

The Banished Lands by Benjamin Mester

About the Book

Book Title: The Banished Lands, book one in The Banished Lands Series

Author: Benjamin Mester

Genre: Fantasy

Release date: May, 2015

A kingdom in danger. A prophecy that will change everything. But will they understand it in time? The old world is gone, and barely even histories remain. But something from that time is returning. The closing lines of a farewell poem, written centuries ago by the last great king of the age to his slain wife, might be more than just a poem:

The world and all its light shall fade,

I’ll stay with her beneath the shade

And wait until the world’s remade…

 Join us in this epic fantasy adventure as three friends plunge into the great mystery of their age, twelve centuries in the making. A mysterious fog blankets the forest just outside the sleepy town of Suriya. A dark plot unfolds as Durian and his friends discover ties between a strange wanderer and the warlike barbarian kingdom far to the north. Are the mysterious things happening in the forest a prelude to invasion? What happens next will propel Durian and his curious friends into the middle of the oldest riddle in the history of their kingdom, a dozen centuries old.

Click here to purchase your copy!

 My Review:
A brand new to me author, and a series that I've just fallen for. This book is packed with details and characters. It's very involved, and reasonably compelling. The parts that are slower are the build-up for the rest of the series or the scenes. When the action starts, it doesn't stop. I'd love to read the other books in this series. From the fight between good and evil to a quest that must be fulfilled, to poetry and prophecy, once you start this journey you will not want to leave it. It has an ability to suck you in and leave you wanting more. 

While this copy came from Celebrate Lit, I bought my own copy of this book. 

4.5 stars 

About the Author

Benjamin Mester is a novelist and poet. He fell in love with the written word and beauty of language at a young age, marveling at the way a story can transport a person, enveloping their whole mind and heart as they dive into new places and grand adventures. A lover of nature, Mester has spent the whole of his adult life immersed in the study of poetry, often wandering the woodlands of northern Minnesota or the beaches of California.

If asked about his writing, he would say his overarching goal is to inspire people to live with greater passion, often quoting one of his favorite Proverbs, 14:8: The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways. How often do we stop to give thought to our ways, asking ourselves why we live the way we do? What does it mean to live to the full? How can I love more deeply? Mester hopes his writing will build a longing in his readers, that his stories inspire them to want more for their lives than the mediocrity of good enough we so often settle for.

 Guest Post from Ben

I’ve always loved that enthralling feeling of adventure and mystery that comes when you dive into a brand new world. My greatest motivation for The Banished Lands was to create a world of rich lore and history, but not overburden the reader with backstory. In The Banished Lands series, we enter a fractured world with a forgotten history. But hints of it remain through a set of poems that speak of the old world and cryptic events which brought an end to that age.

I love the idea of characters living normal, mundane lives, suddenly thrust into an ancient struggle they didn’t even know was raging. I love the fantasy genre because it isn’t ashamed of the classic archetypes – the epic struggle of good and evil, heroics, and everything that often gets the label cliché. Using these archetypes in ways that haven’t been done before was my real motivation for writing The Banished Lands series. The way this series combines poetry, lore and mystery is something unique in the fantasy genre.

When writing this first book, I often sat back and wondered to myself, What would it be like to live in a world with a shrouded past? We often take modern life for granted – the whole wealth of human knowledge at our fingertips. But what would it be like to live in a world where the only history was cryptic poetry telling of a time when the world was a wildly different place? And what if, somehow, those ancient poems that no one really understands seem to be the only thing that really explains the dark things creeping forward from the fringes of the world? Welcome to The Banished Lands!

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, August 2

Two Points of Interest, August 3

Blogging With Carol, August 4

Mary Hake, August 4

Inklings and Notions, August 5

A Rup Life, August 6

proud to be an autism mom, August 7

Bibliophile Reviews, August 7

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 8

Janices book reviews, August 9

Jeanette’s Thoughts, August 10

Carpe Diem, August 11

A Baker’s Perspective, August 12

Books, Books, and More Books., August 13

Multifarious, August 14

Bigreadersite, August 14

Little Homeschool on the Prairie, August 15

The Mimosa Blossom, August 15

Giveaway

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

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d1c7/the-banished-lands-celebration-tour-giveaway

The Running by Dave Milbrandt

About the Book

Book Title: Running

Author: Dave Milbrandt

Genre: Christian Suspense

Release date: May 1, 2018

An assassin’s bullet sends Jim Mitchell running. When he’ll stop is anybody’s guess.

A tragedy propels Jim into a vacant state assembly seat. The new lawmaker and his wife have a baby on the way, but that doesn’t stop the people trying to keep him from a job he never wanted in the first place. Then Jim gets involved in a plan to thwart a major terror attack that could either make him a hero or get him killed.

Political intrigue and high drama accent this tale of what it costs to find one’s purpose, and what the rewards can be when you do.

Running is the third book in the Jim Mitchell series. Previous titles include Chasing Deception and Undue Pressure.

Click here to purchase your copy.

My Review:
Suspense and politics! This book was pretty good. It has faith worked into a huge amount of politic. It's like an up-scaled Clive Cussler or Tom Clancy. I read this book without having read the others in this series. It stood alone just fine. I felt like I was there with Jim as he faced so many challenges in this book. I have worked with some politicians and I liked the truth of many aspects that the author worked in. 

4 stars! 

About the Author 

The author of Chasing Deception and Undue Pressure, Dave Milbrandt fell in love with writing in junior high and has been a storyteller ever since. A former staff writer for a daily newspaper, the Southern California native spent five years in journalism and public relations before becoming a teacher. Having worked at several area colleges, Dave has taught high school English and Social Studies classes since 2005 and fills his evenings sharing a passion for politics with his community college students. Dave and his wife, Lynn, have been married since 1997.

Guest Post from Dave

In 1998, I feverishly pounded out the first draft of Chasing Deception (book one in the Jim Mitchell series) in five weeks. Full of ambition, but bereft of wisdom of how the publishing world works, I assumed my novel would be published in short order. Despite my overly abundant self-assurance, I had to wait until 2013 to get that story out. I was in a hurry, but God, as usual, had other plans.

Over the last 20 years, I have discovered the gift of patience and more about the craft of good writing than I ever could have expected during that summer half a lifetime ago. With Undue Pressure (2016) and Running (2018), I have completed the trilogy I never planned to write and hopefully given readers some characters that will stick with them after they reach the end of the story.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, July 28

Carpe Diem, July 28

Bibliophile Reviews, July 29

Margaret Kazmierczak, July 30

A Baker’s Perspective, July 31

At the Fence, August 1

Cathe Swanson, August 1

Just the Write Escape, August 2

Multifarious, August 3

Mary Hake, August 3

Blogging With Carol, August 4

The Midnight Bookaholic, August 4

proud to be an autism mom, August 5

Simple Harvest Reads, August 5 (Spotlight)

Texas Book-aholic, August 6

Ashley’s Bookshelf, August 7

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 7

Janices book reviews, August 8

Artistic Nobody, August 8 (Spotlight)

Jeanette’s Thoughts, August 9

Reading is my Super Power, August 9 (Interview)

Two Points of Interest, August 10

Bigreadersite, August 10

Giveaway

To celebrate his tour, Dave is giving away a grand prize that includes ebooks of all three books in the series!!

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/d33e/running-celebration-tour-giveaway