A Sweethaven Summer
Posted by Vicki on Feb 28, 2012
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Courtney Walsh is a published author, scrapbooker, theater director, and playwright. Her debut novel, A Sweethaven Summer, will be followed by two additional novels in the series. She’s also written two papercrafting books, Scrapbooking Your Faith and The Busy Scrapper. Courtney has been a contributing editor for Memory Makers Magazine and Children’s Ministry Magazine and is a frequent contributor to Group Publishing curriculum. She works as the PR Manager for Webster’s Pages from her home in Colorado, where she lives with her husband and three kids, who range in age from 4 to 10. Courtney drinks entirely too much coffee.
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 Summer, go HERE.
Considering
Posted by Vicki on Feb 25, 2012
I am considering not doing the book reviews any more. I have not made my decision for sure, it’s just something I’m thinking about. You see, while I love receiving the books, and love reading them, after I’m done doing the review I generally take the books to Hastings and turn them on. However the nearest 2 Hastings stores have closed, so I can no longer do that. So I just have all these books piling up everywhere, so now I wonder if it’s really worth my time to do the reviews.
What do you, my readers, think??
Wood Pergolas
Posted by Vicki on Feb 25, 2012
I’ve always thought that the wood pergolas were kind of cool looking. I’m not sure it would be something that I would spend money on, but then there are so many things that I say that about.
If I had unlimited money, there are a lot of things I would do, but since I doubt that will ever be the case I guess I continue to window shop.
Into The Free
Posted by Vicki on Feb 23, 2012
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A speech-language pathologist and literacy advocate, Julie Cantrell was the editor-in-chief of the Southern Literary Review and currently teaches English as a second language to elementary students. She has been a freelance writer for ten years and has published two children’s books. Julie and her family live in Mississippi where they operate Valley House Farm.
Julie served as contributing editor to MOMSense magazine and wrote content for Mothers of Preschoolers, Intl. for nearly a decade. Additionally, she has contributed to more than a dozen books. Into Th Free is her first book.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Just a girl. The only one strong enough to break the cycle.
In Depression-era Mississippi, Millie Reynolds longs to escape the madness that marks her world. With an abusive father and a “nothing mama,” she struggles to find a place where she really belongs.
For answers, Millie turns to the Gypsies who caravan through town each spring. The travelers lead Millie to a key which unlocks generations of shocking family secrets. When tragedy strikes, the mysterious contents of the box give Millie the tools she needs to break her family’s longstanding cycle of madness and abuse.
Through it all, Millie experiences the thrill of first love while fighting to trust the God she believes has abandoned her. With the power of forgiveness, can Millie finally make her way into the free?
Watch the book video:
If you would like to read the first chapter of Into the Free, go HERE.
Quickie
Posted by Vicki on Feb 15, 2012
A quickie update….Life is moving along nicely!! Our vehicle is almost in tip-top condition….We are getting tires and brakes done at this very moment….and we should have the heater core done later this week, or next week, and then we will be good to go.
I had planned to have lunch with my sister while they were putting on the brakes, but that didn’t work out. It’s been quite a long time since we’ve had a chance to have lunch and chat, but oh well, I suppose another day.
Anyway, I’d better move along. I have a lot to get done today!!
Duncan Yoyo
Posted by Vicki on Feb 15, 2012
I wonder if the duncan yoyo is better than your run-of-the-mill grocery store yoyo? I miss having a good quality yoyo!! I had alot of fun with yoyos when I was a kid. *LOL* Yep, I guess I’m old, because yoyos certainly are old-school fun!!
Nowadays the fun comes in the form of DS’s and X-box Kinect. *sigh* I wish things weren’t so advanced.
Sixty Acres and A Bride
Posted by Vicki on Feb 15, 2012
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A Word from Regina:
See me laughing. That’s what I do when someone calls me an author. Yes, it’s always been my dream, but I still can’t keep from giggling over it.
Other things I am – a Christ-follower, a wife, a homeschooling mother of four, a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University, and a voracious reader.
Getting reading time isn’t easy. Seems like my family does more than our share of traveling. My husband is an insurance adjuster (I know, save the hate mail) and travels with the catastrophe team often. That’s allowed us to see a lot of the United States. True many times it’s in the middle of a hurricane or blizzard, but after spending three weeks in a hotel room with six people, you’ll brave anything to get out and see the sights – no matter how damaged they might be.
We also serve on the Missions Team at an amazing church, so we break out the passports frequently. Highlights include singing at a leper colony in India, holding church inside a Mexican prison and showing the Jesus film to a tribe in Senegal who’d never heard the gospel.
But I don’t have to go far away for unusual. My family provides plenty of colorful material with their love for practical jokes, pithy observations and strong agricultural roots. Because of the family business, a significant chunk of my life has been spent at sale barns and auctions – often behind the scales where I weigh pigs. I like to think of myself as a “redneck bluestocking” but I brought an entire marketing team’s discussion to a screeching halt when I said those words, so you didn’t hear it from me.
When I have spare time I love to talk books and quirky characters (real and fictional).
ABOUT THE BOOK
With nothing to their names, young widow Rosa Garner and her mother-in-law return to Texas and the family ranch. Only now the county is demanding back taxes and the women have only three months to pay.
Though facing eviction, Rosa can’t keep herself from falling in love with the countryside and the wonderful extended family who want only her best. Learning the American customs is not easy, however, and this beautiful young widow can’t help but catch wandering eyes. Where some offer help with dangerous strings attached, only one man seems honorable. But when Weston Garner, still grieving his own lost love, is unprepared to give his heart, to what lengths will Rosa go to save her future?
If you would like to read the first chapter of Sixty Acres and a Bride, go HERE.
Blue Moon Bay
Posted by Vicki on Feb 9, 2012
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lisa Wingate is an award-winning journalist, magazine columnist, popular inspirational speaker and a national bestselling author of sixteen books. Her first mainstream novel, Tending Roses, is in its eighteenth printing from Penguin Putnam. Tending Roses is a staple on the shelves of national bookstore chains as well as in many independent bookstores.
Recently, Lisa’s Blue Sky Hill Series, set in Dallas, received national attention with back-to-back nominations for American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award for A Month of Summer (2009) and The Summer Kitchen (2010). Pithy, emotional, and inspirational, her stories bring to life characters so real that readers often write to ask what is happening to them after the book ends.
Lisa is one of a select group of authors to find success in both the Christian and mainstream markets, writing for both Bethany House, a Christian publisher, and NAL Penguin Putnam, a general market publisher. Her bestselling books have become a hallmark of inspirational fiction. Her works have been featured by the National Reader’s Club of America, AOL Book Picks, Doubleday Book Club, the Literary Guild, Crossings Book Club, American Profiles and have been chosen for numerous awards.
When not busy dreaming up stories, Lisa spends time on the road as a motivational speaker. Via internet, she shares with readers as far away as India, where her book, Tending Roses, has been used to promote women’s literacy, and as close to home as Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the county library system has used Tending Roses to help volunteer mentors teach adults to read. Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Heather Hampton returns to Moses Lake, Texas, to help facilitate the sale of a family farm as part of a planned industrial plant that will provide the area with much-needed jobs. Heather’s future fiance has brokered the deal, and Heather is in line to do her first large-scale architectural design–if the deal goes through.
But the currents of Moses Lake have a way of taking visitors on unexpected journeys. What was intended to be a quick trip suddenly morphs into Valentine’s week–with Blaine Underhill, the handsome banker who just happens to be opposing Heather’s project. Spending the holiday in an ex-funeral parlor seems like a nightmare, but Heather slowly finds herself being drawn into the area’s history, hope, and heart.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Blue Moon Bay, go HERE.
Getting Some Stability
Posted by Vicki on Feb 6, 2012
Guest post written by Derick Burks
I have moved so many times in the last few years that I can’t even remember all of the cities I have lived in. I work for a restaurant chain that sends me to cities to open new locations. I stay in the new cities from the point where we lease the commercial space, to the point where the staff is hired, the restaurant is open, and everything is going smoothly. In the more problematic locations I could be there for nine months to a year. At a location where the restaurant opens without a hitch, it usually takes four to six months. I am glad that my employeris finally giving me the chance to stay in Nashville for a few years. They want me to manage one of our busier locations that has had some problems lately, and it is a more permanent position. I am excited, and have already found a house. Now I have to get things ready so I can move in. I have already looked into tennesse home security and have an idea of what I need. Now I just need to connect my cable, internet, and phone and I should be good to go.
Song of My Heart
Posted by Vicki on Feb 6, 2012
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of fifteen novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women’s fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and numerous grandchildren.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Sadie Wagner has always been devoted to her family. So when her stepfather is injured and can’t work, she decides to leave home and accept a position as a clerk at the mercantile in Goldtree, Kansas. Goldtree also offers the opportunity to use her God-given singing talent–though the promised opera house is far different from what she imagined. With her family needing every cent she can provide, Sadie will do anything to keep her job.
Thad McKane comes to Goldtree at the request of the town council. The town has been plagued by bootlegging operations, and Thad believes he can find the culprit. After he earns enough money doing sheriff work, he wants to use it to pay for his training to become a minister.
Thad is immediately attracted to the beautiful singer who performs in Asa Baxter’s unusual opera house, but when he hears her practicing bawdy tunes, he begins to wonder if she’s far less innocent than she seems. And when Sadie appears to be part of the very crimes he’s come to investigate, is there any hope the love blossoming between them will survive?
If you would like to read the first chapter of Song of My Heart, go HERE.
