Daisy Chain
Zondervan (March 1, 2009)
by
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mary E. DeMuth is an expert in Pioneer Parenting. She enables Christian parents to navigate our changing culture when their families left no good faith examples to follow.
Her parenting books include Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture (Harvest House, 2007), Building the Christian Family You Never Had (WaterBrook, 2006), and Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God (Harvest House, 2005).
Mary also inspires people to face their trials through her real-to-life novels, Watching The Tree Limbs
(nominated for a Christy Award) and Wishing On Dandelions (NavPress, 2006).
Mary has spoken at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, the ACFW Conference, the Colorado Christian Writers Conference, and at various churches and church planting ministries. Mary and her husband, Patrick, reside in Texas with their three children. They recently returned from breaking new spiritual ground in Southern France, and planting a church.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The abrupt disappearance of young Daisy Chance from a small Texas town in 1973 spins three lives out of control—Jed, whose guilt over not protecting his friend Daisy strangles him; Emory Chance, who blames her own choices for her daughter’s demise; and Ouisie Pepper, who is plagued by headaches while pierced by the shattered pieces of a family in crisis.
In this first book in the Defiance, Texas Trilogy, fourteen-year-old Jed Pepper has a sickening secret: He’s convinced it’s his fault his best friend Daisy went missing. Jed’s pain sends him on a quest for answers to mysteries woven through the fabric of his own life and the lives of the families of Defiance, Texas. When he finally confronts the terrible truths he’s been denying all his life, Jed must choose between rebellion and love, anger and freedom.
Daisy Chain is an achingly beautiful southern coming-of-age story crafted by a bright new literary talent. It offers a haunting yet hopeful backdrop for human depravity and beauty, for terrible secrets and God’s surprising redemption.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Daisy Chain, go HERE
To purchase: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0310278368
Tender Grace
Bethany House (February 1, 2009)
by
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
I have also spoken nationally and internationally at many retreats and seminars and enjoy running into many readers and former students. I have written frequently for both Christian Standard and Lookout, periodicals of Standard Publishing. Years ago I wrote two non-fiction books, published by College Press, but currently out of print. These days, I’m exploring fiction. My first novel, Tender Grace, will be released by Bethany House January 30, 2009, and a second, Things Worth Remembering, will be released in October, 2009. I’m working on new projects, including a third novel, as time permits. Whether speaking or writing, I love the opportunity to tell about Him whom Jesus called “Holy Father” and “the only true God.”
She lives in Joplin, Missouri with her husband, and she spends most of her free time doing is reading and writing. That is what she usually do when she’s not teaching, enjoying the children and grandchildren, or sitting on the back porch drinking a Diet Coke and watching her husband till the garden!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Audrey Eaton awakes at three in the morning and gets up to retrieve her husband, Tom, from the recliner where he has fallen asleep watching a ball game. But when she enters the living room and looks at his gentle face in the soft lamp light, she knows their time together is over. Grief attacks her until all she can think about is how much she wants her old life back. Determined to find healing, she embarks on a journey to the one place Tom and she always intended to visit but never did. Along the way, she discovers, through shared experiences with friends old and new, the meaning of the “tender graces” God provides each and every day.
I’ve quit reading–even bestsellers, even the newspaper, even my Bible. I’ve also quit listening to music. This lack of appreciation for things I once loved is beginning to define me. More mornings than I can count, I say to myself before I open my eyes, “I don’t want to do this.” In the days shortly following Tom’s death, that made sense, but what does it mean now? That I’m in trouble? One of the best qualities of the former me was thankfulness. As I was trying to sleep last night, needing Tom to be curled up behind me, his left arm slung across me, I realized to my horror that I couldn’t remember the last time I was truly thankful. I think of a line from an old hymn: “Awake, my soul, and sing.” I miss Tom. I also miss me. Determined to find healing, Audrey Eaton embarks on a trip to the one place she and her husband always intended to visit but never did. When things don’t go as planned, will she embrace the unexpected graces that guide her journey?
If you would like to read the first chapter of Tender Grace, go HERE
Cut Here
****************************************
Posting Information
To Purchase: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764205757
Gingham Mountain
Barbour Books (February 1, 2009)
by
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mary’s writing journey is similar to a lot of others. Boil it down to persistence, oh, go ahead and call it stubbornness. She just kept typing away. She think the reason she did it was because she was more or less a dunce around people—prone to sit silently when she really ought to speak up(or far worse, speak up when she ought to sit silently).
So, Mary had all these things, she want to say, in her head; the perfect zinger to the rude cashier, which you think of an hour after you’ve left the store, the perfect bit of wisdom when someone needs help, which doesn’t occur to you until they solve their problems themselves, the perfect guilt trip for the kids, which you don’t say because you’re not an idiot. She keep all this wit to herself, much to the relief of all who know her, and then wrote all her great ideas into books. It’s therapeutic if nothing else, and more affordable than a psychiatrist.
So then a very nice, oh so nice publishing company like Barbour Heartsong comes along and says, “Hey, we’ll pay you money for this 45,000 word therapy session.” That’s as sweet as it gets.
Mary’s journey to publication is the same as everyone’s except for a few geniuses out there who make it hard for all of us. And even they probably have an Ode to Roast Beef or two in their past.
There are two other books in this Lassoed In Texas Series: Petticoat Ranch and Calico Canyon
ABOUT THE BOOK
All aboard for a delightful, suspense-filled romance, where a Texan is torn between his attraction to a meddlesome schoolmarm and the charms of a designing dressmaker. When Hannah Cartwright meets Grant, she’s determined to keep him from committing her orphans to hard labor on his ranch. How far will she go to ensure their welfare?
Grant Cooper is determined to provide a home for the two kids brought in by the orphan train as runs head-on into the new school marm, who believes he’s made slave labor out of eight orphaned children. He crowds too many orphans into his rickety house, just like Hannah Cartwright’s cruel father. Grant’s family of orphans have been mistreated too many times by judgmental school teachers. Now the new schoolmarm is the same except she’s so pretty and she isn’t really bad to his children, it’s Grant she can’t stand.
But he is inexplicably drawn to Hannah. Can he keep his ragtag family together while steering clear of love and marriage? Will he win her love or be caught in the clutches of a scheming seamstress?
If you would like to read the first chapter of Gingham Mountain, go HERE
To Purchase: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1602601410
A Cry In The Night
Thomas Nelson (February 3, 2009)
by
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Author Colleen Coble’s thirty novels and novellas have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA award, the Holt Medallion, the ACFW Book of the Year, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers’ Choice, and the Booksellers Best awards. She writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail and love begin with a happy ending.
AWARDS:
2004 More Than Magic winner for Best Inspirational Romance
Without a Trace, Thomas Nelson
2004 American Christian Fiction Writers Mentor of the Year
ABOUT THE BOOK
The highly anticipated novel that delivers what romantic suspense fans have long awaited-the return to Rock Harbor.
Bree Nichols gets the shock of her life when her husband-presumed dead-reappears.
Bree Nichols and her search and rescue dog Samson discover a crying infant in the densely forested woods outside of Rock Harbor, Michigan. Against objections from her husband, Kade, who knows she’ll become attached, Bree takes the baby in. Quickly she begins a search for the mother-presumably the woman reported missing just days earlier.
While teams scour the forests, Bree ferrets out clues about the missing woman. But she soon discovers something more shocking: Bree’s former husband-long presumed dead in a plane crash-resurfaces. Is he really who he says he is? And should she trust him again after all these years?
An engaging, romantic suspense novel from critically-acclaimed author Colleen Coble.
If you would like to read the first chapter of , go HERE
To purchase: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1595542485
Love Is In The Air
Book Summaries and Author Bio’s:
I Do Again:
With their professional success and adorable twin daughters, Jeff and Cheryl Scruggs looked like the perfect couple. But their polished facade concealed a widening chasm between two people unable to connect on an intimate, soul-deep level.
After years of frustration, Cheryl’s desire for emotional fulfillment led to an affair and, finally, divorce. Yet, incredibly, seven years later, Jeff and Cheryl once again stood at the altar, promising to “love, honor, and cherish” one another. A new and vibrant love had risen out of the ashes of this family’s pain.
I Do Again details the fascinating real-life story of a couple whose relationship seemed shattered beyond all hope until a spiritual awakening led them to reconsider their definitions of “happily ever after.” A riveting account of the power of prayer and redemption, this remarkable book offers renewed hope for even the most troubled marriages—and reveals why the rewards of restoration are well worth the wait.
Author Bio:
Cheryl and Jeff Scruggs are the founders of Hope Matters Marriage Ministries, and for the past several years they have shared their incredible story of a marriage restored with audiences across the nation. Jeff is an account manager with OshKosh B’Gosh, and Cheryl has served as director of the Frisco, Texas , office of the Center for Christian Counseling. They live in Dallas , Texas with their two college-age daughters.
Love As A Way Of Life Devo:
In his book Love As a Way of Life, best-selling author Gary Chapman shows readers how to cultivate a new lifestyle built around the seven characteristics of authentic love. Now in a companion devotional, he provides ninety inspirational readings to help Christians consistently live out the characteristics of love in every relationship.
Each devotional entry showcases biblical truths that guide a life of love, offering fresh insight and practical guidance in how to make love a lasting habit. Over the course of three months, readers will learn to follow God’s lead as they practice the characteristics of a loving person: kindness, patience, forgiveness, courtesy, humility, generosity, and honesty.
The Love As a Way of Life Devotional makes an ideal gift for the holidays or for any special occasion. Couples, parents, new graduates, and anyone celebrating a milestone in life will welcome this inspiring daily guide to richer, more satisfying relationships.
Author Bio:
Dr. Gary Chapman is the author of twenty-six books, including the New York Times bestseller The Five Love Languages, with more than 4 million copies in print. His daily radio program, A Love Language Minute, is broadcast on more than 100 stations nationwide. Dr. Chapman, a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, Wheaton College , Wake-Forest University , and Southwestern Seminary, serves on a church staff in North Carolina .
For Couples Only Box Set:
Since their debut, these revolutionary guides have sold well over a million copies, been translated into fifteen languages, and sparked much fascinating water-cooler conversation around the country. Now together in the For Couples Only boxed set, these books provide the perfect resource to help you understand what you never knew about the woman or man in your life.
Each volume is based on input from more than a thousand members of the opposite sex—including an unprecedented nationwide survey and hundreds of personal interviews. This innovative approach yields candid and surprising answers about everything you don’t “get” about your significant other—even what that person deeply wishes you knew. It also produces simple but groundbreaking awareness of how you can best love and support the one who is most important to you. [Part of me wanted to make this paragraph past tense—yielded and produced—because of the first paragraph, but that took away some of the immediacy of what the books offer. I’ll leave that up to you.]
So whether you are newly dating or have been married fifty years, get ready to know each other in a whole new way. The adventure is just beginning!
Author Bio:
Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn hold graduate degrees from Harvard University and are popular national speakers, authors, and entrepreneurs. They are also active church members and the parents of two young children, and they enjoy every minute of living life at warp speed.
Amazon Links:
I Do Again: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400074452
Love As A Way Of Life Devo: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0307444694
For Couples Only: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1601422482
Against All Odds
Revell (February 1, 2009)
by
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Irene Hannon is an award-winning author who took the publishing world by storm at the tender age of 10 with a sparkling piece of fiction that received national attention.
Okay…maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. But she was one of the honorees in a complete-the-story contest conducted by a national children’s magazine. And she likes to think of that as her “official” fiction-writing debut.
Since then, she has written more than 25 romance and romantic suspense novels that have sold more than 1.5 million copies. Her books have been honored with the coveted RITA award from Romance Writers of America (the “Oscar” of romantic fiction), the HOLT Medallion and a Reviewer’s Choice award from Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine.
Irene, who holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in journalism, juggled two careers for many years until she gave up her executive corporate communications position with a Fortune 500 company to write full. She is happy to say she has no regrets! As she points out, leaving behind the rush-hour commute, corporate politics and a relentless BlackBerry that never slept was no sacrifice.
In her spare time, Irene enjoys hamming it up in community musical theater productions. A trained vocalist, she has sung the leading role in numerous musicals, including “South Pacific,” “Brigadoon,” “Oklahoma” “The King and I” and “Anything Goes.” She also regularly performs with a six-person musical review troupe and is a cantor at her church (where she does NOT ham it up!).
When not otherwise occupied, Irene loves to cook and garden. She and her husband also enjoy traveling, Saturday mornings at their favorite coffee shop and spending time with family. They make their home in Missouri.
ABOUT THE BOOK
For FBI Hostage Rescue Team member Evan Cooper and his partner, dignitary protection duty should have been a piece of cake. Unfortunately, Monica Callahan isn’t making it easy. Estranged from her diplomat father, who is involved in a sensitive hostage situation in the Middle East, she refuses to be intimidated by a related terrorist threat back in the States…until a chilling warning convinces her that the danger is very real—and escalating. As Coop and his partner do their best to keep her safe, David Callahan continues his work—triggering an abduction that puts his daughter’s life at risk. And with every second that ticks by, Coop knows that the odds of saving the only woman who has ever managed to breach the walls around his heart are dropping. Because terrorists aren’t known for their patience—or their mercy.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Against All Odds, go HERE
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING:
4 ½-star, “Top Pick” rating from Romantic Times BOOKreviews!
“Brava! Award winner Hannon debuts the heroes of Quantico series with a wonderful
array of believable characters, action and suspense that will keep readers glued to each page. Hannon’s extraordinary writing, vivid scenes and surprise ending come together for a not-to-be-missed reading experience.”
~Romantic Times BOOKreviews~
“I found someone who writes romantic suspense better than I do. I highly recommend Against All Odds as one of the best books I’ve had the privilege of reading this year. This is a captivating, fast-paced, well written romantic suspense destined for my keeper shelf. I loved this book, and highly recommend this author.”
~Dee Henderson~ Author of the O’Malley Family Series
To Purchase: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/080073310X
Elise’s Review
Hi Uncle Dave…here is a long over-due book review. 
I’m not really sure how much or how little you want me to write…
From A Distance
By Tamera Alexander
Elizabeth Westbrook, a photojournalist from Washington, moves out west to Colorado Territory in the 1870’s. Her purpose being to photograph the beauty of an area around the growing town of Timber Ridge. Also to hopefully find a cure for her mysterious illness.
As she settles in, she hires Josiah. An uneducated, black man, who, un-romanically, captures her heart with his honest and trustworthy personality. He learns to mix chemicals for her photos and helps her haul her equiptment to and from photo shoots. He gives advice, and always lends a listening ear. As their friendship grows, Elizabeth and Josiah realize how uncannily their lives are related- keeping you intrigued throughout the entire book.
Daniel Ranslett, a Timber Ridge resident, lives a life of solitude, mostly, and when his path crosses Elizabeth’s, they have no idea how close they will become- against what they both claim to want. Their interaction pulls you in, as if you’re whitnessing it happing right in front of you. Bits of romance with a little comic relief cause you to fall in love with both characters.
When one of Elizabeth’s photographs becomes evidence in a local murder, her real reason for being in Timber Ridge begins to surface, causing her to re-think her motivation for the things she does. The mystery will keep you reading.
Tamera Alexander really brings everything about this book to life with her writing style. It’s a great read, and you may not be able to put it down.
Last Seen Leaving
A Stormie Review…
Katherine’s Reviews…
Dragonlight by Donita K Paul
Book five in the Dragon Keeperseries continues the saga of Kale and Bardon, little Toopka, Sittiponder, the Meech dragons Regidor and Gilda and all of Kale’s minor dragons.
I love this series not just for the dragons (I need several dozen minor dragons of my own), but for finally finding Christian fiction that successfully weaves faith and dragons together. No easy feat. Donita Paul wonderfully portrays God and Jesus as Wulder and Paladin in this series. Doctrine is carefully woven through the stories so it is not a slap in the face to any non-Christian who reads the series, but the underlying current is still there.
As this is the fifth book, I highly recommend reading the series from the start to fully understand the characters. Kale is my favorite of them all as she is the Dragon Keeper. Her growth from the first book to the fifth is satisfying to watch. Little Toopka is perhaps the most enigmatic of the characters. You know she much be there for a reason, but at times her role is difficult to fathom. Then there is the Meech dragon Gilda. Meech dragons are the only dragons who speak. All other dragons communicate telepathically. Gilda is portrayed as someone you’d love to slap, but then she shows a very caring side of her nature. She gives everyone, especially Kale, much grief.
If you love science fiction and dragons, this is definitely a must read.
Isolation by Travis Thrasher
Not many Christian fiction writers are willing to take on the concept of demons and possession. Travis Thrasher does and does it well. The story starts out with a bit of difficulty. It took a little for the characters and the story line to mesh, but once it did it was hard to put this book down.
The main characters are Stephanie and Jim and their two children. Stephanie and Jim are missionaries on furlough from Dambi. They left the mission field during a turbulent and distressing time and now are trying to cope with the aftermath. Is God really there? Does He really care about them? If He really is there and really does care, why are bad things happening?
I won’t give too much away, but the plot draws you in and won’t let you go. Anyone who has ever felt that God was far away will relate to the characters in Isolation. The climax is breathtaking and the ending satisfying. A very good read.
In the Shadow of Lions by Ginger Garrett
This is a period piece, a story of angels, and women both high born and low. In the end, it strikes at the apathy of many of today’s Christians.
I’m not sure even now if I like the concept of the Scribe. It felt like the Scribe intruded on the story too much without really helping the story along. I understand the concept of the Scribe; just not sure I like it.
The Scribe comes to an Editor to have her write a story. It’s a story of two women in England during the 1500’s and their Guardian Angels52. One of the women is a servant in the home of Thomas More. The other woman is Anne Boleyn. The story weaves back and forth between the lives of these two women. This is the time of Henry the VIII’s attempts to get Papal approval to divorce Catherine of Aragon. It is the time of Henry’s turn from the Catholic Church to the creation of the Church of England. And the story ultimately surrounds a book. A book that some embrace and others condemn. A book that gets the same courtesies today.
I love historical fiction and this was one of the better ones I’ve read. I learned things about Anne Boleyn, Henry the VIII, Catherine of Aragon, Thomas More, Wolsey and others that are not taught in textbooks or even on old PBS Masterpiece Theater. I also learned much about William Hutchins. Quick trivia…do you know who he was? Unless you are a student of history, probably not. But, if you are a Christian, he has impacted your life tremendously. This was definitely a great read.
Carolyn’s Reviews
I have been amiss in getting to all of the reviews that my buddies have been putting in, so I am putting them together in one post…
Enjoy, and sorry ladies.
Keep on reading.
Carolyn
Carolyn
Carolyn
–
Carolyn
John 3:16
Very Good. A tragedy in a Midwestern college town leaves Roman Paulson questioning God’s existence. After his wife’s death, his whole life is centered around his son, Billy. When God comes into Billy’s life through his football coach, Roman feel he has been pushed aside. This is a story of greed, ambition and bitterness and how it can affect the lives of several people, all bound together by a single event. Will Roman have the courage to hold up a sign at a football game with the message John 3:16? “A life of self is death, but the death of self is life.”
–
Carolyn
Up Pops The Devil
Carolyn
The Bride Bargain
Carolyn
Carolyn
Carolyn
Carolyn
Carolyn
