Saturday, June 29, 2024

My Thoughts - Beryl’s Bounty Hunter Author: Linda Shenton Matchett

About the Book

Book: Beryl’s Bounty Hunter

Author: Linda Shenton Matchett

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: August 15, 2023

Can a thief and a lawman find happiness?

Orphaned as a child, Beryl Atherton has lived on the streets of London for as long as she can remember. Reduced to stealing for survival, she is arrested. During her incarceration, one of her cellmates shows her a newspaper ad for an American mail-order bride agency. But all is not as it seems, and moments after landing in Boston, she must run for her life. Will things be no different for her in the New World?

Working as a bounty hunter since The War Between the States, Lucas Wolf just needs a few more cases before he can hang up his gun, purchase a ranch out West, and apply for a mail-order bride from the Westward Home & Hearts Mail-Order Bride Agency. While staking out the docks in Boston, he sees a woman fleeing from the man he’s been tailing. Saving her risks his job. Not saving her risks his heart.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Linda Shenton Matchettwrites happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she has lived in historic places all her life and currently resides in central New Hampshire where in her off hours, she serves as a volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII.

More from Linda

Dear Reader:

I’ve been an Anglophile as long as I can remember, from reading the classics like Dickens and Austen to watching BBC television. In honor of Beryl’s English heritage, I hope you enjoy this scrumptious scone recipe:

2 C unbleached all-purpose flour

2 T sugar

4 t baking powder

½ t salt

3 T unsalted butter, cold

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 T milk (for glaze)

Strawberry jam (to serve)

Preheat your oven to 425F.

In a medium bowl, place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter. Rub the mixture together with your fingers to break up the butter, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add the milk slowly, mixing as you add, using enough of the milk to get your dough to come together with no lumps remaining. (Your dough should be quite sticky. If a good consistency is not achieved with the listed amount of milk, continue adding until your dough reaches a good consistency.)

Spoon the dough out until a well-floured surface. Generously dust the top of the dough and knead the dough 2-3 times to coat it with flour and smooth the surface. Press the dough into a round that is roughly 1 inch thick.

Using a well-floured cookie cutter, cut the dough into 2-inch circles. (Be sure to press the cookie cutter straight down and up. Twisting the cookie cutter will impact the amount of rise you get on your scones.)

Place the rounds onto a greased and floured baking sheet. Brush them gently with the egg yolk and milk mixture.

Bake the scones for 12-15 minutes, until golden and firm.

Remove the baked scones from the oven and let them cool for 30 minutes (if you can resist). If you like softer scones, cover them with a clean tea towel as they cool.

My thoughts

Beryl’s Bounty Hunter is written by Linda Shenton Matchett. This is book 38 in the Westward Home and Hearts series. The series is written by multiple authors and has the focus on mail order brides. I’m a huge fan of this author. I love how she can transport readers back in time.

Beryl has come to America from Liverpool, England. She has hopes of starting a new life as a mail order bride. She befriends Nellie another woman hoping to find love. While on a train Beryl sees a news article about a mail order bride ruse and she figures out that the couple that has been transporting them are the ring leaders. She’s able to escape and finds refuge in Rocky Mountain Springs, Wyoming.

Lucas is a bounty hunter. He’s drawn to Beryl. When she comes up with a plan to infiltrate the ring, Lucas tries to shut it down. However they’ve not been able to catch up with them so they concoct a plan.

The pair disguise themselves and start on the path to rescue Nellie. One of the things that really stood out was that the pair consulted God. They seek Him for wisdom.

As always I loved this story. This author does a brilliant job in capturing history. The book is well written. The characters are flawed and realistic. Thank you to the author, publisher and Celebrate Lit for allowing me to read a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Blog Stops

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, June 21

Texas Book-aholic, June 22

Bizwings Book Blog, June 23

Locks, Hooks and Books, June 24

Stories By Gina, June 25 (Author Interview)

Madisyn Carlin, June 25

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, June 26

Paula’s Pad of Inspiration, June 27

The Lofty Pages, June 28

Connie’s History Classroom, June 29

Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, June 30 (Author Interview)

Devoted To Hope, June 30

For Him and My Family, July 1

Holly’s Book Corner, July 2

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, July 3

Tell Tale Book Reviews, July 4 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Linda is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Visa Gift Card and signed copy of the book!!

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/2c06c/beryl-s-bounty-hunter-celebration-tour-giveaway

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

My Thoughts- Coal Black Lies by Cindy K. Sproles

Coal Black Lies JustRead Blog + Review Tour

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Coal Black Lies by Cindy K. Sproles, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: Coal Black Lies
Author: Cindy K. Sproles
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Release Date: June 18, 2024
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

Believing the bitter lies you tell yourself leaves little room for the sweetness of truth

Coal miner Joshua Morgan managed to do the impossible--he broke away from the stranglehold of the iron-fisted Barton family and the Company Store, to whom all the miners in the Appalachian Mountains are indebted. But it cost him the life of his young daughter, who was run down by a posse led by Thomas Barton while coming to collect Joshua's payment to the store.

Five years later, a sweet but slow-witted young girl lands on his doorstep, and Joshua's desire to protect her from the clutches of the Bartons increases his thirst for vengeance. Joshua sets out to discover where the girl came from in order to take down the Barton family once and for all.

His journey leads him to the truth about the day his daughter died, a reality he finds hard to accept. But when confronted by Thomas Barton himself, Joshua is forced to rethink the dark lies brewing in his heart. If he broke away, could Thomas have also? Despite his misgivings, can Joshua join forces with a man he once despised to free the miners from the tyrannical Barton family and forge a future of peace for both the young girl and himself?

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | ChristianBook | Bookshop

Also Available

About the Author

Cindy Sproles

Cindy K. Sproles is the author of devotions published in newspapers across the country and a teacher at Christian writers conferences. She spent her formative years showing off her beloved Appalachian Mountains to others, and she and her family still live in the mountains of East Tennessee.

Connect with Cindy at cindysproles.com to follow her on social media and sign up for email updates.

My Thoughts

Coal Black Lies is written by Cindy K. Sproles. This is the first book that I have read by this author, and it will not be my last. This is a story of heartbreak, loss, grief, faith and redemption. The author captures the Appalachian mountains beautifully. The book is so well written you will feel the characters and their emotions coming off the pages.

Joshua Morgan is one of the few that has been able to break away from the Barton family. The family controls the whole town. They control the mine, and pay the miners in script that can only be used at the Company store. The whole town is beneath the Barton Family. Joshua and his wife, Raney know this personally. Once they broke away and paid every dime back tragedy strikes. The Barton family is responsible for the death of their young daughter.

Time has not healed the pain. Joshua and his wife are still struggling with the loss. Until one day a young girl shows up in their fields. She does not speak, she is filthy, and she holds a world of hurt behind her eyes. When Thomas Barton comes looking for the girl, he knows they need to keep her safe.

We see a family that was so hurt by a devastating loss relinquish all to God through a little girl and see how God heals. They also see changes around them. The author writes in such a powerful and wonderful message of God's Grace and forgiveness.

Thank you to the author, publisher and JustRead Publicity Tours for allowing me to read a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will win a print copy of Coal Black Lies plus book-related swag!

Coal Black Lies JustRead Tours blog giveaway

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight June 17, 2024 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on June 24, 2024. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

JustRead Publicity Tours

Friday, June 7, 2024

My Thoughts - When Hope Sank Author: Denise Weimer

About the Book

Book: When Hope Sank

Author: Denise Weimer

Genre: Christian / Historical / Romance

Release date: May, 2024

Can Hope Resurface After Evil Tries to Drown It?

Introducing a series of 6 exciting novels featuring historic American disasters that transformed landscapes and multiple lives. Whether by nature or by man, these disasters changed history and were a day to be remembered.

The Civil War has taken everything from Lily Livingston—her parents, her twin brother, her home. Now she works at her uncle’s inn and keeps her head down. Speaking up for her beliefs proved too costly in a part of Arkansas split by conflicting loyalties and overrun by spies and bushwhackers.

Emaciated in body but resilient in spirit, Lieutenant Cade Palmer is crowded onto the Sultana with other paroled Andersonville and Cahaba POWs for the journey north. But a fiery explosion on April 27, 1865, rends the steamer and empties two thousand men into the frigid Mississippi River.

Recovering from wounds that might end his career as a surgeon but clinging to his faith, Cade threatens both Lily’s defenses and her heart. How can she tell him she might’ve prevented the tragedy if only she’d reported a suspected saboteur’s claims? And when the man returns to town and encoded messages pass through the hotel, will Lily follow her convictions to prevent another tragedy?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Denise Weimerholds a journalism degree with a minor in history from Asbury University. A former magazine writer, Denise authored romantic novella Redeeming Grace, as well as The Georgia Gold Series (Sautee Shadows, The Gray Divide, The Crimson Bloom, and Bright as Gold, winner of the 2015 John Esten Cooke Award for outstanding Southern literature) and The Restoration Trilogy (White, Widow and Witch) with Canterbury House Publishing. A wife and swim mom of two daughters, Denise always pauses for old houses, coffee and chocolate, and to write any story the Lord lays on her heart.

More from Denise

The first novel I ever wrote was set during the Civil War, inspired by travels to historic sites of the Southeast with my parents and scribbled in my eleven-year-old hand in spiral-bound notebooks. Fresh out of college with my new degree in journalism with a minor in history on my shelf, I narrowly missed signing a contract for another Civil War series. Fast forward another decade or so. I was a young mom writing for magazines and directing a volunteer 1800s dance group when my Georgia Gold Series, literary-style historical fiction set between the Cherokee Removal and Reconstruction, found a home with Canterbury House Publishing. Since then, I’ve written everything from Hallmark-style contemporaries to Rev War romances (including my current Scouts of the Georgia Frontier Series with Wild Heart Books, where I also work as an editor). Everything but Civil War-era stories … until this one.

It feels a lot like coming home.

Some of that also has to do with the fact that I love writing stories that illustrate how God can bring healing and redemption out of the most difficult circumstances. I also endeavor to work as much real history as possible into the plots of my novels. And I love finding a little-known aspect of the past to center a story upon. When Hope Sank embodies all those things.

Reeling from the loss of over 600,000 men in the Civil War and the assassination of President Lincoln just the week prior, the nation hardly noticed when a steamer carrying a couple thousand U.S. prisoners of war exploded in the Mississippi River on April 27, 1865. Over eleven hundred perished in the icy waters that swelled several miles past the normal embankments at flood stage, making the sinking of the Sultana the most crippling maritime disaster in the nation’s history.

The former POWs on their way to muster out at Camp Chase, Ohio, were already emaciated and ill from imprisonment at infamous Andersonville and Cahaba prison camps. A number were badly burned when the boilers exploded, and many did not know how to swim. You can imagine the scene that ensued. While the steamboats docked at Memphis—which had been under Union occupation since the summer of 1862—got up steam, local citizens hurried to help, even those on the Arkansas shore who had fought for the Confederacy. The towns of Hopefield, Marion, and Mound City had suffered harsh reprisals for harboring Confederate guerillas. The area was well-known as a hotbed of spies and saboteurs intent on disrupting Union shipping on the Mississippi.

From this cauldron of chaos, discontent, and pain, an emotionally rich story was born. Focused on survival for herself and her little brother, Lily works at her uncle’s inn and keeps her Union sympathies to herself in her family of Southern sympathizers. The Yankee lieutenant she pulls from the river needs emotional healing even more than physical, though his wounds may compromise his ability to practice as a surgeon. The bond that forms between them from their shared faith and allegiances makes Lily question if she might have another option besides marrying her childhood sweetheart, a former partisan. And when coded message pass through River’s Rest, Lily struggles to find the courage to do what she didn’t the first time—speak out to save lives.

While the sinking of the Sultana may be the inciting event in When Hope Sank, it’s not the main focus. The reactions of the characters in the aftermath are. In our lives as followers of Christ, isn’t that where the real focus should lie? How we respond to tragedy? How we learn to reach for God instead of blaming Him? How, when we walk with Him, He brings beauty out of our ashes? It’s my prayer that the message of When Hope Sanksettles deep in your heart.

My Thoughts

When Hope Sank is book three in the Day to Remember series. The series is written by multiple authors and are all tied together by the historic event theme. This book is written by Denise Weimer. The author has done some careful research to bring this historic event to light.

The Civil War is over. Prisoners of War are being bused back where they can muster out of the Army. Tensions are still high, especially in the Southern states. Lily lives with her uncle and helps with his business. Her parents have passed and she is grateful to have somewhere to live. Her feelings about the war are different than her uncles, but she has learned to do as she is told. Her cousin, Beth, is a little more outspoken. She is sleeping one day when she is awoken by screams and shouts.

Cade is a doctor in the army. He is so happy to be released and cannot wait to get back to Northern soil. He is on the steamship coming home when suddenly it blows to pieces. His medical training kicks in and he tries to get as many to safety as he can.

Lily and her brother go down and try and help. When they find Cade and an unconscious man on a door Lilly sheds her garments and jumps in. She helps to bring them to shore. Cade has broken bones and burns all on his backs. However it becomes clear he does not want to be in the company of Southern Sympathizers. He buts heads with the towns doctor. Lily and her calming nature continues to try and help Cade.

I really liked the characters. They had hurt and pain from the war that has effected how they feel about people. I loved Lily's patience. She has great attention to detail and understands different medical terms to assist.

I love how the author captured how those might have felt after the war. Tensions were still high. I went and looked up this event and the author did a great job at keeping in important historical details. The book is well written. The storyline is engaging. I have been loving this whole series.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Celebrate Lit for allowing me to read a copy of this book - all thoughts are my own.