Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Book Review and Giveaway: Lessons on Love By: Kathleen L. Maher, Susanne Dietze, Carrie Fancett Pagels, Rita Gerlach,

Hey Guys! Today I am thrilled to bring new friend Kathleen L. Maher to the blog today. We are celebrating the release of: Lessons on Love By: Kathleen Maher, Susanne Dietze, Carrie Fancett Pagels, and Rita Gerlach.

Hi, Connie! Thank you so much for having me, Kathleen L. Maher, on your blog. I’m excited to talk about Lessons on Love, Barbour’s new Schoolteacher historical romance collection. I wanted to give your readers an exclusive look at this brand-new release, with the opportunity to win a signed print copy of their very own!

My novella, “Something Old, Something New”, tells the story of a young Jewish woman Gilda Jacobs, whose father has recently passed away. Her papa, Eliezer Jacobs, was revered in the town for founding his school and maintaining academic excellence. Gilda desires to take his place and teach, but the townspeople, particularly the mayor, has other ideas. He wants his nephew, Joshua Blake, to take over the school. Josh, on the other hand, just wants to preach the gospel, since he was mentored by the great revivalist Charles Finney. Old traditions meet new in this historical tale with many twists, turns and sparks!

Set in 1840, “Something Old, Something New” showcases a unique time in New York state history, with the newly built Erie Canal, the Hudson River still unspoiled by industrialization, and the old Dutch colonists mingling with various influences, including Jewish settlers. This was the era that Washington Irving wrote his classics such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip van Winkle. And the Common Schools –the first public schools—were just getting started across the expanding new Republic.

School teachers were a vital resource to our newly independent country. They held communities together and their curriculum brought unity throughout regions to make the next generation not only literate, but good citizens as well. Lady teachers were thought to have the right moral influence on young minds, and strict conditions were placed into their teaching contracts. Women who chose the noble vocation of teaching for these Common schools were forbidden to consort with men other than their brothers or father. They had dress codes, conduct codes, curfews, and even had to agree where to live.

Lessons on Love purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Love-Schoolteachers-Bargained-Contracts-ebook/dp/B07QGHKSWK/

Four schoolteachers find more than they bargained for in their contracts. Class is in session on the four R’s: reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmatic, and romance!

The other three stories depict charming scenarios of school teachers and their chances at romance from early in America’s history. Here are the descriptions of each:

Love in Any Language by Susanne Dietze
Kansas, 1870
Mary Clarence teaches English to the children of Swedish immigrants, but when her favorite students’ widowed father, Kristofer Nilsson, is accused of robbery, she’s determined to clear his name.

In Desperate Straits by Carrie Fancett Pagels
Mackinac Island, Michigan, 1894
Desperate for work, Margaret Hadley dresses as a young man to secure a dray driver’s position. When soldiers at the fort threaten her, Mackinac Island’s newest teacher, Jesse Huntington, intervenes.

A Song in the Night by Rita Gerlach
Virginia, 1904
Karin Wiles longs to share the uplifting power of music with children. But when she seeks to improve a poorly run school and include orphans, Nathaniel Archer delivers harsh words of opposition from the school board.

CONTEST: I am offering a signed print copy of Lessons on Love to one lucky commenter. To enter, answer this question. Have you ever had a job that demanded you to act or dress in a way that you found challenging? Could you imagine living up to these teacher contracts?

For extra entries, share this blog post on your social media: FB, Twitter, Pinterest, or (the cover of the book) on Instagram, etc. Be creative! The more shares, the more entries. ***US only***

Thank you for having me as your guest on this lovely blog, Connie. I look forward to interacting with your readers!

Author bio:

"Where every underdog has his day."
Kathleen L. Maher’s first crush was Peter Rabbit, and she’s loved conflicted heroes ever since. She has two novellas in BARBOUR BOOKS' collections: Victorian Christmas Brides and Lessons on Love. Winner 2012 ACFW Genesis Award. Author of Sons of the Shenandoah Series: The Abolitionist's Daughter and The Chaplain's Daughter.
Kathleen and her husband live in an old farmhouse in upstate NY with their children and a small menagerie.

Connect with me at:

Amazon: amazon.com/author/kathleenlmaher
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/KLMaherAuthor/
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/kathleenlmaher/boards/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2531698-kathleen-l
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kathleen-l-maher

Kathleen, Thank You so much for the information! I am thrilled to have been able to have read this wonderful collection.

My Thoughts on the Book

I am going to concentrate on Kathleen's story. I have read several books by Kathleen and she always writes such wonderful, historical stories. She always does such great and careful research. The author has a way of drawing you in within the first few pages. In this story, we meet Gilda. A Jewish woman who has recently lost her father. Her father was the teacher of the school, and she desires to take over that role after his passing. However, the mayor, has other thoughts. The mayor wants his nephew to come on board. One of the things that I loved about this book is that we see a beautiful blend of cultures. Gilda's Jewish culture, and Joshua's Christian faith. How will this work out? Will the town accept Gilda or will they want Joshua. Will Joshua and Gilda get past their differences? You will have to read to find out.

I received a copy of this book through the author, all thoughts are my own.

**REMINDER --- ENTER THE GIVEAWAY BY SAT. OCT 5 at 1:00 PM EST A WINNER WILL BE DRAWN FROM ALL ENTRIES USING RANDOM.ORG**

For extra entries, share this blog post on your social media: FB, Twitter, Pinterest, or (the cover of the book) on Instagram, etc. Be creative! The more shares, the more entries. ***US only***

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Book Review and Giveaway: Beautiful In His Sight Author: April W. Gardner On Tour with Celebrate Lit

About the Book

Book: Beautiful In His Sight

Author: April W. Gardner

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: May 11, 2019

It’s 1917, and Halifax is at war. Silas Quinn, street sweeper and army reject, remains on the home front, shunning God and society as religiously as they shun him. But the night he stumbles across a half-frozen prostitute, his eyes blink open, and his greater purpose is born: preserve and protect.

There’d been a day when shop girl Helen Fraser was desperate enough to believe a few nights in a brothel would cure her troubles. By some miracle, Major Jack Gordon deemed her worth saving, but Helen knows her meticulously recreated identity cannot last. What she doesn’t expect is for its destruction to come about, not by an old john or one of the madam’s goons, but by a force great enough to flatten a city and bury her alive.

Set against the backdrop of the Halifax Explosion, Beautiful in His Sight is a Christian historical romance that explores unequivocal grace and identity in Christ.

Click here to purchase your copy.

About the Author

APRIL W GARDNER writes history with a Christian perspective and a little imagination. She is a copyeditor, military wife, and homeschooling mother of two who lives in Texas. She writes Christian historical romance with a focus on our Southeastern Native Tribes. In no particular order, April dreams of owning a horse, learning a third language, and visiting all the national parks.

April loves to hear from her readers at: aprilgardnerwrites@gmail.com

More from April

The Story Behind the Story

My novels are never purely fiction. They are stories constructed around truth, around some segment of the past that’s both stunning and stunningly forgotten. My latest novel, Beautiful in His Sight, is set during the Halifax Explosion, a WW1 event little known in most of the world. For those in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in December of 1917, it literally shattered their world.

That’s the setting we find my characters Silas and Helen struggling to survive, but—as in every good romance—love (and God’s grace!) brings them through.

The Story Behind the Setting

By December 1917, Halifax had passed tens of thousands of soldiers and sailors through its railyard and onto the naval vessels in its harbor. With the military came the prostitutes who migrated in droves to the slums. It’s reported that some days, the only passengers disembarking from the trains were women in short skirts. Slumdom’s seams overflowed with carnality, public drunkenness, and solicitations. Prostitution wasn’t the only job to be had for women. With so many men wearing army green, ladies of the proper class and training stepped behind registers and bookkeeping desks and kept Halifax running.

This is the world in which we find our female lead, Helen Fraser, a reformed prostitute desperately trying to start over as a salesclerk.

The Story Behind the Explosion

As Silas, the story’s male lead, puts it, the explosion was “a tragic accident, a miscommunication between passing ships.” In short, it was a dozen small decisions that accumulated to one very horrific event. The collision and blast released the equivalent energy of 2.9 kilotons of TNT and instantly obliterated everything within a half-mile radius. The munitions vessel that exploded, the Mont Blanc, rained iron shrapnel all over Halifax. Its 1,160-ton anchor landed 2.5 miles away where it can still be found today.

The numbers: Over 2,000 deaths. Over 1,000 injuries. Almost 300 blinded.

The Story Behind the Name

The name Helen Fraser (female lead) is an honoring nod to Helen Clark, a courageous young woman who survived the explosion. This is her story.

Helen Clark, age eight, was beginning her school day at St. Joseph’s when she felt something disturbing. “Like thunder was taking place alongside of you,” she later said, “instead of up in the sky.” She looked to the window and gaped at the glass bowing inward. She flung her arms over her face and ducked an instant before it blew in. Then, in her words, “The ceiling above gave way at one corner and down two sides of the room, hanging like the flap of a great envelope and spilling out children from the room above.”

A nun grabbed her arm and said, “My heavenly God, the Germans have arrived! Get down on your knees girls.” In lieu of prayer, Helen wrenched away and jumped out the second-story window, narrowly missing the debris that, in the next moment, struck and killed the nun. A snow mound broke Helen’s fall. Suddenly very tired, she laid down right there, feeling no cold or pain, and went to sleep.

Eventually, two men approached to see if she was dead. Though she couldn’t speak, she managed to get to her feet. They straightened the bow on the top of her head and told her to go home if she had one to go to. The blood crusted over her eyes limited her vision, but she shambled along best she could, recognizing nothing. She knew her street only by the change to cobblestones under her feet, and her grandmother recognized her only by the bow in her hair.

Quick-thinking and bold, little Helen avoided both death and blindness, and I’m honored to name my heroine after her.

My Thoughts

One of the things that I love about historical fiction books is that you learn something as you read. I had not heard of the Halifax explosion. I actually went and researched it myself. It was a piece of history that seems to have been forgotten. This is the first book that I have read by this author. It will not be the last. This story is so powerfully packed with God's word and love for us that it will remind you that we ARE beautiful in HIS site. We are beautiful because we are made in his image. The author has done a great job at creating real feeling characters. Ones that have had a hard time getting over their pasts and hurts. Characters that we can relate to. She has written a wonderful story that you will want to read again. Silas is charged with caring for Helen. He wants to do it correctly. He will hit many twists and turns as they go along. Helen. She has tried to change her identity from who she once was. When her caretaker dies, what will happen? I do suggest this book for your enjoyment. Blogger note: This book also deals with prejudice treason and physical abuse. However it is done tastefully and respectfully.

I received a copy of this book through the Celebrate Lit Blogging program. All thoughts are my own.

Blog Stops

Simple Harvest Reads, September 9

Emily Yager, September 10

Betti Mace, September 10

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 11

Avid Reader Nurse, September 11

Reading Is My SuperPower, September 12

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, September 13

Connie’s History Classroom, September 14

JosephineAnneWrites, September 14

For Him and My Family, September 15

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 15

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, September 16

A Reader’s Brain, September 17

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 17

Inklings and notions, September 18

CarpeDiem, September 19

Through the Fire Blogs, September 20

Bigreadersite , September 20

Inspired by fiction, September 21

Texas Book-aholic, September 21

janicesbookreviews, September 22

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, April is giving away a grand prize package of a $25 Starbucks gift card and a signed copy of her 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/ec01/beautiful-in-his-sight-celebration-tour-giveaway

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Book Review and Giveaway: Surf Smugglers by Melody Carlson on Tour with Celebrate Lit

About the Book

Book: Surf Smugglers

Author: Melody Carlson

Genre: Historical Fiction

Release Date: August 15, 2019

In the summer of 1917, US troops join the allied forces in the Great War. Back in Sunset Cove, Oregon, other battles wage. Anna McDowell continues to fight old fashioned stereotypes as she runs a newspaper committed to truth. Despite opposition, she’s determined to expose ongoing rum-running and prohibition lawlessness.

Adding to Anna’s frustrations, her good friend Dr. Daniel seems to run hot and cold. He loves Oregon, and maybe Anna too, but he’s pulled by his East Coast family responsibilities. Even the lure of a new modern Sunset Cove hospital doesn’t seem enough to keep him in Sunset Cove.

Meanwhile, Anna’s strong-willed daughter Katy continues to develop her dress shop by inviting family friend Sarah Rose to help out. But the woman’s presence tests the small town’s tolerance. And Anna’s concern that her daughter is growing up too fast is confirmed when Katy’s romantic life takes an unexpected turn, which Anna fears is influenced by the pressure of a devastating war that is not only changing the entire world but Sunset Cove as well.

Click here to grab your copy.

About the Author

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women, and children. That’s a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a “storyteller.” Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, True Colors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She’s won a number of awards (including RT’s Career Achievement Award, the Rita, and the Gold medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog.

More from Melody

My favorite way to learn history is through historical fiction—both by reading and by writing it. And I’ve discovered that World War 1 (previously known as the Great War, since WW2 had yet to happen) is quite fascinating. As well as incredibly sad. But I’m amazed at how science and technology evolved so quickly in this era. Whether it was advancement in automotive, communication, medicine . . . the culture was rapidly changing. And the war pushed it along at an even faster pace.

Another factor that makes this era interesting is prohibition. Oregon, my home state and where I set my series, was one of the earliest states to adopt prohibition of alcohol—in 1914. As a result, Oregon became ripe territory for bootlegging and rum-running along the coastline. And because my series involves a small town coastal newspaper that’s run (gasp!) by a woman, it gets even more interesting—and exciting!

Speaking of women, the suffrage movement was approved in Oregon in 1912—also well ahead of the rest of the nation (and the main reason that prohibition passed). My theory on why this happened is that the brave women who’d made the arduous journey West (via perilous wagon train or long hard voyages on clipper ships) were strong and opinionated and tough. And many of them were sick and tired of drunken slacker husbands. Also, thanks to Oregon’s amazing land donation act of 1850, many of these women were equal landowners to their husbands—and land equaled power.

Of course, what these suffragette-prohibition supporters didn’t realize is that banning alcohol would make matters worse because bootlegging and rum-running suddenly became a very lucrative business. The crime rate soared and the booze continued to flow freely. But all this makes for good newspaper stories, keeping our female editor in chief rather busy. In the first two books of the series, Anna McDowell has her hands full with trying to run her ailing father’s newspaper, restoring family relationships, and staying ahead of the growing crime element in Sunset Cove.

By book three, Surf Smugglers, Anna has her feet under her and doing a good job of standing up to the criminal element in their region. But by now the Great War is really heating up and the United States must get involved. Of course, this means that many young men, as well as Anna’s very good friend Dr. Daniel Hollister, are being shipped overseas to serve. Meanwhile, there is plenty of trouble at home. And the rum-runners, who despise the newspaper’s support of prohibition, target Anna’s good friend Sarah Rose because she’s a woman of color who’s sought refuge from the big city . . . and naturally things get dicey.

I’m currently finishing up the fourth and final book of the Legacy if Sunset Cove series, and I’m sad to think my ‘history lesson’ in this interesting era is drawing to an end. Not only have I learned a lot, I’ve really come to love the McDowell family . . . and I’m getting worried that not all the men from Sunset Cove will survive the brutal war. Of course, this is fiction . . . but the war was very real and the losses were great. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the war to end all wars like they’d hoped, but I appreciate the sentiment . . . and continue to pray for world peace.

My Thoughts

I am so sad that there will be only one more book in the series! I have read the other two and I feel like these characters have become friends. I would read each book that has previously been published so that you get the full effect. In this book, It's 1917 and America is no longer neutral in the Great War. The selective service act has been passed - how will it affect the Sunset Cove residents? Jobs that have been previously filled by men - are now open and women start stepping into some of the roles. I love how the author has captured the world that these characters lived in. I feel that there is not a lot of books that are written for this time period - and it's such an important one. As always the author delivers with well written characters, intriguing storyline and entertaining the whole way through,

I received a copy of this book through the Celebrate Lit blogging program, all thoughts are my own.

Blog Stops

The Avid Reader, August 31

Connect in Fiction, August 31

Among the Reads, September 1

She Lives To Read, September 1

Through the Fire Blogs, September 1

For Him and My Family, September 2

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 2

Just the Write Escape, September 3

Patiently Waiting, September 3

Blogging With Carol , September 3

CarpeDiem, September 4

Betti Mace, September 4

Christian Bookaholic , September 4

Reflections From My Bookshelves, September 5

Wishful Endings, September 5

Remembrancy, September 5

Maureen’s Musings, September 6

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess , September 6

Bigreadersite , September 7

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 7

It’s Story Time With Van Daniker, September 7

Connie’s history classroom , September 8

For the Love of Literature, September 8

Hallie Reads, September 8

Moments, September 9

Simple Harvest Reads, September 9

FOR THE LOVE of Books , September 9

Locks, Hooks and Books, September 10

Pause for Tales, September 10

To Everything A Season, September 10

Retrospective Spines, September 11

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 11

Texas Book-aholic, September 11

Older & Smarter?, September 12

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, September 12

janicesbookreviews, September 13

A Reader’s Brain, September 13

Inklings and notions , September 13

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Melody is giving away the grand prize of three of her books: Harbor Secrets, Riptide Rumors, and Surf Smugglers!!

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/e982/surf-smugglers-celebration-tour-giveaway

Friday, September 6, 2019

Book Review and Giveaway: Rose's Redemption By Donna L.H. Smith on tour with Celebrate Lit

About the Book

Book: Rose’s Redemption

Author: Donna L. H. Smith

Genre: Christian Western

Release Date: November, 2018

A Former Dance Hall Girl. A Handsome Young Doctor. Can Rose overcome her past? That’s Rose’s Redemption

Rose Rhodes changed not only her name after the tornado; she changed her outward appearance. No more was she Rosalie O’Roarke, former dance hall girl. She loves her new work as a nurse-in-training to handsome Doctor Scott Allison. As Scott and Rose’s relationship begins to change from professional to personal, they must deal with figures from Rose’s past who make life anything but easy. Rose is concerned that the town will discover her dance hall girl past, especially when Jake Thomas, the man who viciously beat her, asks all over town where Rosalie O’Roarke went. But both Rose and Scott are in for surprise encounters with Christ that will change their lives forever and help them see His plan for them. In fact, they will see God at work all over New Boston.

Rose’s Redemption won second place in the 2017 Golden Leaf Award at the Advance Novelist Retreat and was a finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Phoenix Rattler Contest.

Click here to grab your copy.

About the Author

Donna L.H. Smith is a Kansas prairie girl transplanted to Lancaster County, PA. She is a graduate of Christian Writer’s Guild Craftsman program and holds two college degrees, both B.S. and M.A. in Mass Communication. She’s been married to a wonderful man named Kirby for thirty years. Her debut novel, Meghan’s Choice, made the finals of both the Selah and Will Rogers Medallion Awards. Rose’s Redemption, the sequel, also made the Selah Award finals in 2019. She blogs, speaks at workshops and holds inner healing retreats. Although she is at an age where many begin slowing down, she wouldn’t think of it. She served as Managing Editor of www.almostanauthor.com, an award-winning website for writers. She continues to serve as ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Mid-Atlantic Zone Director. She is also a member of AWSA’s Protégé program (Advanced Writers & Speaker’s Association).

More from Donna

Rose’s Redemption is the second book in the Known by Heart series. There were interesting challenges to this book.

First, how to change a rascal of an antagonist from Meghan’s Choice, to the romantic hero of Rose’s Redemption.

Second, I serve a supernatural God, so I wanted to include a little something different. It’s not spec-fic, but I hope people will enjoy Rafe. Answer the question for yourself whether or not he is an angel.

Third, I included in Rose’s history a bombshell from her mother. That was personal to me, only I didn’t discover it until two years ago.

The point of Rose’s Redemption is that our faith or our change cannot just be external, as Rose tried to do by changing her name, her appearance, and her profession—but an internal change of heart, too.

God is in the business of change

My Thoughts

Oh. My Gosh. I LOVE this author. One of the coolest things about being a book blogger is discovering new authors I may not have found otherwise. I love the way she writes. Her characters! Flaws and all. Her storylines are so well crafted. In this story - we meet Rose. a former dance hall girl. She so desperately wants to leave her old life behind. After a tornado hits her town, she recreates herself. I found myself reminded on how I have wanted to leave my past behind and be the woman God created me to be. These characters have such Godly lessons and redemption written all into them. I have read Meghan's choice by this author which does give a backstory to Rose and the others in the town - but it is not a neccessity to read this book. This is such a beautifully written story.

I received a copy of this book through the Celebrate Lit blogging program -- all thoughts are my own,