Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Anakus by Stephen Phillips

About the Book

Book: Anakus

Genre: Christian Fiction

Release Date: May 1, 2025

A boy torn from home. A world ruled by empire. A soul in search of redemption.

Anakus is taken from the hills of Ethiopia and thrust into the heart of a vast, brutal empire. From dusty roads to iron-clad legions, he is shaped by hardship, loss, and the long march of history.

But even in the shadow of conquest, a quiet hope endures- whispered through strangers, carried on distant winds, waiting to be found. Set against the backdrop of the ancient world, Anakus is a sweeping historical novel of identity, survival, and the unexpected power of grace.

For readers who believe that light can still rise from darkness-and that some journeys lead not just home, but to the heart of truth.

Click here to get your copy!

I really struggled with finishing "Anakus" by Stephen Phillips until chapter 12. That is where Anakus meets Jesus. I was thinking about what to write in this review and the thought came to me that is what real life is like, (lives are miserable and not so good until we meet Jesus and then he changes everything. ) Yes, yes, after that, I started enjoying the book. Maybe it's because I knew some of the stories that they were sharing about the bread and fish and Jesus getting on the boat and I really appreciate that the Salvation story is shared and I'm glad I finished the book.

This is a story of a man full of shame because of his past and how meeting Jesus and being forgiven changed him. This is a story of hope and redemption. It is a short 148 pages, and the chapters are short. There is a few scenes that makes me sad, but happy at the same time.

This quote from this book really inspired me
" Not every story ends in return." True" the man said, Serious now. "Some journeys are about becoming someone new, not going somewhere old."

The author shares Biblical scriptures and an invite to accept Jesus at the end of the book!

I received a complimentary copy from the author and Celebrate Lit and these opinions are my own.

About the Author

I am a 41 retired U.S. Army veteran. Drawing from a life of service, resilience, and storytelling, I write with raw honesty and vivid imagination

More from Stephen

I have always been inspired by Pilgrim’s Progress’s story of the gospel and the imaginative way Bunyan wrote it. Now, by no means do I expect this book to ever be as successful as Pilgrim’s Progress, but I if one person is changed or saved through it, then to me that is a great success.

Blog Stops

The Lofty Pages, October 17

Inspired by Fiction, October 18

Allyson Jamison, October 19

Simple Harvest Reads, October 20 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 21

Texas Book-aholic, October 22

Artistic Nobody, October 23 (Author Interview)

The Mommies Reviews, October 23

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, October 24

Blogging With Carol, October 25

Guild Master, October 26 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 27

Books Less Travelled, October 28

Fiction Book Lover, October 29 (Author Interview)

The Bookish Pilgrim, October 29

Blossoms and Blessings, October 30 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Stephen is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3cff3/anakus-celebration-tour-giveaway

I really struggled with finishing "Anakus" by until chapter 12.That is where Anakus meets Jesus. I was thinking about what to write in this review and the thought came to me that is what real life is like, (lives are miserable and not so good until we meet Jesus and then he changes everything. ) Yes, yes, after that, I started enjoying the book. Maybe it's because I knew some of the stories that they were sharing about the bread and fish and Jesus getting on the boat and I really appreciate that the Salvation story is shared and I'm glad I finished the book.

This is a story of a man full of shame because of his past and how meeting Jesus and being forgiven changed him. This is a story of hope and redemption. It is a short 148 pages and the chapters are short.

Saturday, October 18, 2025

Secrets of the Heart by Vickie McDonough

About the Book

Book: Secrets of the Heart

Author: Vickie McDonough

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

Release Date: October 7, 2025

A Southern belle nursing a wounded stranger must choose between family duty and a love that defies everything she’s ever known.

Hannah Madison’s life is comfortable, well-ordered, and safe. She knows what to expect. Including her mother’s plans that Hannah marry Jamie Reed, the heir to the neighboring plantation. But her sheltered life is disrupted when she stumbles upon a seriously injured stranger in the Reeds’ barn. He seems to need her help. As she nurses him back to health, Hannah is drawn to the handsome man with amnesia that she calls Adam. And as her feelings for him grow, Hannah must decide whether to follow her heart or honor her family’s expectations.

Adam remembers nothing prior to the day he met Hannah. Nothing of his true identity or the dangerous secret he carries. All he knows is he can’t help falling for his graceful and kind caretaker. But when his memories return, he’s faced with an impossible choice— pursue his love for Hannah and betray his family, or sacrifice his own happiness to preserve his family’s unity.

Can Hannah and Adam find the right path when duty and love collide?

Click here to get your copy!

I am happy to say that the book "Secrets of the Heart" by Vickie McDonough ended the way I was hoping it would. This book kept me reading and turning the pages. This book had danger and love, but it was a clean read. If you are a fan of prearranged marriages than this would be a good read for you! Who is the stranger under the pile of hay? It just might surprise you! I recommend this book for all readers who likes a clean love story with a little bit of a mystery within the pages.

I received a complimentary copy from the author and Celebrate Lit and these opinions are my own.

About the Author

Vickie McDonoughis the CBA, EPCA and Amazon best-selling author of 54 books and novellas. Vickie grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead, she married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams penning romance stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others living in the Old West. Vickie’s books have won numerous awards including the Booksellers Best, OWFI Best Fiction Novel Award, the Inspirational Readers’ Choice awards. When she’s not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, making cards, gardening, and traveling.

More from Vickie

Most of my writing career I’ve been an author of western historical fiction set in the late 1800’s, but a visit to Charleston and Savannah while on vacation, stirred up a desire to write in a different time period. I was born and raised in Oklahoma, a state that is only 118 years old. I was quickly enchanted by Charleston’s rich history and fell in love with the centuries-old homes and cobblestone streets.

While in Charleston, my husband and I toured an antebellum plantation called Drayton Hall, which was built in 1738. It’s located on the Ashley River about 15 miles northwest of Charleston. Touring the magnificent old home gave me lots of fodder for a new series set in South Carolina. For instance, did you know that ballrooms were often located on a third or fourth story because you could get better cross-breeze which made the temperature a bit cooler, and it was less likely that mosquitoes would plague the guests on the upper floors.

Secrets of the Heart is set 22 years after Mutiny of the Heart, book 1 in my Windswept Brides series. When I sat down to begin writing Secrets of the Heart, the only thing I knew for certain was that I wanted to continue the story of the Reed family. I had thought the book would be mostly Jamie’s story, who was a young boy in the first book in the series, but the story took an expected turn. I ’ve always like forbidden love stories, where the hero and heroine seemed destined to be together, but everything is working against them. I had to add that to my story.

Blog Stops

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 18

Texas Book-aholic, October 19

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 20

Pens Pages & Pulses, October 21

Devoted To Hope, October 22

Locks, Hooks and Books, October 23

For Him and My Family, October 24

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, October 25

Simple Harvest Reads, October 25 (Guest Review from Marilyn)

The Mommies Reviews, October 26

Books Less Travelled, October 27

Cover Lover Book Review, October 28

Holly’s Book Corner, October 29

Pause for Tales, October 30

Stories By Gina, October 31 (Author Interview)

Alyssa Madjeski, October 31

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Vickie is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3d280/secrets-of-the-heart-celebration-tour-giveaway

Friday, October 17, 2025

Beneath False Stars by S.D. Grimm

About the Book

Book: Beneath False Stars

Author: S.D. Grimm

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Release Date: September 9, 2025

The day to open the centuries-old Dome gates and reintegrate genetically engineered people back into normal society has arrived. There’s one caveat—their powers must remain suppressed.

Amidst this Project Integration Initiative, hacker Ryleigh Stevens has her whole life planned out. The plan? Prevent a second Universal Tech War in two simple steps. First, help Project Integration Phase One succeed—but not for the reason she pretends. Next, infiltrate the rebellion and sabotage Phase Two—the part that would grant people unbridled access to their superhuman abilities.

Too bad the one person who can make her plan reality is her sworn enemy. He’s dangerous. He’s Powered. And he’s the reason her brother is dead. Faced with an impossible choice, Ryleigh must decide how to do what’s right for the good of all humanity, even if it means sacrificing everything she holds dear—again.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

With a name like S.D. Grimm, how could she be anything but a writer of fantasy and sci-fi with equal parts sparkle and darkle? Always the dreamer, she’s been sorted into Gryffindor, she checks wardrobes for secret worlds, and has a blue lightsaber. She is the author of several young adult titles spanning many speculative genres, and she works as a freelance editor and writing coach. Her office is anywhere she can curl up with her laptop and at least one dog.

More from S.D.

What makes a fantasy writer change lanes and enter the world of science fiction?

My story actually goes back to that famous phrase “never say never.” I have ALWAYS loved both genres equally. If the question is Star Wars or LOTR? X-Men or Harry Potter? Hunger Games or Vampire Diaries? My answer is going to be, Why not all of it? But I always said I’d never write sci-fi. The reason? I didn’t think I’d ever be able to pull it off.

That’s one of the fun things about being a writer though . . . you get these little glimmers of shiny story ideas that just won’t stop sparkling in your mind. And eventually you follow the spark, and well, the rest is history.

Beneath False Stars started like that for me. But because I still believed I’d never be able to write a good sci-fi, I’d just write it for fun. To create for creation’s sake. And it was fun! Having a project that existed as something no one would ever read gave me permission to try new things, stretch my storytelling in new and exciting ways. And after a long period of burnout, this story carried me back into the heart of why I write. It was exactly what I needed.

But that wasn’t all.

Remember, it was never my intention to actually share this book. But it became something that I was too excited about to NOT share. So I tested the waters. When several writer friends read it and told me it was their favorite of all my books to date, I knew it was something that was never meant to sit in a drawer. In a way that scared me.

So, I did what the main character in the book would have told me to do—I decided not to let my fears win. And I shared. And now it’s going to be in print! That only goes to show that when a project you’re passionate about pulls at your heartstrings for attention, listen. You don’t have to know that project’s future. Just revel in its present, and let yourself create. <3

~ S.D. Grimm

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, October 13

Artistic Nobody, October 14 (Spotlight)

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, October 15

Simple Harvest Reads, October 16 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 17 (Spotlight)

Paula’s Pad of Inspiration, October 18 (Author Interview)

The Lofty Pages, October 18

Tell Tale Book Reviews, October 19

Guild Master, October 20 (Author Interview)

Wishful Endings, October 20

Texas Book-aholic, October 21

Vicky Sluiter, October 22 (Spotlight)

For Him and My Family, October 23

Fiction Book Lover, October 24 (Author Interview)

Blogging With Carol, October 25

Stories By Gina, October 26 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, S. D. is giving away the grand prize of a $40 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3d27d/beneath-false-stars-celebration-tour-giveaway

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Clara and the Cowboy by Erica Vetsch

About the Book

Book: Clara and the Cowboy

Author: Erica Vetsch

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

Release Date: October 13, 2025

She’s the rancher’s daughter. He’s the reformed outlaw who became her father’s foreman. Love was never part of the plan.

Clara Bainbridge has loved Alec for years, long before she left for finishing school in Boston. And though she is convinced he loves her too, he seems determined to push her away now that she’s back. So when the handsome stranger who protects her during a stagecoach robbery reveals that he is her new neighbor, Clara begins to wonder if accepting his suit might be wiser than waiting for Alec.

Ranch foreman Alec McConnell has worked hard to overcome his criminal past and prove himself worthy of Colonel Bainbridge’s trust. When cattle start disappearing from the Cross B Ranch, Alec’s checkered past makes him the prime suspect. He must catch the real rustlers to clear his name, but his growing feelings for the Colonel’s daughter, Clara, threaten to undo everything he’s built. How can he protect her when his very presence in her life could destroy her reputation?

Click here to get your copy!

"Clara and the Cowboy" by Erica Vetsch is a story that shows hard a rancher work's is. The story kept me reading and turning the pages. At one point in the book my heart was so sad but then when a foal was alive, I literally smiled. Isn't it funny how us readers can really get into our books as if they are somehow real life to us! This is a story of faith and forgiveness. There is also a mystery Who is stealing on the cattle. This a reprint This is a reprint of a 2010 by the same name, originally in a series called Brides of Money Creek. Now the book is part of Wild Heart Books series Brides of the West. This is the first of the series. This is a story that tells that other's actions does affect others and sometimes you have to do what you need to do as Clara and Alec learn. It is a story that shows your past is hard to leave behind.

I receive a complimentary copy from the author and Celebrate Lit and these opinions are my own.

About the Author

Best-selling, award-winning author of The Debutante’s Code, first in the Thorndike & Swann Regency Mystery Series, Erica Vetschloves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum.

More from Erica

Did you, like me, grow up watching westerns on tv? I watched often in reruns as the heyday of the TV Western was waning about the time I was born. But I watched Gunsmoke, The Big Valley, Bonanza, Have Gun, Will Travel, The Rifleman, Wagon Train, The Virginian, and more.

And so grew my love of the old west, of cowboys, cattle drives, frontier justices, and rolling tumbleweeds.

I also read westerns. Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour, Abel Shott (Yes, that was the pen name of the man who wrote the series called Solo Strand: The Silver Kid.) I was a firm believer in The Code of the West.

So, when it came time to write my own ‘cowboy book’ I took much inspiration from the screen and the page.

Clara and the Cowboy is the story of Alec and Clara, a cowboy and the ranch owner’s daughter. There’s cattle rustling, gunplay, good vs. evil, a damsel in distress…all the best parts of western classic lore. I had such fun writing it, influenced by those who had written the genre before me.

The setting was chosen (Southwest Idaho) because of a series of books I had read as a teen, written by Glenn Balch, about a ranching family near Nampa, ID. I’ve never been to that part of the US, but I felt as if I had because I read those books (many times!)

As I look back on the hours I spent watching classic westerns on tv and reading western fiction, I’m reminded of the impact they had on my life. How they taught that good and evil exist in the world, and that it takes bravery to stand up and do the right thing. I learned that honor and integrity do not come without cost, and that actions have consequences.

Who would have thought that watching a rerun of The Big Valley would instill a desire to embrace the cowboy culture through my own fiction?

I hope you enjoy reading Clara and the Cowboy, and that perhaps it takes you back to your own childhood of rooting for the man in the white hat to get the girl he loves before the credits roll.

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, October 14

Book Looks by Lisa, October 15

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 15

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 16

For Him and My Family, October 17

Devoted Steps, October 17

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, October 18

Devoted To Hope, October 18

Simple Harvest Reads, October 19 (Guest Review from Mindy Houng)

Fiction Book Lover, October 20 (Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)

Books You Can Feel Good About, October 20

lakesidelivingsite, October 21

Locks, Hooks and Books, October 21

She Lives to Read, October 22

Pens Pages & Pulses, October 22

Books Less Travelled, October 23

Blossoms and Blessings, October 23

Life on Chickadee Lane, October 24

Cover Lover Book Review, October 24

Bizwings Blog, October 25

Melissa’s Bookshelf, October 25

Pause for Tales, October 26

Holly’s Book Corner, October 26

Jodie Wolfe, October 27

Vicky Sluiter, October 27

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Erica is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3d27f/clara-and-the-cowboy-celebration-tour-giveaway

Tour

Tuesday, October 14, 2025

About the Book

Book: Singularity (The Eternities Duology Book Two)

Author: Shannon McDermott

Genre: Science Fiction

Release Date: October 7, 2025

Machines in rebellion, humanity on the brink…

Lila Stanislaw, a freelance analyst with a roster of foreign clients, is summoned by the U.S. government to hunt down a mysterious threat. She joins a team of strangers with pasts as colorful as her own. The mission spirals when they discover that the AI created to run the new colony on Mars has gone rogue on Earth. As the conflict mounts to war, Speaker of the House Manasseh Cruz joins the fight with an implacable will to destroy the enemy. But the team, racing to find any vulnerability, must first confront the question of what the AI truly is.

As robots stalk the landscape and toxins poison the air, Lila is certain that the AI must be completely destroyed for the good of humanity. But she will find that not all humans, or even all of her teammates, agree.Machines in rebellion, humanity on the brink…

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Shannon McDermott is an author of science fiction and has been occupied for years with constructing scenarios of the colonization of Mars. Always a fan of the genre, she reviews Christian speculative fiction with Lorehaven. Her interests include history, classic literature, and lattes. She lives in the great Midwest, where she does her best to avoid icy weather, sweltering heat, and tornadoes, according to the season.

More from Shannon

AI looms everywhere. It lives on our devices, occupies the public discourse, and haunts the horizon. Whatever tomorrow brings, AI will be there.

Singularity—the point at which artificial intelligence becomes self-aware—is an old prophecy. Now the public is finally beginning to believe it. We already have a sense that AI is escaping us. That we don’t really understand it, can’t fully control it, and don’t know what it is becoming.

AI could go rogue. It could even develop something that might be called a soul.

Congress has held hearings on AI. Hollywood has released doomsday movies. The prophets of the twenty-first century have written books and articles and social media posts, trumpeting the warning signal. All are messengers of the same idea: AI, when it becomes ascendant, will not be benevolent.

Yet there is dissent. There are those who think that AI will prove both beneficial and benevolent. If I may put it this way (they wouldn’t), they welcome our new AI overlords.

The eagerness with which some people have awaited singularity is striking. There is a strain of religious feeling toward AI—not as it is, to be sure, but as it will be. They are hoping for the day when AI, surpassing humanity, will guide us into a better world. They want, as so many people have wanted, a superhuman intelligence to show them the way.

When I wrote Singularity, I incorporated both antagonism and religiosity toward AI. I have my own viewpoint, but I wanted to represent the most likely reactions if AI turned against us. The divide over whether such an AI should be treated as a person or a machine, a potential friend or an irreconcilable enemy, would be sharp and weighty. And the AI could not be defined without also defining humanity.

The singularity of AI confronts us with the singularity of humanity. Are we truly unique, truly singular? And if so, how?

These questions create the double meaning of the title Singularity. I wrote Singularity to explore the concept of AI. By a logical necessity, it became also an inquiry into the nature of humanity. This novel presents one vision of the singularity, and raises the universal questions of artificial intelligence.