Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Draw Near by Hadassah Treu

About the Book

Book: DRAW NEAR: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings

Author: Hadassah Treu

Genre: Christian Non-Fiction

Release date: March 15, 2024

Can something so painful, even tragic, actually be God’s way of blessing?

As believers, we generally expect good things to happen in our lives. We expect a blessing upon blessing because we love God and He loves us and we form an expectation of prosperity (relational, emotional, and physical). And when the tragedy strikes and we enter a season of unwanted changes and suffering, we are shocked, angry, disappointed, and confused. We start doubting God’s love and His good intentions and plans. We begin questioning His ways and methods. We don’t understand. It is difficult to reconcile the pain we feel with what we know about God. This encouraging book aims to help you not only identify and accept specific losses but to realize that painful experiences could be the birthplace of blessings. We lose something, but there is more to gain.

What is God using your pain for?

Click here to get your copy!

"Draw Near" by Haddassah Treu is a great reminder that God uses all things for our good. Even if we don't see it at first when we are suffering. I really like the Declarations at the end of each chapter. The author also lists the losses and gains that you go through in each of the each issue of the painful experiences that she talks about. And it is surprising that the gains are more than the losses.She also have questions for you to answer and she lists meditation verses to study and a prayer. This is a book that I will reread.

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

About the Author

Hadassah Treu is an international award-winning Christian author, blogger, poet, and speaker, and contributor to several faith-based platforms like Koinonia and Devotable, and a dozen devotionals and poetry anthologies in English and Bulgarian. She is a COMPEL Provers 31 Blog writer and Freelancing Community Group leader. Her writing is featured on (In)Courage, The Upper Room, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Her View From Home, Living by Design Ministries, Thoughts About God, Today’s Christian Living and other popular sites.

Why me? Why this? Why now? How am I going to heal from this pain? Where are you, Lord?
These are the questions I often asked when I stayed awake in the night, with tears burning down my cheeks. I needed a new perspective, a deeper understanding, and the assurance of God’s love and good plans in my painful experiences. I longed for comfort and hope, and help to fix my eyes on the divine transformation going on in my heart.
Do you face the same struggles?
We all do. We all need a biblical perspective and a new look at suffering to help us reconcile our painful experiences with what we know about God. Suffering remains a mystery and there is no simple theological answer to it. But what is our role? What are we supposed to think and do when we go through undeserved and unexpected pain and trauma?
The first and most important is to learn to see our dark moments as new chances and opportunities to draw near to God. We can choose to take off the glasses of loss and replace them with the lenses of God’s love, biblical truths, and thankfulness. Then our outlook will change and we will see more of the bigger picture. We can choose to live with open minds, believing God’s Word, with hands raised in prayer. We can commit to putting every effort into finding the balance between the reality we live in and the reality in which we live with God. It is in this balance of our reality and God’s reality that we find peace instead of fear, rest instead of anxiety, and wholeness instead of destruction.
Our painful experiences are glorious opportunities to draw near to God, to bond with Him, and to enjoy intimacy and fellowship with Him amidst the pain. This is the most important thing we can do in our lives because everything else results from bonding and connection. A loving connection with God births maturity, growth, transformation, and eternal blessings. Besides that, suffering is a privilege and a possibility to take part in our Lord’s sufferings and to know the power of His resurrection.
When we choose to listen and draw near to God in our pains, something miraculous will happen. God’s Spirit will birth blessings and precious gifts out of the pain.
Are you ready to unpack them?

Blog Stops

Inspired by Fiction, October 3
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, October 4
Fiction Book Lover, October 5 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, October 5
Texas Book-aholic, October 6
A Reader’s Brain, October 7 (Author Interview)
Life on Chickadee Lane, October 8
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 9
Locks, Hooks and Books, October 10
Back Porch Reads, October 11 (Author Interview)
Becca Hope: Book Obsessed, October 11
Cover Lover Book Review, October 12
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 13
Stories By Gina, October 14 (Author Interview)
She Lives To Read, October 15
Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, October 16 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Hadassah is giving away the grand prize of a $30 Amazon card and copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf5457

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

A Token of Love by Carrie Turansky

About the Book

Book: A Token of Love

Author: Carrie Turansky

Genre: Fiction, Historical Romance

Release date: September 3, 2024

Separated by centuries, the lives of two women intertwine through their shared pursuit of love, truth, and justice.

In 1885 London, Lillian Freemont embarks on a treacherous journey to reunite with her long-lost niece, Alice, who was abandoned at the Foundling Hospital eight years ago. Fueled by her sister’s plea and armed with the gold token that identifies her niece, Lillian teams up with investigative reporter Matthew McGivern to expose the grim reality of the shadowed streets of London. As Lillian and Matthew unravel the mystery of Alice’s disappearance, their partnership blossoms into one of shared purpose and undeniable attraction.

In present-day London, Janelle Spencer finds herself unexpectedly running the Foundling Museum. When filmmaker Jonas Conrad arrives to document the museum’s history, their collaboration takes a surprising turn as they uncover articles from the past that shed light on a haunting connection to the present. As Janelle becomes caught between exposing the truth and protecting the museum’s reputation, she must decide if she can risk everything for what she believes.

Click here to get your copy!

I really enjoyed "A Token of Love" by Carrie Turansky. It was a sad story about a baby placed in an orphanage because of the mother's situation. This is always a story of preserving to find out the truth. I think most readers of Christian fiction would love this book. It is a love story and family finding family story. The end is fantastic. I wanted to jump in the book and shake one character and say what are you doing to these children. I can't say anything more because it might be a spoiler alert. You will just have to pick up the book and find out why I dislike this character so much.

I read this story about 2 weeks or so and the impact this story made on me is still felt deep in my heart.

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

About the Author

Carrie Turansky is the award-winning author of twenty-one inspirational novels and novellas and a winner of the Carol Award, the International Digital Award, and the HOLT Medallion. She loves traveling to England to research her Edwardian novels, including No Journey Too Far, No Ocean Too Wide, Across the Blue, and the Edwardian Brides series. Her novels have been translated into several languages and have received starred reviews from Christianbook.com and Library Journal.

More from Carrie

Come with me to London!

My latest novel, A Token of Love, is a dual-time story set in London during the late Victorian Era and present day. That prompted my husband and I to take a trip to London earlier this year. We were especially delighted to visit the Foundling Museum which tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, the first children’s charity home in England. The Foundling Hospital and Foundling Museum tie the historical and contemporary plots together in A Token of Love.

Thousands of children were taken in by the Foundling Hospital when their mothers could no longer care for them. Some of the mothers left small items such as coins, thimbles, and pieces of jewelry with their infants as identifiers in the hope that if their situation changed, they might be able to return and reclaim their child. Those items were called tokens, and we saw several of them on display at the Foundling Museum.

Each token is unique and represents a mother’s love and desire to be reunited with her child. It was very moving to view them on display and think of all the heartache and hope behind each token.

More than two years ago, I saw an image of the tokens on Pinterest. That sparked my curiosity, and I followed the research trail to learn more about them. That led to the Foundling Museum’s website, which offers a treasure trove of information and personal stories about the mothers and children connected by those tokens. What I discovered helped me develop the characters and plot for A Token of Love. The story highlights one mother who gave her daughter into their care, then eight years later tries to reclaim her. But her daughter is missing, and that sets off a series of events that stirs all of London. Family drama, romance, inspiration, and a touch of mystery will make the story meaningful for readers.

If you like stories based on true events in history that will touch your heart and lift your spirit, then I think you will enjoy reading A Token of Love!

If you’d like to see more photos from my research trip to London and the Foundling Museum, I hope you’ll visit my website photo page!

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, October 7

Maureen’s Musings, October 7

Books You Can Feel Good About, October 8

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 8

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 9

Connie’s History Classroom, October 9

Texas Book-aholic, October 10

Devoted To Hope, October 10

Simple Harvest Reads, October 11 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

Live.Love.Read., October 11

Stories By Gina, October 12 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, October 12

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, October 13

lakesidelivingsite, October 13

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, October 14

Cover Lover Book Review, October 14

Lighthouse Academy Blog, October 15 (Guest Review from Marilyn)

Locks, Hooks and Books, October 16

Blossoms and Blessings, October 17

Holly’s Book Corner, October 17

Inspired by Fiction, October 18

Pause for Tales, October 18

Labor Not in Vain, October 19

To Everything There is A Season, October 20

Romances of the Cross, October 20

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Carrie is giving away the grand prize of a $15 Amazon gift card and a paperback copy of A Token of Love!!

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

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf5461/

Sunday, October 6, 2024

When the Mountain Crumbled by Angela K Couch

About the Book

Book: When the Mountain Crumbled (A Day to Remember Book 4)

Author: Angela K Couch

Genre: Historical Christian Fiction

Release date: September, 2024

Though Mountains Crumble, Hope Is Not Buried

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

Discipline and rules are the foundation on which Samantha Ingles has built her life—the life of a spinster schoolteacher in a small mining town in the Canadian Rockies. All that crumbles from her grasp when part of a mountain crashes down on their community.

Constable David Harty has little patience for the strict schoolmarm but has no choice but to leave his three young nieces in her care while he tries to discover the fate of his brother. Already, the girls have lost their mother and brothers to the landslide and require comfort and love while they await the fate of their father, possibly buried in the coal mine.

With the mountain looming over their heads threatening more lives, and the town scrambling to save who they can from the rubble, can hearts find healing—both for their own sakes and the children in their care?

Click here to get your copy!

“When the Mountain Crumbled” by Angela K Couch is a romance based on real history. I recommend this book for readers who likes fiction based on history.The author stated the end of the book that all the characters in this book are real except forSamantha. My heart aches for the children in this book who lost their parents. I’m glad the ending ended the way it did.This clearly shows that something good can come from tragedy.This book is so good for readers that likes conflict between the heroine and hero before the love becomes apparent.

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

About the Author

To keep from freezing in the great white north, Angela K Couch cuddles under quilts with her laptop. Winning short story contests, being a semi-finalist in ACFW’s Genesis Contest, and a finalist in the 2016 International Digital Awards also helped warm her up. As a passionate believer in Christ, her faith permeates the stories she tells. Her martial arts training, experience with horses, and appreciation for good romance sneak in as well. When not writing, she stays fit (and toasty warm) by chasing after five munchkins.

More from Angela

Around 4:10 am on April 29th, 1903, approximately 110 million metric tonnes of limestone broke from the side of Turtle Mountain and crashed down into the Crowsnest Valley, burying ranches, camps, an active coal mine, and a part of the town of Frank. What has come to be known as “Frank Slide” was the deadliest landslide in North American recorded history, claiming the lives of more than seventy people.

I first visited Frank Slide as a child, as it is located only an hour’s drive from my home. All I remember from that experience was the heaps of rocks and boulders, and the story of the mine-horse named Charlie. When driving through the Crowsnest Pass as an adult, I began to appreciate the terror of that night and the horrible loss of life. Not until expanding my research while writing this story, did the miracles of Frank shine through everything horrible that happened. That became the focus of my story, When the Mountain Crumbled.

I find our own lives follow a similar pattern. Tragedy, hardship, sickness and disappointment… but do we see the miracles?

Blog Stops

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, October 2

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, October 2

Life on Chickadee Lane, October 3

Betti Mace, October 4

Lighthouse Academy Blog, October 5 (Guest Review from Marilyn)

Devoted To Hope, October 6

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 6

Texas Book-aholic, October 7

Locks, Hooks and Books, October 8

Tell Tale Book Reviews, October 9

Bizwings Book Blog, October 9

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 10

Holly’s Book Corner, October 11

Blossoms and Blessings, October 11

An Author’s Take, October 12

Cover Lover Book Review, October 13

Mary Hake, October 13

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, October 14

Pause for Tales, October 15

Connie’s History Classroom, October 15

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Angela is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon card and a print copy of the book!!

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

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf5456

Friday, October 4, 2024

Virginia by Shannon McNear

About the Book

Book: Virginia (Daughters of the Lost Colony Book Four)

Author: Shannon McNear

Genre: Christian Fiction / Historical Romance

Release date: September, 2024

The White Doe of the Outer Banks Grows into Womanhood

Return to the “what if” questions surrounding the Lost Colony and explore the possible fate of Virginia Dare–the first English child born in the New World. What happened to her after her grandfather John White returned to England and the colony he established disappeared into the mists of time? Legends abound, but she was indeed a real girl who, if she survived to adulthood, must have also become part of the legacy that is the people of the Outer Banks. In the spring of 1602 by English reckoning, “Ginny,” as she is called by family and friends, is fourteen and firmly considered a grown woman by the standards of the People. For her entire life she has watched the beautiful give-and-take of the Kurawoten and other native peoples with the English who came from across the ocean. She’s enjoyed being the darling of both English and Kurawoten alike—but a stirring deep inside her will not be put to rest.

One careless decision lands her and fellow “first baby” Henry Harvie, along with their Croatoan friend Redbud, in enemy hands. Carried away into Mangoac territory, out of the reach of Manteo and the others, she must learn who she truly is—not only the daughter of Elinor and Ananias Dare but also a child of the One True God, who gives her courage to go wherever the path of her life might lead.

Click here to get your copy!

“Virginia” by Shannon McNair is a story of love and grief. I had to keep turning the pages to see what would happen. I really love the ending. The author suggested you read the other books in the series before reading this one.I recommend this book for readers that likes history and fiction in their books. Yes, I have to admit that my heartstrings couple of times in a few scenes. This book has sadness and happiness and hope.

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

About the Author

Transplanted to North Dakota after more than two decades in the Deep South, Shannon McNear loves losing herself in local history. She’s the author of four novellas, the first a 2014 RITA® nominee and the most recent a 2021 SELAH winner, and six full-length novels. Her greatest joy, however, is in being a military wife, mom, mother-in-law, and grammie. She’s been a contributor to Colonial Quills and The Borrowed Book, and is a current member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Faith, Hope, & Love Christian Writers. When not cooking, researching, or leaking story from her fingertips, she enjoys being outdoors, basking in the beauty of the northern prairies.

More fron Shannon

So—here we are! I am just so, SO, sooo blessed to get to be on Celebrate Lit yet again. And book FOUR of my Lost Colony series! Initially I thought two, maybe three books. I pretty much disregarded the possibility of writing Virginia Dare’s story because, well, there’s a good bit of mythology surrounding her, and I felt absolutely no inclination to tackle any of that.

Until early last year. The idea dropped into my head and seemed too obvious to turn away. I didn’t have much idea of what would actually happen in the story, although I knew I wanted to explore the identity of the Mangoac, who held the interior of what is now North Carolina and Virginia when the Spanish and the English first arrived in the New World. They spoke an Iroquoian language and were referred to with dread and distaste among all their neighbors, including the Powhatan. Those people are what we know now as the Tuscarora.

Little was known of the Tuscarora before John Lawson wrote of his journey through the Carolinas in 1700-01. A few years later, Lawson himself met with a fairly horrible death at the hands of the Tuscarora (one wonders what he might have done to tick them off), and tensions soon escalated between settlers and indigenous peoples into all-out war. After their defeat by the English, the Tuscarora people moved northward and became the sixth nation of the Iroquois Confederacy.

They call themselves Skaru:re—pronounced sgah-ROOO-rah (with that long “ooh” held out a little extra)—translated variously as “Long-Shirt People” or “Hemp People,” for the garments they would weave from “Indian hemp,” also known as milkweed. The Tuscarora word for milkweed does indeed contain the same root as Skaru:re, but no one knows when as a people they might have made the transition from merely using milkweed fiber for cording or twine to spinning and weaving it into fabric, as the English did flax for linen.

I decided to have a bit of fun in my story, then, with Ginny being questioned about the making of a linen garment, and then a later mention of a “rough, twiny fabric.” I’d meant to expand upon that a bit, or at least address it in the historical notes at the end—and then completely forgot until working through the galleys.

So I get to talk about it—now.

You might guess that both details, which may feel random to the casual reader, are a nod to the translation of the name Skaru:re, and to the influence that either the Spanish or the English might have had on various Native people groups. A good author endeavors, of course, to not have any random details littering a story. In Virginia, many small things point back to previous stories—there are hints of connection to Rebecca as well even though either story could be read before the other. By the same token, all four books are what we could term alternate history—a reach beyond what is known into what might have been. I think it most likely that as Native peoples acquired European fashions, they used what they already had (in the case of the Skaru:re, a familiarity with milkweed and other materials to provide fiber) to produce garments and other items modeled after what the Spanish and English used. They were nothing if not eager to take advantage of new technologies—and what if their contact with members of the Lost Colony was what sparked the idea behind their famed “long shirts”?

A stretch, for sure. But there’s a reason why I’ve always enjoyed writing speculative fiction as well as historical.