Thursday, June 21, 2018

"The Corandria Station" by Carol E. Keen

Book Back Cover:
**First Place Winner from CWW and CIAN in the 5000 word
s Contest; Speculative Fiction Division.**
First Officer Mimsy B'Groves never expected her life to
be anything but ordinary. In the wake of a
major disaster aboard The Corandria Station, Mimsy must
solve the mystery surrounding the place
she once called home. The planet below her now holds h
er only chance for answers - if she can
survive without revealing her deepest secret. Can a lon
e, witty, sentient feline overcome the
Book Back Cover:
**First Place Winner from CWW and CIAN in the 5000 word
s Contest; Speculative Fiction Division.**
First Officer Mimsy B'Groves never expected her life to
be anything but ordinary. In the wake of a
major disaster aboard The Corandria Station, Mimsy must
solve the mystery surrounding the place
she once called home. The planet below her now holds h
er only chance for answers - if she can
survive without revealing her deepest secret. Can a lon
e, witty, sentient feline overcome the


First Place Winner from CWW and CIAN in the 5000 words Contest; Speculative Fiction Division.**

First Officer Mimsy B'Groves never expected her life to be anything but ordinary. In the wake of a major disaster aboard The Corandria Station, Mimsy must solve the mystery surrounding the place she once called home. The planet below her now holds her only chance for answers - if she can survive without revealing her deepest secret. Can a lone, witty, sentient feline overcome the obstacles placed before her?


Author Bio:

Carol E. Keen enjoys fresh coffee, hot tea, and a good book. She was published for several years in
FAMA magazine (Freshwater And Marine Aquarium) as a contributing editor. She published her first book on CD, called Simply Seahorses. She now resides in Alabama with her husband and family and spends her time writing, reading, working in photography, and being with her much loved critters.
Author Social Media:
Book Bub link:

Amazon: 

FB Page:

Twitter:
@carolkeenauthor

Purchase link:



My Review
"The Corandria Station" by Carol E. Keen is a short fun read about a cat who isn't like other cats. First Officer Mimsy B'Groves wakes up on Corandria Station alone and sets off to find the rest of her crew.

If you like Scifi and cats, then I recommend you read "The Corandria Station" by Carol E. Keen. I was left wanting more answers, the ending makes me think there might be more books about Mimsy B'Groves.

I did like the ending for Mimsy, sometimes readers want a happy ending for the characters and not all novels have to be true to life.

I was given a complimentary copy by the author and Celebrate Lit. These opinions are my own.





Book Back Cover:
**First Place Winner from CWW and CIAN in the 5000 word
s Contest; Speculative Fiction Division.**
First Officer Mimsy B'Groves never expected her life to
be anything but ordinary. In the wake of a
major disaster aboard The Corandria Station, Mimsy must
solve the mystery surrounding the place
she once called home. The planet below her now holds h
er only chance for answers - if she can
survive without revealing her deepest secret. Can a lon
e, witty, sentient feline overcome the
obstacles placed before her? Link:
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/5k44180pt6
Book Back Cover:
**First Place Winner from CWW and CIAN in the 5000 word
s Contest; Speculative Fiction Division.**
First Officer Mimsy B'Groves never expected her life to
be anything but ordinary. In the wake of a
major disaster aboard The Corandria Station, Mimsy must
solve the mystery surrounding the place
she once called home. The planet below her now holds h
er only chance for answers - if she can
survive without revealing her deepest secret. Can a lon
e, witty, sentient feline overcome the
obstacles placed before her? Back Cover:
**First Place Winner from CWW and CIAN in the 5000 word
s Contest; Speculative Fiction Division.**
First Officer Mimsy B'Groves never expected her life to
be anything but ordinary. In the wake of a
major disaster aboard The Corandria Station, Mimsy must
solve the mystery surrounding the place
she once called home. The planet below her now holds h
er only chance for answers - if she can
survive without revealing her deepest secret. Can a lon
e, witty, sentient feline overcome the
obstacles placed before her?
obstacles placed before her?
obstacles placed before her?
Book Back Cover:
**First Place Winner from CWW and CIAN in the 5000 word
s Contest; Speculative Fiction Division.**
First Officer Mimsy B'Groves never expected her life to
be anything but ordinary. In the wake of a
major disaster aboard The Corandria Station, Mimsy must
solve the mystery surrounding the place
she once called home. The planet below her now holds h
er only chance for answers - if she can
survive without revealing her deepest secret. Can a lon
e, witty, sentient feline overcome the
obstacles placed before her?
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"The Solace Of Water" by Elizabeth Byler Younts

About The Book
“Younts has set herself apart with this exquisite story of friendship and redemption . . . I’ll be talking about this book for years to come.” —Rachel Hauck, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Dress
In a time of grief and heartache, an unlikely friendship provides strength and solace.
After leaving her son’s grave behind in Montgomery, Alabama, Delilah Evans has little faith that moving to her husband’s hometown in Pennsylvania will bring a fresh start. Enveloped by grief and doubt, the last thing Delilah imagines is becoming friends with her reclusive Amish neighbor, Emma Mullet—yet the secrets that keep Emma isolated from her own community bond her to Delilah in delicate and unexpected ways.
Delilah’s eldest daughter, Sparrow, bears the brunt of her mother’s pain, never allowed for a moment to forget she is responsible for her brother’s death. When tensions at home become unbearable for her, she seeks peace at Emma’s house and becomes the daughter Emma has always wanted. Sparrow, however, is hiding secrets of her own—secrets that could devastate them all.
With the white, black, and Amish communities of Sinking Creek at their most divided, there seems to be little hope for reconciliation. But long-buried hurts have their way of surfacing, and Delilah and Emma find themselves facing their own self-deceptions. Together they must learn how to face the future through the healing power of forgiveness.
Eminently relevant to the beauty and struggle in America today, The Solace of Water offers a glimpse into the turbulent 1950s and reminds us that friendship rises above religion, race, and custom—and has the power to transform a broken heart.






My Review

 "The Solace Of Water"  by Elizabeth Byler Younts is  a wonderful story of grief and unforgiveness and then forgiveness and friendship.  This book will cause you to shed some tears and hopefully cause you to rethink your beliefs about others that are different from you as this book shows that all people regardless of their skin color or whether they are Amish or slaves or male or female have similar feelings and are really more alike than we think. 

The friendship between Delilah Evans and Emma Mullet really melted my heart.  I felt Sparrow's pain and  guilt every time her mother accused her. 

If you want to read a book that really explores what the 1950s was like and how friendship can change a person's heart then look no further because "The Solace Of Water"  by Elizabeth Byler Younts really shows this. 

Don't read this book if you want a book that makes you laugh, but do read it if you want to be challenged by your bias that not all people are created alike. 

This book is about real life and death and a must read.   Yes, I am gonna say it, this book should became a classic like "To Kill A Mockingbird". 

I was given a complimentary copy by the author.  These opinions are my own.





Elizabeth Byler Younts gained a worldwide audience through her first book Seasons: A Real Story of an Amish Girl and is a RITA nominated writer. Elizabeth lives in Central Pennsylvania with her husband, two daughters, and a cockapoo named Fable. 

Go to www.elizabethbyleryounts.com to learn more.





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"The Captured Bride" by Michelle Griep Book Tour and GiveAway


About the Book



Title: The Captured Bride  
Author: Michelle Griep  
Release Date: June 1, 2018  
Genre: Historical Romance

A war-torn countryside is no place for a lady—but Mercy Lytton is a lady like none other. Raised amongst the Mohawks, she straddles two cultures, yet each are united in one cause . . . to defeat the French. Born with a rare gift of unusually keen eyesight, she is chosen as a scout to accompany a team of men on a dangerous mission. Yet it is not her life that is threatened. It is her heart. Condemned as a traitor, Elias Dubois faces the gallows. At the last minute, he’s offered his freedom if he consents to accompany a stolen shipment of French gold to a nearby fort—but he’s the one they stole it from in the first place. It turns out that the real thief is the beguiling woman, Mercy Lytton, for she steals his every waking thought. Can love survive divided loyalties in a backcountry wilderness?

Click here to purchase your copy!


My Review

I never look at what a book is about if it comes from Celebrate Lit. I just read it and then write my review, well I got a surprise from "The Captured Bride" by Michelle Griep. The surprise was I seen the title and thought this is going to be a romance. Well, it is a romance but so much more. "The Captured Bride" by Michelle Griep is a story about a war-torn countryside during the French and Indian War.  The story is based on a legend about gold being hidden and lost.







This is a story about spies and scouts and how things are not always as they seem. It is also a story about Mercy accepting God's truth and about Mercy and Elias forgiving themselves.







"The Captured Bride" is a fast pace read and kept me interested from the first page to the last page. 







This book had a couple of scenes that made me want to cry, but that is what historical fiction does, because war isn't a happy thing.  If a writer makes you feel the character's pain and helps you experience what they are going through, then the author has done their job. Michelle Griep has definitely done this with the novel "The Captured Bride". 







I especially liked reading the part about the necklace on the cover of the book. 







I was given a complimentary copy by the author and Celebrate Lit. These opinions are my own.











About the Author













Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She is the author of historical romances: The Innkeeper’s Daughter, 12 Days at Bleakly Manor, The Captive Heart, Brentwood’s Ward, A Heart Deceived, Undercurrent and Gallimore, but also leaped the historical fence into the realm of contemporary with the zany romantic mystery Out of the Frying Pan. If you’d like to keep up with her escapades, find her at www.michellegriep.com or stalk her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.




Guest Post from Michelle

A Visit to Fort Niagara

 









Whether you’re a history buff or don’t have a clue what the French and Indian War was about, there’s a destination in upstate New York that’s fun to visit for the whole family . . .

My husband and I made the trek to this living history site last summer. I had no idea what to expect, other than what was advertised as a “reenactment camp.” For those who don’t know, this is when volunteers who adore history come together to present a particular event, such as a battle. These people usually choose a real person from the era upon whom they fashion their modern day persona. They dress, speak, eat and live as that person might have. Here I am with some of my new friends:

Generally around the 4th of July, the 1759 Battle of Fort Niagara is recreated in a 3-day extravaganza of soldiers, muskets, canons and an entire market place to peruse selling period-related items.

Some of the things that surprised me about stepping back into the mid-eighteenth century were:



    

  • How much smoke muskets kick out
    • 

  • Once the battle begins, it’s hard to see who is your enemy or ally
    • 

  • Canons are really loud
    • 

  • Everything wasn’t as black and white as it seems in pictures—gowns and uniforms were very colorful
    • 


What makes this event so spectacular is that they take the entire 20 day siege and condense it into 3 days. If you visit every day, you’ll see and experience exactly what happened. You’ll be there to see the British, Colonial regulars and Iroquois allies sneak out of the tree line to shoot at some French soldiers who were pigeon hunting just outside the fort. You’ll hear the war whoops and barrage of angry French epithets roaring on the air. You’ll even get a chance to taste some of their food as you wander around inside the French Encampment set up inside the fort walls.

To experience a bit of the danger, sights and sounds of what Mercy and Elias lived through in The Captured Bride, Fort Niagara really is a fantastic place to visit.




Blog Stops





Vicky Sluiter, June 9











Genesis 5020, June 11



Bakerkella, June 11






Among the Reads, June 13



Book by Book, June 13





Splashes of Joy, June 14



Artistic Nobody, June 14 (Spotlight)




Pause for Tales, June 15




Mary Hake, June 15



Bigreadersite, June 15




Simple Harvest Reads, June 16 (Guest post from Mindy Houng)






Novels corner, June 17



Kathleen Denly, June 18




Remembrancy, June 18









Mommynificent, June 20








Carpe Diem, June 22









Giveaway



















To celebrate her tour, Michelle is giving away a grand prize of





a signed copy of The Captured Bride and a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card!!

















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Wednesday, June 20, 2018


          

        










"Tremors of Doubt " by Lael Harrelson  Book Tour And GiveAway




















About the Book









Title: Tremors of Doubt

 

Author: Lael Harrelson

 

Genre: Contemporary Amish Alternative

 

Release Date: March 19, 2018



Would the will of God ever lead a young woman against the counsel of family and church? For a young Mennonite woman who wants to make a difference in the world, growing up on the mission field in Haiti should be the perfect fit. But not for Callie Zimmerman. Raised by her aunt and uncle after the death of her parents, Callie works beside her aunt cooking, cleaning and sewing each day as the men head off to serve the community. She longs to do more to alleviate the poverty and sickness that surrounds her, but tradition and her uncle forbid it. On the eve of her twenty-third birthday, struggling with hopelessness as another year passes, Callie pleads with God to open a door for her. The prayer has barely left her mouth when she finds a stack of letters with secrets about her parent’s deaths and their excommunication from the Mennonite church. Devastated, Callie cries herself to sleep, only to be awakened a few hours later by her uncle with the startling news the Noah Koehn has asked permission to court her. Is one of these the answer to her prayer? Would exploring her parents past mean losing a future with Noah? Is it worth the risk?




Click here to purchase your copy!




My Review: 

"Tremors of Doubt" by Lael Harrelson is a wonderful novel about Callie’s journey through self-doubt, crushed dreams, love triangles, life changing secrets, and fragile hope.







It was hard to put this book down and I picked it up every time I had a few seconds to read because I had to know how it ended. 







This book had the tears falling because once again a character struggles with cancer and it was in the leg, not that it the book's fault but once again the story was reality back home to me, as I just lost mom on May 11, 2018, to cancer.  Warning, hope this isn't a spoiler alert but the character doesn't die in this story.  There are also other scenes that made the tears fall because the book describes what life was really like for the author when she was a missionary in Haiti.  The book is fiction but based on the author's life.







I could really feel Callie's pain when she finds a package of letters and her questions about what she can do to make life mean something other than just obeying rules because that is what a good Mennonite woman does.







I really didn't know how the story would end till the very end, because there are two suitors that wants Callie to marry them but she believes she can't serve God on the mission field as a married woman, So she has to choose between the three.  Who does she choose?  I know and you will too if you read "Tremors of Doubt " by Lael Harrelson.







This story is about a search for the truth and what God really wants, is it a believer's heart or obedience to rules?







This book is not preachy but it does have Scripture as part of the story line and made me search my own heart and feelings on some issues that I am struggling with in my own personal life. 







I would like to read another book about Callie and Josef, ( no Josef isn't one of the suitors).







I was given a complimentary copy by the author and Celebrate Lit. These opinions are my own.







  




About the Author









Raised by a fun loving, atheist single mom who struggled with depression and mental illness I spent my childhood backpacking around Europe, visiting yoga communes, eating vegan, living on a houseboat, then an old pony express outpost in the backwoods of Montana. My teen years took a drastic turn when my mom got saved, got married, and joined an ultra-conservative Mennonite church. Faith, step parents and unquestioning obedience is a dangerous combination when mixed with mental illness, legalism, and heavy handed physical correction.

I became a confused believer with a heart for Jesus but drowning under a sea of rules, regulations, and legalism. I became a missionary teacher and then a nurse and escaped to the mission field, the one avenue open to single women. I taught VBS on Indian reservations, led school for missionary children in Haiti and Africa. All around me was heartache and disease and glaring need. I longed to make a difference but was limited to working on the mission compound – teaching, cooking, cleaning. Work outside the walls of the compound was reserved for the men.

On a furlough, I met my future husband – a new believer who wasn’t looking for a door mat in a wife but a partner. As he grew in his faith, I reexamined mine and what Biblical womanhood looked like. Timidly at first, but then eagerly, as I discovered a new relationship with Jesus Christ based on grace and not performance. I left the Mennonite church and married the love of my life twenty years ago. We have five beautiful teenagers, two by birth and three through adoption from Haiti. My husband is adopted and God used my time in Haiti to prepare me to understand my children’s culture and language and ease their transitions home.

Two people in my family have mild Asperger’s and one has Reactive Attachment disorder, PTSD, and ODD. Our house is not a quiet, well greased machine but a chaotic, happy, crazy, nerve racking, love filled oasis where we all try to help each other grow and thrive. I am so thankful for my life – the good and the bad. I feel blessed to have experienced so many unique situations and to love and be loved by so many wonderful and eccentric people. It is from these experiences I draw the fiction stories I write. I like to think of them as fiction with grit – fast paced and entertaining stories that make you want to read till the very last page while at the same time tackling real life issues – legalism, abuse, divorce, adoption, Asperger syndrome, mental illness, etc.





Guest Post from Lael Harrelson

To the casual observer, Haiti is a magical island of swaying palms, laughing children, and azure blue oceans, but for one who takes the time to look deeper, a darker truth emerges. Starvation. Desperation. Darkness. Hopelessness.

Callie’s church is a shining beacon of family values, sincere faith, and simple living but, again, for one who takes the time to dive deeper, there is a hidden trail of broken spirits, crushed dreams, and oppressed women and girls.

Drawing inspiration from my experiences as a Haitian missionary and former Mennonite, I hope you will find Tremors of Doubt not only entertaining but life changing as you follow Callie’s journey through self-doubt, crushed dreams, love triangles, life changing secrets, and fragile hope as she navigates being the daughter of Haitian missionaries on an exotic Caribbean Island where danger is lurking just below the surface.




Blog Stops





Quiet Quilter, June 12



Among the Reads, June 12




Mommynificent, June 13



Bigreadersite, June 13



The Avid Reader, June 14




Carpe Diem, June 15







Mary Hake, June 17



margaret kazmierczak, June 17 (Interview)












ansel book blog, June 22




cherylbbookblog, June 23

















Giveaway







To celebrate her tour, Lael is giving away a grand prize of an autographed copy of Tremors of Doubt, an adorable set of Amish dolls, a set of handwritten recipe cards with mouthwatering Amish recipes, a handmade Haitian bracelet made by Haitian students, a pound of nationally acclaimed Haitian coffee, a bar of rich Haitian chocolate, and a $25 Amazon gift card!!



Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!https://promosimple.com/ps/d06c/tremors-of-doubt-celebration-tour-giveaway












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