Tuesday, February 27, 2018

"A Home for Hannah" by Amy Lillard

In Pontotoc, Mississippi, the Amish way means a chance to rebuild, renew, and rekindle a love from long ago . . .  
Fifteen years. That’s how long it’s been since Hannah McLean set foot in the Amish community where she was raised. Through it all her heart has never forgotten Pontotoc—or Aaron Zook, her first love. Now widowed, and left with little more than her hurting teenager and her prayers, she returns home, even knowing she and her son may be turned away.
 
When Aaron learns Hannah has returned, he nearly falls to his knees. He’s a strong man, but lately the care of his three motherless children and family land have been more than he can handle. Now providence has delivered the first woman he loved, and with her, the rush of feelings they once shared. But will his simple, removed way of life leave Hannah longing for something more, or can they begin anew, finding a new way forward together?


My Review
"A Home for Hannah" by Amy Lillard is the first book in the (Amish of Pontotoc) series.

Amy writes a story that readers will have no trouble liking.  The scenes are written so well that  readers can pretend that they are watching the story take place and not reading it.

This is a story about a second chance at love.

This story has all the elements that readers of the Amish genre loves, girl leaves and is gone for 15 years but comes back with a son and is a widow.

This story is really Hannah and Aaron's and Brandon story.

How does someone that was raised Amish and then leave, come back and fit in, and how does a teenage boy that knows nothing about the Amish survive forced to go to live with the Amish?

I had to finish the book as soon as possible because I wanted to know how it ended up and I am eagerly awaiting book 2.

I received a complimentary ARC of "A Home for Hannah" from the author and publisher. These opinions are my own.

Biography

I'm a wife, mother, and bona fide Southern belle. Published author, expert corn bread maker, and Squirrel Princess.

I live in Tulsa, though I was born in Mississippi. I moved to the Sooner State when I was seventeen and met my soul mate and best friend not long after. I've retained a little of my Mississippi accent though most people think I'm from Texas. (?) Rob and I have been married for over twenty years and have a son-a mom proclaimed prodigy, of course!

I love homemade tacos, nail polish, and romance novels-not necessarily in that order. I'm a big fan of country music, a staunch proponent of saving the Oxford comma, and I'm shamefully obsessed with all things Harry Potter.

I believe that God is love. I guess that's why I love to write inspirational romances. The two go hand-in-hand for me.

I have always been intrigued with the Amish culture, their gentle ways and slower-paced lifestyle. (And I love, love, love the fact that they stay married for their lifetime.) But until recently I never thought to blend this interest with my penchant for romance. Okay, okay, I'm a bit old-fashioned and even enjoy the gender roles that are present in this culture. I love to cook and take care of my family. Yes, that's me June Cleaver with a laptop.

I dislike people trying to convince me to read the Twlight series (I'll get to it or I won't, either way I'm good with it), gratuitous violence, and strawberry ice cream. (I know I'm alone on this last one, and again, I'm good with it.)

Favorite movies-(besides HP) French Kiss, Maid of Honor, A Lot Like Love, Just Married, and Sweet Home Alabama. Oh, and Miss Congeniality, Sabrina (both versions) and a 1940′s movie called Dear Ruth. If you haven't seen it, you should! A-dorable. Anything with Doris Day and most all of Marilyn's and Audrey's.

"Returning Home'' by Toni Shiloh


' Back cover Blurb –

Jo Ellen Baker is shocked to find out that the boy who teased her mercilessly throughout high school, has returned to their hometown of ''Freedom Lake, and he’s missing a leg. When his mother asks her to renovate their carriage house to give him a place to gain his independence back, she wants to say no. But one look at him brings a rush of forgotten feelings.

Evan Carter can’t believe he has to return home and live with his parents. Every hope and dream he ever had dissipated in a car crash that cost him his leg. Stuck in a wheelchair, he’s forced to reexamine his relationship with God and the local carpenter, Jo Ellen Baker.

Will renovating his home open the door for a mended relationship, or are some wounds too deep to heal from?  

Buy links –
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2hk5qoJ  
B&N: https://tinyurl.com/y9kwhhp7
Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/ybrf3xrc
iTunes: https://tinyurl.com/y9hr6gvl
Goodreads: https://tinyurl.com/yb5bupgd









Author bio –
Toni Shiloh is a wife, mom, and Christian fiction writer. Once she understood the powerful saving grace thanks to the love of Christ, she was moved to honor her Savior. She writes to bring Him glory and to learn more about His goodness.
She spends her days hanging out with her husband and their two boys. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and president of the Virginia Chapter.
You can find her on her website at http://tonishiloh.wordpress.com.
.




My Review
"Returning Home'' by Toni Shiloh is a wonderful story of a second chance at love. It is also a story of forgiveness and God's mercy.

This story really hit home with me because like Evan, my mom had to have a leg amputated about three weeks ago, so I think that is one reason why I was hooked into the story from the start.

I really liked how the characters were shown as imperfect and how they grew in their faith.

This story is what a Christian Fiction should be, one without bad languages or explict scenes.

I felt like I was reliving my relationships with my grandma when I was reading the scenes with Jo Ellen and her grandma.

This book had moments that might make a reader cry because the book was so true to life.

"Returning Home'' by Toni Shiloh is the first book in the series and I am looking forward to reading the next book in "Freedom Lake Novel" series.

I recommend "Returning Home'' by Toni Shiloh to anyone that likes a clean love story that is more than boy meets girl and they fall in love.

This story is about characters who left and came back to Freedom Lake.

There are a couple of characters that I think other readers would want to read their story and found out why they act the way they do, and those characters are Jo Ellen's mom and sister.

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



Sunday, February 25, 2018

"Twintuition " by Joan Bannan

Joan Bannan/ Twintuition 

ISBN: 978-0-9627624-1-3 | List Price: $17.99 | Format: Softcover | Page Count: 228
ISBN: 978-0-9627624-2-0 | List Price: $35.99 | Format: Hardcover | Page Count: 228
ISBN: 978-0-9627624-3-7 | List Price: $12.99 | Format: Kindle | Page Count: 228


A heady tale of a single mom who, after discovering she has a twin that was adopted into a wealthy family, doubles as her twin and is catapulted into danger that neither twin anticipated.
Olivia Gale could have pursued career dreams and avoided nine years of financial struggle had she gotten an abortion, as David's father assumed she would, but then, she would not have David.
When Olivia inherits her mother's home, she discovers that she has an identical twin sister, Vivian, whom her mother had given up for adoption to a wealthy family.
Olivia sets out immediately to contact her sister.
Vivian's life has been horrorstricken by a plane crash that killed her adoptive parents and her brother. When the twins reunite, Vivian asks Olivia to sit in as her double so she can disappear temporarily to have a delicate surgery.
Olivia Gale longs to begin the masquerade; to step into a world of carefree luxury and leave behind the stress of poverty. However, once Liv is embedded into her new, pampered life she realizes that even with all the struggles of being a single mom, she desperately wants to go home to David.

Neither twin is aware that someone is trying to murder Vivian.


About Joan Bannan:

Joan Bannan is a native Californian, who still lives in Northern California. She was born Joan Freiburghouse in Modesto. When she turned eighteen, she became Joan Mangini for the next twenty-four years. She changed her last name to Bannan—her grandmother's maiden name when her first book was published in 1990. She thought her mother's maiden name was too boring and that Freiburghouse would not fit on book covers.


Joan is a Christian. Her faith influences her writing, but she does not consider herself an evangelist nor does she feel called to explain her faith to her readers. However, her faith greatly influences her characters and the theme of each novel. She says, "I can't help it. I believe the world that is not seen is the real world. I allow my characters to be aided by divine intervention that is considered coincidence in the visible world. Christian friends call this type of coincidence, 'a God thing.'"

There are two frequently asked questions that Joan is asked: "Are your novels based on true stories?" and "How do you write?"

Her stories are based on true stories and true characters, but they are greatly embellished by her imagination. Many of her characters are inspired by combining the personalities of more than one person.

Joan's writing inspiration comes from studying novel writing and storytelling and by continually reading great novels. Most recently she completed Ted Dekker’s Creative Way Course in Transformational Fiction. Often though, after her theme is clear and the plot is afoot, Joan finds she needs to enter a scene before she can imagine what needs to be there, what her characters will say to each other, and discover who else will show up.

Joan is also the author of Halfa Moon, 

Visit Joan at her site, on Facebook or Twitter.

You can order your copy of Twintuition on Amazon.

My Review
" Twintuition" by Joan Bannan is a good story but I must warn that there a few words that I wasn't comfortable reading in a Christian book and in one instance a  unsaved character is talking about someone "thumping someone" and  other characters has drug usage. In spite of these things I enjoyed the story.
There is suspense all throughout  the book as well as the two sisters finding old love interests. 
I was pulled into the story from the beginning and had to read the book in one sitting.
I recommend this book to anyone that likes mysteries and can look over the few items I mentioned at the beginning of this review. I think readers will really enjoy getting to know all the characters. 
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

"Love by the Numbers" by Laura V. Hilton Book Tour and GiveAway


About the Book



Title: Love by the Numbers  
Author: Laura V. Hilton  
Genre: Christian Amish fiction  
Release Date: February 6, 2018
After her fiancé dies in a buggy accident, Lydia Hershberger is invited to Jamesport to manage her Mennonite aunt’s gift store while her aunt and uncle are on a mission trip. While there, Lydia gets acquainted with her aentie’s best friend, Bethel Bontrager, and her grown son, Caleb. Lydia is surprised to find herself drawn to handsome clockmaker, Caleb Bontrager. But in spite of an instant flame of attraction between them, he doesn’t seem interested. In fact, pesky Caleb treats her like he doesn’t even like her. Bright and sparkly. That’s Caleb’s first impression of Lydia. He’s always been attracted to sparkly things. In fact, his affinity for those things, and the trouble they can cause, are exactly why he’s determined to change his ways and settle down. With Lydia’s aentie gone, he is handling the books for the gift shop and is forced to spend too much time in her presence. When God offers Lydia a second chance at love and family, will she take it? Or will the secret Caleb harbors cause her even more heartbreak?

Click here to purchase your copy!

My Review: 
"Love by the Numbers" by Laura V. Hilton is a wonderful story about emotional healing, by emotional healing I mean learning to forgive oneself for past mistakes and sins.  It is also a love story, it is a clean story but be warned there are lots of kisses and passion.

This book is filled with quotes that readers could apply to their own lives and own emotional healing.

This story is a perfect example of what trust and faith can do.  

I  think "Love by the Numbers" is my favorite of Laura Hilton's book, at least it is right now. 

I believe that if you read "Love by the Numbers" you will be like me when you read the last page, I want to read of Lydia and Caleb's story.  I also think  some readers will be thinking I wish I had parents like Caleb. 

In closing I am going to share my favorite quote in the book "Just remember, love should be like a rubber band that stretches and gives. You can’t insist on following a blueprint."

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



About the Author


Laura V. Hilton is an award-winning, sought-after author with almost twenty Amish, contemporary, and historical romances. When she’s not writing, she reviews books for her blogs, and writes devotionals for blog posts for Seriously Write and Putting on the New. Laura and her pastor-husband have five children and a hyper dog named Skye. They currently live in Arkansas. One son is in the U.S. Coast Guard. She is a pastor’s wife, and homeschools her two youngest children. When she’s not writing, Laura enjoys reading, and visiting lighthouses and waterfalls. Her favorite season is winter, her favorite holiday is Christmas.

Guest Post from Laura V. Hilton

Story Behind the Story – Love by the Numbers Caleb was a minor character in couple of my Amish books – I think he first made a by name appearance in Amish Wanderer and Christmas Admirer. A minor character. Lydia was a very minor one-time appearance in those stories, too, a girl who happened to be in the room with Bethany and Susanna at a wedding. (This story is stand alone!) But I knew when Caleb first saw Lydia that they would end up together by the way he reacted to her presence. I wondered what their story was.  



March and April is tornado season in Arkansas (and in many other states) and in 2011 we had a bad one. I was out and about that day, driving to the county seat with my five children, and there was something in the air. It was heavy, hard to breathe, and the sky was black off to the west. I’m sure I broke speed limits racing to Melbourne, and then home again so we wouldn’t be out in the storm. Later that afternoon, tornado sirens went off. One went over our house – even from the basement we could hear the sound of a train roaring overhead. Scary. And still thanking God it didn’t touch down. Highland, Ash Flat, and Evening Shade, Arkansas were hit hard. Buildings completely gone. When we drove out that way later in the week there were pickup trucks in the tops of trees. Other things in odd and unusual places. I always wondered how they got the treetop pickups down. I would’ve stopped to watch if I’d been out there when it was done. I did hear that some of those trucks weren’t damaged at all. Unreal. My two sons and my husband both helped with clean up and my oldest son went with a crew to Joplin, Missouri, to help with clean up there. There has been other occasions I’ve been out in tornados. Once I was in the Walmart parking lot when a tornado went through a town west of it. We could see the funnel touching down from where we stood. It did hail when we were on our way home, praying our house was still standing. It was.  


On a different note, in 2016 my oldest son came home with a kitten. She was the sweetest thing ever, and he named her Rosie. Sadly, I was highly allergic to her. I couldn’t even be around the children after they played with her. They’d have to go change clothes and wash their hands, otherwise I couldn’t breathe. Rosie was full Siamese, blue eyes and all, and she was so adorable. I allowed my son to keep her in the shed. I was about four chapters into the story when Rosie found some poison (I think, not sure) and died. We all cried. Also about the time I was writing this, a very dear friend of a lot of writers died. I told my street team I was going to name a character after her, and was told a lot of writers would be. I agreed. And a lot of their books were released already. But Aenti Judith in this story is named after Judy Burgi. I still miss her and pray for her family. One of the verses my daughter had to memorize in Sunday School was 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. ‘We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.’ Perfect for the faith message in Love by the Numbers! I love how God always provides the perfect verse for my characters’ faith messages. I’m pretty sure this verse is one I never memorized, and I never would of thought of it on my own, but God put it in my daughter’s lessons for Sunday School, so she had to memorize it – and thus I did too since I help my daughters learn their verses every week. I hope you’ll enjoy the story! Because of Him, Laura V. Hilton

Blog Stops

Pursuing Stacie, February 13
Quiet Quilter, February 13
Red Headed Book Lady, February 13
Babs Book Bistro, February 13
Blogging With Carol, February 14
Among the Reads, February 14
Blossoms and BlessingsFebruary 15
SusanLovesBooks, February 16
Carpe Diem, February 16
Splashes of JoyFebruary 17
vickysluiter.com, February 18
A Reader’s Brain, February 19
C Jane Read, February 20
Daysong ReflectionsFebruary 20
margaret kazmierczak, February 20
Bibliophile Reviews, February 21
A Greater Yes, February 22
Texas Book-aholic, February 22
Pause for Tales, February 23
Have A Wonderful Day, February 23
cherylbbookblog, February 24
Simple Harvest Reads, February 24
Christian Bookaholic, February 25
Janices book reviews, February 25
For The Love of Books, February 26
Jeanette’s Thoughts, February 26
Bigreadersite, February 26

Giveaway



In honor of the tour, Whitaker House is giving away
Grand Prize Package: Love By the Numbers, Healing Love (Amish of Webster County #1), and The Snow Globe (The Amish of Jamesport #1) by Laura Hilton; “The Angels Cry Holy” scented candle in tin with lid from Abba Jerusalem
1st Place Package: Love By the Numbers, The Snow Globe (The Amish of Jamesport #1) by Laura Hilton, and Whitaker House/Anchor Coloring Book with Colored Pencils 2nd Place Package: Love By the Number by Laura Hilton and Whitaker House/Anchor Coloring Book with Colored Pencils!!!
Click the link to enter! https://promosimple.com/ps/c6ca

Friday, February 23, 2018

" The Saturday Night Supper Club" by Carla Laureano Book Tour and GiveAway

The Saturday Night Supper Club FB banner copy

About the Book

The Sunday SupperTitle: The Saturday Night Supper Club
Author: Carla Laureano
Genre: Christian fiction/romance fiction
Release Date: February 6, 2018
Denver chef Rachel Bishop has accomplished everything she’s dreamed and some things she never dared hope, like winning a James Beard Award and heading up her own fine-dining restaurant. But when a targeted smear campaign causes her to be pushed out of the business by her partners, she vows to do whatever it takes to get her life back . . . even if that means joining forces with the man who inadvertently set the disaster in motion.
Essayist Alex Kanin never imagined his pointed editorial would go viral. Ironically, his attempt to highlight the pitfalls of online criticism has the opposite effect: it revives his own flagging career by destroying that of a perfect stranger. Plagued by guilt-fueled writer’s block, Alex vows to do whatever he can to repair the damage. He just doesn’t…

Click here to purchase your copy!
 My Review: 
I absolutely loved " The Saturday Night Supper Club" by Carla Laureano.  This is a clean romance but I have to say there is little hints that that the characters are having impure thoughts but again I stress that the book is clean.

This book is about a chef and a writer but I think more than the obvious plot of the story there is a deep meaning to me throughout the book ,it is that God loves us just as we are.  This book is not preachy and the characters aren't prefect. My review is going to be different then others have written because I am going to just share quotes that I think would make perfect memes.

"Here the thing about dreams. Everyone thinks if something is meant to be, it's going to come easy. It's isn't supposed to be. Doing something worthwhile takes sacrifice."

"Nothing's wasted. Not with God. Sometimes you just need to have faith that He's got what's next."

" You are not the sum of your accomplishments or your failures. You have absolutely nothing to prove...... If God had wanted you to be anything other than you who are and what you are, He would have made you that way." 

" Whatever decision you make, be sure you're doing it because it's what God would have you do, not simply because it's most comfortable."

"I'm not going to be happy trying to be something I'm not. God made me this way for a reason, and it's time to embrace it. See what else He has in mind for me." 

I recommend this book to all readers but it might make you hungry because it is about a chef after all.

I hope there is a sequence to this book as I would like the other characters to have their stories told.

To me this story is about the characters finding out who they really are and being happy being just who they are supposed to be and not trying to live up to other's exceptions of them.

I was given a complimentary copy by the author and Celebrate Lit. These opinions are my own. To me this story is about the characters finding out who they really are and being happy being just who they are supposed to About the Author
pic_LGb_Laureano_CarlaCarla Laureano is the RITA® Award-winning author of contemporary inspirational romance and Celtic fantasy (as C.E. Laureano). A graduate of Pepperdine University, she worked as a sales and marketing executive for nearly a decade before leaving corporate life behind to write fiction full-time. She currently lives in Denver with her husband and two sons, where she writes during the day and cooks things at night.

Guest Post From Carla Laureano

I’ve got a confession to make: I have a cooking problem.
It started early and innocently enough, flipping through my mom’s cookbooks and marking things I wanted to try. Making cakes and muffins from a mix. Flipping frozen steak patties. Doctoring canned spaghetti sauce.
It wasn’t long before I got into the hard stuff: muffins from scratch, slow-cooked marinara, cast-iron seared and oven-finished rib eyes. Over the years, I tried to kick the habit numerous times, but every time things got tough, I found myself falling off the wagon and heading back into the kitchen. Even hosting dinner parties. Yes, dear reader, I pulled my hapless friends into my madness. To my shame, I even got some of them hooked with their own addiction.
Before I knew it, my obsessions started creeping into my day job. No longer was it enough to write contemporary romance about normal people who order take-out. No, I had to write chefs and passionate home cooks and describe the food in the books just as lovingly as I did a first kiss. And then the final straw—a book series centered entirely on food and the culinary profession, beginning with The Saturday Night Supper Club.
All joking aside, cooking really is an addiction that I haven’t been able to kick. As a writer, I spend hours locked in my own imagination, creating things out of words and ideas. And while it’s immensely fulfilling, it’s a long, painstaking process that takes months, even years, before I can release the final product into the world. While there’s a large amount of planning and analysis involved in creating a book, the work is still mostly in my head.
Which is why I find cooking to be such a relaxing creative pursuit. Dicing a pile of vegetables into perfectly uniform cubes may take the same concentration and precision, but it’s concrete and measurable. It becomes a personal challenge to do something better than last time, improving by tiny, nearly imperceptible increments. It’s the closest to meditation that my always-on brain ever experiences, clear of all thought except for my activity at the present moment.
And yet, simultaneously, food is ephemeral. Mistakes last only as long as it takes to eat them or toss them directly into the trash can, depending on the nature of the mistake. If a sauce breaks, I toss it and start over. If I burn something, I either cut off the burned part or I order takeout and try again the next day. There’s an element of experimentation and instinct and whimsy that isn’t hampered by the pursuit of perfection. Let’s face it, a mediocre chocolate chip cookie beats a perfect celery stick any day of the week.
It was natural, then, to write a chef heroine who had dedicated her entire life to the pursuit of culinary perfection and explore all the ways that food makes our lives and relationships richer. How it anchors our memories. How we nurture others by feeding them. How a simple meal becomes meaningful not because of the food, but because of the connections we form with others over the dinner table.
In the end, I guess my cooking problem isn’t that much of a problem after all. If you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen.

Blog Stops

Rachel Scott McDaniel, February 20
Just Commonly, February 20
Mommynificent, February 21
Among The Reads, February 21
A Greater Yes, February 21
Fiction Aficionado, February 22
Quiet Quilter, February 22
The Power of Words, February 23
Janices book reviews, February 24
C Jane Read, February 24
Faery Tales Are Real, February 24
All of a Kind Mom, February 25
Inklings and notions, February 25
Jeanette’s Thoughts, February 25
Carpe Diem, February 26
Smiling Book Reviews, February 26
Splashes of Joy, February 27
Simple Harvest Reads, February 27 (Guest post from Mindy)
Radiant Light, February 28
Moments Dipped in Ink, February 28
Baker kella, February 28
Pause for Tales, March 1
Book by Book, March 1
Bigreadersite, March 1
amandainpa, March 4
By The Book, March 5
Pursuing Stacie, March 5

Giveaway

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To celebrate her tour, Carla is giving away a grand prize of a $200 Visa Card for the winner and a friend to attend a cooking class!!
Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/c9b4