Sunday, August 30, 2020

"Christmas Carol Society" by Rebekah Jones Book Tour and GiveAway

Chrismas carol society FB Banner

About the Book

Book: Christmas Carol Society
Author: Rebekah Jones
Genre: Holiday Fiction, Christian Fiction
Release Date: October 30, 2019
Christmas Carol Society CoverChristmas Carol Society – How Do You Impersonate a Christmas Ghost?
The Christmas season has arrived. The members of the newly-formed Christmas Carol Society are beginning their weekly meetings. Charlie Baker finds the first meeting odd enough, but when the assignments start, he has to wonder why he allowed himself to get roped into attending. Miss Dartmoor tells her members to impersonate the Ghost of Christmas Past for their own personal Scrooge.
Just how does a mere human accomplish such an absurd task? Charlie tries to figure it out, but begins to see the Lord might plan for the assignments to have a deeper impact on him than he expected.
An impact that Charlie isn’t sure he wants to face.

Click here to get your copy!


I am going to start this review with this statement and Yes, I am going to capitalized it because I mean it "I LOVE THIS BOOK, "Christmas Carol Society" by Rebekah Jones. I t is about a group that is joined because of their like for the book "A Christmas Carol". 

The members in this society has assignments to be like like the ghosts in the book they all like and I was thinking when I started reading this book that I was not going to like it because to be honest , I have watched  the Disney cartoon " A Christmas Carol" , and thought it was okay,  but it wasn't a favorite Christmas story to me.   But, I quickly changed my mind soon after reading a few pages and now  I want to actually read the book by Charles Dickson. 

The characters is this book made me laughed as well as cry and a couple of times I wanted to crawl into the book and give a few of them a hug and say I understand. 

This book is fiction, but I have highlighted some many passages in the book. I am going to share just one of the many  " Just because we have a reason to make us want to sin, does not mean that we are excused when we do," . There are quotes about changing a person and that only God can do that and about flowers and remembering the joy that flowers brought.  

This book has lots of Biblical truths and isn't preachy but it does makes you want to change the way you live, it makes you want to really live what you say you believe.

I think this book should be read by all that wants to make a difference in someone's life, maybe even in your own. This book is another book that I like to say really points out that "Fiction is Real Life" .

I think this book sound be read more than once and definitely not just at Christmas time. 

This book is defiantly on my top 5 books of 2020 . 

I was given a complementary copy by the author and Celebrate Lit and these opinions are mine own.

About the Author
Rebekah Jones, AuthorRebekah Jones is first and foremost a follower of the Living God. She started writing as a little girl, seeking to glorify her King with her books and stories.
Rebekah is an old soul in a young body (she’s not 12 —honest!) While her exact age is classified, her interests are not. Among them are reading a variety of books, singing, playing, and composing music, studying all manner of subjects, nannying an adventurous group of youngsters, and, of course, writing her books, poems, articles, and short stories. She writes a wide range of books from gentle children’s adventures to family sagas to murder mysteries.




More from Rebekah Jones

Christmas Carol Society is a book very near and dear to my heart. Partly because of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, which is among my favorites, and partly due to my characters. Especially, Charlie Baker.

Charlie is very special to me. He wants to hide in his tiny corner of the world, and give up. He wants to give up on a world that has hurt him tremendously or taken people he loved. He wants to push away any possibility of repeating the past; he doesn’t want to be hurt again.

Charlie doesn’t want to join the Christmas Carol Society. He doesn’t want to find a “Scrooge.” He doesn’t want to make new friends. He doesn’t want to do any of it.

He joins because he loves his cousin. He doesn’t do it for any other reason.

His father encourages him to do it right, if he’s going to do it at all. His cousin calls him out, when his Christianity is at odds with his behavior. And Albert, his would-be friend, just doesn’t give up on him.

In a sense, Charlie is a Scrooge – and yet, he’s not. He has to find a Scrooge of his own. And through it, he finds himself doing all the things that he really doesn’t want to do at all – and it’s a good thing. Painful sometimes, but good. Scary at times, but good.

The characters that the LORD uses to teach me the most, end up being particularly special to me. Charlie is one of them. In some ways, I relate to Charlie rather a lot, and writing this story drove me to prayer often, so I would know what to do next. I frequently wasn’t sure where the story would go. But I learned along with Charlie.

I hope that my readers will love Charlie Baker as much as I do, and that his story, along with the others in this book, will in some way bless and encourage my readers for the LORD’s glory.

To the KING be all the glory! 

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, August 26
Splashes of Joy, August 28
Mary Hake, August 28
Just the Write Escape, September 1
Get Cozy Book Nook, September 1
She Lives To Read, September 2
Artistic Nobody, September 4 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
Batya’s Bits, September 4
Connect in Fiction, September 6
Ashley’s Bookshelf, September 7
Emily Yager, September 7

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Rebekah is giving away the grand prize package of a copy of Christmas Carol Society, a copy of A Christmas Carol, and an ornament!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Saturday, August 29, 2020

"The Shopkeeper’s Widow" by Izzy James Book Tour and Give Away

The Shopkeepers widow

About the Book

Book:  The Shopkeeper’s Widow
Author: Izzy James
Genre:  Christian Historical Romance
Release Date: August 21, 2020
TheShopkeepersWidow_w12605_750Delany Fleet, a widowed former indentured servant living in the colonial port of Norfolk, Virginia, dreams of having an estate of her own where she will never have to compromise her freedom.
When the only man she ever loved shows up with a load of smuggled firearms, Delany is forced to leave her home and her livelihood to protect her family and property from Lord Dunmore’s raids and the conniving plots of a man who claims to be her friend.
Now, with her destiny forever altered, Delany must find a new way to happiness. Can reconnecting with her husband’s family and a former love be the path that God has for her?

Click here to get your copy!

The setting for "The Shopkeeper’s Widow" by Izzy James is the years of rebellion in colonial Virginia. It delves into women's rights, slavery, treason, and other major issues of the day. This book is a fast paced book and the ending was quite shocking to me, well part of it was and the other was expected.

I recommend this book if you want a short read and one that has a little danger in it's pages and is based on History and is a romance.  I enjoyed this story because it was all of the above.

I received a contemporary copy by the author and Celebrate Lit and these opinions are my own.


About the Author
izzy_jamesIzzy James grew up surrounded by history and story in coastal Virginia. She still lives there with her fabulous husband in a house brimming with books.






More from Izzy

Hello! My name is Izzy James. My new book is The Shopkeeper’s Widow. It’s about freedom and second chances. I learned quite a bit of history while researching and writing this book. Did you know that the first showers began to appear in the early 1760’s? I gave Delany one of them in Shopkeeper’sjust for fun. It is not likely she would have had a shower at that time, but it is fiction and as such I thought it would be a fun detail to add. We do know that some people did rig up for themselves a semblance of a daily shower by using a bucket full of water suspended above them.

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, August 31
For Him and My Family, September 1
lakesidelivingsite, September 1
Artistic Nobody, September 3 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
deb’s Book Review, September 3
Jeanette’s Thoughts, September 5
Ashley’s Bookshelf, September 6
Connect in Fiction, September 7
Batya’s Bits, September 8
The Book Chic Blog, September 9
HookMeInABook, September 11
Books I’ve Read, September 11

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Izzy is giving away the grand prize package of a a book, a can of tea and an Ingenuitea teapot!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Friday, August 28, 2020

"A Dream for Harper" by Teresa Slack Book Tour and GiveAway


About the Book

Book: A Dream for Harper

Author: Teresa Slack
Genre: Christian Historical Western Fiction
Release Date: June 2
With no prospects for a better life at home in Kentucky, Harper Dixon’s
mother sends her to Willow Wood, Idaho to become a companion to her
cousin Ellie Lundy. Ellie was jilted by a man who everyone believes was
only interested in her for her money. Harper doesn’t know how she can
help Ellie without having been in love herself, and with no prospects.
Harper believes the only way to help Ellie recover from her melancholy
is to find out what happened to Matthew Dunleavy, the man who broke her
heart. She enlists the help of Logan Kinski, the family’s hired man who
knew more about Matthew and his secrets than anyone.
Logan doesn’t trust the cousin from Kentucky. He believes Harper is here
to take advantage of Ellie and worm her way into the family’s immense
fortune. Harper doesn’t have time or patience to deal with a hard-headed
man who keeps getting between her and the truth.
Danger and suspicions mount as Harper and Logan uncover secrets about
Matthew Dunleavy and his dangerous past. Did he leave town on his own,
or did someone from his past with a score to settle catch up to him?
Can Harper and Logan put their mutual distrust aside in order to protect
Ellie? Will their suspicions prevent their growing attraction from
blossoming into love before the search for the truth destroys them?

Click here to get your copy!


A Dream for Harper, by Teresa Slack, is book 3 in the Willow Woods Bride series.  I have read the other two and  most of the time , I recommend reading all the books in order, but these books can be enjoy as standalones.  This is a romance but has a mystery, what happened to Matthew, did he just leave or did something happen to him.
This book has twists that I didn't see coming. This book clearly shows that money is often a person's downfall.
Harper is my favorite character because she doesn't just live for herself, she thinks and does for others.
I was given a contemporary copy by the author and Celebrate Lit and these are my own opinions.




About the Author

Teresa Slack loves reading, writing, and falling in love. Creating clean
and wholesome western romances where fearless cowboys still sweep
independent heroines off their feet was an easy choice for her.
Her first book, Streams of Mercy, won the Bay Area Independent
Publishers Association Award for Best First Fiction. The Willow Wood
Brides Series is her first series of western historicals, and her third
series of Christian fiction novels. She also has two stand-alone
contemporary romances and a contemporary suspense, Joy Redefined.
She writes from her home in the beautiful southern Ohio hills, which she
shares with her husband and rescue dog and rescue cat. Any errors and
typos she blames on the cat randomly running across her keyboard.
Learn more about Teresa Slack and her books by visiting her website at
www.teresaslack.comReaders who sign up for her newsletter will receive
a free download of A Promise for Josie: A Willow Wood Prequel.

More from Teresa Slack

When people say nothing ever happens in a small town, they’re just not paying attention. I’ve always been intrigued by the real stories behind small town scandals and gossip. That’s why I write the stories I write and create the towns I create.
A Dream for Harper is based on a short story I started about twenty years ago. I never finished it and pretty much forgot it. When I started researching the Old West for the Willow Wood Brides Series and devouring Louis L’Amour and Elmore Leonard stories as research, I remembered that unfinished short story.
I knew it would make a great addition to the series. In the story, Harper leaves the loving arms of her large family in Kentucky to travel to Willow Wood, Idaho to help a cousin she never met. She is thrust into a world completely foreign to her, but she’s determined to help Ellie overcome her crippling depression. I think most of us can relate to Harper’s story. Feeling like a fish out of water and unqualified to fix the mess we’re handed. A little mystery, a lot of romance, and some unexpected twists and turns show Harper that God hasn’t put more on her plate than she can eat. Just like us.

Blog Stops

lakesidelivingsite, August 18
The Book Chic Blog, August 22
Older & Smarter, August 24
Texas Book-aholic, August 25
Artistic Nobody, August 26 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
Bizwings Blog, August 26
Connect in Fiction, August 29
Splashes of Joy, August 30
Pause for Tales, August 30
Simple Harvest Reads, August 31 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Teresa is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

"The Black Midnight" by Kathleen Y’Barbo Book Tour and GiveAway

The Black Midnight FB Banner

About the Book

Book: The Black Midnight
Author: Kathleen Y’Barbo
Genre: Christian Historical Suspense
Release Date: August, 2020
The Black MidnightDeath Seems to Follow Harriet’s New Friend
Book 7 in the True Colors series—Fiction Based on Strange-But True History
Three years before Jack the Ripper began his murderous spree on the streets of London, women were dying in their beds as The Midnight Assassin terrorized the citizens of Austin, Texas. Now, with suspicion falling on Her Majesty’s family and Scotland Yard at a loss as to who the Ripper might be, Queen Victoria summons her great-granddaughter, Alice Anne von Wettin, a former Pinkerton agent who worked the unsolved Austin case, and orders her to discreetly form a team to look into the London matter.
The prospect of a second chance to work with Annie just might entice Isaiah Joplin out of his comfortable life as an Austin lawyer. If his theories are right, they’ll find the The Midnight Assassin and, by default, the Ripper. If they’re wrong, he and Annie are in a bigger mess than the one the feisty female left behind when she departed Austin under cover of darkness three years ago.
Can the unlikely pair find the truth of who is behind the murders before they are drawn into the killer’s deadly game? From Texas to London, the story navigates the fine line between truth and fiction as Annie and Isaiah ultimately find the hunters have become the hunted.

Click here to get your copy!
I was really glued to the pages. I have always been fascinated by the story of Jack the Ripper, not the facts but that they have never discovered who he was. This book is fiction based on truth. This book does have the killings. but are they the work of one killer or two and is a couple of the killing done by the husbands. and Annie and Isaiah try to solve and not fall in love.  But, Annie has a secret that she has to guard as well, she is the great granddaughter to Queen Victoria.  This story is more a romance than a actual crime story.  The author has added real history facts at the end of the book and tells where she has bent history to fix the story. If I didn't have so many other books to read,  I would definitely  be reading more books about these crimes, I am amazed that their cases have never been solved.

I recommend this book to readers who like to read about real crimes without all the gory details, yes this book does mention puddles of blood, but not the rest of the details, and has romance. 

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


About the Author
KathleenYbarboBestselling author Kathleen Y’Barbo is a multiple Carol Award and RITA nominee of more than sixty novels with almost two million copies of her books in print in the US and abroad.







More from Kathleen Y’Barbo

I am a tenth generation Texan, but London has held a place in my heart for over ten years. You see, I have a son who has lived there for more than a decade. Thanks to him and his family of three—my granddaughter was born there on New Year’s Eve 2019—the city will always be special to me. There is absolutely nothing like walking those streets with a thousand years of history close enough to touch.
It was on a walk with my son through this great city that the stories of nineteenth century London came alive. With fog shrouding the rooftops of buildings that were hundreds of years old and our footsteps echoing on the cobblestones, I could imagine a time when lack of electricity and CCTV would make this place less than charming on a dark night. What reminded me of my favorite childhood movie, Mary Poppins, quickly became more reminiscent of Jack the Ripper. And then a story was born.
Only I just had half the story.
The other half came to me several years later when I stumbled across an article in Texas Monthlymagazine about a serial killer who rampaged through Austin, Texas in 1884 and 1885 and was never caught. Some surmised this madman, called “The Midnight Assassin” by some, might have been Jack the Ripper honing his skills before he crossed the Atlantic to begin his famous crime spree in Great Britain.
But Austin? Ironically, my other two sons lived in Austin. So while part of my heart was in London, two more parts of that same heart resided in the Texas capital. I thought I knew Austin inside out. Between one of my sons getting not one but two degrees from the University of Texas (this Aggie grad is still proud of him in spite of what I jokingly call his burnt orange rebellion) and my other son living there and managing a restaurant at the time (and who just graduated from Texas A&M Galveston last month!), I had spent many years in the city. And yet I had never heard of the Midnight Assassin.
Research turned up a tale that sounds so close to fiction I had to write about it. Discovering the theory that the Austin killer might also be the Ripper just added to my interest—neither had been caught. And I like to write about Pinkerton detectives.
From there the story unfolded. If you’ve read any of my historical romances, you know that I love incorporating actual history into my stories. As you’ll see when you read The Black Midnight, this book is no exception. While I will continue writing the historical romances I love to bring to you, I will confess that writing this book has me itching to research another one like it.
What’s next in my foray into true crime novels? Maybe Houston. You see, I have a daughter who lives there…
In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy reading The Black Midnightas much as I enjoyed writing it!

Blog Stops

Genesis 5020, August 27
Older & Smarter?, August 29
Texas Book-aholic, August 29
Artistic Nobody, August 29 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
Betti Mace, September 1
Robin’s Nest, September 1
Bigreadersite, September 1
deb’s Book Review, September 2
Splashes of Joy, September 2
Rebecca Tews, September 3
Just the Write Escape, September 3
Emily Yager, September 3
Christian Bookaholic, September 4
KarenSueHadley, September 4
Remembrancy, September 5
Blogging With Carol, September 6
Life of Literature, September 7
Mary Hake, September 7
Godly Book Reviews, September 8
Back Porch Reads, September 8
Daysong Reflections, September 8
Pause for Tales, September 9
Hallie Reads, September 9

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Kathleen is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

"Rescued Hearts" by Hope Toler Doughtery Book Tour and GiveAway




Rescued Hearts

About the Book

Book:  Rescued Hearts
Author: Hope Toler Doughtery
Genre:  Romantic Suspense
Release Date: September 19, 2017
Rescued Hearts coverChildren’s clothing designer Mary Wade Kimball’s soft spot for  animals leads to a hostage situation when she spots a briar-entangled kitten in front of an abandoned house. Beaten, bound, and gagged by the two thugs inside, Mary Wade loses hope for escape when a third villain returns with supplies.
Discovering the kidnapped, innocent woman ratchets the complications for undercover agent Brett Davis. Weighing the difference of ruining his three months’ investigation against the woman’s safety, Brett forsakes his mission and helps her escape, the bent-on-revenge brutes following behind.
When Mary Wade’s safety is threatened once more, Brett rescues her again. This time, her personal safety isn’t the only thing in jeopardy. Her heart is endangered as well.


Click here to get your copy!


I really liked " "Rescued Hearts" by Hope Toler Doughtery. It had me from the first page, I mean kidnaped while rescuing a kitten. Again this novel made me feel like I was watching a episode of "Criminal Minds".  This book is my favorite book by this author, I did enjoy "An Irish Encounter" but  this was book was full of twists and turns to keep you guessing what is going to happen next. I truly recommend this book to fans of romance and suspense in the same books.   Again, my favorite character has too be Brett's grandmother, I think it is because grandmas are my favorite people because I am one and because of my own grandmother.  This book shows that parents need to let their children be who they are and not focus their wants and wishes on them, rather it be ministry or some other career.

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

About the Author

Hope DoughertyHope holds a Master’s degree and taught at East Carolina University and York Technical College. Her novels include Irish Encounter and Mars…With Venus Rising, Rescued Hearts, and Forever Music. She’s a member of ACFW and RWA. Residing in North Carolina, she and her husband enjoy visits with their daughters and twin sons.




More from Hope

I live in the country on land my great grandfather owned. For exercise, I ride my bike on our two-lane roads. One afternoon a few years ago, I took a detour off the paved road and onto a dirt path not too far from my house.

The lane meanders by the location of a distant cousin’s long-since demolished house. Trees and a few bushes still outline the phantom house’s parameters, but no boards or bricks mark the spot. Farm equipment waits under nearby shelters.

As I passed the lonely trees and silent tractors, a creepy sensation tickled the back of my neck. My imagination kicked into gear. What if a bike rider rode by an abandoned house? What if she saw a kitten entangled in a honeysuckle vine at the porch steps? What if, while she tried to free the kitten, someone grabbed her and dragged her inside where she was beaten and threatened with rape?

My pedaling picked up speed, and I reached home in record time.

Those questions continued popping up in my mind, however. I began seeing the characters, then hearing them speak every night as I dropped off to sleep. I’d never written a romantic suspense story before, but the characters refused to leave me alone.

Those initial questions led to the first chapter of Rescued Hearts.

Blog Stops

Betti Mace, August 27
Texas Book-aholic, August 28
Batya’s Bits, September 2
Older & Smarter?, September 3
CarpeDiem, September 4
Ashley’s Bookshelf, September 5
Life, Love, Writing, September 6
Artistic Nobody, September 7 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Hope is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a print copy of Rescued Hearts!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

"The Year the Stars Fell" by Elizabeth Wehman Book Tour and Book Tour

The year the Stars Fell FB Banner

About the Book

Book:  The Year the Stars Fell
Author: Elizabeth Wehman
Genre:  Christian Historical Fiction
Release Date: April 14, 2020
The Year the Stars FellIn the spring of 1833, newlywed Betsey Baker-Swain’s simple life changes when she and her husband, Aaron, make a hasty decision to join Betsey’s family on a move from Pennsylvania to Michigan Territory.
Along the way, rainstorms, freezing temperatures, seasickness, and lack of privacy pale in comparison to what the family will encounter once arriving at their destination. Soon, daily trials will include ear-piercing howls of wild wolves, bad weather, clouds of mosquitoes, and disturbing situations with the natives. Even then, Betsey wonders if this trip will finally quench her father’s adventurous spirit.
Over the next year, the Baker family will gain incredible strength, divine trust, and unexplainable courage, but will it be enough to keep them at the tiny cabin by the twisting Shiawassee River? Will uncertainty overtake their determination or will God’s intervention sustain them enough to become a part of the history of a new land?

Click here to get your copy!

"The Year the Stars Fell" by Elizabeth Wehman kept me reading till the end.  The setting is 1833 and we journey with them as they travel to Michigan Territory.  I could even  understand Mrs. Baker anger and I have to say I agreed with her.  I felt like I was there with them watching as they began to a new life. I was there with them when they encounter the Indians and the mosquitoes.

I love how Mr. Baker was always quoting scriptures and how he really believed what he was saying! I believe this fact is what makes him my favorite character. This book is a story of love and faith. I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.

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


About the Author
Elizabeth Wehman’s writing career spans over thirty years and encompasses curriculum, periodical, journalism, and novel writing.
Her dream has always been to write novels and Elizabeth launched her first contemporary fiction, Under the Windowsill,in 2014. Since then, she’s added four titles to her shelf. They include: Promise at Daybreak, Just a Train Ride, Mere Reflection, and her latest complete historical work, The Year the Stars Fell.
She found the historical genre to be filled with rabbit trail research as well as walks through bygone cemeteries. The pioneers, of the early nineteenth century, reflected an amazing stamina and a determined courage to venture into the unknown. The Year the Stars Fellis based on a forgotten village established in the Territory of Michigan in 1833. She fell in love with the Baker family and the information she discovered about them gave way to folklore and tales of the early homesteaders. Two future novels are planned that will include the continuation of the nineteenth century farming community. The series will be called, ‘The Newburg Chronicles’.
In her spare time, Elizabeth loves to read and enjoys being out in nature. Her favorite places are digging in her flower garden, listening to the birds as they herald a new day, or taking a walk on the country roads surrounding her home in Michigan.
Elizabeth has been a trucker’s wife for over thirty years which helps supply the needed solitude to produce extraordinary stories. She has three grown children, four grandpuppies, and two sons-in-law.


More from Elizabeth

My “Stars” book began to emerge after doing research about the county where I live, here in Michigan. On an information discovery about another book, I came across the story of the Baker family. They were highlighted as the one of the first farming families to enter Michigan Territory in 1833. Hosea Baker brought his entire family from Pennsylvania to settle on 600 acres in an area beside the Shiawassee River.
Joining him there were his wife, Sally, his grown son Ambrose, his daughter and her husband, Betsey and Aaron Swain, and some younger daughters. While there, they hooked up with a boy named Alexander Stevens. Their first year included: building a home and barn, clearing and planting the first crops in the county, setting up a household, and Betsey giving birth to the first recorded child in the county. Betsey and Aaron named their new baby, Julia.
So much intrigued me about their story. I was excited to flesh it out with the help of short excerpts written in a Shiawassee County history book from 1888. From these short tidbits about the family, I soon embellished a story which is a mere glimpse into what their story could have included during their first year as settlers in a vast wilderness.
Much of the story is from my own imagination, but many of the highlights include the excerpts written about the family in 1888. After writing their story, I now feel a specific kinship to them.  This is my first complete historical fiction work. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, August 24
lakesidelivingsite, August 25
Older & Smarter?, September 1
Joanne Markey, September 1
Artistic Nobody, September 2 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
Betti Mace, September 3
Ashley’s Bookshelf, September 4
Pause for Tales, September 6

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Elizabeth is giving away the grand prize package of a copy of The Year the Stars Fell and a $25 gift card to Baker Book House in Grand Rapids, which can be used online!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Monday, August 24, 2020

"Joy After Noon" by Debra Coleman Jeter Book Tour and Give Away


About the Book

Book:  Joy After Noon
Author: Debra Coleman Jeter
Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction
Release Date: February 26, 2019

Joy marries a widowed bank executive caught in an ethical dilemma and misreads his obvious frustration while struggling to integrate into her new family. This novel explores the challenges of second marriages and dealing with step-children during the crucial years of puberty and teenage angst. A college professor coming up shortly for the huge tenure decision, Joy finds herself falling apart as her career and her home issues deteriorate and collide.

Click here to get your copy!

"Joy After Noon" by Debra Coleman Jeter is a book that is fiction but portrays real life. This story happens in American all the time. It is a story about a girl who doesn't feel like she is worth much and then she marries a widowed banker who has two daughter and this is the story of her struggle.

This is a story of modern day issues such as drug use, death, unfaithfulness and ethical issues. I really felt Joy's feeling as I read this book.  

I could also understand Jenny and Marianne's feeling as I had a stepmother and a stepfather.

This is the first book that I read by this author but it won't be the last. 

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

About the  Author

Debra Coleman Jeter has published both fiction and nonfiction in popular magazines, including Working Woman, New Woman, Self, Home Life, SavvyChristian Woman, and American Baby. Her first novel, The Ticket, was a finalist for a Selah Award, as well as for Jerry Jenkins’ Operation First Novel. Her story, “Recovery,” was awarded first prize in a short story competition sponsored by Christian Woman; and her nonfiction book “Pshaw, It’s Me Grandson”: Tales of a Young Actorwas a finalist in the USA Book News Awards. She is a co-writer of the screenplay for Jess + Moss, a feature film which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, screened at nearly forty film festivals around the world, and captured several domestic and international awards. Joy After Noonis the first novel in her Sugar Sands series. She has taught at Murray State University, Austin Peay State University, and Vanderbilt University, where she is currently a Professor Emerita. She lives in Clarksville, Tennessee, with her husband.

More from Debra

Joy After Noon
With most of my novels, several forces come together to compel me to tell the story. This is definitely true of Joy After Noon. I thought I’d share a few of those.
Carl Jung says: “The afternoon of life is just as full of meaning as the morning; only, its meaning and purpose are different.”Jung goes on to describe life’s afternoon as the time when we begin to shift away from the ego being the dominant force in our life and move toward a journey that has real meaning.
I also like the following quote: In the afternoon of your life, you don’t do life. You do what resonates with the callings of your soul. When does the afternoon of life begin? I don’t believe the afternoon of life begins at a particular age, or even stage of life. In JOY AFTER NOON, Ray has been pursuing career success and material acquisitions, and experiences a significant change of direction. Some fairly disastrous events in his workplace precipitate the change—events that threaten not only his financial stability but the core of who he is.
When I was a kid, I watched a movie called Joy in the Morning, starring Richard Chamberlain and Yvette Mimieux.  This movie was about a young married couple, and the memory of it stayed with me for years. I remember thinking that whereas a typical romance ended when the couple got together or married, the really interesting story starts there. When I wrote Joy After Noon, I decided to focus on a couple that marry a bit later in life. He’s a widower with two teenage daughters. She’s an insecure college professor who has never been seriously romanced.
Initially, the idea for Sugar Sands Book 1 and the title of the novel, Joy After Noon, was that Joy’s life has been lonely (and joy has been elusive) since her parents died when she was sixteen, and she has about given up on finding love when she meets Ray. She comes into his ready-made family and, for a time, this seems like a mistake. However, in the afternoon of her life, she finds love and joy.
What inspired my characters:
There’s always a bit of myself in each of my characters from the least likable to the most. Here’s how I relate to some of the characters in Joy After Noon.

Joy Hancock
Joy is a college professor who has never been in love … until she meets the gorgeous widower Ray Jenkins. In the novel Joy struggles to adapt to her new family at the same time that she’s coming up for tenure as a college professor. I’ve been through the tenure process (with a husband and two kids at home), and I’ve seen a number of others struggle to balance career and family during this stressful process.

 Ray Jenkins
Ray, seemingly successful banker, finds himself facing ethical dilemmas as his associates negotiate a dubious merger and then try to hide the undesirable financial consequences. I’ve taught bankers, and I have coauthored a textbook on mergers and acquisitions. I’ve also seen former students caught in ethical crises at work.
Marianne Jenkins
Marianne has aspired all her life to please her demanding perfectionist mother, even after that mother’s death. She cannot live up to her own standards of perfectionism, either as a ballerina or as a cheerleader longing for popularity. I have not studied dance or cheerleading, but I remember being a perfectionist as a child taking piano lessons. I wanted to play a piece with no errors, and I almost never succeeded.

Jenny Jenkins
Jenny, the younger daughter, knows she could never come near to the example set by Marianne, so why try? Jenny plays clarinet in band. As she practices for tryouts, she has a loose pad, causing her horn to squeak rather than play properly. I was a clarinet player, and had this exact experience myself. Jenny becomes friends with a wild girl named Claudia, who leads her to trouble. I had a similar friend as a teenager, and she was even named Claudia. Claudia is a tragic figure in the novel, but not an unsympathetic one.
Although Joy After Noonis part of a series, each book in the series stands alone.
Song of Sugar Sands
Sugar Sands Book 2, Song of Sugar Sands, has recently been announced as a Finalist in the Christian Fiction category in the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

Blog Stops

lakesidelivingsite, August 18
Splashes of Joy, August 19 (Author Interview)
Artistic Nobody, August 21 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
Simple Harvest Reads, August 23 (Author Interview)
Tell Tale Book Reviews, August 27 (Author Interview)
Texas Book-aholic, August 30