Saturday, October 31, 2026

Mail-Order Lady by Misty M. Beller

About the Book

Book: Mail-Order Lady

Author: Misty M. Beller

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: October 13, 2026

Five sons of an English duke, all raised in the Rocky Mountains…

She agreed to a safe, sensible marriage. He agreed because she already holds his heart.

Clara McKinney came west as a mail-order bride—only to watch her sister marry the intended groom instead. Now recovered from an illness that nearly killed her, she’s stranded at the Balfour ranch. Worse, her mother is demanding her return to face an arranged marriage that feels like a nightmare. When the quiet, bookish brother offers a marriage of convenience, Clara accepts with relief. No messy emotions or risk of rejection. Just safety.

Robert Balfour has one goal—win Clara’s heart. She now shares his name, but he must convince her that his devotion runs deeper than courtesy.

Then a stranger appears at the ranch with a shocking claim—he’s the rightful Balfour heir. Suddenly, Robert’s focus on earning his wife’s love faces a test he never saw coming. With enemies lurking and family loyalties tested, this marriage of convenience is about to become the most dangerous arrangement of all.

From a USA Today bestselling author comes a royal family saga featuring a marriage of convenience, unrequited love, and a family mystery that spans continents…all set in the rugged Montana Territory.

Click here to get your copy!

I was kept turning the pages of "Mail-Order Lady" by Misty M. Beller. And, just like all the other books written by Misty Beller I could see the scenes unfold in my mind as I turned the pages. This is book 4 in the series and can be read as a standalone but once again I ask why only read one when you can read them all to get the full impact of the series. This book has danger and surprises. If you like stories about marriages that are formed because of reasons that aren't normal then I say pick up a copy and enjoy!

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

About the Author

Misty M. Beller is an ECPA and USA Today bestselling author with over 1 million books sold. She writes romantic mountain stories, set on the 1800s frontier and woven with the truth of God’s love.

Raised on a farm and surrounded by family, Misty developed her love for horses, history, and adventure. These days, her husband and children provide fresh adventure every day, keeping her both grounded and crazy.

Misty’s passion is to create inspiring Christian fiction infused with the grandeur of the mountains, writing historical romance that displays God’s abundant love through the twists and turns in the lives of her characters.

Sharing her stories with readers is a dream come true for Misty. She writes from her country home in South Carolina and escapes to the mountains any chance she gets.

More from Misty

A marriage of convenience only works if he’s not already in love…

Hello Reader Friends!

I’m so excited to be back with you in the Lords of the Rockies world for another swoony installment!

If you’ve been following along, you already know Clara McKinney. She came west as a mail-order bride, only to watch her sister marry the intended groom instead. (It really was the right match for both her sister and Thomas, but that didn’t make the ache hurt any less for Clara.)

Then illness nearly took Clara’s life, leaving her stranded at the Balfour ranch with nowhere to go—and a mother back home demanding she return to face an arranged marriage that felt more like a sentence than a future.

Can you imagine being in her shoes? Arriving in Montana for one life…and finding yourself in an entirely different story?

When the quiet, bookish Robert Balfour offers her a marriage of convenience, Clara accepts with relief. She knows Robert and he’s honorable. Plus a marriage on paper only means there’s no risk of rejection. No messy feelings. Just safety.

But here’s what makes my heart flutter about this story: Robert already loves her. He has for some time. He isn’t just offering convenience—he’s offering everything he has and hoping, quietly and patiently, that she’ll one day see it.

And just when their fragile new life together begins to take root, a stranger arrives at the ranch with a shocking claim that threatens to unravel everything.

I pray you love Mail-Order Lady!

Blessings!

Misty

Blog Stops

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, October 31

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 31

Devoted Steps, November 1

Texas Book-aholic, November 1

Simple Harvest Reads, November 2 (Guest Review from Marilyn)

For Him and My Family, November 2

Wishful Endings, November 3

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, November 3

lakesidelivingsite, November 3

Betti Mace, November 4

She Lives to Read, November 4

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 5

Lyssa Loves Books, November 5

Sydney Schmied Books, November 6

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 6

Tell Tale Book Reviews, November 7

Book Holds and Jello Molds, November 7

Sylvan Musings, November 8

Jeanette’s Thoughts, November 8

Melissa’s Bookshelf, November 9

Books You Can Feel Good About, November 9

Cover Lover Book Review, November 10

Artistic Nobody, November 10 (Guest Review from Donna)

Holly’s Book Corner, November 11

Devoted To Hope, November 11

Mary Hake, November 11

Blossoms and Blessings, November 12

Locks, Hooks and Books, November 12

Lily’s Corner, November 13

Pause for Tales, November 13

Giveaway

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

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

https://gleam.io/akiMd/mail-order-lady-celebration-tour-giveaway

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Karabos by Lyndsey Lewellen

About the Book

Book: Karabos

Author: Lyndsey Lewellen

Genre: YA Fantasy

Release Date: October 13, 2026

Enter a dangerous game of magic beetles, buried secrets, and shifting time.

Winslet Nubek knows bugs better than she knows people. The sixteen-year-old, homeschooled entomologist is determined to earn her place among the ancient and dangerous ranks of magical insect hunters. With her father’s failing mines pushing them toward bankruptcy, winning the Tournament of Scarabs becomes her only shot at securing her dream and saving her family from ruin. But when she touches a forbidden time scarab before the competition begins, she’s left with a mark she can’t explain and trips into the past she can’t control. Forced to hide her mistake, Winslet enters the tournament with a growing fear of being discovered. As her secrets grow, so do her slips through time.

Rafe Stormholt charts maps like other people write diaries, but his own future isn’t his to navigate. He needs the tournament prize to keep his grandfather’s company out of treacherous hands. After the preliminaries go awry, Rafe ends up on a team of academic misfits, including the bug girl he’s already judged as a liability. But when he’s dragged into the past alongside her, Rafe uncovers truths that shatter the faith his family has held for generations.

Bound by a time-slipping curse, Winslet and Rafe must navigate the tournament’s perilous trials while unraveling a conspiracy buried centuries deep. As enemies close in and the past begins to bleed into the present, they’ll have to decide what they’re really fighting for and what they’re willing to lose to win.

Click here to get your copy

About the Author

Lyndsey Lewellen grew up on a healthy dose of comic books, punk music, and sci-fi. She infuses all three loves into novels written for young adults. Inside her “what if” worlds, her characters take risks, grow, and fight for what matters. When she’s not writing or whittling down her endless TBR, she designs novel covers and paints on shoes. She lives on a small Texas farm with her best friend/husband, five children, and what some might call a zoo of animals (especially after meeting the peacocks).

More from Lyndsey

“Oh boy!”

As far back as I can remember, TV shows and movies like Quantum Leap, Kate and Leopold, Back to the Future, and (my personal favorite) Groundhog Day have absolutely fascinated me. Why? Because all of them share my most beloved trope.

Time travel.

If a story contains time loops, paradoxes, slips, or butterfly effects, count me in! Maybe that’s because I’m intrigued with the structure of time. Sun up, sun down, rinse and repeat. Day by day, we live in a beautifully ordered timeline the Lord has placed us in. My favorite scripture in the Book of Acts exemplifies this truth. While speaking to the Athenians about God’s character, Paul says, “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” (Acts 17:26-27)

It’s a glorious and comforting reality that we are exactly where and when we need to be in order to have our best chance at reaching for Him.

However, through fiction, we can imagine what it would be like to step outside the bounds of time. By doing so, I believe, we can better understand our reality. Moving in and out of that well-oiled timeline would jar anyone. For me, it’s that jarring that sparks my curiosity. What would I do if I was moved into the wrong time? Assuming my actions could be catastrophic in the future, how well could I think on the spot and not accidentally cause myself to not be born at all? Perhaps it’s thinking well on the spot that interests me the most. Because isn’t that a fear many of us have? Watching others succeed in these dire situations can give us confidence that we can do the same.

Not only that, but to think of how God is outside of time causes me to look at Him in wonder. He can be fully trusted to tell us about the future because He already knows the end from the beginning. When I read time travel in a novel or craft it in my own stories, I appreciate the wondrous works God has done, is doing, and will do down the line. I am humbled by His skill. All I can do is give Him praise.

So, when I finished my debut series, The Chaos Grid duology, I knew I wanted to tackle a time travel novel of some sort. Sci-fi idea after sci-fi idea popped into my head, but none of them resonated with me enough to start drafting.

Until one day, while eating lunch at a drive-through restaurant, I was listening to an apologetics podcast and an idea struck.

The episode was about archaeology and whether we can trust the events in the Bible. Who was the pharaoh of the Exodus? Were the Hebrews really enslaved? Why didn’t the Egyptians directly record the ten plagues? What intriguing questions! That’s when my idea for a time travel story converged with an Egyptian fantasy. I would love to read a story where people in the future who were lied to by their ancestors traveled back to that time to find out what really went on. There they could discover ancient coverups and propaganda that shaped their skewed view of the past. So, I wrote it.

But being the fantasy and adventure lover I am, I had to throw in a magical scarab competition with The Mummy and Indiana Jones vibes. And, of course, what better era to set the future timeline of my novel than a fictional 1920s when Egyptomania ran rampant?

Thus, Karabos was born, a story of a magic scarab hunting girl who tries to save her family but accidentally drags her reluctant teammate into unstable trips to the past during a dangerous archaeology competition.

I am beyond excited for readers to go on this wild journey with Winslet and Rafe. My hope is that through their story you’ll come away looking at time, and our Creator who stands outside of it, with a renewed sense of wonder.

Blog Stops

The Lofty Pages, October 28

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 29 (Spotlight)

Wishful Endings, October 29

Texas Book-aholic, October 30

Simple Harvest Reads, October 31 (Author Interview)

Tell Tale Book Reviews, November 1

Artistic Nobody, November 2 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, November 3

Guild Master, November 4 (Author Interview)

Sydney Schmied Books, November 4

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 5

Fiction Book Lover, November 6 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 7

Paula’s Pad of Inspiration, November 8

The Bookish Ledger, November 9 (Author Interview)

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, November 10

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Lyndsey is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

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

https://gleam.io/emZ3W/karabos-celebration-tour-giveaway

Loyalty’s Pursuit by Shannon McNear

About the Book

Book: Loyalty’s Pursuit

Author: Shannon McNear

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: October 13, 2026

She needs a husband to survive. Right now, a wife is the last thing he wants.

August 1780. After the Battle of Camden leaves British camp follower Bess Eaton widowed, expecting a child, and stranded in enemy territory, she faces two impossible choices: a return to an England that offers her nothing…or marriage to a stranger before the army marches on without her.

Backcountry loyalist Rob MacFarlane has already buried a wife and son and has no intention of marrying again at this moment. But he can’t ignore the vulnerable widow in his path. What begins as an act of duty quickly becomes something far more complicated when he offers Bess protection—and a name.

As war rages and the British cause begins to crumble, their fragile alliance is tested at every turn. Loyalties fracture. Faith is questioned. And the lines between enemy and neighbor blur. To survive, Rob must decide what allegiance truly costs—and Bess must choose whether she can trust not only the man she married…but the God she’s never fully known.

Click here to get your copy!

"Loyalty’s Pursuit" by Shannon McNear get 3 stars from me. I know the book is a romance. The book is clean, but I feel like the book focused too much on the intimate relationship. No, it wasn't overly graphic but there was a lot of attention in the book to that aspect of the book. And yes, I would still recommend this book to readers who likes romance.
I can't say the book disappointed me because I never look to see what a book that I have to read for review is about because I don't want to have any preconceived ideals. And yes, if there are more books coming in this series I will be reading them because I really like the ending. I could feel a little of the characters sorrow when reading this book and I think the author shows that she has done research before writing the book. I thought the author's notes at the end of the book was interesting as well.

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

About the Author

Transplanted to the far north after more than two decades in the Deep South, Shannon McNear loves losing herself in local history. She’s the author of twenty-one novels and novellas, not all of them in print, but her favorite roles are retired military wife, pastor’s wife, mom-of-many, mother-in-law, and grammie. When not cooking, researching, or leaking story from her fingertips, she enjoys being outdoors, hanging out with her grandbabies and basking in the beauty of the northern prairies.

More from Shannon

I’m so honored to be part of yet another Celebrate Lit tour! This story especially is near and dear to my heart, because it was my very first long historical after writing fantasy for decades, the book I still had in process when I submitted the proposal for my first novella, Defending Truth, and the one which gave me the courage to try that story (and genre) to begin with.

The first draft of this story took five years to complete, in between other projects and real life. It was a hard sell to start with, I knew, being set within the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution but from the British and Loyalist viewpoint. Still, it eventually netted me both of my agents (Defending Truth’s RITA® nomination didn’t hurt there, either) while garnering interest from various editors—but didn’t actually sell until last summer. That means this story languished for more than 10 years—and then the Lord Himself practically dropped this contract in my lap.

The first story of how the concept came to me can be found here:

https://colonialquills.blogspot.com/2014/07/dispelling-colonial-myths-reenactor.html

It was on my heart from the beginning to portray the romance, such as it is, in a rather unconventional way—something closer to what I imagine real life must have been for such a situation. And I deliberately steered away from the usual flowery declarations of love between my main couple, while hoping to present them in such a way that the reader has no doubt by the end of the story that they do absolutely care for each other. My dear editor with Wild Heart Books helped me shape and refine the characters and story from what might have been a more straightforward historical fiction read into more of what a historical romance reader might expect. I hope those expectations are now met, but also that my readers also come away with a fresh appreciation for how our country came to be.

Blog Stops

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, October 27

Holly’s Book Corner, October 28

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 28

Inkwell Inspirations, October 29

Betti Mace, October 30

Locks, Hooks and Books, October 30

Texas Book-aholic, October 31

For Him and My Family, November 1

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 2

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 3

Pause for Tales, November 4

Devoted To Hope, November 4

Jeanette’s Thoughts , November 5

Maureen’s Musings, November 6

Books You Can Feel Good About, November 7

Lyssa Loves Books, November 8

Simple Harvest Reads, November 8 (Guest Review from Donna)

Cover Lover Book Review, November 9

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Shannon is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

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

https://gleam.io/AJy7n/loyaltys-pursuit-celebration-tour-giveaway

Saturday, October 24, 2026

Embers of Endurance: Rising Above Chronic Pain and Illness by Carolyn Dale Newell

About the Book

Book: Embers of Endurance: Rising Above Chronic Pain and Illness

Author: Carolyn Dale Newell

Genre: Christian Devotional

Release Date: February 17, 2026

When chronic pain invaded Carolyn Dale Newell’s life, it didn’t just attack her body—it attacked her faith.

Through crippling sciatica, major spinal fusion surgery, and countless complications that left her in agony, Carolyn found herself in the darkest valley she’d ever known.

But in that darkness, she discovered something powerful: God’s grace truly is sufficient, even when it doesn’t feel like it.

In this raw, honest 30-day devotional, Carolyn walks alongside you through the unique spiritual battle of chronic illness. She shares the biblical truths that sustained her through the fire and will sustain you too.

Like embers rising from ashes, you can find beauty again.

Begin your journey from surviving to thriving in chronic pain now.

Click here to get your copy!

"In Embers of Endurance: Rising Above Chronic Pain and Illness" by Carolyn Dale Newell, the author writes from her own experience of severe chronic pain from scoliosis. She shares her struggles with doubt, depression and discouragement. There are 30 devotions. I read the book in one setting. There is lots of scriptures and practical advice for those who have chronic pain. Each day has a question that could be answered in a journal if you do journal writing. She also uses Biblical characters as examples.

I am sharing this quote because it really made me think (page 22) God gives us more than we can bear because He helps us bear it. Otherwise, we would never need Him. Many people, including myself, make our focal verse sound like God never gives us more than we can handle. If that were the case, we wouldn't cry out to Him for help so often. When we look at this verse with that perspective, we are taking the verse out of context.

The verse she's talking about is, No temptation has overtaken you except such this common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. I Cor 10:13 NKJV

She goes on to explain why she says this, that this is talking about a temptation to sin. I hope you are curious enough to read more, at least about her thoughts on this verse, to get yourself a copy of this book.

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

Carolyn Dale Newell is a bestselling and award-winning Christian author, certified speaker, Aw man OK andcontributor to iBelieve.com. Despite living with chronic pain, she empowers women to break free from emotional strongholds and embrace lives transformed by faith. She resides in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her husband and their two loyal Black Labrador Retrievers.

More from Carolyn

The Reason I Wrote Embers of Endurance

While discouragement had its tentacles wrapped tightly around me, it seemed easier for doubt to chisel away at my faith. Before I realized it, I was depressed, living without joy and peace. Life seemed hopeless because surgery changed my life forever.

Once God brought me out of the darkness, I began finding Scriptures I’d never given much attention. Job and the psalmist felt like I did. Elijah gave up and couldn’t resist the threat in his life. I was in good company, and so are you, my friend. I realized I walked a horrific journey of pain due to scoliosis to share my experience with you.

These devotions aren’t filled with one victory after another, but rather a slow steady pace to living like the conqueror God has made each of us to be.

I felt like my life was a pile of ashes, but then embers began to rise above that pile. Something new began to spark in my life. God gives us beauty for ashes, and I want to help you find beautiful again.