Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Chapel Springs Revival (Chapel Springs Series) by Ane Mulligan

Chapel Springs Revival

(Chapel Springs Series)

September 2, 2014

With a friend like Claire, you need a gurney, a mop, and a guardian angel.

Everybody in the small town of Chapel Springs, Georgia, knows best friends Claire Bennett and Patsy Kowalski. It's impossible not to, what with Claire's zany antics and Patsy's self-appointed mission to keep her friend out of trouble. And trouble abounds.

During an early morning discussion at Dees 'n' Doughs bakery with their ladies group, all Chapel Springs entrepreneurs, attention is drawn to the slackened tourist trade. With their livelihoods threatened, they join forces to address the town's revitalization in hopes of drawing back the tourists. No one could have guessed the real issue needing restoration is their marriages.

Claire, a pottery artist, stumbles through life with her foot in her mouth. When she became a Christian, she thought life and her marriage would be included in the new creation part. But her thighs are just as big and her husband, Joel, is as ornery as ever. She's become nothing more than a sheet-changer, a towel-folder, a pancake-flipper. Her life is humdrum and she's tired of being taken for granted.

Patsy has plans for her empty nest, plans that include a cruise ship. However, her husband, Nathan, continues to work long hours, and he's not talking about slowing down. In fact, he's not talking much at all. She's asleep long before he comes home each night. At first she thought it was just because of tax season, but now she's not so sure. Something other than work seems to keep him late at the office every night. With the lines of communication closed, she'll have to find another way to reach him.

With their marriages as much in need of restoration as the town, Claire and Patsy embark on a mission of mishaps and miscommunication, determined to restore warmth to Chapel Springs and their lives. That is if they can convince their husbands and the town council, led by two curmudgeons who would prefer to see Chapel Springs left in the fifties and closed to traffic.

Written for the General Market (G) (I): Contains little or no; sexual dialogue or situations, violence, or strong language. May also contain some content of an inspirational/religious nature. Similar women’s fiction novels in this genre may be categorized as: women’s fiction, inspirational women’s fiction, christian fiction, and clean, wholesome women’s fiction.

My thoughts: Chapel Springs\vival is a women's fiction / cozy mystery. I loved getting to know the southern women who starred in the story, the drama going on in their lives, and the community. They are strong women and had strong opinions even though some of them made quite hilarious mistakes. If you like cozy mysteries and/or women's fiction then you will love Chapel Springs Revival. I think this is the first book I've read by this author but I will be on the lookout for more.

Monday, December 2, 2024

What I Left for You: Volume 3 (Echoes of the Past) by Liz Tolsma

What I Left for You:

Volume 3

(Echoes of the Past)

December 1, 2024

by Liz Tolsma (Author)

A Family's Ties Were Broken in Poland of 1939

1939 Helena Kostyszak is an oddity—an educated female ethnic minority lecturing at a university in Krakow at the outbreak of WWII. When the Germans close the university and force Jews into the ghetto, she spirits out a friend's infant daughter and flees to her small village in the southern hills. Helena does everything in her power to protect her family, but it may not be enough. It will take all of her strength and God's intervention for both of them to survive the war and the ethnic cleansing to come.

2023 Recently unengaged social worker McKenna Muir is dealt an awful blow when a two-year-old she's been working with is murdered. It's all too much to take, so her friend suggests she dive into her family's past like she's always wanted. Putting distance between herself and her problems might help her heal, so she and her friend head on Sabbatical to Poland. But what McKenna discovers about her family shocks everyone, including one long-lost family member

Also in the Echoes of the Past Series: What I Would Tell You What I Promise You

Marilyn's thoughts: Magnificent historical of two heroines finding the perseverance, endurance, determination and a faith that renewed their lives to keep going midst the storms. Helena historical account of being Lemkos during WWII and McKenna’s present desire to find the history of her grandma’s ancestors after suffering losses kept me reading until the end. Yes, there were plenty of tears with all they endured with one thought “No matter what, God.” The beauty of the hardships changed lives forever but yet there was new beginnings.

The research Tolsma included of her personal family heritage brought a fresh look at the past, landscape, buildings and foods that were popular in Poland, but yet newcomers to America kept the recipes alive in families. This is one story that will stay with me for a long time.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publisher without any obligation to write a positive review. I have expressed my own thoughts.

Sunday, December 1, 2024

Become Your Best Self #devotional by B J Bassett

Become Your Best Self

Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don’t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out. Colossians 4:5-6 MSG

Recently, I’ve heard the term: Become your best self. I’m not sure what it means. Is it a slogan for self-help books or a cult movement?

We have become a Me Society where everything revolves around us—constant exercising, dieting, juice cleansing—looking for a quick-fix solution for happiness. The things we find painful, overwhelming, or unbearable must be repressed. The constant movement seems to be the norm, never stopping to reflect or spend time in the presence of our Lord. Yet, in our society, with all these so-called remedies available, depression is on the rise.

I’ve read some self-help books and consider myself a positive thinker. Yet, as believers, we need to be aware of anything that may not be based on God’s Word. So when in doubt, go to the source. The Bible is full of everything we need to be our best selves. Maybe the way to become our best selves is to bring out the best in others.

Father, sometimes it’s hard to weed out what is of You and what is a cult. Help me be discerning, I pray. Thank You for Your Word, which teaches me how to live. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Reprinted from

The King’s Daughters

By BJ Bassett

B. J. Bassett encourages others as an author, teacher and speaker. Her books include a contemporary novel, Gillian’s Heart; a historical novel Lily; Sweet Charity; A Touch of Grace—The G.R.A.C.E. Ministries Story; and coauthor of a children’s devotional My Time with God, Focus on the Family, Heritage Builders, with over 55,000 copies sold.

As a contributing writer, publications consist of Writer’s Handbook 2000, The Writer, and The Focus on the Family Guide to Growing a Healthy Home, Wolgemuth& Hyatt, Publishers, Inc.—consistently on Bookstore Journal’s Best-selling Christian Books List from November 1990 - February 1991, and voted the 10 Best Books for 1990 by Today’s Christian Woman.

Magazines, devotional booklets, curriculum and newspaper publishers include Focus on the Family, Woman’s World, The Quiet Hour, Pathways to God, Devotions, Harcourt Brace, WordAction, Gospel Publishing and Times Standard (newspaper).

She teaches writing workshops at Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, OR and at writer’s conferences. As a speaker for Stonecroft Ministries, she tells her story of rejection and acceptance, not only in life, but as a writer as well. She also offers book talks, including discussion questions and shares the journey -- from the seed of an idea to a published book.

She enjoys reading, jigsaw puzzles, knitting, munching warm scones oozing with butter and strawberry jam and sipping earl grey tea.

Thursday, November 28, 2024

Mountain Christmas Brides: Nine Historical Novellas Celebrate Faith and Love in the Rocky Mountains by Mildred Colvin, Mary Davis, Susan Page Davis, Lena Nelson Dooley, Darlene Franklin, Debby Lee, Tamela Hancock Murray Carrie Turansky, Gina Welborn

Mountain Christmas Brides:

Nine Historical Novellas Celebrate Faith and Love in the Rocky Mountains

September 1, 2016

by Mildred Colvin (Author), Mary Davis (Author), Susan Page Davis (Author), Lena Nelson Dooley (Author), Darlene Franklin (Author), Debby Lee (Author), Tamela Hancock Murray (Author), Carrie Turansky (Author), Gina Welborn (Author)

Celebrating Faith and Love in the Historic Rocky Mountains

From a Wyoming ranch in 1880, to a logging camp in Washington Territory in the late 1800s, to Denver, Colorado, in 1913, meet nine couples who find that Christmas is the perfect time for climbing to the heights of romance.

Watch as their faith and courage propel them through challenges that come with mountain winters to cozy fireside celebrations that lead to lasting proclamations of love. Penned by an exclusive selection of Christian fiction authors—including Susan Page Davis, Vickie McDonough, and Carrie Turansky—this collection of nine romances is one to treasure.

Marilyn's thoughts: Mountain Christmas Brides is a collection of novellas with a variety of circumstances from a mail order bride to finding romance in a logging camp to a blizzard in Colorado that brought four friends from finishing school together. Each tale is penned in the author’s creative way with drama and a budding romance. It was interesting to see how the various authors interwove the same characters from the logging camp and blizzard but had their own hero and heroine to focus upon with a faith message of love, peace, forgiveness and kindness for all.

My top two favorites were Almost Home by Susan Page Davis and The Best Medicine by Lena Nelson Dooley. This book has been on my bookshelf for a while so with Christmas approaching it was nice to have novellas to read instead of a long novel to find the happy ending.

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Things Left Unsaid by Courtney Walsh

Things Left Unsaid

October 30, 2018

by Courtney Walsh (Author)

An emotional novel of family, friendship and forgiveness from Courtney Walsh, the New York Times bestselling author of Hometown Girl.

Lyndie St. James is thrilled that her best friend, Elle, is getting married but unprepared for the emotional storm of the wedding week and returning to her childhood summer home of Sweethaven. The idyllic cottage community harbors some of her best―and worst―memories. It’s not only the tragic death of her childhood friend Cassie that has haunted her for ten years, it’s the other secrets she’s buried that have kept her from moving on.

But Lyndie isn’t the only one with secrets.

Cassie’s mother, father and brother, still struggling with the loss, have been drifting further and further apart. And Elle herself, the last to see Cassie alive, carries an impossible burden of guilt. Now reunited, each of them has a choice: to reveal the truths of that night or continue to live in its shadow. That means embarking on a personal journey of the heart―to escape the darkness and all its regrets and to finally come to terms with the past and, especially, with each other.

My thoughts: Things Left Unsaid is a woman's fiction with a touch of romance that left me hungering for more. At first, the story was rather slow starting, but as I got used to the characters and into the story it grew on me and I did not want this book to end. There was no real closure to the book. I want to know what happened next. And I wanted to start over and read it again and again and again. It is rare to find a book like that. This book is more than a few years old but it is definitely a must read. I missed it when it first came out. Courtney Walsh is one of my favorite authors in this genre and the story is not to be missed.

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Rooted in Love: Garden Grown Romance Book Two by Valerie Comer

Rooted in Love:

Garden Grown Romance Book Two

November 14, 2017

by Valerie Comer (Author)

From a USA TODAY bestselling author comes the next installment in the multi-author Arcadia Valley Romance series!

Alaina Silva gets enough time with other people’s kids in her new job administrating the Grace Greenhouse programs. If she were looking to date — and she’s not — it wouldn’t be with a man offering her an insta-family. So why is it a struggle to keep the intriguing father of a pair of rambunctious twins out of her mind?

Divorcé Cameron Kraus has a busy life with a career and two six-year-olds. Now he’s finally scored full-time daycare at Grace Greenhouse, but his overbearing parents are in town for the summer offering to watch the boys. No thanks. Not when Cameron is hoping to build something with the gorgeous program director he sees at least twice a day.

Faced with disapproval from both families, Alaina and Cameron must dig roots deep into their faith if they hope to nurture their budding love.

About the Garden Grown Romance Series

These stories are part of the multi-author Arcadia Valley Romance series, where a foodie culture and romance grow hand-in-hand. In this sub-series, the congregation of Grace Fellowship repurposes a pair of derelict greenhouses and their attached lot, while providing a setting for romance.

1. Sown in Love (ebook only)
2. Sprouts of Love (ebook and paperback)
3. Rooted in Love (ebook and paperback)
4. Harvest of Love (ebook and paperback)

Join USA Today bestselling author Valerie Comer in this delightful contemporary Christian romance series showcasing the best in farm-to-table fiction! Then check out her many other titles in several series. Whether farm-fresh romances, small-town romances, or cowboy romances, they’re all full of her trademark engaging characters, strong communities, and deep faith. These are clean, wholesome, sweet, and inspirational romances sure to be reread over and over. Find out more at valeriecomer.com/books.

My thoughts: Rooted in Love is an earlier book by Ms Comer that I somehow missed. This is about a divorced man and a single woman who both have issues to deal with and overprotective, meddling parents despite the fact they are almost 30. She is a child care provider and he has children. The children have a lot of issues and tangency to get into trouble so there is plenty of drama in this relationship. The story jumps around in time more than I expect Ms Comer's books to but it was a good story and if you like romance you will enjoy this book

Monday, November 25, 2024

Welcome to the Pretending to be the Mountain Man's Wife Celebration Tour! #giveaway!!

About the Book

Book: Pretending to be the Mountain Man’s Wife (Brothers of Sapphire Ranch Book 6)

Author: Misty M. Beller

Genre:Christian Historical Romance

Release date: November 19, 2024

In the wild mountains of the Montana Territory, the Coulter ranch is a place of family, second chances…and a hidden fortune.

Determined to find his missing brother and catch the elusive mastermind behind the theft of his family’s precious sapphires, Gil Coulter embarks on a solo mission to the remote town where the criminal is rumored to reside. As Gil scours the surrounding wilderness for the thief’s hidden lair, he crosses paths with a captivating young woman who harbors secrets of her own.

Jess McPharland has spent her life hidden in the mountains, doing her best to stay separate from her family’s business. Yet the secret she’s just discovered will change her life forever. She offers a silent prayer, pleading for a man to help her conceal the truth she’s only just discovered. As if in answer, Gil Coulter rides through the trees, seeking the very criminal Jess calls Father. Now she must find a way to ask this stranger for the ultimate favor—to pose as her husband and shield her from the consequences of a change she won’t be able to hide much longer.

As Gil and Jess navigate the treacherous landscape and the greater danger from her father and his cronies, they find themselves caught in a web of danger, deception, and unexpected attraction. With each passing moment, the stakes grow higher, and the line between pretense and truth blurs. Will the love growing between them be enough to protect Jess’s secret and lead them to the justice Gil seeks, or will the truth shatter everything they’ve risked their lives to build?

From a USA Today bestselling author comes a mountain saga filled with high-stakes adventure, a pretend marriage, a secret baby, and love that heals wounded hearts.

Marilyn's thoughts: This is another action packed tale from Beller. This story is centered around Gill Coulter’s journey to find his missing brother and the family’s stolen sapphires. His adventure ended with more than he anticipated when he saw Jess. Her scheme gave way to plenty of action, ups and downs, threats on their lives and trying to escape the cruelty of her father and his villains stealing from others. Hidden secrets come to light that compounds the dangers. How will Gill and Jess story end while they are leaning on God to see them through? Fans of Beller will want to read Brothers of Sapphire Ranch in order as there are new characters in each story.

I received an early copy of this book from Wild Heart Books for the book tour. I have expressed my own thoughts.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Misty M. Beller is a USA Today bestselling author with over 1 million books old. 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

In Pretending to be the Mountain Man’s Wife, the heroine and her father live in a cave which is part of an intricate catacomb hidden inside Montana mountain.

I LOVED researching cave systems, especially those in Montana, and I was amazed at how many extensive tunnels and caverns have been discovered!

One of the most well-known is Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park, located between Butte and Bozeman. This spectacular limestone cave system features a series of caverns adorned with incredible rock formations. These days, visitors can take guided tours to marvel at the intricate stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and helictites that have formed over thousands of years. The cave is also home to several species of bats.

Another notable cave system is the Bighorn Caverns, situated in the Pryor Mountains south of Billings. This complex network of caves extends for over 14 miles, making it one of the most significant cave systems in the state. Experienced cavers can explore winding passages, underground streams, and vast chambers with unique mineral formations.

The Bighorn Caverns are very similar to how I imagine the cave system was that Jess lived in. As amazing as the tunnels are to explore, I’m not sure I’d want to live in such darkness. What about you?

I pray you enjoy Gil and Jess’s story in Pretending to be the Mountain Man’s Wife! J

Blessings!

Misty