An Unlikely Blessing

Win a KINDLE with Wi-Fi from Judy Baer during the An Unlikely Blessings Giveaway. If you loved Karon’s Mitford series, you’ll love Judy’s Forever Hilltop series! Find out more and enter to win the KINDLE at the link below! (insert this Link) http://litfusegroup.com/Blog-Tours/an-unlikely-blessing-by-judy-baer.html




Title: AN UNLIKELY BLESSING
Author: Judy Baer
Publisher: Guideposts
October 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8249-4814-6
Genre: Inspirational/contemporary

Alex Armstrong is a former college professor in his hometown of Chicago, but now he’s finding himself going to North Dakota to serve as a first-time pastor. His first assignment is two churches that are too small for a pastor, so they want one pastor to share the load and the churches.

Alex and his nephew, Jared, arrive a day early, but are welcomed into the community right away. Visitors stop by the parsonage on a minute-by-minute basis sometimes, but the pantry is well stocked, the families are nice, and the farming community is about as far from city life as Alex can get.

But things don’t seem as idyllic after Alex is there for awhile. It seems that everyone has their problems. Is Alex in the place God has him? Or did he jump from the frying pan into the fire?

AN UNLIKELY BLESSING is the first book in A Forever Hilltop series. It is a quiet, sweet story about a pastor serving in his first church. Ms. Baer did an excellent job describing the North Dakota landscape and the type of farmers that live there. She also pretty much has the pastoral role of a small town country pastor down pat.

Alex might have felt like a fish out of water but he definitely tried to put his best foot forward in this community. I couldn’t help but applaud him as he faced everything from tipped over pickups, loose hogs, and runaway cows in his first twenty-four hours in town. And that was just the beginning. $14.99. 265 pages.

About the book: An Unlikely Blessing is a heartfelt story about a new pastor and life-long city dweller Alex Armstrong, who reluctantly accepts his first assignment, a two-point parish in the wilds of North Dakota . Hilltop Township , a farming community, blooms from the prairie like a wild pink rose—lovely and prickly all at once, much like the people who live there.

Alex quickly finds that this lovely place is in quiet peril. Farmers are struggling to make ends meet: Jonas Owens, a faithful member of Hilltop parish, is on the brink of losing the farm. Alex believes that part of why God called him to Hilltop was to help turn things around, and steps in with ideas for saving the Owens' land. But can even God's minister help save this rural community?

There are a lot of firsts for the new pastor—the annual Hunter's Breakfast, julebukking (also called Christmas fooling), King Oscar's fish balls, and the melody of the musical saw. And the new, single pastor creates remarkable excitement among the unmarried women in the community. If you could die of hot dish overdose, Alex would be a dead man. Whether performing weddings, counseling his flock, or herding cattle by snowmobile, Alex soon discovers that his new church home has as much to teach him as he will teach them. Day by day, he falls more in love with the people of Hilltop Church . People may leave Hilltop, but Hilltop never leaves them.

Link to Buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/Unlikely-Blessing-Forever-Hilltop/dp/0824948149/ref=sprightly-20

About Judy: Judy Baer is the author of over seventy-five books for adults and teens. She has won the Romance Writer of America Bronze Medallion and has been a RITA finalist twice. She lives in Elk River , Minnesota with her husband. Follow the Hilltop characters on Judy’s blog and find out more about Judy and her books at http://www.judykbaer.com

About the Unlikely Blessings Giveaway (Please use attached html button code and html blog post)

In celebration of the release of An Unlikely Blessing, Judy is giving away a KINDLE prize package worth over $175.

One lucky winner will receive:

Brand New KINDLE with Wi-Fi
A $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com
To enter just click HERE (http://litfusegroup.com/Blog-Tours/an-unlikely-blessing-by-judy-baer.html) and then tell your friends! Winner will be announced on February 21st on Judy's blog, http://www.judykbaer.com/wordpress


Blog Tour Schedule: http://litfusegroup.com/Blog-Tours/an-unlikely-blessing-by-judy-baer.html )