CFBA: Sixty Acres and a Bride by Regina Jennings

Song Stuck on the Brain: Bits and Pieces by The Dave Clark Five.

This one is truly an LF Syndrome moment, I have no clue where this one came from, but it's truly catchy and has stuck around.

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing: Sixty Acres and a BrideBethany House (February 1, 2012) by
Regina Jennings



MY TAKE:

The story of Ruth and Boaz seems to be popular this month, although it wasn't intentional. I've already posted my review of Ruth's Redemption earlier. I knew that one was intended to be a homage to the Bible story. Although good, I didn't sense a strong connection between the two tales.

However, after reading Sixty Acres and a Bride and I can say that Regina Jennings did an awesome job of reimagining the story of Ruth. The book blurb doesn't even hint at that, but it was clear from the first chapter that Ruth and her mother Naomi were an inspiration for this Texas set historical novel. It was so well done too. It wasn't a traditional retelling by anymeans, but the framework from the Biblical tale was strongly set and was a great setting for Rosa's story of moving to a new country as an outcast and finding a home and true love.

Rosa is strong and a little naive at moments, but never stupid. I love her gumption. Weston is easy to fall for, a man who's so willing to give his all to protect and care for those he loves. Every woman dreams of that to some degree. Regina takes these two idealistic characters, has them fall in love and then show honestly how they aren't so perfect and that fear is a weakness we all suffer. You may want to throttle one or both or our lovers before the tale is said and done, but it's so worth the emotional investment.



ABOUT THE BOOK:

With nothing to their names, young widow Rosa Garner and her mother-in-law return to Texas and the family ranch. Only now the county is demanding back taxes and the women have only three months to pay.

Though facing eviction, Rosa can't keep herself from falling in love with the countryside and the wonderful extended family who want only her best. Learning the American customs is not easy, however, and this beautiful young widow can't help but catch wandering eyes. Where some offer help with dangerous strings attached, only one man seems honorable. But when Weston Garner, still grieving his own lost love, is unprepared to give his heart, to what lengths will Rosa go to save her future?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Sixty Acres and a Bride, go HERE.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A Word from Regina:

See me laughing. That’s what I do when someone calls me an author. Yes, it’s always been my dream, but I still can’t keep from giggling over it.

Other things I am – a Christ-follower, a wife, a homeschooling mother of four, a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University, and a voracious reader.

Getting reading time isn’t easy. Seems like my family does more than our share of traveling. My husband is an insurance adjuster (I know, save the hate mail) and travels with the catastrophe team often. That’s allowed us to see a lot of the United States. True many times it’s in the middle of a hurricane or blizzard, but after spending three weeks in a hotel room with six people, you’ll brave anything to get out and see the sights – no matter how damaged they might be.

We also serve on the Missions Team at an amazing church, so we break out the passports frequently. Highlights include singing at a leper colony in India, holding church inside a Mexican prison and showing the Jesus film to a tribe in Senegal who’d never heard the gospel.

But I don’t have to go far away for unusual. My family provides plenty of colorful material with their love for practical jokes, pithy observations and strong agricultural roots. Because of the family business, a significant chunk of my life has been spent at sale barns and auctions – often behind the scales where I weigh pigs. I like to think of myself as a “redneck bluestocking” but I brought an entire marketing team’s discussion to a screeching halt when I said those words, so you didn’t hear it from me.

When I have spare time I love to talk books and quirky characters (real and fictional).

CFBA: Blue Moon Bay by Lisa Wingate

Song Stuck on the Brain: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by The Shirelles. Heard it while watching Fringe tonight, and it's been with me ever since. Good song. :)

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing:
Blue Moon BayBethany House (February 1, 2012)
by
Lisa Wingate

MY TAKE:

Blue Moon Bay may be a sequel, but it reads more like a stand alone novel, which IMO is good in a lot of ways. Moses Lake in a way is a character of it's own, so revisiting the lake area and it's residents is comforting, like coming home after a very long vacation, or traveling back to a favorite childhood memory of a family vacation. The story and main characters are new, only connecting to book one by the thread of location. But that works really well here.

Heather and her family have a lot of baggage. Her last year of high school is a tortured memory and she's shut down her ability to connect with people. Her mom and brother seem flighty and unreliable, irresponsible even. And Heather feels like the only one that can fix it all. She finds, like most of us do, that not even on our best days can we control our family or the events around us. That's a God thing. That never stops her from trying and the ensuing drama, mystery and love that abounds in the story is entertaining and also enlightening. Serving as a good reminder to all of us that God works in mysterious ways and that the truth isn't always what we want it to be. But happiness is still possible if you open up your heart.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

Heather Hampton returns to Moses Lake, Texas, to help facilitate the sale of a family farm as part of a planned industrial plant that will provide the area with much-needed jobs. Heather's future fiance has brokered the deal, and Heather is in line to do her first large-scale architectural design--if the deal goes through.

But the currents of Moses Lake have a way of taking visitors on unexpected journeys. What was intended to be a quick trip suddenly morphs into Valentine's week--with Blaine Underhill, the handsome banker who just happens to be opposing Heather's project. Spending the holiday in an ex-funeral parlor seems like a nightmare, but Heather slowly finds herself being drawn into the area's history, hope, and heart.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Blue Moon Bay, go HERE.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lisa Wingate is an award-winning journalist, magazine columnist, popular inspirational speaker and a national bestselling author of sixteen books. Her first mainstream novel, Tending Roses, is in its eighteenth printing from Penguin Putnam. Tending Roses is a staple on the shelves of national bookstore chains as well as in many independent bookstores.

Recently, Lisa’s Blue Sky Hill Series, set in Dallas, received national attention with back-to-back nominations for American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award for A Month of Summer (2009) and The Summer Kitchen (2010). Pithy, emotional, and inspirational, her stories bring to life characters so real that readers often write to ask what is happening to them after the book ends.

Lisa is one of a select group of authors to find success in both the Christian and mainstream markets, writing for both Bethany House, a Christian publisher, and NAL Penguin Putnam, a general market publisher. Her bestselling books have become a hallmark of inspirational fiction. Her works have been featured by the National Reader's Club of America, AOL Book Picks, Doubleday Book Club, the Literary Guild, Crossings Book Club, American Profiles and have been chosen for numerous awards.

When not busy dreaming up stories, Lisa spends time on the road as a motivational speaker. Via internet, she shares with readers as far away as India, where her book, Tending Roses, has been used to promote women's literacy, and as close to home as Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the county library system has used Tending Roses to help volunteer mentors teach adults to read. Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life.

What would the stethescope play for you?

A friend sent me this video and I loved it. It's a commercial, but you probably won't be able to guess what it's advertising until the very end. Be sure and watch to the end, it really made me smile.

CFBA: Song of my Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Song Stuck on the Brain: Sitting on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding... cue whistling...

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing:

Song of My Heart
Bethany House (February 1, 2012)


by


Kim Vogel Sawyer


MY TAKE:

Kim did a beautiful job painting the relationships in this book, especially between Sadie and her Papa, the man who adopted her as his own when he married her mother. The scene in the beginning as she and her parents discuss her moving to Kansas for work was especially moving. It made me remember my father and our time together. It felt as if that scene could have been my family, had we lived over a 100 years ago.

Sadie's father is always in her heart and her mind as she faces the tough decisions. A remembered word of council or a shared scripture from memory. The example is there to also remind us that regardless of our relationship with our earthly fathers, we all have a Father in Heaven that loves us with that same devotion and acceptance.

I also loved how she showed mercy and forgiveness don't always mean no consequences, but that even the consequences can be made for a blessing if its all turned over to God.

The story is fun, full of lighthearted romance and a little bit of mystery. All told on a solid message of faith. I really enjoyed it.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

Sadie Wagner has always been devoted to her family. So when her stepfather is injured and can't work, she decides to leave home and accept a position as a clerk at the mercantile in Goldtree, Kansas. Goldtree also offers the opportunity to use her God-given singing talent--though the promised opera house is far different from what she imagined. With her family needing every cent she can provide, Sadie will do anything to keep her job.

Thad McKane comes to Goldtree at the request of the town council. The town has been plagued by bootlegging operations, and Thad believes he can find the culprit. After he earns enough money doing sheriff work, he wants to use it to pay for his training to become a minister.

Thad is immediately attracted to the beautiful singer who performs in Asa Baxter's unusual opera house, but when he hears her practicing bawdy tunes, he begins to wonder if she's far less innocent than she seems. And when Sadie appears to be part of the very crimes he's come to investigate, is there any hope the love blossoming between them will survive?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Song of My Heart, go HERE.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of fifteen novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women's fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and numerous grandchildren.

CFBA: In Too Deep by Mary Connealy

Song Stuck on the Brain: Merlin tv series theme song

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing:


In Too Deep


Bethany House (February 1, 2012)



by



Mary Connealy



MY TAKE:

In Too Deep is Mary's follow up to Out of Control, the first book in the Kincaid Brides series. I loved book one, the suspense and humor mixture always hooks me right in, but I was anxious to read Ethan's story, because as much as I enjoyed Rafe, Ethan was the one that really intrigued me.

Ethan may be clueless about women, but he's a good hearted soul looking for healing and validation as a man. Audra has been beaten down by pushy men her whole life and she's had enough. Both want to be seen for the strength inside of them, but struggle to stand their ground with bossy Rafe and Julia always making choices without consulting anyone else. That's how Ethan and Audra end up married in the first place. But their good for one another, they see each other for who they really are and together are stronger. I loved watching them find their true feelings for one another.

And of course it wouldn't be a Mary Connealy book without a lot of humor and action to go with it. One of my favorite lines in the book is where Audra is describing Ethan at a moment when she's frustrated with him. "Ethan looked like six full feet of stubborn and another few inches of dumb." :)


ABOUT THE BOOK:

In 1866 Colorado, Ethan Kincaid agrees to a marriage of convenience with the same casual disregard he gives every decision. Audra Gilliland, young mother of two, accepts his proposal because she wants to stop being a burden to her newly married stepdaughter. And suddenly both of them are in far deeper than they'd planned.

Ethan doesn't expect Audra to affect him so profoundly, and when she begins to, he's terrified of the pain he's felt before when someone he loved was seriously injured on his watch. He's determined that his new wife will do as he says so he can keep her safe from the dangers that lurk on their ranch. Audra has been cared for all her life by one man or another--and they've done a poor job of it. Now she's planning to stand up for herself. And her new husband had better agree or get out of her way!

What will it take to transform two wayward hearts fearful of getting in too deep into two trusting hearts ready to risk falling deeply in love?

If you would like to read the first chapter of In Too Deep, go HERE.



Watch the book trailer:



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mary Connealy writes romantic comedy with cowboys. She is a Christy Award Finalist, a Carol Award Finalist and an IRCC Award finalist.

The Lassoed in Texas Series, Petticoat Ranch, Calico Canyon and Gingham Mountain. Petticoat Ranch was a Carol Award Finalist. Calico Canyon was a Christy Award Finalist and a Carol Award Finalist. These three books are now contained in one large volume called Lassoed in Texas Trilogy.

The Montana Marriages Series, Montana Rose, The Husband Tree and Wildflower Bride. Montana Rose was a Carol Award Finalist.

Cowboy Christmas—the 2010 Carol Award for Best Long Historical Romance, and an Inspirational Readers Choice Contest Finalist.

The Sophie's Daughters series. Doctor in Petticoats, Wrangler in Petticoats, Sharpshooter in Petticoats.

She is also the author of; Black Hills Blessing a 3-in-1 collection of sweet contemporary romances, Nosy in Nebraska, a 3-in-1 collection of cozy romantic mysteries and she's one of the three authors contributing to Alaska Brides with her Carol Award Winning historical romance Golden Days.