Season of Hope Kick-Off Package

About the Book

Book:  Season of Hope

Author: Carol James

Genre:  20th Century Christian Historical Romance

Hope Stockton’s life is dead, frozen in a winter of guilt, deceit, and fear. When a handsome young pastor, Josh Lewis, comes to serve in her church, she wonders if she can trust him with her past. Will he be able to help her find the answers to the questions that have been buried in her heart for years? Or will his own secrets drive them apart and prevent him from helping Hope find her spring of forgiveness?

Set in small town Texas in the years during and following the Vietnam war, Seasons of Hope is a story of forgiveness and restoration.

Click here to get your copy!

 MY REVIEW 

This has been a very emotional journey as two people struggle with their past. I found the characters to be very easy to relate to. Hope is a sweet woman who is raising her son alone. I loved the setting of the story in a small town during the late 1960s. The Vietnam War saw many young men enlist with hopes of coming home safely. In Hope’s heart she felt that her son’s father had been killed during the war, but she never gave up  on him. 

Josh was definitely my favorite character. He has followed God’s direction and finds himself a pastor of a small church in the town where Hope lives. Their first encounter was really funny and I applaud the author for her creativity. I kept thinking how God works in mysterious ways. Hope is in for a huge surprise when she gets to church. 

The story explores a son who in his eyes has disappointed his father. Josh has tried to reconcile with his dad but each time they end up further  apart. I really liked how the author slowly gives us a look in Josh’s past. It explains the reason his relationship with his father is strained. He has lived with overprotective parents and it has been hard for him to go out on his own. At first I didn’t like Josh’s dad but as the story continues, something changes my mind. 

Hope frustrated me at times because she liked Josh but found reasons to keep her distance from him. She lacks trust and it is causing her to be so clingy towards her son that Josh notices it. There are a few snags along the way that cause misunderstandings between them. The story is definitely faith based and I loved how they both turned to God for answers. The author illustrates trust and forgiveness in a story that made me cry. They were happy tears as I could sense them releasing things from their past. To surrender your pain to God is a door opening to unconditional love. 

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

About the Author

Carol James is an author of inspirational fiction. She lives in a small town outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her husband, Jim, and a perky Jack Russell “Terrorist,” Zoe.

Having always loved intriguing stories with happy endings, she was moved to begin writing to encourage others as she’d been encouraged by the works of other authors of inspirational fiction.

Her debut novel, Rescuing Faith, has been a number one best seller on Amazon.

Carol enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren, traveling with friends, and serving in the production department at her church. And most days, in the late hours of the night or the wee hours of the morning, she can be found bringing her newest novel to life.

More from Carol

Overcoming the Darkness

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5

I’ve read or heard this verse hundreds, maybe thousands, of times. But I remember exactly the moment I truly understood the picture it paints.

I sat in church one Sunday morning. For weeks, I’d been elbow-deep in crafting a manuscript set in the years following the Vietnam war. The title was Season of Hope.

In the squeaky voice our congregation loved, Pastor Buddy read this scripture and then asked a simple question. “Have you ever thought that light always overcomes darkness?”

Of course I’d thought that. I knew The Light was Jesus. I knew through His perfect sacrifice, He overcame the darkness of sin and death to give us life and light.

But then, in his folksy manner that would sneak up on you and drop the truth right in your lap, Buddy’s sermon began to paint a poignant illustration. 

You can walk into a dark room with any amount of light, no matter how small—a candle flame, a flashlight beam, or even the illumination from the face of your phone—and the light will always…always…invade the darkness. 

But the opposite is never true. No matter how great the darkness and how small the light, darkness never prevails. Never overcomes the light. 

And what little you manage to see in the darkness is distorted, not an accurate representation of reality. Because darkness hides reality. It shows us only colorless, indistinct imitations. Light, however, shows us beauty and truth.

Simple, right? Maybe. But like so many truths in the Bible, the idea is rich and full of meaning when you meditate on it. 

When I left church that day, I knew my heroine’s battle was to be a clash between light and darkness, truth and lies. 

In Season of Hope, Hope Stockton’s heart is frozen in the dark winter of her past. She’s spent so many years hiding her failures and fears from the light of truth, she questions whether her heart will ever feel the warmth of spring again. 

Then she meets Josh Lewis, and she wonders, can she entrust him with the dark secrets that have been buried in her heart all these years?

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, August 6

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 7

Artistic Nobody, August 8 (Author Interview)

Inklings and notions, August 9

For Him and My Family, August 10

deb’s Book Review, August 11

Simple Harvest Reads, August 12 (Author Interview)

CarpeDiem, August 13

SusanK. Beatty, Author, August 14 (Author Interview)

Adventures of a Travelers Wife, August 15

Musings of Sassy Bookish Mama, August 16

Sodbuster Living, August 17

Batya’s Bits, August 18

Blossoms and Blessings, August 19 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Carol is giving away the grand prize package of a digital copy of Season of Hope and a $40 Amazon gift card!!

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

https://promosimple.com/ps/fe97/season-of-hope-celebration-tour-giveaway