Wednesday, June 22, 2022

The Fragrance of Violets Kick-Off Package

Fragrance of Violets

About the Book

Book: The Fragrance of Violets

Author: Susan K. Beatty

Genre: Christian Women’s Fiction

Release date: May 17, 2022

Life crushes us with its weight sometimes.

Fiona’s father abandoned her when she was twelve. So when she learns that he’s the groom’s father in the wedding she’s been assigned to manage, all the old hurts resurface. Maybe if he’d just explain himself and ask forgiveness, she’d get over the pain he left her with—pain she obviously hadn’t left behind after all.

When Nason discovered he wasn’t Fiona’s biological father, and when her mother tried to sabotage his marriage, he felt like he had no other option but to leave and never look back. Running into her again— awkward to say the least. And he can’t understand why she feels betrayed—why she expects him to seek forgiveness.

As if life weren’t complicated enough, Fiona meets Trevor, which sparks a possible romance. New faith, an overdose, and revelations combine with Trevor’s discipleship and shows her how forgiveness really works.

What will it take for Nason to swallow his pride and see how his actions hurt an innocent child?

The Fragrance of Violets—as Mark Twain once said, “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Susan-K-Beatty-600x600 Who says you can’t begin a new career after middle age? Certainly not Susan K. Beatty. She is passionate about writing about finding courage through faith and grit, particularly through the trials of breast cancer and other life trials. Her daughter is a metastatic breast cancer “thriver” and has been an inspiration for her writing. Susan’s first novel, Faces of Courage, debuted May 2021, as part of the Faces of Courage series, including several novelettes. She is also the author of An Introduction to Home Education (AKA California Homeschool Manual). Susan is a professional writer/journalist and is active in the writer community. She is proof you can begin a fiction writing career at any age.

More from Susan

The Fragrance of Violets’ story has yearned to be told for many years now—before I created my tagline, Courage: The Intersection of faith and grit. But it fits perfectly. A similar situation existed a long time ago in the life of an acquaintance. I thought all parties handled it badly, and I longed to make it right. Of course, being an outsider, the only way I could make it right was by creating a novel.

Fiona and Nason, the main characters, are total figments of my imagination, and the details of the story are substantially different. But the core, abandonment, the need to ask for and grant forgiveness, and the courage to meet them, is real and universal.

I desired to show that even when we think we’ve done nothing wrong, we need to seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal where we need to own up to our mistakes and seek forgiveness. Also, I wanted to show that although it is difficult to forgive when we’ve been horribly wronged (and how horrible to have the person you thought of as your father abandon you and with no apparent explanation or remorse), it’s possible with courage. The courage that comes from faith and action.

My prayer is that Fiona and Nason (despite his past) will inspire readers to find their own courage through whatever situations in which they find themselves.

MY REVIEW

This is a deeply emotional book that grabs at your heart as characters walk through forgiveness. If you have ever experienced the feeling of abandonment then you will relate to Fiona. It is a difficult time for Fiona when her past comes full circle. I did enjoy getting to follow Fiona on her job and learn how much work it can be to help put a big wedding on at a venue. God had a plan for Fiona to face her past when the man who abandoned her so long ago is the client. I know my insides would be in turmoil if I was Fiona. There are many unanswered questions that she wants to ask Nason but I think the fear of rejection was consuming her.

Nason never expected to run into Fiona at the venue much less be forced to work with her. The author lets us see how he struggles with his relationship with Fiona. How will he explain that he stopped coming around? A test proves he is not Fiona’s father but their bond until she was twelve leaves both in pain and perhaps guilty for one of them. There is another issue that Nason is dealing with that keeps him not as on top of things as he should. A little bit of anger shows as he tries to deal with his life as it begin to unravel.

While there are many great lessons in the book, two of them really stood out to me. Forgiveness is one of the hardest things to walk through as both Fiona and Nason find out. I also have dealt with forgiving when I didn’t want to. I wanted and needed for several people in my family to ask forgiveness. I never received it but God showed me that even though I may never hear those words from them, I need to forgive them. It was a freeing experience where at last their hold on me was gone. The other lesson from the book that really goes along with forgiveness is joy. We are responsible for our joy. Instead of being depressed we need to find joy in our life. All we have to do is look around and see that we can find joy in the small things like a smile from someone or a grandchild who gives you a hug.

Fiona and Nason both need to find joy and learn to forgive. It was interesting to watch Fiona’s mother try to convince herself that she would not be happy again until she had Nason back in her life. I loved how both Fiona and Nason find their way to a relationship with the One who died for our sins. The story is well written and gave me hope that as each day goes by I can learn to forgive quickly and keep joy in my heart.

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