About the Book
Book: Finding Harmony
Authors: Alyssa Roat and Hope Bolinger
Genre: Sweet Contemporary Romance
Release date: July 5, 2022
Can two people-pleasing musicians win the grand prize, or will they be forced to give up music for good?
Newly hired worship leader Elijah Peterson can’t seem to catch a break with his church’s congregation. With conflicting demands from congregants, he struggles to find a way to make everyone happy, especially Don, a man who’s rumored to have driven out the last worship leader.
Music teacher Olivia “Liv” Wilson says yes to everything—piano lessons, church volunteering, extra shifts—all while struggling to help pay her dad’s medical bills. As jobs fall through, she’s hit with even worse news—with bills piling up, they could lose her childhood home.
When their meddling roommates force Elijah and Liv into a cooking class together, the two come up with a plan. They’ll enter an indie songwriting competition—with a cash prize that could be enough to save Liv’s house. And maybe if Elijah can win, his musical family and congregation will finally take him seriously.
But winning the competition might mean losing themselves in the process. Can they find a way to strike harmony between writing songs they love and songs the audience wants to hear?
Click here to get your copy!
About the Authors
Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat are the authors of nearly twenty books both independently and co-authored. They have worked in a wide variety of roles within the publishing industry as agents, editors, writers, journalists, and publicists. When not writing, Hope is a theater nerd who loves to hike, and Alyssa is a history nerd and game enthusiast. Both are proud cat moms. You can learn more about them on social media @hopekbolinger and @alyssawrote.
More from Alyssa
In college, Hope and I (Alyssa) didn’t know the word “no.” After all, our professors, advisors, and chapel speakers all told us, “Say yes to every opportunity. Volunteer for everything. If you don’t do it now, it will be too late. Your career will fail. You won’t please God. Etc. Etc.”
So we followed that advice, and we well-nigh burned ourselves out. Faced with a litany of health issues caused by overworking, we realized after college that maybe we had taken things too far. So we began to work on unlearning this mindset.
To this day, we have to call each other and ask, “Is it okay if I turn down this unpaid opportunity? If I don’t have time for this volunteer work? Will people be mad at me?”
We channeled a lot of this people-pleasing into Finding Harmony. As we recovered from overworking ourselves, our characters Elijah and Liv learned that they didn’t need to do everything. As we fell back in love with writing for the sake of the art, not for the A+, our characters discovered how to remain true to their music.
We hope you enjoy reading Finding Harmony as much as we enjoyed writing it—and we encourage you to follow God’s call on your life, regardless of expectations.
MY REVIEW
I enjoyed reading this book that focuses on worship music and trying to please everyone. The authors really capture what it is like being a worship leader. It is hard to please everyone but in this case there is a man who seems to dictate what should be played and other things related to the service. With the threat of not tithing this man has crippled any songs that Elijah has planned during worship service. I was a bit taken back that a pastor would allow this kind of control over worship service just because the man was a very good tither. Elijah is frustrated with the events yet wants to do what God has called him to.
Liv is at her wits end trying to make money teaching music, giving piano lessons and trying to pay her dad’s medical bills. She has a special gift when it comes to music and there may be a chance to win big at a contest. I liked how Liv and Elijah had similar interests and join together to help each other out. It is very obvious that both of them are people pleasers which find them having a hard time saying no to others. They are so busy trying to please others, that they start to lose themselves. Will they take a step back and let God direct their path?
There is a struggle going on with both main characters that the authors explore. I wonder how many of us are people pleasers? It is easy to fall into that trap when you don’t want to let people down. Elijah is losing himself during worship because he feels like he has to do what a certain man in the congregation wants or he withholds his tithe. Liz is saying yes to everyone but drifting away from her dream. “If God gave you a passion, it isn’t a waste of time.” That statement can set each of these characters free. It can also release us from guilt when we say no to things we aren’t called to do.
Through the trials we go through God shines His glory and restores what the enemy tries to destroy. I loved how the story is a reminder that sometimes it is okay to say no. We need to keep our focus on what God has called us to do. The ending of this story is beautiful and ends with harmony for all.
I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.
Blog Stops
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 20
Spoken from the Heart, July 21 (Author Interview)
The Sacred Line, July 21
Texas Book-aholic, July 22
Inklings and notions, July 23
For Him and My Family, July 24
For the Love of Literature, July 25 (Author Interview)
Mypreciousbitsandmusings, July 25
deb’s Book Review, July 26
Locks, Hooks and Books, July 27
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, July 28
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, July 29
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, July 30
Splashes of Joy, July 31 (Author Interview)
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, August 1
Blogging With Carol, August 2
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Hope and Alyssa are giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and Picture Imperfect and Finding Harmony, in preferred format (paperback U.S. only)!!
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/1f7f6/finding-harmony-celebration-tour-giveaway
Two broken women, two defeated children. Can Grace offer what they’re looking for? When the big city holds nothing but painful memories for sisters Rence and Sandy, they pack it up and head out for Grace and the promises it holds.
Kathleen J. Robison is an Okinawan-American, born in Okinawa, and raised in California, Florida, Mississippi, and Singapore. Her travels and her family are the sources of her inspiration for her books. Kathleen and her Pastor husband have eight adult children. Seven are married, blessing them with eighteen grandchildren and counting. Her ethnically diverse background extends to her family of currently thirty-five personalities which provide many opportunities to share God’s amazing love amidst the challenges of real life.
In the world of big money and big politics, nobody walks away unscathed.
Robin Patchen is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of Christian romantic suspense. She grew up in a small town in New Hampshire, the setting of her Nutfield Saga books, and then headed to Boston to earn a journalism degree. Working in marketing and public relations, she discovered how much she loathed the nine-to-five ball and chain. After relocating to the Southwest, she started writing her first novel while she homeschooled her three children. The novel was dreadful, but her passion for storytelling didn’t wane. Thankfully, as her children grew, so did her writing ability. Now that her kids are adults, she has more time to play with the lives of fictional heroes and heroines, wreaking havoc and working magic to give her characters happy endings. When she’s not writing, she’s editing or reading, proving that most of her life revolves around the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. Visit https://robinpatchen.com/subscribe to receive a free book and stay informed about Robin’s latest projects.
