Friday, March 15, 2024

About the Book

Book: If the Boot Fits

Author: Karen Witemeyer

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: March 12, 2024

One fateful night will change their destinies forever. . . .

Convinced that his stepmother and half brothers have been wrongfully evicted by cattle king Eli Dearing, Asher Ellis uses the cover of an extravagant ball to break into the Three Cedars’ ranch house to search for proof. On the verge of discovery, he flees, but a boy’s cry compels him to make a daring rescue.

Spunky and independent Samantha Dearing balks when she learns the ball her father is hosting is nothing more than a matrimonial ambush. Taking a break from unwanted suitors, Samantha spots a thief fleeing her home. When the stranger ends up saving her brother’s life, she hides the only clue to his identity left behind–his boot–and resolves to find him herself.

When Samantha encounters the older brother of a student she tutors, all thoughts of the bootless mystery man vanish. Asher values family above wealth, a rare trait that opens her heart. Afraid she will discover his past misconduct, Asher tries to keep his distance, but when a series of suspicious accidents befall her, he vows to protect her, even though saving her life could mean losing her love.

Click here to get your copy!

MY REVIEW

Attention Everyone. I have an announcement to make. This is Samantha Dearing and I need help identifying the man who jumped into the pond on our property and saved my little brother from drowning. I have one clue that could help identify him, but will not divulge that information at this time. A party was going on at the time of the incident so there was a lot of people there. If you have any information please let me know. Well that’s what I imagine Samantha would write in the local newspaper but instead she keeps a secret of how to identify this person. I wonder why she would not tell her father what she knew of the mysterious person?

Asher is a dashing character who tries to help his family out while trying to not be so angry at Samantha’s father. Asher knows his mother was evicted unjustly and will stand up to Mr. Dearing to prove his point. Asher reminds me of a dashing prince. I love how the author does a retelling of a classic fairy tale with a twist of a cowboy theme. Oh the hard working cowboys who ride horses all day while fixing fences and watch over the cattle are to be commended for their dedication.

Asher and Samantha may come from different backgrounds but they sure have an attraction to each other. Now we have Asher teaching Samantha to ride a horse. That is very out of character for her. As they begin to get to know each other better Samantha finds out that her own father was responsible for evicting Asher’s mother from her home. I liked how this was resolved in a Godly way.

Mr Dearing has always been known as a hard person to deal with but he shows compassion for one of Samantha’s friends. It is an excellent illustration of not judging someone and offering help with grace. I really enjoyed this part of the story.

Danger surrounds Samantha after an uncomfortable encounter with someone. Revenge is on this persons mind and he won’t stop till he gets what he wants. The dashing Asher steps in to protect her and shows her how much he cares. There is a definite faith element throughout the story which I loved. I liked how Samantha referred to Asher as her, “Cowboy Prince.”

I loved how the author incorporates a mystery in the story of who is trying to kill Samantha. At first I thought I knew who the guilty party was but now I’m not so sure. With a secret journal found belonging to her mother, Samantha begins to understand the lies her mother had told her father years ago. Now those lies are causing danger to her and her family.

The author creates a great story where trusting in God is the key. As the mystery unravels will Samantha find out who fits the missing boot left behind the night of the party? Is he the one to marry Samantha and be her “Cowboy prince?”

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

About the Author

Voted #1 Reader’s Favorite Christian Historical Author of 2023 by Family Fiction magazine, bestselling and Carol and Christy Award-winning author Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. She and her husband make their home in Abilene, Texas.

More from Karen

Character Names and Word Games

One of my favorite parts of writing any book is finding the perfect names for my characters. Names are so important. They carry meaning and expectation. They add historical flavor and help create a picture in the reader’s mind about who that character is. They can also add hidden joy to a story for me as the author that may or may not be realized by the reader.

If the Boot Fits was inspired by the classic fairy tale, Cinderella. I give it a fresh western twist and mixed up the plot a bit, but it was important to me to fill this tale with subtle nods to the version I loved as a child. One of the main ways I did this was through the naming of my characters.

I worked hard to create names that would harken back to the original while still carrying meaning of their own. Instead of Cinderella, we have a hero named Asher Ellis—Ash being a synonym of Cinder, and Ellis playing off of Ella. For our heroine, I wanted something to play on the “charming” motif without being too on-the-nose. I ended up selecting Samantha Dearing—Dearing like endearing or charming. Samantha is the feminine version of Samuel which comes into play in the story since her father’s name is Eli. The three key older ladies of the story all of names inspired by royalty, as befits a fairy tale—Regina, Elizabeth, and Victoria. Asher’s step brothers are named Jonathan and Fergus. However, Jonathan goes by Jack, giving a nod to the mice from Disney’s Cinderella, Jaq and Gus. Asher’s horse is named Bruno in honor of the dog who saved Cinderella from the tower room. We have a cattle king with a foreman named Duke as well. Whether readers catch all of these nods or not, they made me as the author smile while writing the story.

Here’s another way to have fun with names and other key story elements. I’ve created a word search for you to enjoy. Have fun!

Click here to play.

Blog Stops

Book Looks by Lisa, March 13
Melissa’s Bookshelf, March 13
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, March 14
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 14
Batya’s Bits, March 14
By the Book, March 15
Madi’s Musings, March 15
Texas Book-aholic, March 15
Locks, Hooks and Books, March 16
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 16
EmpowerMoms, March 16
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 17
Blossoms and Blessings, March 17
She Lives To Read, March 18
Where Faith and Books Meet, March 18
Blogging With Carol, March 19
Life of Literature, March 19
Simple Harvest Reads, March 19 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)
ABBA’s Prayer Warrior Princess, March 20
Books You Can Feel Good About, March 20
lakesidelivingsite, March 20
Alena Mentink, March 21
Jeanette’s Thoughts, March 21
Splashes of Joy, March 21
Betti Mace, March 22
For Him and My Family, March 22
A Good Book and Cup of Tea, March 22
Cover Lover Book Review, March 23
Holly’s Book Corner, March 23
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, March 23
Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, March 24 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, March 24
Lily’s Corner, March 25
Wishful Endings, March 25
Pause for Tales, March 25
Life on Chickadee Lane, March 26
Just Your Average reviews, March 26
Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, March 26

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Karen is giving away the grand prize package of a $15 Amazon gift card and a paperback copy of If the Boot Fits!! (US 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/2a7a9/if-the-boot-fits-celebration-tour-giveaway

Thursday, March 14, 2024

About the Book

Book: Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing

Author: Lisa R. Howeler

Genre: Clean Cozy Mystery

Release Date: July 11, 2023

A little bit of mystery, a dash of romance, and a whole lot of heart

After being laid off from her job as a librarian at a small college, Gladwynn Grant isn’t sure what her next step in life is. When a job as a small-town newspaper reporter opens up in the town her grandmother Lucinda Grant lives in, she decides to take it to get away from a lot of things – Bennett Steele for one.

Lucinda has been living alone since Gladwynn’s grandfather passed away six years ago and she isn’t a take-it-easy, rock-on-your-front-porch kind of grandma. She’s always on the go and lately, she’s been on the go with a man who Gladwynn doesn’t know.

Gladwynn thought Brookstone was a small, quiet town, but within a few days of being there, she has to rethink that notion. Someone has cut the bank loan officer’s brakes, threatening letters are being sent, and memories of a jewelry theft from the 1990s have everyone looking at the cold case again.

What, if anything, will Gladwynn uncover about her new hometown and her grandmother’s new male friend? And what will she do about her grandmother’s attempt to set her up with the handsome Pastor Luke Callahan?

Find out in this modern mystery with a vintage feel.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Lisa Robinson-Howeler is a writer and photographer from Northeastern Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and two children, her dog Zooma and her two cats Pixel and Scout. She is a former small-town newspaper reporter. She is also a wife, blogger, and a homeschooling mother. She blogs about fiction, faith, photography, and life.

More from Lisa

I can’t say that Gladwynn Grant’s character is based completely on my grandmother, but, in some ways, I did. I named her Gladwynn after my paternal grandmother who I grew up living over the creek and through the woods from.

Gladwynn was her middle name but I’m not really sure how she spelled it because she never really used it. She usually just wrote G. as the middle initial. When we did a search on Ancestry, we saw that some spellings on her documents were Gladwin and some were Gladwyn. I guess her family wasn’t sure either, but if I remember right (I don’t have the document right in front of me) on her birth certificate it was spelled Gladwin.

I liked the spelling of Gladwynn with a “y” and two “n’s” though so that is how I spelled Gladwynn’s name for the books.

My grandmother was tough and to the point. She wasn’t mean but she didn’t pull punches. She was not super maternal or affectionate. Again, though, she was not mean.

She lived through the Great Depression and raised children during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Her youngest, my dad, was in the Air Force when Vietnam broke out. He was never sent overseas but he helped build bombs and work on airplanes during that time.

She knew about hardship, trials, and heartbreak. Her husband died of cancer when he was in his 60s and she spent the next 35 years without him. She began to lose her eyesight to macular degeneration in her 80s.

None of what life threw at her stopped her from living her best life.

She still traveled and kept her house and property up. At the age of 86 I caught her on a ladder cleaning out the gutters. Around the same age she marched down the dirt road in front of her house with a walking stick and told the township road workers to make sure the drainage pipe they were putting in didn’t run into her field and flood it.

If she was afraid of things, she didn’t show it very often.

My family lived with her while I was in college and I learned so much about how to preserve and live a happy and fulfilled life despite the tragedies or trials of my life.

When I started thinking about writing a cozy mystery series, I wanted the main character to be a lot like grandma, but also more affectionate and sentimental than my grandmother seemed at times.

I only remember my grandmother telling me she loved me once or twice in my life, but I know she did because she showed it in her actions toward me.

I wrote Gladwynn to be bold and tough, but also to be affectionate and open with her feelings – a lot like my grandmother, but also a little different.

I think my grandmother would love the idea that I am writing a series of books based on her name and partially on her personality.

MY REVIEW

The main character sure does have an unusual first name. I loved how we find out that it is a name one of her ancestors had. The story has an old time feeling about it with Gladwyn and her classic hair from times gone by, bright red lipstick and living with her grandma in an old house with lots of history. The town is quaint with a feel of “The Gilmore Girls” when Gladwyn attends the town council meeting. What a spectacle it was with raised voices and threats flying back and forth. The author sets the stage for a fun mystery.

Gladwyn’s relationship with her grandma is a bit odd to me. They are both sassy to each other and at times I think they mean what they say in their sarcastic voice. The bottom line is they have a very close relationship and worry about each other. I’m pretty sure grandma can hold her own in any situation.

Now for the story there sure is a lot going on. Threatening notes, car accidents that really aren’t an accident, jewelry heist never solved, land that people are fighting over and townspeople gossiping constantly caught this reader off guard. I was impressed with Gladwyn and her ability to find answers to questions that help solve crimes. There are a few twists in the story and overall I thought it was a nice story.

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

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, March 12

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 13

Holly’s Book Corner, March 13

Texas Book-aholic, March 14

Devoted To Hope, March 15

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, March 16

Locks, Hooks and Books, March 17

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 18

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, March 19 (Author Interview)

Mornings at Character Cafe, March 19

Book Looks by Lisa, March 20

An Author’s Take, March 21

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 22

Blogging With Carol, March 23

Pause for Tales, March 23

Lily’s Corner, March 24

For Him and My Family, March 25

Mary Hake, March 25

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Lisa is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a paperback copy of the book!!

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/2a7a8/gladwynn-grant-gets-her-footing-celebration-tour-giveaway

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

About the Book

Book: The Samaritan’s Patient

Author: Chevron Ross

Genre: Contemporary Fiction / Teen Christian Fiction

Release Date: January 25, 2024

Teenager Paige Abernathy awakens after a severe beating to find that she suffers from amnesia, and that everyone seems to hate her.

She has only flashes of memory until the night a grieving parent attacks her in her hospital room. Paige then remembers her role as creator of an online group where members talk about ways to commit suicide.

After recovering from the beating, Paige embarks on a journey of penance to atone for a disaster born of good intentions. Her odyssey launches her on a mission of mercy and into new danger.

The Samaritan’s Patient is a thought-provoking novel about navigating the treacherous waters of social media.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Chevron Ross is a pseudonym for someone unimportant. He is not a writer, but God keeps putting ideas into his head that somehow turn into stories. If you like them, be sure to offer God a prayer of thanks.

More from Chevron

Behind the Scenes

This novel might never have been born had I not seen an interview on PBS with two New York Times writers, Megan Twohey and Gabriel Dance, on December 16, 2021.

These reporters did an extensive investigation into a website on which subscribers discussed committing suicide and shared methods for doing so. Most visitors to the site were thirty or younger. There were 1.2 million messages. At least forty-five suicides in multiple countries were linked to the site.

At the time of this broadcast, I had just completed my second novel, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and was wondering what to do next. The PBS interview was so shocking that I could not stop thinking about it. What motive could a person have for encouraging strangers to kill themselves? What could one possibly gain from such an endeavor? And what could provoke someone to throw away the gift of life at such a youthful age?

Each of my novels has been the result of an inspiration from God. Once He puts an idea into my head, it consumes my imagination until I cannot stop working. As you might imagine from the title, The Samaritan’s Patient is a blend of two stories: the famous parable of Jesus in the Bible, and a young person with good intentions who gets caught up in a social media nightmare.

God did all the work on this book. He created the character of Paige Abernathy and told me how to build the novel around the circumstances of her personal life—her parents, her friends, and most of all, her Christian faith. He also created the crisis that launches her on a journey of new experiences and personal growth.

I am amazed and grateful that God would choose someone so ordinary and unaccomplished as myself to do this work. Each novel God has written through me has been a great personal gift, and a reaffirmation that God has a plan for each of us. I pray that The Samaritan’s Patient will be as great a blessing to its readers as it has been to me.

MY REVIEW

The opening scene of this story was a little graphic to me and could be a trigger for anyone who has gone through an assault. The guys are pretty rude and use descriptive words I thought were inappropriate. I understand that we are witnessing an assault but I would hope that in a Christian fiction book the author could have found a different way to explain what was going on.

I did continue the book hoping for redemption, hope and healing for this young woman. As the young woman begins to wake up in the hospital she can’t remember anything. She has no idea what she has been through. Her body tells a story of beating an unwanted attack and left for dead. Someone stopped to help and brought her to the hospital. Whoever the man was he left in a hurry but he probably saved her life.

Something really strange is going on with this mysterious young girl at the hospital. People are calling her Paige but she has no memory of that name. She turns on the TV in her room and sees a reporter taking about a protest outside the hospital she is at. When someone sneaks in her room to harm her she suddenly remembers everything.

The story starts to make more sense when readers find out about a site where young people go who are contemplating suicide. Behind the screen answering these posts are Paige. She made the page for “people to go to for reassurance.” She had scriptures posted and names and numbers of counselors for those who were were looking for help. How sad that the site turned into something ugly from comments that pushed people to the edge.

Danger gets closer to Paige every day but what is most worrisome is her head injury. When she runs out of medication she starts to have blackouts or seizures. Thankfully the place she has found refuge is there to help her. I liked this part of the story because it talks about homelessness. There is an epidemic in our nation where people find themselves without a place to live. I appreciate the author highlighting this issue we all should help solve.

Suicide is a big topic in the story and Paige thought her website would help but unfortunately it had people coming to the site telling others how to end their lives. Paige is so overwhelmed with guilt and has no one to turn to. Her mother is a huge problem. She is overbearing and uses her authority in the community to threaten people to give her information about her daughter.

The story is an illustration of how someone reaches out to a hurting person. They don’t want any recognition but do it make amends for something. There is so many great lessons within the pages of this book. God is at the center and I loved how the author brought people together who were looking for help, a new beginning and to feel wanted.

“Sometimes we have to miss what’s most precious to us in order to appreciate it.”

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

Blog Stops

The Lofty Pages, March 9

By The Book, March 10 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 11

For the Love of Literature, March 12 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, March 13

Tell Tale Book Reviews, March 14 (Author Interview)

Inspired by Fiction, March 14

Locks, Hooks and Books, March 15

Splashes of Joy, March 16 (Author Interview)

Becca Hope: Book Obsessed, March 16

Pause for Tales, March 17

Guild Master, March 18 (Author Interview)

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, March 19

A Reader’s Brain, March 20 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 21

Artistic Nobody, March 22 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate his tour, Chevron is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!

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/2a555/the-samaritan-s-patient-celebration-tour-giveaway

Monday, March 11, 2024

About the Book

Book: Fences Left Broken

Author: Kristen Terrette

Genre: YA

Release Date: October 13, 2023

Mia’s father is dead, and her mother has left her in the rural Mississippi Delta town of Marigold with family she’s never known. Her two sets of grandparents are separated not only by a fence dividing their properties, but by skin color and a deep-seated hatred for each other which none of them will discuss.
When Mia learns their mutual hatred concerns a long-ago murder, she and her new friends set out to uncover who was murdered and why. Their search leads them to unspoken secrets and buried tragedies, stretching from the years of the Great Depression to the Freedom Summer Movement of ‘64.

Mia hopes to reconcile her grandparents by finding the truth. But can broken family fences be truly mended in the face of decades of unforgiving hate?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

With a background in education and theology, Kristen served as a children’s ministry director and women’s leader for many years before returning to her first love—writing the stories playing out in her head. She dove into the publishing world writing numerous articles, devotionals, and novels in both the Romance and Young Adult genres. After managing an international blog and a publishing house’s social media feed, she found herself as an intern at the esteemed literary agency, Writers House, in the summer of 2022.

This landed her a job with Martin Martin Literary Management where she now takes on author clients of her own. Stories are her thing and authors are her people. When not on her computer writing, editing, or emailing, or with her nose in a book, you can find her getting a little too loud from the sidelines of a kids’ basketball or football game. She’s also a recent transplant to rural Georgia where she thrives on jogging her forty acres terribly, drinking coffee while birdwatching, and daydreaming of new book characters, plotlines, and making her client’s dreams come true (which are her dreams as well).

More from Kristen

All you need is a spark.

When people find out I’m an author or have read one of my books, I’m often asked how I came up with the story. My answer is always the same. They all begin with a spark, a small idea, sometimes even taking root first in a remote corner of my mind, that says, “There’s a story there.” And that one spark lights, then it quadruples, over and over until it ends up a bright and thriving fire.

The spark for Fences Left Broken was a documentary from 2016 called Dirt & Deeds in Mississippi which told of “the largely unknown and pivotal role played (in the Freedom Sumer Movement and the Voting Rights Act) by black landowning families in the deep South who controlled over a million acres in the 1960s.” This documentary was fascinating and linked generations who had no idea just how important they would end up being in a much-needed and changing time in history. Black sharecroppers who benefitted from an agricultural program during Roosevelt’s New Deal became landowners overnight. Skip ahead a few decades, and these same landowners, or their heirs, had the power to force change.

In the sixties, Mississippi law said that if you were a landowner, you could vote, which opened doors for black families. But, also, these black landowners had leverage. Land was king. Land was also collateral. So when Freedom Summer came along and the wave of black Southerners tried to register to vote, these black landowners had a unique advantage.

Blacks and whites who were volunteering for the Freedom Summer Movement were arrested, often on bogus charges like disrupting the peace and put in jail. But guess what? Black landowners put their land titles up as collateral and got these people out on bond.

Even crazier, out of the hundreds of arrests and bail bonds issued that summer, not ONE failed to follow through and appear in court. Not ONE person charged with a bogus crime was found in default, their bail revoked, and the bond kept. This means not ONE black family who put their land up as collateral lost it.

Historians have gone so far as to say the success of Freedom Summer and the result of the Voting Rights Act wouldn’t have been possible without these families risking it all for the sake of justice and equality.

This documentary was my spark. I got to thinking about these families. They were real people, now generations of people, living in these intertwined communities. What would this have looked like through the years? What became of these families? Where are they now?

And the rabbit trail of my mind began. That spark ignited, and I followed it, outlining potential events that could have happened to families in Mississippi before and after the 1960s, and it all led to my main character, Mia. And Fences Left Broken was born.

I hope you enjoyed learning some little-known history, and a little tidbit of my writing inspiration. And I hope you are curious to find out more about Mia’s story!

MY REVIEW

What an amazing story this is. The author does an absolute great job of bringing history to life. It’s funny how some people like to forget about the history of ancestors but some were able to break barriers of hatred and prejudice. I loved how detailed the book is. I had never heard of the Freedom of Summer and the families that were involved in it. What they did was bring freedom to people who never thought they were worthy.

I now see how the title is perfect for this story. Mia’s relatives tried at one time to mend fences with people but it became something that divided famines for generations. As Mia begins to get answers about her past, I felt like I was with her every step of the way. She has always known she wasn’t accepted by some relatives because she was bi- racial. Now she faces secrets, greed, and a history lesson that starts a long time ago. Can you imagine the hate that has festered all these years between two families? It is heartbreaking to read and I wanted to let Mia know that God loves and accepts her.

The book reminds us that we can make things better for those who come after us. It’s important to leave a legacy that inspires, gives hope and shows forgiveness. I loved the story and appreciate how the author weaved history with fiction to make this an unforgettable period in history.

Shame is a powerful tool of the devil. Makes you see things unclearly, and keeps you from being able to see God , because you are hiding from Him, embarrassed because of your situation oppression your sin.”

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