{Kregel Book Tour} The Bachelor, Plain City Peace (Book Two) by Stephanie Reed

Book Description:  In this sequel to The Bargain, Betsie Troyer is back home in her Amish community where she knows she belongs, free from the confusing Englisher way of life. She and Charley Yoder have made promises to each other, and her life is back on track--until Gerald Sullivan shows up with his young daughter, asking for Betsie's help. He’s on his way to find his estranged wife, and begs Betsie to take young Sheila in.

When she agrees, Betsie's carefully planned life is shaken up again. Sheila's newfound faith is troubling to Charley--and his attraction to another girl is beginning to be a problem. But how can Betsie confront him when she is still trying to confront her own feelings about Sheila's brother, Michael? Keeping the peace between the Amish man she's always loved, a twelve-year-old Englisher girl, and a draft-dodging hippie is more than she ever thought she’d have to deal with in her simple, orderly life. Still, Betsie is convinced she can keep things from falling apart completely.

Then during her best friend's wedding, tragedy strikes and her world is upended. She has to make a decision: does she love Charley or Michael . . . or is she craving a deeper love that only God can give?

My Thoughts:  The Bachelor by Stephanie Reed is the second book in the Plain City Peace series.  I missed book one, The Bargain, but as I began reading The Bachelor, the story of Betsie Troyer, I was caught up in her Amish lifestyle.
It seems that Betsie has been gone (assuming this took place in book one) but she now knows she belongs at home in her Amish community because being with the Englischers was quite confusing to her way of thinking.  Ah! No place like home!
It seems that Betsie just wants a simple life but as others call on her for help...Gerald Sullivan asks her, well actually begs her, to take care of his daughter while he searches for his estranged wife.  And then she and Charley seem to have made promises they can't keep...does she truly love Charley when she thinks about Michael?  The quote at the top of page 133, "A woman is perturbed by what a man forgets, a man by what a woman remembers" is one of my favorite quotes out of the book...sort of/kind of sums up this read. 
Even though I didn't read book one I found this the story of Betsie and Charley interesting.  
This is a great read for all those Amish fans but you may want to read book one first just to get the whole story!

*This book was provided for review by Kregel Publications*

GREAT PRICE THIS WEEK ONLY!!
Click this LINK

• Series: Plain City Peace (Book 2)
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kregel Publications (October 1, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825442168
• ISBN-13: 978-0825442162

2014 Laurel Award Feature And Open Submissions for Unpublished Authors

On October 22, 2014, A Miracle of Hope won Clash of the Titles' Laurel Award. During a six-week period, the novel's first 3,500 words were read and judged by avid readers of Christian fiction who determined it to be the worthiest to receive the 2014 Laurel Award.

Clash of the Titles extends a heartfelt congratulations to author Ruth Reid for her commendable work. We wish God's abundant blessings on her future projects. 

“A Miracle of Hope quickens a reader’s heart in hope that one child’s faith will be miracle enough.” –Alan Daugherty, News-Banner columnist

About A Miracle of Hope

Lindie Wyse thinks an arranged marriage is the only way to preserve a future for herself and her unborn child. Josiah Plank is certain he’ll never love again, but he needs someone to care for his deaf eight-year-old daughter, Hannah. The two take on their arrangement tentatively at first but soon realize they are each in for more than they imagined. After a short time, Lindie experiences a breakthrough with Hannah when she recognizes the child’s special gifts, but a risky pregnancy and serious health issues threaten to demolish the foundation Josiah and Lindie are building—and the love that is growing between them.

Will their marriage survive their struggles, or will their hearts become as cold as the northern winter?

PURCHASE YOUR COPY

“A beautifully written love story, A Miracle of Hope is both heartwarming and heartbreaking and features believable, charming characters who are willing to do whatever it takes for love.” 4 stars, RT Book Reviews  

Listen to Cynthia L. Simmon's" Heart of the Matter" radio interview of Laurel Award Winner, Ruth Reid!

About Ruth:
Ruth is a CBA and ECPA best-selling author of the Heaven on Earth and Amish Wonders series. When attending Ferris State University School of Pharmacy in Big Rapids, Michigan, she lived on the outskirts of an Amish community and had several occasions to visit the Amish farms. Her interest grew into love as she saw the beauty in living a simple life. Ruth resides in Florida with her husband and three children. 

She can be reached HERE.

“…Ruth’s descriptions of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula during the winter are vivid and almost hauntingly beautiful—yet the hardship and “cabin fever” element are very real. But it’s character depth that is this story’s strength…” –Carole Jarvis, Amazon Review

Ruth's Upcoming Projects:

Her Christmas Pen Pal, a novella in An Amish Second Christmas collection released October 2014. 

A Woodland Miracle will be released in January 2015

She is currently working on book three of the Amish Wonders Series (untitled at this time; release is planned for 2016). 

****

OLYMPIA OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS!

Authors, take note! 

Clash of the Titles has opened its doors for submissions to the 2015 Olympia.

The Olympia is COTT's yearly contest for unpublished writers. The submissions are judged by their audience—readers well versed in Christian fiction yet not associated with the CBA industry.

Authors write for readers, so why not have readers be the judges?

Finalists in the contest will also have their work read and judged by three industry professionals!

With a submission fee of only $15, easy electronic submission, a bevy of prizes, and judges devoted to Christian fiction and author encouragement, the Olympia is a contest like no other.

But once our doors are open, you'll need to act quick! Slots are limited. To avoid overburdening our volunteer judges, we are limited in the number of submissions we can accept.

Submissions:

Oct. 31, 2014-Dec 12, 2014 

For more details, please visit our site.

Stay tuned for updates by 

subscribing to COTT's blog and “liking” our Facebook page.

Books!

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

Easiest and BEST ever peanut butter fudge!

The Bracelet by Dorothy Love

Book Description:  “There are no secrets that time does not reveal.” 

Savannah, Georgia – 1858

Celia Browning dreams of the day when her childhood sweetheart Sutton Mackay comes home to Savannah after two years in Jamaica managing his family's shipping interests. Sutton has all but proposed, and their marriage will unite two of the city's most prominent families. But just as Sutton returns, a newspaper reporter arrives in town, determined to pry into twin tragedies that took place at the Browning mansion on Madison Square when Celia was a child.

While the journalist pursues his story, someone is trying to frighten Celia. When she receives a series of anonymous notes, and a bracelet imbued with a chilling message, Celia realizes that her family’s past has the power to destroy her future.

As the clouds of war gather over Savannah, and her beloved father’s health worsens, Celia determines to uncover the truth about what really happened all those years ago. 

Inspired by actual events in one of Savannah’s most prominent 19th-century families, The Bracelet is the story of a young southern woman whose dreams fracture under the weight of her family’s tragic past.

My Thoughts:  I found it interesting that The Bracelet by Dorothy Love is classified as Historical Fiction when, in fact, I feel the more proper classification would be more of Christian Mystery (Murder).

The setting for this book is antebellum Georgia, just before the division of the North and South.  There are many historical settings and details of the south.  

The mystery begins when a bracelet mysteriously appears on Celia's nightstand.  When she understands what the stones in the bracelet mean Diamond. Emerald. Amethyst. Diamond  = D. E. A. D. the "gift" has a troubling meaning. . . a mystery.  A family with hidden sins which just might include a murder.

The mystery of it all is mixed with the day.to.day flow of life. My only complaint of this story is that this day.to.day telling of all the day's events slows the story down quite a bit and can be somewhat frustrating. However, this is an easy, nice flowing read with some twists to spice up the mystery. 

I enjoyed the mystery of this story!

*This book was provided for review by BookLook*

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (December 9, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401687601
• ISBN-13: 978-1401687601

Watch For the Light (Readings for Advent and Christmas)

Book Description:  It's hard to go wrong with 40 essays and poems from theological writers such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, Madeleine L'Engle, Martin Luther, Kathleen Norris, Henri Nouwen, Philip Yancey, Karl Barth and Síren Kierkegaard. These are not frivolous, feel-good Advent readings; they are deep, sometimes jarring reflections, many with a strong orientation toward social justice (other authors include liberationists Leonardo Boff, Gustavo Guti‚rrez and Oscar Romero). "The love that descended to Bethlehem is not the easy sympathy of an avuncular God, but a burning fire whose light chases away every shadow, floods every corner, and turns midnight into noon," explain the editors. This collection, born of obvious passion and graced with superb writing, is a welcome even necessary addition to the glutted holiday bookshelves. 

My Thoughts: In our crazy world of commercialization, at the holiday season, it's nice to have a peaceful respite, a place to go for recharging.  

This Christmas season we chose this book, Watch for the Light, to read at Advent and through the Christmas holiday season.  We were not familiar with many of the authors but found new insight in reading from people we had never read from before.

These are not cutesy, little stories that small children would understand but they are more "meat and thought" that teenagers and adults may enjoy.

Beginning with November 24th and through January 7th there is a reading selection for each day.

Some of the readings/stories are quite long...for example, December 5th (p.82) The Shaking of Advent by Alfred Delp is about 13 pages in length but quite interesting.  

These writings make one think and delve into a deeper part of the heart as we watch for the Light of Christmas.  The true meaning of His love for our lives!

This is wonderful hardback book, perfect for gift giving and for your daily devotions this Christmas season.

*This book was provided for review by Handlebar Marketing*

• Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books (September 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570755418
• ISBN-13: 978-1570755415

COTT {Clash of the Titles} Ane Mulligan's Fresh Taste of Small Town Life

Bestselling author Ane Mulligan is here tell us about her debut novel about best friends in small-town life. Heartwarming and humorous, Chapel Springs Revival is the perfect excuse to curl up by the fireplace and read.

Let's chat with main character Claire.

I’ve heard you are the one who spearheaded the reviving of Chapel Springs. Is that true?
Are you from the mayor’s office? If you are, it wasn’t my fault. Whatever it was. Felix Riley takes credit for everything that works and blames me if anything goes wrong.

Really? Did anything go wrong?
Of course not—unless you count the incident at Georgia Tech with the monkey.

Moving right along, I’ve heard of your Great Aunt Lola’s theatrical career. What was it like growing up with her?
I adored her. Patsy and I both did. The old gal would give us her cast-off gowns to play dress-up. But she retired from the screen when she was seventy-five, I think. She wanted to leave her fans wanting more. She was quite the flamboyant character. She tried to teach Patsy and me to flirt, but it didn’t take when we were eight years old. She died a couple of years later.

She had a bit of a racy past didn’t she?
You bet your booty patooty. Aunt Lola never took second place to anyone or anything. She lived the high life, all right. Presidents and princes wined and dined her, while all I got was a TV tray in front of a ball game. I miss her and her stories, not to mention her advice.

Great Aunt Lola knew men, that’s for sure. What with having seven husbands, she might have been able to tell me how to get my Joel to pay me more attention. Right. Like that would happen. I’d have to turn into a high definition television set or a fishing reel to get some attention paid to me.

I’ve heard that you…well aren’t the best cook in Chapel Springs. Any truth to that rumor?
Okay, I admit I failed home economics—twice. My culinary expertise maxed out at Jell-O jigglers. And coffee. I make a mean pot of coffee. Unfortunately, that lack got me into trouble with my firstborn’s future mother-in-law. But the woman coerced me.

How so? You’re no shy violet from what I’ve heard?
Who’ve you been talking to?

Let’s see, first there was Faye, oh and Gloria, then Bev and—

Uh-uh, that dog won’t hunt. They gossip. Besides, if you’d heard my son’s future mother-in-law talk, why she’s wound tighter than an eight-day clock. The woman never takes a breath. She could talk the hind legs off a donkey. It wasn’t until after she’d hung up that I heard the end of that particular conversation.

So, what did you do?
Oh, no you don’t. You’ll have to read the book like everyone else to find out.

Chapel Springs Revival 
With a friend like Claire, you need a gurney, a mop, and a guardian angel.

Everybody in the small town of Chapel Springs, Georgia, knows best friends Claire and Patsy. It's impossible not to, what with Claire's zany antics and Patsy's self-appointed mission to keep her friend out of trouble. And trouble abounds. Chapel Springs has grown dilapidated and the tourist trade has slackened. With their livelihoods threatened, they join forces to revitalize the town. No one could have guessed the real issue needing restoration is their marriages. 

With their personal lives in as much disarray as the town, Claire and Patsy embark on a mission of mishaps and miscommunication, determined to restore warmth to Chapel Springs —and their lives. That is if they can convince their husbands and the town council, led by two curmudgeons who would prefer to see Chapel Springs left in the fifties and closed to traffic.

About Ane: 

While a large, floppy straw hat is her favorite, bestselling novelist Ane Mulligan has worn many: hairdresser, legislative affairs director (that's a fancy name for a lobbyist), drama director, playwright, humor columnist, and novelist. Her lifetime experience provides a plethora of fodder for her Southern-fried fiction. She firmly believes coffee and chocolate are two of the four major food groups. President of the award-winning literary site, Novel Rocket, Ane resides in Suwanee, GA, with her artist husband, her chef son, and two dogs of Biblical proportion. You can find Ane on her Southern-fried Fiction website, Google+, Facebook, Goodreads,Twitter, and Pinterest.