COTT...Clash of the Titles

This week, Clash of the Titles is featuring five novels new to bookstore shelves. You don’t want to miss a single one! They’re already getting great reviews. Check them out on Amazon by clicking the cover images. You can also use the survey below to let us know which you’re most likely to read first. Which one is going to the top of your TBR pile?

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COWGIRL TRAIL by Susan Page Davis
Alex Bright is torn between supporting the cowboys who want to strike or the rancher who gave him his start. The boss’s beautiful daughter complicates matters when she organizes an all-woman outfit to replace the striking men.
 

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THE RESTORER’S SON by Sharon Hinck
Cast out by those he trusts and preferring to cross swords with the One rather than yield to His will, Kieran flees to enemy Hazor, only to find that the One knows no borders. Pursued by his calling, Kieran finds a boy without a home, a king with burning questions, and a nation torn by darkness.
 

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THE CHASE by DiAnn Mills
To FBI Special Agent Tigo Harris, it’s a cold case, but to writer Kariss Walker it’s a story that she has to write despite the danger.
 

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LEAVING LANCASTER by Kate Lloyd
When Holly Fisher’s mother reveals a long-kept secret, that Holly’s mother abandoned her Amish community where relatives still live, will Holly’s yearning for family be strong enough to overtake her conflicted feelings of betrayal? Set in the heart of contemporary Amish country, Leaving Lancaster explores the power of forgiveness, reconciliation, and love where least expected.
 

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THE IRISH HEALER by Nancy Herriman
Accused of murdering a child under her care, Irish healer Rachel Dunne flees the ensuing scandal while vowing to never sit at another sickbed. When a cholera epidemic sweeps through London, she feels compelled to nurse the dying daughter of the enigmatic physician she has come to love.
 

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Wounded Healer {Homeland Heroes Series #1} By Donna Fleisher

Book Description:  Flooded with panic, two words burst through Erin's mind: GET HELP. She ran for the door, but someone grabbed her, twisted her arm behind her. Erin's shriek was smothered by a cold, clammy hand. 'Shhh---' Breath tickled her ear---'Just take it easy. . . .' Surrounded by the oppressive sand, heat, and tension of Operation Desert Storm, soldiers Erin Grayson and Christina McIntyre shared a special bond. But when an ugly secret from Chris' past shattered their close friendship, they went their separate ways without even a goodbye. Four years have gone by since that day in the desert, but Chris has spent her entire life running from the past, hiding her deepest secrets from those who care for her most. And now tragedy has ripped apart her life. She sees no hope in tomorrow. It's a good day to die. . . . Overcoming her own anger and doubt, Erin rushes to Chris' Colorado cabin. When Chris' fear of God and Erin's faith in Him collide, they are involved in a different kind of war that only one of them can win. As Chris wrestles with grief, fear, and ghosts from the past, Erin fights to pull her from the brink of self-destruction. She will not lose Chris again. Chris' life is at stake . . . as well as her soul.

My Review:  Two best friends and a war that bonded them.  Chris and Erin seem like opposites but yet these two best friends help each other through some rough times.  

Reading about women in Desert Storm was a lot different than reading about men in a war.  

Chris and Erin parted ways in a scene with no goodbyes.  But with no one else to turn to in a time of crisis...Chris runs to her friend, Erin, in Colorado.

Chris seems to panic quite a bit and I think that Ms. Fleisher is trying to show the reader that when one doesn't believe in God and trust in Him then there seems to be no hope. . . no help.  It's brings to mind that little saying:  "No God, No Peace.  Know God, Know Peace."

Now, Erin on the other hand, shows faith and tries to get Chris interested in God's ways not just her own strength.

Sometimes it takes a crisis for some people to turn to God...this seems to be the way for Chris.

An interesting, fast paced, fiction read about faith, friendship and feelings.

*This book was provided by Zondervan*

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
• Paperback: 310 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (June 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310263948
• ISBN-13: 978-0310263944

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday} Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Icing

A true crowd pleasing dessert....just in time for Father's Day!

Ingredients

• CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE:
• 3 sticks margarine or butter
• 3 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 Cup sugar
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa
• 5 Eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 3Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 Cups Milk
• GLAZE:
• 1 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 7 Tablespons Milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoon Shortening
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons Margarine
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour bundt pan, set aside. Cream butter in large mixing bowl. Add sugar, beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In separate bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Measure milk and stir vanilla into it. Add milk and dry ingredients alternately, mixing after each addition. Pour into pan and bake for one hour and twenty minutes. Let cool for ten minutes before removing from pan and allowing to cool completely before adding glaze.
2. For glaze, Combine sugar, cocoa, milk, shortening, margarine, and salt in heavy saucepan. Bring to a rolling , stirring constantly. Once it reaches a boil, allow to boil without stirring for two minutes, no more. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stirr until cooled just slightly. Spoon over cooled cake.

Flame of Resistance by Tracy Groot

Book Description:  Years of Nazi occupation have stolen much from Brigitte Durand. Family. Freedom. Hope for a future, especially for a woman with a past like hers. But that changes the day American fighter pilot Tom Jaeger is shot down over occupied France. 

Picked up by the Resistance, Tom becomes the linchpin in their plan to infiltrate a Germans-only brothel and get critical intel out through Brigitte, a prostitute rumored to be sympathetic to the Allied cause.D-day looms and everyone knows that invasion is imminent. But so is treachery, and the life of one American pilot unexpectedly jeopardizes everything. He becomes more important than the mission to a man who cannot bear to lose another agent and to a woman who is more than just a prostitute, who finally realizes that her actions could change the course of history.

My Review:  Flame of Resistance by Tracy Groot is one of those reads that just begs to be read slowly and with much thought...not a quick-race-to -the-finish read!

If you're familiar with your Bible readings then you'll know that Rahab was woman of the night but yet she saved many by not just following her heart but following God.  Brigitte is somewhat like Rahab.  The Nazi's in all of their cruel and unusual power play have taken her hope, her family and her freedom.  But she sees can see past all her hurt and her disappointments to help save others....changing the course of history!

This read is a real tear jerker.  {Have kleenexes, will cry!}  

This read is all about the French Resistance.  Love this quote at the beginning of the beginning of the book, "Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished." -Charles De Gaulle.  There are people, like Madame Bouvier, who placed signs in their shop windows that they would not serve Jews because to all outward appearances they seemed in step with the Nazis but their hearts were not.  So, they saved countless Jews behind the enemies backs.

Now, Clemmie, the grandmotherly woman helps all who cross her path.  She is a kind, sweet heart of lady.  Her beliefs are put to the test and yes, her story will make you cry.

The characters in this book could have stepped out of history bringing their stories and adventures to us through faith and sometimes selflessness.  Of course, not all the people were kind and selfless.  There were some who fought not to lose all they had acquired.  These people lost more than worldly goods.

A powerful read!  If you love historical reads filled with faith then this is the book for you!

*This book was provided for review by Tyndale House Publishers*

Meet the Author:

Tracy began her writing career at age 8 by starting stories and never finishing them. She finished them only under duress for school. In school, she wrote stories and collected a few writing awards and had an idea she'd be a writer when she grew up, but funny thing happened on the way to college: she became a Christian. She then had a misguided notion she had to swap writing for this new life she was grateful for, so she threw out the stories and went on with Life.
One day, our hero (Tracy) was working as an accounts payable clerk in a big corporation. She wrote and circulated office memos because they were more interesting than data entry. She had an epiphany: she'd rather write. She finally got it into her brain that God was not a sicko meanie-head and gave her the desire to write for a reason. She got the heck out of Dodge, and landed a job writing radio commercials.
Tracy wrote commercials for a year, quit to have a baby, and didn't return to the writing job because by then she'd gone past fetching back into the kind of writing she really wanted to do: books. She didn't buy it when a famous writer said to her face that she'd first have to write magazine articles to pay the price for writing books. She lied politely and said she'd get right on it, but once the famous writer was gone she took to her computer and wrote what she wanted, not stupid articles.
Tracy heard of a writing conference nearby, the Calvin College Festival of Faith and Writing. Without a clue for what she was doing-and she's discovered since then that clueless works if you're persistent-she threw together 3 chapters and a synopsis, signed up to talk to a few editors, and sold her first books, two young adult novels in a series called, Casey and the Classifieds. The books did okay for a few years. Then they went out of print, a stupefying notion that never occurred to Tracy. But Tracy wants to think she's like a particular Rich Mullins lyric, shaken forward and shaken free, so she didn't let it get her down and went looking for other stuff to write.

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers (May 18, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414359470
• ISBN-13: 978-1414359472

COTT....Clash of the Titles

**Guest post by Michelle Massaro

In the recent Leading Ladies Clash, Life on the Edge by Jennifer Comeaux and High Desert Haven by Lynnette Bonner  went into the ring on Clash of the Titles.

After the public vote, the winning title was…

HIGH DESERT HAVEN by Lynnette Bonner!!

We’re happy to announce that High Desert Haven has been added to the list of COTT Champ titles!

And we also want to extend our congratulations to the author. I’m sure we’re all eager to add this book to our summer to-be-read pile!

In response to her win, author Lynnette Bonner said:
It was an honor just to have been chosen as a clasher, in the first place, and then to have won… wow, I’m totally blessed by that. I’m still fairly new at this, and putting my stories out to the public is, to say the least, a daunting experience. So every little bit of encouragement and affirmation gets tucked away for days ahead when I will need to draw strength from them. I so appreciate COTT for giving me this opportunity to interact and connect with their readers.

Some of the comments left by readers were:

• Great job!!
• Both excerpts make me want to read the rest of the story. It was hard to choose!
• I think they both did a good job of presenting their books.
• Both leading ladies were believable and presented with
  skill.
• Looks like a whole lotta fun!
• I found it very hard to select only ONE excerpt. They were both great! Keep up the great work!
• Both excerpts have great leads! Would like to read both
  books!

Curious to read the winning excerpt? You can read both contenders’ entries here.

An interview with the winning author can be found here.

Want to congratulate the author? Leave a message in the comments.

Have a question about future Clashes on COTT? Email them at contactCOTT@gmail.com.

Thank you! 

**Michelle Massaro is the Assistant Editor for Clash of the Titles, a mother of four, and a wife of nearly 17 years. She bakes, crochets, cross-stitches, sings, writes, and cries during movies. She champions for Biblical authority, leads a Jr. High girls’ Bible study, and plays a mean game of backgammon. She spends way too much time on the computer, but makes it up to her family (she hopes) with prayer coverings and chocolate chip cookies. The best place to connect with her is on Facebook, naturally.

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