Author Interview -- Angela Ruth Strong + Giveaway -- A Cuppa Trouble, A CafFUNated Mystery Giveaway

 

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour & Giveaway for A Cuppa Trouble by Angela Ruth Strong, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

Hey Angela!!! I am so excited to host you today and share about you and your books.  Tell us a little about yourself and your newest book.

A Cuppa Trouble is a murder mystery set at Valentine’s, so not only are my characters in danger, but so are their love lives. I had fun with this, bringing Tandy’s ex back to town and putting her in a love triangle when Marissa is the one used to getting all the male attention. To make matters worse, Tandy’s ex is a suspect, and she doesn’t know if he really cares for her or is simply trying to distract her from her sleuthing. And all this happens at the same time they are supposed to be holding a grand opening for their new coffee shop/tea house.

As my editor put it, I stepped on the gas 1/3 of the way into the book and don’t let off until the end. It’s one wild ride.

It’s the age of super heroes, right?! What is your writing Kryptonite?

I’m a procrastinator. If I didn’t have deadlines, I would get nothing done. When I get close to a deadline, I warn my family, “I have to finish my book this month, so I’m not going to make any sense when I talk.” They actually really enjoy this. Especially when I randomly say things like, “I’m adopted,” which I’m not, or, “Let the horses in” when I meant the dogs.

I have to say your FB page is one of the most fun sites on social media! You and your husband crack me up when y’all sing Karaoke. He seems like a great sport and totally behind your writing gig. Do you base any of your heroes on him? 

All of them! Not only can the man sing, he went to school for art, he rides a motorcycle, he plays sports, he works in IT, he trained to be a firefighter, he’s been a surfer, and he grew up on a ranch. He’s every hero out there all rolled into one.

And he’s definitely supportive of my writing, though, to be honest, writers do not make the best heroines. Especially when I’m not making any sense when I talk. So that’s his most heroic quality—putting up with me. (We won’t mention my karaoke skills.)

I’ve heard a few authors say they don’t have much time to read because they’re so busy writing. If you have time to read, what do enjoy the most? Historical or contemporary? And who might a must-read author be for you?

I prefer contemporary, though split timelines are intriguing. If I read historical, it’s usually Deeanne Gist, since she’s got both heart and humor as well as unique storylines. I try lots of new authors, so my must-reads are savored like dessert. I don’t read them right when they come out. I wait for special occasions. Becky Wade and Denise Hunter are the first that come to mind. Terri Blackstock is my new favorite. My hubby and I listened to Catching Christmas together during Christmas vacation, and he got into it too.

Summer is almost here so what’s something fun for tourists to do in your neck of the woods? 

We live in Idaho, which has some great whitewater rafting. My husband’s coworkers own rafts and go every Wednesday after work, so we join them sometimes. My debut novel, Love Finds You in Sun Valley, involved a rafting guide and came out when Jim and I were dating, so he read it and gave me pointers. Sun Valley is probably more well known for their snow skiing. They had the very first chairlift, and people come from all over the world to ski there.

How was your trip to London? Is there one thing you wish you would have had time to do that you didn’t get to?

There’s no possible way to do everything London and Paris have to offer. We had an amazing time, despite disappointments.

1. There was no changing of the guard because Trump was in town and they’d ramped up security.

      2. Big Ben was under construction, so we didn’t see it in all its glory.

      3.  We didn’t get to see the Mona Lisa because the room it’s displayed in was restricted for renovation.  

      4. It was too windy to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, so we only climbed to the second floor.

      

      I guess that just means I’ll have to go back! Also, I’m planning a writing retreat for Scotland next year if anyone is interested. Join my newsletter or facebook to keep updated on that info.

Last but not least, share with us where readers can connect with you.

You can sign up for my weekly newsletter at www.angelaruthstong.com. As mentioned before, I have a lot of fun on facebook, so you can just come hang out or help me plot novels and give feedback at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1557213161269220/.

There’s also twitter https://twitter.com/AngelaRStrong and instagram https://www.instagram.com/ang_strong/ though they just get the leftover scraps from facebook.

Thanks again for being on Stuff & Nonsense today, Angela! Your stories are always a breath of fresh air in my reading world. J

Thanks for having me! I feel like I fit right in with stuff and nonsense. 😉

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: A Cuppa Trouble 

Series: The CafFUNated Mysteries #2 

Author: Angela Ruth Strong  

Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink 

Release Date: July 1, 2019  

Genre: Inspirational Cozy Mystery

Can a couple of baristas chase down a car thief without spilling a drop of their favorite drinks?

Plans for a Valentine's Day grand opening of a small town coffee shop go awry when the first customer is killed. Evidence points toward the victim being mixed up in a car theft ring, but shop owners Tandy and Marissa have reason to believe he was framed.

An assortment of suspects--from a pink-haired heir to Tandy's charming ex--all seem to know a little too much about grand theft auto.

Without approval from either their boyfriends or the gum-chewing FBI agent in charge, the shop owners go on stakeouts, plan stings, and pursue justice in a high-speed car chase. If they don't find the killer soon, it might be more than their love lives in trouble.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Angela Ruth Strong sold her first Christian romance novel in 2009 then quit writing romance when her husband left her. Ten years later, God has shown her the true meaning of love, and there's nothing else she'd rather write about. Her books have since earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been optioned for film, won the Cascade Award, and been Amazon best-sellers. She also writes non-fiction for SpiritLed Woman. To help aspiring authors, she started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho, and she teaches as an expert online at WRITE THAT BOOK.  

CONNECT WITH ANGELA: Website | Facebook | Twitter

---

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a "Coffee is like Sherlock Holmes" mug, "Drink Coffee & Do Good" sign (painted with coffee by author's cover designer), $25 Starbucks Gift Card & "Drink Coffee, and Read Books & Be Happy" tote.

Full tour schedule shown below. Giveaway will begin at midnight June 24, 2019 and last through 11:59 PM EST on July 1, 2019. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

---

 

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

 

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

WINNER!!!

~ALISON BOSS~

You won the paperback copy of A Song Unheard by Roseanna White!!!

I sent you an email on June 18 and have not heard from you yet. Please respond within the next 24 hours or another winner will be chosen.

Review ~ More Than Words Can Say (Patchwork Family #2) by Karen Witemeyer

Paperback, 384 pages

Published June 4th 2019 by Bethany House Publishers 

After fulfilling a pledge to a dying friend, Zacharias Hamilton is finally free. No family entanglements. No disappointing those around him. Just the quiet bachelor existence he's always craved. Until fate snatches his freedom away when the baker of his favorite breakfast bun is railroaded by the city council. Despite not wanting to get involved, he can't turn a blind eye to her predicament . . . or her adorable dimples.

Abigail Kemp needs a man's name on her bakery's deed. A marriage of convenience seems the best solution . . . if it involves a man she can control. That person definitely isn't the stoic lumberman who oozes silent confidence whenever he enters her shop. Control Zacharias Hamilton? She can't even control her pulse when she's around him.

When vows are spoken, Abigail's troubles should be over. Yet threats to the bakery worsen, and darker dangers hound her sister. Can she put ever more trust in Zach without losing her dreams of independence?

More about the author here.

READ an excerpt here.

Purchase Link:
Amazon
CBD 
I am NOT affiliated with any vendors. Links are for your convenience only. 

My Review

5 STARS!!!

‘He wanted to throw open the cellar door and let all his secrets escape so her light could shine into his dark places. Yet at the same time, he wanted to padlock that door shut and never risk her disappointment.’

Zach's past and his struggle in the present really touched me. I cried through one particular scene. Witemeyer really makes the characters come alive on the page. More Than Words Can Say might be one of the most descriptive books I’ve read so far this year. I mean listen to this:

‘This wasn’t how the evening was supposed to go. He and Abby were supposed to be sitting on a blanket by the creek, eating fancy hotel food, and sharing kisses. Not standing in the middle of an emotional briar patch, confessing secrets that held the power to destroy everything they’d built.

Yet in the midst of that poisonous bramble, a gentle hand alit on his arm, and his barbed surroundings retracted some of their thorns.’

Wow. An emotional briar patch. Can’t you just see it? All those ‘thorns’ (lies from the enemy) poking and prodding and drawing blood? How many of us can relate to this?? I’m telling you, Witemeyer has outdone herself with this story. And the scene doesn’t stop there. It gets even better because once the truth comes out then Abby has a choice of how to respond, either with condemnation or gentleness, just like we have that same choice when someone shares deep pain with us.

I highly recommend reading both books so you get the full measure of Zach and his beautiful patchwork family! More Than Words Can Say is a fantastic story filled with drama, wit, and love. Fans of historical fiction with a strong redemptive theme will enjoy this book. 

I received a copy of the book from the publisher. I was under no obligation to write a positive review. No compensation has been received.

Rebecca Reviews ~ The Number of Love (The Codebreakers #1) by Roseanna White + Giveaway of A Song Unheard (print AND Kindle)

Paperback, 368 pages

Published June 4th 2019 by Bethany House Publishers

Three years into the Great War, England’s greatest asset is their intelligence network—field agents risking their lives to gather information, and codebreakers able to crack every German telegram. Margot De Wilde thrives in the environment of the secretive Room 40, where she spends her days deciphering intercepted messages. But when her world is turned upside down by an unexpected loss, for the first time in her life numbers aren’t enough.

Drake Elton returns wounded from the field, followed by an enemy that just won’t give up. He’s smitten quickly by the too-intelligent Margot, but how to convince a girl who lives entirely in her mind that sometimes life’s answers lie in the heart?

Amidst biological warfare, encrypted letters, and a German spy who wants to destroy not just them, but others they love, Margot and Drake will have to work together to save them all from the very secrets that brought them together. 

Learn more about Roseanna and her books on her blog, Writing Roseanna.

Rebecca's Review

5 STARS!!!

"The numbers marched across the page in a glory all their own." 

Margot De Wilde stays quite busy using her prodigious mathematical prowess to aid England's intelligence network at its highest level; in short, Margot is a codebreaker. She would rather calculate the number of bricks used to construct a building, than bat her eyes in flirtation; thus keeping her male counterparts in Room 40 at a comfortable distance. That is until one day, when Lieutenant Drake Elton barged into her private conversation of numbers and popped just the right question, "Have you a name?"

Drake Elton cannot forget the girl without a name, whose dark eyes pervade his memory through-out the hours of his dangerous days and nights. When his own service as an intelligence agent is interrupted by a life threatening injury, Drake returns home to England to recuperate and discovers the enigmatic Margot De Wilde once again; this time at the side of his hospital bed, in the shadow of his beloved sister. Unfortunately, all is not fair in love and war as pundits would have us to believe, for there are some puzzles that seem impossible to solve, or perhaps it's just a matter of asking the right question.

"Three, nine, twenty-seven, eighty-one . . . Eighteen. Eighteen. Eighteen." The number of love.

Outstanding hardly seems adequate to describe the manner in which Roseanna White has brought these characters to life!

I received a copy of this book from the author and publisher. The opinions stated above are entirely my own. 

Senior Reviewer, Rebecca Maney

Rebecca is a graduate of Bryan College with a degree in Christian Education, and is currently serving at the First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, North Carolina as the Director of Children's Ministry. With over 30 years of experience in her field, she has had many opportunities to use her love of reading and writing in creative ways across the generations. A wife, mother of four "nearly" grown children, and grandmother to four beautiful grandchildren, Rebecca has been able to return to her love of reading and more recently reviewing, with a renewed passion for the "beauty of story".

Here's a bonus for anyone who has read to the end!

Margot De Wilde was introduced  as a secondary character in 

A Song Unheard (Shadows Over England Book 2) by Roseanna White. 

Rebecca has purchased a copy of A Song Unheard for GIVEAWAY!!!

Giveaway Instructions

1) You must follow the blog through GFC in the right sidebar >>>

2) You must leave a comment telling us what you enjoy most about historical fiction, especially books that take place during 'The Great War'. 

3) You must leave an email address in a non-spammy format
(jane at here dot com) so you can be contacted if you win.
No email. No entry.  (Unless I know you really well!!) I won't chase you down. :-)

US Only (48 contiguous states) because postage is a bear!

Winner will be drawn on June 18th.

REMEMBER: This GIVEAWAY is for a print copy of 
A Song Unheard (Shadows Over England #2)...NOT The Number of Love!!

BONUS GIVEAWAY!!!!

I bought a Kindle copy of A SONG UNHEARD for any international blog follower!!!!
Just leave a comment like the others but include what country you are in!!! 


~Happy Reading~

Review ~ The Noble Guardian (The Bow Street Runners #3) by Michelle Griep

Published June 1st 2019 by Shiloh Run Press

The must-read conclusion to Michelle Griep’s Bow Street Runners Trilogy: Life couldn’t be better for Abigail Gilbert—but it’s been a long time coming. Having lived with a family who hated her, love is finally within reach. Abby sets off on a journey across England to marry one of the most prestigious gentleman bachelors in the land—until highwaymen upset her plans and threaten her life.

Horse patrol captain Samuel Thatcher arrives just in time to save Abby. But to him she’s simply another victim in a job he’s come to despise. Tired of the dark side of humanity, he intends to buy land and retire.

Abby pleads with him to escort her on the rest of her journey. He refuses until she offers him the thing he desperately needs to achieve his goal: money. Delivering her safely will earn him more than enough to settle into a quiet life.

So begins an impossible trek for the cynical lawman and the proper lady. Each will be indelibly changed by the time they reach her betrothed, if they don’t kill one another first—or fall in love.

Purchase:

Amazon

CBD 

I am NOT affiliated with any of these vendors. Links are for your convenience only. 

My Review

4.5 STARS!!!

Talk about tall, dark, and dangerous…Samuel Thatcher deserves his own hashtag! Years of hunting down marauders have left indelible marks on Samuel, literally and figuratively. His goal is to earn enough to leave the Bow Street Runners and buy a piece of farmland, retiring to a life of solitude. He’s seen and done too many horrible things to ever hope for love.

Abigail Gilbert lives a pitiful life among a step mother and step sisters who despise her, and a father who is only looking to wed her off so he can go about his business with his ‘new’ family. He sends Abby away to join her fiancé, the supposedly upstanding and wealthy Sir Jonathan Aberley of Brakewell Hall. With no protection provided by her father, Abby, her maid, and driver must cross through dangerous territory, rife with thieves and the murderous Shankhart Robbins.

Due to unexpected circumstances, Samuel agrees to protect and deliver Abby to Sir Jonathan. Along the way they face much adversity and danger, bringing a level of complexity to their relationship neither one expected and opening each to the heart of the other. This story delves deep into restoration through Christ alone and offers hope to the most bone weary and burdened soul.

With an assemblage of some pretty amazing supporting characters, The Noble Guardian is a fine finish to Griep’s Bow Street Runners series. This is one for the keeper shelf that I highly recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

Review ~ No Ocean Too Wide by Carrie Turansky

COMING JUNE 25th!!!

Paperback, 368 pages

Expected publication: June 25th 2019 by Multnomah Books 

Between the years of 1869 to 1939 more than 100,000 poor British children were sent across the ocean to Canada with the promise of a better life. Those who took them in to work as farm laborers or household servants were told they were orphans–but was that the truth?

After the tragic loss of their father, the McAlister family is living at the edge of the poorhouse in London in 1908, leaving their mother to scrape by for her three younger children, while oldest daughter, Laura, works on a large estate more than an hour away. When Edna McAlister falls gravely ill and is hospitalized, twins Katie and Garth and eight-year-old Grace are forced into an orphans’ home before Laura is notified about her family’s unfortunate turn of events in London. With hundreds of British children sent on ships to Canada, whether truly orphans or not, Laura knows she must act quickly. But finding her siblings and taking care of her family may cost her everything.

Andrew Fraser, a wealthy young British lawyer and heir to the estate where Laura is in service, discovers that this common practice of finding new homes for penniless children might not be all that it seems. Together Laura and Andrew form an unlikely partnership. Will they arrive in time? Will their friendship blossom into something more?

Inspired by true events, this moving novel follows Laura as she seeks to reunite her family and her siblings who, in their darkest hours, must cling to the words from Isaiah: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God”.

Pre-order:

Amazon 

CBD

I am NOT affiliated with any of these vendors. Links are for your convenience only. 

My Review

4 STARS!!!

No Ocean Too Wide is a gripping story about the British Home Children, some of whom were separated from their families by mistake. It tells the tale of a sister’s love and determination to find her three siblings after they’ve been sent to Canada. It’s truly heart wrenching what happened to one of the children and brings to light all of the pitfalls associated with ‘foster’ care before regulation and oversight really came into being. I found myself appalled and yet sadly not surprised by some of the scenarios so vividly described. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for those who suffered such unconscionable treatment.

Laura McAlister and Andrew Fraser are willing to fight the system in order to bring restoration to the McAlister family and so many others. Their romance brings joy and light to the story and is well done. But then I expect nothing less from this author. :)

I highly recommend No Ocean Too Wide to enthusiasts of historical fiction, especially those who like it based on actual events. I received a copy of the book from the publisher. I was under no obligation to write a positive review. No compensation has been received.

~Happy Reading~