Sharing Tea with a Friend

While I didn't share my tea time yesterday on social media, I did share it with my lovely friend, Becky. It was a beautiful morning to sit on the porch and fellowship and catch up on life. The following quote is apropos–

“No matter what is happening in your life, you always offer tea.” 

– Clemantine Wamariya

Today, however, is solitary tea time and I just had to show y'all the gorgeous tea cup my friend gave me. Well, she gave me two but of course, I'm only using one :-)

"TA Made in Japan" is all it says on the bottom so I have no idea of a pattern but they are hand painted!!! The lusterware finish is spectacular!!! I LOVE them!!!

The I. Godinger teapot is another amazing gift from a friend. And the lusterware creamer belonged to my paternal great Aunt Florence. It was part of a tea set gifted to her as a wedding gift in 1921. 100 years ago!!! That's one of the things I love about most of my tea things; gifts with memories!

Take some time to slow down today and remember those you love and who love you. Say a prayer for them. We all need our names to be lifted up to our perfect Father in Heaven who can bring peace and stability to our lives.  

Early morning quiet time is essential to my day. How about you?

Review ~ Friendship Promises from (in)courage

Hardcover, 112 pages

Published February 1st 2019 by B Books

Friendship Promises is a meaningful gift book, for both the giver and the recipient. Sharing these encouraging words will help friends walk confidently toward a sweet, strong relationship grounded in honesty, kindness, and a devotion to God and one another. Featuring reflections about friendship from Never Unfriended by Lisa-Jo Baker, and Craving Connection from the (in)courage community, Friendship Promises combines beautiful graphics with devotional reflections, prayers, Scripture, and journaling prompts. By giving this lovely book, you are sharing your heart to be a friend that is authentic, present, encouraging, and rooted in Christ.

My Review

4 STARS!!!

Friendship Promises is a lovely pinkish colored linen cloth-on-board covered book with gold lettering containing short devotions, inspirational sayings, pretty graphics and images, and space to journal. It's a book best shared with a friend, letting her know her friendship is important and you are beside her for the long haul. It's isn't deep in theology but it is deep in (in)couragement. God wants us to inspire and strengthen our sisters-in Christ and let each other know we are not alone on this life and faith journey. I visited the (in)courage website and this group of women do friendship well!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and was under no obligation to post a positive review.

Review ~ Winning Miss Winthrop (Regency Brides: A Promise of Hope #1) by Carolyn Miller

Paperback, 320 pages

Expected publication: March 27th 2018 by Kregel Publications

Catherine Winthrop has cried out to God too many times to count. Years ago, the man who stole her heart rejected her--and she's never recovered. Now tragedy has brought him back into her life. This time it isn't her heart he's taking, it's her home and her family's good name--and she has no one to share her grief. 

Jonathan Carlew's life may look enviable from the outside--wealthy, handsome, landed--but the mystery surrounding his birth has shadowed his entire life. Now as he ascends to the barony, fresh challenges await, including a scheming mama who wants him to embrace power, even at the cost of losing love. How can he remain the kind, honorable man he strives to be and still meet the demands of his new society responsibilities? 

These two broken hearts must decide whether their painful past and bitter present will be all they can share, or if forgiveness can provide a path to freedom for the future. 

Set in the sumptuous salons of Bath, Regency England's royal breeding ground for gossip, Winning Miss Winthrop is the first volume in Carolyn Miller's new series. Fans of the wholesome and richly drawn first series won’t want to miss this new set of characters. 

Carolyn Miller lives in New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. A longtime lover of Regency romance, Carolyn's previous novels have won several contests, including the 2014 RWA "Touched by Love" and 2014 ACFW Gensis contests. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and My Book Therapy.

Purchase Links:

Amazon

CBD

My Review 

"...trials are merely opportunities for faith to grow."

Having fallen in love three years before, Mr. Carlew, a member of the merchant class with a questionable background, and Miss Winthrop, a baron’s daughter, were thwarted in their romance. Due to unanticipated circumstances, they are thrown in to close proximity. Indicative of classic Regency, copious misunderstandings persist between them. Will the interference of their mother’s cause them to remain estranged? Or will Jonathan and Catherine, through many trials, discover that loves flame has not been extinguished?

While I enjoyed this novel, my attention wandered. Jon and Catherine did not sizzle. And I’m a fan of more dialogue. I felt like I was hearing second hand about their past. But, it was delightful to see Lavinia and Nicholas from The Elusive Miss Ellison appearing throughout the book. Catching up on their life was a highlight for me. Catherine’s Aunt Drusilla and General Whitby are lovable characters that found a place in my heart.

Miller is a gifted writer who knows the Regency period. The descriptions of the unusual weather taking place were vivid, making me cringe at the thought of all that mud! The masquerade ball was most expressive, drawing me right into the scene. Undertones of Persuasion are recognizable which makes me positive historical fiction lovers and fans of Jane Austen will undoubtedly enjoy a few hours of escapism with Winning Miss Winthrop. I look forward to the next book in the series because Miller is more than proficient at conveying the Regency Era and all it entails, and it is my favorite historical period to read about.

I was provided an electronic copy of the book from the publisher through Netgalley. I was not obligated to write a review. No compensation has been received.

Just The Way You Are ~ Quotes & Quotables by Rebecca Maney + Review & Giveaway

Quotable Quotes Invade Britallachian by Rebecca Maney

“Gracious sakes. I’ve squished a grandpa.” What an opener! It’s no wonder that Pepper Basham’s newest release is an entertaining mix of quips and quotables!

Eisley Barrett, a “whirlwind of red haired clumsiness”, is on the trip of a lifetime, travelling to England to research a family genealogical mystery. She and her children have been deeply scarred after her failed marriage and she is no mood for attraction to the opposite sex. But alas! Upon meeting the very handsome son of her British host, Eilsey firmly lectures herself that, “I have used up my happily ever after  . . . . ”. 

Christopher Wesley Harrison’s charm is nearly impossible to resist, once his initial icy demeanor begins to thaw. “Would you be my friend, Eisley Barrett, of the Blue Ridge Mountains?”, for “Acting is my job, not who I am.”

In spite of Wesley’s star-studded aura, Eisley remains cautious with her heart, insisting that “she was grass stains and gravy. He was cashmere and caviar.” But this “knight and nightmare all wrapped up into one” was “great with kids, easy on the eyes and (offered) free labor? Sounds like an advertisement from a dating web site.” 

Full of inspirational truths such as, “fear will steal something beautiful if you let it”, “getting lost in the what-ifs steals your peace and future”, and “forgiveness takes a great deal of courage”; “Just the Way You Are” overflows with “snogging” in a closet-style romance . . . .surely, there is nothing a girl loves to hear more than . . . . 

“And I like everything I see, just the way you are.” 

Rebecca's Review
4 STARS!!!

"Gracious sakes. I've squished a grandpa."

Eisley Barrett has made a grand entrance, tripping over her own two feet in London's Heathrow International Airport, managing to land in a very unladylike position on top of Daniel Harrison; ironically, her gracious host during a long awaited venture into family history. Accompanying Mr. Harrison is his well-known son, Wesley, an actor whose torrid personal life has been splashed across the front pages of nearly every tabloid known to man, but conveniently never making it to Pleasant Gap, Virginia; Eisley's safe little corner of the world.

Christopher Wesley Harrison cannot imagine that the auburn haired beauty on his father's arm is as innocent as she seems. Every woman that crosses his path has an agenda, at least that is what he used to think, however there is something totally refreshing about this American single mom, who says what she thinks and apparently loses her footing in spite of her footwear choices. In fact, the more time that Wesley Harrison spends with Eisley Barrett, the more that he is convinced that his Lord above has finally humored his father's matchmaking schemes, aside from Eisley feeling like "she is grass stains and gravy. .. and he is cashmere and caviar", he is totally enamored with the woman.

Eisley doesn't know exactly what to think about Wesley Harrison, he just keeps showing up, acting interested in her traipse through an ancestral residence for clues about a generations-old mystery, wanting to know about her crazy family and acting like he sincerely wants to be her "friend". Friends are in the safe zone, aren't they? For Eisley's heart has been deeply scarred and her three young children need her to be realistic; she is not a princess in need of rescue by an English knight.

Honestly, this is one of the most entertaining books that I have ever read, with enough one-liners to fill the pages of an entire journal. Quite characteristically though, Pepper Basham has mixed her "happily-ever-after" positivism with just the right quantities of realism and truth, making the yummy "snogging in the closet" scenes as tasty as icing on a cake!

It was my privilege to receive a copy of this book from the author; the opinions are entirely my own.



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 nearly 28 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".

Stay tuned tomorrow for a character interview with Wes!

Giveaway:
Pepper Basham is offering one e-book to a follower of Stuff & Nonsense. 

YaY!!!

~~ Comments left on this post and the character interview post tomorrow will be combined and a winner chosen from comments left on both posts. ~~

Giveaway ends April 25th!!! Open Internationally!!!

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