Where Two Hearts Meet by Carrie Turansky ~ FREE on Kindle!!!

I read these tea shop novellas and absolutely loved them!

In fact, I've read most of Carrie's books and enjoyed every single one. Of course, it's always best to settle in with a hot cuppa tea, cocoa or coffee, and a snuggly warm blanket if it's cold weather. You'll want to get nice and comfortable because it will be hard to tear yourself away from these sweet stories! ;)

If you aren't familiar with her work, I encourage you to grab your copy of these two novellas (in one collection) that are available FREE on Kindle!

Kindle Edition, 139 pages

Published April 6th 2014 by Flowing Stream Books

Two Sisters, Two Heartwarming Romance novellas

There’s no better place for romance, forgiveness, and second chances than the Sweet Something Teashop.

Tea For Two

Allison Bennett, co-owner of a financially strapped teashop in Princeton, New Jersey, receives a large anonymous check that saves her business. But she has no idea who sent it. Could it be from Peter Hillinger, the wealthy businessman who owns the shop next door and wants to win Allison’s heart? Or is it from Tyler Lawrence, Allison’s old boyfriend, who returns to town claiming a renewed faith and a changed life. Allison doesn’t know whom to trust. Should she follow her head or heart, or is there Someone else who can guide her toward the best path for her future?

Wherever Love Takes Us

After twenty-five years of marriage, Matt and Tessa Malone are struggling to recover financially and rebuild trust following a business failure. Then Matt inherits property in Oregon, and he wants to move the family there to make a fresh start. But Tessa can’t imagine giving up the cozy teashop she co-owns with her sister, or leaving her friends and family in Princeton. Whose dream will they follow, and how much will it cost their family? Can they resolve their differences and rebuild a love that seems lost?

Tea for Two was originally published in Kiss the Bride, and Wherever Love Takes Us was originally published in Wedded Bliss. These two novellas have been expanded, updated, and put together in one book.

You can get your copy FREE on KINDLE!

Always be sure and check the price before you buy! 

I do believe this special ends on Oct 25th! 

Click here for a direct link to Amazon. 

 CARRIE TURANSKY is an award-winning author of thirteen novels and novellas. She has been the winner of the ACFW Carol Award, the Crystal Globe Award, and the International Digital Award, and a finalist for the Inspirational Readers Choice Award and The ACFW Carol Awards and Genesis Contest. She has written contemporary and historical romance, women's fiction, short stories, articles, and devotionals. She lives in central New Jersey with her husband, Scott, who is a pastor, counselor and the author of several parenting books. They have five adult children, whom Carrie homeschooled, and three grandchildren. 

Visit Carrie's website to read more about her and her books.
http://carrieturansky.com/

Connect with Carrie on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

Stay tuned for her next Edwardian book, Shine Like the Dawn, coming in Feb 2017!

In Edwardian England . . . Can the light of faith and love out shine the darkness of doubt and family secrets?
 
Maggie Lounsbury lost her parents in a boating accident when she was seventeen. Those she trusted, including her friend Nate Harcourt and his family, seemed to turn their back on her in her time of need, and she hardened her heart against them. Four years later she finds her father’s journal, and what she reads there makes her suspect their deaths might not have been an accident. Maggie sets off on a search to learn the truth and see that justice is carried out for those she loved and lost, even if it means the Harcourts will have to pay the price.

When Nate Harcourt hears his father is dying he returns to Morningside Manor, his family’s estate in Northumberland, to try and make amends. As the only son and heir, he inherits his father’s property and business interests at Clifton Engineering. Hoping to fulfill his father’s dying request, he seeks out Maggie to pay off a debt owed to her late father, but Maggie doesn’t trust Nate and refuses to accept the money or any help from him or his family.

Will Maggie overcome her distrust, reconnect with Nate, and find the answers she is seeking? Can she learn the value of mercy as well as justice? Will she open her heart to faith and take hold of trust and love again?

Visit and follow Carrie's Shine Like the Dawn Pinterest board to see characters, the setting, and inspiration for the story.
 

~Happy Reading~

Rebecca Reviews ~ Such a Hope (Paths of Grace Book 1) by Sondra Kraak

Kindle Edition, 333 pages

Published October 18th 2016 by Trail House Publishers 

 

Washington Territory, 1871

Anna Warren grew up on the seat of a wagon, the daughter of Seattle's busiest freighter. After her father’s death—a tragedy away from home—she returns to their cabin on the outskirts of Seattle, seeking the sense of belonging that eluded her childhood. But will her desire to pray for miraculous healing for the sick and wounded endear or alienate her to the community? Her most aggravating challenger is also her staunchest defender and has brown hair and eyes, stands six feet tall, and farms with unchecked tenacity. Tristan Porter. This farmer her father had befriended holds more secrets than Yesler’s Mill holds logs.

When ugly rumors arise about her spiritual gift and her property, Anna fears her quest to find belonging will be thwarted.

Tristan holds the truth to set her free, but revealing it will require him to face the disappointments of his past and surrender his plans for the future—a sacrifice he’s not sure he can make. 

 

A native of Washington State, Sondra Kraak grew up playing in the rain, hammering out Chopin at the piano, and running up and down the basketball court. Now settled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, she enjoys spending time with her husband and children, blogging about spiritual truths, and writing historical romance set in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She delights in sharing stories that not only entertain, but nourish the soul. Her debut novel, One Plus One Equals Trouble, was a Genesis semi-finalist (2015) and the winner of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference Unpublished Women’s Fiction Award (2015).

 : : :

Rebecca's Review

5 STARS!!!

"It's not healing. It's not prayer. It's yourself. Your spirit, a spirit filled with His Spirit."

The young, recently orphaned Anna Warren has come home, home to Seattle where she and her father spent their life as freighters; hauling, talking, communing with God, barely belonging to the local community. Upon arrival she discovers that her property has been occasionally "borrowed" by a neighboring farmer, a protégé of her father, a talented agriculturalist who has great vision for educating area farmers through the local university. With Anna? His demeanor could only be described as surly, severe and at times, protective.

Anna's relationship with God is unique, in that she is often called to pray for those who need divine healing. Almost immediately that calling is put to the test, when two men vie for her attention; one desiring to capitalize on her supposed giftedness, the other despising everything that it stands for. And then there are the rumors, rumors that her inheritance may not be as certain as she thinks.

"When God moves beyond understanding things get uncomfortable. It was(is) safer to hide from intimacy, than consider God might be closer than one expects."

Tristan Porter is haunted by his past; death a constant specter and his relationship with Anna's father a curious blessing which took an unexpected turn. Anna is a lovely enigma, with her humble spirit, deep faith, and certainty in a God who answers prayer. Unfortunately, it has been Tristan's long held opinion that God never answers prayers. And there are others in the community who feel very strongly that Anna should not be encouraging false hopes of healing; folks who have the capacity to ruin her fragile reputation.

Reading "Such a Hope" is comparable to sitting in the audience of a fine music hall, relishing the music of a perfectly tuned orchestra, surrounded by music that is deep, resonant and enduring. The spiritual implications are profound, and the miracles of grace, healing, and forgiveness self-evident. Beautiful, captivating, and inspiring all characterize this story by the very talented Sondra Kraak.

I received 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".

~Happy Reading~

 

The Cautious Maiden by Dawn Crandall ~ Book Tour + Giveaway + Review

 "THIS BOOK. THIS HERO. THE HAIR PINNING SCENE. THAT KISS. Still. Have. Not. Recovered. I may never. And that’s perfectly fine with me." 

~Carrie Schmidt, Reading is My SuperPower

Paperback, 304 pages

Published October 4th 2016 by Whitaker House (first published 2016)

Violet Hawthorne is beyond mortified when her brother Ezra turns their deceased parents' New England country inn into a brothel to accommodate the nearby lumberjacks; but when Violet's own reputation is compromised, the inn becomes the least of her worries. In an effort to salvage her good name, Violet is forced into an engagement with a taciturn acquaintance; Vance Everstone. As she prepares for a society wedding, Violet learns that her brother had staked her hand in marriage in a heated poker game with the unsavory Rowen Steele, and Ezra had lost. Now Rowen is determined to cash in on his IOU. With danger stalking her and a new fiance who hides both his emotion and his past, Violet must decide who to trust and who to leave behind.

Dawn Crandall is an ACFW Carol Award-nominated author of the award-winning series The Everstone Chronicles, which currently consists of The Hesitant Heiress, The Bound Heart, and The Captive Imposter. The Cautious Maiden is her fourth book.

Apart from writing, Dawn is also a mom of two little ones and serves with her husband in a premarital mentorship program at their local church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

A graduate of Taylor University with a degree in Christian Education and a former bookseller at Barnes & Noble, Dawn Crandall didn’t begin writing until 2010 when her husband found out about her long-buried dream. It didn’t take her long to realize that writing books was what she was made to do.

Dawn is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the secretary for the Indiana ACFW Chapter (Hoosier Ink), and an associate member of the Great Lakes ACFW Chapter.

Dawn is graciously giving away two prize packs!!!

Enter the Rafflecopter GIVEAWAY for an opportunity to win one of these gorgeous prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Rebecca's Review

4 STARS!!!

"Do you have something against falling in love, or have you simply never felt strongly enough to understand what it's like?(Violet) . . . . No, I have never been in love, though I have done plenty of despicable things in its name." (Vance) 

Violet Hawthorne has always been cautious around men. Tragically, her honorable reputation dramatically shifts when she becomes the victim of a humiliating act and is comforted by a man whom she has long tried to avoid. Unknown to Violet, her brother has recklessly gambled away her future during a poker game, while an anonymous benefactor valiantly, but unsuccessfully, attempted to pay off her debt.

"Thy power and Thine alone, can change the leper's spots and melt the heart of stone .. . and melt the heart of stone . .. and melt the heart of stone." ~Hymn, Jesus Paid It All

Vance Everstone regrets his sordid past, a recent conversion to Christ has transformed his life; melting his heart of stone, for "Jesus Paid it All". Fascinated by the lovely Violet Hawthorne, Vance longs to protect her from evil forces far stronger than she can imagine. When the unlikely couple is forced into a hasty betrothal, both wonder if their marriage can survive undeclared love amidst such suffocating circumstances. Fortunately, attraction has bloomed, but will it be enough, for this fragile relationship may tragically disintegrate, before it even gets started.

"...it hasn't been me doing the changing at all - only receiving the blessings of the change Christ has been doing in me." ~from Vance's testimony
 
Readers of the "Everstone Chronicles" will truly enjoy this outstanding addition to the series, for "The Cautious Maiden" displays author Dawn Crandall at her finest!

 I was provided a free copy of this book. All opinions are 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".

~Happy Reading~

Review ~ Her One and Only (Porter Family #4) by Becky Wade

Paperback, 368 pages

Published May 3rd 2016 by Bethany House Publishers 

Gray Fowler, star NFL tight end, is being pursued by a stalker, so his team hires a protection agency to keep Gray under the watch of a bodyguard at all times. When Gray meets Dru Porter, an agent assigned to him, he's indignant. How can an attractive young female half his size possibly protect him? 

But Dru's a former Marine, an expert markswoman, and a black belt. She's also ferociously determined to uncover the identity of Gray's stalker. And she's just as determined to avoid any kind of romantic attachment between herself and the rugged football player with the mysterious past. But the closer they get to finding the stalker, the closer they grow to each other. As the danger rises, can Dru and Gray entrust their hearts--and their lives--to one another?

: : : 

Anne's Review 

3 STARS

Dru Porter is a personal protection agent who became too emotionally attached to her last assignment and is determined not to let that happen again. NFL superstar Gray Fowler sees his new bodyguard as another gorgeous woman to be conquered. You can imagine what kind of sparks are going to fly!

Dru’s character is intriguing, especially since she is a former Marine. She's always trying to prove herself so it’s interesting to see how her family dynamics work with three older brothers. Gray Fowler is a complex character. He’s a chauvinistic, spoiled and obnoxious famous athlete who has a tragic familial back story. Gray is the stereotypical football player—tall, broad shouldered, and fabulously gorgeous to look at with an ego the size of a stadium. 

With an engaging plot and vivid dialogue, the story moved at a fast pace. I truly enjoyed the suspense element! It was excellent from beginning to end. Ms. Wade is an expert at writing vivid imagery which usually makes for a delightful read. In Her One and Only, the 'romance' went too far for my own personal taste. I thought there was an excess of physical desire between Dru and Gray, crossing over into lust. I realize this doesn’t bother some readers, but it does me. Plus, I was hoping to see Gray make some serious spiritual changes sooner in the story but he didn’t. By the time he did, it felt rushed and over too soon. I liked the story but I didn't love it. I will say that Ms. Wade knows how to weave a family drama and draw me into the lives of the characters, making me care about them. I'll definitely be on the lookout for her next book series. 

I was provided a free copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

 

~Happy Reading~

  

Faith-based Art Journaling

With two major moves in a year, I've been a little stressed out. My art supplies have been pretty much packed away because there was no place to unpack and set them up. I stuck to coloring most of the time. It's a great stress reliever and doesn't take up much space. 

But lately, I've had the 'itch' to do more. While digging through a box a week ago, I found my 5x7 Strathmore mixed media book. That led me to open more boxes and pretty soon I had accumulated a few supplies to help me with my 'need' to illustrate my thoughts on paper. I created this art journal page using Gesso, liquid inks, a Prismacolor marker and paper flowers w/ stick on centers. Since my handwriting is not anything to praise, I printed out the lettering using a design I made with Picmonkey.

taken with phone camera so quality is not good

These words resonate with me because ofcircumstances that have arisen in my life recently. They are based on numerous Scriptures I've read but mostly Proverbs 16:24 where it says ~

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, 

Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Father, make my words pleasant.

Amen.

: : : 

Do you ever feel the need to illustrate your feelings/thoughts on paper? If so, what's your favorite way to express them? Please share, as I am always looking for new ideas. :)