

FrontGate Media Blog Tour: Advancing Native Missions Christmas 2023 Gift Catalog
Momentum Influencers Blog Tour: The Prince of Egypt The Musical Film
Book: Countin’ On Jesse
Author: Mary Pat Johns
Genre: (Inspirational) Contemporary Romance
Release Date: September 12, 2023
Peeps’ gym owner Jesse seeks accreditation. Accountant Brenna wants to help Jesse reach his goal. They’re a great team, but can she count on him when trouble strikes?
Accountant BRENNA MCKINLEY only wants what’s best for Peeps, the wildly popular gym in Valiant, Texas. But when money goes missing, and she’s the obvious suspect, will she be able to clear her name or face criminal charges? Keeping her dream job matters, but falling in love with her boss isn’t part of the plan. Neither is the creepy guy stalking her.
Young veteran JESSE JACOBS manages and co-owns Peeps, an exercise facility in Valiant, Texas. He needs help to gain accreditation for the gym, and his new accountant is all in. But is she who she seems? Too bad he’s falling for her like a man with no parachute. When the pressure builds, PTSD renders him moody and volatile, risking everything he loves.
Click here to get your copy!
Mary Pat Johns’ writing career began once she retired from years of teaching speech and writing. She’s written devotions for an online publication and had short stories published by Chicken Soup for the Soul. She currently writes a biweekly faith column for the local newspaper.
Countin’ On Jesse is her debut novel, and she’s hard at work on the rest of the Valiant series. God put it in her heart to tell stories of brave veterans and their reintegration into civilian life after suffering the traumas of war. As she kept writing, her focus generalized to include ordinary people who learn how to move forward after devastating events. Her writing has a strong spiritual thread since she considers a return to faith in God the solution for what ails the civilized world.
She lives in South Texas with her husband and their two dapple dachshunds. Her grown children and five grandchildren are useful sorts who keep her grounded with her reading/writing obsession. You can find her at the gym, at her computer, or reading a good book.
Countin’ On Jesse placed second in inspirational contemporary romance in the TARA contest. It was also a finalist in the Crown and the Maggie contests for unpublished authors.
I wrote Countin’ On Jesse because I couldn’t NOT write it, though learning to write fiction was an act of faith. My son is an army vet and deployed to Afghanistan during the war. When he returned, the adjustment back to civilian life was difficult. The PTSD he suffered was real. His dad and I prayed often for his restoration. I also experienced an urgency to share how people recover from traumatic experiences, but it’s not my MO to tell a sad story. I used humor, but never downplayed the seriousness of the hero’s issues with PTSD and anger. My goal was to impart hope.
One added sweet note. My son helped me craft a short story as a prequel for the series. I believe it was healing for him to revisit the Afghanistan setting through the perspective of time and distance. Readers have shared they felt like they were in the story. In truth, there was an eyewitness. I’m forever grateful that he came home to tell me of such events.
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 27
Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, November 28 (Author Interview)
The Lit Lady, November 28
Texas Book-aholic, November 29
Locks, Hooks and Books, November 30
Back Porch Reads, December 1 (Author Interview)
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 2
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 3
A Reader’s Brain, December 4 (Author Interview)
For Him and My Family, December 5
Beauty in the Binding, December 6 (Author Interview)
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, December 6
Cover Lover Book Review, December 7
Holly’s Book Corner, December 8
For the Love of Literature, December 9 (Author Interview)
Pause for Tales, December 10
To celebrate her tour, Mary is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 gift Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/29099/countin-on-jesse-celebration-tour-giveaway
Celebrate Lit Blog Tour: Countin' on Jesse by Mary Pat Johns
Momentum Influencers Blog Tour: The Shift Movie Review
Book: Capturing Hope
Author: Angela K Couch
Genre: Historical Christian Fiction
Release Date: November, 2023
One step ahead of the Nazi’s. . .leaves Nadia little room for hope.
Full of intrigue, adventure, and romance, this new series celebrates the unsung heroes—the heroines of WWII.
After her father is murdered by Nazis and her mother flees to her native Germany, hope is something of which Nadia Roenne feels little—even if it is the meaning of her name. It isn’t until an American photographer sacrifices his escape from Poland to save a Jewish family, that she finds a purpose. David Reid is very familiar with failure, but when he is charged with getting Nadia safely out of Poland, he is determined to succeed—even if she works against him at every turn, putting other’s lives ahead of her own. While they race against the daily shower of bombs over Warsaw and the ever-nearing German army, Nadia grows used to risking her life. . .but dare she risk her heart?
Click here to get your copy!
To keep from freezing in the great white north, Angela K Couch cuddles under quilts with her laptop. Winning short story contests, being a semi-finalist in ACFW’s Genesis Contest, and a finalist in the 2016 International Digital Awards also helped warm her up. As a passionate believer in Christ, her faith permeates the stories she tells. Her martial arts training, experience with horses, and appreciation for good romance sneak in as well. When not writing, she stays fit (and toasty warm) by chasing after five munchkins.
When I first decided to set a story during the invasion of Poland, I was woefully unprepared for the pain and horror I found there. I wasn’t new to World War II and had just finished writing A Rose for the Resistance, which is set in France during the war and deals with the resistance and the Normandy invasion. The atrocities and genocide in Poland cut so much deeper.
In the early hours of September 1, 1939, the small town of Wielun, Poland, woke to a shower of bombs on their community. They did not house an army or warehouses, only homes and civilian businesses. Wielun was not the only town or village targeted—demonstrating the Nazi goal to spread fear and death. Six months earlier, Hitler had promised that if Poland did not bow to his wishes, he would wipe them off the map. Over the next month, and more so in the following six years, he came very close to succeeding.
For the full month of September 1939, while German armies rolled across the country, the city of Warsaw endured daily bombardment. Homes, workplaces, churches on Sunday morning, the Warsaw maternity hospital— nowhere was safe. On the tenth of September, someone recorded seventeen separate air raids over the city. I was moved to tears while viewing photographs of women and children who had been shot in the streets and fields by the bombers after they had dropped their payloads over the city.
No one came to their rescue.
Poland was abandoned by its allies to the Nazis.
So how do you write about all that and more while still trying to keep hope alive in the story and in the characters who have to live through such a frightening and demoralizing history?
I invite you to read Capturing Hope to find out.
An Author’s Take, November 30
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 30
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, December 1
Lily’s Corner, December 1
Texas Book-aholic, December 2
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 2
Locks, Hooks and Books, December 3
For him and My Family, December 3
Betti Mace, December 4
Books You Can Feel Good About, December 4
Life on Chickadee Lane, December 5
Cover Lover Book Review, December 5
Alena Mentink, December 6
lakesidelivingsite, December 6
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 7
Blossoms and Blessings, December 7
Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, December 8 (Author Interview)
Devoted to Hope, December 8
Bizwings Book Blog, December 9
Exploring the Written Word, December 9
Holly’s Book Corner, December 10
Pause for Tales, December 10
Connie’s History Classroom, December 11
Labor Not in Vain, December 11
A Good Book and Cup of Tea, December 12
Lights in a Dark World, December 12
Joy Suzanne Hunt, December 13
Books I’ve Read, December 13
To celebrate her tour, Angela is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon eGift card and copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/2909b/capturing-hope-celebration-tour-giveaway
Celebrate Lit Blog Tour: Capturing Hope by Angela K Couch