Happily Managing a Household of Boys

Thursday, October 25, 2018

JustRead Tours: When You Look at Me by Pepper Basham, Blog Tour and Giveaway

Welcome to the Blog Tour & Giveaway for When You Look at Me by Pepper Basham, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: When You Look at Me
(Pleasant Gap Romance #2)
Author: Pepper Basham
Publisher: Woven Words Publications
Release Date: October 25, 2018
Genre: Inspirational Contemporary Romance

An unexpected mother-to-be
A romance-leery composer
And a forgotten melody from the past that holds the keys to their futures

When Julia Jenkins' great aunt dies and leaves her a Victorian mansion with decades of secrets, Julia never expects to unearth a World War 2 espionage mystery. Struggling with her own past since an assault left her pregnant, her future as a solo parent leaves her dreams uncertain. The inheritance from her great aunt gives Julia the ability to take a step back into her future, but also sends her into the discovery of a love story she’d never anticipated. As she goes through her aunt's treasured possessions, Julia uncovers some oddly written piano music with a musical code she can’t decipher on her own. Not to worry, introverted Englishman and composer, Henry Wright, is thrust on the scene by a pair of homespun matchmakers who know the ‘right’ man for Julia’s wounded heart.

Henry arrives in Pleasant Gap with the task of composing the soundtrack for his best mate’s newest film. The Jenkins’ family’s southern welcome and gregarious personalities set his reticent nature on edge, but he’s inexplicably drawn to his gentle and music-loving hostess, Julia. Uncertain how to build a friendship with the wounded woman, and rather hopeless in communicating well through words, the bond of music becomes a bridge between her uncertainty and his awkwardness.

But her broken past and his families’ expectations build a wall much greater than the cultures that separate them. As they work together to solve a musical mystery from the grave, will an unlikely romance from the past inspire their hearts to trust in a God who’s written the perfect melody for their lives?

PURCHASE: Goodreads | Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes historical and contemporary romance novels with grace, humor, and culture clashes. She’s a Blue Ridge Mountain native and an anglophile who enjoys combining her two loves to create memorable stories of hope. Pepper is also a mom of five, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of Jesus and chocolate. She resides in Asheville, North Carolina with her family.

CONNECT: website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram
__________________________________________________________

My Thoughts and Review:

I LOVE a good romantic novel that also has Values intertwined in the storyline. This book really fits that mold.

Julia is struggling with her past, yet present situation, as the victim of an assault she is now pregnant. I thought the author gently navigated those struggles and brings her a gentleman that seems like an unlikely romantic interest, Henry.

I really enjoyed reading how the pair, who at first wanted a friendship, seeks God will for their relationship. The couple form a romance and Henry really shows his true gentleman spirit by loving both Julia and her child with utmost respect and LOVE.

The author shows us how even with past struggles, God can show us LOVE and Trust in new relationships. GREAT BOOK!

Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive:

print copy of Just The Way You Are (Pleasant Gap Romance #1)
print copy of When You Look at Me (Pleasant Gap Romance #2)
a plaque which says: Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life.... love comes along and brings you a fairy tale

Enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Giveaway will begin at midnight October 22, 2018 and lasts through 11:59pm October 29, 2018. Void where prohibited by law. US addresses only. Winners will be notified within a week of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

Pin It

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Read with Audra Blog Tour: Summer Plans and Other Disasters by Karin Berry

About the Book:

Elementary school music teacher Callie Stevens thinks she’s finally figured out God’s plan for her life—she even made a list to keep her on track.

Moving in with her brother and reconnecting with her ex-boyfriend are at the top of the list. What’s not on the list is running into her childhood crush, Ryan. God wanted her to connect with Kyle, right?

Trying to figure out God’s plan is hard enough. But a dating-averse older brother, the young blonde who adores him, a pregnant best friend, and Callie’s continual mishaps make her wonder whether her best laid plans were truly God-inspired.

Now available at Elk Lake Publishing!

About the Author:

Karin wrote her first novel in 2007 to cope with her husband’s cancer diagnosis (no worries – he’s cancer free now!). With the support and encouragement of her family, she submitted that manuscript. That particular manuscript has not been published yet, but Summer Plans and Other Disasters, her first published book, releases in September 2018.

Karin writes contemporary and speculative fiction stories with a healthy dose of romance, but she’s also expanded her repertoire: she writes feature stories for the local paper, copy material for businesses, and blog posts for herself and others. She even edits (offering copy editing, fiction editing, and critiques through Write Now Editing Services) and teaches (she’s the Substantive Fiction Editing instructor for the PEN Institute and can be found around the country teaching writing and editing courses at conferences and at her local college).

When Karin’s not reading, writing, or editing, she enjoys cooking and baking. She plays the piano and sings (the key of E, please). She kayaks with her husband in the summer, watches football in the fall (Go Blue!), and enjoys Christmas lights all winter long. Shy but extroverted, Karin adores her nieces and nephew and loves spending time with her family. Learn more about Karin at: karinbeery.com.

My Thoughts and Review:

Summer Plans and Other Disasters is a book that turns out to be more then it first seems. I began reading the book expecting a Romance with Values book, but it also has lots of comedy in it. I enjoyed the Romantic Comedy aspect of the book.

The storyline also shows Callie going back to her hometown for a Romantic interest, her ex-boyfriend. As the days go by, Callie finds herself having interest in someone else, her brother's best friend Ryan. Callie seeks to find out if the feelings are mutual.

The main take away from this book and storyline for me was "God is in Control" always. Our best plans are not always the plan God has in store for us and as we seek him, his plans become more obvious!

Great combination of Romance and Comedy!

Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Sounds like a book you would like? Check out Chapter 1:

Where to Find Karin Berry Online:

Pin It

Friday, October 19, 2018

Read With Audra Blog Tour: Gathering of Sisters by Darla Weaver

About the Book:

Spend a day with sisters. Once a week Darla Weaver bundles her children into the buggy, hitches up her spirited mare, and drives six miles to the farm where she grew up. There she gathers with her four sisters and their children for a day with their mother. In Gathering of Sisters, Weaver writes about her horse-and-buggy Mennonite family and the weekly women’s gatherings that keep them connected. On warm days, the children play and fish and build houses of hay in the barn. In the winter, everyone stays close to the woodstove, with puzzles and games and crocheting. No matter the weather, the Tuesday get-togethers of this Old Order Mennonite family keep them grounded and centered in their love for God and for each other, even when raising an occasional loving but knowing eyebrow at each other.

The rest of the week is full of laundry, and errands, and work that never ends. But Tuesday is about being sisters, daughters, and mothers.

Hear straight from Amish and Mennonite people themselves as they write about their daily lives and deeply rooted faith in the Plainspoken series from Herald Press. Each book includes “A Day in the Life of the Author” and the author’s answers to FAQs about the Amish and Mennonites.

About the Author:

Darla Weaver is a homemaker, gardener, writer and Old Order Mennonite living in the hills of southern Ohio. She is the author of Water My Soul, Many Lighted Windowsand Gathering of Sisters. Weaver has written for Family Life, Ladies Journal, Young Companion, and other magazines for Amish and Old Order Mennonite groups. Before her three children were born she also taught school. Her hobbies are gardening and writing.

My Thoughts and Review:

I have always been intrigued by the Amish and Mennonite lifestyle. The Old Fashioned values and living are a great asset. The fact that Family is very important to them is something I completely admire.

The "Gathering Sisters" was a wonderful account of spending time with Family at the "Same time, Same Place" every Tuesday for one year. Hearing the stories of how the Sisters and their children spent time each week with their mother is very heart warming!

Easy read, WONDERFUL book! A good book for those who cherish Family time and for those who are interested in the Mennonite Lifestyle!

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars!

Read an Excerpt:

Where to Find Herald Press Online:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

GREAT Book for those who love Old World Living!

Pin It

Friday, October 5, 2018

JustRead Tours: Lady of a Thousand Treasures by Sandra Byrd Blog Blitz, Excerpt and Giveaway

Welcome to the blog blitz & giveaway for Lady of a Thousand Treasures by Sandra Byrd, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Lady of a Thousand Treasures
Author: Sandra Byrd
Publisher: Tyndale House
Release Date: October 9, 2018
Genre: Historical/Gothic Romance

Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, trained to know the difference between a genuine artifact and a fraud. But with her father’s passing and her uncle’s decline into dementia, the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone.
The death of a longtime client, Baron Lydney, offers an unexpected complication when Eleanor is appointed the temporary trustee of the baron’s legendary collection. She must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron’s only living son, Harry—the man who broke Eleanor’s heart.

Eleanor distrusts the baron’s motives and her own ability to be unbiased regarding Harry’s future. Harry claims to still love her and Eleanor yearns to believe him, but his mysterious comments and actions fuel her doubts. When she learns an Italian beauty accompanied him on his return to England, her lingering hope for a future with Harry dims.

With the threat of debtor’s prison closing in, Eleanor knows that donating the baron’s collection would win her favor among potential clients, saving Sheffield Brothers. But the more time she spends with Harry, the more her faith in him grows. Might Harry be worthy of his inheritance, and her heart, after all? As pressures mount and time runs out, Eleanor must decide whom she can trust—who in her life is false or true, brass or gold—and what is meant to be treasured.

PURCHASE: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | CBD | Book Depository

Excerpt:

He left me and did not return when he said he would. Not once, but twice.

Marguerite waited for me to speak, and finally I did, after a realization. “This collection was my father’s as much as the late Lord Lydney’s. I must see this honestly through—where would it be best placed?—though it’s most likely that in the end, I will come to the same conclusion his father did.”

“Delivering those valuable objets d’art to the South Kensington Museum would be a fine means by which to serve justice to the new Lord Lydney,” she said. “Is that what you intend?”

“Does Harry know you are his champion?”

“I am your champion, dearest. But I have witnessed several occasions when you were happy together and I want to see you happy again—under whatever circumstances make that possible. I don’t want you to rush toward a justice which may not be just.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After earning her first rejection at the age of thirteen, bestselling author Sandra Byrd has now published fifty books.

Sandra's delighted to kick off her new historical romance series with Tyndale House Publishers, Victorian Ladies, with Lady of a Thousand Treasures. The three-book Victorian Ladies series follows her historically sound Gothic romances, Daughters of Hampshire, launched with the bestselling Mist of Midnight, which earned a coveted Editor's Choice award from the Historical Novel Society. The second book, Bride of a Distant Isle, has been selected by Romantic Times as a Top Pick. The third in the series, A Lady in Disguise, was published in 2017. Check out her contemporary adult fiction debut, Let Them Eat Cake, which was a Christy Award finalist, as was her first historical novel, To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn. To Die For was also named a Library Journal Best Books Pick for 2011, and The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Kateryn Parr was named a Library Journal Best Books Pick for 2012.

Sandra has published dozens of books for kids, tweens, and teens, including the bestselling The One Year Be-Tween You and God Devotions for Girls. She continued her work as a devotionalist, with The One Year Home and Garden Devotions, and The One Year Experiencing God's Love Devotional.

Please visit www.sandrabyrd.com to learn more or to invite Sandra to your book club via Skype.

CONTACT: website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive:

a copy of Lady of a Thousand Treasures (print to US addresses OR ebook to intl), and
$25 Starbucks London Gift Card – works anywhere in the world at standalone Starbucks stores

Enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Giveaway will begin at midnight October 1, 2018 and lasts through 11:59pm October 8, 2018. Void where prohibited by law. Winners will be notified within a week of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

Pin It

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Read with Audra Blog Tour and Giveaway: Too Blessed to Be Stressed for Moms by Debora M. Coty

About the Book:

Do you feel like you’re drowning in the everyday stress-pool? . . . Wish you could make busy-ness a business so you’d be a millionaire? . . . Welcome to the maternal order of slightly sagging sisters of the 'hood. The motherhood. With her own offbeat brand of wit and near-wisdom, popular inspirational humorist Debora Coty addresses heart needs of moms drowning in the churning stress-pool of busyness. In her beloved mom-to-mom, grin-provoking style, Coty offers empathy, laughs, real-life stories, practical parenting survival tips, and fresh biblical insights to help you hear Papa God’s still, small voice through life’s chaos. Whether you're struggling with stress related to attitude, time-management, guilt trips, patience, or something in between. . .this humor-filled volume will deliver a much-needed smile and equip you with simple-to-implement tips for attaining the peace we all crave—the peace that passes all understanding.

To check out more about the book, take a listen and watch to the Author talk about the book:

About the Author:

Debora M. Coty is a popular humorist, speaker, and award-winning author of numerous inspirational books, including the bestselling Too Blessed to be Stressed line. Deb considers herself a tennis junkie and choco-athlete (meaning she exercises just so she can eat more chocolate). A retired piano teacher and orthopedic occupational therapist, Debora currently lives, loves, and laughs in central Florida with her husband, Chuck, and three grandbuddies and one grandprincess.

My Thoughts and Review:

A Mom's life is always busy, probably filled with chaos of all kinds and sometimes stressed. Debora M. Coty created this book to help the Frazzled Mom. The book consists of 25 short chapters. At the end of each chapter are some questions. I felt "challenged" by the questions at the end of each chapter. Challenged in a good way and one that really got me thinking about how I handle stress and the busy life of being a mom. Being a mom of 3 Teenage boys, life can get VERY stressful!

The book taught me to look for the blessings in the stress, rather then always being stressed! I really enjoyed reading this book. I think it would also make a great individual study or devotional book.

Book Rating: I give this book 5 out of 5 stars! GREAT Read!!

Read the First Chapter here:

Where to Find Debora M. Coty Online:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram(DeboraCoty)
GoodReads

A GiveAway:

No one is immune to stress, least of all moms. That’s why Debora M. Coty, author of the best-selling Too Blessed to be Stressed series decided it was time to write an edition specifically addressing the stresses and needs in the daily life of moms. In Too Blessed to be Stressed for Moms (Shiloh Run Press, an imprint of Barbour Publishing), Deb offers empathy, laughs, real-life stories, practical parenting survival tips, and fresh biblical insights to help frazzled moms of all ages hear God’s still, small voice through life’s chaos.

To celebrate the release of Too Blessed to Be Stressed for Moms and to bless a mom that needs to de-stress, Deb is giving away a “Take a Day for Mom” $75 VISA Cash Card. The card can be used by a mom for a day of pampering or just getting away and enjoying a day to herself. Do you need a day away or know a mom who does? (Is that a trick question?) Then, enter the giveaway and share it with all your friends. (Another little secret… you don’t have to prove you are a mom in order to win!) a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pin It

Thursday, September 27, 2018