Saturday, March 6, 2021

Celebrate Lit Blog Tour: Facing the Dawn by Cynthia Ruchti

Book: Facing the Dawn

Author: Cynthia Ruchti

Genre: Contemporary Women’s Fiction

Release date: March 2, 2021

Mara Jacobs has been struggling. While her humanitarian husband is digging wells in Africa and caring for widows and orphans, Mara has been battling the home front—working a demanding yet unrewarding job, trying to manage three detention-prone kids, and suffering from exhaustion and depression. Even her own marriage is deteriorating after a three-year separation.

Then Liam’s absence turns into something more, changing everything and plunging her into a sunless grief. As Mara leans on those around her to find her way to healing and renewed faith, she discovers that even when hope is tenuous and the future is unknown, we can be sure we are not forgotten . . . or unloved.

Facing the Dawn is an emotionally evocative novel that will resonate with readers’ lives and their life challenges. Hemmed in hope, this tender story will be one readers will not soon forget.

Click here to get your copy!

Cynthia Ruchti is a "new to me author" and I truly was intrigued to read

this book, "Facing the Dawn" because of the Cover. The cover of this

book is absolutely beautiful. I certainly was not ready for the emotional

read that this book brings.

Mara Jacobs has been raising her 3 teenage children by herself for

the past 3yrs. Her husband, Liam, has taken a job in Uganda, and has

about another year before he is home. Mara also works and has a lot

going on. She is very independent and does not like to ask for help, so

she is also exhausted. Mara has really back slid from God and her faith.

She is mostly looking forward to her husband coming home. Tragedy

strikes and Mara's husband is killed in an accident in Uganda. She is

really struggling and then another family tragedy happens and it really

sends Mara into a period of ultimate grief and dispear. A friend of hers,

Ashley, moves to town and sees how Mara is going through so much.

Ashley is strong in her faith and is determined to help Mara through

the unthinkable grief and tragedies that Mara has gone through. Will

Ashley prove to that true Best Friend Forever and help Mara through

her grief and tragedy? Will Mara, like her daughter has, be able to

trust in God and know that God is in control?

I don't think I have ever read such an emotional and heart wrenching

book. I really did enjoy the book and would read it again. The author

really writes with a unique style and tells a difficult story but with

sensitivity and emotion. Mara is a character who goes through a couple

of tragedies in a short amount of time and reacts as most anyone would.

Ashley brings the hope and encouragement that the book so needed.

Have a Box of Facial Tissue near you when reading, but I HIGHLY

recommend this book.

Cynthia Ruchti is the award-winning author of more than 30 books, including the novels Afraid of the Light, Miles from Where We Started, As Waters Gone By, Song of Silence, A Fragile Hope, and They Almost Always Come Home. Her books have been honored with more than 40 readers’, reviewers’, and retailers’ awards, including Romantic Times’s Inspirational Novel of the Year, four Selah Awards, and five Christian Retailing’s BEST Awards, and has been a finalist for many others, including the Carol and the Christy. Former president of and current professional relations liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Cynthia lives in Wisconsin and can be found online at www.cynthiaruchti.com.

More from Cynthia

When I sit down to write a novel, I sometimes have little more than a title or a single scene in my head. For Facing the Dawn, I had a mental picture of a woman who felt like circumstances had drained all the “color” out of her life, as if she were a piece of fabric that had been left out in the sun too long. Faded. Threadbare. Bleached out.

Where was I supposed to go from there? What would have made her feel like that? (Oh, I could imagine, but I needed to know THIS character’s story.) I visualized her called in the principal’s office at her kids’ school, not knowing which of the three was in trouble this time. But it was her. The ridiculousness of it all was almost enough to push her over the edge. Ever been there?

For Mara in the story, a long string of disappointments clogged her life like a backed-up sink (which she also had). Then true tragedy struck. And again. But I couldn’t leave her in that place.

When I wrote the last few words of the story, my heart was full. Tears fell on the pages—or the keyboard. And I reflected back on all the symbolism in the story that actually revealed bits of hope embedded in its fabric.

I’m excited to see how readers respond when they discover those little bits—a cardinal in a stand of birch trees, an oil painting with unusual brushstrokes, a papered wall, a cup of soup, a long-forgotten song, an envelope of ashes…

A story comes to life when readers dive in. I’m looking forward to hearing what they find when they do.

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, March 4
lakesidelivingsite, March 4
Through the Fire Blogs, March 4
Rebecca Tews, March 5
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations , March 5
Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, March 6 (Author Interview)
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, March 6
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 6
Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, March 7
Reviewingbooksplusmore, March 7
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, March 8
Kathleen’s Blog, March 8
Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, March 8
Texas Book-aholic, March 9
Cats in the Cradle Blog, March 9
Locks, Hooks and Books, March 10
Simple Harvest Reads, March 10 (Guest Review from Mindy Houng)
Mypreciousbitsandmusings, March 10
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, March 11
Artistic Nobody, March 11 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
Older & Smarter?, March 12
deb’s Book Review, March 12
The Christian Fiction Girl, March 13
Inklings and notions, March 13
Pause for Tales, March 13
For Him and My Family, March 14
Mary Hake, March 14
By The Book, March 15
Christian Bookaholic, March 15
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 16
Spoken from the Heart, March 16
Southern Gal Loves to Read, March 16
A Baker’s Perspective, March 17
Writing from the Heart Land, March 17

To celebrate her tour, Cynthia is giving away the grand prize package of a DrinkCo Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated BPA-free beverage container (keeps drinks cold for up to 24 hours/hot up to 12 hours), two Sunprint Notecards (Cynanotype art by Anna Atkins), an autographed copy of the novel Facing the Dawn, two Hemmed in Hope magnets/notecard inserts to encourage you or a friend, a Hemmed in Hope flash drive, and Facing the Dawn bookmarks (not shown in picture above)!!

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/108ce/facing-the-dawn-celebration-tour-giveaway