Elizabeth Maddrey's "Courage to Change"

Title: Courage to Change

Publisher: HopeSprings Books

Cover blurb: Should you be willing to change for love?

When Phil Reid became a Christian and stopped drinking, his hard-partying wife Brandi divorced him. Reeling and betrayed, he becomes convinced Christians should never remarry, and resolves to guard his heart.

Allison Vasak has everything in her life under control, except for one thing. Her heart is irresistibly drawn to fellow attorney and coworker, Phil. Though she knows his history and believes that women should not initiate relationships, she longs to make her feelings known.

As Phil and Allison work closely together to help a pregnant teen, Allison melts his defenses. But when Brandi discovers Phil's new relationship, she decides that though she doesn't want him, no one else can have him either. Can Phil and Allison's love weather the chaos Brandi brings into their lives?

 1) How did this story come to you?

About half-way through writing the first book in the series (Wisdom to Know) I knew that Phil and Allison’s story had to be next. They gave me enough hints about the problems they were facing in their potential relationship, that I had a place to start. But there were some twists and unexpected sub-plots that cropped up as I was writing that I never expected. But I love them. Honestly, with most of my stories it’s the same way – I just sit down and start writing and see what happens.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.

This book was much less of a journey than the first, since my publisher told me they were interested in any follow-ons I might write for the first. So I sent a proposal off as I was starting to write and was excited to get a contract. Writing under contract (and therefore with a deadline!) was a new and challenging experience. I’m grateful my publisher is smaller and, therefore, pretty flexible.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.

-I have a PhD in Computer Science and I still love programming. Sometimes I’ll twiddle around with code in my spare time.

-I love to crochet but I absolutely can’t knit. I don’t know why I find knitting so much harder, but I’m just not both-hand-coordinated I guess.

-I play Skylanders with my son…and I think I might enjoy it more than he does. It’s a really fun game!

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?

Right now I’m working on book 3 in the series, Serenity to Accept. It’s currently scheduled to release in September, but I need to get my act together if that’s going to happen! So what’s next for me is a lot of writing. I’ve also got an idea for a 4^th book with the same general group of characters starting to percolate, as well as a project that’s a little different rattling around.

5) Parting comments?

Thanks for having me! I hope that you all found this as fun to read as I did to put it together. And I hope that if you read and enjoy one of my books that you’ll let me know – I love hearing from readers!

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?

I love to have people connect with me!
You can visit me at my website: http://www.ElizabethMaddrey.com  or on
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey

Linda Rondeau's "Days of Vines and Roses"

Title: Days of Vines and Roses
Publisher: Helping Hands Press

Genre: Contemporary/romance/suspense/with paranormal elements

Cover Blurb: When a romance writer and her estranged publisher husband attempt to reconcile, malignant forces and a pending lawsuit seem bent on keeping them apart. After fifteen years of marital disarray, Henry and Sylvia Fitzgibbons (aka Lana Longstreet) independently contemplate divorce, their relationship relegated to Henry’s infrequent visits to the Connecticut estate and their once a week meeting at Chez Phillipe’s in Manhattan. But, not yet. There is the matter of the decaying rose gardens and the thirtieth anniversary party the children are planning. Reluctantly, Henry moves in for the summer, steeled against the hauntings that torment only him. As reconciliation seems possible, the evil forces within begin to target Sylvia as well. Like the strangling vines within the rose beds, Henry and Sylvia have become victims of spiritual neglect. Their only hope remains in surrender to a power greater than the evil determined to destroy them.

1) How Did the Story Come to you?
I was moving the lawn one day and thought about the weeds in our lives that choke and tangle us. Then I thought about a married couple I knew that simply stayed married because of convention. I thought how tragic. God intends for marriage to be so much more. Then I thought about writing a story about a married couple trapped in a loveless marriage. I decided to have them living separately but unsuccessfully trying to keep the marriage afloat. Then I thought how Satan does not want marriages to work. What if a marriage headed toward reconciliation after a long separation? What would Satan do? The rest of the story is Days of Vines and Roses.

2) The Book’s Journey
I conceived and wrote this book ten years ago. Three editors requested the full manuscript with strong indication they wanted to publish the book, but those three editors ended up leaving their houses almost immediately after requesting my manuscript. I put the book away for a long time, thinking perhaps God didn’t want this book published. But God used this book to turn my writing toward a new direction. I was contracted for three books in a sci-fi series as well as ten volumes of a prequel. However, after my diagnosis of breast cancer and resulting chemo brain, a peculiar cognitive dysfunction that accompanies treatment, I found I could not fulfill this obligation. My publisher was wonderfully understanding of my disability. He agreed to substituting two books already completed, Days of Vines and Roses to be the first. As I revised and edited the book for current trends, God reassured me that my writing should focus on contemporary romance and suspense.

3) Three things that will surprise readers
a) I was an official witness to a wedding performed in Monterrey, Mexico.
b) I went to the same high school as Richard Gere. I was two years ahead of him. North Syracuse High School.
c) During the Great Depression, both my father and grandfather worked as loggers in Upstate New York.

4) What’s next for you?
With the success of my devotional book, I Prayed for Patience God Gave Me Children, I am working on a Christian Living book based on my newspaper column, This Daily Grind. Topics will include:

Spouses, Children and Other Strangers
Who Put the Vinegar in the Salt?
If Life Were Fair, We’d All Be Bald

I am writing another Adirondack suspense with the working title Legacy of Regret. My first novel and Selah Award Winner, The Other Side of Darkness was set in the Lake George area. This one will be set near Lake Placid. My contemporary romance, Songs in the Valley, a modern day interpretation of Hosea, will be released later this fall by Helping Hands Press.

Thanks for the opportunity to share Days of Vines and Roses.

Bio: Winner of the 2012 Selah Award for best first novel The Other Side of Darkness/Harbourlight, LINDA WOOD RONDEAU, writes stories of God’s mercies. Walk with her unforgettable characters as they journey paths not unlike our own. After a long career in human services, Linda now resides in Jacksonville, Florida.

Linda’s best-selling Adirondack Romance, It Really IS a Wonderful Life, is published by Lighthouse of the Carolinas and is available wherever books are sold.

These books are also available in ebook format along with her other ebooks by Helping Hands Press: I Prayed for Patience/God Gave Me Children and Days of Vines and Roses. Songs in the Valley is scheduled for release this fall by Helping Hands Press.

Readers may visit her web site at www.lindarondeau.com  or email her at lindarondeau@gmail.com or find her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Dora Hiers' "Journey's Embrace"

Meet Sage Michaelson

Sage Michaelson here, a Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Witness Protection Program. Although lately it feels more like a Criminal Protection Program, especially after losing my spleen on the job.

When my best friend Steven texted, “Delaney in trouble. Can you keep an eye on her while I’m on my honeymoon?” I chucked the hospital gown and split for Journey Creek. We grew up in the same orphanage—Steven, his sister, and I—so that makes us practically brother and sister. How could I say no?

Besides, I needed time to recover and reevaluate. And a little distance from my ex-fiancé couldn’t hurt. Jennifer always said I was married to my job. Guess she found a man who wasn’t because she wears a ring on her finger again. I’m OK with it. Sure, I gave her a ring and a commitment. But not my heart. How could I? The people I love always end up dead. I’m on my own. Best just to keep it that way.

What trouble was Dane in this time? That’s what we used to call Delaney. Growing up, she’d had long muscular legs. Cute, but in an awkward, gangly Great Dane sort of way. And always in trouble or causing trouble. I gather from Steven’s text that hadn’t changed.

I hadn’t seen the Dane in a few years, so it kinda threw me to see her waltzing away from the wedding reception in a silky turquoise gown, the kind of dress that forces a man to take a second look. Steven sure wouldn’t appreciate the thoughts that flitted through my head about his sister. To be truthful, I’d feel much better if she changed into her customary basketball shorts or work scrubs. Then I wouldn’t notice how she’d grown from the Dane into beautiful, vivacious Delaney. A woman who embraces passion and life with enthusiasm. A woman who puts others first, on the job and with the orphanage kids.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to ditch the doctor. All this ibuprofen seems to be messing with my head.

Steven only said that someone ransacked Delaney’s house. He didn’t warn me that a man had it out for her. Delaney insists God will protect her, but I’m not buying it. He didn’t protect my parents and sister from the car accident that killed them, or keep my granny from suffering a fatal heart attack on an airplane.

No, I can’t leave her to fend for herself. I promised Steven I would look out for her. But, somewhere along the way, protecting Delaney became less about my promise to Steven and more about my love for her…and God.

Meet Delaney Hunt

Just wait until my brother gets back from his honeymoon!

What was Steven thinking texting Sage Michaelson to keep an eye on me? Sure, I get that Steven’s worried about me after my home invasion, but now I need a Deputy U.S. Marshal looking over my shoulder? Sage just lost his spleen. He should be recovering in the hospital, not trailing after me or chasing innocent trick-or-treaters off my doorstep.

It’s not that I mind Sage being around. I’ve loved him since he showed up at Quiver Full Orphanage, always the protector, even at thirteen. But, he turned eighteen and left for the big city without a backward glance. Not at me, anyway. He kept in touch with Steven, but I haven’t heard from him since his engagement.

It’s not like he would ever love me in a non-sisterly way. When the doctor mentioned we sounded like we were married, Sage shuddered. I’m not beautiful, but sheesh! Did the man have to shudder?

And Sage could never accept my job, or even tolerate it. He suffers from a powerful fear of flying and heights. I guess I would, too, if I saw my granny suffer a heart attack and die on a plane like he did. But, I’m a flight medic. My dream job, flying all over the world helping people. It would take more than his declaration of love for me to give it up.

Besides, Sage may be scared of flying, but I’m more than a little afraid of love. Of what love means to a person, or what it doesn’t. Take my mother, for example. She didn’t have enough love to go around, not enough to give up the drugs and one-night stands. But that doesn’t stop me from praying that Sage would love…ah well, it’s best not go there.

It’s not as if I don’t have a full and satisfying life. I do. Between mentoring the kids at Quiver Full, raising money to build another orphanage cottage, working on a recycling committee, and my job, I couldn’t ask for more. Well, I suppose I could. Like figuring out who this prankster is and why he’s targeting me…

Becky Lyles' "Winds of Wyoming"

“Winds of Wyoming,” my first novel, debuted on January 2, 2012. From that moment on, I promised readers a sequel would soon follow. After all, I’d learned much about writing fiction while penning the first book, and I knew what would happen in the next phase of my heroine’s life. All I had to do was input those events into my computer. Surely, I could crank out the second novel in a matter of months.

As you may guess, I discovered that writing the sequel, “Winds of Freedom,” was just as hard as writing the first book. Others may hop on the fiction train and never fall off, never falter in their production. But my struggle to get the story out of my head and into a form others could comprehend tossed me from the fiction train onto a hay wagon pulled by a donkey that took three steps backward for every step forward.

Okay, so I admit I’m the donkey. Several factors played into my fiction-challenged head while writing and rewriting “Winds of Freedom.” 1) I’m still learning. Though some may be naturals at writing fiction, I have to work at it and constantly educate myself on the subject. 2) I created a vague outline for the sequel—but details were sketchy. Many authors thrive with that method, yet I can see how much easier the process would have been if I’d thought through specifics in advance. 3) My editor’s comments threw me into a tailspin. After years of writing for the nonfiction market, I thought I had fairly thick writer’s skin; however, his observations were blunt, and I couldn’t see how to incorporate his suggestions into the story without starting over.

In addition to developing thick skin, writers must also employ perseverance. I eventually plowed through the editor’s comments and suggestions, reworked or deleted several scenes, filled in missing details and added a couple scenes. Thanks to the editing process, the story is much, much stronger.

Currently, “Winds of Freedom” is in the hands of a half-dozen wonderful proofreaders. After I receive their suggestions and make appropriate changes, the story will finally be on its way to the publisher. The hay wagon is almost there. I can see the hitching post on the horizon!

Rebecca Carey Lyles is a freelance writer and editor whose articles and stories have appeared in magazines and compilations. In addition to her novels, she’s also written two nonfiction books, “It’s a God Thing! Inspiring Stories of Life-Changing Friendships” and "On a Wing and a Prayer: Stories from Freedom Fellowship, a Prison Ministry." She and her husband, Steve, live in beautiful Boise, Idaho.

Website: http://www.beckylyles.com
Email: beckylyles@beckylyles.com
Facebook: Rebecca Carey Lyles
Twitter: @BeckyLyles
Blog: widgetwords.wordpress.com

“Winds of Wyoming” – Fresh out of a Pennsylvania penitentiary armed with a marketing degree, Kate Neilson heads to Wyoming anticipating an anonymous new beginning as a guest-ranch employee. A typical twenty-five-year-old woman might be looking to lasso a cowboy, but her only desire is to get on with life on the outside—despite her growing interest in the ranch owner. When she discovers a violent ex-lover followed her west, she fears the past she hoped to hide will trail as close as a shadow and imprison her once again.

Sharon Dow's "Satan's Throne"

Title: Pergamum: Satan’s Throne

Publisher:Deep River Books, a Christian Publishing company in Oregon.

Cover blurb: After Antipas (first book) is martyred at the altar to Zeus for his outspoken convictions on Christ, the remaining Christians in Pergamum must flee for their lives. With the Roman emperor’s grip tightening, evil forces behind the scenes aim to root out the growing followers of The Way and destroy the church. Marcus and Paulus, brothers of the martyred Antipas, have chosen different paths. Marcus, a brute temple guard, remains loyal to Zeus, who many attest is the one true god of Pergamum. Paulus follows in Antipas’ footsteps as one who fearlessly proclaims the Gospel. Enraged, Marcus disowns his brother and swears him as enemy. A battle for the fate of Pergamum is inevitable. In this sequel to the heart-pounding Antipas: Martyr, Sharon Dow continues the vibrant story of persecuted Christians banding together within the sinister walls of Pergamum, the very lair of Satan’s throne. Who will be saved and who will choose the easy way out? Amid the rubble, will the new Christians emerge victorious, with their faith strong and vital?

1) How did this story come to you? 
When I completed the manuscript for Antipas: Martyr, I was so attached to the characters that I wanted to know what happened to them. Thus was born Pergamum: Satan’s Throne, the sequel.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published. 
I entered the manuscript in the Deep River Books 2012 writing contest. It received an award of merit and I was offered a contract. I accepted!

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers. 
1. I love politics and follow the American elections as well as the Canadian ones. I’ve always had a secret desire to be involved. 
2. I have also had the desire to spend a year above the Arctic Circle to experience total light and total darkness. I almost went there to teach when I graduated. 
3. I would love to have tea with the Queen!

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you? 
I am currently working on another Biblical novel titled, Huldah: Prophetess. Huldah was the prophetess who identified the scriptures found in the temple when Josiah was King. It is approximately 80% complete.

5) Parting comments? 
I hope to write and publish at least 10 books. I have the ideas and titles for them and a little written for each one.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet? 
I have a website http://www.sharondow.ca.  I am also on facebook.

Lisa Lickel's "Meow Mayhem"

Title: Meow Mayhem

      Publisher: Whimsical Publications

Cover blurb:  After being left at the altar, Ivy Amanda McTeague Preston uproots herself and her cat,

an Egyptian Mau named Memnet, from her boring and lonely life to start over at the
urging of Mayor Conklin, a fellow pedigreed Mau owner.

Truesdale Thompson is ready to move in a fresh direction with his life. A private man
whose physical wounds are the only outward sign of a tragic accident in his past, True
and his cat, Isis, open a branch of his trendy little bookstore and coffee shop in Apple
Grove.

When Ivy takes a mysterious message while the mayor is away on business, only Ivy’s
criminology professor mom and True believe there’s something rotten in Apple Grove.
Can Ivy carry on her romance with True while saving the town from further Mayhem?

1) How did this story come to you? 
I was reporting for my community’s town government on the changing nature of downtowns and the loss of business, so the germ of the story began there. When I learned that a nearby city had tunnels along the river connecting stores that were built a hundred years ago, I knew I had to use the information somewhere. A story about creating hypo-allergenic cats, a love of history and my neighbor who uses a live answering service: put all this together and out pops a story.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.

I wrote this story as an experiment in first person; I’d never done that before, so it was quite a challenge. I have new respect for method actors, and those who generally write in first person. I wanted to try a full-length mystery since I’d been writing lighter romantic cozies for a book club, so went ahead and wrote Meow Mayhem on spec, but ran into some bad timing as I was between agents and mysteries weren’t doing quite so well for a couple of years. But then I tried Whimsical Publications after checking with another acquaintance who writes for them, and had the book accepted. There’s always much rejoicing when a manuscript is accepted.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.

I have absolutely no sense of direction.

I love science fiction.

I visited the Soviet Union for a college seminar.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?

Always working on something – I have an agent passing around what I feel is my most compelling story so far about a terminally ill woman caught up in an unethical stem cell trial; I am working on a new manuscript about a couple caught up in a murder scheme that is only the tip of the iceberg of intrigue.

5) Parting comments? 
Thanks for having me here today. Mysteries are fun, and I’d love to hear about yours, or your favorites, and what you like about them.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet? 
All of my social networking can be accessed from my web site: http://www.lisalickel.com 

Jeanette Windle's "Congo Dawn"

CONGO DAWN BLOG INTERVIEW

Congo Dawn by Jeanette Windle

Please tell us a bit about yourself.
As daughter of missionary parents, I grew up in the rural villages, jungles, and mountains of Colombia, now guerrilla hot zones. I married another missionary kid, and we have been in full-time international ministry ever since. Currently based in Lancaster, PA, I've lived to date in six countries and traveled in more than thirty on five continents. Those experiences have birthed 16 international intrigue titles, including bestselling Tyndale House Publishers release Veiled Freedom, a 2010 Christian Book Award and Christy Award finalist and sequel Freedom's Stand, a 2012 Christian Book Award and Carol Award finalist and 2011 Golden Scroll Novel of the Year finalist.

Tell us about the featured book?
If absolute power breeds absolute corruption, what happens when a multinational corporation with unlimited funds hires on a private military company with unbridled power? Especially in a Congolese rainforest where governmental accountability is only too cheaply for sale and the ultimate 'conflict mineral' is up for grabs?

Set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's war-torn eastern Ituri rainforest zone, Congo Dawn confronts former Marine lieutenant Robin Duncan with just that question. A veteran in handling corruption and conspiracy, Robin has never had any trouble  discerning good guys from bad. But as her private security team tries to track down an insurgent killer, Robin faces a man who broke her trust years ago and discovers that gray areas extend deeper into the jungle than she anticipated.

As a vicious global conspiracy emerges, run by brutal men who don’t leave witnesses alive, Robin must decide if there is anyone left she can trust. And where is God in the suffering and injustice? How is it followers of Yesu (Jesus) caught in the crossfire can still rejoice when everything they hold dear is ripped away? READ EXCERPT

What inspired your interest in writing Congo Dawn?
Growing up in the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon, I was captivated by missionary biographies from its second-largest African counterpart, the Congo. Among them the story of Dr. Helen Roseveare, who helped establish several mission hospitals and medical training centers in the Ituri rainforest despite violence and unrest of impending Congolese independence, herself held captive for five months during the 1964 Simba rebellion. The largest of those centers Nyankunde was in turned razed in 2002 during the continuing conflict that has taken more than five million Congolese lives in the last decade. Today's fighting is greatly aggravated by the value and pursuit of conflict minerals in that zone.  As always, it has been the mission pilots, medical personnel both expatriate and Congolese, and other followers of Yesu, Jesus Christ, who have been first back into the conflict zones well ahead of United Nations, embassy, local law enforcement or any other humanitarian and corporate interests. Their courage in shining bright the light of Yesu's love in one of the planet's darkest corners gave voice to this story.

How did you come up with the concept for Congo Dawn?
For the story's actual suspense thread, I've had personal opportunity to witness what a multinational corporation is capable of in dark corners of the Third World when no one is watching (an experience in itself too unbelievable to write up as fiction). In Africa as elsewhere, both the protective and striking arm of such corporations has historically been hired foreign mercenaries. But today's private military corporations are vastly different, possessing more fire power than the average country. What struck me was the lack of any accountability to outside oversight beyond some paid-off local warlord. So what happens when a multinational corporation with unlimited funds hires on a private military company with unbridled power in a Congolese rainforest where the ultimate 'conflict mineral' is up for grabs? Coming up with one very plausible possibility birthed Congo Dawn.

On a deeper spiritual level, Congo Dawn addresses the age-old question of how a world filled with such darkness, injustice and pain can possibly be the creation of a God of love. How can followers of Yesu [Jesus]  in the bleakness of an Ituri rainforest conflict zone or any other dark corner of this planet take seriously a Scriptural mandate to rejoice in their suffering [James 1:2; I Peter 4:13]? What value beyond our own comprehension might human suffering possibly hold that a loving Creator God permits it to continue?

What message would you like your readers to take from Congo Dawn?
The same simple, yet profound realization to which Congo Dawn's main protagonists are ultimately drawn. The coexistence of a loving Creator with human suffering is no oxymoron, but a divine paradox those refined in the fires of adversity are best equipped to understand. The smallest flames of love and faith shine most brightly against the darkest night. Our heavenly Father really does know what He's doing, and His ultimate plans for our lives and all His creation will not be thwarted.

How can a reader connect with you on the Internet?
Yes, I would like to invite any reader interested in knowing more about Congo Dawn, my other titles, or my own life journey to visit me at my website (www.jeanettewindle.com) and personal blog, From the Eye of the Storm (http://jeanettewindle.blogspot.com/) or contact me directly at jeanette@jeanettewindle.com. I would also be delighted to participate with your local book club or discussion group through Skype video or on-line chat conference (or in person if I am in the vicinity).

Vannetta Chapman's "A Home for Lydia"

Title: A Home for Lydia
Publisher: Harvest House

Cover blurb:

A bend in the road can be daunting ... or the beginning of everything.

A Home for Lydia, the second book in a new romantic series from popular author Vannetta Chapman, centers again on the Plain community of Pebble Creek and the kind, caring people there. As they face challenges to their community from the English world, they come together to reach out to their non-Amish neighbors while still preserving their cherished Plain ways.

Aaron Troyer simply wants to farm like his father and grandfather before him. But instead he finds himself overseeing the family’s small group of guest cabins nestled along the banks of Pebble Creek. That also means he must work with the cabins’ housekeeper, Lydia Fisher.

Lydia is the most outspoken Amish woman Aaron has ever met, and she has strong opinions about how the guest cabins are to be run. She also desperately needs this job. Though sparks fly between boss and employee at first, when the cabins are robbed, nothing is more important to Aaron than making sure Lydia is safe.

Together they work to make the vacation property profitable, but can they find out the identity of the culprit before more damage is done? And is Lydia’s dream of a home of her own more than just a wish and a prayer?

1) How did this story come to you? 
I visited the Amish communities in SW Wisconsin, spoke with Amish families there and generally got a sense for the area.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published. 
This is the 2nd in the series (Book 1 was A Promise for Miriam). I wanted to write romance and was already published in the Amish genre. I submitted to HH and was thrilled when they picked me up.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.

I play the piano/keyboard.

I don't eat white foods.

I recently broke my left foot! (healing well though)

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?

I'm working on the first book in my Middlebury, Indiana series. This is a cozy mystery and will be a lot of fun.

5) Parting comments?

Thank you all for your interest in Amish fiction!

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?

webpage -- www.VannettaChapman.com 

blog -- http://vannettachapman.wordpress.com 

facebook -- www.facebook.com/VannettaChapmanBooks 

twitter -- @VannettaChapman                              

pinterest -- pinterest.com/vannettachapman 

Tanya Eavenson's "Unconditional"

My debut novel Unconditional is dear to my heart because God placed it there. Statistics show Christian and non-Christian marriages are failing at the same rate. I believe in marriage there needs to be an unconditional love as God shows and displays in our lives. He also tells us to love our enemies as ourselves, so what is that saying for our marriages today? We need to show a love that isn’t possible from us alone, but a love that comes from God who ordained marriage to last.

I wholeheartedly believe that if we fight for our marriages and follow after Christ, He will be the One to grow in us an unconditional love for our spouses.

I grew up in a family were divorce is common, like most people today, with the idea once you “fall” out of love, and you can’t get along anymore, it’s time to get a divorce. It was almost engraved in me witnessing everyone in my family get divorced one time or many times. I, too, almost went down that route with divorce papers in hand. I told myself many things at the time, but the truth. I was focused on our failures, not the hope that with God, all things are possible. The question was, were we willing to save our marriage at all costs? Would we fight for each other, whether we felt like it or not?

The story opens in a situation some married couples might find themselves in, losing a child, being in a loveless marriage, hurt by feelings of abandonment, adultery. To fight for the marriage at any cost or give up. In my story, as in real life, there is a choice.

Here is the blurb and the intro to Unconditional. I hope if you purchase this novel it will speak to your heart, or maybe to someone you know.

He will fight for her at any cost…

Elizabeth Roberts can't remember her past, and the present is too painful. She turns to nightclubs and drinking to forget her infant daughter's death, her husband's affair.

When his wife's coma wiped out the memory of their marriage, Chris Roberts found comfort elsewhere. He can't erase his betrayal, but with God's help he’s determined to fight for Elizabeth at any cost.

She wants to forget. He wants to save his marriage. Can they trust God with their future and find a love that’s unconditional?

Chapter One
Elizabeth pushed herself up from the bed. Her gaze swept the dark room and fixed on the hall nightlight. Her hand grazed over her husband’s shoulder when a thought gripped her. Katherine. The baby monitor stood silent. Darkness shrouded the red and green lights that indicated movement.

Her chest tightened. She hurled the covers away and leapt to the floor. Panic made her clumsy as she rushed to her daughter’s room. She lunged over the crib. No sound. No movement. Not even a stirring of air from her tiny nostrils.

“Katherine!” Elizabeth snatched her daughter from the mattress. The infant drew a heavy breath as her eyes flung wide open.

Lord, what’s happening?

Elizabeth’s bare feet pounded the cold tile as she ran back to her husband. “Chris, wake up! Katherine quit breathing again!”

Chris rubbed his eyes and scowled. “What is it?”

“We need to take Katherine to the hospital. She stopped breathing.”

He studied their child. “She seems to be breathing now. Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure.”

“She’s fine.” Chris fell back against the pillow.

“Please—”

“We don’t have the money to take her to the hospital when there’s nothing wrong with her.”

“But there is. She stopped breathing.”

He sat back up. “You’ve been worried about her since before she was born. You’re all worked up because she hasn’t rolled over yet. The doctor said that’s normal for being early.”

She’s called a preemie. She glared into his eyes. “If you were home more often you’d know she’s not fine.”

“I’m home, Elizabeth, and she’s fine.”

Heat flushed her cheeks as tears filled her eyes. “I’m scared. Can’t you see that? I need you to pray for our daughter. I need you to hold me and tell me everything will be all right.”

“Look, she’s sleeping.” His voice softened as his hand ran down her thigh. “Come to bed.”

“How can you care so little? I’m worried about our baby.”

Chris’s hand dropped to the sheets. “Shut the door when you leave.” He turned away from her.

Elizabeth stood for a moment unable to speak. With their baby in her arms, she slowly closed the door behind her and sank her teeth into her lip to keep from crying. If tears came, it would be for her daughter, not for the stranger in her bed.

Endorsements:
"Unconditional is a powerfully-gripping story of deep heartache laced with fears, yet even through the sorrow, Tanya Eavenson reminds us that nothing can separate us from God's love."
~ Alice J. Wisler, author of "Still Life in Shadows" and other novels

"Not your typical amnesia story, Unconditional tells a tale of loss, betrayal, and forgiveness. Eavenson drags her characters through the fire, then reveals God’s power through their broken lives. The writing is stellar; the emotion, raw and palpable; the cast, impeccably crafted. This author is one to be watched!"
~ April W Gardner, award-winning author

"Unconditional explores the struggles that married couples sometimes experience, and the decisions they must make after going through difficult circumstances. A powerful story of hope and healing."
~ Laura V. Hilton, Healing Love (Whitaker House)

"Unconditional is a beautiful story of God's never-ending love. Throughout its pages, Tanya Eavenson evokes a myriad of emotions in her readers, from deep despair to heartfelt praise. The characters gripped my heart, showing me the reality of man's sin but also the depth of God's grace. Unconditional is a well-written, heart-stirring novel written by a talented new author."
~ Jennifer Slattery, Novel Reviews

Nelson Dooley's "Catherine's Pursuit"

Title: Catherine’s Pursuit
Publisher: Realms, the fiction imprint of Charisma Media

Cover blurb: The search for her sisters will become a spiritual journey for the entire family.

Raised by her father, Catherine McKenna has never lacked for anything, surrounded by people to take care of her every need. On her eighteenth birthday she discovers that not only did her mother die when she was born, but she has two identical sisters. Although her father vowed not to look for his daughters, Catherine made no such promise. Setting out on her own with one clue and her maid in tow, she's determined to find her sisters.

Collin Elliott has seen better days. After losing his ship to a violent and unexpected storm, he is trying to recover--physically and emotionally. When Angus McKenna sends him to find, follow, and protect his daughter, he wants nothing more than to finish his task and return home. Can he help her find her sisters?

And will the discoveries they make along the way teach them both what's most important in life?

1) How did this story come to you?
The McKenna’s Daughters series percolated in my brain for several years before my agent sold it. Identical triplets, born on a wagon train and separated at birth when their mother dies, presented all kinds of possibilities. They are raised in different kinds of families. Catherine’s Pursuit is book three in the series.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
The story first came to me when Tracie Peterson, who was the Heartsong Present acquisition editor for already published Heartsong authors. This was when Heartsong started doing the three book states series. She was really interested in it, but the editors changed, and the next one didn’t buy it.

Then my agent and I decided I should expand the stories to longer novels, because it was hard to include all I wanted to in the Heartsong length. At the time Realms bought the series another editor was also interested in it.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I like to try different kinds of things to eat. I love turtle and froglegs, but don’t like alligator as much.
I started first grade when I was 5 years old, so I was always the youngest person in each class.
One summer, I attended two colleges at the same time.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I’m writing a new series called Love’s Road Home, and there’s a major publishing company interested in it, but they can’t contract it right away. And I’ve been offered a exciting writing gig that can fill part of the time till then, but I can’t announce what it is until I sign the contract.

5) Parting comments?
I love my readers, and welcome new ones. Readers keep me writing books. I like for them to connect to me. There are lots of places they can find me.

9) Where can fans find you on the internet?
Website: www.lenanelsondooley.com
Blog: Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lenandooley
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lena.nelson.dooley
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lenandooley
Official Fan Page: www.facebook.com/pages/Lena-Nelson-Dooley/42960748768?ref=ts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/333031.Lena_Nelson_Dooley
Shoutlife: www.shoutlife.com/lenanelsondooley
Blogs where I’m a part: http://justthewritecharisma.blogspot.com/ and http://www.bustlesandspurs.com/

Donna Crow's "A Tincture Of Murder" and scroll to the next post for your chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card and download of Something Beautiful

Title: A TINCTURE OF MURDER, A Lord Danvers Victorian True-Crime Mystery
Publisher: Greenbrier Books

Cover blurb: William Dove, the notorious “Leeds Poisoner” is on trial for murdering his wife, so he can’t be poisoning the fallen women at the Magdalen Asylum run by Danvers’ young priest brother. But who is? Is another madman stalking the streets of York? And what is causing the foul stench at the orphans’ school?

Lady Antonia is at her most superb in this intricate tale that weaves fact and fiction to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

1) How did this story come to you?
All of my Lord Danvers stories have an historical crime with a fictional one woven around it, so I must start with the true crime. I found my Tincture of Murder story when my research turned up the case of the poisoner William Dove in mid-Victorian York— one of my all-time favorite cities. And then I got a bonus when I found another true crime that is truly more bizarre than anything Charles Dickens wrote.

My additional inspiration was the opportunity to tell the story of the work of the Victorian slum priests who defied the strictures of society to build beautiful churches in the midst of the worst slums in order to bring beauty and a concept of heaven into poor people’s lives. And then, (gasp!) they dared to start asylums to care for fallen women and starving orphans. One of the major reasons I write history is because I believe the work of people like this shouldn’t be forgotten.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
This was one of those delightful, all-too-rare times in my career when my publisher came to me for a book. When the first three titles in the Lord Danvers series: A Most Inconvenient Death, Grave Matters and To Dust You Shall Return proved to be popular with readers Ron Benrey at Greenbrier Books asked me for another in the series. I was only too happy to comply!

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
Because I am known for my love of English history and giving tea parties, people are surprised to learn that I was a terrible tomboy. As an only child I was my father’s son and grew up riding horses, hunting and fishing with Daddy. When I wasn’t doing girlie things with my mother, that is. I can hope that people might be surprised to learn that I’m compulsive about time and am always worried I’m not accomplishing enough fast enough— but I have a suspicion my friends might rather suspect that already.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I am currently writing A Jane Austen Encounter, Book 3 in my Elizabeth and Richard Romantic Suspense Series. Elizabeth and Richard are on sabbatical in England visiting all the places Jane Austen lived. It’s an idyllic adventure— until the dead bodies start turning up.

Next thing out will be An Unholy Communion, Book 3 in my Monastery Murders. It will be released March 22 as part of Lion Hudson’s all-new Lion Fiction Line. I’m really excited to be part of this new venture.

5) Parting comments?
Thank you so much for this opportunity to share with your readers, K Dawn. I am so grateful to be working in such a wonderful field with such great people. Every day I tell the Lord “Thank you for letting me do what I’m doing!”

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
To read more about all of my books and see pictures from my garden and research trips go to: http://www.donnafletchercrow.com/  
I would love to have you follow me on Facebook at: http://ning.it/OHi0MY

"Something Beautiful"

Something Beautiful
Lauren Milton has always followed the rules, but when she meets Antony Marcos, she discovers just how much fun it is to do her own thing. When Antony, the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, professes his love for her, her life is complete. He's her soul mate, but when she finds that he's harboring secrets, can she forgive him?

Antony is terrified that his secrets will destroy their relationship when Lauren finds out the truth. Does he tell the truth and face losing her or continue his activities, possibly placing her in danger? Can they make things work even though her family and friends are against him?

Lauren has PTSD from the car accident that killed her boyfriend and her mother. Can she face her greatest fears while risking everything for the guy she loves? Can they overcome the obstacles facing them to find their happily ever after?
EXCERPT

He placed his hand in the small of my back, steering me around a puddle of saltwater, and I shivered even though the night air was warm. I closed my eyes. I must be dreaming. I couldn't possibly be walking down the beach with Antony Marcos.

I didn't want the moment to end, the night to end. Something deep inside of him communicated with something deep inside of me, leaving me with a feeling of safety and love that I hadn't felt in a long time. I savored the moment, taking in the moon, the stars, and the cool feel of the wet sand beneath my feet.

A woman in a dark sweat suit jogged by, her German shepherd close at her side. A toddler squealed in delight somewhere close by, but as far as I was concerned, we were the only two people in the universe.

I turned my attention back to the hunk beside me. I loved everything about Antony. I was falling fast and terrified of the damage he could do to my heart.

He paused and looked out over the water. "I love it here. I'm just so at peace near the ocean."

He pulled me into his arms, and a shiver of delight surged through me. Our eyes locked, and I wondered if he'd read my mind and somehow knew I'd give everything I owned for just one kiss. He paused as if uncertain.

I was lost in the moment. I wasn't sure how to encourage him to kiss me without seeming easy. He didn't move, merely stood there, his body rigid against mine.

When he finally moved, it wasn't as I'd planned. Antony's lips kissed my forehead and my cheeks, still denying me what I longed for, which was a kiss passionate enough to take my breath away.

I threw caution to the wind. Reaching up, I ran my fingers through his hair and pulled his head down. Once our lips met, Antony quickly took the lead. I melted into him, our heartbeats blending as his lips whispered across mine in a dance as old as eternity.

He pulled away first, leaving me breathless, but longing for more.

Elizabeth Maddrey's "Wisdom to Know"

Title: Wisdom to Know (Grant Us Grace Book 1)
Publisher: HopeSprings Books

Cover blurb: Is there sin that love can’t cover?

Lydia Brown has taken just about every wrong turn she could find. When an abortion leaves her overwhelmed by guilt, she turns to drugs to escape her pain. After a single car accident lands her in the hospital facing DUI charges, Lydia is forced to reevaluate her choices.

Kevin McGregor has been biding his time since high school when he heard God tell him that Lydia Brown was the woman he would marry. In the aftermath of Lydia’s accident, Kevin must come to grips with the truth about her secret life.

While Kevin works to convince himself and God that loving Lydia is a mistake, Lydia struggles to accept the feelings she has for Kevin, though she fears her sin may be too much for anyone to forgive.

1) How did this story come to you?
I grew up active in pro-life ministry. My mother ran a Crisis Pregnancy Center for twenty years and over that time, I spent a lot of time helping out, both as a volunteer and on staff. One of the things we did a great deal of at our Center was after-abortion healing. Seeing the women and men who came through the Center – many of whom were strong believers at the time they made their choice – wrestle with forgiveness (feeling they deserved it as well as giving it to others involved) is not something I’ll ever forget. Lydia is an amalgam of many of these women.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
The first major hurdle for me was talking myself into actually letting someone other than family look at my manuscript. I was terrified. At the same time, unlike so many of the other novels I’d written (that live on my hard drive, never to see the light of day), I really felt like this one needed to see the light of day. So I spent a good bit of time polishing it, sent it out, never heard back from anyone (which, of course, means they weren’t interested) and went to a writer’s conference. At the conference, I got some good critiques that showed me changes I needed to consider and I met up with the editor I’d worked with on a non-fiction project a while ago. Talking to her, the pieces all kind of just fell into place – they were looking to start a fiction imprint and were interested in my story. I really believe God pulled all the strings to get it to this point.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
1. I did archery all through middle and high school and have marksman medals.
2. I originally intended to write science fiction, not romance. (And I’ve still got story ideas brewing in that genre, so that might happen yet.)
3. My husband and I are semi-serious about retiring to Ireland to run a Bed and Breakfast later in life.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
Right now I’m working on book 3 in the Grant Us Grace series. It’s scheduled to be released in September, so I need to get a bit of a move on with it! I’m also busy with lining up the promotion/marketing for book 2, Courage to Change, which will be released April 8, 2013. As for what’s next, I really hope it’s writing and publishing more books. I’ve got so many story lines in my head; I hope they’re things people will want to read.

5) Parting comments?
Thanks for having me, this was fun!

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
I love to have people connect with me! You can visit me at my website: http://www.ElizabethMaddrey.com  or on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey
I’m also on Twitter @ElizabethMaddrey

Janet K. Brown's "Divine Dining: 365 Devotions to Guide You to Healthier Weight and Abundant Wellness"

Title: Divine Dining: 365 Devotions to Guide You to Healthier Weight and Abundant Wellness
Publisher: Pen-L Publishing Co.

Cover blurb: I lost ninety-five pounds and have maintained the loss for seventeen years. One tool in my recovery remains the daily reading of inspirational books. I found my library incomplete when I searched for one that combined a twelve-step program with God as the Higher Power. The biggest secret to my success was giving up my will and letting God do it through me. I wrote a book of daily devotions that came from my journals and memories. This is one woman’s road for success. I pray these thoughts help others reach the same healing God gave to me. It’s all about God.

1) How did this story come to you?
About 4 years ago, I awoke in the middle of the night and went to my computer and wrote 14 devotions as fast as I could type. God literally set my fingers to moving. Seeing those 14 caused me to think of all the 365 daily devotion books I had read. At first, I thought it was just to help me with my own eating problems.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
God brought more and more thoughts to the total of 320 and then I started submitting it to publishers. That brought two rejections. The editor at Pen-L Publishing attended Oklahoma Writers Federated Inc. conference in May, 2012. He was looking for self-help, inspirational books, so I pitched it to him and received a contract right away after finishing the other 45 devotions. After signing, we did a fast-track to get it released before Christmas. It came out Dec. 6, 2012.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
1. I love line dancing and zumba for exercise.
2. Several years ago, I lost my weight, opened a Diet Center franchise, but then gained back my weight and was not allowed by the company to sell my franchise and recoup my investment. Boo-hoo.
3. 4RV Publishing released my debut novel in July, 2012. It was an inspirational YA, Victoria and the Ghost, so I have published a YA and a devotion book, but I consider myself more of an inspirational romance writer. Go figure.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I’m working on the sequel to my YA that I hope to sell to 4RV Publishing. I have the full manuscript of my romance out to an editor.

5) Parting comments?
As I read my daily devotions in Divine Dining, I pray for anyone else who’s going through it with me and needs God’s help with compulsive overeating.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
Website: http://www.janetkbrown.com
e-mail: Janet.hope@att.net
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Janet-K-Brown-Author/143915285641707
Twitter: https://twitter.com/janetkbrowntx

Molly Noble Bull's Cinderella Texas

Cinderella Texas, My Newest Novel
by Molly Noble Bull

www.mollynoblebull.com

My new novel, Cinderella Texas, is the retelling of a famous fairy tale complete with a shoe problem for the heroine, Alyson Spencer. A prince-like cowboy is the hero of this modern western, Robert Lee Greene IV—called Quatro. Quatro is a rancher, an oil baron and one of the richest men in Texas, and he is also a widower with two school age children. How could Alyson have guessed that when she couldn’t find a teaching job in Dallas, she would accept a position home schooling Quatro’s children and be paid a tremendous salary for doing it?

City girl, Alyson, expects life on the huge Greene Ranch in South Texas to be idyllic. She will be living in Quatro’s home along with his children, his parents and his grandfather, and she visualizes a majestic mansion surrounded by well-tended gardens—a swimming pool and servants at her beckon call.

What she finds causes her to want to fly back to Dallas. Quatro and his family believe that modern technology corrupts. The rundown two-hundred-year old dog-run house on the cover of Cinderella Texas is the Greene home. The house is without electricity and all necessities of normal American life.

Alyson tries to get out of her teaching contract, but it is unbreakable. How is she expected to teach modern children without a computer and a working telephone? And why is Quatro so handsome and yet so pig-headed?

Cinderella Texas is available as an e-book and will be published in paperback later. To find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Kobe, write Molly Noble Bull in the search slot. Cinderella Texas is a lighthearted romance that will make you smile. Maybe it will even make you laugh.