Belonging

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

HATCHER, ROBIN LEE
BELONGING

Can two bitter pasts make one sweet future?

In the high desert town of Frenchman’s Bluff, Idaho, Felicia Kristoffersen has set out to create a future for herself that is better than her painful past. Alone in the world with only her faith to sustain her, she must prove herself as this tiny community’s new school teacher. She cannot, must not, fail. But there are those who never wanted her there to begin with.

Five years after the death of his wife, local merchant Colin Murphy cares about just one thing: raising his daughter, Charity. Colin wants to give her the educational advantages he never had. The new schoolmarm’s inexperience doesn’t sit well with him, and if this teacher up and marries like the last one did, Charity’s heart will be broken once again.

A woman who hasn’t known love. A man who lost the love he had.

In the midst of the wide, sage-covered plains, each is about to discover that life’s bitterest circumstances truly can work together for good.

My Review:
 
This one is pure love story -- rhe kind of book where romance takes center stage all the way through. There's no bank robbers to catch, no kidnapping to foil, no villains to outsmart...and it makes for a refreshing change!  Hatcher has perfected her craft and spins an unforgettable tale about overcoming the past in favour of accepting the promises of the future. It's a tough road for both hero and heroine, both memorable characters who resonated with me.

Colin had my sympathies from the start -- both because of his past and because of his unwilling attraction to the new school teacher. It was fun to watch him fight that -- to struggle to keep his distance and his gruff demeanor. Hatcher didn't let him get away with it for long though and I loved the way the romance developed.

Felicia is spunky and funny and so terribly determined to find a place that she can call home. She has such high hopes for her first teaching position and is thrilled at the welcome she receives from most of the community. However Mrs. Summerville is a negative force to be reckoned with -- the kind of character you love to hate and want to smack upside the head a time or two! LOL. Thankfully Felicia and Colin prevail against her in the end but not without some angst.

Belonging is a lovely historical romance that will tug at your heart and stay there long after you've read the last page.

Giveaway Opportunity:

If you would like to win a copy of Belonging by Robin Lee Hatcher please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. Make sure to put the title in your subject line. The draw will be held and winner announced on Sundary October 2. Open internationally.

A Heart Revealed

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY!!!!

LESSMAN, JULIE

A HEART REVEALED

Her heart is tied to a youthful vow...but can true love set it free?

Ten years ago, Emma Malloy fled Dublin for Boston, running for her life. Her emotional wounds have finally faded, and her life is now full of purpose and free from the pain of her past. But when she falls for her friend Charity's handsome and charming brother, Sean O'Connor, fear and shame threaten to destroy her. Could Sean and Emma ever have a future together? Or is Emma doomed to live out the rest of her life denying the only true love she's ever known?

Filled with intense passion and longing, deception and revelation, A Heart Revealed will hold you in its grip until the very last page.

My Review:

Clear your calendar before you begin this book. Put the dog in a kennel, send the kids to their grandparents and make sure you have a lot of frozen dinners on hand. You don't want anything distracting you from reading! College student? No worries, attending every class is over-rated. Besides it's weeks before final exams. So put those textbooks down and keep them closed until you finish A Heart Revealed.  Have to work for a living? It's flu season, call in sick. You'll definitely be feeling feverish once you start reading anyway and your blood pressure will be rising and falling at an alarming rate. Good enough reasons to call in sick, don't you think?

As it turns out I actually do have the flu and I did stay home from church yesterday and work today so I had a non-stop reading fest...well, in between falling into feverish swoons and dozing stupors :-) Thank you, Julie Lessman for providing the best medicine for what ails me! A Heart Revealed has the best bedside manners around!

If you haven't guessed by now -- I LOVED this book!!! Lessman delivered just what I expected...and so much more. Her writer's voice gets more polished and fluent with every book. She has mastered the balance of description, dialogue and action -- each builds on the others to create vivid images that immersed this reader into another era.

I was thrilled with all the catching up I got to do with one of my favourite literary families because this book isn't just about Emma and Sean -- all the O'Connors make multiple appearances as Lessman expertly twines their stories with our hero and heroine's. In fact, I'd say that A Heart Revealed  is as much Charity and Katie's stories as it is Emma's.

Lessman created continuity between these three distinct threads by anchoring them with a common bond -- women who are grappling with issues from their past that still affect their present and threaten their future. When it comes right down to it, Emma, Charity and Katie are still bound by childhood perceptions that plague their feelings of value and self-worth. And no, it isn't evident in their every day life, but when stressors build and change is imminent, all three are propelled (in varying degrees) by misconceptions from their youth. It's an unconscious knee-jerk reaction in all of them and very realistically written by Lessman. Even as I groaned and moaned and chided these women's actions I understood where they were coming from. Talk about an anxiety-riddled read!

But though A Heart Revealed takes more than one twisty turn down the road of despair, the wonderful inspirational insights light the way towards hope. This is an area Lessman really excels in. Heartfelt conversations about faith between characters that are as natural as they are hard-hitting. And they in no way come off preachy. This book made me think and squirm and was, frankly, a God-send at this time in my life. God bless authors who listen to the Spirit when they write!

Giveaway Opportunity:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Julie Lessman's A Heart Revealed, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. Draw will be held and announced on Sunday October 2. Open internationally. Good luck!

September Giveaway -- Week Four

Ooops -- I just got my hands on Julie Lessman's latest and couldn't tear myself away from the O'Connor clan so I'm late getting this Giveaway blog up! Sorry!!!!



The Doctor's Lady by Jody Hedlund
won by KarenK



Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren
won by Na



I'll email the winners today but if you don't hear from me by Monday evening please contact me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca with your snail mail address.

Looking ahead to next week's giveaways:

Belonging by Robin Lee Hatcher -- a great purely romantical historical! Loved it!
A Heart Revealed by Julie Lessman -- It finally came in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have my nose buried in it right now.

Wings of Promise

LEON, BONNIE
WINGS OF PROMISE

Her spunk has always gotten her through tough times. But does she have what it takes to go the distance?

Kate Evans may be a woman in a man's profession, but as Alaskan bush pilots go, she's one of the best. If only her personal life wasn't so complicated. Torn between her affection for fellow pilot Mike Conlin and doctor Paul Anderson, Kate longs for clarity in her heart. But when a terrible tragedy occurs, her mind may be made up for her.

Full of high-flying adventure and tender personal moments, Wings of Promise will sweep you away to the Alaskan skies.

My Review:

Kate Evans is back in this captivating sequel to Touching the Clouds. No worries if you haven't read the first one though. Wings of Promise  makes a great standalone read as well.  Leon excels at creating memorable characters -- and not only the hero and heroine. She knows how to create a community of memorable characters and I enjoyed getting reacquainted with them.

Kate is still feisty and brave and driven. She's grown through the struggles of her past and is in the perfect place at the perfect time for her life to really come together. At least, that's what she thinks at the beginning of the book. Oh, there's still a thread of insecurity plaguing her and Leon describes her burgeoning relationship with Paul with great insight and emotion. But rural Alaska in the 1930's has become a testing ground of sorts for Kate and her future.

Wings of a Promise was hard to put down at times and just as hard to pick up at others because Leon played with my emotions. I swear I hyperventilated once or twice! LOL. I love immersing myself in a book, even when I'm emotionally wrung out by the end!

High praise for Bonnie Leon. If you haven't tried one of her books -- you're missing out on something good.

The Doctor's Lady

GIVEAWAY!!!

HEDLUND, JODY
THE DOCTOR'S LADY

Priscilla White knows she'll never be a wife or mother and feels God's call to the mission field in India. Dr. Eli Ernest is back from Oregon Country only long enough to raise awareness of missions to the natives before heading out West once more. But then Priscilla and Eli both receive news from the mission board: No longer will they send unmarried men and women into the field.

Left scrambling for options, the two realize the other might be the answer to their needs. Priscilla and Eli agree to a partnership, a marriage in name only that will allow them to follow God's leading into the mission field. But as they journey west, this decision will be tested by the hardships of the trip and by the unexpected turnings of their hearts.

My Review:

Rich in historical detail, The Doctor's Lady is based upon the real life adventures of the first two women to make the treacherous journey West. Both were lady missionaries. That fact alone made me sit up and take notice but Hedlund's story-telling abilities held me spellbound.

This has the flavour of Laura Frantz with a dash of Little House on the Prairie thrown in. The breadth of the story is riveting, especially since I had the feeling that I was experiencing history first hand -- and with it an abundance of emotions. There were times when my blood just boiled -- especially over supposed Christians who funded missions to the 'heathen' nations, glorifying their conversion at the hands of the missionaries even as they rejected these new Christians as unfit to associate with because of the colour of their skin!

Eli and Priscilla's relationship is complicated and exasperating and heart-palpitating and even tender at times. Their emotional journeys -- both individually and as a couple -- are at the heart of The Doctor's Lady. He is a tad jaded, hardened by life experiences. She is wide-eyed with wonder and fervor and definitely unprepared for the seamier side of the western trek. Both grow and change during the course of their journey -- Eli softens, Priscilla toughens up and they find a new strength when they unite together.

Giveaway Opportunity:

If you would like to win a copy of The Doctor's Lady please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca.  Please put the book title in the subject line. This Giveaway is open internationally. Winner will be announced on Sunday September 25. Good luck!

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Torrent

GIVEAWAY!!!

BERGREN, LISA T.
TORRENT

“Hold tight,” I said. “No matter what happens, do not let us go.”

“We won’t,” my dad said.

“Never,” Mom added.

And with a look at Lia, we laid our hands upon the prints.

Gabriella and Evangelia Betarrini are just two normal American teenagers. Normal except for the fact that they time travel to fourteenth-century Italy, where they’ve lived in castles they’ve seen as crumbling ruins, become swept up in historic battles, and fallen in love with handsome knights willing to do anything to keep them alive.

 They’ve returned to the present to save their father, just short of his tragic death, and now all four return to the place that holds the girls’ hearts, medieval Italy. But remaining there means facing great risk as the battle for territory wages on and the coming Black Plague looms. Can they convince their parents to stay and leave behind everything they’ve worked so hard to accomplish? And will the girls sacrifice their futures in an uncertain past? Or in facing death head-on, will they discover life as it was always meant to be lived?

My Review:

Stunning conclusion to The River of Time series. I was almost afraid to read Torrent because I just couldn't imagine how Bergren could possibly end the series to my satisfaction...but she more than succeeded. I'm not sure that I can find enough adequate words to express the immense pleasure and excitement --- the sheer exhilaration -- this read brought to me. It's like Bergren fine-tuned every ounce of her writer's craft and poured it all into this novel.

Torrent has it all -- drama, romance, comedy, action, suspense -- in a dizzying, page-turning extravaganza that I just couldn't put down. It's hard to write a review without giving anything away. Let's just say that there's more than one swoonworthy hero within these pages -- and the romance...Be. Still. My. Heart. Ooooohhhhh so romantical...beyond my expectations and unlike anything I've read in a long time. How's that for a bit of vague praise?

As larger-than-life heroines, Gabi and Lia continue to enthrall me, as they did everyone else in Sienna. And Bergren puts them through their paces as they face diabolical plots and imminent danger at every turn. The pacing in this novel is incredible -- a steady rush of action and adventure combined with tender and even comedic moments. This is an all round not-to-be-missed-very-good-read.

Giveaway Opportunity:

If you would like to win a copy of Torrent please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. The draw is open internationally and the winner will be announced on Sunday September 25. Good luck!

September Giveaway - Week Three

Shadows on the Sand by Gayle Roper
won by Marjorie

Wings of a Dream by Anne Mateer
won by Tammi

The Promise of an Angel by Ruth Reid
won by Charity

Congratulations ladies. I'll email you to get your snail mail addys, but if you don't hear from me by Monday evening could you please email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. Thanks so much.

Good news -- my computer should be good to go early next week so we'll go back to announcing the Giveaways on Sunday again. And speaking of Giveaways --

Looking ahead to next week's Giveaways:

Torrent by Lisa T. Bergeren -- Be. Still. My. Romantical. Heart. I know this is the third in a series but it is soooooooooo incredibly good I have to add it to my Giveaway list.

The Doctor's Lady by Jody Hedlund -- I'm half way through it and loving every delicious word. Quite an epic!