Anna Weaver Hurtt, Inspirational Author
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Review and Giveaway:  "The Art of Losing Yourself" by Katie Ganshert

11/25/2015

4 Comments

 
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Book Blurb:

Every morning, Carmen Hart pastes on her made-for-TV smile and broadcasts the weather. She’s the Florida panhandle’s favorite meteorologist, married to everyone’s favorite high school football coach. They’re the perfect-looking couple, live in a nice house, and attend church on Sundays. From the outside, she’s a woman who has it all together.  But on the inside, Carmen Hart struggles with doubt. She wonders if she made a mistake when she married her husband. She wonders if God is as powerful as she once believed. Sometimes she wonders if He exists at all. After years of secret losses and empty arms, she’s not so sure anymore.
 
Until Carmen’s sister—seventeen year old runaway, Gracie Fisher—steps in and changes everything. Gracie is caught squatting at a boarded-up motel that belongs to Carmen’s aunt, and their mother is off on another one of her benders, which means Carmen has no other option but to take Gracie in. Is it possible for God to use a broken teenager and an abandoned motel to bring a woman’s faith and marriage back to life? Can two half-sisters make each other whole?    

My Review:

Wow...

What an emotional, heartbreaking, excruciatingly beautiful story.

Two stories are told in this book: Carmen and Gracie, two sisters who couldn't be more different if they tried. These two characters were amazing to read about, both of them deep and wounded and craving love. It was so fun to tag along in their lives. I loved their independent and unique points of view and the beautiful restorations they receive in this book.

Just from reading the back cover, I knew this story was going to be an emotional roller coaster and it didn't disappoint. I laughed, I cried, my heart squeezed for these characters, and soared with joy for them.

This is one of those books where you need a few hours, or maybe a few days, to recover from, but not in a bad way. More of a "Holy cow, I can't believe these people aren't real and sitting in my living room" kind of way. I am a huge fan of Katie's writing and, in my opinion, this is her best book yet.

5 stars for a truly magnificent masterpiece!

(I received a copy of this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review, which I have given.)

Giveaway Time!

To enter to win this awesome book, just fill out the Giveaway Tools form below. And don't forget to comment on my "Happy Thanksgiving" post to for an extra entry!
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4 Comments

Happy  Thanksgiving!

11/25/2015

9 Comments

 
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Hello, wonderful blog family! Whether you read this today or sometime over the next few days or next week after you've enjoyed some good food and family fun, I just want you to know how thankful I am for you guys. I am so thankful for your support, your friendship, and your patience when life gets crazy and I don't blog as often as I should. It means the world to me... Truly. :)

The Hubbins and I are having Thanksgiving here at home this year due to work constraints. While I miss joining my family this year, we're both excited to begin some of our own traditions for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.

I'll be posting a review of a book that I loved here in just a moment, but until then, I have a question or two...

What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish? You know, the one you look forward to all year long. :)
What are you most thankful for this year?

​God bless and have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving! :D

9 Comments

Author Mini-view and Giveaway: Paula Mowery and "For Our Good"

11/17/2015

14 Comments

 
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Author Mini-view:

Visiting us this week is the lovely Paula Mowery and she is featuring her book "For Our Good." Let's get this interview started!

Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing. (How did you get started? How many books have you written? Where are you on your writing journey?)

Reading books and writing has always been a part of my life. I taught Language Arts to middle school students and then came home to homeschool my daughter. As she would work at her desk, I penned stories in spiral notebooks. I joined some online organizations and participated in some online classes. One instructor/mentor encouraged me to write small first, so I wrote and submitted to magazines, getting my first published works. I prayed about submitting a novella and received confirmation when the acquiring editor wrote back that she was touched by my story and wanted to contract it. I now have five published books and two more releasing in November and March. God has allowed me to tell stories with His truths woven throughout. I’m hooked! I’m working on a sequel to one of my recently released books and have another that I will soon “pitch” to my editor.


What is your favorite Bible verse?

Jeremiah 29:11 has been a particular favorite and also seems to be an overarching theme in my books. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”


What have you read lately that you would recommend?

I review for several authors, so I could give you a list! While on Fall Break I read Janice Thompson’s Bouquet of Love. I love this series! Also Nancy Mehl’s series, The Road to Kingdom, and her series, Finding Sanctuary, are great romantic suspenses. Anything written by Dani Pettrey or Sarah Sundin are winners too. I could go on, but that gets you started.


What book are you featuring today?

I want to highlight my first romantic suspense title, For Our Good. My readers are used to reading my romances, but I threw in some suspense in this story and I loved penning it. I especially like my heroine, Charlie. She is a tough undercover police officer who thrives on taking down drug traffickers. But don’t be fooled by her tough outward appearance, she has a past to deal with and now an attractive guy she can’t seem to avoid getting involved with.
​

If you could tell people who are going to read/have read your books one thing, what would it be?

My prayer for all my readers is that they would glean the message God wants to give through my stories. I’m humbled and honored you would read the words of a hillbilly girl from East Tennessee. May God receive the glory and readers bask in His plan for them.

Author Bio:

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Paula is a pastor’s wife, mom to a college student, author, acquiring editor, and speaker. No matter the hat she wears, she strives to honor God’s plan even if it means going out on a limb and leaving comfort zones. Reviewers have characterized her writing as “thundering with emotion.” Her book, Be The Blessing, won the 2014 Selah Award in the novella category. Paula enjoys reading and reviewing Christian fiction, writing Christian romance and devotionals, and helping other authors realize their dream of publication.   

You can follow Paula at www.facebook.com/pages/Paula-Mowery/175869562589187. Learn more about Paula at her blog at www.paulamowery.blogspot.com or enjoy her monthly columns on www.christianonlinemagazine.com.

Giveaway Time!

Paula is offering a copy of her book to one of my blog subscribers! Just like last week, we're doing things a little differently this week. In order to enter:

Leave a comment for Paula for one entry.
Leave a comment that you have subscribed to my blog updates (link here) for another entry.
Share this post on social media (and post a link in the comments) for another entry. (1 entry per social media share.)

Thanks for visiting this week and thanks for participating in the giveaway! Giveaway ends 11/24/15. Best of luck!

14 Comments

Author Mini-view and Giveaway: Harry Wegley and "Voice in the Wilderness"

11/10/2015

16 Comments

 
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​Author Mini-view:

Hello, friends! First, I wanted to apologize for not getting the monthly newsletter post up this month. I'm training for a work-at-home job this week, so my schedule's all crazy. I'm sure it will settle down eventually and I'm super-thankful for the extra income, but life's a little busy now. :)

Anyhoo, let's get this interview started! Harry Wegley is joining us today and he is featuring his book "Voice in the Wilderness." 


Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing. (How did you get started? How many books have you written? Where are you on your writing journey?)

I worked many years as a weather forecaster and then a research scientist in atmospheric physics. So, during the late 1970s, I began publishing in the scientific literature. But it wasn’t until after my wife and I retired that I wrote my first novel, Hide and Seek. That was 2010 and I’ve been writing novels ever since. What can I say, I was hooked on the creativity that fiction offers. With novels, our imaginations are our only limits. With research reports and journal articles it’s, “Just give me the facts, ma’am.” If you don’t know where that line came from, then you’re at least a generation younger than me.

I’m currently finishing my ninth novel. My first four novels were traditionally published. My fifth is being evaluated by an agent. My sixth and ninth will be part of a 3-book series. My eighth story, Voice in the Wilderness, is available as an ARC and will release in February 2016 as book 1 in that 3-book series, Against All Enemies. My wife and I, as well as my marketing director, think this might be a breakout novel for me. Special, secret plans are being made for my seventh novel.

What is your favorite Bible verse?

My wife and I are both in the final year of our three score and ten. As my body becomes a better weather forecaster than I ever was, certain verses become more meaningful, verses like 1 Corinthians 15:54

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

Can’t wait for that imperishable body.

What have you read lately that you would recommend?

Charles Martin’s Water from My Heart is a beautifully told story of forgiveness and redemption. He writes in a first-person, past tense, deep POV, so you really get to know his main character. If you read the story, be sure not to skip the author’s notes in the back. They put the story in a deeper Christian context.

What book are you featuring today?

I’m featuring my political thriller, with romance, Voice in the Wilderness. How do you get women to read a political thriller? That’s easy. Just ask Susan May Warren to help you splice the romance into the thriller plot. I asked. She helped. And the results have blown away me, as well as a lot of early reviewers. Here’s the blurb:

What if your blog could save the nation, but posting to it might cost your life?
As catastrophes drive the US into martial law, all eyes are on America, waiting to see what emerges. KC Banning, network specialist, discovers President Hannan’s tyrannical plans and is branded a terrorist, sending her fleeing the Beltway to find her childhood soulmate and protector, Brock Daniels. Brock, a writer and man of faith, gives CPR to a dying nation through his blog, which is read by military members still loyal to the Constitution. But starting a grassroots resistance while reconciling KC’s and Brock’s broken relationship proves difficult. When Hannan sends Special Forces to kill Brock and KC, starting a war in the Central Oregon desert, reconciliation, like staying alive, might be impossible.
Set in Washington DC and near Crooked River Ranch in the Central Oregon desert, Voice in the Wilderness, Book 1 of the Against All Enemies Series, is a political thriller, with romance, about two people who must decide if they’re willing to sacrifice their lives to prevent the USA from becoming the Dystopian States of America.

If you could tell people who are going to read/have read your books one thing, what would it be?
​

As a retired meteorologist who now writes inspirational thrillers and suspense novels, readers can count on my stories having a climate of suspense and a forecast of stormy weather.​

Author Bio:

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H. L. Wegley served as an Air Force Intelligence Analyst and a Weather Officer. In civilian life, he worked as a research scientist, publishing in the scientific literature, then developed Boeing computing systems for 20 years before retiring near Seattle. He is a multi-published author with a 4-book inspirational thriller series, 2 nonfiction books, and 4 more novels on the way.

Web links:
Author web site: 
http://www.hlwegley.com

Blog:  http://www.hlwegley.com/category/blog
Facebook author’s page: https://www.facebook.com/HLWegley
Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/harry.wegley.1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hlwegley
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/harryw51/
Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101169236968699201479/posts

Giveaway Time!

Harry is generously giving away a copy of his book to one of my blog subscribers! Usually I'd have a Giveaway Tools form for you to fill out, but we're gonna keep it simple this week:

Leave a comment for Harry for one entry.
Leave a comment that you have subscribed to my blog updates (link here) for another entry.
Share this post on social media (and post a link in the comments) for another entry. (1 entry per social media share.)

Thanks for visiting this week and thanks for participating in the giveaway! Giveaway ends 11/17/15. Best of luck!

16 Comments

Review and Giveaway: "Isle of Hope" by Julie Lessman

11/2/2015

10 Comments

 
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Book Blurb:

She stole his heart.
He stole her peace.
Can hope steal their pain?

At the age of eighteen, Lacey Carmichael was a wild girl bent on fun, promised to Jack Carmichael, a straight-and-narrow pastor’s kid bent on the seminary. When her father kicks her out of the house, she runs away from Isle of Hope, turning her back on everything she loves. Now, eight years later, she’s back as a woman of faith, hoping to make amends to the father she defied, the boyfriend she deserted, and the best friend she denied. Only the bridges she’s burned are still smoldering, kindled by an adulterous affair by Jack’s pastor father that damaged his son’s faith. But can a turning of tables—and hearts—lead the way back to “hope” for them all?

My Thoughts:

What a sweet, sweet story! I've been a fan of Julie's historical romances for years and wondered whether she could write contemporary romance as well. Isle of Hope, her first foray into contemporary romance, was even better than I could have imagined and I loved every minute of it!

After reading the first chapter, I couldn't imagine how Julie was going to pull a happily-ever-after out of this one, but I was delighted to be proven wrong. :)

Full of the sizzling romance and heart-rending emotional roller coasters that I've come to expect from a Lessman book, Isle of Hope tells a tangled web of a story from several viewpoints.

If I could describe this book in one word, it would be "restoration." There are so many broken relationships in the beginning of this story, but, one by one, each is restored in a beautiful and poignantly refreshing show of God's grace and love.

One of the things that I love about Julie's books is that almost every character gets their say in the story. It's always so fun to see/hear all the different sides of the story.

I loved this sweet, romantic read and give it 5 stars!

(Disclaimer: I received a PDF copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Giveaway Time!

In celebration of her book tour, Julie is giving away a paperback or e-copy of "Isle of Hope" or any of her other books! Click on the banner below to go to the Singing Librarian Books tour page and enter the giveaway!
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10 Comments

    Author

    Inspirational author. Newbie Air Force wife. Jesus Follower. Recovering musician. Dachshund mama. Coffee addict. Book reviewer/giveaway-er.

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