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Monday Musings….What I’m Looking Forward to Next Month

There’s a lot of great book coming out next month. Here are a few I have my eyes on:

Bold, sophisticated, and flirtatious, Army Air Force flight nurse Lt. Kay Jobson collects hearts wherever she flies, leaving men pining in airfields all across Europe. So how can ruggedly handsome C-47 pilot Lt. Roger Cooper be all but immune to her considerable charms? In fact, he seems to do everything he can to avoid her.

Still, as they cross the skies between Italy and southern France, evacuating the wounded and delivering paratroopers and supplies, every beat of their hearts draws them closer to where they don’t want to go. Can they confront the fears and misunderstandings in their pasts?

Sarah Sundin seamlessly weaves together emotion, action, and sweet romance into a tale that transcends time and calls us to believe in the power of love.

Hawaii was the last place Grace Christiansen ever imagined she’d vacation, much less fall in love. But when her family surprises her with a cooking retreat in paradise, she is pulled—or maybe yanked—away from her predictable, safe life and thrown headfirst into the adventure of a lifetime.

Max Sharpe may make his living on the ice as a pro hockey player, but he feels most at home in the kitchen. Which is why he lives for the three-week culinary vacation he takes each year in Hawaii. Upon being paired with Grace for a cooking competition, Max finds himself drawn to her passion, confidence, and perseverance. But just when Grace dares to dream of a future beyond her hometown, Max pulls away.

Wrestling with personal demons, Max fights against opening his heart to a love he knows he should never hope for. And as his secrets unfold, Grace is torn between the safe path in front of her and what her heart truly desires. If love means sacrificing her ideal happily ever after, Grace’s faith will face its toughest test yet.

Brand-new 5-part Serial Novel!  Starts July 4th!

They never should’ve existed.  Now they don’t.  In the aftermath of their first highly successful op, the first all-female special ops team, known as Zulu, discovered that innocent civilians—women and children—died at their hands. Zulu was set up to take the devastating fall.  Fearing for their lives, the Zulu team vanished. With new identities and spread across the globe, they live in relative but isolated peace—yet still haunted by the past. Terrified of being discovered.   Five years after that horrific night, they’ve begun to hope they might be safe and the tragedy forgotten.  Until two of them are murdered.

Start the mission on July 4th with Operation Zulu Redemption: Overkill–The Beginning.  This FREE episode drops you into the rapid-fire action where the women of Zulu are trying to figure out who is targeting them.   Who really set Zulu up to take the fall years ago?  Are they one in the same? Now the remaining members of Zulu have no choice but to regroup and stop their enemy–before it’s too late. And Overkill is just the beginning…     

Don’t miss any of these extended episodes….
July 4 — Operation Zulu Redemption: The Beginning
July 18 — Operation Zulu Redemption: Collateral Damage — Part 1
July 25 — Operation Zulu Redemption: Out of Nowhere — Part 2
August 1 — Operation Zulu Redemption: Hazardous Duty — Part 3
August 8 — Operation Zulu Redemption: Act of Treason — Part 4

Ronie Kendig will leave you needing the next!

 
What are you looking forward to next month?

Blog Tour Interview and Giveaway: Eniola Prentice’s Still

What is your story?

Lol. I really do love that question because everybody has a story. How long do you have?   I am someone who has beat incredible odds to get to where I am today by the grace of God. Getting and staying in medical school was struggle, publishing this novel was a struggle but I did it by the grace of God.  I have many definitions, doctor, Nigerian, female etc but I don’t think those categories adequately tell my story. The recurring theme of my life story is never giving up and God dragging me to the finish line with the helm of his garment. I hope my life one day inspires others to chase their dreams in education, music writing, in whatever with an unparalleled tenacity. With God with you,  there really is nothing that is impossible.

What is Still (and the Still series) about?

At its core, Still is about God’s love for four flawed characters. It includes a fifth character of medical school which is an essential component of my plot. The novel is about their intertwining relationships between each other and their friends against the backdrop of medical school. The main character, Sola starts medical school with the hope that it’s a new beginning for her but as life never turns out how we plan she meets an unlikely character, Tayo in medical school who she had encountered in a past life. She also develops and ignores feelings for Ladi, another classmate while she is trying to convince Nikky, another classmate that she should steer clear of Tayo.  Yes, she does have her hands full. 🙂

Is Still based on personal experiences?

Yes it is a tongue in cheek memorial of my experience in medical school. When I graduated I realized just how self-absorbed we were. Our whole lives revolved around being in medical school, the gossip, what we wanted to do in the future. We were aware that we were going through an exciting process and enjoyed every minute of it. Yes it was hard work but it was also fun.

 Tell me about your journey as a writer

My journey as a writer actually started when I was younger. I wrote my first official novel or novella  when I was twelve years ago. It was called Dark Shadows. Before that, I would use stories from the Sweet valley high series and Baby sitters club as “inspiration” for my novels. I put inspiration in quotes because my sister always accused me of copying the stories and I would get upset. LOL. It led to a lot of sibling squabbling. Anyway these novels inspired me and tickled my imagination. I never took writing seriously as a medium for reaching people until a light bulb went off in my head in medical school and I began writing again. I realized the imagination I had should not be dismissed as childish but that it was a gift from God.

 Why was writing this book so important to you?

It was important because I believe God placed it in my heart to write it. I felt He has a plan and purpose for the series so I am going to obey him to the best of my abilities.

Tell us a little about your life now?

My life now is in transition. I just published my novel and now I am starting medical residency in Virginia so I also have to move to a new city. I am excited about all the changes in my life and I am looking forward to starting a new chapter of life.

A broken soul,

an alcoholic,

a certifiable genius,

a Christian man

and a secret that will destroy the bonds of their friendship.

When self-proclaimed atheist Fadesola, gets into medical school she believes that it’s a fresh start of sorts for her. Until she discovers  her class mate is charming and handsome Tayo Smith, a man she encountered in a violent moment years ago. This revelation shatters Fadesola’s already fragile emotional state but hope comes where she least expects it. A seemingly innocent friendship with Tayo’s friend, Ladi, slowly develops into a smoldering relationship with both afraid to acknowledge their mutual feelings. Things get even more complicated when Nikky, Fadesola’s classmate and friend, ignores her desperate warnings and decides that Tayo is the man she is meant to be with. However, within the complexities of this friendship these flawed individuals will experience God’s redemptive grace in a setting each believed his love would never find them. Still, the first book of a four part series is a coming of age story about navigating through medical school in the first year, complete with hilarious hook ups and breaks ups, legendary parties and incessant studying, and experiencing the triumph of success and disappointment of failure.

Eniola Prentice, in her extraordinary debut novel has written a gripping and thought provoking story that examines Christianity, mental illness, suicide and alcoholism.

More About the Author

Eniola Prentice was born in Lagos Nigeria where she began to pen her stories as early as nine years old, inspired by an eclectic group of writers. Her budding writing career was put in the back burner as she pursued her dream of becoming a medical doctor, completing her undergraduate degree in Chicago, Illinois and her medical degree in Washington, DC. However in the third year of medical school inspired by the holy spirit or the voices in her head (she would prefer to blame God for this one) and the unique and inspiring stories of friends that became her family in medical school she began to write her debut novel and series, Still. She hopes that her writing compels challenges, inspires people and draws people to the Christian God’s redeeming love. You can connect with her by visiting eniolaprenticewrites.blogspot.com.

1. Readers can follow Still  and the rest of the books in the series on facebook here.

2. They can also follow the #stillbyEniolaPrentice  hashtag on twitter to follow the author and the  bloggers to keep up to date with the reviews.

To keep up with Eniola Prentice and the Still  book series, readers can sign up on her blog here, on Twitter  Facebook  and on  Google+

To celebrate the release of her novel, Eniola is hosting a raffle. You can win a signed copy of the novel, a mystery gift, and 40 dollar Amazon gift card!

Giveaway One person will win a signed paperback copy of the novel and a 40 dollar gift card. The winner will be announced on the last day of the tour,  June 17th on my blog and the winner will be notified by email. The giveaway is only open to residents in the United States. It can be found Here

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized

Rachel Hauck’s Princess Ever After

About

She’s content to be a small-town girl, running a classic auto restoration shop, unaware that a secret destiny awaits her. One that will leap from the pages of her grandmother’s hand-painted book of fairy tales.

Tanner Burkhardt is the stoic minister of culture for the Grand Duchy of Hessenberg. When he is tasked to retrieve the long-lost princess, he must overcome his fear of failure in order to secure his nation’s future — and his own.

Yet lurking in the political shadows is a fierce opponent with sinister plans to abolish the throne forever.

Overwhelmed with opposition, Regina must decide whether she’s destined to restore old cars or an ancient nation. Together — with a little divine intervention — Regina and Tanner discover the truth of her heritage and the healing power of true love.

Review

Who didn’t/doesn’t wish they were a princess? That’s what I really like about the Royal Wedding Series. It speaks to the heart of just about every girl. Here’s my thoughts:

What I liked:

-How Regina learns she’s a princess. This moment could be a bit cliché. But I found it to be executed well. I also liked the details that surrounded her being a princess because the more you learn about Regina’s past, the more you understand why it is that she didn’t know she was a princess.

Regina. I liked that she restored old cars and that she had been an accountant. It made her personality a bit more rounded.

Tanner. I liked that he had a story of his own that had nothing to do with Regina becoming a princess. And his story was not at all what I would have expected.

The politics. I really enjoyed the fact that not everyone in Brighton was excited to get a princess. Particularly an American one. It really amped up the tension.

Spiritually, I love the theme of forgiving one self and also, accepting the plan that God has for your life.

What I didn’t like:

Regina acted as though it were a hardship to live in luxury and dress like a princess. While I could maybe see this getting annoying after a few months, I simply could not think of one girl who wouldn’t have enjoyed the pampering. Her insistence on wearing jeans and cowboy boots made me want to say, “really?”. I understand she was trying to hold onto her identity, but that wasn’t working for me.

Okay, this is a minor quibble, but the people of Brighton all had American sounding names and British culture. I just wish they had had something that made me think that they were a different country and not just a European country. I studied abroad and let me tell you, as close as those nations are, they are completely different from each other and I wished the differences were played up more here.

Overall, a very sweet, meet-your-needs kind of book.

Romantic Scale: 8

 

Posted in Historical

Beth White’s The Pelican Bride

About

It is 1704 when Genevieve Gaillain and her sister board a French ship headed for the Louisiana colony as mail-order brides. Both have promised to marry one of the rough-and-tumble Canadian men in this New World in order to escape religious persecution in the Old World. Genevieve knows life won’t be easy, but at least here she can establish a home and family without fear of beheading. But when she falls in love with Tristan Lanier, an expatriate cartographer whose courageous stand for fair treatment of native peoples has made him decidedly unpopular in the young colony, Genevieve realizes that even in this land of liberty one is not guaranteed peace. And a secret she harbors could mean the undoing of the colony itself.

Gulf Coast native Beth White brings vividly to life the hot, sultry south in this luscious, layered story of the lengths we must go to in order to be true to ourselves, our faith, and our deepest loves

Review

I happen to enjoy Beth White’s novels and though I usually read her contemporary novels, I may or may not have been influenced by the cover of this book and read it. Here’s what I thought:

What I liked:

The history. My knowledge of American history pre-1776 is a bit fuzzy so I found it fascinating to learn about these Pelican Brides and their arrival to America, as well as the American Indians that had to deal with all of these foreigners I learned a lot and yet the history just flowed naturally throughout the book.

The premise. I kind of like the “mail-order” bride story.

Tristan. He’s a complex man, but one the reader trusts intrinsically, no doubt because he is a survivor. I liked his back story, and the way that he interacted with Genevieve.

Genevieve. She’s a strong heroine, but she’s not a stupid one. I like that she realizes that she has to survive and play by the rules of this town, and yet she doesn’t have to just go with the flow. I think that she’s a great match to Tristan.

Spiritually, the novel deals with the persecution of the French Protestants and how brave they are to read the Bible and trust God when it could very well be a death sentence. It just brought out the seriousness of our faith that we sometimes forget.

What I didn’t like:

It seems to be fairly common to make siblings of the heroine total meanies. I mean, if I was an only child who read books like these, I would be thanking God. Fortunately, I have two awesome sisters who would never treat me the way Genevieve’s sister treated her. It just kind of bothered me that her sister was so consumed with herself.

The romance happened a bit fast mostly because Tristan and Genevieve spent a lot of time a part from each other. I saw that this book was a series, and initially, I thought that meant that we would see Genevieve and Tristan really get to know each other over the space of the series, but I’m fairly certain that this is their book.

Overall, a very good read and written so well that I got lost in the pages.

Romantic Scale: 7.4

 

 

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Monday Musings…How Picky is Too Picky?

I’m a picky reviewer. As someone who reads tons of books a year, I appreciate picky reviewers because there’s nothing more disappointing than spending money on a book I don’t want to finish. When I’m interested in a book, I click on the negative reviews, because those people can usually tell me what to expect in a book and whether or not I will like certain elements. So, I look at it as a good thing, because then my readers will know that when I like something I really like something. But, sometimes I wonder, am I too picky? Writing is subjective, and what one person may find okay (widows with children) another person may find cliché (widows with children). And yet, if you can pinpoint specific things that bother you as a reviewer, does it not at the same time tell the reader about things they may or may not like?

For instance, I once read a negative review about Amish people that said that these Amish people read more like “ordinary people”. Well, for me that’s a good thing. I was glad they pointed that out and I bought that book and enjoyed it.

I think with vague reviews, that does the author more harm than not because if it’s vague than the reader neither enjoyed it nor disliked it. And then I have to do more research. At least that’s my impression.

But then again, sometimes I wonder if authors read my reviews and think really? Really?! That small detail stuck out in your mind? And so then I wonder again, am I too picky?

What do you think? Do you like picky reviewers? Do you just want to know if their 5 stars or 3 stars? Thoughts?