Friday, October 28, 2016

Aboard Providence by Keely Brooke Keith


 
To purchase your copy, click here.

About the Book
In November 1860, Jonah Ashton boarded the Providence with a plan to escort his family to their new settlement in South America and then return to medical school in Pennsylvania before rumors of Southern rebellion erupt into all-out war. What he didn’t count on was getting lost at sea and falling in love. When they finally reach land, Jonah makes a startling discovery that changes everything, but will it change his heart?

 

 

My Review

Wow- I had no idea the adventure I was embarking on when I opened to page one, but I knew it was going to be a thrilling one. Jonah is torn between love for his family, his desire to be what he thinks is a success by earning his medical degree, and standing face to face with horrible accusations about his personal character. He is faced with a dilemma which he eventually decides to compromise with. He will escort his family to their new land and then return to clear his name and become the success he believes he needs to be to be worth anything as a man. In steps Marian- a most unexpected yet eventually welcome surprise. A new conflict arises when Marian's love for her family and Jonah are tested and weighed in the balance. 

Aboard Providence was steeped in history as well as a sense of hope and adventure. It dealt in faith shown by all the passengers in the Lord and His plans for them to escape the country that was ready to rip in two and start a war. I must confess that when I realized the characters were serious about moving to South America, I was scared for them but excited at the same time. What dedication to the Lord they showed making this bold move as a whole community of families. How long did they have to think through what they would have to do without and who they would encounter in their new land? I was inspired by the faith and hope seen in all the character's lives as the voyage takes so many unexpected twists and turns which prove that God's ways and thoughts are not the same as our own. As we know but rarely remember as Christians, the Lord's plans are far better than anything we could have thought up or accomplished on our own. The love between Jonah and Marian was brought about by the Lord. The direction of and happenings on the ship were brought about by the Lord. The Land where they settled was brought about by the Lord. Like the characters, we see unexpected twists and turns, but the Lord is bringing about His will and destiny for our lives in a path that only He knows the end to. We realize that our worth should not be based on man's opinion, but upon fulfilling the call the Lord has on our life.

The characters were so clear in my mind and the conversations and emotions conveyed were vivid in my mind. I could almost feel the spray from the sea and smell the salt air. I could see the cramped spaces they all endured as well as the lack of privacy. I admit had I been a character, I would have not been a very seaworthy passenger! When I began reading that this book was set in the 1860's I expected an emphasis on one part of history but instead got the voyage of a lifetime. If you enjoy history, you will enjoy this book. If you enjoy romantic themes, you will enjoy this book. If you enjoy inspirational reads, you will enjoy this book. If you enjoy adventure and supsense, you will enjoy this book. If you like Christian fiction at all, you will thoroughly enjoy this book!

**I was given this book for free and gave my complete and honest opinion.

 

 

About the Author
Keely Brooke Keith is the author of the Uncharted series (Edenbrooke Press) and Aboard Providence (CrossRiver Media). Her novels are known for blending genres in unconventional ways. When she isn’t writing stories, Keely enjoys playing bass guitar, preparing homeschool lessons, and collecting antique textbooks. Originally from St. Joseph, Missouri, Keely resides with her husband and their daughter on a hilltop south of Nashville where she dreams up stories, hoping to encourage, comfort, and inspire readers. She is a member of ACFW.

Guest Post from Keely Brooke Keith

The Uncharted series has a past…

The Uncharted storyline begins in the 21st Century in a hidden land that was settled in the 1860s by Americans. Throughout the Uncharted books, the characters refer to their founders’ history. Soon after the release of The Land Uncharted, readers expressed their desire for more. Why did the founders leave America in 1860? How did they plan the group migration? Where did they believe they were going? How did they establish what is now a fascinating culture?

I too was drawn by the founders’ story. When I set out to write it, I enjoyed fleshing out the mystery of how the founders arrived in the Land and what it was like for them, not only for the characters who wanted that adventure, but also those who didn’t. I became swept away on a journey of faith, sacrifice, and God’s unfailing provision.

The result is Aboard Providence (CrossRiver Media, 2016).

Join the founders as they embark on their voyage to an uncharted land.

Blog Stops


Giveaway



In honor of her tour, Keely is giving away The Uncharted Series ebooks! Click the link below to enter; be sure to comment on this post to claim your nine bonus entries for this giveaway! https://promosimple.com/ps/a60d
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Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Wrapped in God's Grace by Barbara Bras




 
To purchase your copy, click here.

About the Book

 

Click here to purchase!

The crushing pain of seven years of unanswered prayer for a child. A miraculous adoption story, followed by unforeseen challenges and heartbreak.

Barbara Bras begins her memoir by sharing God’s answer to her prayers and the difficult times that followed. Although God does not provide an easy fix, the intricacies of God’s plans reveal themselves to her, and she relives her life in a new light.

Bras then recounts the stories of her grandfather Arshag and her grandmother Gulle, survivors of the atrocities of Armenia in 1915. Arshag, sent to South America for his protection, returns as a soldier of the Armenian Legion to fight for his country. Gulle is the only member of her family to survive the death march into the desert. Through God’s grace they find each other, marry and move to America in 1921. Bras is their first grandchild.

The final section of the memoir follows Bras as she marries and moves to Hawaii, only to return as a single mother to teach school in a small town. It is there she finally realizes that God has provided her with protection and direction. Bras discovers that once we truly surrender our will to God, His plan always produces blessings beyond our wildest dreams!


My Review

I have never read a book that spoke to the experiences in my life so closely. Dealing with infertility myself, and then experiencing adoption spoke to me on such a specific level of feelings that I didn't realize others felt as well. Every page I read specifically in regards to the adoption story brought tears to my eyes because of how much I related to this story. This is a memoir like never written before that I have read. It was not just an account of history of someone's life- it was written in such a way that you were part of the story and the characters' challenges and feelings. It was written as a novel memoir so that it is story telling but 100% true to the experiences and history of a woman just like any of us. We get a glimpse into Barbara's family history and the remarkable story of her grandparents through literally life-threatening situations and how the Lord brought about a remnant of her family to continue serving Him. We see how Barbara herself struggles with trying to find contentment and fulfillment in people and life changes hoping that the next experience will bring her true happiness. It's a beautiful story of the grace of God, and we see His grace filling every disappointment in Barbara's life to lead her to His will. Barbara's struggle to allow God to bring her happiness and contentment is one that resonated with me greatly as I tend to be a control freak most of the time. Because Barbara's message resonated with me on so many levels, I know the Lord had to put it on her heart to write this memoir. I was inspired, encouraged, and found a common bond with a sister in Christ that I didn't think was a possibility. Thank you Mrs. Bras for a wonderful testimony that was so uniquely and clearly written- it truly spoke to my soul! Praise the Lord for his unfailing grace!

I was given a free copy of this book to give my honest opinion.


About the Author

In 2015, Barbara Bras left her career to pursue her dream of serving God. She believed that her first step would be to share the amazing ways God had blessed her. As she wrote of her son’s miraculous adoption and the challenging years that followed, it led to the rediscovery of her entire life, including the history of her grandparents’ remarkable survival in Armenia and her search for purpose and love. Her memoir led to her first novel, which she hopes readers will find engaging and memorable.

Guest Post from Barbara Bras

An Unanswered Prayer

I struggled for many years with one unanswered prayer. It was my “go to” request every time I came before the Lord.

Convinced that with God nothing is impossible, I also knew that the Lord may say “Not now” many times, even before he says no. I acknowledged that the Lord probably had a much bigger and better plan in mind for me, but none of that offered any comfort. As I struggled year after year with my unanswered prayer I found more questions than answers.

Was I fooling myself and ignoring God’s “No”? Could my lack of faith be the reason I couldn’t hear the Lord? And if not now, then when dear Lord?

Then I discovered that the Lord said “Not now.” because he had a miracle waiting for me, more amazing than I could have ever imagined. Like Hannah, God finally answered my prayer for a child. And through that miracle I learned that surrendering my will to God allows Him to bless me beyond my human understanding.

To my further surprise, I discovered that the miracle didn’t mean the end of the story. Experiencing a miraculous adoption didn’t come with a guarantee or a promise that the rest of my life would be free of heartache.

After all of those years of unanswered prayer, I found myself back on my knees with a new daily prayer request. The Lord had something else to teach me through this new struggle, a lesson that took me another fifteen years to learn.

Not only did those fifteen years lead me right back to where I started, surrendering my human will to His and trusting in His greater plan, but it convinced me that the Lord wanted me to share my story.  

Wrapped in God’s Grace, a Life Rediscovered begins with my unanswered prayer for a child, but as I wrote it, God’s plan for me became clear. The second section of the book recreates the events surrounding the survival of my grandparents through the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Their immigration to America in 1921 led to my existence. The book closes with the Lord blessing me with a loving husband in spite of the many missteps I made directing my own life. A reviewer found this nonlinear sequence of events unusual, and I am fine with that, since that’s how the book unfolded before me.

Captured by St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, I now view my writing as a tribute first to the God who comforts and strengthens all of us in hardships and trials, and second as my mission to encourage others.


A photo gallery for Wrapped in God’s Grace, a Life Rediscovered can be found on my website AuthorB.Bras.com. Click here to view the Photo Gallery
 

Blog Stops

October 14: Book Love
October 15: A Greater Yes
October 16: Carpe Diem
October 18: Pause for Tales
October 19: A Reader’s Brain
October 20: Bigreadersite
October 22: Mary Hake
October 22: Simple Harvest Reads (Spotlight)


Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Barbara is giving away a $100 Amazon gift card! Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/a561
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Thursday, October 6, 2016

Time Trap by Danele J. Rotharmel


 
Click here to purchase your copy.

About the Book


When problems arise during a field exam, Director Peter Matthews and Dr. Laura Nelson are sent through a time portal to investigate. While they search for their missing cadets, they encounter an enemy who is calculating and brutal—a mysterious nemesis who is holding a grudge against the TEMCO program. As Peter and Laura race to unravel clues directing them to their kidnapped cadets, their own survival comes into question. A deadly trap has been set, and they are forced to pit their wits against a serial killer who is intent on playing a deadly chess game through time itself.

 


My Review

Mind-bending . . . an appropriate word to describe Time Trap. When I began reading this suspenseful, futuristic thriller I was delighted to find the comfort of a sweet heartwarming story of love and family entwined within the plot. While on one page I'm on the edge of my seat hoping my favorite character (which is Laura by the way ;) will make it through this chapter, I'm laughing and/or sad for the characters on the next page. I've never read such a book which seamlessly marries a heartwarming read with a chest-pounding thrilling read. As usual, the integration of how the characters depended on the Lord through heart-wrenching difficulties was a very welcome theme throughout the book. The aspect of time travel in this book was an experience that I wasn't sure about until I got reading and caught up in the added dimensions it added to the plot. There are not enough adjectives to describe this book because the dimensions to the plot are vast. Sci-fi meets thriller meets time travel meets inspirational novel meets romantic comedy! Bravo, Ms. Rotharmel- your book left me speechless and took me on a one of a kind adventure!

I received this book for free and gave a completely honest opinion of my own.

 

 

About the Author
Danele Rotharmel grew up with a love of the literary word, and by age five, she knew she wanted to be a writer. However, her life took an unexpected turn when a mysterious illness brought her close to death. Eventually, she learned that a low-level carbon monoxide leak from a faulty furnace in her home was slowly poisoning her. This poisoning triggered severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and partial amnesia.

During this time, the hardest thing she faced was a crisis of faith. She had to quit her job and stop going to church. She couldn’t write, couldn’t drive, and could barely remember who she was. To say she was upset with the Lord was an understatement. She began reexamining her faith in light of her illness, and eventually, she came to the firm conclusion that God is real, God is good, God is interested and involved, and God is trustworthy regardless of tragedy.

When her illness became even more severe, she was put into quarantine and could only talk to friends and extended family through the glass of a window. This quarantine lasted for seven years. During this time, she wrote the first six books in The Time Counselor Chronicles.

Danele currently lives in Colorado where she continues to write. Although her journey back to health was long and difficult, it provided her with the opportunity to grow closer to God and to write her books. For that, she is forever thankful.

You can learn more about Danele by visiting her blog at https://dragonflydanele.wordpress.com/
 

Guest Post from Danele Rotharmel

I’ve always loved to read, but I hate that horrible moment when a good book comes to an end. It’s torture saying goodbye to characters I’ve come to love. One of the best things about being an author is having control over your own stories. I wrote The Time Counselor Chronicles while I was extremely ill and enduring seven years of quarantine. During that time, I didn’t have control over many aspects of my life, but I did have control over my fictional characters. I found extreme pleasure in the fact that since I was the author, I didn’t have to say goodbye to the TEMCO crew—I could just write them another story.    

Time Trap is the second book in my series. It can be read as a sequel to Time Tsunami, or it can stand alone. Time Trap was written for one reason only—I was enjoying myself, and I didn’t want to say goodbye to the people I’d created in Time Tsunami. And that’s why the other books in my series were written as well. By the time I finally sought publication, I’d completed six books. Writing, for me, was an act of pure enjoyment. When I began, I wasn’t thinking about publishers or reading audiences, I was simply thinking about what type of adventure I wanted to write next. My books brought me joy, and that was all that mattered. For years, I didn’t let anyone know I was writing. TEMCO was my personal world—my escape hatch from illness and pain. I was afraid that if I let others into my imaginary world, it would crumble away. As it turned out, the exact opposite was true. Knowing that people were enjoying my stories filled my life with incredible happiness!

I always fill my books with suspense, romance, action, faith, and comedy. I keep them clean, and I work hard to make them full of page-turning fun. Communication is such a wonderful thing. I love that fact that we can relay our ideas, hopes, and dreams to each other. My books are more than just stories, they symbolically chronicle the way I stood up to my illness and fought it. They speak about the value I place on love and friendship. They show that humor can be found even in the midst of great difficulty. And most of all, they demonstrate that a crisis of faith isn’t the end—it’s simply the first step to understanding God on a deeper level. Life isn’t easy, but I’ve learned that even in the middle of tragedy, God is faithful and trustworthy. That’s what each of my characters eventually learn, and that’s what I hope my readers will take away from my books.

Blog Stops

 

October 6: A readers brain
October 10: CTF devourer
October 12: Pause for Tales
October 13: Blogging With Carol
October 14: Donna’s BookShelf
October 15: Carpe Diem
October 16: Petra’s Hope
October 17: henry happens
October 18: Vic’s Media Room

Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Danele is giving away a package that includes an autographed paperback copy of both Time Tsunami and Time Trap, a Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord” journal, a lovely coffee cup, and a 4X4 picture frame. Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/a5da
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