I blogged about the novel Unconventional here.
Well, it’s been released, and you can purchase your copy here, and you can also listen to the free serialized audio book version here.
I enjoyed reading this story, and I encourage you all to read J.J. Hebert’s novel!
Here’s what I had to say about this story:
I loved Unconventional, a stirring love story and spiritual journey that will surely touch your heart. You’ll remember James Frost for a long time!
For July, I’m giving away the following thirteen books. All of these new/slightly used books will go to one person! If interested, leave a comment with your response to the following question:
Do you believe in love at first sight?
I’ll respond first…no I don’t! I think you can be deeply attracted to somebody, but I think that true love takes some time to develop and grow, kind of like planting a seed, watering it, and then it sprouts into a beautiful flower. How much time does true love take to grow? I think that’s all relative, and that depends on the people involved! I’d be interested in hearing what others have to say about this!
Anyway, do you believe in love at first sight?
When you leave your comment, don’t forget to leave your email address! Continental U.S. and Canada residents only! Also if you enter the drawing, I’ll add your address to my mailing list. But DON’T WORRY, I only send out mass emails A FEW TIMES A YEAR!
Please note that the last two books listed, #12 and #13 are NOT novels!
Here’s the list of novels:
1.
John’s Quest by Cecelia Dowdy
John French, a science professor, is an agnostic–he’s unsure if God exists. When he’s hired to tutor a blind seven-year-old child, Scotty, he finds himself falling for the child’s beautiful aunt/guardian, Monica Crawford. Monica’s life changes drastically when her irresponsible younger sister abandons her handicapped son on her doorstep. As John helps Monica to educate her nephew, he falls in love with her. However, problems arise when Monica, a devout Christian, finds herself drawn to Scotty’s handsome and intelligent tutor. Monica finds herself in a bind because she knows it’s a sin to be unequally yoked with a non-believer. How in the world can these two lovebirds overcome the huge problems that stand in the way of their relationship?
2.
Milk Money by Cecelia Dowdy
Running a dairy farm is a big job, but doing it alone is almost impossible.
When her dad dies, Emily must work hard to save the family farm, but she manages. Until the day the CPA pulls in her drive and announces he’s there to do an audit on the place.
Franklin Reese is appalled at the lack of interest the Cooper women have in the financial end of their livelihood, but he dives in, determined to help them learn. The further he looks into Mr. Cooper’s dealings, however, the more uncomfortable he becomes.
Can he uncover the truth of the situation and still earn the love of the amazing Emily Cooper? Will Franklin’s addiction to alcohol keep them apart, even after the farm is taken care of? Only God can heal hurting hearts and repair broken lives. Will these two let Him in?
3.
Bittersweet Memories by Cecelia Dowdy
Karen Brown is angry at God, and at herself, for falling in love with Lionel Adams, her ex-fiancé. When her beloved suddenly disappears, along with thousands of dollars stolen from their mega-church, she re-locates back to her hometown in Annapolis Maryland to live with her mother. She’s stunned to discover handsome plumber Keith Baxter living next door.
Keith is smitten with Karen, but wonders if she’s still in love with Lionel. He wants Karen to accept him into her life, but he doesn’t know if he’d be a good match for her due to his troubled past. Can Karen forgive Lionel, and let the Lord back into her heart?
4. 
Things Left Upspoken by Eva Marie Everson – I’ll be posting my review of this novel soon. I’m almost finished reading it. I’m enjoying it so far.
From Amazon.com
Product Description
Jo-Lynn Hunter is at a crossroads in life when her great-aunt Stella insists that she return home to restore the old family house in sleepy Cottonwood, Georgia. Seeing the project as the perfect excuse for some therapeutic time away from her self-absorbed husband and his snobby Atlanta friends, Jo-Lynn longs to get her teeth into a noteworthy and satisfying project. But things are not what they seem, both in the house and within the complex history of her family. Was her great-grandfather the pillar of the community she thought he was? What is Aunt Stella hiding? And will Jo-Lynn’s marriage survive the renovation? Jo-Lynn isn’t sure she wants to know the truth–but sometimes the truth has a way of making itself known. The past comes alive in this well-written and thoughtful novel full of secrets, drama, and family with a hint of Southern drawl.
5. 
The Someday List by Stacy Hawkins Adams – I’ll be posting my review of this novel soon. It’s a great book!
From Amazon.com
Product Description
Rachelle Covington has it all. A fabulous home, a handsome and prestigious husband, two beautiful children, and a place in the upper crust that’s quite comfortable. But her life is not all it’s cracked up to be. When her husband goes away on business trip and the kids are sent off to the grandparents for a month, Rachelle takes up the challenge of a dying friend to start a list of things to do before she dies. She heads back to Jubilant, Texas, to reconnect with her past, her purpose, and herself. But when her ex shows up in town looking very fine and very single, Rachelle must confront feelings she thought she’d long buried. Will she give up everything to recover the past? Or will she find a reason to plan for the future? The Someday List is an honest look at what makes us who we are and what can throw us off track. Author Stacy Hawkins Adams writes with a voice that is fresh, sincere, and completely real. Her characters jump off the page and into her readers’ hearts.
6. 
Germ by Robert Liparulo
From Amazon.com
Product Description
If you breathe it will find you.
The germ–a form of the Ebola virus–has been genetically engineered to infect only those people whose DNA matches the codes embedded within it. Its release will usher in an era where countries are left without defense. Where a single person–or millions–could be killed with perfect accuracy and zero collateral damage. Where your own DNA works against you.
The time isn’t coming. It is now. Pray the assassins get you first.
7. 
Cotton Candy Clouds by Janice Hanna
From Heartsong Presents website: Candy Carini has always had her head in the clouds. Now, at Newark’s Eastway Airlines, where she lands both a piloting job and a pilot, her dreams are finally coming true. But when disgruntled pilots question Eastway’s latest executive decisions, will Candy lose her new job and the man who’s captured her heart? When Eastway pilot Darren Furst meets Candy, he can’t help but think she could fill his empty home and arms. Then union troubles arise, and Darren finds himself caught between the woman he loves and his fellow pilots. Are Darren’s plans for the future now grounded? Or will Candy cotton to Darren – for better or worse?
9. A String Of Murders by Darlene Franklin – A Heartsong Presents Cozy Mystery
From The Back Cover:
Blackmail turns deadly. . .
Cici Wilde’s fiancé, Audie Howe, calls her with disturbing news. Her store’s been broken into and worse, someone murdered the intruder. The victim clutches a string of pearls in one hand and a threatening e-mail in the other. It reads “I know what you’re doing. Meet me at Cici’s Vintage Clothing at 8:30 p.m. Saturday night.”
With the discovery of the body, a recent spate of ugly e-mails throughout the Grace Gulch community becomes intensely personal. The murderer purposely lured the victim to Cici’s store. Why? The answer lies in the strand of pearls, a gift from arts patron Magda Grace Mallory. She has loaned them to Audie, director of the MGM Theater, for use in the upcoming production of Arsenic and Old Lace.
Evidence points to members of the close theater community. Is it Gene Mallory, Magda’s ne’er-do-well son? Lauren Packer, Magda’s lawyer? Peppi Lambert, Grace Gulch newcomer and good friend of Cici’s sister? Or Suzanne Jay, theater diva with a shady past? When a second murder is committed with the same string of pearls, Cici battles through baffling clues to find the killer before he strikes again.
10. A Vote Of Confidence by Robin Lee Hatcher
11. Last Light by Terri Blackstock
12. The Servant King – The NIV New Testament
13. The Cupcake Cafe Cookbook by Ann Warren and Joan Lilly
I’m giving this cookbook away since I have two copies.
From Amazon.com
Amazon.com Review
The Cupcake Café Cookbook is a gem for everyone who loves doughnuts, originally decorated cakes, or off-beat New York City eateries. The actual café is a funky daytime oasis in the still-iffy neighborhood once known as Hell’s Kitchen. Ann Warren and her husband, Michael, started the café as a bakery in 1988. They now serve food, too, but their fame comes from the breakfast baked goods and Warren’s strikingly creative butter cream-frosted cakes and cupcakes.
You have to smile at Warren suggesting her doughnuts are health food because they’re made from scratch with natural ingredients and eaten without butter or cream cheese. You will certainly enjoy every recipe for them and all of the muffins, scones and sticky buns, too. Warren’s use of butter cream for decorating cakes with cascades of colorful flowers and other original designs is so magical that even Madonna and Mick Jagger have ordered from her. If you have an ounce of manual dexterity, Warren’s detailed guidance on cake decorating will send you into orbit. Photos showing how to make the flower-encrusted cakes for which Cupcake Café is famous also a help. –Dana Jacobi
Jane Squires – Wasola, MO
Jane is the winner of my June Book Giveaway. I’ll be posting another book giveaway around the First of July. Also, I have two books I need to post reviews for:
The Someday List
and
Things Left Unspoken
I might be cutting back on the books that I review. Time is getting away from me and I really need to be writing so that I can sell another book to a publisher! I might be filling the space with more author interviews or something. Also, I’d be happy to answer any questions that anyone may have about getting your novels commercially published! Give me some ideas about what you’d like to see on this blog! Feel free to leave a comment about what you’d like me to blog about!
But his death is starting to sink in now. My shock is slowly wearing off.
On the writing front, I’ve found some contest entries that I agreed to judge ages ago. After I get those submitted to the contest coordinator, I’ll go back to blogging about books, recipes and my regular stuff!
I know this isn’t my usual blog post. I don’t talk about stars and celebrities, but my sister called me a half hour ago and told me that Michael Jackson is dead!! I grew up in the seventies…an African American girl enamored with Michael Jackson and his brothers! I remember listening to Thriller cassette tape over and over in high school. I remember the Jackson Five songs Dancin’ Machine, ABC, Never Can Say Goodbye, you name it!
I didn’t follow him as much as an adult, and didn’t really agree with his lifestyle, but, still…I’m just shocked that he’s dead is all!!! I’m devastated…shocked!!
This is, hands down, the best chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted! I made it for my hubby for Father’s Day! I took him shopping first. And, if you’ve been reading this blog long enough, you know how I feel about shopping. See this post if you want to know what I think about shopping! After time in the store with my husband and my almost-four-year-old child, I was ready for a piece of chocolate cake!
Double Chocolate Chip Cake Recipe
3 Unsweetened chocolate squares (one ounce each)
2 1/4 c Cake flour; sifted
2 tb Baking soda
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 c Butter
2 1/4 c Brown sugar
3 Eggs
1 1/2 ts Vannilla
1 c Sour cream
1 c Water; boiling
Preheat over to over 350 deg, butter and flour 3 9-inch cake pans. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate over hot, not simmering, water. Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the brown sugar and then the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat at high speed for 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the melted chocolate.
Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream in 4 portions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, beat well after each addition. Stir in the boiling water and pour the batter at once into the prepared pans. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the center springs back when touched lightly. Set the cake pans on the rack to cool for 10 minutes. Then invert the cakes onto the racks to cool completely.
I don’t use the frosting recipe provided in the link. Instead, I use this:
Frosting:
1 and 1/2 sticks butter softened
One cup Hershey’s Cocoa (THAT’S THE BAKING COCOA…NOT THE PRE-PREPARED HOT CHOCOLATE MIX!!)
4 and a half cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup of milk (you may add more if frosting is too stiff)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Mix first four ingredients until you’ve reached desired consistency. Add vanilla extract and mix again. Frost the cake.
This cake is really moist and it’s good! Since it’s so moist and and full of chocolate flavor, I feel you don’t need a lot of icing! The above recipe for icing will frost a three-layer cake if you place a small amount between the layers, on the side and at the top. If you want a thicker layer of icing, then you can adjust the recipe accordingly!
Get yourself a tall glass of cold milk and enjoy! If you try this recipe, be sure to let me know if you liked it! Leave a comment about this recipe if you wish!
Happy Father’s Day! I want to wish a Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads reading this post!
Deadly Intent by Camy Tang
From Amazon.com:
Product Description
The Grant family’s exclusive Sonoma spa is a place for rest and relaxation—not murder! When Naomi Grant finds her client Jessica Ortiz bleeding to death in her massage room, everything falls apart. The salon’s reputation is at stake…and so is Naomi’s freedom when she discovers that she is one of the main suspects! Her only solace is found with the other suspect—Dr. Devon Knightley, the victim’s ex-husband. But Devon is hiding secrets of his own. When they come to light, where can Naomi turn…and whom can she trust?
==
This was a suspenseful novel and I enjoyed that some of the scenes took place in a posh spa where the rich come for rest and relaxation. However, when one of Naomi’s clients is found murdered, things drastically change at her family’s business! Who would murder Jessica, and why? When Dr. Devon Knightley, Jessica’s ex-husband, appears at the spa, demanding to see Jessica, moments before she is murdered, the mystery takes on another twist.
Naomi has met Devon at social functions, and wonders why he’s never attempted to contact her on his own. She’s attracted to him, but needs to be honest with
herself – he’s an atheist and she’s a Christian. How could that union happy?
Devon wonders about the death of his ex-wife as his own life becomes risky. It appears someone is trying to kill him, but who would want to harm him and why?
This book moves quickly and you can finish it in a short amount of time. The story and the characters will pull you in for an enjoyable, fast-paced read.
Gone To Green by Judy Christie
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Pub. Date: August 01, 2009
ISBN-13: 9781426700248
288pp
I have not had a chance to read this book yet since it has not yet been released. However, I plan on reading it in the near future, and I’ll post a review once I’ve read it. Doesn’t the cover look nice! From reading about the book on the web, it sounds like a good read! I encourage you to purchase this novel and give it a try! Below is the information about the book and the author if you want to pre-order the novel. Also, you can get some free gifts on the site listed below!
Today is a special day for a fellow Christian fiction author. Judy Christie is celebrating the pre-release of her very first novel, Gone to Green! Gone to Green is the story of 36-year-old Lois Barker, a big-city reporter who ends up in small-town north Louisiana to work at a newspaper. She isn’t thrilled to be there but decides to tough it out. Get ready for the things that unfold!
I hope you’ll join me in welcoming Judy to the scene. You can do so by pre-ordering Gone to Green at Amazon today. When you do, you get several really neat gifts — including Judy’s timely lesson on goal setting and a sample of my latest novel, Bittersweet Memories — just for placing your order today. Click on over to Judy’s site and get all the great details!
While this is Judy’s first novel, she writes spiritual and Biblically based nonfiction, all aimed at helping people find meaning and enjoyment in life. She has penned Gone to Green as another way to help people rest, relax and enjoy.
I know how much it means to find new readers who are looking for quality books with a good message. I love supporting other authors, especially new authors in the Christian Fiction market! Gone to Green officially hits shelves in August, but you can be one of the first to get your copy when you visit this site and place your order today!
Have a great day, and God bless.
A Vote Of Confidence by Robin Lee Hatcher
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (May 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310258057
ISBN-13: 978-0310258056
From Amazon.com:
In A Vote of Confidence, the stage is set for some intriguing insight into what it was like during 1915 to be a woman in a “man’s world.”
Guinevere Arlington is a beautiful young woman determined to remain in charge of her own life. For seven years, Gwen has carved out a full life in the bustling town of Bethlehem Springs, Idaho, where she teaches piano and writes for the local newspaper. Her passion for the town, its people, and the surrounding land prompt Gwen to run for mayor. After all, who says a woman can’t do a man’s job?
But stepping outside the boundaries of convention can get messy. A shady lawyer backs Gwen, believing he can control her once she’s in office. A wealthy newcomer throws his hat into the ring in an effort to overcome opposition to the health resort he’s building north of town. When the opponents fall in love, everything changes, forcing Gwen to face what she may have to lose in order to win.
This book was a nice cozy read. It was suspenseful, but not too suspenseful. Gwen has been living in Bethlehem Springs for seven years. She lives close to her father and her fraternal twin sister Cleo. Due to a parental separation, Gwen and Cleo have been raised apart, and now Gwen has taken the last seven years to get acquainted with her father and her sister. Gwen gives piano lessons to the children in the town, and she also writes for the paper. In the few years she’s been in Bethlehem Springs, Gwen has come to care for the town and its inhabitants, she cares so much that she wants to become the new mayor. The current mayor is an alcoholic who has no affection for the town.
Meanwhile, wealthy Morgan Mckinley breezes into town, and starts constructing a new day spa. However, this spa is not only for the rich – he wants to make the spa affordable for the poor and middle-class citizens of Bethlehem Springs. He volunteers to run for mayor, throwing Gwen’s campaign into a tizzy!
This was a fun book. It was great to see the attaction grow between Morgan and Gwen and it was heartwarming to see Morgan build the spa. Morgan builds the spa in memory of his deceased mother. He cares for others and it’s apparant in his actions.
Well-developed characters, romance, and a bit of suspense make this a fine story.
Robin Lee Hatcher likes to write about women and politics. This novel reminded me a little of her novel, Catching Katie, which I reviewed a few years ago.