Farther Than I Meant To Go Longer Than I Meant To Stay
By Tiffany L. Warren
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Walk Worthy Press (October 16, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446693537
ISBN-13: 978-0446693530
From the back cover:
She’s independent, successful, and fulfilled in her spiritual walk. But bank president Charmayne Ellis is also overweight, close-to-forty…and wondering if she will ever be as successful in her personal life. She’s never gotten much praise or caring from her ever-critical mother and sister. And her friends are more into matchmaking than being truly supportive. So it seems her prayers are answered when hardworking, saved, and just-too-fine Travis Moon asks Charmayne to marry him. Or are they? Charmayne soon finds the only thing her new husband has to share is one bad-news secret after another. Now, with her reputation and career destroyed and her life at rock bottom, her faith will be tested as never before. Her challenge will be to face her own willful heart—and find the courage to finally put herself in God’s hands and discover where her real blessings lie.
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Charmayne is a successful bank president who’s financially-sound and active in her church. However, her life is just missing one thing…a man! Her thin attractive sister and her best friend are both married and Charmayne wonders if she’s doomed to spend the rest of her days alone. Overweight, she has not had many relationships with men, and she doesn’t see many male prospects on her horizon.
However, when handyman Travis Moon steps into her office to fix her chair, she finds herself swooning over the attractive repairman. He sweeps her off her feet in a whirlwind courtship, and she soon finds herself falling in love with her smooth-talking love interest. As she gets to know Travis, she’s shocked as he reveals one surprise after another, and Charmayne realizes she barely knows anything about the man she’s become involved with. As she loses her job and her sanity, she calls upon God for answers to her seemingly unending plight with Travis Moon.
This book dealt with some serious issues. However, it also had pockets of humor interspersed throughout the story. Sometimes, when your life seems hopeless, and you’ve lost everything, you wonder why God has allowed you to sink to a certain point. This book shows how these sinking points will show us how we need to call upon God as he pushes us into an even higher place. I’d recommend this read to all who enjoy a funny, inspirational, and fantastic story.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Ain’t No Mountain by Sharon Ewell Foster
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Bethany House (May 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0764228854
ISBN-13: 978-0764228858

From Amazon.com:
Product Description
Loneliness is a dark cloud over Baltimore for neighbors Mary, Puddin, and Moor. Unlucky in love and unhappy without it, they are each about to take a drastic step on the bumpy road of romance. Guided by advice from well-meaning friends, all three enter the dating scene in a different way and with often wildly amusing results. Humorous and heartwarming, their stumblings and successes ultimately bring valuable and unexpected lessons on life, love, and telling the truth.
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This was an interesting read as Foster tackles the world of computer dating. As Mary mentors a group of teenagers, she tries to teach them lessons about life. However, she then turns the tables and the young women teach her a few things. Mary is unhappy with her single status, so she goes online to find a date.
Moor is homesick for his beloved Africa. His grandmother and his newfound American friends urge him to find a woman. Unbeknownst to Moor, his friends take heart about his situation and sign him up for a computer dating service. His experiences with the dating service are interesting and comical.
Puddin’ is unhappy with her marriage. Knowing her husband is being unfaithful, she takes revenge by finding a job against her spouse’s wishes. She takes her new position as a computer dating matchmaker seriously, as she attempts to find dates for her “children.” She feels close to the young people who are seeking love and she does everything within her power to ensure a perfect match.
As these characters interact with one another, you’ll learn a lesson or two about romantic love, as well as God’s love for His children. You’ll also discover that things don’t always appear as they seem.
~Cecelia Dowdy~

***NOTE; I BELIEVE THIS TITLE IS ABA, BUT IS WRITTEN FROM A CHRISTIAN VIEW.

The Ex Files by Victoria Christopher Murray
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Touchstone (June 19, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416535519
ISBN-13: 978-1416535515

From Amazon.com
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In Murray’s powerful testament to Christian fellowship and friendship (after 2006’s A Sin and a Shame), four members of an L.A. prayer group find spiritual growth and heartache as they struggle with broken dreams. Drawn together by Hope Chapel’s Pastor Beverly Ford, these African-American women stand at crossroads in their lives. For Sheridan Hart it’s trying to choose between marrying her lover or going back to the bisexual Ex who left her for a man. Kendall Stewart deals with her rage over her younger sister and Ex falling in love, but must make a life or death choice when her sister becomes seriously ill. Asia Ingram wants revenge on the father of her six-year-old daughter, a retiring, married LA Laker who’s decided to end their decade-long affair. Vanessa Martin copes badly in the aftermath of her husband Reed’s shocking suicide, grappling with a growing depression that threatens her ability to go on. The engrossing transitions the women go through make compelling reading, but some readers might find some of Pastor Ford’s wisdom a little off as she assures Sheridan that Quentin, her bi-sexual Ex, “wasn’t born that way.” Still, Murray’s vivid portrait of how faith can move mountains and heal relationships should inspire her growing conservative fan base.
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Four women who are very different are placed together to bring comfort and solace into one another’s lives. First, there’s Kendall Stewart who holds a grudge against her sister for stealing her husband. This grudge turns into a life-threatening situation.

There’s also Asia Ingram. She’s been the mistress to a pro basketball star (Bobby) for ten years, and she’s mothered Bobby’s child. She now wants to breakup Bobby’s marriage and become his wife, however, her world shatters when he ends their relationship. Asia decides to use their daughter, as well as some vindictive lies to pay Bobby back for the sudden breakup.

Vanessa Martin’s husband recently committed suicide, and she wants to follow in his footsteps. She misses her husband, and grapples to understand the reasons that he ended his life.

Sheridan Hart is still struggling with mixed feelings for her ex, who left her for another man. Her current beau (Brock) wants her to make a decision: him or her ex. Brock knows that Sheridan is still drawn to her ex, and she doesn’t want to have a relationship if Sheridan has feelings for another man.

Pastor Ford brings these four women together so that they can pray and find comfort with each other. Sheridan is recruited as the leader of this group, and a tragic event causes the women to rethink their choices, and to allow God to lead them.

VCM is one of my favorites, and I really enjoyed this novel!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

My book officially went on sale today, May 1, 2008! It’s listed on the Heartsong Presents website: heartsongpresents.com

The price is only $2.97 + shipping! Also, if I understand correctly, you can order several books for the same shipping cost! You can always order mulitiple copies for your friends or church members, or, you can order some other Heartsong Presents titles in addition to mine! 🙂

You can order one of two ways:

Simply place a call to the following phone number:
(740) 922 7280

Tell them you want to order Heartsong Presents title #794 entitled John’s Quest.

Or, if you prefer, simply print this order form and order my novel:

http://www.heartsongpresents.com/download/pdf/order-form.pdf

Enjoy! Also, I love hearing from readers! Feel free to let me know if you enjoyed the book!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Zora and Nicky: A Novel in Black and White
by Claudia Burney
Publisher: Cook, David C.
Pub. Date: April 2008
ISBN-13: 9780781445504
416pp

From Publishers Weekly

The voice of beautiful Zora Nella Hampton Johnson-her name echoing the author of her favorite novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God-will take you up and carry you along until she utters her very last syllable. Anger, laughter and delight come from Zora’s sharp, sassy tongue as if she is talking out loud. Burney’s gift for voice is not limited to her heroine, though it takes her longer to get the other main character, Nicky Parker, the handsome but poor son of a racist pastor, to shine as distinctly as Zora. At this novel’s heart are love and race-what happens when a self-described BAP (black American princess), the daughter of a famous megachurch leader, falls in love with a young white man. Zora and Nicky’s dialogue about race is unflinching, with attitude, honesty and occasional humor. Burney pushes her prose to the edge of the edgiest in the “Christian fiction” genre, and then barrels right over. She doesn’t sugar-coat, especially when it comes to sex, yet she manages to create a love story that’s both erotic and chaste. Faith in Jesus comes to life on the page through Zora and Nicky’s intense, if imperfect, soul searching. Though parts are a bit melodramatic, Burney gives readers a page-turner for all audiences, Christian and beyond.

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This book was a page-turner, as I felt as if I were being taken back in time. Although the novel is contemporary, I felt a lot of the racial stereotypes portrayed went back into historical times. A lot of the talk about race, made me think about things I’ve been hearing about Blacks and Whites since I was a child. For example, the Black jockey statue that was seen in Nicky’s yard, I’d wondered if the younger generation, like people in their twenties, would have ever seen a black jockey before? I’ve seen them, of course, knew about them, but I can honestly say that I haven’t seen one in a long time.

If you want a read that touches upon just about every racial stereotype from slavery times to current times, then this book is for you. The romance is sensual and chaste at the same time, and Burney did an excellent job of showing how these two young people are so deeply attracted to each other.

The novel was moving and gripping and I read it in one day.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Through Google alerts, I found out about someone reviewing my novel, First Mates, on their blog. Check it out! First Mates Review

~Cecelia Dowdy~

I had a fairly hard day at work today, then when I got home, I had to cook dinner. I did take a few moments to finish reading Long Trail To Love by Pamela Griffin. I’ll be blogging about that book soon.

Check out the following review of my novel, First Mates, that was recently posted on Amazon.com:

The Epitome of a Biblical Love Connection, December 20, 2007
By Nedra Smith

Throughout the story, we’re aware that God is in control. That’s all that matters.

Also, last night I stayed up and watched a movie entitled Meet Joe Black. It’s a secular movie, however, I just loved the chemistry between the two characters! I saw it on the Sci-fi channel. I stayed up until midnight watching a movie! Do you know how seldom I stay up that late? Let alone stay up that late to watch a movie??? Hardly ever happens!

Later!

Cecelia Dowdy