Category Archives: Book Talk

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Fresh-Brewed Love (Paperback)
by: Susan K. Downs, Anita Higman, DiAnn Mills, Kathleen Y’barbo
Publisher: Barbour Publishing
Publication Date: December 1, 2005
ISBN-13: 978-1593106034

I purchased this book when I attended the ACFW conference in Dallas last September. It was a cute, fun read. All of the novellas are tied together using coffee as a theme. In the first story, JJ, a bookstore employee, is upset that the store is installing a new coffee house. However, she’s in for a big surprise when the boss’s son makes moves on her, while he’s in disguise.

In the second story, Kasey falls in love with a man she meets through an older mutual friend. They become acquainted as they drink coffee and have breakfast at the local coffee shop.

The third story was a refreshing change from most romance novels/novellas since the couple is elderly. I really loved this story, and it was interesting that the hero was a senior citizen and had never been married before.

The fourth story takes place in Costa Rica. I loved the way the author described this beautiful place, just throwing in enough details to give you a feel for the scenery. I loved it!

This book would be a nice book to read when you don’t want to read something too heavy. It’s a nice cozy book to read while sitting around on a snowy or rainy day with time to kill.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Made Of Honor By Marilynn Griffith

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Made Of Honor by Marilynn Griffith
ISBN:978-0373785544
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Publication Date: January 1, 2006

This book was certainly full of drama!! All of the characters had issues they needed to overcome, and they found the strength to overcome their problems through the glory of God. When Dana loses her job, she opens a shop that caters to future brides and other women who want to feel their best! In the meantime, her beloved ex-boyfriend, Adrian, opens a shop, right across the street from hers! And to make matters worse, it’s a shop he opened with his now-deceased wife….a shop that both Adrian and Dana dreamed about opening together, and of course that didn’t happen when Adrian ended up marrying somebody else!

Then there’s Dana’s sister, Dahlia. The two sisters are estranged since Dahlia has now shacked up with Trevor, another one of Dana’s ex’s. And Dahlia also has her eyes set upon Adrian. The two sisters try to work out their problems throughout the scope of the story.

Also, Dana is tired of being a bridesmaid. She’s got about ten bridesmaid dresses lined up in her closet, and she wonders if she’ll ever be a bride. She’s saddened that her childhood sweetheart married somebody else, and now that his wife is dead, he’s back in town, trying to woo her. She’s not sure if she really wants to be with him and she talks about her feelings with her best friends. The sassy sisters are close, and they try to motivate each other through motivational postings over the internet.

Then there’s Dana’s brother, who’s come back into town after being gone for a gazillion years. Dana and the rest of her family, knew he was playing sports for some time, but then he disappeared. They are stunned to find out he’s been in a coma for the last four(?) years and has just awakened a short time ago.

Then there’s Dana’s father who has a problem with booze, but finds solace in cooking for his family.

This book was filled with a cast of characters who needed the Lord, or if they were saved, needed to be closer to Him and hear His voice about their problems. When Dana suffers from a traumatic experience, her faith is strengthened as she recovers and decides to have a ceremony, renewing her solid relationship to God. Griffith does an awesome job of showing how people with problems and issues can come to know the Lord.

Also, I loved her descriptions. I almost wanted to eat the facials, soaps, and lotions she describes! Dana makes batches of vanilla lotion, lemon poundcake facials, strawberry beauty products, apple cobbler soap, etc. She uses fresh ingredients, and when she describes the scents of her products, and the scents of Adrian’s candles, I wanted to pull up a chair and grab a plate and eat! I know that sounds weird but her descriptions made my mouth water, even though she was describing the luscious scents as a part of beauty products and candles!

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Sidney Sheldon

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I was saddened to hear about the death of Sidney Sheldon earlier this week. I know I usually focus on Christian fiction in my blog, but I just felt I had to take a moment and talk about one of my favorite secular authors. I first started reading his books when I was in my early twenties, decades after his first book was published. A friend of mine knew how much I loved to read novels, so he recommended The Sands of Time by Sidney Sheldon. I read it and I was hooked. Since the man had been writing books for years, I had a Sidney Sheldon marathon of reading! I checked all of his books out of my library and read them! They were great! After that, I eagerly looked forward to his new releases.

Since I’ve been focusing mostly on reading and writing Christian fiction, I haven’t read any of his releases that were published in the last five years since my time is extremely limited. However, I do think that Hollywood, and the publishing industry, has lost a great writer.

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Jury Duty

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Yesterday, I had to go to the court house since I was summoned for jury duty. Alas, I did not have to end up serving on a jury. While I was waiting in that crowded room, I started up a conversation with a woman when I noticed she was reading the book John’s Story by Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins. We talked for awhile about the Left Behind series, and when I noticed she had a Love Inspired bookmark, I touted the fact that I’d had a Love Inspired novel released back in February 2005, and I had a Heartsong coming out in March of 2008. It was nice to while the time away by speaking to somebody about Christian fiction, one of my favorite subjects.

Right now, I’m reading Made of Honor by Marilynn Griffith. So far, I’m enjoying it. I’ll post my full review once I’ve finished reading it.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

My Cover

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This is the cover of my novel, First Mates. Thorndike Press released it has a large-print hardcover last July. I think I kind of like it better than the original Love Inspired cover, but both covers are nice.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

No More Sea by Gloria Brandt

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Barbour Publishing
Heartsong Presents
ISBN: 1-57748-548-3
Publication date: 1999

This book takes place on the Titanic, so, knowing what happens to the Titanic, the last third of it was somewhat predictable.

This book was different than most HP books I’ve read. First of all, the heroine, Esther, spends about half of her scenes with someone other than the hero! The story is somewhat of a love triangle since Philip, a non-believer, boards the ship and Esther is his stewardess. Intoxicated, Philip attacks Esther, and she escapes. She forgives him and a great deal of the first half of the book is Esther spending time with Philip, desperately trying to bring him to Christ.

John is actually the hero in the story. Esther has known him for years and they work together on the ship. She’s upset because he hints at marriage, but after six years of false promises, Esther is tired of waiting for John to pop the question.

As you can imagine, John gets jealous when he sees his beloved spending so much time with Philip, a rich boy from America. He is further angered when he sees her leaving Philip’s cabin in the middle of the night. He wonders what is going on between them, and as you read the story, you discover that Philip is an unhappy alcoholic who is practically borderline suicidal. Esther truly cares about what happens to Philip and she merely wants him to accept God’s grace for his sins.

Philip misinterprets Esther’s caring nature since she’s the first woman who has moved him so deeply. When he asks her to marry him, Esther is shocked, wondering if the Lord really wanted her to pursue Philip’s salvation so diligently.

The story does take on an unusual twist between John and Philip when the ship goes down, and since it is a romance, you can imagine how it ends.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
www.blackchristianfiction.com

Little Shoes And Mistletoe By Sally Laity

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Little Shoes And Mistletoe
By Sally Laity
Published By Barbour Publishing
Heartsong Presents Imprint
Publication Date: 1999
ISBN: 1-57748-699-4

When Eliza escapes to New York City to live with her widowed, elderly aunt, she’s hoping to erase terrible memories from her mind. Weston, her fiancé has abandoned her. To make matters worse, he’s abandoned her for the company of her best friend! Eliza tries hard to be a Christian as she makes a serious effort to forgive her former best friend, and her ex-fiance, Weston, but it takes a lot of time and prayer for her to finally accept her fate.

However, Micah, a young man whose mission includes finding homes for all of the orphans in New York City’s slums, makes her acquaintance. Through Micah, she discovers the plight of two young orphaned girls that need a home. She joins Micah in his fight against the plight of the homeless orphans in New York. However, as she does this, she finds herself facing a bigger problem. Ana, Micah’s fiancee, works closely with Eliza, becoming her close friend. Ana does not share Micah’s passionate mission to save homeless children, and this causes a serious rift in their relationship. Since Eliza and Micah share a common goal, and a deep emotional and physical attraction, they find it hard to put their feelings aside due to Micah’s engagement.

I loved this book! I read it in only a couple of days. I’ve had this HP title on my shelf for years, and I have a number of others that I never got around to reading. I used to be a member of the book club, but with my writing time crowding in on my reading time, I found that reading so many books per month was overwhelming!

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
www.blackchristianfiction.com

Announcing John’s Quest

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I’ve just discovered that Heartsong Presents (an imprint of Barbour Publishing) is going to publish my next novel, tentatively titled John’s Quest. The tentative release date is set for March 2008. The story is about an agnostic who falls in love with a Christian. Of course there’s major conflict involved since the scriptures speak against being unequally yoked. I’ll post more details about my upcoming novel as the release date approaches. In the meantime, if you are curious about this imprint, feel free to visit their website:

www.heartsongpresents.com

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
www.blackchristianfiction.com

Yuletide Stalker By Irene Brand

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YULETIDE STALKER 

Love Inspired Suspense – video book review!
Published by: Steeple Hill Books
ISBN: 978-0-373-87401-9
Publication Date: 2006

SPOILER WARNING!!!

I really enjoyed this book. The author does an awesome job of describing the scenery in Hawaii. I was in Hawaii for my honeymoon a little over three years ago, so I was able to compare her descriptions to what I saw while on vacation. I felt as if I was right back on the island!

Maddie Horton is invited to visit Linc Carey in Hawaii for Christmas. Linc is a military man who gave emotional support to Maddie and her mother after her father’s ‘accidental death’ ten years ago. Once Maddie arrives in Hawaii, she discovers her father did not die accidentally, but was murdered, and the murderers have escaped from prison. The murderers’ family have their sight set on Maddie because they want to seek revenge against her father since they feel he’s responsible for the deaths of their kinsmen. Maddie is stalked by someone, and she wonders if she’s losing her mind.

Linc vows to protect Maddie, and Maddie feels animosity toward Linc since he treats her like a child. Due to their eleven-year age difference, it is hard for Linc to accept that Maddie has grown into a beautiful woman. When Maddie realizes she loves Linc, she hesitates about revealing her feelings because she’s not sure if Linc loves her as a woman, or as a ‘daughter’ because of their age difference.

When she is abducted, you hope and pray she makes it out alive.

This book was suspenseful, but not too suspenseful. I also noticed that the author had a twenty-year-old woman as her heroine and a thirty-one-year-old man as her hero. I don’t see this much in contemporary romance novels nowadays. The heroine is usually older than twenty. However, I believe the author did a good job in making the romance believable despite the age difference. She made it believable because Maddie was so mature for her age. She lost both of her parents before she reached adulthood, which forced her to grow up quickly.

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Piercing The Darkness By Frank Peretti

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Youtube video about This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness

ISBN #:0-89107-527-5
Published by Crossway Books
Publication Date: 1989
Re-released: August 2002
Re-released by: Living Books(an imprint of Tyndale House Publishers)
Living Books ISBN-10: 0-84236-372-6

Spiritual warfare. That’s one way to describe this story as Peretti focuses on the angels and demons that roam the earth. He gives these spiritual creatures names and the demons are always ugly, wartlike creatures, which I’m more than glad that I’m not able to see. As the people of Bacon Corner, and elsewhere, pray for the safety of the characters in the story, the strengh of the Heavenly Host increases, making it possible for them to defeat the ugly, evil demons.

I believe this novel is considered one of the classics in Christian Fiction. Sally Beth Roe is haunted by her past, which is linked to the occult. Her journey to finding Christ is a painful one, and she is spooked by her memories of ‘murdering’ her infant child. Demons still torment her, and she can only find relief through calling on Jesus’ name.

Meanwhile, Sally’s experience is intertwined with the town of Bacon’s Corner where a Christian school is under investigation for child abuse. Tom Harris has lost his kids to the state as a result of these accusations, and he fights to get his offspring back by banding together with others in the community. This band of Christian fighters include a lawyer and Ben, a police officer, who is wrongly fired from his job.

This was a long novel, and as is typical of Peretti, as mentioned before, he gives his spiritual creatures names and personalities.

If I had to give Peretti’s writing a category, I would dub it ‘Christian horror’ if there is such a thing.

I highly recommend this book. I enjoyed reading about how somebody who was so deeply involved in the occult came to know the Lord.

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
www.blackchristianfiction.com