Monthly Archives: August 2009

Coming Attractions by Robin Jones Gunn

2 Replies


Coming Attractions by Robin Jones Gunn
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (July 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310276586
ISBN-13: 978-0310276586

From Amazon.com:
Product Description
The third book in the Katie Weldon Series takes Katie through her last semester in college. As Katie ponders life after graduation, she’s asking serious questions about her future. Will it be with Rick? And what about her growing friendship with Eli? And most important of all, is she really serious about her relationship with God?

From the Back Cover
In this third book in the Katie Weldon Series, Katie is rolling into her final semester at Rancho Corona with one major question for her boyfriend: “Are you serious?” Katie’s come to the conclusion that she really, truly loves Rick and it’s time for him to make a declaration about his future intentions. The biggest obstacle to such a conversation is the craziness of their schedules. Katie’s close friend, Nicole, is spending more time with Rick than Katie is, and the once mysterious Eli is now the person to whom Katie is opening her heart. What is happening to her should-be-predictable world?

Soon Katie finds she’s the one who is asking herself, “Are you serious?” Katie ponders what that means in her life: from her relationship with Rick to what she plans to do after graduation. Could it be that God is asking her the same question about her relationship with Him?

===
This book was a cute, light, enjoyable read. The subject matter wasn’t too heavy, but I did enjoy this book more than Robin’s Christy Miller Series. Katie is running around with a heavy schedule – she’s a Resident Assistant (RA) at her dorm and she also has a full load of classes, plus, she’s juggling her relationship with Rick. They’ve been a couple for awhile now, and Katie’s been smitten with him since she was a child. Now that her dream of dating Rick has finally come true, the next step should be marriage, right?

But why does she keep thinking about Rick’s roommate Eli? When Katie is sick, Eli comes to her rescue bearing New Zealand bottled water and cold medicine. Why is she able to talk to Eli freely, while she doesn’t share such close camaraderie with her boyfriend Rick?

This book is about Katie’s journey to knowing her true self, and about how to make her own choices that will affect her future.

I think high school and college students may enjoy this novel, too. It’s also a great adult read!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Far Behind…

3 Replies

I’m so far behind in my reading for this blog. I have the following novels in my to-be-read pile:
Sins Of The Father by Angela Benson
What The Bayou Saw by Patti Lacy
and a Robin Jones Gunn novel – can’t remember the title to that one.

As you know, I do read some secular fiction occasionally. I couldn’t resist starting New Moon (the second in the Twilight Series). I read the first one awhile back, and I purchased the whole set since I enjoyed the first one so much. I enjoyed New Moon until about the last 1/3 of it, and I doubt I’ll finish it word by word. I’ll probably skim the rest. Didn’t find it overall as intriguing as Twilight. My eyes started glazing over around the time they made the trip to Italy to save Edward. Don’t know when I’ll get around to reading the other two books in the series. After I’ve read them all, I’ll probably do a giveaway. I seldom keep books once I’ve read them.

I’m hard at work on a manuscript, plus, I’m getting a proposal together with three other authors. My plate is so full, don’t know how I’m going to do all that needs to get done!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Pop Tarts!

4 Replies

I was going to blog about things I did during my childhood; that should have given me a clue that I’m a writer. But I’m too tired and my brain is too numb to blog about that.

When I was at the store last weekend, doing our weekly grocery shopping, I was hungry. There was a huge bin of Pop Tarts on sale. I got some. I don’t think I’d purchased Pop Tarts since college, or if I have, I haven’t bought them in a long time. When I brought home those cherry Pop Tarts, I tried to sneak and eat some, but my four-year-old son caught me. He said “Mommy, what are you eating? What are those things with frosting on them?” I reluctantly gave him a bite and he was hooked. He said, “I want some of those things with frosting on them.” So, I popped some in the toaster for him too. I told my hubby about the conversation with our son and he said, “We have Pop Tarts? I want some!”

We ate the whole box in less than a day. I even went to the store later on in the week to get more. It’s funny how you forget how much you enjoy something. When I pop those things into the toaster (on a low setting) and then they pop up nice and warm…they’re so good! That frosting and that sweet fruity (or chocolatey) filling…I’d forgotten how much I used to enjoy these things! I’ve rediscovered a food I used to love during my childhood and college years!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

My New Coach Purse!!

4 Replies

I blogged about my birthday awhile back, and, also, last December, I told you what I thought about purses. Well, my hubby got me a great gift this year and I’m thankful for it! I’d been meaning to blog about this for awhile…I even took some pics, but never got around to posting them.

It was time for me to get a new purse. This is the first purse I’ve gotten in years! The last time I got a new purse, I wasn’t even married yet, and I’ve been married for awhile! I usually get a Coach purse because I REFUSE TO CHANGE PURSES AND COACH PURSES LAST FOREVER!! I carry the same purse everyday because I don’t have the time or desire to change it. So, now it’s time for a new one. The zipper for my old Coach purse broke and since it was around my birthday, I told hubby it was time for a new one. I’m going to send the old purse away for repair – Coach repairs purses but you still have to pay a $20 fee!

This is my old Coach bag! The thing is almost SEVEN YEARS OLD, and it still looks good! With a repair, it’ll make a great backup purse!

My new Coach purse came with this nifty little sack to store my purse when I’m not using it. But, ya know what? Since I don’t change purses, I guess I’ll use this to store my backup purse!

This is the back-side of my new purse!

This is the inside!! Such a nice inside pocket and what a beautiful purple lining!

Another pocket at the side of my purse!





Here’s the little Coach emblem on the front! Isn’t it cute?
Well, I’m hoping to enjoy this purse for many years! I hope you enjoyed my pics!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

The Believer by Ann H. Gabhart

3 Replies

The Believer by Ann H. Gabhart
Paperback: 394 pages
Publisher: Revell (August 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0800733622
ISBN-13: 978-0800733629

From the Back Cover
Will a forbidden love destroy all they know? Elizabeth Duncan has nowhere to turn. In charge of her younger brother and sister after their parents die, her options are limited: she can give in to the unwanted advances of an odious landowner–or she can flee. When Elizabeth hears that the Shaker community in the next county takes in orphans, she presents herself and her siblings at Harmony Hill. Despite the hard work and strange new beliefs around her, Elizabeth is relieved to have a roof overhead and food to eat. But life gets complicated when she finds herself attracted to a handsome young Believer named Ethan. Ethan has never looked on the opposite sex as anything but sisters, but he can’t shake the new feelings that Elizabeth has awakened in him. Will Elizabeth be forced to leave the village to keep Ethan from stumbling? Or could Ethan’s love for her change their lives forever? Living just thirty miles from a restored Shaker village in Kentucky, Ann H. Gabhart has walked the same paths that her characters might have walked in generations past. Gabhart is the author of several books, including the bestselling The Outsider.

Just a reminder, I’m giving this book away here.

This was a good book! You should buy it…really!

This book was very intriguing. It’s emotional and the characters are extremely well-developed. When Elizabeth and her sister Hannah and brother Peyton decide to reside in the Shaker community after the sudden death of her father, their lives change drastically. They take refuge with the Shakers because Elizabeth feels they have no other choice. Hannah has a hard time accepting the Shaker life while Peyton accepts their new life freely – almost like a duck to water. However, problems arise when Ethan, a brother within the Shaker community, finds himself smitten with Elizabeth. Ethan has a background full of questions and he shows up near the Shaker community as a young boy, with no place to go.

This book is very different than most that I’ve read because it focused on the Shakers. I didn’t really know much about this religious sect until I read this novel. The Shakers kind of reminded me of a cult. However, I’m unsure if they were categorized that way. I guess the Shakers left me feeling very unsettled because I write romances, and I love to see people falling in love! However, The Shakers believe that matrimony and procreation are sins. Everybody in their community are brothers and sisters and they keep contact between the sexes to a minimum – even having separate entrances to most of the buildings! The author did a great job in carrying me off to another place, another community, another time. I’d like to know how much research she had to do in order to create such a vivid, realistic novel!

I could really relate to Ethan because….(SPOILER BELOW)!!…

I could really relate to Ethan because I was raised in a religion where I was taught some off-the-wall “Christian” beliefs. These beliefs seemed “right” at the time because it was all that I knew. However, as I got older and started questioning things, I saw this religion for what it really was. Also, the “church” in which I was raised, if you leave after baptism, you are shunned, much like what happens to Ethan at the end. (I was never baptized within the church mentioned in the previus sentence, so I was never shunned. But I’d seen it happen to others.) I could also relate to his struggle because he was accepting “truth” that had been taught to him practically his entire life. I felt irked whenever the Shakers referred to “the sin of matrimony.” I could understand Ethan feeling torn at the end because, even though he doesn’t agree with the Shaker beliefs, he was still “forced” to leave his home, his people, in order to be with Elizabeth. I know that must hurt because you have to accept the beliefs to be with the Shakers and become one of them. I still don’t quite understand why the Shakers thought that matrimonial sex and procreation were sins. I guess it had something to do with Mother Ann (that’s their founder whom the Shakers believe is the second coming of Christ in female form.)

I know Ethan really hurt leaving his people, but I was glad when he was able to be with Elizabeth at the end.

I did do some reading online about the Shakers. They died off, for the most part. I did see an article in Wikipedia (I know, Wikipedia is not an authentic source) that told of one remaining Shaker community that only has FOUR MEMBERS!! I can’t recall where this place was, though. When I was telling others about this novel, one of the first questions they asked were, “How can the Shakers expand and get new members if they can’t have kids?” The answer: They took in anybody who wanted to embrace their way of life, plus they took in a lot of orphans. Of course, this changed in later times when religious sects could no longer adopt children. I just thought that the little bit of history I read was interesting.

Great book. A must-buy. I can practically guarantee you’ll enjoy it.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

My New Book Cover And Other Things

1 Reply


I accidentally found my bookcover while browsing the internet the other day. It’s the cover for Chesapeake Weddings, the re-release of John’s Quest, Milk Money, and Bittersweet Memories. Only problem is, the only place I can find it is on Christianbooks.com and I’m not able to copy, enlarge, or paste the cover listed on Christian books. I’ve already emailed the editor at my publishing house, asking for a high-resolution jpeg of my cover to post on my websites. So far, I haven’t heard back. Let me know if you see it elsewhere. If you do see it someplace else please forward the link to me.

Also, if any of you have a blog, maybe you can help me out again. My followers have disappeared. The Followers gadget no longer shows on my blog and all you see on the Followers gadget is a white block stating that the website cannot be found. I’ve posted this question on my writers loop and a few people gave suggestions, but, so far, nothing has worked. If this has ever happened to you, could you let me know what you did to correct the problem? I already contacted Blogger about it and, so far, I’ve heard nothing.

~Cecelia Dowdy~