




You’ll never get anywhere by sitting down and giving up.”
New life was born from hopeless despair.”



You’ll never get anywhere by sitting down and giving up.”
New life was born from hopeless despair.”
For as long as she can remember, Kylie Briscoe’s been searching for the moon even though she has no idea why it soothes her. Placed in an impossible situation by her mother, Kylie cries for help. It brings rescuers and a new life, but it feels more like a death sentence when she is separated from her three-year-old sister Aliza, the only person Kylie’s ever really loved.
Beth Fehlbaum is the author of the young adult novels Find the Moon, Big Fat Disaster (on the Spirit of Texas-High School Reading List, 2014-2015), Courage in Patience, Hope in Patience (A YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers), and Truth in Patience. With Dr. Matt E. Jaremko, Beth co-wrote the creative nonfiction book, Trauma Recovery: Sessions with Dr. Matt. She is a high school English teacher.
FOR PARTICIPATING BLOGS
True heart’s desire cannot be ignored.
Destynee Olsen has always done what her mother asked, but the road to stardom could mean leaving behind a piece of her heart.
Travis Olsen tries desperately to honor his vow to support his wife. Watching their son grow up without a mother is asking too much and his resentment builds. A marriage alone and single parenting is not what he signed up for.
The line has been drawn between a woman who has been told that her destiny to be a star is more important than she is and a cowboy who refuses to destroy his wife’s dream. Destynee and Travis have to decide what’s important. Can they discover the life they were meant to have at the risk of denying their own hearts?
“The dialog brings the story to life, and the stage scenes are intriguing and vivid as Destynee decides just how much fame is worth, and the cost to her heart and family.”
“…an emotional read about a young couple, each trying to survive their marriage. The storyline brings heartache, forgiveness, and reconciliation as God works to bring peace and contentment back to their marriage.”
“Another great read with excellent characters.”
Discerning God’s will is never easy. For young couple Destynee and Travis, following God’s plan becomes a struggle when separated by distance and ambition. That they’re miles apart during the holidays, having their faith–in God and in each other–shaken by doubts makes Finding My Destynee an affecting read.
Ms. Bright and Ms. McAllister created realistic and sympathetic characters in Destynee and Travis, infusing them with both insecurities and resolve. I couldn’t help but feel for them, young and misguided though they were at the beginning. I appreciate how much they’ve grown at the end of the story. They were at times frustrating but I found myself rooting for them to overcome their problems, which happen to reflect real life.
The supporting characters, for the most part, were wonderful, especially Travis’s family. Baby Wyatt was a particular favorite of mine, having been described in the most adorable way possible by the authors. The one I had trouble with was Destynee’s mother Julee Rae. She was a villainess through and through with no redeeming qualities. I would have liked a stronger argument for Destynee following Julee Rae’s every demand if her mother was shown to really care about her daughter. Unfortunately, she was one-note heinous and that was disappointing.
Another aspect I consider lacking in the story was Romance. Destynee and Travis only had three scenes together. Four, if I count the phone call. In two of those scenes, they were fighting. That is not incredibly romantic. I wish more of their backstory were included here and I don’t have to read the first two books in the series to find out how they got together and fell in love.
What the co-authors got right most was in telling a seamless story. Readers more familiar with their individual works might be able to distinguish which parts each wrote, but I couldn’t. That speaks very well of their talents.
Finding My Destynee invokes the spirit of Christmas and I am thankful to the authors for the gift of their story and to Lone Star Lit for including me in the blog tour.
Hold on for a heart-thumping adventure through exotic lands in this fast moving, romantic suspense mystery by Marlene M Bell.
Marlene M. Bell is an eclectic mystery writer, artist, photographer, and she raises sheep in beautiful East Texas with her husband, Gregg, three cats, and a flock of horned Dorset sheep.
The Annalisse series — mysteries with a touch of romance — has received numerous honors including the Independent Press Award for Best Mystery (Spent Identity) and FAPA (Florida Author’s President’s Gold Award) for two other installments, Stolen Obsession and Scattered Legacy. She also penned the first of her children’s picture books, Mia and Nattie: One Great Team! based on true events from the Bell’s ranch. The simple text and illustrations are a touching tribute of compassion and love between a little girl and her lamb.
(US only; ends midnight, CST, 12/15/22.)
“Warren proves yet again why she is a master in the genre.”–Booklist, starred review on Sunrise
“International intrigue and adventure paired with a simmering romance equals one fast-moving story you won’t be able to put down!”–Lisa Harris, bestselling author of the Nikki Boyd Files series, on Sunburst
Excerpt from Chapter One of
SUNRISE
Book One in The Sky King Ranch Series
by
Susan May Warren
By the time Dodge got to the hospital, he’d already broken his first promise.
It was a Saturday, the same day the sun turned the Copper River into blades of ice, lethal and brilliant as they shoved and jockeyed out of Denali’s shadow south into the Gulf of Alaska. The dawn had broken at the respectable hour of 7:42 a.m., and with it, the sunrise not only brought a southernly gust of warm air that cracked the freezing point and turned the starting line of the Iditarod to mush and grime but also laced the air with the scent of spring.
A balmy 37 degrees in Anchorage, nearly a heat wave this time of year.
Which only brought out the crazies.
As he stalked through the waiting room of Alaska Regional and punched the elevator button, Dodge shot a look at the flat-screen where the news recapped yesterday’s celebration, aka the parade through Anchorage of the fifty-seven or so mushing teams. People dancing on icy berms, high-fiving the mushers, tailgaters wearing board shorts along with fur caps and mukluks, children wanting to pet the dogs. Outsiders from the Lower 48 were trying to grab selfies with local celebrities.
The mushers would be starting on their thousand-mile journey from Willow Lake later today, and with that information from the reporter, Echo Yazzie slipped into Dodge’s mind.
He wondered—
No. He shook her away, got on the elevator, and rode it to the third, med-surg floor. As he got off, he recognized the smells of a hospital, not that different from Walter Reed, and his insides clenched.
He wouldn’t stay long.
Of course, the old man hadn’t died in the accident, and maybe that was crass of Dodge, but if he had, maybe it would all be over, the burn in Dodge’s gut finally extinguished.
He spotted his sister, Larke, standing at the end of the hall, staring through the window at the blue sky, the muddy streets. She stood with her back to him, so he only guessed it was Larke, her long blonde hair in a singular braid down her back. But she also wore a Sky King Ranch flight jacket, the words emblazoned on the back, so that seemed a dead giveaway.
A man sat in a nearby molded chair, his hair cut military short. He considered Larke with worried eyes.
Probably Riley McCord, her SEAL husband. Perfect. With Dodge’s luck, his brother Range and Riley would have met on some classified SEAL mission, become best of pals, and Riley would have gotten an earful of family dirty laundry over a post-mission debriefing.
Dodge, of course, starring as the villain of the story.
He braced himself. “Larke?”
She turned, and of course she looked older—the last time he’d seen her she’d been eighteen and joining the Army.
And he’d been sixteen and just stupid enough to think that he had his life buttoned up.
“Dodge?” She wore trauma in her eyes, probably fatigue and worry, but also residue from the years she’d served as a medic. Still, he wondered if she had been the one to find the wreckage of their father’s DHC-3 Otter bush plane. His friend Moose had been sketchy on that part when he’d called to tell Dodge about the accident.
Glancing at the man in the chair, who rose, Larke put her coffee on the ledge of the window. “Wow. I didn’t think . . . I mean . . . how did you find out?”
Dodge wished she’d finished her first thought. She didn’t think . . . what? That he cared about the old man? That he’d ever return? That he didn’t think about his choices nearly every day, especially recently?
“Moose Mulligan, down at Air One Rescue,” Dodge answered.
Larke wore a pair of jeans, Sorels, and a wedding ring on her left hand, but he knew that, too, thanks to the Copper Mountain Good News’s online portal.
He just kept his subscription for the obits. And maybe the police report. Really. The fact that it listed her engagement to a Navy SEAL a couple years ago was just a bonus line item.
“Have you been in Anchorage all this time?” She seemed to be working her words, trying not to accuse.
He felt it anyway.
“How’d it happen?” He glanced at the other man—Riley—now standing. Big enough, built like a linebacker, he stepped close to Larke and put his arm around her.
Dodge met his eyes even as Larke spoke.
“Otto Smith saw him go down and called it in. Dad was low, coming in for a landing at the Copper Mountain airfield, and his wing clipped a tree. Otto wasn’t sure but he thought the wing might have detached before it hit.”
“A faulty wing attachment?” His gaze went back to Larke, having found some solid ground in his silent face-off with Riley. Riley loved her—he would protect her, and Dodge appreciated that. Larke might be two years older than him, but she was still his sister.
“It’s the only way we can figure it.” Her gaze flitted toward the closed door that Dodge guessed was the old man’s room. “He’s been flying for forty-nine years. He doesn’t make mistakes.”
“It doesn’t have to be a pilot error for accidents to happen, Larke. Weather. A wind gust. Anything can happen in the bush.”
Her jaw clenched and her husband tightened his grip on her. He finally held out his hand to Dodge. “Riley McCord.”
Dodge met it. “Dodge Kingston. When did you two finally hitch up?”
“Before my first tour,” he said. “About a year ago.”
Dodge didn’t ask if he knew Ranger, figured it would come up if it needed to. “Congrats. Sorry I wasn’t there.”
“We eloped,” Larke said. “You and the boys were too hard to track down, and Dad already gave his blessing, so . . .”
She was being kind with her words. Truth was, he hadn’t a clue where Ranger, and especially Colt, had landed on the globe. And he didn’t ask. Just because they were triplets didn’t mean they were close. At least, not anymore.
To continue reading Chapter One of SUNRISE, click here!
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11/29/22 |
Series Spotlight |
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11/29/22 |
BONUS Promo |
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11/30/22 |
Review Book 3 |
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11/30/22 |
BONUS Review Bk 1 |
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11/30/22 |
BONUS Promo |
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12/01/22 |
Review Book 2 |
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12/02/22 |
Review Book 1 |
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12/03/22 |
Excerpt, Book 1 |
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12/04/22 |
Excerpt, Book 2 |
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12/05/22 |
Excerpt, Book 3 |
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12/06/22 |
Review Book 1 |
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12/07/22 |
Review Book 2 |
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12/08/22 |
Review Book 3 |
SWEET JANE
2019 Wisdom-Faulkner Award finalist
2020 Adult Fiction winner Texas Author Project
2020 Sarton Award Finalist
2020 Eric Hoffer Award Short List
A drunken mother makes childhood ugly. Jane runs away at sixteen, determined to leave her fraught upbringing in the rearview. Vowing never to return, she hitchhikes to California, right on time for the Summer of Love. Seventeen years later, she looks good on paper: married, grad school, sober, but her carefully constructed life is crumbling. When Mama dies, Jane returns for the funeral, leaving her husband in the dark about her history. Seeing her childhood home and significant people from her youth catapults Jane back to the events that made her the woman she is. She faces down her past and the ghosts that shaped her family. A stunning discovery helps Jane see her problems through a new lens.
JUST ONE LOOK
I’LL BE SEEING YOU
A saga spanning five decades, I’ll Be Seeing You, explores one woman’s life, with and without alcohol to numb the pain.
Young Lauren knows she doesn’t want to be a ranch wife in Palo Pinto County, Texas. After she’s discovered by a modeling scout at the 1940 Fort Worth Stock Show Parade, she moves to Manhattan to begin her glamourous career. A setback ends her dream, and she drifts into alcohol dependence and promiscuity. By twenty-four, she’s been widowed and divorced, and has developed a pattern of fleeing her problems with geographical cures. Lauren’s last escape lands her in Austin, where, after ten chaotic years, she achieves lasting sobriety and starts a successful business, but happiness eludes her.
Fast forward to 1985. With a history of burning bridges and never looking back, Lauren is stunned when Brett, her third husband, resurfaces, wanting to reconcile after thirty-three years. The losses and regrets of the past engulf her, and she seeks the counsel of Jane, a long-time friend from AA. In the end, the choice is Lauren’s. What will she decide?
For all that this book covers forty-seven years of Lauren’s life, it was actually a quick read because it was so engaging. I found myself transported to the time periods and settings skillfully described in the story. Having just visited Pearl Harbor before reading this, I connected best with the scenes depicting events during World War II. Those showed excellent research and came across as lived experiences.
One of the things I liked most about this story is the constancy of the element of friendship in Lauren’s life. From Clare to Milly to Harold to Alice to Helen and to Jane, Lauren always had some kind of support system. It’s especially important because of her estrangement from her family and her lack of success in love.
Another aspect of this book I really liked is how diverse the mix of characters is in terms of ethnicity, gender identity, and political affiliation. It seems reflective of society even in the past.
Lauren’s struggle to overcome alcoholism was quite an effective plotline. It would resonate with many readers looking for main characters who are flawed yet still trying to become the best version of themselves.
A retired registered nurse with experience in both the cold, clinical operating room and the emotionally fraught world of psychiatric hospitals, Joanne lives on a small ranch in the Texas Hill Country, where she writes fiction about complicated, twentieth-century women.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
“Haunting. Riveting. Filled with hope. The Lost Melody is all these things and more. Author Joanna Davidson Politano delves into the dark world of Victorian mental health, and it’s the reader who comes out the winner after being enchanted by this tale of identity lost. After you read the last page, the characters will live on in your mind. Truly a fantastic read!” — Michelle Griep, author of Lost in Darkness
“Joanna Davidson Politano’s stories go on my bookshelf as a favorite! The stories she pens entice my Gothic-loving senses, thrill my literary soul, and inspire the dark romantic inside my spirit. I cannot emphasize enough how strongly I adore each story from this vivid and insightful author, and how badly I wish for all readers to experience her tales!” — Jaime Jo Wright, author of The Souls of Lost Lake, and Christy Award-winning The House on Foster Hill
An incredibly gripping symphony of music and faith, The Lost Melody held me in thrall from its darkly dramatic beginning to its gentle, hopeful finish.
Music opens up what we once believed lost.”
This book is unlike anything I usually read with its highly unromantic setting of a lunatic asylum and its emotionally broken characters. But having read and enjoyed a couple of Ms. Politano’s works in the past, I was enticed to give this one a try and I don’t regret immersing myself in this highly original story one bit.
Ms. Politano has an unparalleled talent for interweaving music and scriptures into a story in a way that is authentic and intrinsic. Music and scriptures are the means by which Vivienne proved her identity, survived her ordeal, and fulfilled her mission to save many lives. They also brought her true friendship and the unexpected promise of love.
There is no such thing as hopeless cases. Only those who have lost hope.”
The images Ms. Politano painted about the situations of several patients in the asylum were quite stark, woeful, and sometimes downright scary. The abuse Vivienne suffered enraged me at times and ensured that I’d root for her to gain her freedom. I don’t know how anyone who read this book wouldn’t be affected by her, Bridget, Dr. Turner, Violet, Otto, Anna, Philippe, Rose, and many others.
The spotlight on mental health in the distant past is enlightening and at the same time disheartening in the sense that we still don’t have a full understanding of it in the present.
Sometimes when you live among storms, you become a rock to endure the waves.”
If I have any cavil at all, it’s the insignificant presence of romance in the story. It’s there but not central to the plot and there’s a happy-for-now ending. Both combined barely meet the requirements to be considered part of the genre. I’ll say this is Christian Fiction with Romantic Elements rather than straight-up Christian Romance.
What people say about closed doors is true. If the way is barred to you, simply find an open window to go through instead.”
This book thoroughly engaged me. It made me feel and think. I recommend reading it in one sitting with lights ablaze.
Huge thanks to Lone Star Lit for the opportunity to join the blog tour and to Revell Books for the gift of a copy to review. The Lost Melody has probably one of the loveliest covers I’ve ever beheld. It would make a great gift for any occasion.
FANCY
Love Train Multi-Author Series, #10
by
LINDA BRODAY
Western Romance /Sweet Romance/ American Historical Romance
Pages: 190 pages
Publication Date: August 15, 2022
SCROLL DOWN FOR THE GIVEAWAY!
PRAISE FOR FANCY:
“I have loved every Linda Broday book I have read, but I must say this one touched my heart.” Cricket (Goodreads)
“Linda Broday waved her magic wand when her turn came and gave us one of her most profound heroines she’s ever written. Fancy wrapped her tragic story around my heart and transported me into the late 1800s.” Tonya (Goodreads)
“Linda Broday has always been able to weave her characters together like a mix-match patch quilt, but the end results are amazing.” Rose Ann (Goodreads)
Fancy, life is a journey. Not one trip, but hundreds. We have to keep going and proceed with courage each and every day as long as we have breath.”
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FOUR WINNERS!
8/9/22 |
Excerpt |
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8/9/22 |
BONUS Promo |
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8/10/22 |
Review |
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8/10/22 |
BONUS Promo |
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8/11/22 |
Character Spotlight |
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8/12/22 |
Review |
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8/13/22 |
Notable Quotables |
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8/14/22 |
Character Interview |
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8/15/22 |
Review |
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8/16/22 |
Sneak Peek |
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8/17/22 |
Review |
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8/18/22 |
Review |
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