Twelve Days in December by Michele Paige Holmes

A Christmas Novella from the bestselling Hearthfire Romance series by Michele Paige Holmes:
Five months isn’t enough time to grieve the death of her husband and marry again, but when the unexpected opportunity to take her sister’s place as the bride of wealthy New York businessman, William Vancer, presents itself, twenty-four year-old Charlotte Holbrook agrees. Their marriage of convenience will provide a secure future for her son, while William will be able to claim the inheritance he needs to expand his company westward.
To begin their perfect and perfectly safe arrangement, William allots the last twelve days in December to become acquainted with his new family—a task more easily accomplished than he had imagined. For in Charlotte he finds a tender heart and companion, while stepping into the role of father to her son, brings William a great measure of joy as well. Before the twelve days have passed, he finds himself wishing their marriage of convenience could be something much more.
For Charlotte, every day with William is one of overwhelming gratitude, as he anticipates and provides for her needs, as well as the fondest desires of her heart. More than material comforts, William offers friendship as well, and a loving concern that Charlotte has gone too long without. Guilt ridden, she struggles with her growing attraction and wonders how she can ever remain loyal to her first husband, while allowing herself to love William as he deserves.


About The Author

Michele Holmes spent her childhood and youth in Northern California and Arizona. After marrying her high school sweetheart in the Oakland Temple they moved to Utah, and she now feels very blessed to enjoy a beautiful mountain view from her Provo home.
Michele graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in elementary education—something that has come in handy with her five children, all of whom require food, transportation, or Band-Aids the moment she sits down at her computer.
In spite of all the interruptions, Michele is busy at work, with more story ideas in her head than she will ever likely have time to write. Michele’s first published novel, Counting Stars, won the 2007 Whitney Award for best romance. All the Stars in Heaven continues the story of one of the characters from that first novel.


My Review

Loved this sweet novella, only 81 pages, and yet a lot is packed in these pages, and I could have kept reading.
A story that is fill with a lot of twists, love and compassion, there is a lot of heart break leading up to the twelve days that we live with these two honeymooners.
Not quite a mail order bride story, but getting close, maybe substitute bride. Can’t imagine marrying under these circumstances, but being desperate, and helping out your sister.
Guess in the end the fifth time is a charm for William and 1882 may just be his lucky year.
I received this book from I Am a Reader, Not A Writer and was not required to give a positive review.

The Mountain Midwife by Laurie Alice Eakes

For nearly two hundred years, women in Ashley Tolliver’s family have practiced the art of midwifery in their mountain community. Now she wants to take her skills a step further, but attending medical school means abandoning those women to whom she has dedicated her life, the mountains she loves, and the awakening of her heart.


Ashley Tolliver has tended to the women of her small Appalachian community for years. As their midwife, she thinks she has seen it all. Until a young woman gives birth at Ashley’s home and is abducted just as Ashley tries to take the dangerously bleeding mother to the nearest hospital. Now Ashley is on a mission to find the woman and her newborn baby . . . before it’s too late.


Hunter McDermott is on a quest—to track down his birth mother. After receiving more media attention than he could ever want for being in the right place at the right time, he receives a mysterious phone call from a woman claiming to be his mother. Hunter seeks out the aid of the local midwife in the mountain town where the phone call originated—surely she can shed some light on his own family background.


Ashley isn’t prepared for the way Hunter’s entrance into her world affects her heart and her future. He reignites dreams of having her own family that she has long put aside in favor of earning her medical degree and being able to do even more for her community. But is it commitment to her calling or fear of the unknown that keeps her feet firmly planted in the Appalachian soil? Or is it something more—fear of her growing feelings for Hunter—that makes her hesitant to explore the world beyond the mountains?

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About The Author

“Eakes has a charming way of making her novels come to life without being over the top,” writes Romantic times of bestselling, award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes. Since she lay in bed as a child telling herself stories, she has fulfilled her dream of becoming a published author, with a degree in English and French from Asbury University and a master’s degree in writing fiction from Seton Hill University contributing to her career path. Now she has nearly two dozen books in print.

After enough moves in the past five years to make U-Haul’s stock rise, she now lives in Houston, Texas, where she and her husband are exploring their new neighborhood. Although they haven’t been blessed with children—yet--they have sundry lovable dogs and cats. If the carpet is relatively free of animal fur, then she is either frustrated with the current manuscript, or brainstorming another, the only two times she genuinely enjoys housework.

Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaurieAEakes

Read excerpts from her books at: http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com

My Review

Ashley and Hunter paths cross in unexpected ways, and their lives and all that they have ever believed have then shaken to the core.
Ashley has put her life wish of becoming a doctor on hold as she gave up her studies and came home to help her Grandmother and in the end take over her practice. She is still saving and planning to eventually go back to school and fulfill her dream.
Hunter is and engineer and has lived a very affluent life in the Washington, D.C. area. He is the odd one in the family as the rest are all lawyers. He is on the news and seems everyone is recognizing him, and that is the catalyst to the phone call from someone claiming to be his mother. No way, he loves his mother, and doesn’t have another!
The story is set in the rural Appliatian Mountains of Virginia, and we travel the back roads here, and meet a lot of the people. This place really requires a truck or four-wheel drive, and someone is trying to kill them on these dangerous gravel roads.
Why is there danger, and what is pulling these two together? A really fast pace read that will keep you page turning and wanting the answers. In the end will there be answers but will they survive? There are several sub stories and some are unanswered but most have conclusions and we have to be satisfied with the answers whether we agree or wanted what happens.
I received this book through Net Galley and Zondervan Fiction and was not required to give a positive review.

Asleep on the Hay: A Dust Bowl Christmas by Ben Sowards Giveaway & Review

 

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Asleep on the Hay: A Dust Bowl Christmas by Ben Sowards It’s Christmas Eve when a knock comes at the door of Paul’s family farmhouse. A small family is stranded due to a broken-down truck and seeks shelter for the evening. Paul’s grandfather not only welcomes them in, but offers them dinner and a bed for the night. Even though it is a season of giving, Paul’s heart is not filled with charity. It’s the height of the Dust Bowl and food is scarce. Why should he share what little he has with strangers? Worse, in order to help the sick baby, Paul will have to sell his beloved calf to buy a part to fix the truck. Angry, he retreats to the barn, where he sleeps and dreams of faraway Bethlehem. In his dream, he visits Mary and Joseph, and their newborn son, Jesus. The family offers Paul food and shelter and warmth—extending to him the love and charity he lacks and teaching him of the true meaning of Christmas.

     

Author & Illustrator Ben Sowards Ben Sowards is the illustrator of many well-loved picture books, including A Christmas Dress for Ellen, Seven Miracles that Saved America, and Christmas Oranges. Ben Sowards teaches others to paint both traditionally and digitally at Southern Utah University, where has directed the illustration program since 2001.

Website

 

$25 Blog Tour Giveaway Giveaway Enter to win an Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 12/30/15 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the publisher. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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My Review 

I was drawn to this book by the beautifully illustrated cover, and once you start turning the pages you are treated to eye-catching pictures, that go with the story so beautifully.
This story is set during a very hard time in America, the depression and the dust bowl. People are dying from breathing in the soil, and when our young friend Paul will be asked to make a very difficult sacrifice.
My boys enjoyed this story and debated whether they could do what young Paul is asked to do. We spoke of the sacrifice our God made by having is Son come and save us, and then Paul’s sacrifice didn’t seem as bad.
A hard decision for young ones, and this is a beautiful book to have in your home, especially during the Christmas season.
I received this book from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer Book Tours, and was not required to give a positive review.

Evangelicals for Life Conference - The Cultural Battle for Human Dignity | Evangelicals for Life

Clear your schedules January 21–22, 2016, because Focus on the Family and The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission will host Evangelicals for Life, a major pro-life conference held in conjunction with the March for Life event.

The event will take place in Washington, D.C., at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. Evangelicals from across the country will gather to hear from leading speakers, such as David Platt, Russell Moore, Jim Daly, Kelly Rosati, and others—to be equipped and encouraged to become a voice for life! The event will also be simulcast for FREE so individuals, churches, and organizations from coast-to-coast and around the world can take part.

Speakers will encourage evangelicals to engage the culture on issues of abortion and end-of-life decisions, and the event will affirm the evangelical belief in the sanctity of life, that every life matters to God and is created in His image.

For more information, visit http://evangelicals.life/.

Readers of this blog will receive 15% off their registration by using the code FocusLife.

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Russell Moore will be speaking at Evangelicals for Life. He is President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is a theologian, ethicist, frequent cultural commentator, and author of several books. In the guest post below, he speaks to the importance of hosting the conference in the midst of the cultural battle for human dignity.

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Why We’re Hosting the Evangelicals For Life Conference

By Russell Moore

As many Christians sat at their computer and watched a casual dinner conversation over the price of dismembered children, a lot of us probably thought: “But what can I do about this?” This is a question I hear often from pro-life evangelicals. Many Christians are utterly convinced in their heart of the personhood and dignity of the unborn, yet don’t know how to faithfully effectively advocate for life.

It’s important to understand that the cultural battle for human dignity doesn’t begin on Capitol Hill or on CNN. It begins in your family, in your local church, and in your neighborhood. In fact, many of the people we know most vulnerable to the abortionist’s rhetoric are not actually pro-choice, they’re just scared, scared to scandalize a church with their secret. The false gospel of the abortion clinic, which says, “We can make all your trouble go away for you,” is overwhelmingly seductive.

What these people need more than a lesson in embryonic development is to have the Gospel preached to their conscience. This means much more than simply offering “The Romans Road” or prompting a sinner’s prayer; it means speaking directly with the message of Jesus’ complete sovereignty of the universe, his righteous indignation on the murder of the unborn, and most importantly, his complete absorption of God’s wrath on the cross, and his invitation to mercy and fellowship and the imputed righteousness of the Son of God.

The Gospel disarms the appeal of the abortion clinic because it offers truth with love, judgment with mercy, and righteousness with grace. The consciences around us don’t believe what they’re telling themselves. They’re scared and confused. Shine a light on their conscience, and then present the Gospel of reconciliation.

Moreover, the pro-life movement has set an example worthy of our imitation when it comes to practical, holistic mercy ministry. For over 40 years since Roe v. Wade, those committed to defending unborn life have done much more than preach and teach; they have welcomed the scared, the vulnerable, and the wounded and loved them. This has looked like the establishment of crisis pregnancy centers all around cities. It has looked like adoption advocacy and building a culture of adoption in local churches. It’s true that our pro-life witness has a long way to go, but we do not, thankfully, conform to the caricature that says we believe life “begins at conception and ends at birth.”

 

Questions like these are why I am excited to be a part of the Evangelicals For Life Conference in January. This conference exists to help evangelicals articulate a truly Christian doctrine on the dignity of all human life. Being pro-life, after all, means much more than being against abortion on demand; it means believing in the dignity of the elderly and infirm, and advocating for compassion and inclusion of the poor, the orphan, and the widow. No doctrine of human dignity that fails to speak to these cases is fully “pro-life.”

Sometimes Christians are encouraged to leave issues like this behind. Sometimes the fight for human dignity is portrayed as “culture war” baggage. For those of us that watched an executive from Planned Parenthood talk about the most valuable anatomy of dead children, we know this to be false. The stakes for human life and human dignity could not be higher, and the plight of those ignored by the world does not go unnoticed by our heavenly Father.

We have a Gospel word to speak to the abortionist and the unborn, to the orphan and those not considering adoption. Will you join me in Washington, on January 21-22, as we seek to speak this word?

This article was adapted from the original article posted on Russell Moore's website.

Amish Christmas at North Star: Four Stories of Love and Family By: Cindy Woodsmall, Mindy Starns Clark, Amanda Flower, Katie Ganshert

One night four lives entered the world by the hands of an Amish midwife, just outside North Star, Pennsylvania.
Rebekah’s babies, as they are called, are now grown adults and in four heartwarming novellas each young person experiences a journey of discovery, love, and the wonder of Christmas.

Guiding Star by Katie Ganshert
Curiosity gets the best of Englisher Chase Wellington when he investigates the twenty-five-year-old disappearance of an Amish baby. When he finds adventurous Elle McAllister in Iowa will his discoveries upend her world?

Mourning Star by Amanda Flower
Eden Hochstetler slips from her parents’ fudge shop to investigate the death of her friend Isaac Yoder.  Who is guilty? Isaac’s handsome great nephew Jacob, an angry Englisher, or someone else?

In the Stars by Cindy Woodsmall
Kore Detweiler has nursed his broken heart, avoiding North Star after Savilla Beiler suddenly rejected his love.  But when he is called to return home, he and Savilla must join forces to keep a family together.

Star of Grace by Mindy Starns Clark and Emily Clark
Andy Danner left North Star to work in construction in a new Amish settlement in Louisiana. His little brother devises a scheme to bring Andy home for Christmas, and unwittingly unleashes the power of forgiveness in an old widower’s life.

My Thoughts 

Four short stories, less than 100 pages each, by four amazing authors that will keep you page turning and wanting more, and soon you are moving to the next story in the book.
The stories are based on a terrible snowy night twenty-five years ago, when Rebekah Schlabach the local midwife opens her door for one busy night, and in the end four babies are born, three girls and a boy. The stories that follow are an update about the lives of these babies now known as “Rebekah’s Babies”.
These stories are heart warming, and loved the finding and updating each of these individual children, now all grown up. A different author, Cindy Woodsmall, Mindy Starns Clark (and Emily Clark), Amanda Flower, and Katie Ganshert updates each story, but they all come back to Rebekah. A timely treat for this time of the year and with little time, these a quick individual reads.
I received this book from Blogging For Books and was not required to give a positive review.

At Love's Bidding by Regina Jennings

She sells priceless antiques. He sells livestock by the pound. Is he really the man to make a bid for her heart?
After helping her grandfather at their Boston auction house, Miranda Wimplegate discovers she’s accidentally sold a powerful family’s prized portrait to an anonymous bidder. Desperate to appease the people who could ruin them forever, they track it to the Missouri Ozarks and make an outlandish offer to buy the local auction house and all its holdings before the painting can move again.
Upon crossing the country, however, Miranda and her grandfather discover their new auction house doesn’t deal in fine antiques, but in livestock. And its frustratingly handsome manager, Wyatt Ballentine, is annoyed to discover his fussy new bosses don’t know a thing about the business he’s single-handedly kept afloat. Faced with more heads of cattle than they can count–but no mysterious painting–Miranda and Wyatt form an unlikely but charged partnership to try and prevent a bad situation from getting worse.

Learn more and purchase a copy.


About The Author

Regina Jennings is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in English and a history minor. She is the author of “A Most Inconvenient Marriage,” “Sixty Acres and a Bride,” and “Caught in the Middle,” and contributed a novella to “A Match Made in Texas.” Regina has worked at the Mustang News and First Baptist Church of Mustang, along with time at the Oklahoma National Stockyards and various livestock shows. She now lives outside Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with her husband and four children.
Find out more about Regina at http://www.reginajennings.com/.



My Review

Paths are about to cross when the Wimplegate’s Auction House accidently sells a family heirloom that was not supposed to sold as part of the LeBlanc families belongings. Actually the grandfather Wimplegate is aging, and we meet head on the loosing of a love one while they are still alive with dementia.
Miranda Wimplegate decides to help her grandfather track down the lost portrait and they head to the Missouri Ozarks, and try and save their business with the recovery. You will find several chuckles and laughs as they see the new auction house they bought, and then some of the priceless antiques, not, that grandpa buys.
We meet Wyatt and again a chuckle as they try and dress him as if he is in Boston Ma, where their Auction House is. We do travel the beautiful countryside, and wonder if the two opposites in Miranda and Wyatt could possibly attract.
There is danger, and then there is not fitting in with your family, and the journey to find your roots.
It took me awhile to get through this book, and the epilogue at the end didn’t seem to give more information about the story I had just read, which was a bit of disappointment.

I received this book through Litfuse Publicity Book tours, and was not required to give a positive review. 

An Amish Year: Four Amish Novellas by Beth Wiseman

Spend a year in Amish country with four sweet romances.
Rooted in Love
Rosemary Lantz is doing her best to run her family’s household. She excels at all her tasks except one: gardening. Saul Petersheim has pursued Rosemary for years, but Rosemary keeps turning him down. What Saul doesn’t know is that she has good reason—something no one can know—especially not him.
A Love for Irma Rose
The year is 1957, and young Irma Rose has a choice to make. Marry the man who loves her? Or go after Jonas, the high-spirited, yet noncommittal man her heart loves?
Patchwork Perfect
Eli Byler has been a widower for two years when he chooses to make a fresh start in Paradise, Pennsylvania. Eli’s children are determined to keep their family the way it is, but they aren’t in Paradise long before the available ladies begin to show an interest in Eli.
As Eli juggles the admiration of two women, he meets Miriam Fisher—the most unconventional Amish woman he’s ever met. She doesn’t fit the mold for what Eli is looking for, but it isn’t long before Eli realizes that Miriam is everything he wants. But with two children constantly trying to sabotage his efforts, will he ever be happy again?
When Christmas Comes Again
Katherine knows the first Christmas without Elias will be hard for her and the children. But when a mysterious Englischer appears with photographs of her late husband, Katherine begins to wonder what other blessings Christmas could have in store.


About The Author

Beth Wiseman is a Carol Award Winner, Inspirational Readers Choice Winner, INSPY Winner, and the best-selling author of the Daughters of the Promise series and the Land of Canaan series. All of her books have held spots on the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) bestseller list and the CBA (Christian Book Association) bestseller list. She grew up in Houston, Texas and now resides in a small town west of Houston with a population of around 300. She lives with her husband, two dogs, two cats, two pot bellied pigs, two chickens and a pygmy goat. Her two grown sons also live in Texas. Beth has been writing in some capacity for most of her life. She's a former award-winning journalist with eleven honors, including 'First Place News Writing' for The Texas Press Association. However, writing love stories with a spiritual message is where her heart is. When Beth isn't writing (which is seldom these days) she enjoys traveling, cooking, fishing, reading, or just settling in for a good movie. Her best times are spent with family and friends!

 BethWiseman.com

Amazon


My Review

 


Beth Wiseman has a gift of drawing the reader into the story, and we are soon walking in the main character’s shoes and living their lives.
This book has four novellas, and having read most all of Beth’s books, I have read some of these before, but I sure didn’t mind reading them again, and enjoying.
Love a read that I can sit down and finish in one sitting, and with each of these stories it is a possibility and each become page-turners, so you do have to read to the end.
These stories will warm you heart and make you want more, I for one am glad I read these, and can’t wait for the next book to come out.
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Thomas Nelson, and was not required to give a positive review.