The Forgotten Recipe by Amy Clipston

After losing her fiancé in a tragic accident, Veronica Fisher finds solace in the old recipes stored in her mother’s hope chest—and in a special visitor who comes to her bake stand to purchase her old-fashioned raspberry pies.


Veronica Fisher knows how lucky she is to be marrying her best friend. Seth Lapp is kind, hardworking, and handsome—but most importantly, he loves Veronica.


When an accident on the job steals Seth away from her, a heartbroken Veronica is certain she will never love—or be loved—again. Yet when she discovers a batch of forgotten recipes and opens a bake stand to sell her Mammi’s raspberry pies, Veronica picks up a regular customer who gives her heart pause.


Jason Huyard was with Seth when he lost his life—a memory that haunts him still. So when he seeks out the grieving fiancée to convey his condolences, the last thing he expects—or wants—is to fall in love. Nonetheless, Jason soon finds himself visiting Veronica’s bake stand every week . . . and it’s for more than the raspberry pies.


Now, as Veronica’s heart thaws, Jason can’t bring himself to tell her he was there when Seth died. Can he ever reveal where he was on the day her life derailed? Or will his secret rob them of the second chance at love they both want?

About The Author

 
Amy Clipston has been writing for as long as she can remember. Her fiction writing “career” began in elementary school when she and a close friend wrote and shared silly stories. She has a degree in communications from Virginia Wesleyan College and is a member of the Authors Guild, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Romance Writers of America. She is the author of the bestselling Kauffman Amish Bakery series and Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel series with HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Amy works full-time for the City of Charlotte, NC, and lives in North Carolina with her husband, two sons, mother, and four spoiled rotten cats.

My Review 

The forgotten recipe is about a newly found old recipe that Veronica’s grandmother used to make. This recipe turns out to be a great hit with everyone, and is the catalyst to bringing the main two characters together.
Jason Huyard’s mother hears about this wonderful pie and wants her sons to get her some from a sweet Amish girl Veronica Fisher, and thus the story of a new relationship begins. Not an easy path, this is one that has a shared grief of loosing a future husband and a best friend. Both having nightmares of how they maybe could have saved Seth’s life, even though they both know that it was his time and God called him home.
The path is not going to be easy to place these two together, there is another girl who seems to be very interested in Jason. There are also some deep secrets that are being withheld and then some almost insurmountable times to have told the truth that seem to have been missed.
This is a quick and entertaining read, and you really won’t know until the end what will happen, and I felt I was left with a cliffhanger when another secret is partially revealed, but not all the answers.
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Zondervan, and was not required to give a positive review.

A Thousand Shall Fall (Shenandoah Valley Saga #1) by Andrea Boeshaar

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of A Thousand Shall Fall
• A Kindle Fire HD 6

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on December 10th. The winner will be announced December 11th on Andrea’s blog.

A story of love, hope, and healing set in the midst of the Civil War Nineteen-year-old Carrie Ann Bell is independent and spirited. The only thing she really fears are the Union soldiers fighting against her Confederate friends. When her youngest sister runs away from home, brave Carrie Ann is determined to find her and bring her back. Disguised as a soldier, she sets off--only to find she's fallen into the hands of the enemy.

Her childhood friend Confederate Major Joshua Blevins has warned her against these Yankees: they're all devils, ready to inflict evil on unsuspecting young women. When Colonel Peyton Collier arrests her for her impersonation of an officer, it seems to confirm all her fears.

Soon, though, she finds herself drawn to the handsome, gallant colonel. He rescued her, protected her, and has been every inch the gentleman. Carrie Ann discovers that her foe has become her ally--and more than that, someone she could love. But the arrival of Joshua in the Union camp as a spy will test her loyalties. Will she protect someone who has been like family or be loyal to this stranger to whom she wants to offer her heart? When her world is being torn apart around her, whom should she trust?

Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, A Thousand Shall Fall is framed around compelling characters and a very romantic setting in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Andrea Boeshaar's extensive research guarantees historical accuracy and romance genre enthusiasts and Civil War buffs alike will enjoy the Christian perspectives on actual historical events.

Amazon


About The Author

Andrea Kuhn Boeshaar is a certified Christian life coach and speaks at writers’ conferences and for women’s groups. She has taught workshops at such conferences as Write-to-Publish, American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Oregon Christian Writers Conference, Mount Hermon Writers Conference, and many local writers conferences. Another of Andrea’s accomplishments is cofounder of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) organization. For many years she served on both its advisory board and as its CEO.

Visit the author's website.




My Review

Andrea Boeshaar has gifted us with a wonderful read, a page-turner for sure, and one that will linger with you for a long time. The reality of the Civil War in the Southern States was not pretty, and we picture all of the destruction from the eyes of young Carrie Ann Bell, and Colonel Peyton Collier, a Virginian in the Northern Army.
We meet Aunt Ruth and immediately fall in love with her and how she cares for people. With a few chuckles as she “puts her foot in her mouth”, when she makes a lie into something even bigger. Oh my, she is a northern sympathizer living in the South, and has friends, kind of, on both sides.
Loved all the amazing facts that are presented here and there is a great deal of research done by the author, and loved how it is all worked into this story.
Both main characters are Northern sympathizers and are from the South, both have friends that would be considered enemies, and these are woven into the story, and sometimes you wonder how they know whom they can trust.
A really good historical read, which once you turn that first pages your gone until the end.
I received this book through Litfuse Publicity Book Tours, and was not required to give a positive review.

The Proposal (Porter Family #3.5) by Becky Wade

A cold night in Texas, a dream of marriage, a happily ever after....

Single mom Amber Richardson spends every holiday season working to give her young son the best Christmas possible and striving to ignore the empty chairs around her table, chairs she wishes her mother and father and extended family occupied.

She'd hoped that this holiday would be fuller and happier than the rest. Her handsome firefighter boyfriend, Will McGrath, has brought immeasurable joy and love into her life. Up until recently, they'd even been talking about a future that included wedding bells. Lately, though, the wedding talk has been nonexistent and Amber can’t help but worry that Will's starting to have second thoughts....

Until a fire station surprise brings very good tidings.

Amazon 


About The Author

Becky Wade is a graduate of Baylor University. As a newlywed, she lived for three years in a home overlooking the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, as well as in Australia, before returning to the States. A mom of three young children, Becky and her family now live in Dallas, Texas. Visit her website at www.beckywade.com.








My Review

A story that begins with the main character, Amber Richardson, clenching the steering wheel as she faces a near death experience, when she has a tire blow out, and the car goes heading in the wrong direction.
Her life has finally been looking up, and she is beginning to reconnect with her estranged family. She is also in a relationship with a wonderful guy, and hopes that it will lead to marriage. Her last few years have been rough, she is a single Mom, and has had a hard time.
Her boyfriend Will has two daughters from a previous failed marriage, and you have to wonder if he is willing to take the plunge again.
With a long walk in the rain and still shaking from the near accident, Amber is in for a surprise, and so is the reader. A sweet 39 page read that goes way to quick!
I received this book from Bethany House, and was not required to give a positive review.

Power of the Matchmaker by Heather B. Moore

A prequel novella to the POWER OF THE MATCHMAKER Series
Mystical . . . Beautiful . . . Romantic . . .
12 novels by 12 bestselling authors
Released once a month in 2016
Read the matchmaker’s story to find out where it all starts . . .

Mae Li has been in love with Chen Zhu for years, and he with her. But when the matchmaker arrives at the Zhu family home, she recommends another village girl for Chen.

Heartbroken, Mae Li watches as Chen does his duty by marrying another. Mae flees her village with the clothes on her back and her only possession—a pearl embedded comb, given to her as a goodbye gift from Chen Zhu.

Upon Mae’s arrival in Shanghai, she quickly learns that she’ll starve within days unless she sells her prized comb or joins a courtesan house. She goes to the Huangpu River and promises the River God that she’ll always be selfless if he will save her from becoming a prostitute . . . Her wish is granted when Ms. Tan, the matchmaker of Shanghai, finds Mae. But Mae must completely change her future and her name if she is to become the next matchmaker.

Amazon

My Review

The Matchmaker is the beginning of a new book series, and the basis for these books is the becoming of The Matchmaker, now known as Pearl. Well to do Chinese families hire the village Matchmaker to match their children, and the children never go against the wishes of their family, it is just not done.
Can you imagine your devastation when you are told you are going to marry a man you really can’t stand, while another holds your heart? This is what brought Mae to leave the security of her home and family and head to Shanghai and the unknown.
She is near death when she is found and her life becomes changed forever, all she seems to possess of her old life is the beautiful combs her beloved gave her.
We are about to travel in the shoes of the Matchmaker, and as such, we will be changing lives.
I received this Novella from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer Book Promotion, and was not required to give a positive review.

Until The Dawn by Elizabeth Camden

A volunteer for the newly established Weather Bureau, Sophie van Riijn needs access to the highest spot in her village to report the most accurate readings. Fascinated by Dierenpark, an abandoned mansion high atop a windswept cliff in the Hudson River Valley, Sophie knows no better option despite a lack of permission from the absent owners.

The first Vandermark to return to the area in sixty years, Quentin intends to put an end to the shadowy rumors about the property that has brought nothing but trouble upon his family. Ready to tear down the mansion, he is furious to discover a local woman has been trespassing on his land.

Instantly at odds, Quentin and Sophie find common ground when she is the only one who can reach his troubled son. There's a light within Sophie that Quentin has never known, and a small spark of the hope that left him years ago begins to grow. But when the secrets of Dierenpark and the Vandermark family history are no longer content to stay in the past, will tragedy triumph or can their tenuous hope prevail?

About The Author

Elizabeth Camden is a college librarian in central Florida by day, but by night I can be found pounding out inspirational historical novels the moment the sun goes down. I love writing books about fiercely intelligent people who are confronted with profound challenges. As a rather introverted person, I have found that writing is the best way for me to share my faith and a sense of resilience with others.

I decided to become a librarian because I can think of no other career in which you get such a wide exposure to all aspects of recorded knowledge. I have been an academic librarian for fifteen years, where on any given day I get to research the sonnets of Shakespeare, learn what makes pelican feathers pink, or compile demographic statistics for starting a new company.
I married relatively late in life, which turned out to be an odd kind of blessing. I had gotten very good at leading a solo life, and although I was not particularly content being alone, I had become reconciled to it. Then when I was in my mid-thirties and just a few weeks after buying my first house, I met the man I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. My years as a single woman taught me many things. I learned to be independent and resilient. I learned how to manage my investments, earn and save enough money to have investments, mow my own lawn, fix the rickety appliances in my sixty-year old house, and spend the holidays on my own when travel to family was not possible. Most importantly, it taught me never to take my husband for granted. I give daily thanks for the blessing of being able to share a life with my favorite person on the planet.
As for who I am? I love old Hitchcock films, the hour before sunset, a long, sweaty run through the Florida countryside, and a glass of good wine. After spending my entire adult life on a college campus (either as a student or a librarian) I have finally been able to pursue my ultimate goal of writing professionally.

http://elizabethcamden.com/ 

Amazon

My Review

We were introduced to the Vandermark family in Toward the Sunrise: An Until the Dawn Novella by Elizabeth Camden and now the story of this family continues when Quentin Vandermark returns to the family home for the first time in sixty years.
Sophie van Riijn has used the mansion for her weather station, and now she finds out that Quentin has returned to tear down the home, that is believed to be cursed, and being an architect his Grandfather wants him to handle the demolition. We walk these grounds with both Sophie and Quentin and we see the beauty of this place on the Hudson River, and I hated the idea that this place would be destroyed.
Quentin has also brought his troubled son with him, still suffering nightmares from being kidnapped the previous year. Poor little guy had been locked in a closet, and we watch him blossom at this beautiful place, and being around Sophie.
Is there a chance of romance between these two, it seems that Quentin’s grandfather main purpose is concealing family secrets and wants the mansion destroyed at all costs.
I enjoyed this look at early America and specifically the New York City Area, and how much things have changed, but this book brought out the unspoiled beauty of the area, and I loved the story and you will have to read to the last page to see how things turn out. Enjoy!
I received this book through Net Galley and Bethany House Publishing and was not required to give a positive review.

The Midnight Visitors by Juliet David, Jo Parry (Illustrator)

Miriam was glad to be warm and cozy. There were so many people in the town but it was nice and peaceful inside her cowshed. Little did she know that she would soon be joined by Midnight Visitors . . . and not just any old visitors!

Snuggle up and enjoy the warm, soft feel the art and narrative bring to this delightful Christmas picture book with a difference.

About the Author

Juliet David has written many children s stories and Bible activity books. Her other interests include painting, music, and travel to Israel and other Bible lands. This experienced author lives in London with her family. 

My Review

The Midnight Visitors is a beautifully illustrated hard covered book perfect for little hands. They will be drawn to the book by looking at its cover, and pointing to all of the visitors at the manger.
Miriam is the cow in this story and this is her manger, and she doesn’t seem to be getting much sleep this evening, everyone needs a place out of the cold. Thus her home becomes the setting for our Savior’s birth.
A perfect book for this time of the year, and a treasure to keep from year to year, get ready to share with your little ones.
I received this book through Kregel Publishing, and was not required to give a positive review.

I Am A Reader, Not A Writer Presents: Poppy Peters Book Blast

   



SOUTHERN PEACH PIE AND A DEAD GUY (Poppy Peters Mysteries Book 1) Book Summary: After an injury derails Poppy Peters' ballet career, she gathers the courage to follow in her grandmother's footsteps and attend Calle Pastry Academy in a small-town in Georgia. Poppy has her work cut out for her not only fitting in with her charming (and not-so-charming ) Southern classmates but also proving her worth to her teachers after her first publicly humiliating attempt a making the school's famous peach pie. But Poppy's pastry problems go from bad to worse when she's suddenly accused of stealing expensive black truffles, and her attempt to clear her name goes awry...resulting in her finding a dead body instead! If Poppy's going to survive this culinary experience, she'll need to find the missing truffles and track down a killer, all while honing her baking skills to compete in the school's dessert competition for a coveted pastry internship in Paris. Can Poppy prove she's one tough cookie? Or is her life about to crumble? **Recipes Included**

   



CHOCOLATE MACAROONS AND A DEAD GROOM (Poppy Peters Mysteries Book 2) Book Summary: When Poppy Peters takes an internship in Paris working for a top pastry chef, she realizes that bakery life isn't all cupcakes and frosting. The sous pastry chef dislikes foreigners, her mentor only speaks French, and to top that all off she finds the groom of the wedding she's catering dead in his own backyard. But Lord Dovington wasn't just a handsome royal waiting to sweep his bride-to-be off of her feet. He was also a well-known playboy with a long line of vengeful exes. Now, as one of the prime suspects, Poppy must prove she's innocent . . . and that her recipe for chocolate macaroons isn't to blame. But the clock is ticking, and with a missing diamond, a break-in, and a hot batch of reporters on her tail, Poppy has a lot of sifting to do. Will she find the killer before she too gets baked? **Recipes Included**


   

BANANAS FOSTER AND A DEAD MOBSTER (Poppy Peters Mysteries Book 3) Book Summary: Reluctant sleuth Poppy Peters is back in Georgia, and her last semester of pastry school is no icing on the cake when a body is discovered at the local farmer's market, and the murder weapon has Poppy's name on it. Not to mention, the victim belonged to a deadly southern crime family. Now, Poppy is being tailed by the mafia, and it doesn't help that the school's new pastry instructor has her working with her worst rival. But after a heart-stopping car chase, a frightening discovery at an old jam factory, and a spontaneous trip to New Orleans, Poppy discovers a secret that makes her past feats look like a piece of peach pie. Poppy's chances of making it to graduation day are about to go up in flames just like her Bananas Foster. **Recipes included!**






Praise for the Book "A sweet and satisfying mystery that will leave you hungry for more! A. Gardner's Poppy Peters Mysteries have earned a place on my keeper shelf!" ~ Gemma Halliday, New York Times bestselling mystery author "Charming cozy mystery featuring likable characters." ~Debbie Wiley, Fresh Fiction "A. Gardner cooks up one fabulous mystery with this Southern suspense." ~Pauline Michael, Night Owl Reviews

Excerpt

My first encounter with a southern guy isn't going so well. So far I've admitted I have never tried sweet tea, and my big toe is a little too long for the shoes I am wearing. Nice one, Poppy. Now he is going to think I am a weird westerner with a foot fetish. I try hard not to look down at my black, high-heeled boots. Why am I the only one on campus wearing any black?

"My name is Cole," the man says with a grin on his face. I reach out to shake his hand. My palms are sweating just like every other place on my body. I haven't even turned thirty yet, and I'm already having hot flashes. It is going to take me some time to get used to this heat.

"Poppy Peters," I reply. I wipe my forehead and underneath my eyes. I bite my lip when I see a bit of smeared mascara on the side of my finger. It is so humid my makeup is melting off. "Is it always this hot here?"

"Welcome to Georgia." Cole chuckles and shrugs as we walk towards the student bakery. Cole is one of the first students I bumped into at the registration office. His lemon-colored T-shirt shines bright compared to his dark skin, and his impressive physique makes me look at him twice. His eyes are intriguing—an even mix of blue and green.

As we walk, I can't help but admire how lush the vegetation is on campus. Every tree outstretches towards the sidewalks, providing a much needed break from the glaring sun. The patches of grass remind me of ocean waves, if the ocean sparkled like emeralds. Even the flowerbeds near the Administration building had bundles of purple and orange wildflowers that couldn't be contained.

"What's that smell?" I ask. "And don't say it smells like fresh meat. I heard a teacher in the Registrar's Office use that joke about a hundred times."

"I'll show you."

I follow Cole across campus until the heavenly smell of baked bread and sugary doughnuts grows stronger. I long for that smell sometimes. It takes me back to my schoolgirl days when I spent my weekends in the kitchen with Grandma Liz. My Grandma Liz came to Calle Pastry Academy when she was in her early twenties. I imagine her tiny frame and long, dancer legs. It's a miracle that she came to this school and still stayed so thin.

About The Author

   


Author A. Gardner A. Gardner is a native westerner exploring the sweet bites of the south. After years of working in the healthcare industry, she moved across the country with her husband and adventurous baby boy. She is a mystery and romance writer with a serious cupcake obsession and a love of storytelling that began at an early age. When she is not writing, she is either chasing after her son, out for a swim, trying out a new recipe, or painting her nails bright blue.


            $50 Blast Giveaway Enter to win an Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 12/20/15 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 readinglight.com. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.     a Rafflecopter giveaway --