Saturday, December 6, 2025

Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours Presents: Murder, She Wrote: The Body in the Trees by Jessica Fletcher & Terrie Farley Moran

Murder, She Wrote: The Body in the Trees
by Jessica Fletcher & Terrie Farley Moran

About Murder, She Wrote:
The Body in the Trees

Murder, She Wrote: The Body in the Trees
Cozy Mystery
62nd in Series
Setting – Maine
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 2, 2025
Hardcover
Print length ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593820215
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593820216
Digital
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593820223
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DYYYSJLR

The newest entry in the USA Today bestselling Murder, She Wrote series.

It’s leaf-peeping season in Cabot Cove, but for someone, it’s killing season!

A quartet of friends from Florida have come to Maine to experience a New England autumn, complete with hiking in the woods and fishing. When one of them goes missing, the town rallies to find the presumably lost but otherwise safe tourist. But when newspaper editor Dan Andrews is biking on the trail along a ridge, he looks down and sees a leg caught in the branches of a tree. Count on Jessica Fletcher to uncover the secret reason the victim came to town . . . and how it led to her murder.

About the Authors

Jessica Fletcher is a bestselling mystery writer who has a knack for stumbling upon real-life mysteries in her various travels.

Terrie Farley Moran is the bestselling author of the Read ‘Em and Eat cozy mystery series, including the Agatha Award-winning Well Read, Then Dead. Along with Jessica Fletcher, she co-writes the Murder She Wrote mystery series. She also co-writes the Scrapbooking Mysteries with Laura Childs. Terrie’s short mystery fiction has been published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, and numerous anthologies. “A Killing at the Beausoleil” was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Short Story. “Inquiry and Assistance” received the Derringer Award for Best Novelette.

Author Links – Webpage, Facebook

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Bookshop.org – PenguinRandomHouse –

THE BODY IN THE TREES TOUR PARTICIPANTS

December 1 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT

December 2 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT

December 2 – Salty Inspirations – AUTHOR GUEST POST

December 3 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW

December 4 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR GUEST POST

December 5 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – REVIEW

December 5 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW

December 6 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

December 7 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

December 7 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

December 8 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW

December 9 – Diane Reviews Books – REVIEW

December 10 – Sarandipity’s – SPOTLIGHT

December 10 – @bibliophile_foodie – REVIEW

December 11 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

December 12 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW

December 13 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – REVIEW –

December 14 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – SPOTLIGHT

Have you signed up to be a Tour Host?
Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today!
Want to Book a Tour?
Click H

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Celebrate Lit Presents: Sons of Day & Night Author: Mariposa Aristeo

About the Book

Book: Sons of Day & Night

Author: Mariposa Aristeo

Genre: YA Fantasy – Retelling of The Prince and the Pauper

Release Date: November 18, 2025

Not even death can tell them apart.

In the wild and lush kingdom of Twinsbane, everyone has a look-alike, and each twin is cursed to die when their double breathes their last. When an ancient plague arises, the kingdom’s only hope is to sever these deadly ties. Yet King Daccias refuses to relinquish the cure, a legendary potion called the Separator.

Waruu, an orphan determined to break these ties, discovers he’s the king’s doppelgänger. He’s certain that if he can switch places, he can save the kingdom. But if anyone learns his true identity, he’ll lose everything—including the people he’s desperately trying to protect.

King Daccias wants nothing more than for his subjects to cease threatening to behead him if he doesn’t hand over the Separator. Intent on catching those opposing him, he finds himself ensnared in his own trap. If he doesn’t break loose, the kingdom will rest in the hands of an insolent boy who knows nothing about the truth behind the events unfolding around him.

To save their kingdom, both Waruu and Daccias must face their greatest enemy—each other.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Mariposa Aristeo is a writer of fantastical adventures filled with heart, humor, hope, and sometimes dinosaurs. But, most importantly, she’s a creative who seeks to glorify God on every page of her life. Besides writing snarky characters who sass everybody, Mariposa loves bringing stories to life in full color as an illustrator. She also enjoys inspiring other creatives as the Public Relations Director at Story Embers and the Social Media Manager at the Young Writer’s Workshop.

More from Mariposa

How could I refuse to write a retelling of The Prince & the Pauper?

(Kudos to all the zillennial girls who get that reference.)

Ever since I watched the Barbie rendition of this classic tale when I was just a little girl, this story has been on my heart. As I grew older, other more adventurous tales influenced me, such as Dreamwork’s How to Train Your Dragon, Jennifer Nielsen’s The False Prince, Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, and more recently, Star Wars’ The Bad Batch.

But no matter the story, one aspect stayed the same—finding people just like me in the unlikeliest of places.

Growing up, I had a different childhood than most. I was pretty isolated with little to no friends, and not much extended family. It wasn’t until my twenties that I met the people who would later become my true family. They weren’t blood relations, and we didn’t interact in person until years later (yay for internet friends!). We are different in all the best ways but the same in the ways that matter and weird in the way that makes life interesting.

The Prince & the Pauper is a story about many things. Empathy, compassion, and learning what it’s like to live in another person’s shoes. When I set out to write Sons of Day & Night, I wanted to pay homage to this underrated tale while deepening the bond between the two very different (but also very alike) heroes. It’s not just a story about switched identities, it’s a story about the family we find even when our world is falling apart.

When my mom passed away from cancer in 2022, I felt like my world truly was falling to pieces. Besides losing a parent, I also lost what little I had of a normal family. But my found family came together to be there for me and be the family I never had.

We don’t share the same genetics, but they are every bit as much my brothers and sisters. As Stitch once said, “This is my family. I found it all on my own.”

Fast forward a few years, and I now live within 60 miles of my found family and see them almost every week. It’s funny to think how a few internet strangers became such a huge part of my life, but sometimes God sends us family in the places we least expect it.

And my hope is that Sons of Day & Night will remind you that there’s always someone out there just like you.

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, November 20

Inspired by Fiction, November 21

The Lofty Pages, November 22

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 23 (Spotlight)

Wishful Endings, November 24

CeCe Reads and Sings, November 24

History, Hope & Happily Ever After, November 25 (Author Interview)

Becca Hope: Book Obsessed, November 26

Guild Master, November 27 (Author Interview)

Blogging With Carol, November 28

Tell Tale Book Reviews, November 29

Simple Harvest Reads, November 30 (Author Interview)

The Mommies Reviews, November 30

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 1

Labor Not in Vain, December 2

Paula’s Pad of Inspiration, December 3 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Mariposa is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3dc7e/sons-of-day

Monday, December 1, 2025

Celebrate Lit Presents: Dueling Hearts Author: Vickie McDonough

About the Book

Book: Dueling Hearts

Author: Vickie McDonough

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: November 11, 2025

She blames him for her brother’s death, and he’s determined to make amends. But as family secrets and forbidden longing pull them closer, they must choose between pride and the chance to heal.

Carina Zimmer has spent years hating the Bishops for destroying her family. Now managing Tanglewood Plantation and caring for her bedridden father, she wants nothing to do with Reed Bishop—the man who killed her brother. But when Reed returns from medical school and begins treating the injured and vulnerable, Carina can’t ignore the compassion behind his actions or the growing pull between them.

Reed Bishop came home to start a medical practice and make amends for past mistakes. But when he treats an injured slave at a neighboring plantation, he comes face-to-face with Carina Zimmer—the sister of the man he believes he killed in a duel years ago. He never expected to fall for the fiery woman struggling to keep her family’s plantation alive. Yet every encounter with Carina challenges his guilt and deepens his desire to earn her trust.

As secrets surface and loyalties are tested, Carina and Reed must decide if love is worth risking everything—even the legacy of those they’ve sworn to honor.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Vickie McDonough is the CBA, EPCA and Amazon best-selling author of 54 books and novellas. Vickie grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead, she married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams penning romance stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others living in the Old West. Vickie’s books have won numerous awards including the Booksellers Best, OWFI Best Fiction Novel Award, the Inspirational Readers’ Choice awards. When she’s not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, making cards, gardening, and traveling.

More from Vickie

While I was researching ideas for Dueling Hearts, my third book in the Windswept Weddings series, I stumble across some information about dueling in America. I hadn’t read a Christian book that had characters who were in a duel, so I thought that would be an interesting premise. Reed Bishop, my hero in Dueling Hearts, is the grandson of Cooper Reed from Secrets of the Heart. He finds himself forced into a duel on the eve of his leaving for Scotland to become a doctor. I’ll let you read the book to find out what happens.

Dueling in the United States had mostly been outlawed by 1850. The Broderick-Terry duel, fought in California in 1859, is often considered the last notable duel in the United States. U.S. Senator David Broderick and California Supreme Court Chief Justice David S. Terry engaged in a pistol duel near Lake Merced, resulting in Broderick’s death. Sadly, the two were once friends.

Here’s what Dueling Hearts is about:

She blames him for her brother’s death, and he’s determined to make amends. But as family secrets and forbidden longing pull them closer, they must choose between pride and the chance to heal.

Carina Zimmer has spent years hating the Bishops for destroying her family. Now managing Tanglewood Plantation and caring for her bedridden father, she wants nothing to do with Reed Bishop—the man who killed her brother. But when Reed returns from medical school a more mature man and begins treating the injured and vulnerable, Carina can’t ignore the compassion behind his actions or the growing pull between them.

Reed Bishop came home to start a medical practice and make amends for past mistakes. But when he treats an injured slave at a neighboring plantation, he comes face-to-face with Carina Zimmer—the sister of the man he killed in a duel years ago. He never expected to fall for the fiery woman struggling to keep her family’s plantation alive. Yet every encounter with Carina challenges his guilt and deepens his desire to earn her trust.

As secrets surface and loyalties are tested, Carina and Reed must decide if love is worth risking everything—even the legacy of those they’ve sworn to honor

Blog Stops

Pens Pages & Pulses, November 18

Holly’s Book Corner, November 18

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 19

Simple Harvest Reads, November 20 (Guest Review from Marilyn)

Texas Book-aholic, November 21

Lyssa Loves Books, November 21

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 22

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, November 23

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 24

Book Holds and Jello Molds, November 24

For Him and My Family, November 25

Devoted To Hope, November 26

Stories By Gina, November 27 (Author Interview)

Books Less Travelled, November 28

Cover Lover Book Review, November 29

The Mommies Reviews, November 29

Locks, Hooks and Books, November 30

Artistic Nobody, December 1 (Guest Review from Donna)

Pause for Tales, December 1

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Vickie is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3dc71/the-seed-of-faith-a-christmas-miracle-celebration-tour-giveaway

Celebrate Lit Presents: Start Little, Dream Big – Grow The Ministry You Were Born To Build Author: Linette Rainville

About the Book

Book: Start Little, Dream Big – Grow The Ministry You Were Born To Build

Author: Linette Rainville

Genre: Christian Books, Women’s Spiritual Growth, Adult Ministry, Ministry and Evangelism, Church Leadership

Release Date: August 7, 2025

“Start Little, Dream BIG” is Linette’s personal story of how God turned one bag of skinny jeans into a million-dollar outreach.

Learn how the smallest step of faith could change your life!

Linette Rainville knows this truth firsthand. A proud Buffalo native and U.S. Navy veteran, Linette began with one simple act of obedience—a bag of skinny jeans she tried to “trade in” for things her family needed. That humble beginning sparked a million-dollar outreach ministry that now serves over 40,000 families every year with food, clothing, hope and Jesus.

In Start Little, Dream Big, Linette shares her redemptive journey and practical wisdom for women ready to step into their God-given calling. It’s filled with real-life moments—some laugh-out-loud funny, some bring-tears-to-your-eyes kind of raw—but all with one goal: to provide you a guide and a blueprint to build your own meaningful ministries, projects, and movements from the ground up.

Whether you’re just dreaming or ready to launch, Linette invites you to join her and a growing sisterhood of modern-day Esthers who are answering their call with courage, faith, and Godfidence.

You don’t have to do this alone. Your big dream starts with one little step.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Linette Rainville, Jesus girl, USN Veteran and Movement Leader, is on a quest to raise up the next generation of Esthers and Movement Makers. As a podcast host, speaker, mentor and founder of Daughters United, a global equipping ministry, she empowers women to build projects and start ministries from the ground up. With 25 years of hands-on poverty outreach experience, Linette has reached thousands of Kingdom women, guiding them to pursue their callings, lead movements, and build missions.

More from Linette

Friend, can I just take you back for a moment?

I never thought I’d find myself here in this place. After serving my country in the U.S. Navy, I came home with a spinal injury that ended the career I had dreamed of. Suddenly, the uniform I loved was gone, and I was simply doing my best to care for my family on an income that barely covered the basics.

It stung. It carried a stigma I swore I’d never face. You see, as a young girl my mom and I had lived on welfare, and I had made a promise to myself that my children would never have to experience that. But then life happened. A “disabled” label got stamped on my record, and just like that, my best intentions seemed to evaporate.

A few years later, I was blessed with the gift of motherhood and the challenge of disability. My husband and I were making it on one single blue-collar income, just trying to survive.

And then—God.

One ordinary day, walking out of a thrift store, the Lord planted a seed in my heart. That tiny whisper turned into a vision. That vision grew into a mission. One obedient baby step at a time—one yes, one phone call, one event, one open door—the Lord built something so much bigger than me.

Over the years, what started as a little prayer has grown into clothing programs, a pregnancy help center, food pantries, a soup kitchen, domestic abuse support, homeless outreach… and an army of volunteers who joined me along the way.

What’s wild is this: that one “yes” in 1991 has rippled out for over 30 years—locally, regionally, and now even globally… reaching over 50,000 lives each year—meeting real, practical needs.

And here’s where you come in.

Because this story—it isn’t just about me. It’s about you too. I believe God is stirring dreams and assignments inside of my sisters today. Maybe you’ve walked through storms. Maybe you’ve carried labels that felt heavy. Maybe you’ve stood staring at the “skinny jeans” of your life—dreams or abilities that no longer seem to fit.

But here’s the truth: all is not lost.

I see you.

I see you walking out of those valleys and climbing mountains, becoming warrior-ready and equipped to make a difference. I see you searching for a guide, a compass, and a roadmap for your mission.

That’s why I wrote this book. It’s the first in my Skinny Jeans Series, and I pray that it will become a companion for you—to remind us that God’s plans are never finished, even when ours feel broken.

Because as Jeremiah 29:11 declares: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

So take heart, friend.

God can take your little and build something bigger than you ever imagined…

one small YES at a time.

With BIG LOVE,

Linette

Blog Stops

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 19

Simple Harvest Reads, November 20 (Author Interview)

The Mommies Reviews , November 20

Artistic Nobody, November 21 (Author Interview)

Guild Master, November 22 (Author Interview)

Life on Chickadee Lane, November 23

Fiction Book Lover, November 24 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 25

Stories By Gina, November 26 (Author Interview)

Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, November 27 (Author Interview)

A Reader’s Brain, November 28 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, November 29

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, November 30 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 1

Books Less Travelled, December 2 (Author Interview)

Lots of Helpers, December 2

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Linette is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3dc76/start-little-dream-big-celebration-tour-giveaway

Dastardly Deeds Down on the Farm: 4 Cozy Mysteries by Cynthia Hickey, Linda Baten Johnson, Teresa Ives Lilly, Janice Thompson

Four amateur sleuths muck and muddle their way through mysterious disappearances and deaths in the barnyard.

Hog Wild by Cynthia Hickey
Shelby Dickens’ idyllic hog farm turns chaotic when her prized hog vanishes before the county fair. Racing against time, she uncovers rivalries and secrets, risking everything to expose the truth and restore honor.

The Dark Side of the Moo by Linda Baten Johnson
Liv Olsen returns from university to her home at Friendly Farm—a place that lives up to its name until the dairy cows become seriously ill and the vet is murdered in the barn. Moo-sterious happenings keep Liv looking over her shoulder as she turns amateur sleuth.

Fowl Deed by Teresa Ives Lilly
April transformed her homestead into an egg farm, chicken-inspired gift store, and Airbnb, then hosted the local farmer’s market—all to keep the town’s realtor, Jeff Barr, plus the bank from taking over the property. But when Jeff is found dead by the chicken coop, April must solve the murder or lose it all.

Searching for Sunshine by Janice Thompson
Jessie Kingston responds to an ad to breed her thoroughbred mare, Cosmic Sunshine, with Derby winner Like the Wind. But this opportunity of a lifetime turns disaster when her horse goes missing while in the care of the breeder.

Amazon

About The Authors

Cynthia Hickey has been making up stories since she was a child. How fortunate that she finally found an outlet for her, uh, fictional tellings.

Website at www.cynthiahickey.com

Multi-published and Amazon and ECPA Best-Selling author Cynthia Hickey has sold over a million copies of her works since 2013. She has taught a Continuing Education class at the 2015 American Christian Fiction Writers conference, several small ACFW chapters and RWA chapters. She and her husband run the small press, Winged Publications, which includes some of the CBA’s best well-known authors. She travels between Arizona and Arkansas, depending on the time of year with her husband. She has ten grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”.

Growing up in White Deer, Texas a small town that boasts one blinking light, Linda Baten Johnson won blue ribbons for storytelling, and the dream of making up tales to entertain was born. As an adult, Linda spent many hours packing and unpacking as she and her husband George have lived in 15 different places in the United States and enjoyed a three-year assignment in England. In between moves, Linda earned her Master of Arts degree in English and history, worked as a Realtor, a teacher, and logged many volunteer hours.

One volunteer assignments was a National Park lighthouse in Michigan where she and her husband lived in the assistant keeper’s cottage. That posting inspired Mystery of Desolation Point, and she used historical records as the basis for the middle grade novel. Linda loves research and all books include an historical element. In her Young Texans Series, she focuses on specific Texas topics such as the Galveston Hurricane, the original 300 settlers, and Juneteenth. She currently writes squeaky-clean romance novellas and cozy mysteries.

Linda loves traveling and collecting experiences and stories. Some of her favorite memories include parasailing, white water rafting, and being mistaken for a tour guide in Mexico and in Russia. Her children and grandchildren tease her about never going anywhere without orchestrating an educational experience.

She loves gathering with family and friends and opening her home at Thanksgiving for a celebration of the many blessings we enjoy.

Teresa Lilly is author of a variety of Christian Novellas and Novels.

She is author of over 250 unit studies for teachers and homeschoolers.

Please follow her on her website and Sign up for her monthly newsletter at www.teresalilly.wordpress.com

Welcome to the wacky, wonderful world of inspirational author Janice Hanna Thompson, where romantic comedy rules the day! I hope you love to laugh, because I make it my goal to tickle your funny bone at every turn in my light-hearted tales.

Whether you’re looking for inspirational romance, quirky cozy mysteries, light-hearted historicals or fun books for younger readers, you will find it between the pages of my novels and non-fiction books.

Why do I focus on the light-hearted stuff? Because life is hard! My readers lead busy, chaotic lives and need those special “Calgon, Take Me Away!” moments! Providing “Love, Laughter and Happily Ever Afters” brings me great delight. Lest you think it’s all fluff, think again!

Woven between the lines of each cheerful tale you will find the ultimate love story, one guaranteed to stir your soul and get your heart fluttering. Talk about a real happily ever after! There’s something for everyone in my stories, so settle back in your chair, grab a cup of hot tea, and get ready to discover a light-hearted approach to life!

Read Janice's books or follow her baking recipes at https://outoftheboxbaking.com/.

My Review

We are given three novella mysteries, all equally good. These are stories all revolve around animals, pigs, chickens and cows. Also people wanting what isn't theirs, and sometimes with bodies appearing.
Each story became a page turner for me, and at the end I wanted to be more. You will really get involved in these characters lives, and throw in a bit of sweet romance.
I glad that I chose to read this Christian based read, as each story does revolve around faith. I'll be looking for more by this authors!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Barbour, and was not required to give a positive review.

Friday, November 28, 2025

Celebrate Lit Presents: Shilo: A Sweet, Quirky, Romantic Muddle (The Weather Girls Wedding Shoppe and Venue: Book 7) Author: Jennifer Lynn Cary

About the Book

Book: Shilo: A Sweet, Quirky, Romantic Muddle (The Weather Girls Wedding Shoppe and Venue: Book 7)

Author: Jennifer Lynn Cary

Genre: Sweet Romantic Comedy

Release Date: May 1, 2025

From Breck Girl to Hippie to Jesus People…

…It’s been a long journey back home

But can her heart truly find peace where it all began?

When free-spirit Shilo Anderson inherits two million dollars with an unexpected condition—marriage—she refuses to be bound by her grandfather’s will. Until her beloved aunt faces cancer with no insurance to cover chemotherapy.

She won’t marry for money for herself, but to save her aunt’s life? She’ll make that sacrifice in a heartbeat.

Maybe.

Jesse Franklin never forgot his first love. When her grandfather’s will brings Shilo back to their hometown, he discovers his love for her has only deepened with time. Offering to marry her to help save her aunt, no problem.

Keeping it a marriage of convenience, that might be a problem. More like impossible.

As their feelings grow stronger, Shilo faces her greatest fear: revealing the truth about her past decade. Can she make Jesse see she doesn’t belong on anyone’s pedestal?

Return to 1973 Kokomo, Indiana, where faith shapes the journey and the legend of the cardinal in the sycamore still proves true love endures all seasons.

You will enjoy this sweet, quirky tale of second chances, because sometimes the rough patches prepare us for the wildly wonderful.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Historical Christian Romance author and three-time Selah Award nominee, Jennifer Lynn Cary, likes to say you can take the girl out of Indiana, but you can’t take the Hoosier out of the girl. Now transplanted to the Arizona desert, this direct descendant of Davy Crockett and her husband of forty-plus years enjoy time with family where she shares tales of her small-town heritage and family legacies with their grandchildren. She is the author of The Crockett Chronicles series, The Relentless series, and The Weather Girls trilogy, as well as the stand-alone novel, Cheryl’s Going Home, her novella Tales of the Hob Nob Annex Café, and her split-time novels The Traveling Prayer Shawl and The Forgotten Gratitude Journal. Her current spin-off series, The Weather Girls Wedding Shoppe and Venue, contains standalones with a common thread.

More from Jennifer

The story for Shilo has been fermenting in my brain for a long time. I had always loved Neil Diamond’s song of the same title and could see his characters playing out their parts and thought what would happen if the girl came back after ten years?

However, what I didn’t catch was that Shilo in the song was a boy, an imaginary boy who’d been a friend to a lonely boy.

In my brain, I missed the importance of him turning to his only friend in his mind.

Instead, I had a little girl moving in next door—she was Shilo—and they went from being friends to first loves, but something called her away and though he understood, he called her name like before hoping she’d return.

Okay, so not what Neil Diamond had in mind, but it became Jesse’s back story.

Then I had to ask, what was so important that she had to leave? That’s when I remembered Breck Girls. Do you remember them?

There was a time as a child that I thought one of the Breck Girls on the back of a magazine was so beautiful, I said, “She’s prettier than Mom.”

I was quickly (verbally) chastised by my dad who made sure to inform me that no one was prettier than my mom. I never thought of it as an insult. My mom was the high standard for beauty, and for someone to be even prettier, they were definitely a looker. However, I learned to keep those types of opinions to myself if my Dad was around. Mom understood and didn’t take offense—in fact, as I meant it, she thought it was a compliment that I found her so pretty.

All that to say that Breck Girls were a part of my growing up years, into the seventies. I wondered how Breck Girls were chosen, and if Shilo could/should be one. I learned there’s even an exhibit at the Smithsonian dedicated to Breck Girls and those lovely pastel portraits.

So, when (my) Shilo told Jesse she had to go before he could tell her that he loved her, it was because she’d been chosen to be a Breck Girl. Now I had a framework to start building the story.

I hope that when you read Shilo: A Sweet, Quirky, Romantic Muddle, you will be transported back to 1973 with many of your own memories.

Abundant blessings,

Jenny

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, November 15

The Important Things in Life: God, Books, & Chocolate , November 15

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 16

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, November 17

A Reader’s Brain, November 18 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, November 19

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, November 20 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, November 21

Books Less Travelled, November 22 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 23

Mary Hake, November 24

The Mommies Reviews, November 24

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 25

Roads to Everywhere, November 26

Fiction Book Lover, November 27 (Author Interview)

Pause for Tales, November 28

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jennifer is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and an eBook copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3d5a5/shilo-celebration-tour-giveaway

Thursday, November 27, 2025

Celebrate Lit Presents: The Songbird and the Surveyor Author: Denise Farnsworth writing as Denise Weimer

About the Book

Book: The Songbird and the Surveyor

Author: Denise Farnsworth writing as Denise Weimer

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: November 3, 2025

A marriage of protection. A past full of pain. In Georgia’s wild gold country, love might strike when it’s least expected.

Genevieve Gillbard knows she’s no longer safe in the rough-and-tumble gold rush town when she overhears her controlling guardian’s plot to steal gold from a local mine owner. It takes every ounce of her courage to escape, and now she’ll do anything to keep herself safe, even accept a temporary marriage of convenience from a man who clearly wants nothing more than his independence.

After losing his first wife, surveyor Jesse Holden swore never to let anyone close enough to need him again. But when he discovers the woman he knows as the Songbird of Auraria injured and unconscious in the woods, he can’t abandon her, not with the memory of his failure to protect his wife hanging over him. He’ll keep this woman safe until she’s out of harm’s way, even if it means doing the one thing he swore he’d never do again.

As Genny recovers under Jesse’s care, she discovers he’s nothing like the manipulative men of her past. But can she trust him with her heart—knowing he plans to leave as soon as her guardian is brought to justice? And even then, she fears the sham marriage might not be enough to keep her safe from her guardian’s long reach.

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About the Author

North Georgia native Denise Farnsworth has authored around twenty traditionally published novels and a number of novellas—historical and contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and time slip. As a freelance editor and Acquisitions & Editorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books, she’s helped other authors reach their publishing dreams. A mother of two wonderful young adult daughters, Denise always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.

More from Denise

A Gold Rush…in Georgia?

Celebrate Lit Blog Post for The Songbird and the Surveyor by Denise Farnsworth

(writing as Denise Weimer)

Did you know there was a gold rush in Georgia that began twenty years before gold was discovered in California? That Georgia gold was purer than any found in the country? Comment below if you did. And I tip my hat to you. I come across many native Georgians who are unaware of this major event in their state’s history.

My first series, The Georgia Gold Series, touched on the Georgia Gold Rush. In the ten years since its release, I’ve written novels set between the Revolutionary War and contemporary times. (I also recently got married. Thus, the name change from Denise Weimer to Denise Farnsworth. I hope you’ll look for my future novels under my new name!) The period of the 1830s is one largely untouched in American history by fiction writers. I always knew I might revisit that decade in more detail. Thus, The Twenty-Niners of the Georgia Gold Rush was born.

Gold was first discovered by white men on Coker Creek in 1827, but it wasn’t until fall of 1828, when Benjamin Parks found a nugget as he returned from filling his cattle’s lick log west of the Chestatee River, that the mining industry exploded in North Georgia. The area was flooded by prospectors who clashed with the native Cherokee people. The land was soon taken from them and divvied up in a lottery of ninety-two districts, with farming plots set at a hundred and sixty acres and gold lots at forty acres. By June of 1832, almost six hundred surveyors from across Georgia were hard at work.

The gold belt stretched from Clarkesville to Canton (the setting of book two), with major concentrations near Dahlonega (the setting of book three). Auraria, located on the mountain ridge between the Etowah and Chestatee rivers, was one of the boom towns that lingered into the twentieth century, although now only a few abandoned buildings remain. Think Wild West before the west went wild. Into this setting I dropped the story of a guilt-haunted surveyor with a dangerous streak of wanderlust and an orphan who’s learned to sing for her life.

Genevieve Gillbard’s neglectful father has died and left her in the care of her guardian, a volatile saloon owner with unwholesome intentions. When she overhears a plot that implicates Charles Martin and one of his employees in a scheme to kidnap her and siphon off a local miner’s gold, Genevieve flees…right into the arms of another man she surely can’t trust.

Blaming himself for the death of his wife, Jesse Holden wants nothing less than being saddled with the wounded songbird he rescued from a drunken miner on his first trip to Auraria. But when he learns that Genny’s guardian is the same man responsible for his wife’s death, he agrees to shelter her to give his sheriff friend, also his former brother-in-law, time to entrap Charles. Neither of them expect to be forced into a marriage in name only—at least until Genny reaches her majority. Despite his efforts to hold his heart at bay, Jesse was raised by his minister-father to treat women right—something so new to Genny, it crumbles her walls. But will the emotional price of trusting Jesse prove higher than the risk to her physical safety?

Although set near raucous boom town of Auraria, The Songbird and the Surveyor is a story of quiet healing and second chances. Of rescues and God’s miraculous redirection. Of learning to spot the real among the counterfeit…and hold onto it for all you’re worth.