Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Sneak Peak: Fireweed by Terry Monatgue




When I was about three, my mom said, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  I think she was expecting me to say, “A mommy, like you.”  Instead, I popped off with, “I want to be a writer.” I can still remember her face.  She said, “Well, don’t you think you need to learn to read first?” 
I didn’t think so.

Terry Bohle Montague is a BYU graduate and a free-lance writer, having written for television, radio, newspaper, and magazines including The Ensign and Meridian Magazine.  She has also been published as the author of book length historical non-fiction and fiction.
Her non-fiction work includes the book, Mine Angels Round About, the story of the LDS West German Mission evacuation of 1939 which occurred only days before the Nazi invasion of Poland. 
Her LDS fiction, Fireweed, is loosely based on her interviews with the evacuated West German missionaries and their families.
Terry studied with Dwight Swain and Jack Bickham, as well as David Farland. Her writing awards include those from LDS Storymakers, Idaho Writers’ League, and Romance Writers of America.
 Lisel Spann has dreamed only of wonderful things in her future. Living with her father, sister, and brother in a cramped apartment in Berlin, the small family shares what seems to be an unbreakable spirit of love and security. However, with the rise of the Nazi party and approaching dark clouds of war, any kind of future grows increasingly uncertain. Knowing little of hate and destruction, Lisel is ill prepared as the storms of battle erupt in full fury and loved ones are taken from her as her beautiful city is reduced to rubble.
With fear and despair rising within, it is through her quiet, compassionate father that Lisel discovers faith and hope. Now, in a desperate journey to find her sister, Lisel and her neighbor flee Berlin and the advancing Russians for Frankfurt, a city under the protection of the Allies. But their flight to safety is filled with pain, hunger, and terror. However, with spiritual lessons and blessings from her father, the support of departed loved ones, and her tried but undying faith in a loving Heavenly Father, perhaps Lisel can emerge like the fireweed—rising strong and beautiful from scorched earth —transforming bitterness and despair into a charity that never faileth.

Pick up your copy today
www.amazon.com/Fireweed-Terry-Montague-ebook/dp/B013KWPB4O/


Excerpt 3

At the other corner, Frau Heidemann and Walter were collecting rubbish from the street.  Lisel’s heart warmed toward the pair, up so early, working so hard and with such haste. Walter turned toward her and raised his arm. Lisel waved back.  Her heart still felt light enough to float all the way to the apartment house. Nothing had changed at all.
Lisel was half down the block when she saw Papa come out the front door of the apartment house.  He looked the same as he always did with his good gray suit which was just a little baggy at the knees . . . his carefully knotted tie . . . his frequently blocked hat.  Tears made of gladness welled in Lisel’s eyes.
“Papa!” she called to him.  He always scolded Lisel for shouting in public, but today she did not care if he scolded her. She felt like shouting and singing and dancing in the street.  “Papa!” she cried again and hurried toward him.
He opened his arms to her. “Lisel! We were so worried. I was on my way to Wittenau to find you.”
“Oh Papa! I love you!” Lisel said and kissed his cheek.
Papa chuckled. “Yes, little one, you told me that yesterday.”
“But yesterday was so long ago and I was so frightened.”  Her voice squeaked a little on the words.  “I was so frightened that something had happened to you.
Papa patted her shoulder. “Nothing did happen to us and we should be grateful, Lisel. The Lord has blessed us with great bounty.”
Lisel put her hand through the crook of Papa’s elbow and they turned to go into the building.  Papa paused, frowning. “What are the Heidemann’s  doing out here in the street?”
“The British dropped leaflets last night,” Lisel explained. “The Heidemann’s were out here picking them up when I came.”
Papa bent and scooped up one of the pieces of paper.  He read, “The war which Hitler has started will only go on as long as Hitler does.”
Papa’s frown deepened.  “It seems the British have an odd idea about who has begun this war.” He looked at the Heidemann’s. “Perhaps we should help.”
Lisel glanced up and down the littered street. She felt weary to the very bone; but, at that moment, if her Papa has asked her to fly to the moon, she would have found a way. “We can use my bag,” she said.
“Herr Spann! Herr Spann!” Frau Heidemann rushed toward them. An anxious smile twitched at her lips. “What are you doing?” 
Papa straightened with a handful of leaflets. Surprise lifted his gray brows. “We are helping to clear the street,” he replied.
Frau Heidemann stared at the paper in Papa’s hand and eyed Lisel’s bulging bag. “We need no help,” she insisted. “No help at all.  You must be exhausted. You should go lie down for a while. Walter and I will take care of the paper.”
Something in Frau Heidemann’s manner puzzled Lisel. “You’re being very helpful,” she said.  “But this is too much for you to do. Let me call the Wrobels to come and help us.  The Schmidt family from down the street has lots of children. If we ask them to help, this will be cleaned up in no time.”
Frau Heidemann’s pale eyes bulged.  “No! No! You cannot do that!” An inner conflict showed itself in her face. At last, she grimaced with resignation. “If you call them there will not be enough.”
“Enough?”  Papa questioned. “Enough what?”
“Enough paper,” Frau Heidemann hissed through her teeth and shook a fistful of leaflets in his face. “Have you see the price of toilet paper lately?  Why should I buy at such inflated prices when I can get this for free?”
Papa scowled with distaste at the leaflets in his hand. His lips twitched beneath his moustache. The color of indignation stole up his neck and face.
Lisel had to suck in her lips and bite down to keep from laughing. After seventeen years with Papa, she had learned there were times to laugh and times to be silent. This was time for silence.
Papa made a growling sound deep down in his throat and, for an instant, Lisel was sure he would throw down the paper in disgust. Instead, Papa stuffed it into his pockets.  He reached down for another handful. “Well, will you stand there with your mouth agape or will you help?”
“Papa, you do not actually mean you would . . .”
Papa jammed another handful of the leaflets into his jacket pocket. “Frau Heidemann is right. The price of toilet paper is too high!”
 

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Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Book Tour: Old Amarillo by Sara Barnard






Disillusioned and feeling there is more to life than can be found on her family's Indiana farm, atypical Amish girl Katie Knepp bucks tradition and leaves everything behind, bound for a supposed Mennonite settlement rumored to be somewhere around Old Amarillo, Texas. But the trail to Texas is a hard one, laced with disease, would-be-could-be bandits, and a drought so severe that turning back isn't an option. During her epic overland struggle, Katie discovers friendship, even in the ever-present outlaw element, a strength in herself she'd never dreamed she possessed, and those in her past who refuse to become unwilling memories. Katie's story isn't Amish, nor is it western . . . it is uniquely Texan.





Purchase you copy here:
Amazon: 


Sara Barnard and her family of six make their home deep in the recesses of Native America with a trio of rescue dogs, a trifecta of rescue cats, a flock of Easter Egger chickens, and a "tiny" herd of Dwarf Nigerian pygmy goats.

Some of Sara's works include The Calling (Prairie Rose Publications), The Saga of Indian Em'ly series (Painted Pony Books), Shootout in Old Amarillo (Prairie Rose Publications), The Everlasting Heart series, Rebekah's Quilt, and Desperado (all from 5 Prince Publishing). Sara is a certified elementary teacher and a bona fide coffee aficionado. Follow Sara at www.sarabarnardbooks.com or @TheSaraBarnard on Twitter.


Snippet:

Katie blinked. Tell him now, Katie Knepp. We’re here in Texas, maybe this is close enough. “Peter, I –” she began. From behind him, a long shadow grew from over a little hill. Katie took a step back, her appetite for conversation squelched.
Slowly, the shadow grew longer and longer until it cloaked Peter.
“Um, Peter? Someone’s there.”
Whirling on his heel, Peter turned to face the man who still shrouded him in his massive shadow. Katie watched as the stranger on the little hill lifted his hand to his mouth and plucked a cigarette from his lips. The breeze fluttered his coat as he stood unmoving, staring at them. The pair of pistols that hung on his hips caught the sun and shone out, making Katie squint against the blinding metallic glare. Silver devils, Katie thought. Someone once described pistols like that as silver devils. She let her gaze travel up the man and focus on his cold, staring eyes. And now I understand why.

Flicking the cigarette through the dry air, the stranger spoke. His voice was dark and raspy. “Oneida.”
Katie stared at the stranger and pondered his cryptic word. The silence that hung thick in the air unnerved her considerably. She glanced at Peter, who also stared at the stranger in silence. Finally, she blew out a huff. “What did you say, Mister?”
His face didn’t change expression as his eyes locked on hers as his hands arched over his pistols. “You said you were going to Amarillo,” he snarled. “The original name is Oneida ... Amarillo will never stick.”
Before Katie could respond, the stranger continued.
“Oneida. Once I saw your morning star, a-sitting in the sky. All the wildness of this land made calm as you passed by.”
Arching her eyebrows skyward, Katie glanced at Peter. Again, she opened her mouth to speak only to be interrupted by the poetry-wielding gunfighter, his voice louder this time. “I ponder life, and death and such, and know that that I’ll suffer it as much. And when that lonely night doth falls, and that lonely night bird calls, I’ll be home again ... in Oneida.”






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Friday, September 4, 2015

Book Tour: Conversations With Mother Goddess by Natalie Kawai


Buried in our soul forever, there is a piece of us that has not as yet been activated. That piece is the lost consciousness, the missing link guiding us to wholeness. As human beings, we have sought wholeness and connection with each other in the best way we know how by mimicking and emulating Source as we understand it.Unfortunately, we cannot find wholeness because we have been missing part of who we are. As a New Era dawns for humanity, we now have to complete the process by gaining the consciousness we lost when we first incarnated at the beginning of time.

Natalie Kawai has found the key to completing that process. In Conversations With Mother Goddess, she shares what she has learned through her dialogues with the Great Mother of Creation. Part explanation of humanity’s origins, and part conversation about how humanity can move into a new and complete future, this book will bend your mind in new and surprising ways, preparing it for the next step in your soul’s evolution.

Discover the part of you that you have always been yearning for, but never knew how to find. Join others in this exciting journey to restore harmony, creativity, and peace in all of us. Then prepare yourself to help bring about Heaven on Earth! It will happen if we all make the effort….Purchase your copy of this book here:

 www.ConversationsWithMotherGoddess.com





Natalie Kawai is a Spiritual Teacher and Guide. Born on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland, she now lives in Hawaii. Clairaudient from birth, she has always been haunted by the mysteries of life, why we are here, and our role in the universe. Moved by her intense desire always to go deeper in understanding the whys of the whys, she found the voice of the Great Mother of Creation twelve years ago. Since then, she has studied relentlessly with the Supreme Being in a constant and intense dialogue. This practice led her to understand why a gulf still exists between our divinity and our humanity. Under the Great Mother of Creationsguidance, she founded LST™—Light Speed Transmutationa radical system to restore our lost consciousness and drive out the last part of our ego.


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Snippet:


Can we be totally fulfilled, satisfied in our humanity?

The purpose of being in humanity is to feel the gap between your original oneness with Source and what occurred upon incarnation. The momentary separation of your essence from your Source causes you to be “in pain,” whether you admit it or not, and therefore, it’s a motivation to experience life and recover the lost pieces. You will feel fulfilled in your humanity once you have recovered all of yourself because then your earthly experience will be one of delight and free creativity.

Author's Top Ten List:


1. Tuberoses, orange and pink
2. thrillers with steam intense passion and emotions
3. Hawaii
4. Meryl Streep
5. Alex Mc Laughlin from Hawaii five-0 ( hi… hi)
6. La Reina del Sur
7. Shaw-shank redemption
8. Thelma & Louise
9. Legends of the Fall
10. Spy Game






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Thursday, September 3, 2015

Review: The Villain by May Nicole Abbey






Before I give you my review on this seriously AWESOME book, let me give you a bit of info.


Blurb:

A fall and crash
A violent journey through the doorways of time
A villain or hero in the making

Rosemary Mayfield teeters on the brink of ruin. With the murder of her parents she is left the sole guardian of her younger brother and sister. Once a wealthy socialite in New York City, she now finds herself stranded in the untamed wilderness of the American West. When a wounded man comes crashing through her roof, as rough as the savage land, it is against her better judgment to bring him into her home and her heart. But she soon discovers he holds a secret that shatters everything, and she must make a choice, unaware that often destiny hinges on a single moment.

Fresh from an unsavory past and a violent fall, Nicolas Ekkridon awakens to find himself cared for by three orphans ignorant of the role he played in their parents’ untimely death. They accept and embrace him, and a lifetime of hardened barriers begin to crumble. On the precipice between good and evil, only Rosemary and her spirited defiance stands between him and villainy. But time and space are against them. As its weaving tentacles envelop them in an indifferent grasp, they are swept into a shattering series of circumstances that threaten the very makeup of their lives. But when time can be bent, nothing is written in stone.


GRAB YOUR COPY HERE: 

It may appear that this book was written by one lady, but in fact its made by a pair of awesome ladies!

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Author Bios:
  
Caroline Gregory and Shawnette Nielson are sisters on a mission. Their goal is to write clean, adventuresome romance stories, full of lovely characters, personal growth, truth, and hope. Although they live miles from each other, and are both busy with the daily needs of their respective families, they carve out time each night to put fingers to keyboard and write.  Their goal? Twenty completed books. Set all over the world and throughout time, they thrill at the freedom that writing time travel offers them. From Georgian society, to Ancient Egypt and the Wild Western, the possibilities are limitless.

Okay, now for my review:
***Note*** I was gifted a copy of this book, but no review was asked for. I give my honest review out of pure enjoyment for this book. Also, it should be noted that I have not read the first 3 books of this series, so my opinion is based on reading this book as a stand alone. 

(I plan to devour the other 3 books as soon as possible!)

This book was awesome! In the beginning a tiny bit of whats about to happen is given away, and I was a tiny bit bummed. BUT once you keep reading, you realize how necessary that was! I was crying so hard at what I thought was the end of the book. I don't like to write spoilers, so I'll just leave it at that. Twists, turns, characters that you think you are going to love or hate remake themselves as you go! A little bit of a beauty and the beast theme, but done in such a way you won't realize it until you are done with the book. A fantastic read! I need to read more by these authors! I highly recommend this book to anyone who prefers to be kept guessing threw the ENTIRE length of the book. An easy 5 star book.

Monday, August 31, 2015

Cover Reveal: Alora: The Portal by Tamie Dearen

Cover Reveal for Alora: The Portal

The compelling story of the young soulmates, Alora and Kaevin, continues...

The adventure begins with Alora: The Wander-Jewel.

Screen Shot 2015-08-11 at 7.47.30 PM

Fifteen-year-old Alora has visions.

Only while in the shower. And only of one stranger: a handsome boy with long brown hair, intense green eyes, and the oddest clothes. A boy who vanishes whenever she opens her eyes.
And then one day, he doesn't…
Alora's safe world is soon turned upside-down as she's thrust into another realm where her soulmate waits, magic abounds, and unfathomable evil seeks to claim her.

The epic fantasy continues in Alora: The Portal.

Portfolio Alora 2 2015-08-20 at 8.52.48 AM

Cover design by StunningBookCovers.com

If one of them dies, they both die.

Bound together as soulmates, something compels Alora and Kaevin to abandon the safety of their refuge for the dangers of Kaevin’s realm. The soulmates arrive in the midst of a raging battle as Stone Clan warriors defend their capital, an attack made more deadly by the pervasive evil of her father. Alora and Kaevin face mortal danger as they fight against man and magick to preserve Kaevin's home and heritage. For Alora's father will have her allegiance. Or her death.

Praise for Alora

"...I have to admit - I wish the book had not ended! ...The romance is sweet rather than steamy making this a clean read for young adults, but the action and adventure is thrilling enough to keep any age reader turning pages..." Today's Visions "I found Alora to be a breath of fresh air in the YA fantasy genre! ... A YA fantasy with characters you will adore and cheer for, Alora is a book I would recommend to any of my friends!" Books Are Sanity Alora: The Portal is available on Amazon for the special pre-order price of 99¢ through the August 31 release date! As a bonus, Alora: The Wander-Jewel will be FREE on August 30 through August 31! Find Tamie Dearen on her website, Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter.

Excerpt from Alora: The Wander-Jewel

Alora fought the urge to beat on the tile wall. He’d disappeared again. Who was this boy she kept seeing? Why did he only appear when she was in the shower? He seemed so real, and she could have sworn he looked as confused as she felt. As if he was trying to figure out who she was, as well. Was he a figment of her imagination? His eyes were so unusual. They were green. Not an ordinary green, but a deep, intense jade, the color of her aunt’s emerald ring. He was really cute, although he wore his wavy brown hair a little long for her taste. Yet she could only see his head—never his clothes or the background. Today he’d tied his hair back in a ponytail. Surely the fact he’d changed his hair was significant. Wouldn’t a figment of her imagination have his hair the same every time? She peeked around the shower curtain at the clock on the bathroom counter. It was five a.m. on a Saturday, and she had chores to do, feeding the horses and letting the chickens out. But it was winter, so she had plenty of time to spare before the rising sun tolled the beginning of her responsibilities. Living on a ranch in the backcountry of Montana meant cold winters, lots of work, and little time for leisure. It was the only life she’d ever known, and she usually enjoyed it, despite the heavy work involved. But right now, she wanted another stab at seeing that boy. The image was always so fuzzy. If only he wouldn’t disappear when she opened her eyes. She couldn’t summon his visage at will. He didn’t come every time she closed her eyes in the shower; it seemed to happen when she was relaxing and letting the water beat down on her head and shoulders. Maybe, if she were soaking in the tub, she might see his image again. She pushed the curtain back, put in the stopper, and turned the faucet on full blast. As an afterthought, she added bubble bath, filling the tub with fragrant suds. Soon the bath was full, with aromatic bubbles foaming on top. She eased into the soothing water, closing her eyes at the blissful caress of the heat on her tight muscles. And she waited. Anticipating. Would he come? She tried to stay alert, but the relaxing warmth seeped into her skin, lulling her to sleep. Awakening with a start in the cold water, disappointment formed a knot in her stomach—he’d never appeared. She released some water down the drain and added hot water, swirling it around until the temperature was comfortable again. She had five more minutes before she had to abandon her bath to start her workday. She lay back down, sinking below the water with her eyes closed, swishing the fresh water over her skin to remove the bubble bath film, her face floating above the surface to breathe. He appeared. She held her breath, clamping her eyes shut tight, trying to hold the image as long as possible. Though the apparition was still slightly blurry, she could see all of him, head to toe. She took advantage of her increased perception, thoroughly studying his image. She almost clapped her hands when her mental measurement estimated his height at over six feet. At five feet ten, she was taller than most boys her age. But she scolded herself for examining him as if he were a potential boyfriend. He wasn’t even real. His clothes were made of supple-looking brown leather. The attire was odd—held together with ties and toggles rather than buttons or zippers. The fit was close enough that his well-formed muscles were evident. She noted his long hair was tied back, as it had been earlier. She could only see the front of him as he stood frozen, stock-still, with his mouth agape, his jewel-green eyes wide and... moving. His eyes were moving, up and down, as if he were scanning her body as she had done. And it occurred to her if she could see all of him, he might be able to see all of her. She gasped, opening her eyes to dispense with the specter. But his image remained, now sharp and clear. And he seemed to be standing in her bathroom. She cowered under the water, attempting to hide under the few remaining bubbles. His eyes dropped down to her navel, and as they widened, he whispered, “Wendelle?” Lunging for her towel on the floor, she screamed at the top of her lungs. Hastily covering herself and preparing to leap from the tub, she looked up, only to discover the vision was gone—if indeed it had been a vision.

Read the first two chapters of Alora: The Wander-Jewel here.