Fit To Be Tied by Robin Lee Hatcher

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Fit to Be Tied
Zondervan (November 1, 2009)
by
Robin Lee Hatcher

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robin Lee Hatcher discovered her vocation as a novelist after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction (Whispers from Yesterday), the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance (Patterns of Love and The Shepherd's Voice), two RT Career Achievement Awards (Americana Romance and Inspirational Fiction), and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin is the author of over 50 novels, including Catching Katie, named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal.

Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She is passionate about the theater, and several nights every summer, she can be found at the outdoor amphitheater of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, enjoying Shakespeare under the stars. She makes her home outside of Boise, sharing it with Poppet the high-maintenance Papillon



ABOUT THE BOOK

Cleo Arlington dresses like a cowboy, is fearless and fun-loving, and can ride, rope, and wrangle a horse as well as any man. In 1916, however, those talents aren’t what most young women aspire to. But Cleo isn’t most women. Twenty-nine years old and single, Cleo loves life on her father’s Idaho ranch. Still, she hopes someday to marry and have children.

Enter Sherwood Statham, an English aristocrat whose father has sentenced him to a year of work in America to “straighten him out.” Sherwood, who expected a desk job at a posh spa, isn’t happy to be stuck on an Idaho ranch. And he has no idea how to handle Cleo, who’s been challenged with transforming this uptight playboy into a down-home cowboy, because he has never encountered a woman succeeding in a “man’s world.”

Just about everything either of them says or does leaves the other, well, fit to be tied. Cleo Arlington knows everything about horses but nothing about men. And though Cleo believes God’s plan for her includes a husband, it couldn’t possibly be Sherwood Statham. Could it?

Their bumpy trot into romance is frustrating, exhilarating, and ultimately heartwarming.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Fit to Be Tied , go HERE.

Watch the book video Trailer:

I have not read the book yet, I passed it on to my sister tor read first, and she said it is really good - but I highly recommend Robin Lee Hatcher's books. One of my favorite all-time books by any author is her "Forgiving Hour", I believe her first novel on the Christian market. Check it out if you have never read anything by her.

The Swiss Courier, by Goyer & Yorkey - And A Giveaway

Book description:

She's risking her life to save a man she doesn't know. But who can she trust along the way?

It is August 1944, and the Gestapo is mercilessly rounding up suspected enemies of the Third Reich following the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler's life. Gabi Mueller is a young woman working for the newly formed American Office of Strategic Services (the forerunner to the CIA) in Basel, Switzerland. When she is asked to put herself in harm's way to safely "courier" a German scientist working on the atomic bomb project into Allied hands, the fate of the the world hangs in the balance. This fast-paced, suspenseful novel will whisk you along the treacherous twists and turns of a fascinating- and deadly- time in history.

My thoughts:

The Swiss Courier, by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey is an awesome book, and is the best historical novel that I have read in a long time. Not only was the story entertaining, I learned a lot throughout the story. The authors focus on the role of Switzerland during World War II, and among other things, I learned that any Jews who escaped into Switzerland and were caught by the Swiss, were turned back over to the Germans.

The book is full of intriguing individuals who worked to save Jews from death at Hitler's hand. American agents, Swiss, German, and double agents for both sides. I am honest in my reviews, and I highly recommend this book. It is not just a pleasureable read, it is fascinating and educational. The book was clean, with no bad language. I hope these two authors collaborate on another book in the future.

About the authors:

Tricia Goyer is the author of twenty books, including Night of Song and Dawn of a Thousand Nights, both winners of the American Christian Fiction Writer's Book of the Year Award for Long Historical Romance.

Mike Yorkey is the author or coauthor of dozens of books, including the Every Man's Battle series. Married to a Swiss native, Yorkey previously lived in Switzerland.

The giveaway:

Courtesy of Tricia Goyer, I am hosting a giveaway for this book. The winner's mailing address will be mailed to her, and she will mail the book out.

The rules:
One comment to enter, US entries only. To make it a little more interesting, when you comment, tell what you like to read about/what time period when reading a historical novel. I am going to do this drawing for ten days instead of the usual two weeks, so ten days from today, on November 18, I will draw one winner.

If you are interested in reading more about the book, there is an interesting interview with the authors here: http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/2009/10/swiss-courier-tricia-goyer-mike-yorkey.html

Thanks to Donna from Baker for sending me a copy of The Swiss Courier to review, and thanks also to Tricia Goyer for providing a giveaway copy. Check out her books - her series on the Spanish Civil War looks really good.

And if you are a guy, check out Mike Yorkey's books for men.

The Swiss Courier is available October 2009 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.


This book was provided for review by Baker Books.

We Are The Reason

One of my favorite Christmas songs - awesome song.

We Are The Reason (David Meece)

As little children
We would dream of Christmas morn
Of all the gifts and toys
We knew we'd find
But we never realized
A baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives

We were the reason
That He gave His life
We were the reason
That He suffered and died
To a world that was lost
He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

As the years went by
We learned more about gifts
The giving of ourselves
And what that means
On a dark and cloudy day
A man hung crying in the rain
All because of love, all because of love

I've finally found the reason for living
It's in giving every part of my heart to Him
In all that I do every word that I say
I'll be giving my all just for Him, for Him

Methinks he protests too much.......

Ran onto this from an author I read, and who I emailed once about the use of "go to hell" in one of his books. Guess it is no surprise that he would hold these opinions. I will say before pasting it here, that the publisher in question does go overboard, but I agree with more of what should be left out, than what I don't agree with.

I also would like to point out, that the Love Inspired books is an imprint of Harlequin books. I don't know if anyone else will agree, but even though they carry their guidelines futher than necessary, I find it sad that a secular publisher who publishes sex-filled books on the secular market, is more concerned about offending Christian readers than some of the Christian publishers and authors out there.

What's Wrong with this Picture?Share
Today at 12:41pm
I recently came across a web page that rocked my world. In the worst of ways.

It’s the writing guidelines for a major publisher of “Christian” fiction called LOVE INSPIRED GUIDELINES. Interestingly it was another major Christian publisher that brought the webpage to my attention. They were as taken back as me. There was something disturbing about what showed up on the page before us. Something offensive to all of us.

The guidelines represent an unintentional but devastating attack against realism. Certainly against all writers and readers interested in truth. If these guidelines, or anything similar to them, help define “Christian” fiction than surely I must never be classified as such. I never have, nor ever would, write by such guidelines and would run from the term with a loud scream that attracted all the world’s attention. Thankfully, this does not describe my publisher, but it brings up a critical point we must consider.

Let me explain.

I understand the reasoning of many to avoid offense—loving your neighbor rarely includes intentionally upsetting them. But to avoid offense at the expense of the truth is in itself offensive, yes?

Case in point, Jesus pointed out the truth to the Pharisees by calling them a brood of vipers. They were a clean bunch who followed every part of the law to a ‘T’. They didn’t lie, steal, commit adultery, or use foul language, etc, etc, etc. But he looked past their works and called their hearts impure in light of their high standards and he offended them deeply by speaking this truth.

In our stories we need to concern ourselves with truth. When we write about love, for example, we need to understand that there is more than just love in the world. That there is much ugliness which stands in the face of true love. Our characterization of that ugliness in our writing must be consistent with its true nature. To whitewash the page of that contrast makes a mockery of love’s ability to overcome offense and ugliness.

The Pharisees lived by a code avoiding all that was scandalous, but Jesus embraced that scandal by associating unapologetically with the unclean. They dehumanized the lepers and prostitutes by refusing to associate with them, yet Jesus reached out to them and let them wash his feet. He was beauty in their ashes, the oil of joy in their mourning; they flocked to him and he embraced them as they were.

The disparity between his approach and the pharisaical approach was in part what got him killed. The word that became flesh walked into the dark corners of thieves, adulterers, heretics, Samaritans, and political oppressors. Jesus derided the religious for their attempt to remain pure by shunning the very real, human condition of others.

Forgive me, I mean no harm, but I can’t help thinking that the following ‘LOVE INSPIRED GUIDELINES’ unwittingly do the same. They suggest that in our writing we do what the Pharisees did in their living. We must not be puritanical at the expense of incarnational truth, nor must we forget that the truth is as scandalous today as it was two thousand years ago.

I want you to read the list below and consider with me: Is it any wonder that Christians are branded as out of touch with human need and realism? Many mourn the fact that the world looks at Christianity with such disdain, yet if this list helps define Christianity, would you not scoff as well? The world is laughing at such pettiness—such a puritanical, even Pharisaical standard—that has nothing to do with true faith.

I paste, without a single edit:

Love Inspired Guidelines


Terms that cannot be used in a Steeple Hill novel:

Arousal
Bastard
Bet/betting
Bishop
Bra
Breast (except for breast cancer if necessary)
Buttocks or butt (alternatively, you can say derriere or backside)
Crap
Damn (try "blast" instead)
Darn
Dern/durn
Devil (except in the religious sense, but the circumstances would be rare)
Dang or Dagnabbit
Doody
Father (when used to describe a religious official)
Fiend
For heaven's sake (can use "for goodness' sake" instead)
For the love of Mike
For Pete's sake
Gee
Geez/jeez (but "sheesh" is acceptable)
Gosh
Golly
Halloween
Harlot
Heat (when used to describe kisses)
Heck
Hell (except in the religious sense, but this would be rare)
Holy cow
Hot/hottie
Hunk
Need/hunger (when used to describe non-food-focused state of being)
Pee
Poop
Panties
Passion
Priest
Sexy
Sex
Sexual attraction
Tempting (as applied to the opposite sex)
St. [name of saint]
Swear, as in "I swear..." - Christian characters are not supposed to swear.
Undergarments - of any kind
Whore

The following are allowed only in the context mentioned:

Angel - only when used in a Biblical context
Miracle - only when used in a Biblical context
Oh my God/Oh, God - ONLY allowed when it's clearly part of a prayer
Heavenly - only when used in a Biblical context
Although you can say “He cursed” or mention cursing, do not overuse. Furthermore, only non-Christian characters can curse.
Situations to be avoided:
Kissing below the neck
Visible signs or discussions of arousal or sexual attraction or being out of control
Double entendre
Nudity - people changing clothes "on screen" or any character clad only in a towel
Hero and heroine sleeping in the same house without a third party, even if they're not sleeping together or in the same room

Also, Christian characters should not smoke, drink, gamble, play cards or dance (except in historical novels they may dance but please limit to square dances and balls, no “sexy” dancing like waltzing cheek to cheek), and terms associated with these activities should only be used in connection with bad guys or disapproving of them or such.

Bodily functions, like going to the bathroom, should be mentioned as little as possible and some euphemism may be necessary but we don't want to sound quaint or absurd.

There you have it. As I said, thankfully, my publisher doesn’t hold to such a narrow standard. But make no mistake, these kinds of guidelines publically characterize Christianity and so called ‘Christian Fiction’ as being out of touch with reality, narrow minded and judgmental, regardless of the publisher’s intention.

So I have to ask you, what do you think Jesus would think of this list and what should be your reaction?

A) He would be appalled by it and call it out, and so should you. B) He would be appalled by it but would say nothing, and neither should you. C) He would commend those who embrace it, as should you. D) He wouldn’t care either way, and neither should you.

Be heard

My thoughts - I beieve Jesus would be careful in what He reads, and would be offended by cursing and some other doubtful words and situations that are creeping into Christian books. And if He owned the publishing company, I believe His standards would be very high.

The Karma of Jesus

Book description:
Are you reaping what you've sown? Whether we call it Karma or not, life seems to be based on cause and effect. If we do something good, we expect (or hope) good will return. Do something bad, and bad will result. Indeed, the ancient idea of Karma--reaping what we sow--is recognized in almost every religion in the world. But this principle sets an inescapable trap: If "what comes around goes around," then every small mistake will haunt us to the bitter end. Is that it, though? Is this our destiny? In this provocative book, Mark Herringshaw boldly explores two mutually exclusive visions of life: Karma and grace. Prompted by a chance-conversation with a spiritually curious young man, he gives us a probing look at the implications of Karma and the relevance of Christ's life.

My thoughts:


The title of this book intrigued me. The Karma of Jesus?! I put in to review it, curious to see what this guy had to say.

The book starts out with a conversation between the author and a questioning young man, and reverts back to the conversation throughout the book, with the young man defending his belief in karma, and the author showing him that karma does not hold the answer, but that Jesus does.
As bizarre as it may sound, there are some karma-like similarities in what Jesus taught and does, but they are only similarities. The differences are far greater. The author shows that unlike karma, where you try to do good to balance out the bad you have done, with Jesus, you can seek forgiveness, and though there still may be some consequences of our sins, Jesus' blood covers our sin and we don't need to worry about balancing out the bad we have done. Very interesting book.

The author:

Mark Herringshaw is a pastor, sought-after- teacher, and conference speaker. The coauthor of two previous books, he leverages the crafts of storytelling, biblical scholarship, and scientific research to make complex ideas simple, practical, and transformative. Mark and his family make their home near St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Karma of Jesus is available from Bethany House Publishers.

The new King Saul

My brother-in-law sent me this picture from his cell phone to my email recently of my youngest nephew with the caption "The new King Saul." I never did ask why he is dressed up, but thought it was a cute picture.

A Hero's Tribute, by Graham Garrison

Much admired for his athletic ability, military service, and community work, local hero Michael Gavin is dying from cancer. When he asks a sports reporter he's never met to deliver his eulogy, Wes Watkins accepts. But as he researches Michael's life, a different legend emerges. How will Wes describe Michael? And how will he define himself?

My thoughts:

This book is different from the type of fiction I normally read, but I enjoyed reading it. It starts with the hero of the town, Michael Gavin, dying, and a newspaper reporter, who didn't even know him, being given the job to write a story about him and give his eulogy. As Wes, the reporter begins interviewing friends and family, and digging deep into Michael Gavin's past, he uncovers some things that show Michael may not be the perfect hero everyone thought that he was.

Though at time sad and poignant, the author delivers a well-written and interesting look at a home town hero, and at the grace that rescued him, and can rescue us all.

About the author:

Graham Garrison is the author of two published books – “Hero’s Tribute” and “Groomed: From Proposal To Vows, Wedding Planning And An Engagement From A Groom’s Point of View.” He is currently the managing editor for three magazines published by a health care communications company and is also a writer/editor for two other publications. He’s written for almost a half dozen newspapers and two dozen magazines, including America’s Civil War, Boating World, Georgia Physician and Repertoire.

Graham has lived in almost a dozen towns, five states (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Washington) and one army base (Fort Bragg, N.C.). He’s grown roots in Johns Creek, Ga., with his wife Katie, son Nicholas and Baxter the Beagle. He and his family worship at Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church. He is a Florida Gator by birth, but a Georgia Bulldog by the grace of God.