Heart's Awakening by Delia Parr

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Hearts Awakening

Bethany House (March 1, 2010)

by

Delia Parr





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Delia Parr, pen name for Mary Lechleidner, is the author of 10 historical novels and the winner of several awards, including the Laurel Wreath Award for Historical Romance and the Aspen Gold Award for Best Inspirational Book. She is a full-time high school teacher who spends her summer vacations writing and kayaking. The mother of three grown children, she lives in Collingswood, New Jersey.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Two people in desperate circumstances. Life has left few choices for Elvira Kilmer. Her hopes for marriage and a family of her own have long since passed her by, and her arrival on Dillon's Island, nestled in the Susquehanna River, is not of her choosing, either.



She needs work. And Jackson Smith needs a housekeeper. Yet Ellie never imagined the widower would be so young...so handsome. Jackson, on the other hand, has never met anyone quite so...plain. But he quickly comes to realize that Ellie's presence may solve his own problems--both the rearing of his young boys and the scandal that surrounds his first marriage.



When Jackson offers her something quite out of the ordinary, will Ellie look beyond mere necessity and risk opening her heart?



Yet what options does she have? To marry would mean a home and stability. So despite the rumors circling Jackson and his first wife, Ellie accepts this unlikely proposal...



If you would like to read the first chapter of Hearts Awakening, go HERE.

Blogoversary giveaway #2

Giveaway #2 is Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury.

When 8-year-old Cory Briggs is orphaned, his mom's best friend, Megan Gunn, wants to adopt him. There's only one problem. She needs consent from the boy's father. Cory insists his dad is Aaron Hill, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers. Megan is afraid he's headed for heartbreak. Is his belief wishful thinking---or is it true?

To enter, leave a comment. All winners will be drawn on March 16

Finding Peace In Troubled Times by William Moss

Peace is perhaps the most elusive, miraculous phenomenon in the human experience. From the kindergarteners arguing on the playground to the world powers storing up technologically advanced weapons, we clearly struggle to coexist peacefully with each other. Yet for all our efforts to generate peace between people, we often overlook the importance of finding peace within ourselves. Though we long for this inner peace, our world full of war, famine, bank collapses, pandemics, and day-to-day struggles has discouraged us from even trying to find it.



In his new book, Finding Inner Peace During Troubled Times, author William Moss shows readers that inner peace is indeed attainable in the person and presence of Jesus. As a high-powered businessman and a key political decision-maker, Moss has faced his share of daily distractions. For over a decade, he has studied and practiced the lost art of Christian meditation. “I believe God wants us to find peace and will show us the way, if we are willing to accept it. But for many, the peace of God is elusive. They are not sure how to accept it or where to begin in their pursuit of it,” says Moss. “There are many difficulties, distractions, and hardships that stand in the way of our inner peace. Sometimes these are due to our circumstances. Other times it is our sin or the attitudes of our hearts that stand between us and the inner peace we crave. Through prayer and meditation we can transcend all the distractions and difficulties of our days if we live by the Spirit and put God’s love and presence first.”


Many believers are wary of any form of meditation because of its association with Eastern religions. These Christians might be surprised to learn that meditation was regarded as a key spiritual discipline throughout church history. Eastern meditation focuses on emptying the mind completely. Christians find inner peace by filling their minds—with scripture and with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Another fundamental difference is the motivation behind the meditation. Peace, like life, is a gift from God that is for His glory—and it is meant to be shared. For those who are in Christ, meditation is not about practicing the kind of self-focus that precludes people from being involved in the solutions of the many problems that confront them. It is communion with God through the Holy Spirit. It is letting go of anger, worry, and fear and taking on the loving, serving character of Christ instead.


Finding Inner Peace During Troubled Times uses key scriptures to demonstrate God’s gift of peace to every believer. This slender book encourages readers to be intentional about pursuing that peace, even including a simple, step-by-step example of Christian meditation. This is a perfect book to take anywhere you go, put in your purse, backpack or briefcase and refer to throughout the day.

This is a very short book, 26 pages, but the author packs some valuable insights into it on how to achieve inner peace. Though is may sound like some kind of self-help book, it is Bible-based, and he uses Scripture verses throughout it. In addition, there are also places to write thoughts and prayers. Though I thought the book could have been expanded on and more written, it is a nice little book for people seeking peace.

About the author:

Born in Wyoming 1920, William Moss grew up in the oil fields of Odessa, Texas. After graduating from Baylor University and serving in the U.S. Air Corps during World War II, Moss embarked on a career that would involve oil and gas exploration, ranching, securities, motion pictures, television, charities, and religious organizations.


As he gained business experience, Moss quickly gained recognition as a visionary and wise leader. His business expertise extends far beyond the field of oil and gas. He has overseen the organization and operation of over 15 companies and taken a leadership role in many civic, spiritual, and educational endeavors.

Moss was a member of the Board of Trustees, Chairman of the Investment Committee, and a member of the Executive Committee for the American University, Washington, D.C. He was a member of the Southern Methodist University Foundation for Business Administration and was appointed to the Executive Advisory Board of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation. He founded the William Moss Institute, a charitable and educational organization at the American University.



Finding Inner Peace During Troubled Times is available from the Barnabas Agency.

Thanks to B&B Media for the review copy.

Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports by Shirl J Hoffman

Like most Americans, Christians love sports. They love team rivalries, the sports analogy/ sermon illustration, the thrill of playing, Christian celebrity athletes and even the church-hosted Super Bowl party complete with a five-minute half-time devotional. These are sacred institutions in Christian life; their prominence is seldom questioned. Yet, since 77 percent of evangelicals believe that the mass media is “hostile to their moral and spiritual values,” one wonders why evangelicals haven’t also sensed that hostility in media-bloated competitive sport contests. Christians frequently voice criticism about violence in video games, but violence in sports such as football and hockey, which involves their children more intimately and dangerously, is rarely examined.



Author Shirl Hoffman, Ed. D, believes it’s time for Christians to ask the hard questions. “The institution of sport has been so intricately woven into the fabric of our culture, and thus into the Christian culture, that criticism of sport or suggestions that sports be given a closer look often are viewed as cranky complaints by prigs who don’t know good fun when they see it,” Hoffman says. “The person who dares to ask whether the competitive ethic as celebrated in modern sports might conflict in important ways with the Christian worldview risks being labeled a ‘sport hater’.” In his new book, Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports, Hoffman draws attention to both the pitfalls and the spiritual opportunities missed by the carte blanche acceptance of current sports culture by Christians, particularly evangelicals.

This is NOT an anti-sports book. The author does address very well the issues of sports and the church and their effect on each other. I am a bit biased against sports, with good reason, but do feel the author did a great job on getting his points across without slamming sports and saying that Christians should have nothing to do with it. In fact, he says the opposite, but that the church does need to give sports their proper place, and the way Christians play sports should be different than non-Christians. It seems too many Christians leave their Christianity outside of the game, and even in sports, we should be Christ-like.

It has been said that sports is the god of America, and that may be true, though anything that is before God in our life can be a god. Reading this book would be helpful to anyone who is serving God and loves sports. Again, the book is not an attack on sports, but instead shows where sports needs to be in our lives as Christians.

About the author:

Shirl J. Hoffman, Ed.D is Professor Emeritus of Kinesiology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he served as head of the department for 10 years. He has served at all levels of education, beginning his career as a physical education teacher in White Plains, New York, before moving on to positions as head basketball coach at Westchester Community College (NY). After completing his graduate work at Teachers College, Columbia University, he served successively as professor at The King’s College (NY) and at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He taught at the University of Pittsburgh for 13 years where he was director of graduate studies in physical education, moving to University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1985. He has an extraordinarily broad background in the field spanning motor learning and performance, sociology of sports and sport philosophy

Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports is available from Baylor University Press.

Thanks to B&B Media for the review copy.

The Hidden Flame by Davis Bunn & Janette Oke

(This review is a bit later than I intended. Since this is book two, I picked up a copy of book one on Amazon  - for 7 cents! and read it first.

In first-century Judea, the followers of the Way have burgeoned into a vibrant, growing community that cannot be ignored. Jerusalem is in turmoil as its religious leaders on one side, and their Roman rulers on the other, conspire to stamp out the fledgling Church. And Abigail, who thought she had finally found home and safety, is caught between the opposing forces.



Two suitors desire the lovely Abigail's hand in marriage. Ezra, a successful Hebrew merchant and widower with important connections among the Sanhedrin, is looking for a mother for his children. The Roman soldier Linux is fascinated by her winsome charm and possibly could offer the sanctuary--maybe even the love--for which she yearns. But her heart has been captured by neither of these. Will her faith and courage survive a heartbreak beyond comprehension as the followers face a gathering storm of persecution they never could have foreseen?


A glimmer of hope beckons Abigail forward.

The Hidden Flame is the second book in the Acts of Faith series. The first book, The Centurion's Wife,  starts out in the days following Jesus' crucifixion and follows His followers up through His ascension. The second book picks up where it left off and continues following the early church and the apostles. In addition to some fictional characters, there are also real Biblical people such as Peter, John, Stephen, and even Saul (Paul) in the story. One person who does not appear in the book is Jesus, which I found interesting. He is mentioned and talked about of course, but the authors never have a scene with him in, which I actually liked - for maybe Jesus shouldn't be fictionalized at all.

Davis & Bunn have done an excellent job of staying true to the Biblical story, and drawing on it to give new insights into what the days of the early church was like. They cover Annanias and Sapphira's dishonest dealings and their horrible penalty, and even the stoning of Stephen. I enjoyed this book, and the one that came before it, and appreciated the glimpse it gave me into what life might have been like for the earliest followers of Jesus. We so often glamorize it and envy them, but they didn't have it all that easy.

Read an excerpt here.

About the authors:

Davis Bunn is an award-winning novelist whose audience spans reading genres from high drama and action thrillers to heartwarming relationship stories, in both contemporary and historical settings. He and his wife, Isabella, make their home in Florida for some of each year, and spend the rest near Oxford, England, where they each teach and write. Visit Davis' Web site at http://www.davisbunn.com/.

Janette Oke (pronounced "oak") pioneered inspirational fiction and is the leading author in the category today. Love Comes Softly, her first novel, has sold over one million copies. Janette is now the bestselling author of over 70 books, 32 of which have been translated into fourteen languages. Her books have sold over 22 million copies.


Janette receives fan mail from all over the world and answers each letter personally. She received the 1992 President's Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association for her significant contribution to Christian fiction, the 1999 CBA Life Impact Award and has been awarded the Gold Medallion Award for fiction. Janette and her husband, Edward, have four grown children and enjoy their many grandchildren. They make their home in Canada.

The Hidden Flame is available from Bethany House Publishers.

Thanks to Bethany House Publishers for the review copy.

Value Fiction Blog Tour

This blog tour spotlights Waterbrook/Multnomah's Value Fiction line: previously published books that have been reprinted and given new covers and low prices of $6.99. Participants in this blog tour were given two random titles. Up first, is Yesterday's Promise by Linda Chaikin. It is the second book in a series.

He fought to seek his fortune.


Would he lose a greater treasure: the love he left behind?

As the son of the squire of Grimston Way, aristocrat Rogan Chantry has fought hard to win his independence from Sir Julien Bley and the British South Africa Company. Now, his pursuit of a mysterious deposit of gold, marked on a map willed to him by his murdered uncle, Henry Chantry, is challenged by a new complication: the impending British colonization of South Africa. Can Sir Rogan find the gold in the midst of escalating tensions among the native tribesmen, the missionaries sent to win them, and the new colonists?

Meanwhile, Evy Varley, the woman Rogan loves back in England, is headed for a brave yet dangerous confrontation with Henry’s killer–but at what price? With so much against Rogan and Evy, a reunion seems improbable, if not impossible. Can yesterday’s promise hold them faithful to the hope of future freedom and a victorious love?

About the author:

Linda Lee Chaikin has written numerous best-selling and award-winning books and series, including the Silk series (Heart of India Trilogy), A Day to Remember series, The Empire Builders, Royal Pavilion Trilogy, Arabian Winds Trilogy, The Buccaneers Trilogy, and For Whom the Stars Shine, a finalist for the Christy Award. She and her husband make their home in Northern California.

Next up, Secrets, by Robin Jones Gunn, first in a series.

Jessica ran from her past...but can she hide from love?



Jessica Morgan wants desperately to forget the past and begin a new life. She chooses a small, peaceful town tucked away in Oregon’s Willamette Valley as the place to start over—Glenbrooke. Once there, Jessica conceals her identity from the intriguing personalities she meets—including the compassionate paramedic who desires to protect her and the jealous woman who wants nothing more than to destroy her.


Will Jessica’s deceit ruin all hope for the future? Or will she find a deeper peace that allows her to stop hiding the truth from those who love her most of all?


This heartwarming bestseller, book one in the Glenbrooke series, introduces the fascinating people of Glenbrooke in a compelling tale of romance and spiritual truth.

I read this book when it first came out several years ago, and though it is romance, thoroughly enjoyed it and the books that followed in the series. They are the only books I ever read by Gunn, since she writes books geared for women, but she has a delightful writing style, and comes up with likable and colorful characters. If you have never read the Glenbrooke Series, I recommend that you do.

About the author:

Robin Jones Gunn is the much-loved award-winning author of the Glenbrooke, Sisterchicks(R), Christy Miller, and Sierra Jensen series, with more than three million books sold worldwide. Robin lives with her family near Portland, Oregon.

Secrets & Yesterday's Promise are both available at WaterbrookMultnomah.com.

Thanks to Waterbrook/Multnomah for the review copies.

Double Trouble by Susan May Warren

With one solved case under her belt, PJ Sugar is ready to dive into her career as a private investigator. Or at least a PI’s assistant until she can prove herself to Jeremy Kane, her new boss. Suddenly PJ’s seeing crime everywhere. But is it just in her head, or can she trust her instincts? When she takes on her first official case—house-sitting for a witness in protective custody—Jeremy assures her there’s no danger involved. But it soon becomes clear that there is someone after the witness . . . and now they’re after PJ, too.

This is the second book in a series, and I felt like I was jumping into the middle of the story - should have read the first book first. I still enjoyed the book though. Not only is it a good mystery, it also is a humorous story. Though more geared for women, I got into the story and probably liked the book as well as a woman reading it would. :-)

The characters in the book were real, likable, and amusing. If you have never read a book by Susan May Warren, this series would be a great place to start, but I would recommend reading the first book, Nothing But Trouble, first.

About the author:

Susan May Warren served with her husband and four children as a missionary in Russia for eight years before she and her family returned home to the States. She now writes full-time as her husband runs a lodge on Lake Superior in northern Minnesota. Susan and her family enjoy hiking, canoeing, and being involved in their local church. Susan holds a BA in mass communications from the University of Minnesota and is a the author of several novellas and many novels with Tyndale House Publishers, including Happily Ever After, the American Christian Fiction Romance Writers' 2004 Book of the Year and a 2003 Christy Award finalist. Other books in that series include Tying the Knot and The Perfect Match. Following that, Susan wrote Team Hope, a three-book romantic-adventure series about a team of search-and-rescue workers. Reclaiming Nick, Taming Rafe, and Finding Stefanie comprise Susan's romantic Noble Legacy series set in Montana. Visit Susan's Web site at www.susanmaywarren.com.

Double Trouble is available from Tyndale Publishing.
 
Thanks to Litfuse for the review copy.