A Nest in the Rocks

Corporate turnaround specialist Morgan Spencer, dubbed the “success guru,” has a Midas touch in business. But losing his wife sent him to the brink, and his two-year-old daughter, Livie, is all he’s living for-until they encounter a woman whose trouble just might draw him out of his own.

Laid off and about to be evicted, Lucy Marsh has nowhere to turn.  With her parents dead and her stepmother long gone, she is solely in charge of her twelve-year-old brother and three-year-old sister.  When a stranger claiming to be her father’s old friend shows up and offers his son in marriage by proxy, Lucy has no choice but to accept.  While Nate, Lucy’s new husband, is less than pleased with the new arrangement, that is not Lucy’s only problem.  Grafted onto a ranch full of men, Lucy faces the monumental task of making this dusty land a home for her family, facing Indians, wild animals, and stampedes.  With mysterious strangers breaking into their little cabin and their father’s murder still unresolved, who is behind the strange happenings that threaten their hope for a peaceful future – and a marriage based on love?

Colleen Coble has crafted a complete page-turner in Blue Moon Promise. The very best of historical fiction, this book has it all – romance, faith, personal struggle, real history, and lots of mystery.  Once started, I couldn’t put this story down.

Lucy Marsh makes a fabulous main character.  Beautiful, talented, and with a big heart, she’s like the cheerleader your high school self always longed to be, and yet she’s real, too.  With a quick wit and a controlling nature, Lucy struggles with letting God direct her steps.  She doesn’t get everything right the first time and faces the same control issues over and over before she learns from them, even when someone wiser calls her to the carpet. Her strong desire to be loved for herself only makes her a more lovable lead.

Not all books make it onto my bookshelf.  Many I thoroughly enjoy reading but when the story ends, the characters and I go our separate ways.  Not so with Blue Moon Promise.  It’s the kind of book I like to read over and over – when the characters become much-loved friends and each read another visit with them.  With enough action to keep the story speeding along and enough emotion and drama to keep it real, this is not only a must-read – it’s a must-keep.

If you’d like to add this book to your shelf, you can find it here.

This review is part of a blog tour by LitFuse Publicity.  If you’d like to read other reviews, you can find a complete listing here.

Blue Moon Promise is a story of hope, romance, and suspense . . . immersing the reader in a rich historical tale set under Texas stars.

To celebrate Colleen is teaming up with her publisher Thomas Nelson for a “Blue Moon Promise” Facebook Chat party where she will giveaway a KINDLE Fire and a Texas-sized gift basket (fabulous Texas treats and fun Lucy-inspired housekeeping products)!

Click the banner, RSVP today for the Facebook Party and mark the date on your calendar!

Invite your friends and don’t miss Colleen’s evening of chat, trivia, prizes, and more.

About author Colleen Coble …

Best-selling author Colleen Coble’s novels have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Best Books of Indiana, ACFW Book of the Year, RWA’s RITA, the Holt Medallion, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers’ Choice, and the Booksellers Best. She has nearly 2 million books in print and writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail. Colleen is CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers and is a member of Romance Writers of America. She lives with her husband Dave in Indiana.

I received a copy of Blue Moon Promise from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

  

Diana is ready to begin a new chapter in her life-until the husband she believed dead reappears at her engagement party.

Diana Brennan came west on the orphan train and was given a home with a loving couple who cherished and spoiled her. At 17, she fell hard for Tyson Applegate, the son of a wealthy mine owner. After a whirlwind courtship and marriage, Tyson took off for adventures around the world, including fighting with the Rough Riders in Cuba. Receiving no word from him in years, Diana’s infatuation with her dashing husband died an ugly death, and she is ready to move past the old pain and marry again, just as soon as Tyson is declared legally dead.

But when Tyson returns, claiming to be a changed man, he wants to reunite with his wife and run for the senate. While Diana suspects the election is his real reason for wanting her by his side, she agrees to maintain his home and to campaign with him, but when it is over, win or lose, she wants her freedom.

He agrees with one condition—she must give him a chance to change her mind about him.

Carrie Daly feels alone.  Widowed in the Civil War and with her brother newly married, she finds herself living in a boarding house in town, missing her room on the farm and a place to belong.  Though nearly engaged to Nate Chastain, something is holding her back from setting the date, and when town newcomer Griff Rutledge saves her from a runaway horse, Carrie thinks she’s found the spark she’s been wanting.  Rutledge, though a society man from back east, has been on his own for a long time, and the townspeople aren’t ready to trust him.  Can Carrie find the love she’s been longing for, or has happy already passed her by?


Author Dorothy Love is an expert in the art of dramatic suspense.  While by no means a thriller, she keeps the reader on the edge of her seat through the longings of Carrie’s heart and the twisting, turning plot that plagues Carrie throughout the story.  The perfect pacing and the cries of Carrie’s heart draw the reader completely into the story.


I want to be Carrie Daly’s best friend.  Talented and generous, kind yet headstrong, she’s the kind of person I want to have on my side.  That she’s capable of seeking the truth in any situation and is patient enough to do so means that she has much to teach me.  Daly became so real during the reading of this book that I could see myself inviting her over for a baking marathon, and how often can you say that you’re friends with the characters?


Dorothy Love’s work is new to me, but it won’t be for much longer, for I’m heading off to find more.  If you want more out of your next read than an escape from your own kitchen, pick up a copy of Beauty for Ashes – it won’t disappoint.


Don’t take my word for it, though – if you’d like to read some other opinions of Beauty for Ashes, hop around the blog hop here.


I received a free copy of Beauty for Ashes from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

The latest historical romance from award-winning author Robin Lee Hatcher and the second book in the Where the Heart Lives series, Betrayal will take readers to the high desert of western Wyoming, through the crags of the Rocky Mountains, and into the hearts of two seekers learning to trust God’s love no matter the circumstances.

 

I received a free copy of Be Still My Soul from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review.

An Amish Love is actually three novellas in on book – and since all take place in one town with overlapping characters, it’s easy to transition from one to the next.  Each story is about someone who has left and how they find their way home again.  Each story includes faith, love, and forgiveness as themes.  Naaman Lapp left his wife at home while he went to visit relatives, only to return nearly one year later, facing distrust and confusion from his family.  Abby Kauffman wants a way out of her father’s silent household so badly that she tricks a newcomer into marriage – realizing too late what she’s done.  Ellie Chupp was jilted after an accident left her blind – can she forgive those involved and learn to love again?

The writing styles of each author make the stories flow smoothly.  Set within the same Amish community, with the same peripheral characters and locations mentioned, this set feels more like one work.

I enjoyed the writing style of these authors and the questions that each story raised in my mind.  If blinded, could I easily forgive?  If my husband left, could I welcome him home with open arms?  Am I careful and thoughtful in my dealings with others?

I definitely enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for an impartial review.

It’s 1971, and Betsie Troyer’s peaceful and predictable life is about to become anything but.

When their parents flee the Amish, nineteen-year-old Betsie and her seventeen-year-old sister Sadie are distraught. Under the dubious guidance of a doting aunt, the girls struggle to keep the secret, praying their parents will return before anyone learns the truth-a truth that may end all hopes of Betsie’s marriage to Charley Yoder.

This is, hands-down, the most unique Amish book I have ever met.  I’ve heard of historical-fiction Amish books, but this one certainly takes the cake.  Author Stephanie Reed paints the 70s era with a vivid brush while portraying the uncertainty and confusion of Betsie Troyer clearly.  

Each Amish sect is different, but Reed describes Betsie’s family as ultra-conservative – even more so than the White Top Amish I grew up near.  This makes the contrast between the radical English during this rebellious time stand out even more.  The drama creates lots of tension between Betsie and her Amish friends and family, but even more within herself.  There’s not a single dull moment in this story!

At times this story felt almost outlandish, but having not grown up during the 70s, I thought maybe I was exaggerating a bit.  Once I even thought that it was so crazy that it could be true – so I wasn’t a bit surprised when I turned the final page to learn that it is based on the experiences of a real woman!  They say that life is crazier than fiction and all of that …..

I thoroughly enjoyed The Bargain.  I’m more certain than ever that this is not a time period in which I’d belong, but it makes a fascinating setting.
Read other reviews on this bloggy hop here or purchase a copy here.

Just home from fighting the Nazis, Adam meets Elizabeth Baxter, the town beauty, and is instantly drawn to her.  Unfortunately, Elizabeth is going steady with Nathan Roberts, Adam’s high school rival, and the man who holds the mortgage on his family farm.  Adam expected the war’s end and his homecoming to signal a return to peace, but will anything work out the way he hopes – or will he lose the girl and the farm?

Sweet.  That’s the most fitting word I can think of for this story.  Nelson’s layering of love story over national turmoil draws you back to a time when farm boys and young marriages weren’t just possible, but common.  To a time when you didn’t need stuff or guarantees, just love and determination.  The sweet sacrifice and determination of Adam’s love makes for a fairy tale kind of romance – almost.

Just as fairy tales aren’t real, Adam’s romance with Elizabeth isn’t problem-free, and this adds a veneer of truthfulness to the story.  While the ending of Nelson’s book may be predictable, there are many twists and turns that add drama, interest, and reality to the story.  Rarely does our first idea of anything ever turn out as we hope, and neither does Adam’s dream of Elizabeth.

In fact, I really liked this ‘troublesome’ element to the story.  At first, as Adam and Elizabeth were sharing glances, it felt as if their hearts were becoming more involved than should be after only a few chance meetings.  How believable is that, really?  I couldn’t help but wonder, and yet as these opportunities layered and then issues were thrown in, what began as a sweet love story had leapt off the page and danced with a beautiful reality right in front of me.

A book like this one can either leave you longing for that kind of fairy tale romance or make you determined to live it out.  Many people in our culture today are choosing the former and walking away from reality in search of it.  For many of us, The Anniversary Waltz reminds us that we’ve already got our fairy tale within reach – we just have to grab hold and dance it out.

I received a free copy of The Anniversary Waltz by Darrel Nelson in exchange for an honest review.

Susan Marlowe is beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel after the tragic death of her firefighter husband David nearly two years before.  The fire that took his life took several others, as well, leaving few people in town unscathed.  Busy getting a homeless shelter up and running, Susan sees romantic possibilities and new friendship in Fire Chief Peter Brenneman.  Peter has also caught the eye of Fire Inspector Andrea Morley, who desperately wants to find home, hearth, and children.  With Susan’s adult son back at home still dealing with the loss of his father, new information about her husband’s activities, and clashes with the community, can Susan find a way to move forward?
Susan doesn’t seem like the cheerleader type.  She didn’t have the perfect marriage, she struggled as a parent, and she gets too focused on her work.  Yet despite her tendency to see only the rosy side of people, her situation draws you in like few others could – because she seems real.  As a reader, you can identify with her issues and want to know how she resolves them; you just might have the same things happening in your own home.  With the added stress of the firefighters’ jobs and the mystery man who keeps turning up, you’ll be turning pages as fast as you can to race Susan to the end.

I really liked the way that Raney didn’t spill the plot all in the first chapter.  Really great books have a hook, some information that the author withholds to keep you reading until the end; but Raney kept back more than the usual whodunit.  Without even knowing exactly what the mystery was, she drew you into Susan’s world, which at times looked incredibly bleak, but always gave you a shred of hope and a glimmer of what could be.  

After All is inspiring and encouraging with a sense of reality that is hard to find.  I’ll definitely be reading more Raney in the future.

I received a free copy of After All from Glass Road Publications in exchange for an honest review.