Blog Tours

The Sugar Baron’s Ring by Lorri Dudley – Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

June 27, 2020 by Suzie Waltner 13 Comments

About the Book

Book: The Sugar Baron’s Ring

Author: Lorri Dudley

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: June 23, 2020

A ring is her only tie to a distant homeland, until a marooned Englishman anchors her heart.

Hannah Rose Barrington is the island misfit. Orphaned at a young age, Hannah struggles to provide for her future, while her guardian, a weak-hearted island drunk, bleeds Hannah of her father’s inheritance. Caught between the classes of elite planters and white beggars, Hannah yearns to find a place to belong.

University life has never been Bradlee Granville’s forte. His only hope to graduate is to impress his professors by documenting his travels. After claiming unforeseeable circumstances, he delays his final exams and sets out early on his Grand Tour. However, when his ship wrecks off the coast of the Leeward Islands, Bradlee is left without means to return to England, a mounting deadline, and ruined journals.

When Hannah rescues passengers from a ship breaking apart in the bay, she’s unexpectedly drawn to the witty charm of one of the men. Helping him settle into island life will be a pleasure. However, as creditors, like sharks, begin to circle and her guardian’s desperation becomes life threatening, Hannah finds herself in need of rescue. Will Bradlee look past her pitiful situation to see who she truly is—the sugar baron’s daughter?

Click here to get your copy!

The Melody of the Mulberries by Tonya Jewel Blessing – Spotlight w/ Excerpt & Giveaway

June 26, 2020 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

The Melody of the Mulberries
(Big Creek Series, #2)
By Tonya Jewel Blessing
Historical Romance
Paperback & ebook, 248 Pages
September 1, 2019 by Capture Books

This sequel to The Whispering of the Willows is set in the late 1920s’ Appalachia, where granny witches and spiritualism often show the path for wanderers to take, especially in matters of the heart.

This Big Creek sequel follows the lives and loves of two siblings. Coral determines to visit the family’s nemesis, Charlie, now in prison for the rape of her sister, Emerald, and the murder of her inlaw. When Mercy re-enters brother Ernest’s life, he has already found a new attraction in his elder brother’s widow.

Coral sat in contemplation under a mulberry tree. It was spring, and the fragrant female blossoms promised the mid-summer arrival of first white, then pink, then crimson, and finally deep purple berries. The white berries were hard and tart and enjoyed by the quail, wild turkeys, mocking birds, and blue jays. The blackish purple berries were soft and sweet – perfect for pies and jams.

When the berries turned white, Coral would thank the good Lord for providing food for the birds. When the berries ripened she would thank the good Lord for the sweetness savored in her mouth and curse the birds for wanting more than their share.

Where Emerald Ashby’s story leaves us in the last pages of The Whispering of the Willows, sixteen-year-old Coral Ashby’s story begins. Like the changing mulberries, Appalachian siblings Coral and Ernest Ashby, navigate life through the late 1920s. Coral is determined to visit the family nemesis, Charlie, who now stews in prison.

When Ernest’s previous love interest, Mercy, returns to the holler of Big Creek, she discovers that his heart is now singing a melody for Charlotte, the older Ashby brother’s widow. But Mercy has brought along her own spiritual tools and a special friend who guides her way.

Accompanied by friends and foes, matters of the heart complicate life for Coral and Ernest. Relationships must be journeyed carefully.

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Forever Home by Amy Grochowski – Guest Post & Giveaway

June 25, 2020 by Suzie Waltner 9 Comments

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour & Giveaway for Forever Home by Amy Grochowski, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Forever Home
Series: Amish Dreams on Prince Edward Island #1
Author: Amy Grochowski
Publisher: Ambassador International
Release Date: June 9, 2020
Genre: Inspirational Amish Romance

A Canadian Amish farmer
A Lancaster Amish businesswoman
A Prince Edward Island foster child

Providence brings together a mismatched family, giving all three a second chance for love. Only love may never have had such a tough job.

Lydia Miller is an anomaly among her Amish people-a single woman in her 30s, running her own store, determined to forge a life on her own. But when Joel Yoder comes into town to sell his property, Lydia suddenly finds all of her hopes and dreams crumbling around her and a new opportunity placed in her lap.

Joel has his own problems. Recently jilted by his fiancée, Joel has seen his own dreams of moving to a newly established Amish community begin to falter. The new community welcomes married couples only. With his dreams quickly slipping from his fingers, Joel suddenly sees the only option he thinks he has–a marriage of convenience for both of them.

As the new couple begins life in a new settlement, they are even more surprised when a foster child in need of a home finds her way to them. Yet what will happen when the English world and the Amish world collide?

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Christianbook

GUEST POST

Amy Grochowski shares a dinner menu inspired by Forever Home.

Dinner with Lydia is a friendly affair from her simple kitchen, using almost entirely home-raised ingredients from the Yoder’s Prince Edward Island farm.

Sit down, pray a silent blessing, and enjoy!

Garden Salad

This time of year, Lydia’s garden would provide a fresh, green, lettuce salad with radishes and spring onions tossed in a sweet and sour dressing, then topped with sliced, pickled eggs.

Pickled eggs are an Amish/Mennonite staple made form hard boiled eggs soaked in a red beet pickling brine. The outside of the eggs turns a beautiful purple while a white ring around the inner yolk is visible when sliced.

Supper-in-a-Dish

A layered casserole of browned hamburger or sausage with carrots, peas, onion, celery and green pepper, seasoned and topped with cream of mushroom soup, then baked for over an hour. Before serving the casserole is sprinkled with grated cheese and heated until the cheese has melted.

Fried Fruit Pies

Made with whichever fruit is in season or readily canned in the pantry, Lydia’s fried hand-pies are her specialty. And no one loves to eat one more than Joel Yoder.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amy Grochowski‘s deep appreciation for the Amish faith and way of life stems from six years of living and working with a Beachy Amish family, as well as her own Anabaptist roots. Her debut novel, Forever Home, was a pre-published winner of Romance Writers of America’s Maggie Award and a semi-finalist in ACFW’s Genesis Contest. She is a member of ACFW and Word Weavers Int’l.

Amy spent her childhood in Melbourne, Australia, where her parents worked as church planters. After returning to the States, the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia became home. Her real-life romance began on a travel nursing assignment to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she met her husband, David.

After a nursing career of more than twenty years, Amy is now fulfilling her long-awaited dream career as an author of inspirational romance. She is also a full-time homeschool mom for her two boys, one of whom has Autism Spectrum Disorder, and lives with her family in the bustling foothills of North Carolina.

CONNECT WITH AMY: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a signed author copy of Forever Home, a classic 200 recipe Mennonite Family Cookbook, a Magic Amish cloth (it really does clean like magic with no chemicals), and a $25 Amazon gift card!

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway will begin at midnight June 22, 2020 and last through 11:59 PM EST on June 29, 2020. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

In Too Deep by Stacey Weeks – Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

June 24, 2020 by Suzie Waltner 1 Comment

About the Book

Book: In Too Deep

Author: Stacey Weeks

Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense

Release Date: November 2017

Like an anchor wedged in the lake floor, Grace Stone’s heart is submerged in the past. Drowning in guilt over the role she played in her father’s and sister’s deaths, Grace prays that launching her water survival program at Camp Moshe will properly honor their memory and enable her to move on. But success depends on Grace risking everything on the man hired to rebrand the Christian camp. Kye Campton’s usual confidence wavers when his extreme sports campaign lands him in hot water with the cautious instructor and it becomes increasingly evident that Camp Moshe’s fight for survival is against more than a declining economy. Will Kye be able to save the camp—and Grace—from a saboteur determined to close the camp at any cost?

Click here to get your copy!

Dead Silence by Robin Caroll – Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

June 24, 2020 by Suzie Waltner 7 Comments

About the Book

Book: Dead Silence

Author: Robin Caroll

Genre: Christian Suspense

Release Date: June 2020

Political games can be deadly…

Elise Carmichael is a court sign language interpreter who reads lips all the time. As a widow with a young son who is deaf, lip reading is simply second nature, until the day she reads the lips of someone on the phone discussing an attempt to be made on a senator’s life—a senator who just happens to be her mother-in-law. Before she can decide what she needs to do, she receives the information that her son is rushed to the ER and she must leave. Then she later sees the news report that her mother-in-law has been shot and killed. But when she comes forward, her life, as well as her son’s life, may now be in the crosshairs of the assassin.

Click here to get your copy!