Reviews: Dark Tide, Love Redeemed, & Her Whole Self

Three more books to review this week -- a little something for everyone. A romantic suspense. An Amish romance. And a contemporary romance.

Blurb:

Gina Evans knows her brother was murdered—even if the police won't believe her. After catching a quick glimpse of the evidence her brother had gathered, the same criminals are after her and her baby niece. And Gina's only hope is the man she left behind. Despite the painful memories, private investigator Derrick Justice won't fail Gina and her baby. Yet now, the woman he never stopped loving and the baby he's come to adore are in a killer's crosshairs. But can Derrick trap the cold-blooded murderer before he strikes again? 

The Justice Agency: Family and law enforcement go hand in hand.

My review:

I've read every single one of The Justice Agency Series books and have loved every one. Dark Tide is no different. Derrick and Gina's story touched my heart -- making it beat faster during those inevitable scary times and making it slow in awe as they worked out their feelings for one another.

I love happily-ever-afters, and this is one series I will miss. I have come to "know" the Justice brothers and sisters, and each story has touched me in a unique way.

5 roses

Available at Amazon and other fine retailers.

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Blurb:

In the second book of the New Hope Amish series, acclaimed author Kelly Irvin spins a tale of romance, grief, and redemption deep in Amish country.

Phoebe Christner is thrilled when the families of her close-knit Amish community decide to spend a week at the lake. She feels she's earned a break...and it doesn't hurt that Michael Daugherty will be coming along. They'll find ways to spend time together--she's certain of it--and their romance will have time to blossom.

But when tragedy strikes, Phoebe and Michael are torn apart by their pain and the knowledge of their guilt. As they both cope with the loss of a loved one, they will come to discover that they are worthy not only of each other's love, but God's love.

A tender novel of faith and family set in the heart of Amish country.

My review:

This was a profoundly moving story about how to move on after tragedy. It made me cry, but it also made me smile. It was so real and emotional. I enjoyed it immensely.

4 roses

Available at Amazon and other fine retailers.
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 Blurb:

Abandoned by the two most important people in her life - her fiance and best friend - Jen flounders as she picks up the pieces of her life. Desperation prompts her to reach out to an old classmate, who regrettably is a Christian. Is a night of free entertainment worth the cost of spending it with a group of hypocrites? The answer to that question surprises her almost as the next several upheavals in her life.

My review:

This story is a beautiful reminder that despite the bad things that we do, or that happen to us, God loves us unconditionally. Sometimes bad things happen for the good of others, sometimes due to another's sin, but either way God promises us in his word that it will all work out for our good.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Jen's story and highly recommend this book.

4 roses

Available at Amazon and other fine retailers.



Blessings,
Ginger

Writer Wednesday with Sandy Nadeau

Help me welcome Sandy Nadeau to A Bed of Roses...Thorns Included.

Sandy Nadeau loves to go on adventures, photograph them and equally loves to write about them. She and her husband do a lot of four-wheeling in the back country of Colorado and share those experiences with others by taking them up in the mountains. With a background in writing a column about her community for a local newspaper, she also has had several magazine articles published. She loves to write novels about adventure, mystery, romance, but most importantly sharing God’s love. She is currently a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and Vice President of the ACFW South Denver Chapter. Married for 37 years, she and her husband are loving life as grandparents to their nine month old grandson. Travel is their favorite thing to do and they don’t get to do it as often as they’d like. Adventure awaits around every corner, over every hill and mountain.

Are You an Adventurous Person?

by Sandy Nadeau

Are you an adventurous person? I am. I love to go on adventures wherever and whenever I can. We do that quite often here in Colorado. Load up a cooler, and head for the hills. Webster’s has a few definitions of adventure: a dangerous situation or a hazardous undertaking; a stirring experience, taking a risk, excitement. We’ve fit the descriptions often. 

On a couple of occasions, we didn’t know how we were going to get out of a particular adventurous situation. One time we went four-wheeling in the spring up in the high country. Nobody was out in this area. No one knew where we’d gone. We were driving along forest service roads leading down into the pine forest. The road narrowed considerably, trees lined the trail tight, and the ground still held the snow of winter since shade covered the area. We found ourselves slipping down the hill hanging on for dear life. Finally coming to a stop, we took a deep breath and hoped we’d be able to back up since the snow level ahead of us was not passable. With the four-wheel locked in, my husband began the process of getting us out. It took a few tries, and not until we prayed aloud to be able to get out, did the tires stop spinning and we crawled backward to safety. 

Another time, we had gone to Utah to pick up a trailer load full of used pews from a church. We’d volunteered for the task, to then deliver them to a sister church in Colorado. While on a mountain pass west of the Colorado border, we found ourselves in a blizzard. Our 10 year old daughter sat in the middle of us in the large pick-up truck that hauled the trailer full of old wooden pews. We headed onto a bridge that stood a hundred feet above the ground. Snow blew in every swirling direction, visibility was terrible and traffic crawled. Once on the bridge, the ice took over all control of the vehicle. We swerved one way; the trailer swerved the other way. As the cab headed toward the guardrail, all I could do was scream out, “Sweet Jesus, save us!” Quite suddenly, traction took hold, the vehicle and trailer straightened out in an instant. 

When faced with danger, with indecision, where do you turn for help? 

In my book Red Gold (released March 21 from Harbourlight/Pelican Book Group), one of my characters, Jenny, is a young teen that finds herself in more trouble than she can deal with. The main character, Mandy, has to continually rescue this girl, but the dangers become all too real causing Mandy to rely only on her faith to get through the situations. 

The events that happen on the guest ranch in the Colorado mountains show the absolute need to these characters of their dependence on God. Nothing else, no one else can help. They must call upon the Lord. 

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” He’s always there, just ask!

More about Red Gold:

Mandy Phillips loves life with her husband running an adventure ranch in the Colorado mountains, but when Mr. Shonee, their crotchety old neighbor, tries to stop them from building a kid-size old west town their dreams of expansion are crushed. 

Is Shonee just being a difficult neighbor, or is something more sinister going on? A discovery on the property of Colorado's state mineral leads to more mysteries for the ranch, and then a teenage guest finds herself thrust head first into danger. 

Mandy will have to rescue her, but who will rescue Mandy? Her faith in God is her only source to keep the guests safe, solve the mysteries surrounding her ranch, save her neighbor from himself, and discover the secrets of the Red Gold.

You can find Red Gold at:
Pelican Book Group
Amazon

And you can find more about Sandy at:

www.SandyNadeau.com
www.SandyNadeau.blogspot.com 

Facebook: Sandy Nadeau, author

Thanks for joining us today, Sandy. I can't say as I'm all that adventurous, although a ride in the Colorado mountains (maybe in late Spring when there's no snow) sounds like fun. :)

How about you, readers, are you the adventurous type? If so, please share one of your adventures with us. Even if it's so I can live them vicariously through you. *SMILE*

Blessings,

Ginger

Writer Wednesday - Christine Lindsay

Today on Writer Wednesday, help me welcome Christine Lindsay to A Bed of Roses...Thorns Included.

Christine Lindsay was born in Ireland, and is proud of the fact that she was once patted on the head by Prince Philip when she was a baby. Her great grandfather, and her grandfather—yes father and son—were both riveters on the building of the Titanic. Tongue in cheek, Christine states that as a family they accept no responsibility for the sinking of that great ship.

It was stories of her ancestors who served in the British Cavalry in Colonial India that inspired her Multi-award-winning, historical series Twilight of the British Raj. Book 1 Shadowed in Silk, Book 2 Captured by Moonlight, and Christine is currently writing the final installment of that series called Veiled at Midnight to be released August 2014.

Aside from being a busy writer and speaker, Christine is also VP of Christian Authors’ Network. She makes her home in British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada with her husband and their grown up family. Her cat Scottie is chief editor on all Christine’s books.

THE SETTING CALLS TO MY SOUL

By Christine Lindsay

When I saw the submission call from Pelican Books for their new Passport to Romance line, I jumped at the chance. 

One of the cities in their list of proposed stories was Londonderry, N. Ireland, not far from where I was born in Belfast. Even though I am mainly a historical writer, I really, really wanted to write this contemporary romance. 

The setting just reached out and grabbed me. I'd been to Londonderry, you see. I've been 'back home' to N. Ireland a few times, the last time was 2006. This was my opportunity to show my grown daughter, Lana, the beautiful emerald isle where I was born...where her ancestors came from.

The rolling hills around Londonderry lead south to County Tyrone where my mother's people come from. In fact a few of the family farms still exist there. It was my Aunt Maggie's charming farm and farmhouse that inspired so much of the setting for LONDONDERRY DREAMING.  

My aunt had a two-story house, the outside of warm, crushed gray stone. The main parlor was downstairs, and the sitting room just off the working kitchen, what they call the scullery. I remember the large Aga stove that sat in the sitting room, not the same as the new cooker in the scullery. The Aga was kept for warmth, and as a reminder of the past. Up a steep set of stairs you find three bedrooms under slanted eaves. Again, each room decorated with bureaus and wash stands from decades gone by. 

Pale mint green walls were enhanced by lace curtains fluttering in a warm summer breeze.

Back downstairs, you step out of the scullery to the cobblestone courtyard leading to the barns. Each morning you'll be greeting by the chickens, a rooster, and an assortment of barn cats. My Aunt Maggie (who was my grandmother's sister) would give the cats the left-over morning porridge. 

Leaving the house by the front door brought you to the large garden. A little farther on will be the narrow lane. I most often visited my birthplace in the summer, so my memories of the lane are of it filled with wild rose thickets and meadow sweet and other wild flowers. And the rolling green hills beyond are dotted by the new lambs. A fresh stream gives water to the sheep and the cows.

These are just a few of the memories that go into my contemporary romance LONDONDERRY DREAMING. 

About the book:

Acclaimed New York artist, Naomi Boyd, and music therapist, Keith Wilson, loved one another five years ago, until her grandfather with his influence over Naomi separated them.

That root of bitterness keeps them apart until a letter from Keith’s grandmother, Ruth, draws Naomi to Londonderry to find she’s too late. Ruth has passed on. After the death of his beloved grandmother, Keith has also come to Londonderry only to open the door to his past…Naomi...beautiful as ever, the girl who broke his heart.

A mysterious painting in Ruth’s attic brings up questions about their grandparents’ entwined past and their own broken romance. But more comfortable with the unspoken languages of art and music, Naomi and Keith find it difficult to share their old hurts and true feelings.

Will the majestic coastline of Northern Ireland inspire them to speak the words to bring peace to their grandparents’ memory and to rekindle love?

For an enchanting jaunt to the Emerald Isle view this minute long book trailer to Londonderry Dreaming.

My review: 
Give me an inspirational romance to read and I'm all for it. Set it on the Emerald Isle and I fall in love, too. I thoroughly enjoyed Londonderry Dreaming. When I had to step away, I looked forward to the next moment I would have free to come back and read Keith and Naomi's story and "see" parts of Ireland. The book also reminds us that communication in any relationship is of the utmost importance.

5 roses

CONNECT WITH CHRISTINE:

Please drop by Christine’s website http://www.christinelindsay.com/ or follow her on Twitter and be her friend on Pinterest , Facebook  and  Goodreads

WHERE YOU CAN PURCHASE LONDONDERRY DREAMING:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Pelican Book Group

ChristianBooks.com

And many more places.

Question: If you could travel anywhere that you've read about, where would you go? 

Blessings,

Ginger