Saturday, May 30, 2015

COTT Victory Goes To...


We Have A Winner!
Congratulations to Dawn Crandall! Her book, The Captive Imposter, won this month's clash!

Thank you all for voting, and a special thank you to all of our authors this month!

Here are a few of our voter comments:

  • Dawn Crandall is a very gifted writer. She is a master @ blending romance & suspense !
  • Dawn!  You know I love your books so much that I dream about the character!! :)
  • I love the writing style of Dawn Crandall. This is one of my favorite books. Keep up the good work Dawn
  • The Everstone Chronicles series is not to be missed! The characters are so absorbing and their story compelling. Readers, keep a look out for these and future stories by author Dawn Crandall! You will be glad you did. YaY, Dawn Crandall; thank you for sharing your story adventures.

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The Captive Imposter by Dawn Crandall

Sent away for protection, hotel heiress Estella Everstone is living under an assumed name in the awkward presence of her ex-fiance. However, as hotel manager Dexter Blakeley, slowly captures her heart, will the layers of family secrets and the knowledge of her true identity end up severing his love for her?




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The Captive Imposter is book three in THE EVERSTONE CHRONICLES. Here are some reviews for the series:
PRAISE FOR THE EVERSTONE CHRONICLES

Romantic! Engaging and absorbing! Dawn Crandall brings America�s Gilded Age to life on the page with vintage amour and emotional depth. KRISTY CAMBRON, author of The Butterfly and the Violin

Visit a bygone era filled with romance, intrigue, and characters who will stay with you long after you close the book. Dramatic and engaging, THE EVERSTONE CHRONICLES is one series you won't want to miss.  MICHELLE GRIEP, author of Brentwood�s Ward

PRAISE FOR THE HESITANT HEIRESS

*Winner of the 2015 Gayle Wilson Award for Excellence Romance Writers of America book contest

Delving deep into the human heart with prose as polished as beach stones, THE HESITANT HEIRESS is a marvelous romance and an impressive debut. LORI BENTON, author of Burning Sky

Dawn Crandall is a new author to watch! ELIZABETH CAMDEN, author of Against the Tide and Beyond All Dreams 

PRAISE FOR THE BOUND HEART

Dawn Crandall's second novel in the Everstone Chronicles is an intense, powerful journey of one woman's search for true love and true forgiveness. It is a beautiful reminder to us that nothing is too broken for God to piece together with the power of his grace. Lawry is a delightful and consistent hero worth falling for and Meredyth's desperate longing for wholeness comes to its full completion in being loved well! Absolutely beautiful. PEPPER BASHAM, author of The Thorn Bearer (May 2015)

In THE BOUND HEART, Dawn Crandall creates a cast of broken characters whose struggles spoke to me from the prologue. CARA PUTMAN, author of Shadowed by Grace

PRAISE FOR THE CAPTIVE IMPOSTER

Dawn Crandall is a fresh new voice in inspirational romance, and her latest offering, THE CAPTIVE IMPOSTER, does not disappoint! Estella is sweet but imperfect, intelligent but not harsh. Blakeley is handsome: mysterious and contradictory, the perfect Byronic hero. Is Estella the woman to soften his hardened heart and is he the man to help her put her past firmly behind her? Creepy, mysterious settings with lots of lush, sensory details escort the reader through the pages as we wonder, will her secret spill? As more and more people learn the truth about this imposter, that coming reveal might just change everything.�� SANDRA BYRD, author of Mist of Midnight (March 2015)

A blend of elegant drama and mystery, THE CAPTIVE IMPOSTER tells the story of a love unexpected. Dawn Crandall quickly became a favorite author with her first two books, and the element of hidden identity in The Captive Imposter entwines with the style I�ve come to expect from Crandall, resulting in one satisfying read. RACHELLE REA, author of The Sound of Diamonds (June 2015)

Find them all on Amazon:
Book 1, The Hesitant Heiress
Book 2, The Bound Heart
Book 3, The Captive Imposter

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{About Dawn Crandall}

Dawn Crandall writes long inspirational historical romantic suspense. She has a BA in Christian Education from Taylor University and lives in northeast Indiana with her ever-supportive husband, her three cats [Lilly, Pumpkin and Clover] and their newest addition, a little baby boy named Rhett (March 2014).

A former bookseller at Barnes & Noble, Dawn didn't begin writing until her husband found out about her long-buried dream of writing a book. Without a doubt about someday becoming traditionally published, he encouraged her to quit her job in 2010 in order to focus on writing The Hesitant Heiress. It didn't take her long to realize that writing books was what she was made to do. Dawn is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary.

Dawn is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, secretary for the Indiana ACFW Chapter (Hoosier Ink), and associate member of the Great Lakes ACFW Chapter.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Betting on Hope, Four of Hearts Ranch #1 by Debra Clopton 



About Book

A bet gone wrong. A small town's meddling. And a cowboy intent on saving his ranch.Maggie Hope is an advice columnist whose background leaves her with little advice to give . . . and it’s beginning to show. When Maggie fills in at an interview with champion horse trainer Tru Monahan, the on-camera chemistry between them is undeniable. Maggie’s bosses know this is the opportunity she's been looking for to launch her career—and their bank accounts. In order to save her column, Maggie takes Tru up on the bet that he can teach her to ride a quick-stepping cutting horse like any cowgirl, despite the fact that she has never been on a horse. And in the meantime, she can get the scoop on the man under the cowboy hat.

Tru has been on the competition circuit for longer than he’d like, but he knows it's the only way he can afford to keep the Four of Hearts Ranch that means so much to his ailing grandfather. So when his sponsors see the opportunity for Tru’s fans to get to know the star on a more intimate level, he knows he must oblige. To his dismay, Maggie not only invades his small town of Wishing Springs, but she also invades his heart, and that is something he cannot let any woman do—for her own good.

In Wishing Springs, Maggie finds what she has always been looking for: a community and a home. But when her past catches up to her, it threatens everything, even the tender hope that this town holds all of her heart’s desires.



About Author

Debra Clopton is an award winning, multi-published novelist. She sold her first book in 2003 and it was published in 2005 THE TROUBLE WITH LACY BROWN was the first book of the fun loving Mule Hollow series~the place readers tell her they wish was real..

Debra is proud of the success of her books and gives all the glory to God.

Debra believes her greatest award is first, God’s grace in her life and His gift of salvation. And second, her family and spending time with them. She counts every moment as a gift. Time is so precious…

Married for 22 blessed years to her high school sweetheart, Wayne Clopton, Debra was widowed in 2003. God’s arms never let go of her or her two sons, Chase and Kris, during those dark months after Wayne’s death. Her first book sold 7 months after Wayne’s death and her mission became showing the love she’d known  in her life, through her characters and shining a light into reader’s darkest hours with love and laughter of her books.

Happily, in 2008, God led a couple of friends to play matchmaker and talk her into a blind date with Chuck Parks—who they also talked into a blind date…sounds like a page out of one of her Mule Hollow books! Instantly hitting it off, Debra and Chuck were married in 2010 and are so thankful that God led them to each other. Debra now has more love to share in her books!                      

Her sons, her lovely daughter-in-law and beautiful granddaughter have recently moved across country—it’s been a bit of a shock for her to adjust to not having them close. She feels blessed to have a career that enables her to visit them often and her motto is —have computer, will travel!

Along with her writing Debra helps her husband teach the youth at the Cowboy Church of Leon County. When she isn’t writing Debra loves to read, travel and spend time with her family. She is currently working on her 23 book for Love Inspired and also her new Four of Hearts Ranch Series for Thomas Nelson. Book 1 BETTING ON A COWBOY went on sale Feb 17, 2015 and book 2 COUNTING ON A COWBOY is ready for preorder and going on sale August 2015.

She is also working on new Mule Hollow books set on the New Horizon ranch. Her Mule Hollow Cowboy is book 1 on sale now and book 2 Rafe releases March 16. Debra has a busy 2015 full of exciting new books!

Her writing is moving and masterful…each character comes alive through her words~RT Magazine on BETTING ON HOPE

Visit her website: http://debraclopton.com/about-debra/


My Thoughts

After watching the news last night I decided to start reading BETTING ON HOPE intending to read just a little while. I was still reading when the sun came up. The words were blurry and I couldn't keep my eyes open which really upset me because I had gotten 91% of the book read. Hate it when that happens!

Finished reading it this morning.

Tru Monahan is not only a true cowboy he is truly a gentleman. He had so much patience with Maggie and her insecurities.  She had every right to not trust men. But Tru Monohan was a different breed than the men she had known in her past.

She made a bet with Tru and he was determined to win that bet.

Tru has a loving close knit family, where as Maggie's family is sadly the opposite.

If you are wondering, yes, it is an amazing read! I highly recommend this book And I am ready for book two in this series.

I rated this book a 5 out of 5.

Disclosure:

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley/Thomas Nelson for an honest review.  I was in no way compensated for this review.