EVENTIDE, The Days of Redemption, #3 by SHELLEY SHEPARD GRAY ~ Litfuse Publicity Group Tour

Excerpt From Eventide by Shelley Shepard Gray by WilliamMorrowBooks

About Book: 

A young Amish woman harbors a difficult secret. Does she dare share the truth with the man she hopes to marry?

Elsie Keim doesn’t want to be left behind. Her twin sister, Viola, and her older brother, Roman, have both found love and are building lives of their own. But Elsie? She’s still stuck at home, being treated like a child. No one seems to consider her a capable woman—all they see are the thick lenses of her glasses, constant reminders that Elsie suffers from keratoconus and is slowly going blind.

Elsie knows there’s much more to her than her disease. That’s why when a new neighbor, Landon Troyer, shows some interest in her, she doesn’t want anything to scare him away . . . even if it means keeping her condition a secret.

Landon is ready to start a new life and feels like Elsie may just be the right woman to start it with. But when Roman steps in and shares the truth about Elsie’s illness, Landon is floored. His job is demanding and takes him away from home, sometimes for days at a time. How could he keep up with his responsibilities and take care of Elsie?

Purchase a copy here.

Learn more at Shelley’s website.

Meet Shelley:

Shelley Shepard Gray is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the "Sisters of the Heart", "Seasons of Sugarcreek", "Secrets of Crittenden County", and Families of Honor series. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town's bike trail.

Shelley Shepard Gray is celebrating the release of the final book in The Days of Redemption series, Eventide, by giving away FIVE sets of the series. 

Five winners will receive:

• Daybreak, Ray of Light and Eventide by Shelley Shepard Gray

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on September 21st. All winners will be announced September 23rd at Shelley's blog.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to visit Shelley's blog on the 23rd to see if you won one of the book sets!

My Thoughts

At first glance you would never know, other than the thick glass she wears, that Elie Keim was near blind. She desires to be as independent as her twin sister and her brother.  They both have found their soul mates but if her family has anything to do with it she will become the blind alt madeal that will be forever dependent on her family.  What the family isn't aware of is Elsie prays for a life with her own home, husband and children.  She dares not discuss this with anyone.  Until Landon Troyer, a new neighbor, starts helping out around the family farm and making a point to seek out Elsie to strike up a conversation with her causing her family to become even more protective of Elsie.  She fears if Landon finds out about her eye disease he will turn his attention away from her,even if he was a kind and considerate man.

The author writes about a sensitive subject that most do not want to think about and that is a disability.  She also points out through the character of Elsie that a disability does not have to weight you down thinking you are a oddity or not normal.  What is not normal to someone may be normal for someone else.  God has made us in his image and our soul is what shines through to others.  Don't we all have some form of disability? I have to wear glasses and I suffer from migraines.  I could go on and on.   So look past ones disabilities and find out who the person really is don't be caught up with labels.it blinds ones judgement.  

I say kudos to Shelley for writing this beautiful character into this series!

I highly recommend this book.

I rated this book a 5 out of 5.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from Harper Collins Publishers and Litfuse Pulicity Group Tour for review.  I was in no way compensated for this review.

  

All Things New by Lynn Austin

About Book

The war is over. The South has lost.

Josephine Weatherly struggles to pick up the pieces of her life when her family returns to their Virginia plantation. But the realities of life after the war cannot be denied: her home and land are but a shell of their previous grandeur; death has claimed her father and brother; and her remaining brother, Daniel, has returned home bitter and broken.

Her life of privilege, a long-ago dream.

Josephine soon realizes that life is now a matter of daily survival--and recognizes that Lizzie, as one of the few remaining servants, is the one she must rely on to teach her all she needs to know. Josephine's mother, too, vows to rebuild White Oak--but a bitter hatred fuels her.

Can hope--and a battered faith in God--survive amid the devastation?

All Things New

ISBN: 978-0-7642-0897-3  

ISBN-10: 0-7642-0897-7

Paperback: 5.5 x 8.5

Number of pages: 416

Publication Date: Oct. 2012

Where to buy: 

• Baker Retail
• Amazon.com
• Barnes & Noble
• Christianbook.com

About Author

Lynn Austin, a former teacher who now writes and speaks full time, has won eight Christy Awards for her historical fiction. One of those novels, Hidden Places, has also been made into a Hallmark Channel movie. Lynn and her husband have raised three children and make their home near Chicago, Illinois. 

Visit Lynn's Web site at www.lynnaustin.org


My Thoughts

The Civil War has ended and now Josephine, her mother and younger sister are ready to go home to White Oak Plantation after a long stay with her Aunt.  She is not even sure what condition the plantation will be in when they arrive.

She was surprised to find a few slaves had stayed even though they had been declared free of slavery.  The house was a shambles but it was still standing. It just needed some cleaning and she was sure her mother would make sure things were put in order.  Josephine was shocked by her mother's attitude that she was going to make everything the same as it was before the war.  As far as Josephine was concerned nothing would every be the same again.

With the one male ex-slave whom now is to be called a servant there was no way to get the fields planted with cotton.  His wife, two young sons and daughter were taking care of the cooking, cleaning and the other chores that Mrs. Weatherly expected to be done daily.  Yet there still was not enough hands or time in a day to get everything done according to Mrs. Weatherly's liking.  Mrs. Weatherly seemed to treat the servants as if they were still slaves. Josephine tried to help with some of the gardening and chores but it just angered her mother. So Josephine took to doing the chores around the time her mother was napping.

Then things really got out of sorts when Josephine's brother, Daniel came home from the war.  It was hoped that he would be able to take over running the plantation.  But he was never trained for that position.  He had not excepted the fact that the war was over.

Why is it that some people are so focused on the past that they can't seem to go forward?   Most wanted to blame God for the war and loss of loved ones.  When they lost the war they also lost their faith in God.

The story brought out how wealthy women in the South were so sheltered they had no skills other than how to catch a husband and keeping the servants in line.  They had no idea how the clean clothes appeared or the silver polished, etc.

The author wrote of their lack of money, food, clothing, shoes especially trust and they were too proud to ask for help from their new government.

In this book you will see the Post Civil War through the lives of ex-Slaves, southern land owner and Union soldiers.

It was a hard book to put down.  I want to say so much more about this book but then you wouldn't have to read it.   I really want you to read this book.

I highly recommend this book.

I rated this book a 5 out of 5.

Disclosure
I received a free copy of this book from Baker/Bethany House Publishing for review.  I was in no way compensated for this review.  It is my own opinion.

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Review: Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner

About Author:

I cannot remember a time when I wasn't driven to put my thoughts down on paper. I attribute this love for writing to a creative God and to parents who love books and more particularly to a dad who majored in English and passed on a passion for writing.

I was born and raised in San Diego, California, and am the second of three daughters. My first writings are a laughable collection of oddly worded poems and predictable stories I wrote when I was eight. My second-grade teacher gave me the journal I in which I recorded these poems and stories. To my knowledge I was the only student in her class that she gave a journal to; she must have seen promise in me. In high school my freshman composition teacher found all kinds of ways to encourage me to develop my skills as a writer. Without telling me beforehand, he read the first composition I ever wrote for him aloud to the class. That's how much he liked it. I have never forgotten how it felt to hear him begin to read something to the entire class and realize it was something I had written.

I didn't do a lot of writing in the years my husband was on active duty in the Air Force, when we were living overseas, or when we were raising our four children. When we moved to rural Minnesota in 1993 after seven years in the Air Force — five of them spent in Europe — I became aware of a gnawing desire to write a novel. I ignored it while the children were young, choosing to try writing articles for magazines. Nothing ever got published however, so I began to think my best days as a writer had already happened in high school with Mr. Barone.

In 1995, I was offered a job as a part-time reporter for my county newspaper. The publisher gave me my own weekly column, In 1998, I was named editor of the Mountain Lake/Butterfield Observer Advocate, the town's weekly paper, after the county newspaper purchased it. I was honored to win several awards over the years, but the best part of my four years as editor was having my paper named the Best Weekly Newspaper in Minnesota by the Minnesota Newspaper Association in 2002.

That year became a rather pivotal one for me as a writer. My beloved paternal grandfather died in July 2002 — my Papa — and his passing had a profound effect on me. I suddenly had an incredible urge to write a book; a novel. I knew I didn't want to come to the end of my life having only dreamed of writing one. I resigned as editor of the newspaper, which was a very hard decision to make, and set out to write Why the Sky is Blue. It took four months to write and ten months to be accepted by a publisher and I’ve been writing novels ever since. My favorite genre is contemporary fiction with a historical thread running through it.

Currently, my husband is an associate pastor at a church in San Diego, and a chaplain in the Air Force Reserves. When I'm not working on a new novel, I am directing the small groups ministries at The Church at Rancho Bernardo. I also enjoy teaching workshops on writing and dream-following, as well as spending time with my family, listening to or making music, reading great books, and traveling.

About Book:

A house shrouded in time.

A line of women with a heritage of loss.

As a young bride, Susannah Page was rumored to be a Civil War spy for the North, a traitor to her Virginian roots. Her great-granddaughter Adelaide, the current matriarch of Holly Oak, doesn’t believe that Susannah’s ghost haunts the antebellum mansion looking for a pardon, but rather the house itself bears a grudge toward its tragic past.

When Marielle Bishop marries into the family and is transplanted from the arid west to her husband’s home, it isn’t long before she is led to believe that the house she just settled into brings misfortune to the women who live there.

With Adelaide’s richly peppered superstitions and deep family roots at stake, Marielle must sort out the truth about Susannah Page and Holly Oak— and make peace with the sacrifices she has made for love.

Paperback, 336 pages

Published October 4th 2011 by WaterBrook Multnomah

ISBN 0307458857 (ISBN13: 9780307458858)

A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner (Chapter 1 Excerpt)


My Thoughts:
Susannah Page is rumored to be a Civil War spy for the North, labeled a traitor to Virginians and the South.
In present day she is known as a ghost searching for redemption of her past now haunting her home Holly Oak Mansion. Her great grandaughter does not believe Susannah is haunting the mansion.  She actually believes it is the house that holds a grudge against the past and is taking it out on the women of Holly Oak Mansion.

Now the mansion has a new resident Marielle Bishop and she soon learns about the haunting of the Holly Oak.  She is not sure what to believe and tries to uncover the truth.

I really got into all the history of Holly Oak Mansion  and  the residents of the mansion past and present.
The Civil War had done much damage to the Virginians. The fortitude of the South to rebuild their lives and their homes was heartbreaking knowing what they all went through.  The hardship of the slaves in the face of their freedom and rebirth of life must have been exalting.

How could anyone not feel as if their are ghost and hauntings  after so many lives and homes were lost in that war.

I highly recommend this book.

I rate this book a 5 out of 5.

Disclosure:
I received a copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah/Blogging for Books.  In no way was I compensated for this review it is my own opinion.

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