Cowboy by Staci Stallings - Choosing Favorite Author to Just...Sit...Back...and...Enjoy! Featuring Music of Morgan Wallen!

 

“Ashton, what in the world are you doing up there?” Barry Braxton yelled to the stonewashed jean-clad figure leaning perilously over the edge of the top row of bleachers. 

“These bleachers have to be up by seven,” Ashton yelled back over the din of workers surrounding him without so much as looking down at his manager. 

“They will be,” Barry called, “but if you fall, we won’t be needing them anyway.” 

Irritation at being treated like a three-year-old crawled through Ashton’s chest as he twisted the wrench on the bolt he was working on with three more quick jerks. “I’m not going to fall, Barry.” 

“Well, why don’t you come on down anyway?” Barry set his hands on the rolls of excess weight just beneath his off-brown, button up shirt. “Really. There’s no reason for you to be up there. I’m sure the crew can get it.”

“Look around you, Bare.” Ashton waved the wrench angrily. “We go on in three hours. Does it look like they’re going to be ready?” Barry shook his balding head in disgust. He really couldn’t argue with that as much as he obviously wanted to. With the concert set to start in three hours, Ashton knew his manager would’ve preferred for him to be in his dressing room getting ready rather than tightening bolts on the bleachers for their latest venue. However, here he was twisting bolt after bolt tighter and tighter, wrenching his anger and frustration into them as if that would somehow make everything better. After a full thirty seconds Barry stalked off leaving his golden egg hanging off the edge of a set of bleachers that looked like it might fall any second. Ashton didn’t so much as watch him leave. Barry, of all people, knew Ashton’s stubborn streak ran a mile deep and just as wide. And the fact that he had acquired a death wish in the last year didn’t help matters. Trying not to think lest the memories swarm him again, he bent his head and body into the work. If he could just keep working, keep moving, keep going, somehow he would find a way past the hurt. If he didn’t, Humpty Dumpty would look easy to put back together by comparison.

I have learned after reading many books written by Staci Stallings, that, no matter the genre, I will enjoy her stories... One thing, though, is that whenever there is a reference to music, songs will be "brand new" as written by the author... How I wish I could hear her words with music! So, instead, I've selected a few songs that seemed to be relevant...hope you think so too!

If you stop and think about it, ever single relationship between two people will be--different. Yet, the same... Books are written to share unique stories, yet based upon a certain set of factors that will slowly evolve, entertain and lead to a satisfying conclusion--most times. This story is not different, yet the two personalities created by Stallings, makes readers able to sit back, meet these individuals and, soon, be so involved that we think we actually know them as friends or, at least, acquaintances.

Ashton Raines is a country singer that has been selected as Male Vocalist of the Year three years in a row, he won Entertainer of the Year last year and Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and... Life was good and his group were successfully touring most of the time... That is, until, Ashton's wife died... and he was devastated since they had been so close and she had been there by his side constantly...

Things had been building and then one night he just snapped--and had to get away... He walked out, on his own, and wound up in a small out of the way country diner where a waitress offered to get him coffee and maybe something to eat? 

At some point the city lights had turned to winding roads, mountains, and trees, but Ashton couldn’t clearly remember how or when that had happened. All he could see was freedom. Everywhere he looked was freedom. No guitars, no managers, no people, no buses. Just him and the open road stretched out in front of him. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. He was free. But it was as though his mind wouldn’t allow him to enjoy anything for more than just a moment because just then he heard her voice...

Beth McCasland had been on her own as a single mother, widowed for more years than she wanted to count, but she had found somewhat of a welcome in a little town where she had been working as a waitress, making friends with Lynn, the other waitress on her shift, and the owner, as much as they would allow a relationship. She was barely making it financially, but didn't have many options. So, when Lynn came in talking about an upcoming concern nearby, featuring the country male voice of the year, she was so involved with thinking, that it took awhile to realize that Lynn wanted her to go to the concert with her. Not... was her first thought... But, of course, things worked out as they were supposed to, of course, and she attended the concert. And had to admit she'd very much enjoyed it...

But that didn't prepare her for the night she was called in for emergency noght coverage  and was therefore there when Ashton walked in, drenched from the heavy rain and looking like he'd lost his best friend. And, indeed, she learned that he had...

But even though things felt so strange, Beth felt compelled to start talking about how God was available to help Ashton through anything he was going through... That was not what Ashton expected or wanted to hear... He had felt God had no business taking the one good thing he'd had in his life... He had been living his dream until his reason for living was stolen...

Like I said, Stallings has a way of making her characters seem to come alive in our own lives, like we begin to have a vested interest in them... Now, confess, a widow and a widower might not be unusual...but with one putting God right into the mixed from the beginning discussion, now that's something that grabs our heart strings, doesn't it? Sure, the story, the plot is not so new that we can't see what's going to happen...but what we so enjoy is watching... watching how the "do-si-do" between the two characters--and God--finally makes it all come out just like, it seems, that a plan has been successfully executed. 

If you are somebody who has never met Stallings through her books, then this might just be a great one to start reading! Especially if you like country music! And, BTW, I'd never heard of Morgan Wallen, since I'm normally reading rather than listening to country music...LOL... So, was my finding him a God Incident?

God Bless,

Gabbie

Coming Undone By Staci Stallings - Heartwarming Christian Romance

“Uh, Mr. Warren, I’m sorry to bother you so late, but this is St. Anthony’s Hospital. Your father has just been admitted. You are listed as his next of kin…” The rest of the words evaporated in a swirl of alarm and concern.
 “What? Is he okay?” He put his finger in his ear to block everything else out. “What happened?” 
“I’m not really authorized to discuss it, but the doctors think it would be a good idea for you to get here as quickly as possible.” Ben ran his hand through and over his thick, dark hair.
“Uh. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I’ll be there as soon as possible.” Somehow he ended the phone call, but it too was lost in the spinning of the world around him. He closed his eyes and fought to breathe, hoping to make it stop. However, when he opened his eyes, it was still tilting and shifting around him. Decisions. He had to make some decisions. First, he needed to get to the hospital to see what was going on. Pushing away from the cabinet, he stumbled through the myriad of possibilities as he headed through the living room.
Three surprised and very concerned faces gazed up at him. “Something wrong?” Kelly asked. “Uh. Yeah. I guess. I don’t know. It’s my dad.” None of the words seemed to even correlate with reality. “I don’t know. Something happened.” At the little closet, he pulled out the first jacket his hand found, and he yanked it on. “You guys just lock up when you’re done.”
 “You want me to go with you?” Kelly asked, standing. His dark face was ash-washed with concern.
“No.” Ben tried to shake the looks on his friends’ faces from his consciousness. “No. Of course not. I’m… I’m sure it’s nothing.” 
Do they call you from the hospital at midnight if it’s nothing? He couldn’t answer that question, and he didn’t even want to try. “I’ll just…” The words were jamming together in his brain in no distinct pattern. “Um… Just let yourselves out when you’re finished. And be sure to lock up.” Remembering he would have to drive, he patted his pockets and then looked around. “Keys? Where are my keys?”
 “By the front door where they always are?” Kelly asked, clearly tipping toward legitimate concern for his friend.
 “Oh, yeah. Right.” Ben nodded, having no idea why.
 “Are you sure you don’t want me to go?” 
“Yeah. Yeah. I’m sure. I’ll let you know.” Taking the keys from the little hook, Ben wrenched the doorknob and for one second, considered reconsidering his friend’s offer. He didn’t want to face whatever this was alone. Then he took his ego by the collar and gave it a good shake. He was Ben Warren, and Ben Warren didn’t back down from any challenge. With that thought, he yanked the door open and headed to the hospital.
~~~

Coming Undone

By Staci Stallings

The title of this novel immediately interesting and was even more intriguing once I began to read... While the cover shows the male main character, Ben Warren, showing his distress at the notice that his father was in the hospital, it was soon apparent that the female character was also in as much stress as Ben...just of a different kind...and just because she had been professionally trained to handle being in stressful situations... But before the book ends, both of them...come undone quite often...

Tell yourself the truth. Do you believe God has a plan already created for you? I would say that I've gone back and forth on accepting this myself, but, I've wondered more and more if what I've been doing for the last ten years was indeed part of God's plan for me... Why am I asking? Because if you have also doubted, then this particular book might give you much to think about...

Kathryn Walker is a social worker where Ben Warren's father has just been admitted. She has a main role in the Hospice Center and is dealing with clients there on a daily basis. Her faith and prayer life is how she accomplishes those duties and all of the families find her guidance and attendance to their care of significant and lasting help.

Only one thing in her life is lacking...a personal relationship with a soul mate... Unfortunately, she has a main friend and mother who are constantly trying to set her up and/or discuss who her latest potential mates are... That alone would add a layer of stress that, in my opinion, should not have occurred, even from good intentions by those that loved her... But we do find her going over and over in prayer asking why she has not found her true love...the man who He was to choose for her...

Thankfully, Kathryn was strong in her faith, because meeting Ben was one of the hardest clients with whom she'd dealt... Ben had completely come undone when he was told that there was nothing the doctors could do for his father...

Ben's mother had divorced her husband with he was 12 and had also taken his young brother for whom he'd greatly cared for. Ben had not seen his brother since that time nor did he even know how to reach him.

Ben finally reached his mother, but she made it quite clear that her father's health was of no concern to her... Ben was totally alone... But there was one other thing about Ben that had helped put him in this position. Ben had been sliding along all his life, having a good time...no desire to wed; no desire for commitments. He had one good friend, but as he started to consider his father's death, he realized that he'd shown no interest when Kelly's wife had major loss and he had totally ignored it, even to the extent that he started bugging Kelly to come back to card night just a few days after the funeral. Now he realized that he could not even seek help from him in good conscience...

It was no wonder that Kathryn seemed like an angel sent to him, to help him through all that was happening.. For Ben was being forced to face surprises that he'd never suspected. His father had not been paying his bills and all accounts were in arrears. He had no idea how to deal with estate issues. And, worse, when he finally found his brother, he found that his father had known where he was all along, and had even attended his wedding...all without ever telling Ben.

Ben found himself lost, trying to understand what all of this could have been happening, without his knowing. Had he been so self-absorbed that he had not seen his father's deterioration? His father, who had always been Ben's hero?

Death in a family is always a traumatic experience, especially when it was not expected. Stallings has shown us, through the impending death of Ben's father, the potential assistance and care available through a Hospice Center. Of course, we only meet Kathryn as the main provider; however, there is enough information provided to allow readers to learn about and consider this alternative.

While Ben was certainly a wonderful character, I found myself more empathic with Kathryn, who, while working harder than ever before to maintain the needed professional separation from her clients, was pulled closer and closer to Ben as he continually sought and requested her help...

Kathryn felt herself becoming too emotionally tied to Ben...

Ben felt he could not handle anything without his angel of mercy... especially when it reached the point when medical machines were the only thing keeping his father alive...

Death is a part of all of our lives. How we deal with it is something that each of us must do ourselves. When my mother was living with me in her retired years, I found that I began to watch her breathing, as she laid sleeping, knowing that death was near, even if it was years from then... I was preparing myself for that time... Ben had been one of those children who grew up thinking his father was a superman and never once faced the fact that he was aging...

I admired Kathryn on behalf of all those who can find the faith and strength to work in hospice facilities... I appreciated reading the story of the setting behind the storyline for the characters...

For many reasons, it might be a must-read for you... If you find this story resonates strong feelings within you, don't pass up reading about how God's plan may happen when you least expect it... Highly recommended!

GABixlerReviews

USA Today Best Selling Author, Staci Stallings is a stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side. She has numerous titles for readers to choose from. Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci’s stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure! That’s what keeps Staci writing and you reading. So, sit back, grab your Kindle & something to drink, and settle in for some of the BEST stories in all of Christian Romance...

To Protect and Serve - An Outstanding Story From The Courage Series- Personal Favorite!

“Okay, God, I’m ready. Show me the first small step,” she prayed, and for the first time in a forever of prayers, she felt like Someone had actually heard. 
“You’re awful quiet,” Eve said as she and Jeff sat by the big bay windows of the restaurant. Then she smiled. “Not that you’re ever very loud.” 
The words running through Jeff’s head pulled thoughtfulness to his face. “I was just thinking about what the guy said in the sermon today— you know, about how if Friday had been the end, then the cross would be a symbol of tragedy instead of the symbol of hope.” His fingers went up and drifted across the metal cross at his

chest. “We always want it to be Sunday, don’t we? We don’t want to go through the Fridays of life, but the resurrection of Sunday would mean nothing without the tragedy of Friday.”
“I don’t think I’d ever thought about it like that either,” Eve said softly. “I kind of feel like I’m at Saturday now— waiting, not knowing what’s coming next. Sometimes I think what’s coming will be Sunday, and sometimes I’m afraid it’s going to be another Friday.” 
Jeff nodded. “I’ve been at Saturday so long, I’m not sure I’d even recognize Sunday anymore.” He held up the cross. “Mom gave me this.”
“At the academy,” Eve said, and Jeff nodded. “I take it she wasn’t thrilled about the fire department thing.” “No. She didn’t understand. She thought I had a death wish.” He shrugged. “Maybe I did.”

...Courage was holding out a hand and trusting that she would take it. Faith was believing that Sunday would follow Saturday as Saturday had followed Friday— if only you held onto the hope long enough...

~~~ 

To Protect and Serve
The Courage Series

By Staci Stallings 

I had a "God Incident" this weekend...You know, the type of happening that seems to be coincidental, yet proves to be so very much more? When I opened To Protect and Serve, I had no idea that it was going to include a time setting which included Easter Weekend. When I started reading parts such as the above excerpt, I actually had chills.. How wonderful to have a Christian Novel that included the Easter miracle set into our contemporary lives!

Finding myself stopping to consider the concept of having "Fridays" to go through--as we all do--yet recognizing that we have been promised a "Sunday" that has already proven to come for us for thousands of years, certainly takes us directly to the heart of the weekend that Jesus had not only died for us...but Arose!

This is the first novel in the Courage Series and I had never read the author before. Needless to say it was a very pleasant surprise, as well as a spiritual and inspiring story for me...

It's a love story. The novel has that element, but moves on into presenting an exciting, yet heartbreaking picture of those who serve our country through fire protection--To save others' lives, they will risk their own... all without any explicit sexual content! What a lovely break for this reader.

Strong, with a strength he had gained and a strength he would have to find in himself to do this job, his voice came. A solemn vow to all those his life would touch. “… I promise to protect and serve to the best of my ability. I promise the wisdom to lead, the compassion to comfort, and the love to serve unselfishly whenever I am called.” A moment of silence for them all to breathe, one more moment affording a final opportunity to turn back. But like the image of those steps, he knew he never would. If someone needed him, Jeff Taylor, now standing at the door to his destiny, was ready and willing to help.

~~~

Jeff Taylor had been shy and unable to deal with interacting with women until he met and fell in love with Lisa on a night when both had been the lonely single at a bar's table. While Jeff had a background that we later learn about that helped to lead to his personal and professional choices, Lisa Matheson had long ago chosen to become a professional business woman and head her own company. But not only did she have issues with delegation, she found that she still have to deal with...men...especially when they were clients who found her not only beautiful, but assumed that she would do anything to please that client...

The looks Tucker was giving her sent chills— and not the good kind— up Lisa’s spine Tuesday afternoon as she sat across the table for lunch with him and his grandfather...
“We’re almost there,” Tucker said as his voice darkened. He pulled off the freeway and stopped at an intersection. “Just chill. Okay?” But she knew all too well where chilling was going to get her. With no more than a half-second of thought, she reached for the door handle, clicked it, and swung it open as the light turned green ahead of them. “What are you doing?” he practically screamed. “What I should’ve done when you showed up.” One hand clicked her seat belt as her first heel hit the pavement. Horns behind them blared to life. Her body out, she slammed the door and stumbled from the middle of the road across three lanes to the other side as the cars played pinball with her path. “Cripes! How do I let myself get into these messes?” Beep. Honk. Beep. And she made it safely to the other side of the street. 
“Great. Now what?” She looked around to get her bearings, and then she realized that Tucker might actually have the audacity to come try to find her.  That thought jerked her steps down the street. “I truly hate guys,” she said into the night air. “I really and truly do. They are nothing but egomaniacal, selfish, inconsiderate jerks, and if I never see another one again, it will be too soon.”

~~~

Readers enjoy seeing the camaraderie and friendship developed among firemen and watch as they handle daily emergencies, such as when Jeff talks a young boy from jumping off a bridge...and much more.

While Lisa has a difficult time trying to deal with all of the work she has and the problems necessary to build up a small business.

While the two begin to slowly meet and share quiet times talking and learning about each other,  Lisa soon learns that there is danger for Jeff...life-taking danger when one of his best friends dies from being caught in a fire...

The major attribute that comes through Stallings book is...reality...Readers are fully aware of both internal and external thoughts of confusion, anger, joy, and love...and, when asked to participate, with God as a primary character there in those emotions... The dialogue between each of the couple and the God to whom each shares, is very personal and provocative... Is God helping to bring the two together? Or should they move on, reverting back into their lonely, separate lives. 

Is it worth so much pain and fear to have a love so great that losing it would affect your whole life?

“Lisa?” He stepped over the hose as she flew the last three steps into his arms. Holding her, the strength in his arms flowed into her spirit as the world around them dropped away. All she wanted to do was hold him...she pulled him closer to her as a stream of tears slid down her face. You have this moment and only this moment. What you do with it is your choice. 
A moment or a hundred thousand. Whatever God gave them, she would stand right at Jeff Taylor’s side. Then in the moment when God called one of them home, she would look back with no regrets for she would have spent all the time from that moment to this loving with complete trust. And that was the only measure of love that ever truly mattered.


Stallings has given readers much more than a sermon...she has opened the lives of two people, who could be you or somebody you know. She has given each God's spirit so that even when there were Fridays in their lives, there was that promise, that realization that Sunday comes...and His Spirit lives with us each day, Fridays, especially...

This is a personal favorite for 2016...a glorious expression of God's Love... A must-read for many! If only every teenager today could read that it's not necessary to rush into marriage and all it entails... So check it out for yourself or as a gift...


GABixlerReviews

A stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from. Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci's stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure! That's what keeps Staci writing and you reading.

Great Christian Mystery and Romance from Anne Patrick!

"Preliminary findings of the coroner suggest she died from smoke
inhalation."
"She also had a skull fracture."
"You've seen the body?" he asked.
"Yup."
"Well, she could have received the head injury when she woke
up disoriented. She was found next to the bed. She could have
tripped and struck her head on the corner post."
"That's one possibility..." "I don't give theories, I see facts,
and I develop opinions."
"Opinions based on what? Most of the physical evidence, if
any, is destroyed or drastically altered during a fire?"
"The basics of fire behavior, dynamics and investigative
experience based on what is visually seen, smelled, heard and
touched." She glanced over her shoulder.
"And just so you know,
my opinions are seldom wrong..."

Fire and Ash


By Anne Patrick







When a somewhat chauvinist man and a expert professional woman meet, there might be sparks flying. In the case of Sadie McGregor and Quinn Harrington met, things happened quite professionally, even as the ash moved while they walked through the building that had burned. Quinn, a police officer had been sent because a body had been found and he was also already considering how the fire might have started. But when Sadie turned to introduce herself, she quite calmly proceeded to explain to him why his assumptions were wrong...

I love novels with strong female leads, especially if they are in male-dominated professional fields. Sadie, as she was quick to point out to Quinn, represented the State Fire Marshal's Office--and was seldom wrong in her findings...

Of course I love many male lead characters as well, but, having worked in a male-dominated profession for many years, I must say that the reality is rarely how it's written in books, so I enjoy escaping into a fantasy where the female "rules." LOL And, of course, Sadie and Quinn will begin a relationship, but later in the book!

Larissa Ingram had apparently been house sitting for her parents, Mike and Donna, who were away on vacation. Quinn was upset that arson was suspected, since the Ingrams were such a nice family and well respected in the community. If it was arson, was it someone within the family or a crime against them?

It was after she had left the scene of the fire, with a promise to get her report to him, that Quinn learned from another officer who had known Sadie for years, that her own family had been killed in a fire and that Sadie had been raised as part of her uncle's family, who was fire chief...

As he got to know her and wanted to know more about her, he realized that there was one thing that could prevent the relationship that he soon began to hope for: Quinn was an active Christian and Sadie wanted nothing to do with God. And worse, she could not forgive herself for having started the fire that had killed her family...

I enjoyed watching as the relationship between Quinn and Sadie developed. In her professional life, she had grown confident and self-assured, while Quinn, around her, seemed to be lost for words--even admitting she had him bested from time to time. Sadie's teasing was a natural outgrowth, except when Quinn forced a serious discussion about her past.

Everybody reading the novel will catch the amount and quality of the forensics expertise displayed by Sadie and how it was used to finally solve the case, unfortunately not without her being hurt in the process. Many issues keep readers fully interested, not the least of which is the romance. Well written and thoroughly enjoyable!


GABixlerReviews

Anne Patrick is the author of more than a dozen novels of Romance, Mayhem & Faith, including the award-winning and bestselling Fire and Ash, Lethal Dreams and Sabotage. Her heroines are usually strong willed, witty, and often very opinionated...combinations that usually land them in situations where death seems imminent. When she isn't killing off people or falling in love with dashing heroes you can usually find her surfing the web. Check her out on Facebook.

To learn more about Anne, please visit her website: http://annepatrick.weebly.com/index.html or blog: www.suspensebyanne.blogspot.com. She loves to hear from her readers!

For Christian romantic fiction...this one's a winner!

Image by justinknabb via Flickr

Consider reading McKenzie, the first in
the Montana Skies Series...

Kaydie:
Montana Skies Series


By Penny Zeller




I received Kaydie via a giveaway on Susan Holloway's Blog--what a delightful surprise!


Although this is historically set, I found the novel more character driven...they are remarkably created, so much so, that you feel you know the individuals personally. All of them could easily be found in today's world, albeit with slightly different stories.   I love characters to whom you immediately respond, either caring for them, or loving to hate them, don't you?


Kaydie was a very proper Bostonian, born into a wealthy, connected family. Somehow two out of three of the daughters found their way out of the social structure...all the way to living in Montana!


Kaydie had stood up to her parents and had married Darius Kraemer, a man who completely changed after he had access to her inheritance and had squandered it. Thereafter, he became abusive, even to the point of near starvation. Interestingly, her sister McKenzie loved her enough to make her own way to Montana to find her... How? She became a mail-order bride!


Now, after Darius had died, Kaydie was living with McKenzie and her new husband and an adopted son and expecting a child. At the same time, their parents were back in Boston, creating a false story about Darius, his death, and planning to bring Kaydie back home to be properly married and now fulfill the duties of being a member of the Worthington family! 


"...the Worthington family has one of the most upstanding reputations in the State of Massachusetts, despire your unseemly elopement with Darius and McKenzie's reckless marriage to a rancher. We have already told the other families in our social circle that you married Darius, but we altered the details in order to protect your reputation. We did this from the moment you made the egregious error of choosing him as a husband. What else could we say? Our disappointment in you, as you know full well, was profound. Had our peers been privy to the frustrations you placed on your family by your foolhardy choice of a husband, the damage to our family's good name would have been immeasurable..." (p.36)


Isn't it wonderful how children can rebel and become somebody better, because, after all, there are many ways to abuse children...


Kaydie had been physically and emotionally damaged, however, by her first husband and she now vowed she could not ever think of marrying again. At the same time, she knew what would happen if she returned home.


But then she met Jonah, a ranch hand who lived there with the family.


Readers will enjoy the struggle Kaydie faces in overcoming her past. Especially because Jonah brought a similar background into the relationship. But both had something important that had happened in their lives--they had met Jesus Christ and made Him a part of the decision-making for the future. Soon they acknowledged their growing friendship and when it was time for Kaydie to have her baby, it was Jonah she wanted to stay with her:


"Jonah felt helpless. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked. "Anything I can bring you?"
"Can you..."
"Yes?"
"Can you...pray with me?"
Jonah gulped. She wanted him to pray out loud again? He still wasn't comfortable doing it, but if it would help to put Kaydie at ease, he figured he could give it another try..."


Many Christian books include internal dialogue and prayer, but I enjoyed the intimacy of the Christian relationships in Kaydie where often a character would ask another, or offer to pray for the other. Zeller's ability to seamlessly intertwine her faith into her characters' lives is exceptionally well done, so much so that you feel as if the faith belongs to that character alone...


For Christian romantic fiction...this one's a winner!

...'This is the most perfect summer day." Kaydie sighed.
"The summers in Montana are something to treasure," Jonah agreed.
"I reckon they are far shorter than the summers I was accustomed to in Mississippi,
but it makes one appreciate them all the more."
"I love how the Montana sky is so blue, and with not even a cloud in it,"
Kaydie said. "I just imagine the Lord dipping His brush in the bluest of blue
paints and using broad strokes to create the perfect sky..."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/griffhome/70322428/sizes/m/in/photostream/

GABixlerReviews

Heartwarming Inspirational Story Leaves You Smiling...

Image via Wikipedia

"Looking back on the situation she told herself
 she'd been an idiot to think she and Jay would
marry,  buy a home in Cedar Forks,
and attend church together.
Now here she was in Destin, Florida,
where she knew no one, except Bill
 of course, and she'd just met him this morning."

Love Turns The Tide




By Gail Pallotta










Suspense coupled with lots of romance will entice new fans for Gail Pallotta in her new inspirational novel, Love Turns the Tide. The beautiful cover is only a hint of the many romantic walks and beautiful shore living that Cammie O'Shea found surrounding her new home. Still, when she was transferred to Destin, Florida, she was not sure she wanted to leave her family and friends. The only reason she had for leaving was Jay, her ex,  who had, unbelievably, been arrested for assaulting a woman:

Bill Collins was trying to get a small local newspaper off the ground. The Sun Dial was so new that Bill was the only one there so he had called for help from the Dexter Group and been "loaned" Cammie--who really had no choice in the matter. And now her very first major assignment was starting off badly. Not only did Vic Deleona cancel out on meeting with her, but he did so rudely and was clearly, in Cammie's opinion, not interested in granting her an interview...

Vic Deleona was a major real estate developer and was presently working on his new high-rise project called Pelican Point. He was a very important member of the business community and if he liked Cammie's story, he might begin advertising in the newspaper. So when Cammie returned to the office, Bill immediately asked how things went...responding worriedly when she shared he had cancelled.

"In a strained voice Bill said, 'I hope he gives you another time slot. Vic's so successful he doesn't need our help. We need him. If he likes the article you write and advertises with us, every developer from Fort Walton Beach to San Destin probably will..."

As Cammie waits for her interview, she creates a new series about the largest fish catch to occur by local fisherman, immediately gaining interest and ad income...she could do this if only given a chance!

But when the apartment of a new friend was broken into, and then her own was also, Cammie once again began to wonder about staying there. She had finally completed the article on Deleona and had even begun having dinner and long walks with him...but was it enough to keep her from going back home?

Love Turns The Tide has a good solid story line that allows readers to immediately empathize with the main character. We could be walking in her shoes--angry and upset over a broken relationship with a tarnished hero, forced to change jobs, move to a new location, leaving family and friends behind, and trying to once again gain the professional respect that can only be earned not demanded. Cammie is quick to share her concerns in prayers and to seek out scriptural references to guide her, sharing where she goes to find her inspiration to meet each day and move toward an unknown future. There is warmth and love surrounding Cammie and I quickly decided I wanted everything to turn out perfectly for her...

Even in the suspense and concern of the breakins, readers will be pleasantly surprised with the outcome, which, when it occurred, allowed Cammie to make her most important decision for the future. Heartwarming and enjoyable reading from Gail Pallotta. The e-book is available from Awe-Struck Publishing! Don't Miss This one!

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GABixlerReviews

"Softly, she spoke, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and
only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life." (John 3: 16). It had been the first Bible verse she had
memorized. She hadn't thought of it in a long time, but she was glad she
remembered it now. She stood for a few minutes and watched the
seagulls soar over the crystal green tinted water, flying to the bright white
sand bar across the way to dive for fish, their course sure, their
destination fruitful. If God directed their paths surely he would guide her too.
For a reason she couldn't explain she felt close to Him now. It was as though
He was telling her everything was all right..."