A train roars over the rails, carrying passengers on a trip that will change their lives. Among the many people aboard the 97 Silver Meteor are Andie Crystal, a lonely young woman hiding from her youth as a reality TV star; Matthew Scofield, a widower trying to balance his career and his responsibilities for his two young children; and Janette Turlington, a middle-aged mother running from a troubled home and marriage. These three form a makeshift family on an Amtrak tour through the Southern seaboard, a journey that just might heal their wounded hearts and restore them to the people to whom they matter most . . .
My Review:
Here is one novel with three relatable characters who connect while escaping from their three distinct lives. They meet while traveling for ten days on a Southern Heritage Tour via an Amtrak train. Janette Turlington is a woman of mystery, trying to hide her black eye. Andie Crystal hopes to avoid paparazzi, and attorney, Matthew Scofield wrestles with the grief of his wife's sudden death. In addition to his firm's obligations, he's responsible for his two small children.
Each of the stories are enough to hold the reader's attention, and each has a hidden twist. Angela Hunt never disappoints!
When an ambitious tyrant threatens genocide against the Jews, an inexperienced young queen must take a stand for her people.
An ambitious tyrant threatens genocide against the Jews in ancient Persia, so an inexperienced beautiful young queen must take a stand for her people.
When Xerxes, king of Persia, issues a call for beautiful young women, Hadassah, a Jewish orphan living in Susa, is forcibly taken to the palace of the pagan ruler. After months of preparation, the girl known to the Persians as Esther wins the king's heart and a queen's crown. But because her situation is uncertain, she keeps her ethnic identity a secret until she learns that an evil and ambitious man has won the king's permission to exterminate all Jews--young and old, powerful and helpless. Purposely violating an ancient Persian law, she risks her life in order to save her people...and bind her husband's heart.
Esther marks bestselling author Angela Hunt's return to biblical fiction. In each novel she explores an example of a Hebrew Old Testament tob woman: a woman whose physical beauty influences those around her--and can change the course of history.
My Review:
Angela Hunt has long been a favorite author of mine. When she writes, I cannot help but admire her commitment to biblical truth and her extensive research.
This work of Christian fiction reads as truth. The story is told in two voices: Esther (Hadassah) and one of the king's eunuchs, Harbonah. Chapters alternate between the two, allowing a deeper perspective.
I've loved the story of Esther since I first read it in the Bible. This novel opens up the tale with so many details. For instance, talk about beauty! Esther was so gorgeous that even when she was a young girl, people stopped to stare. I found myself impressed with the description of the Queen's carriage scene.
However, she was not born into privilege; rather, she was born a Jew, outside the palace walls. This was a challenging time. I feel that a really good action film should be made from this book.
I recommend this one!
Thank you to Amy Green at Bethany House Publishers, A Division of Baker Publishing Group for my copy.
While searching for a way to help support her young family, Amanda Lisandra decides to act as a gestational carrier for a childless couple. After she finally establishes a pregnancy with another couple’s embryo, her soldier husband is killed on a special forces mission. Devastated by grief, she surrenders the child she was carrying and struggles to regain her emotional equilibrium.
Two years later she studies a photograph of the child she bore and wonders if the unthinkable has happened—could she have given birth to her own biological child and inadvertently given him away? Over the next few months Amanda struggles to decide between the desires of her grief-stricken heart and what’s best for the little boy she has never known.
My Review:
I get so excited whenever Angela Hunt releases another book because she never disappoints me. Her characters ring true, the situations they face are believable, and plots move along at a nice pace. I appreciate the depth the author goes to with her research. I always learn from her novels.
This is a story about a military wife who decides to serve as a gestational carrier for a couple who cannot carry their own child. There is a side story about foster parenting and adoption. The first person point of view allows the reader to walk hand-in-hand with Amanda (Mandy) as she moves through her experiences. I think she reasoned her dilemma out quite well, and I agree with her decision.
If these three sisters don’t change direction, they’ll end up where they’re going.
Darlene Caldwell has spent a lifetime tending Sycamores, an estate located five miles south of a small town called Peculiar. She raised a family in the spacious home that was her grandfather’s legacy, and she enjoys being a pillar of the community. Sycamores is the kingdom where she reigns as queen . . . until her limelight-stealing twin sister unexpectedly returns.
Carlene Caldwell, veteran of the Broadway stage, is devastated when she realizes that an unsuccessful throat surgery has spelled the end of her musical career. Searching for a new purpose in life, she retreats to Sycamores, her childhood home. She may not be able to sing, but she hopes to use her knowledge and experience to fashion a new life in Peculiar, the little town she left behind.
Haunted by a tragic romance, Magnolia Caldwell is the youngest of the Caldwell girls. Nolie has never wanted to live anywhere but Sycamores. She spends her days caring for her dogs and the magnificent gardens she’s created on the estate, but when she meets a man haunted by his own tragedy, she must find the courage to either deny her heart or cut the apron strings that tie her to a dear and familiar place.
Can these sisters discover who they are meant to be when life takes an unforeseen detour? In a season of destiny, three unique women reunite and take unexpected journeys of the heart.
My Review:
Every time Angela Hunt publishes a new novel, I look forward to reading it. She never disappoints, but some titles, like this one, are like cream that rises to the top!
The plot revolves around three sisters--each quite different, and yet, each one linked together. These unique family members get so upset with one another that they go months without speaking. Some interesting men add to the mix. Why, there's even two dogs--Lucy and Ricky Ricardo!--who play a big part. Set in a small town in the South, where everyone knows everything about anyone, family loyalty becomes strained.
Three Southern sisters with nine marriages between them--and more looming on the horizon--travel to St. Simons Island to empty their late grandmother’s house. Ginger, the eldest, wonders if she’s the only one who hasn’t inherited what their family calls “the Grandma Gene”--the tendency to enjoy the casualness of courtship more than the intimacy of marriage. Could it be that her sisters are fated to serially marry, just like their seven-times wed grandmother, Lillian Irene Harper Winslow Goldstein Carey James Bobrinski Gordon George?
It takes a “girls only” weekend, closing up Grandma’s memory-filled beach cottage for the last time, for the sisters to unpack their family baggage, examine their relationship DNA, and discover the true legacy their much-marrying grandmother left behind.
My Review: No one writes special twists better than Angela Hunt. Relationships of three sisters are tackled in this Christian fiction novel. Each chapter is written in the point of view of one of the three sisters: Ginger, the first-born organized one; Penny, the flirt; and Rose, the baby, who carries a deep longing. Each sister hides behind some insincerity; all are revealed at the satisfying end.
In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that I love, love, love Angela Hunt! She never disappoints. As a first-born, I connected right away with Ginger; I admired her, and later, I cried with her. Perhaps you will connect with Ginger or with another sister. I'll bet you see a part of yourself in one of them.
This would make a super choice for a beach book, or a book club title. Included is a Reading Group Guide, and a Q&A interview with the author. I sincerely recommend this book.
The murder trial promises to be the most sensational to hit Chicago in years. And attorney Briley Lester knows it could make—or break her career. The tabloid headlines are screaming that a long-mistreated society wife has killed her abusive husband—the scion of one of the city's wealthiest, most powerful, most dangerous families….
It seems like a hopeless, open-and-shut case, but Briley is becoming more and more convinced that her client truly is innocent. A tragic secret, almost too shocking to be believed, could be the key to proving it. But before she can bring the truth into the light, she'll have to face this woman's shadow-haunted past—and her own— and let darkness come….
My Review: Thank you to Mira Publishing for my copy of this new legal suspense novel by my favorite author who once again produces a book with an unexpected twist. It's typical Angela Hunt: fantastic!
Briley Lester, a frustrated criminal attorney who once envisioned making a positive difference in the world, has become weary of defending guilty criminals. Now she has a huge first-degree murder case dropped into her lap. To make matters worse, she has never tried a murder case; indeed, all of her cases have been low level ones. Does her firm want her to lose?
Erin Tomassi, the widow of a state senator, stands accused of his murder. All the evidence is stacked against her, and everyone--even this reader sees her as guilty. Yet as the plot unfolds, opinions change. Could she be innocent?
Angela Hunt takes this impossible case and creates some courtroom drama. This is no Perry Mason novel; this is based on potential possibilities. This author always educates.
The writing is first-person narrative and flows. Pages almost turn by themselves. I would enjoy staying in touch with the characters. I do hope to see Briley Lester in another novel. Be sure to grab this one for a good read.
Newspaper columnist Peyton MacGruder has returned to her job after covering the story of an ill-fated Pan World flight. Having recently discovered Christine, the daughter she gave up to an adoption agency nineteen years ago, she is reluctant to commit to the handsome sportswriter Kingston Danville. She feels she owes it to Christine to set her love life aside and make up for lost time.
But when a reader challenges Peyton’s advice to “let caution trump passion,” Peyton determines to learn the reason behind her reader’s cynicism...and in the process, discovers answers to her own heart-rending dilemma.
A sequel to Angela Hunt’s best-selling novel, The Note, on which the Hallmark movie was based. This novelization based on the Hallmark movie sequel will contain color images from the second movie.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Christy Award winner Angela Hunt writes books for readers who have learned to expect the unexpected. With over three million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the best-selling author of The Tale of Three Trees, The Note (which became a Hallmark holiday film), and more than 100 other titles. Angela has won gold and silver medals from ForeWord magazine’s Book of the Year Award and has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from a major readers’ magazine.
My Review: If you enjoy a good love story, here's one for you. Actually, this quick-to-read novel contains two love stories.
There is a theme of taking the initiative to step out and ask forgiveness of those you've wronged so that you can move forward with life. Lead with your heart, not your head. This story begins where the The Noteleaves off.
Everyone knows that the book is better than the movie, and in this case, that certainly proves true. I enjoyed reading the thoughts of the protagonist, Peyton. Her thoughts need to be "heard." In the movie, the viewer is forced to "read between the lines." In the book, the reader peeks inside her brain to better understand her thought process. Discussions questions are included.
If you would like to read the first chapter, see here.
With one elbow propped on her desk, Peyton MacGruder chewed on the edge of a fingernail and glared at the clock on the wall. On days like this, when she was twenty minutes away from her deadline and far from finished with her column, she could swear that the minute hand swept over the clock face at double speed.
She transferred her gaze to the computer monitor and fluttered her fingers over the keyboard. Some days the magic worked and the words flowed. Other days she might as well be typing gibberish.
She skimmed the half-completed column on her screen and tried to focus her thoughts. Last week a reader had written that she was afraid to trust a brother-in-law who had stolen from her in the past. Peyton had answered that forgiveness was important, but experience could not be ignored. And when it came to matters of the heart, caution should always trump passion. Dozens of readers had e-mailed, filling her in-box with responses, most of them supportive.
Now she was working on a recap that included reader comments, but everything she’d written so far looked like extended self-congratulation. She needed a corroborating opinion . . . and any column could be improved with an appropriate quote, couldn’t it? She reached for her dictionary of popular quotations, scanned the index, and jabbed her finger at an appropriate entry. Smiling with satisfaction, she propped her reading glasses on the end of her nose and worked the quote into her piece:
And so, dear readers, when it comes to dealing with relationships, perhaps we should keep the words of Eumenides in mind. That venerable sage once wrote, “There are times when fear is good. It must keep its watchful place at the heart’s controls. There is advantage in the wisdom won from pain.”
Perhaps a happy heart is, at its core, a cautious heart.
There. She leaned back and clicked the word count tool. Seven hundred words—not bad. The dragon lady shouldn’t have to cut any of this column.
After a quick proofread, Peyton clicked Send and addressed the file to Nora Chilton, senior features editor. Another click and away it went.
She turned as something slapped the surface of her desk. Mandi Hillridge, an overenthusiastic intern from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, stood in the aisle, her arms filled with folders. Peyton picked up the envelope Mandi had tossed her way and studied the return address. “Am I supposed to know this Eve Miller?”
Mandi shifted her burden from one arm to the other. “I doubt it. I think she’s a reader.”
Peyton ran her fingertip across the ragged edge. “Why has this letter been opened?”
“Because Phil Brinker didn’t check the address before he tore into it. Our stellar mailroom staff mistakenly delivered it to him while he was in New York working on that story about the media covering the media. He just got back and told me to bring it to you.” Mandi stepped closer, her eyes gleaming. “You want me to go fuss at the guys in the mailroom? One of them’s kinda cute.”
Peyton glanced over the short walls of the reporters’ cubicles and saw Nora stepping out of the elevator. “No.” She propped both elbows up on her desk. “I want you to get me two Tylenol. Extra strength.”
“You have a headache?”
“Not yet.”
Mandi turned in time to see Nora approaching, a folded newspaper in hand. Even from her desk Peyton recognized the distinctive banner that contained her byline and staff photo. Had Nora come down to complain about a column that had already run? She wouldn’t, unless one of the higher-ups sent her to confront Peyton about some obscure point.
“About that headache—” Mandi lowered her voice—“I’ll bring the bottle.”
The young woman hurried away as Nora approached Peyton’s desk. The editor waved the paper before Peyton’s anxious gaze and nodded. “By the way, about this column last week? You were absolutely right.”
“That’s a nice change.” Peyton managed a smile. “About what?”
“Passion. It should always be tempered with caution. Especially when it comes to affairs of the heart.”
Peyton straightened in her chair, not certain why the editor had felt compelled to personally deliver this bit of elaboration. “You speaking from conviction or firsthand experience?”
Nora managed a coy smile. “None of your business. Anyway, you’ve been doing really good work lately. I had my doubts at first, but you’ve grown into the job.”
“You came all the way down here to pat me on the back?”
“Actually, I came down here to tell you that in addition to writing the Heart Healer, I’m going to need you to handle a feature or two for the Lifestyles section. We got the call last night; Marlo Evans had a baby boy, so she’ll be out on maternity leave for the next several weeks.”
Peyton dropped her head to her hand and groaned. “Why not use freelancers?”
“Because I don’t have the patience or the finances to deal with neophytes. The budget cuts have made it necessary for all of us to pick up the slack now and then. Besides—” her mouth curved in a wry smile—“you’re fast and you’re good at researching. A feature or two shouldn’t be a problem for you.”
“But I’m swamped with—” Peyton swallowed the rest of her complaint as sports editor King Danville moved into her line of vision. A warm feeling settled in the pit of her stomach and brought a smile to her lips. Would she ever stop feeling all gushy and girly whenever King approached her desk?
King glanced at the features editor before returning Peyton’s smile. “Hello, Nora.”
Nora’s chin dipped in a stiff nod. “Kingston.”
Like a flower seeking the sun, Peyton shifted to face the man who had recently brought new joy to her life. “I was just telling Nora that these days I don’t have time to keep up with my column and write a weekly feature, no matter how occasional it is.”
Nora glanced from Peyton to King and then arched a brow. “Perhaps if you temper your newfound passion, you’ll find the time.”
King grinned as the editor smiled and moved toward the elevator; then he pulled a white bottle from his jacket pocket and shook it. Peyton placed the familiar rattle within seconds: Extra Strength Tylenol, as requested.
“Ran into Mandi in the coffee room,” King explained. “She said you were going to need these.”
“She was right.” Peyton sighed. “Nora seems to think I can sit down and whip up a decent feature while I’m outlining my next column. I don’t know where she got the idea that I’m some kind of writing machine.”
“Maybe from the fact that you write so fast you make the rest of us look like we’re moving backward.”
Peyton shook her head, unwilling to accept praise she didn’t deserve. She knew the truth—she could turn an assignment around quickly because outside the newspaper office she had no life. While other writers struggled to work amid the pressures of family schedules, children’s homework, school events, sporting activities, and the needs of a spouse, Peyton only had to take care of herself and her two cats.
At least that’s the way things were before King and Christine came into her life. The situation was a little different now, and she was feeling the pressure.
“I’m not that fast,” she insisted. “And I’m not that versatile.”
“Then don’t cave so quickly, MacGruder. Just because Nora’s your boss doesn’t mean you have to let her push you around.”
“I was ready to push back until she played the guilt card. When she mentioned the budget cuts, I realized how lucky I am to even be employed. How can I not agree to write whatever she wants?”
“That’s what I like about you—you’re a solid team player.”
“I’m a pushover.”
King smiled and stepped to the side of Peyton’s desk. “In that case, I’d better prescribe two of these—” he held up the bottle of pain relievers—“or one of these.” Before Peyton could point out that they were surrounded by coworkers in cubicles, he bent and pressed a kiss to her lips. She closed her eyes, ready to forget about an audience of staff reporters, clerks, and copy editors, but the kiss didn’t last.
She looked up at him, unsatisfied.
“Do any good?” he asked.
“Not sure. Try again. Maybe increase the dosage.”
He bent, his lips warming hers with more passion this time. When he finally pulled away, Peyton exhaled a long sigh of happiness . . . and the writers around her erupted into applause.
Peyton grinned as her cheeks warmed. “They approve.”
“I don’t give a fig about them. What did you think?”
“Um . . . better.”
“Only better? Well, you know what they say about practice making perfect . . .”
As the other reporters hooted and King leaned in for yet another kiss, Peyton pressed her palm against the center of his chest. “You know, it’s this kind of temptation that led to Marlo Evans’s maternity leave. And in turn, to my impending headache. So maybe we should get back to work.”
With a roguish grin, King straightened and stepped away from her chair. “Yes, ma’am.”
“But after work—” Peyton squinted at him—“would you want to go for a jog with me and Christine? We wanted to run the paths down by the shoreline.”
King shook his head. “Enticing offer, but I’ve got to run out to the university after I finish up today. David needs to talk to me about something. He says it’s important.”
Peyton nodded, once again reminded that their relationship was not as simple as it would have been if they’d met in their twenties. She had Christine to consider, and King had David. Both children, hers and his, were nearly grown, and both had been forced to deal with the aftermath of their parents’ unwise decisions.
“MacGruder.” King’s voice, warm and insistent, drew her from her thoughts. “Maybe I’ll stop by your place later.”
“I’d like that.” Peyton offered him a forgiving smile. “I’ll be waiting.”
King took two steps toward his office, then halted. “Hey—” he turned, propping his arms on the cubicle wall—“I found an interesting e-mail in my in-box this morning. A friend in New York said my name recently came up in a board meeting at the Times.”
Peyton felt a frigid finger touch the base of her spine. “The New York Times?”
He chuckled. “Hard to imagine, huh? Moving from the Middleborough Times to the Gray Lady?”
“Your name came up in a board meeting? What does that mean, exactly?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’ll keep you posted.”
As he walked away, exchanging gibes with other writers as he passed their desks, Peyton felt fear blow down the back of her neck. Any other journalist would be salivating at the thought of writing for the Times, but King never seemed to get ahead of himself. Contentment was one of his primary virtues, and Peyton hadn’t realized how much she’d been counting on his ability to remain satisfied with the status quo.
What would she do if she lost him?
The thought struck like a blow to the chest, stealing her breath. Until recently, she had managed to keep herself detached from complicated personal relationships. But then the tragedy of a horrific plane crash taught her about the brevity of life and the importance of connection. Now she was desperate to understand two precious people, but understanding took time, and time was something she no longer possessed in abundance.
She forced herself to take a deep breath and steady her pulse. No one was abandoning her; the world had not shifted on its axis. Her imagination was simply working overtime, a tendency that nearly always resulted in needless worry and borrowed trouble.
With her gift for imagining disaster, maybe she should have been a novelist.
When she swiveled toward her computer, determined to set her fears aside and tackle her e-mail, her gaze fell again on the envelope from Eve Miller. The postmark was five days in the past, so by now the woman’s comments were old news. And in an electronic society, old news was dead news.
Peyton tossed the envelope into a bin filled with unopened letters and turned her attention to her in-box.
***
Peyton slid behind the wheel of her car, tossed her purse into the empty passenger seat, and fumbled with the buckle of her seat belt. When she was certain the car’s computer wouldn’t scold her for forgetting some vital procedure, she turned the ignition switch and waited for the automatic seat to slide forward, tilt, rise, and whatever else it did to adjust to her frame.
King had talked her into buying this vehicle last weekend, insisting that her old car was only a few miles away from imploding. “Ninety-eight thousand miles?” he exclaimed after glimpsing her odometer. “Good grief, MacGruder, are you going for some kind of endurance record?”
She had to admit the new vehicle was nice, but its myriad bells and whistles bewildered her. She hadn’t taken the time to read the manual, and she barely managed to sit through the salesman’s demonstration. “I don’t have time to fuss with fancy gadgets,” she told the desperate young man who had greeted her and King at the auto dealership. “So just point me toward something safe and inexpensive. Something I won’t have to give up chocolate to afford.”
Like a village matchmaker, the salesman grinned and fixed her up with this sleek blue machine, which he kept calling a crossover—a cross between a sedan and an SUV. She had a feeling the vehicle was too big to be economical or politically correct, but since an entire row of similar vehicles waited behind a fence at the dealership, the manager was probably eager to move his inventory. Regardless, the car earned good crash ratings, it used less gasoline than a tank, and it had the one accessory she couldn’t live without: a CD player.
Before putting the car in gear, Peyton punched the button of the stereo system and relaxed when the professional reader’s voice poured through the surround sound speakers. She’d bought this audiobook about mothers and daughters shortly after telling Christine the truth about their relationship—yes, they were reporter and reader, but they were also biological mother and daughter. Eighteen years and difficult circumstances had kept them apart, but a series of newspaper columns had brought them back together.
Now Peyton wanted nothing more than to be the mother she would have been if tragedy hadn’t intervened. A heaven-sent miracle had restored the child she’d been forced to surrender for adoption, and Peyton didn’t want to forfeit this second chance to love. And parent. And occasionally nag.
She and Christine were still in the midst of that awkward getting-to-know-you phase, but Peyton felt they’d made great strides in their relationship. They tried to talk every day, even if only briefly, and though Christine still lived in the house she’d inherited from her adoptive parents, she felt free enough to drop into Peyton’s home unannounced, as any daughter naturally would.
Still, Christine rarely called Peyton “Mom.” When necessary, she called Peyton by name . . . or she didn’t call her anything at all.
“By late adolescence,” a confident voice intoned as Peyton put the car in gear and backed out of the parking space, “most daughters can be placed in one of three categories—distant, dissatisfied, or dependent. Do any of these words remind you of the young woman in your life?”
Peyton shook her head and shifted into drive. The author needed a fourth category for Christine—maybe delightful. They were still in the honeymoon phase, each of them unbearably grateful to have found the other. They might have disagreements later—in fact, they probably would—but for now Peyton was thrilled to be able to know and love the young woman who had never been far from her thoughts and prayers.
“Outstanding mothers devote most of their time to their children, instilling healthy values into daughters who will become outstanding mothers themselves,” the reader continued, “but unsuitable mothers abandon and abuse.”
Peyton winced at the author’s use of the word abandon.
“Bottom line, if you provide your child with what she needs—clothing, shelter, food, affection—you, concerned mother, are off the hook if your daughter makes unwise decisions. After you have taught your child right from wrong, your daughter has the freedom to choose . . . right or wrong. Do not blame yourself if she chooses to learn life’s lessons through negative experiences.”
Peyton frowned as she pulled out of the parking lot and into traffic. Over the years, she’d covered dozens of stories involving teenage delinquents—wayward boys who got mixed up with guns and drugs, runaway girls who ended up on the street or in the hospital because they went looking for love in all the wrong faces. Behind every sad teenager’s story, Peyton found a distraught mother who couldn’t seem to understand how her child ended up in such a deplorable state.
She hated to admit it, but every time she interviewed one of those mothers, she’d walked away feeling resentful and slightly smug, convinced that she would have managed better if only given a chance. But now that she was being given an opportunity to mother a teen, she had no idea what she was supposed to do.
To make matters worse, her time of greatest influence would be limited. After the plane crash in which her father died, Christine had taken time off to grieve, but soon she’d go back to school and get busy with her studies. She’d probably meet a young man on campus and want to settle down. Then she’d center her world on her husband and her children, and she’d expect Peyton to focus on being a doting grandmother, not a mom. So this precious opportunity to parent her daughter would be relatively short-lived.
Peyton pulled up to the red light at an intersection and snapped off the CD player. The bookstores were loaded with books about how to parent newborns, toddlers, middle schoolers, and teens, but no one had much advice for brand-new parents of young adults.
No one even seemed to be able to answer Peyton’s most basic question: at eighteen, which did Christine need most: an authority figure or a friend?
The generous folks at Tyndale House Publishers are allowing me to host this book giveaway for five (5) copies!
Winners are restricted to the US and Canada. No PO Box mailing addresses, please.
Leave your email address in code in your comment (Please do not ask me to look it up! It's the only thing I ask of you.) Example of email in code: you[at]yourmail[dot]com
I'll close the comments at 6 PM EST June 25th and pick the winners. I will contact the winners via email to get their mailing information. The winners will have three days to respond. If I do not hear from a winner within three days, I will select another winner(s).
If you're interested, just say so in a comment with that all-important email address in code.
from the back cover: His younger brother will be greater than he…
With those words, Menashe's dreams collapse. As Yosef's eldest son, his position had seemed secure. But now Efrayim—bold, charming Efrayim, who's everything Menashe is not—is taking his place. With their people. With the pharaoh. With Jendayi, the slave Menashe loves.
Efrayim, meanwhile, sees his dreams confirmed. Surely it's his destiny to unite the Egyptians and Hebrews. To marry a princess and achieve splendor surpassing that of his brother.
Then Menashe's dreams take a dangerous twist as he becomes obsessed with returning the Hebrews to their homeland. If he succeeds, he'll restore their heritage. If he fails…he could destroy them all.
My Review: Ancient Egypt comes alive. Using the Bible as her foundation, Angela Hunt takes a few verses from Genesis, Joshua, and Nahum and fills in gaps with a believable work of fiction. Her ability to weave a mountain of research into an enjoyable story never ceases to amaze me. This is the third in Legends of the Ancient River trilogy. It can be read and enjoyed without first reading the other two (Dreamers and Brothers).
This narrative description of a love triangle between Menashe and Efrayim, sons of Joseph, grandsons of Israel--and Jendayi, a musician slave to Pharaoh contains many twists and turns along with a heap of palace politics. All ends are neatly tied up at the end, including the solution for Joseph and Tuya.
I learned about Ancient Egypt's embalming process and the funeral trip to bury Israel that took place from Egypt to the land of Goshen. It was enlightening to compare the refined culture of the Egyptians with less sophisticated, sheep and goat herding Hebrews. Equally fascinating is the comparison of the many Egyptian gods to El Shaddai. I enjoyed the game of Hounds and Jackals.
I love this quote from the book: "I do not understand everything God allows....it is enough to know He has a purpose for me" (322).
Although anyone can read and enjoy this historical romance novel, I think that those interested in the Bible will enjoy it the most. Discussion questions in the back of the book would make for an interesting group analysis.
I am willing to give away my copy of this book. (HINT: I like to give away books to people who regularly leave me comments.)
Winners are restricted to the US and Canada. No PO Box mailing addresses, please.
Leave your email address in code in your comment (This is the biggest mistake entrants make. They forget to leave their email address! Please do not ask me to look it up. This is all I ask of you.)
I'll close the comments at 6 PM EST April 17th and pick the winner. I will contact the winner via email to get her mailing information. She will have three days to respond. If I do not hear from her within three days, I will select another winner(s).
If you're interested, just say so in a comment with that all-important email address in code. Example of email in code: you[at]yourmail[dot]com
Jennifer Graham is struggling to make ends meet while running the Fairlawn Funeral Home, raising two children, and studying for her national board exam. Her work takes on a new dimension when Gerald Huffman, her assistant and mentor, reveals that he has a serious illness. When she learns that he and his daughter haven’t spoken in years, Jen decides to help them reconcile . . . but things don’t go exactly as she planned.
Jennifer is longing for stability in her life . . . but she soon discovers that life isn’t stagnant; it’s always changing. Once again, the mortuary is a setting for lessons of laughter, love, and life.
My Review: This was a book I did not want to begin reading because I KNEW that when I finished it, I'd feel bookless. As long as I put off starting it, I knew that I had a treasure waiting. I was correct. It's the third book in the Fairlawn series, and I loved it. Angela Hunt has the ability to write a trilogy so that each book can be read alone and understood perfectly; however, when all are read in order, a deeper experience awaits the reader. I've finished this third in the series now, and I feel like a spoiled child, stamping my feet. I don't want this series to finish--ever! I want to move to Mt. Dora and have lunch with Jen! I want to join the ladies and Joella at the Biddle House for a bit of talk; maybe I'll even put on a red hat! I want to watch Kristen grow into the woman God intends. In other words, the characters have come to life for me.
This author teaches with her writing. There are so many details; her research amazes me. With this series, I have learned a good bit about the funeral industry, and gained a sense of appreciation for the work of people like Gerald and Jennifer. Angela Hunt aptly handles what could be a touchy subject and makes pleasurable reading. The story takes the reader along to a convention for people in the industry. All sorts of tips are given. Why, I even learned how to apply mascara!
In addition to learning, this faith-based volume contains other things that appeal to readers. There's a need for tissues because of the tears. There's romance. There's humor. (The Living Funeral is hysterical.) I cannot recommend this series high enough. The author is at her peek!
Although I have many other books waiting to be read, there are no more Angela Hunt books waiting for me. So I'm bookless. Now what?
Included are Discussion Questions and a recipe for Brown Sugar Pecan Cake.
I understand that you might like all three books in the series, so I'm making it convenient. If you'd like to buy any or all copies, click here.
Angela Hunt at A Life in Pages is my favorite author. She writes for readers who have learned to expect the unexpected. With over three million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the best-selling author of more than 100 works ranging from picture books to novels.
Her books have won the coveted Christy Award, several Angel Awards from Excellence in Media, and the Gold and Silver Medallions from Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award. In 2007, her novel The Note was featured as a Christmas movie on the Hallmark channel. Romantic Times Book Club presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. Here's her latest:
They Dared to Dream of Love
In the land of Pharaoh, Tuya has always been a slave. As a little girl, she was sold as a playmate to a wealthy child who became her best friend. But as she approaches womanhood, beautiful Tuya is betrayed and cast out. Now she belongs to Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh's guard.
Yet her heart is owned by handsome Joseph, sold into slavery by his own brothers. Proud, arrogant Joseph dreams of freedom, of his own household, of Tuya as his queen. Shared dreams will sustain Joseph and Tuya through the deepest of sorrows and most unbearable of separations…but is it God's will to make the dream their destiny?
My Review: The story of Joseph as told in the Bible is a familiar one; I've read it many times. So I first thought that this book wouldn't appeal to me. I should have realized that anything Angela Hunt writes is going to be GOOD. She takes the biblical account and using her attention to detail, fictionalizes it so that I end up thinking, "Yes, it could have happened like this." It just makes sense!
Her ability to weave information gathered from what must have been a massive research project, and create twists and turns so that readers always "expect the unexpected" just amazes. You may ask, "How can there be surprises in a well-known story?" Ah, you'll have to read it to see for yourself.
Angela Hunt is graciously providing me with two (2) copies of Dreamers for this giveaway!
Winners are restricted to the United States. No PO Box mailing addresses, please.
I must have a way of contacting you, so be sure to leave your email address in code in your comment
(Please do not ask me to look it up!)
I'll close the comments at 6 PM EST December 7th and pick the two winners. I will contact the winners via email to get their mailing information. The winners will have three days to respond. If I do not hear from them within three days, I will select another winner(s).
If you're interested, just say so in a comment with that all-important email address in code. Example of email in code: yourname[at]hotmail[dot]com
Born to parents who died shortly after her birth, twenty-year-old genius Sarah Sims has been hidden in a secure CIA facility where she works to help her handlers achieve their goals. Yet her days of anonymity are limited because her aunt has discovered her existence and is determined to lead Sarah out of exile. But before she can leave the only world she’s ever known, Sarah needs what most people take for granted . . . a functioning face and the skills to use it. Will she remain in her secluded fortress or summon the courage to follow her heart?
My Review: I just finished reading an advanced copy of The Face by Angela Hunt. I can sum up my reaction in one word: WOW!
A baby is born with such severe facial deformities that several operations must be preformed in order for the child to breathe, eat, hear, and speak. Twenty years later, her aunt, a psychologist, stumbles across the evidence of the child's existence, and begins a determined quest to find and love her niece, no matter her niece's appearance. But without an acceptable face, the young lady has never been in public; she's never learned to experience emotions.
Hunt's talented writing pulls the reader into this tender thriller with realistic characters and believable dialogue. She teaches me something new with each one of her novels. At the core of this novel, the reader considers the importance of life, love, and pain.
This is one of those hard-to-put-down books. John Grisham, move over!
The Face is scheduled to be released in November. You can order a copy now for an unbelievably low price.
I'm often asked to recommend a "good book." First, my definition of a good book is one that is well written. It's difficult for me to enjoy a book with run-ons and sentence fragments. A good read must have believable characters, the plot should flow, and finally, the ending should satisfy with a sound conclusion. In addition, I want to read material without R-rated language or scenes.
I've never gone wrong with an Angela Elwell Hunt book. Her motto is to "Expect the Unexpected." I've read twenty of her diverse novels. Each time I read an Angela Hunt book, I'm sure that she cannot possibly surprise me with yet another new twist, but I turn the page and blink! Angie does not disappoint.
My Review: In one of her latest, The Elevator, set in Tampa, Florida during an approaching hurricane, three women become trapped in an elevator. You'll meet: a betrayed wife, seeking revenge and carrying a gun, a mistress with new knowledge, determined to confront her lover, and a cleaning lady, afraid of having her horrible secret revealed. They soon discover that the one thing they have in common is--a man! I can't reveal more or I'll spoil it for you.
Although I did not want to put this one down, I found myself reading slowly to savor every word. The ending is impossible for any reader to guess. Try it, you'll like it!
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