Deeply Devoted by Maggie Brendan is a sweet romance that comes with baggage. Catherine Olsen is the star of this book. She accepts the mail-order-bride proposal from Peter Anderson. What Peter doesn’t know is Catherine is bringing along her two sisters and big secret.
I enjoyed this delightful easy to read book. It’s part of a series called Blue Willow Brides. I’m going to go back and read those.
European Mail-Order Bride Finds Love Against All Odds
Acclaimed romance writer Maggie Brendan’s latest offering from the “Blue Willow Bride” series, Deeply Devoted (ISBN: 978-0-8007-3462-6, $14.99, 336 pages, September), introduces readers to Catharine Olsen, a mail-order bride arriving in America from Holland. She carries not only the anticipation of her marriage to Peter Andersen but also the residual pain of a tragic past, her mother’s Blue Willow china, and has her two younger sisters in tow. The fact is, in Wyoming, the single men outnumber the women five to one, so Catharine’s surpassing beauty and willing spirit are priceless gifts for Peter.
In spite of initial culture shock and necessary adjustments, Catharine finds a love with Peter that enraptures both her heart and mind. She is greatly troubled by Peter’s mother’s endeavors to sabotage their precious marriage. Catharine becomes terrified that her haunting past will be discovered, as the story unfolds with tremendous detail and extraordinary characterization.
Brendan’s previous work has received high rankings and praise in the Romantic Times, and she has also received the Atlanta Persistence Award from the American Christian Writers. Author Julie Lessman commented, “Maggie Brendan’s gentle style of prairie romance is reminiscent of Janette Oke, capturing the heart of both the Old West and the reader with romance that will make you sigh.”
Deeply Devoted is sure to captivate readers with its page-turning thrills and the hope of a deeply redemptive story.
Maggie Brendan is the author of No Place for a Lady, The Jewel of His Heart, and A Love of Her Own. A member of American Christian Writers and the American Fiction Writers Association, Maggie lives in Georgia.
Book provided for review by:
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life. They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet.
Over 650 Christian Fiction Writers stayed down town last weekend in St. Louis, Missouri for the American Christian Fiction Writers conference.
I was one of them. I grew up in Missouri and now live in Illinois, but close to St. Louis. I like to say, “The Arch is in my backyard.”
On this night I was headed with other authors to an even hosted by Barbour Publishing house to board the Tom Sawyer, a paddle boat that cruises the Mississippi River.
It’s been a while since I’ve experienced the river at night. When the boat turned to dock the city lights with the backdrop of the river current swishing against the boat the sight took my breath away.
St. Louis River Front
Despite the reported dangers and crimes I love this city. Within its boundaries are many delightful people, places to visit and foods that are unique. I am proud of this place I was born. This is my home, my heritage.
for more a2z please visit Patty Wysong. posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer
1. The new place will have bare walls. 2. The process of building a new family within those walls can include all of the family personalities 3. The new home will reflect your new blended family 4. You won’t have to look at the art work, owl collection, or other decorations of the previous spouse. 5. Moving gives everyone an equal starting over point. 6. A new house gives the new family rules a clean back drop. 7. With both families moving to a new home you’ll both be forced to clean out items you don’t want or need. Have a huge garage sale and get something new together. 8. You can start a new growth chart established 20XX. 9. Moving can bond a family together. 10. When you’ve established a new home in a new place you’ll feel like the walls are hugging instead of strangling you.
Last August a trip back in time occurred. It didn’t make the papers, Fox News or CNN.
Five women met for a morning of remembering elementary school, how they survived 7th grade at the Nike Base. That year our moms banded together to stop the buses from crossing an unsafe bridge. We remembered our years at PHS.
All of us lived in the same subdivision where streets were walked after dark, sleds sailed down snow laden streets and phone lines almost melted from many daily crisis situations.
The hallway above was our high school it is now the middle school.
Remembering the the feel of shoulder to shoulder walking, the smell of well perfumed girls because we didn’t like the showers, and a smile beaming at you as you passed a friend (Robby!) seems as bright as the polished floors in the photo.
Some of us have moved to other states, all have been married and have children but the moment we saw each other time turned backwards and in our hearts we were teenagers once more.
Time had crept into the space between high school and living. The five of us had lost touch with each other, missing important milestones in each others lives.
Then facebook brought us together again. It took almost a year before we found the last person, but it happened.
Now, we fill in the blanks, know that we will be there for each other from now on, and rejoice in the remembering of our pasts. I wish everyone could find their early friends and do their own remembering.
A Heart Revealed has everything, a passion for Christ, love and life. Lessman writes characters that live and breathe, she will draw you in between the covers of A Heart Revealed and keep you up late at night even when you have an early morning appointment.
Lessman continues this book with characters we fell in love with from A Passion Most Pure and the books following that masterpiece. This time we fall in love with Emma. I’ve wanted her story told since the first time I met her. It was worth the wait.
She Left Ireland And A Man Who Broke Her Heart… Only To Find An American Who Could Restore It.
Julie Lessman’s new novel A Heart Revealed (ISBN: 978-0-8007-3416-9, $14.99, 512 pages, September), the second offering in the “Winds of Change” series, opens in Boston in 1931, where thirty-one-year-old Emma Malloy has fled from an abusive marriage in Ireland.
Although her former husband has left her haunted and deeply scarred. Emma cannot help but develop strong feelings for her friend Charity’s brother, Sean O’Connor.
Described by his sister as very stubborn, Sean maintains that he is not the marrying kind. But as he and Emma draw closer and closer, will her strong, tender heart ensnare him and change his mind?
Transporting readers back to a time when the Empire State Building was brand new and the local speakeasy was a common destination, Lessman outlines the fascinating era and its citizens with deft precision.
Lessman, who has been hailed as a writer with noteworthy skill by Publishers Weekly has once again delivered an epic tale featuring vibrant characterization, wonderful thrills, sharp dialogue, and surprises both large and small.
Julie Lessman is an award-winning author whose books give readers “Passion With a Purpose,” underscoring her intense passion for both God and romance. Julie is the recipient of 13 Romance Writers of America awards and was chosen as #1 Romance Fiction Author of the Year in the Family Fiction magazine 2011 Readers Choice Awards. She was the winner of the 2009 ACFW Debut Author of the Year and Holt Medallion Awards of Merit for Best First Book and Long Inspirational. She resides in Missouri with her husband, daughter, son and daughter-in-law and is the author of “The Daughters of Boston” series, which includes A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed, and A Passion Denied. Her“Winds of Change” series has recently released with A Hope Undaunted, which ranked #5 on Booklist’s Top 10 Inspirational Fiction for 2010. You can contact Julie through her website at www.julielessman.com.
Book provided for fair review by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life. They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet.
Taking care of someone’s pet in your home can add a bit of fun to your life.
I happen to love dogs, one dog in particular. He belongs to my son and his wife.
They dropped him off before heading out for a long vacation. He came with stuff: rules about what to eat and what he isn’t allowed to snack on, a leash, water bowl and food dish and a huge bag of food.
He’s a good dog and I enjoy having him. He seems to like me because I talk–all the time–to myself, but he doesn’t know that I’m not speaking to him. He lays on the floor and listens, eyebrows bobbing up and down in agreement or maybe he’s disagreeing with what I’m saying?
Once in awhile– shhhh! I let him have a carrot or potato chip. So I was pretty sure he loved me a lot.
I went to walk him, snapped on the leash–I heard it click!–then opened the door. The leash went slack in my hand, and off he went.
I sprinted after him.I had been making gluten free pizza crusts when he insisted on going out. The apron I wore came untied as I ran after him, one of the ties wrapped around my leg as if trying to hold me back from chasing my four legged friend.
I called his name in a sweet tone.
He ignored me. He stopped to look at my neighbor’s horse. I heaved a sigh of relief and then he took off running again.
We’d both been running for about ten minutes…a very long time for me. I was winded. I stopped, rested my hands on my knees and prayed for God to stop that dog because I couldn’t tell my son I’d lost his furbaby.
Tears were burning in my eyes along with the fresh air in my lungs. Not sure what to do next, I stood there, and then the dog stopped running. I took a few quick steps his way.
He seemed frozen, except for the long line of drool hanging from his lip he could have been a statue.
What had stopped him? Did I care? Not at the moment. I hustled to his side and clipped the leash on his collar. Turns out my neighbor who had stepped outside and the dog was afraid of him.
Since we live close to a road this little escape could have been a disaster . If he’d have turned right instead of left this post would not have had the happy ending that it does.
I did hope that running as much as I did would cause the number on my scale to drop the next morning, alas it did not. But I am hopeful of seeing that happen after walking my furry friend several times a day on a well-tethered leash.
But what happens if your pet goes missing? Petfinder has an entire article how to search. It helps if you have your pet implanted with microchip. Veterinarians can scan a chip implanted by Homeagian .
As for pet sitters, make sure that leash is attached before you open the door.
It’s been awhile since I’ve written a review but this month I have several books to share with you. The first is Deadly Pursuit by Irene Hannon.
Deadly Pursuit is masterly written and intense, the story will keep your attention. The setting is very familiar to me–St. Louis and I felt that it was portrayed accurately. There are elements in this book that I found disturbing and almost made me stop reading as the first major thing that happens involves a ???? I won’t tell you because if you want to read it, you’ll want that same sick feeling I got.
I almost didn’t review it because of what happens in the beginning of the book almost made me stop reading. But I did like the suspense and the writing. This book provided by publisher for a fair review.
Alison Taylor is a young, single social worker recovering from a serious accident and a broken relationship, kept busy by her demanding job and her faithful canine companion, Bert. But when her police-detective brother pushes her into a blind date with his new colleague, ex-Navy SEAL Mitch Morgan, she’s not sorry—and neither is Mitch. When she begins to receive anonymous calls and threatening gifts, however, their relationship shifts into professional mode as well. And as Mitch works to protect the woman who is fast stealing his heart, he can only pray they’ll find her tormentor before the man’s game turns deadly.
Once again, Hannon delivers an accelerating thrill ride that will keep readers up late into the night.
Irene Hannon is the author of more than 35 novels, including the CBA bestsellers Against All Odds, An Eye for an Eye, In Harm’s Way and Fatal Judgment. Her books have been honored with the coveted RITA Award from Romance Writers of America (she’s a five-time finalist), the HOLT Medallion, the Daphne du Maurier award, and two Reviewer’s Choice Awards from Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine. She lives in Missouri. For more information about Irene and her books, visit her website at www.irenehannon.com.
I often wonder why everyone isn’t excited about piecing a lot of small pieces of fabric into a quilt. It’s much like life-something happens and you pick up the scattered hurts and patch them into something a bit different and useful.
And then I spend a few hours on a Saturday ripping out what I put together the night before and realize this is why everyone isn’t piecing! It’s often painful and no fun at all.
Spiral Tree Skirt someday
This tree skirt may not get finished in time for Christmas. I’ve had to take it apart at least 20 times.
Lutheran World Relief Quilt
This one will get finished. I belong to a small but might group of quilters at my church. We piece together quilts that are collected and used during disaster relief and for the homeless. The idea is to use the fabric donated and just sew the blocks together. I can’t. I must try and make them someone pretty. This is the one I’m working on now. It will get finished soon, but I did make it a diagonal pattern so I might be ripping it out too.
I have a great ripper. Surgical sharp. I know. I’ve caught my finger with it a few times.
I like piecing and I got my love of it from my grandmother Pauline! Yep, she’s a “P” and her photo is on my shelf. When I get discouraged about ripping and starting over I see her smiling face and know I’m not the first to rip, but I have a feeling she was more patient than I.
Pauline
And because I enjoy torturing myself with small pieces of fabric my next project is going to be a Dear Jane quilt. The finished blocks are 5″ and the entire quilt has over 5000 pieces.
Dear Jane Block
I may need another seam ripper.
*Laury–I visit your posts, but can’t seem to get my comments to work.