‘Before And After’ by Lisa Wingate and Judy Christie

susansnodgrass
The compelling, poignant true stories of victims of a notorious adoption scandal—some of whom learned the truth from Lisa Wingate’s bestselling novel Before We Were Yours and were reunited with birth family members as a result of its wide reach

From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans tailored to the wish lists of eager parents—hiding the fact that many weren’t orphans at all, but stolen sons and daughters of poor families, desperate single mothers, and women told in maternity wards that their babies had died.

The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of fifteen adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots and find their birth families.

Before and After includes moving and sometimes shocking accounts of the ways in which adoptees were separated from their first families. Often raised as only children, many have joyfully reunited with siblings in the final decades of their lives. Christie and Wingate tell of first meetings that are all the sweeter and more intense for time missed and of families from very different social backgrounds reaching out to embrace better-late-than-never brothers, sisters, and cousins. In a poignant culmination of art meeting life, many of the long-silent victims of the tragically corrupt system return to Memphis with the authors to reclaim their stories at a Tennessee Children’s Home Society reunion . . . with extraordinary results.

About Lisa Wingate

Selected among BOOKLIST’S Top 10 for two years running, Lisa Wingate writes novels that Publisher’s Weekly calls “Masterful” and ForeWord Magazine refers to as “Filled with lyrical prose, hope, and healing.” Lisa is a journalist, an inspirational speaker, and the author of a host of literary works. Her novels have garnered or been short-listed for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Utah Library Award, the LORIES Best Fiction Award, The Carol Award, the Christy Award, Family Fiction’s Top 10, RT Booklover’s Reviewer’s Choice Award, and others. The group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with six others for the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who promote greater kindness and civility in American life. She’s been a writer since Mrs. Krackhardt’s first-grade class and still believes that stories have the power to change the world.

IN THE WRITER’S OWN WORDS: A special first grade teacher, Mrs. Krackhardt, made a writer out of me. That may sound unlikely, but it’s true. It’s possible to find a calling when you’re still in pigtails and Mary Jane shoes, and to know it’s your calling. I was halfway through the first grade when I landed in Mrs. Krackhardt’s classroom. I was fairly convinced there wasn’t anything all that special about me… and then, Mrs. Krackhardt stood over my desk and read a story I was writing. She said things like, “This is a great story! I wonder what happens next?”

It isn’t every day a shy new kid gets that kind of attention. I rushed to finish the story, and when I wrote the last word, the teacher took the pages, straightened them on the desk, looked at me over the top, and said, “You are a wonderful writer!”

A dream was born. Over the years, other dreams bloomed and died tragic, untimely deaths. I planned to become an Olympic gymnast or win the National Finals Rodeo, but there was this matter of back flips on the balance beam and these parents who stubbornly refused to buy me a pony. Yet the writer dream remained. I always believed I could do it because… well… my first grade teacher told me so, and first grade teachers don’t lie.

So, that is my story, and if you are a teacher, or know a teacher, or ever loved a special teacher, I salute you from afar and wish you days be filled with stories worth telling and stories worth reading.

About Judy Christie

Author Judy Christie loves to read, write and talk about books.

An award-winning journalist, Judy is the co-author of “Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society,” a project that combines her love of stories, her Southern heritage, and her journalism background. She wrote the book with longtime friend Lisa Wingate, author of the bestseller “Before We Were Yours,” a fictional account of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society scandal.

Judy’s appreciation for interviewing began in elementary school, where she was editor of The Barret Banner, and continued in her work as a newspaper reporter and editor. Her interviews with the heroes of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society tragedy tell stories of love and loss through the voices of adoptees, now in their seventies and eighties, and their families–and the unexpected blessing of a gathering of adoptees.

Judy also has written a series of nonfiction self-help books and three series of Southern novels, including the Green, Louisiana, and Wreath Willis series.

She writes daily and has kept a diary since she was eleven–and still has all of them. She is also an avid letter writer and loves to create mail art.

Judy writes a #booklover column at http://www.shreveporttimes.com and invites you to visit her online. You can find her on Facebook @JudyChristieAuthor and Twitter @judypchristie.

For contests, book announcements, and chitchat about books, sign up for her free e-newsletter at http://www.judychristie.com.

Judy and her husband, a Tennessee native, live in rural Colorado where they share their place with the occasional bear and the ravens they are trying to befriend.

So, that is my story, and if you are a teacher, or know a teacher, or ever loved a special teacher, I salute you from afar and wish you days be filled with stories worth telling and stories worth reading.

My Rating: 4 Stars!

‘Tann’s empire at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society has been built with a combustible blend of desperate pregnant women, shattered children, vulnerable poverty-stricken families, eager adoptive parents, powerful politicians, ego, and greed.’

I read Lisa Wingate’s ‘Before We Were Yours’ and it impacted me deeply. Based on the facts of the cruel and devious Georgia Tann, who stole and adopted out over 5000 children between 1924-1950, it was a powerful book! After the book came out, many came forth because they knew they were part of that vicious story, taken from parents by Tann and sold to others, sometimes to a life of goodness and sometimes not. People began contacting Wingate about this and this book was born.

Based on the true stories of these people who were victims, for that’s what they can properly and truly be called, of Tann’s evil empire, they now tell their stories. Stories of how they always felt ‘something was missing’ and how they never felt totally complete. And then through the work of Wingate and Judy Christie, these people searched and found siblings they never knew they had!

Deeply moving and mind numbing, this book is a testament to the hearts of those that were abused so cruelly by a heinous woman whose crime rivaled that of any serial killer.

These stories will break your heart and bring joy at the same time. I was very moved by this book.

*My thanks to the publishers for a copy of this book via Net Galley. The opinions stated here are entirely my own.

‘Before And After’ by Lisa Wingate and Judy Christie

susansnodgrass
The compelling, poignant true stories of victims of a notorious adoption scandal—some of whom learned the truth from Lisa Wingate’s bestselling novel Before We Were Yours and were reunited with birth family members as a result of its wide reach

From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans tailored to the wish lists of eager parents—hiding the fact that many weren’t orphans at all, but stolen sons and daughters of poor families, desperate single mothers, and women told in maternity wards that their babies had died.

The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of fifteen adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots and find their birth families.

Before and After includes moving and sometimes shocking accounts of the ways in which adoptees were separated from their first families. Often raised as only children, many have joyfully reunited with siblings in the final decades of their lives. Christie and Wingate tell of first meetings that are all the sweeter and more intense for time missed and of families from very different social backgrounds reaching out to embrace better-late-than-never brothers, sisters, and cousins. In a poignant culmination of art meeting life, many of the long-silent victims of the tragically corrupt system return to Memphis with the authors to reclaim their stories at a Tennessee Children’s Home Society reunion . . . with extraordinary results.

About Lisa Wingate

Selected among BOOKLIST’S Top 10 for two years running, Lisa Wingate writes novels that Publisher’s Weekly calls “Masterful” and ForeWord Magazine refers to as “Filled with lyrical prose, hope, and healing.” Lisa is a journalist, an inspirational speaker, and the author of a host of literary works. Her novels have garnered or been short-listed for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Utah Library Award, the LORIES Best Fiction Award, The Carol Award, the Christy Award, Family Fiction’s Top 10, RT Booklover’s Reviewer’s Choice Award, and others. The group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with six others for the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who promote greater kindness and civility in American life. She’s been a writer since Mrs. Krackhardt’s first-grade class and still believes that stories have the power to change the world.

IN THE WRITER’S OWN WORDS: A special first grade teacher, Mrs. Krackhardt, made a writer out of me. That may sound unlikely, but it’s true. It’s possible to find a calling when you’re still in pigtails and Mary Jane shoes, and to know it’s your calling. I was halfway through the first grade when I landed in Mrs. Krackhardt’s classroom. I was fairly convinced there wasn’t anything all that special about me… and then, Mrs. Krackhardt stood over my desk and read a story I was writing. She said things like, “This is a great story! I wonder what happens next?”

It isn’t every day a shy new kid gets that kind of attention. I rushed to finish the story, and when I wrote the last word, the teacher took the pages, straightened them on the desk, looked at me over the top, and said, “You are a wonderful writer!”

A dream was born. Over the years, other dreams bloomed and died tragic, untimely deaths. I planned to become an Olympic gymnast or win the National Finals Rodeo, but there was this matter of back flips on the balance beam and these parents who stubbornly refused to buy me a pony. Yet the writer dream remained. I always believed I could do it because… well… my first grade teacher told me so, and first grade teachers don’t lie.

So, that is my story, and if you are a teacher, or know a teacher, or ever loved a special teacher, I salute you from afar and wish you days be filled with stories worth telling and stories worth reading.

About Judy Christie

Author Judy Christie loves to read, write and talk about books.

An award-winning journalist, Judy is the co-author of “Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society,” a project that combines her love of stories, her Southern heritage, and her journalism background. She wrote the book with longtime friend Lisa Wingate, author of the bestseller “Before We Were Yours,” a fictional account of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society scandal.

Judy’s appreciation for interviewing began in elementary school, where she was editor of The Barret Banner, and continued in her work as a newspaper reporter and editor. Her interviews with the heroes of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society tragedy tell stories of love and loss through the voices of adoptees, now in their seventies and eighties, and their families–and the unexpected blessing of a gathering of adoptees.

Judy also has written a series of nonfiction self-help books and three series of Southern novels, including the Green, Louisiana, and Wreath Willis series.

She writes daily and has kept a diary since she was eleven–and still has all of them. She is also an avid letter writer and loves to create mail art.

Judy writes a #booklover column at http://www.shreveporttimes.com and invites you to visit her online. You can find her on Facebook @JudyChristieAuthor and Twitter @judypchristie.

For contests, book announcements, and chitchat about books, sign up for her free e-newsletter at http://www.judychristie.com.

Judy and her husband, a Tennessee native, live in rural Colorado where they share their place with the occasional bear and the ravens they are trying to befriend.

So, that is my story, and if you are a teacher, or know a teacher, or ever loved a special teacher, I salute you from afar and wish you days be filled with stories worth telling and stories worth reading.

My Rating: 4 Stars!

‘Tann’s empire at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society has been built with a combustible blend of desperate pregnant women, shattered children, vulnerable poverty-stricken families, eager adoptive parents, powerful politicians, ego, and greed.’

I read Lisa Wingate’s ‘Before We Were Yours’ and it impacted me deeply. Based on the facts of the cruel and devious Georgia Tann, who stole and adopted out over 5000 children between 1924-1950, it was a powerful book! After the book came out, many came forth because they knew they were part of that vicious story, taken from parents by Tann and sold to others, sometimes to a life of goodness and sometimes not. People began contacting Wingate about this and this book was born.

Based on the true stories of these people who were victims, for that’s what they can properly and truly be called, of Tann’s evil empire, they now tell their stories. Stories of how they always felt ‘something was missing’ and how they never felt totally complete. And then through the work of Wingate and Judy Christie, these people searched and found siblings they never knew they had!

Deeply moving and mind numbing, this book is a testament to the hearts of those that were abused so cruelly by a heinous woman whose crime rivaled that of any serial killer.

These stories will break your heart and bring joy at the same time. I was very moved by this book.

*My thanks to the publishers for a copy of this book via Net Galley. The opinions stated here are entirely my own.

‘Fanatically in Trouble’ (Enchanted Events Mystery Book 3) by Jenny B. Jones

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When Paisley throws a fan festival for her old bandmate, it becomes a celebration to die for.
Just as Paisley Sutton’s all nice and settled into small-town life as an event-planner, in walks Jaz, reigning queen of pop and former lead singer for the Electric Femmes. Jaz’s reputation needs a reboot, and she knows a giant party for her fans will turn things around. Paisley finds herself roped into helping her old bandmate, but when an unexpected guest turns up dead, Paisley will need to hit the right note to unmask a killer.
While Paisley’s digs up the dirt on the Who’s Who of the music world, her relationship with Beau hits a snag. Is a breakup in her future? Can’t he see she needs his strong, flannel-covered shoulder to cry on?
As Paisley juggles Jaz’s diva antics, an Electric Femmes reunion, and a derailing festival, she’ll need the help of her rowdy, ex-CIA grandmother and aunt more than ever. The hilarious trio will uncover secrets someone will do anything to keep buried—at any cost. Not ready to take her final bow, Paisley will have to work fast to unmask a killer. . .before she’s the next victim.
Fanatically in Trouble is the third book in the lively Enchanted Events cozy mystery series with a dash of romance. If you like engaging characters, small-town intrigue, and laugh-out-loud moments, then you’ll love Jenny B. Jones’ musical romp.
Buy Fanatically in Trouble and let the fun begin!
About Jenny B. Jones
Award-winning author Jenny B. Jones writes romance with sass and Southern charm. Woefully indecisive, she writes YA, New Adult, and women’s romance. Since she has very little free time, Jenny believes in spending her spare hours in meaningful, intellectual pursuits, such as watching bad TV, Tweeting deep thoughts to the world, and writing her name in the dust on her furniture. You can find her at http://www.jennybjones.com.

My Rating: 5 Stars!!!

‘Can we get through one Sugar Creek homicide without you volunteering to be the next target?’

Jenny B. Jones adds to her ‘Enchanted Events’ series with this third offering that is so incredibly delightful that I read it in less than one day! Paisley Sutton is very nearly forced into hosting a long event for pop queen Jaz, who, incidentally, was the former lead singer for the Electric Femmes. The same band she basically kicked Paisley out of years before. And, as usual for Sugar Creek and Paisley Sutton, someone turns up dead. Murdered. And since Paisley is so good as solving crimes, in she dives. Add to the crazy mix, Paisley’s grandmother Sylvie and her Aunt Frannie, retired CIA agents and you have the recipe for a hilarious, rip roaring good time. Then there’s Beau, with whom Paisley has a relationship and both of them have decided to take it slower. But does Paisley really want that? Or will she speak her heart to him?

This is a cozy mystery to die for, pardon the pun. Just couldn’t resist that one. A dash of romance, two quirky grandmotherly CIA agents, a mom Paisley hasn’t seen in a while, a dashing hero and plenty of suspects, and you are totally set to enjoy yourself immensely. Sugar Creek is one fictional town I’d love to visit, too. Jones writes so well that we find ourselves right there in every scene. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard reading a book. I nearly choked on my lunch and then nearly fell off my treadmill. Read this one in a chair, folks, because you will fall in the floor laughing. I had the BEST time reading this book! I hope Jones sets more books here in Sugar Creek. At least one more. Well done! Higly recommended.

My thanks to the author for a preview copy of this book. The opinion stated here is expressly my own.

Publication Date: October 22, 2019
Publisher: Sweet Pea Productions
Genre: Cozy Mystery

‘The Wedding Dress Christmas’ by Rachel Hauck

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The Wedding Dress Christmas

December comes to quaint Hearts Bend, Tennessee, with a blanket of white and the glitter of Christmas lights.

For JoJo Castle there is no place like home. Her onetime love of adventure ended when her life in the big city came crashing down. Now that she’s home, she never wants to leave again.

Country music sensation Buck Mathews has charmed the world with his smile and his music. However, news of his mother’s illness brought him home to Hearts Bend for the holiday season.

Working with her cousin Haley in The Wedding Shop, JoJo has no aspirations of love. But when her high school crush returns to town, her buried feelings surface.

Busy with his career, Buck hasn’t had time for family and friends, much less love. Seeing JoJo in The Wedding Shop reminds him there are things more important than his career.

But JoJo and Buck have opposing life goals, and there’s no middle ground. Can love, especially the kind that touches hearts at Christmas, overcome her fears and his quest for greatness?

With the help of a very special wedding dress, there just might be a Christmas miracle.
About Rachel Hauck
Rachel Hauck is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author.

She is a Christy Award Winner and a double RITA finalist. Her book The Wedding Dress was named Inspirational Novel of the Year by Romantic Times Book Club. She is also the recipient of RT’s Career Achievement Award.

A graduate of Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism, and a former sorority girl, Rachel and her husband live in central Florida. She is a huge Buckeyes football fan.

Visit her at http://www.rachelhauck.com or http://www.facebook.com/rachelhauck

My Rating: 5 Stars!!!

‘Heaven is breaking into our world.’

I never miss a Rachel Hauck book. Never. When I open a new book by her, I feel like I’ve drifted into the sublime world of peace, great spiritual connections and characters that just take up residence in my heart. When I heard she was doing a Christmas novella based on her Wedding Dress book, I was so excited to read it. And I was definitely not disappointed.

JoJo Castle has let fear take root in her heart and it has mushroomed until she now denies herself great happiness with the man she has loved since she was in school. Buck Mathews has always loved JoJo as well, but hasn’t really realized it. But there is a big obstacle standing in their way. Can they find a way around it? God has some surprises for this precious couple.

Hauck brings it once again with her trademark touch of the Divine in each book she writes. It’s so wonderful to see this in her books. It is incredibly precious to me. It’s amazing to see how she lets God work in her books and the lives on her characters. I read this one in a few hours. Loved every moment. I highly recommend this novella.

*My thanks to the author for a preview copy of this book. The opinions stated here are entirely my own.

‘Unscripted’ by Davis Bunn

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Young line producer Danny Byrd is well-known in Hollywood for being someone who gets things done on time and under budget. But when his reputation takes a beating after his partner–and former best friend–makes off with their investors’ money, Danny has but one chance to redeem himself and restore his ruined career.

LA lawyer Megan Pierce has sacrificed years of her life proving herself to her impossible bosses only to find herself disgusted at their snobbery and their specious business practices. When an opportunity to actually make a difference comes her way, she knows she has to grab it–even though she’s not entirely clear what “it” is.

Danny and Megan are each other’s best hope for redemption. What they never could have imagined was that they might also be each other’s best hope for love.

Bestselling and award-winning author Davis Bunn takes you into the beating heart of Hollywood with two characters determined to thrive in a cutthroat business.

About Davis Bunn
Davis Bunn is a four-time Christy Award-winning, best-selling author who serves as writer-in-residence at Regent’s Park College, the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.

Defined by readers and reviewers as a “wise teacher,” “gentleman adventurer,” “consummate writer,” and “Renaissance man,” his work in business took him to over 40 countries around the world, and his books have sold more than seven million copies in sixteen languages.

My Rating: 3 Stars

‘Danny’s life, career, and professional standing had all been destroyed by one word.’

Danny Byrd has spent time in jail as a juvenile, robbed a bank, but now, as a grown man, he is on the docket again, but he’s innocent this time. He had a good reputation until now and his career and indeed his life, needs redemption.

Danny teams up with a lawyer, Megan Pierce and it turns out both of them could stand a good dose of redemption. But sometimes God gives us more than we need. He’s just good like that.

Unscripted is a story of pain, loss, great challenges and redemption. And while this setting is not my favorite, it is told well and full of insider information on the film industry. And it carries a great message. Recommended.

*My thanks to Revell Publishing for a copy of this book. The opinion here is my own.

‘Wyatt’ (Montana Marshalls # 4) by Susan May Warren

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He’s lost her twice…he’s not going to lose her again…

NHL Hockey Goalie Wyatt Marshall has everything–fame, money and a thriving career. But he’s hiding the two things that matter most…a career-ending injury, and his broken heart. He’s been in love with Coco Stanley since she walked into his life at age fourteen, a foster child for the Marshall family. She stole his heart years later, when, after a secret tryst, she returned to her home country of Russia. But she won’t let him back into her life—and he can’t figure out why.

She’s harboring a secret that could cost lives…

Coco Stanley is tired of living her life undercover. Or at least, with an assumed name, always pretending to be someone she’s not. And that’s not the only secret she’s harboring. If Wyatt discovers the real reason she left him, it might just destroy him. She’s resigned herself to loving him from afar…

But when he discovers she’s in danger…

Wyatt is horrified when he learns Coco has been shot and left in Russia, her fate unknown. There is nothing—nothing—that will stop him from finding her. So what if he’s not one of his super-heroic brothers, not a Ranger, not a SEAL…Wyatt is a hockey goalie, a special kind of crazy brave. Except, is he brave enough to face the secret Coco is keeping, or will it destroy everything he’s hoped for?

What will it cost them to save her?

What Wyatt and Coco don’t know is that revenge is stalking her and bringing her home just might cost them their long-awaited happy ending.

Continue the breath-taking Montana Marshalls series!

Action, drama, adventure, flawed individuals and emotional and spiritual challenges are hallmarks of Warren’s books. – Christian Library Journal

Warren has a knack for creating captivating and relatable characters that pull the reader deep into the story. – Radiant Lit

Genre: Inspirational Romantic Suspense

About Susan May Warren

Growing up in Minneapolis and attending the U of MN, I learned to love city life, although I’m a woodsy girl at heart. Or maybe I’m an adventurer — having lived and traveled all over the world, including Siberia Russia as a missionary for eight years. Probably that’s why my characters can’t sit still, and seem to get into one scrape after another — they’re too much like me! I love God, my family, my country, my church, and feel privileged every day to be able to write stories.

Here’s my “Official” Bio.

With over 1 million books sold, critically acclaimed novelist Susan May Warren is the Christy, RITA and Carol award-winning author of over seventy-five novels with Revell, Tyndale, Barbour, Steeple Hill and Summerside Press. Known for her compelling plots and unforgettable characters, Susan has written contemporary and historical romances, romantic-suspense, thrillers, rom-com and Christmas novellas.

With books translated into eight languages, many of her novels have been ECPA and CBA bestsellers, were chosen as Top Picks by Romantic Times, and have won the RWA’s Inspirational Reader’s Choice contest and the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year award.

Of her books, Publisher’s Weekly has written, “Warren lays bare her characters’ human frailties, including fear, grief, and resentment, as openly as she details their virtues of love, devotion, and resiliency. She has crafted an engaging tale of romance, rivalry, and the power of forgiveness.”

And Library Journal adds, “Warren’s characters are well-developed and she knows how to create a first rate contemporary romance…”

Susan is also a nationally acclaimed writing coach, teaching at conferences around the nation and winner of the 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers Mentor of the Year award. She loves to help people launch their writing careers and is the founder of Novel.Academy and http://www.LearnHowtoWriteaNovel.com, a writing website that helps authors get published and stay published. She’s also the author of the popular writing method, The Story Equation.

My Rating: 5 STARS!!!

‘Wyatt Marshall hadn’t come all the way to Russia to fail.’

Sometimes you read a book and you just can’t pick up another for a while because this one just blew your completely away. Wyatt is that book.

‘You will not be free of the striving until you hear the voice of your true Father telling you that you are loved. You are delighted in. You are enough, Wyatt.’

Wyatt Marshall. Strong. Determined. Forceful. Romantic. Brave. With each Marshall, I think they are the best, but then along comes another and I change my mind. Wyatt will make your heart soar. Orrin and Gerri Marshall raised some mighty fine children. Mighty fine indeed.

Susan May Warren continues her highly explosive Montana Marshalls series with Wyatt, the superstar goalie for the Minnesota Blue Ox hockey team. And boy, is Wyatt ever a hero! As in the previous books, this one intertwines with the rest. Wyatt has gone to Russia to find his one true love and bring her home with him. But Coco has a huge set of problems facing her, including the fact that she doesn’t believe Wyatt wants her. And she has a big secret.

I have always been a Susan May Warren fan since I read my first book by her. I shall always be a fan. And not just because she is a great author and tells a tremendous story, which she does. But she brings the spiritual message and brings it incredibly well. She takes God out of the box and shines the light of Jesus all over the place! How I love this. Warren truly shines here. The story is on fire, the danger, the predicaments, the intrigue, the emotions, everything was absolutely perfect! She always manages to dig so deep into her characters’ hearts and make them feel like real, live, breathing people to her readers. My emotions were all over the place in this book. Let me warn you: you will need tissues. I just hated for it to end. I love these folks! Another one for the keeper shelf. I highly recommend this book.

*My thanks to the publisher and author for a preview copy of this book. I received no compensation and the opinions stated here are entirely my own.

Wyatt
Publisher: SDG Publishing
Publication Date: October 15, 2019
Genre: Inspirational Romantic Suspense
Buy link: https://buff.ly/2NSujcB

‘Westerm Christmas Wishes’ by Jill Kemerer & Brenda Minton

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Two tales of holiday homecoming.

Spend the holidays with family in these two Western novellas!

Home is where the heart is in His Christmas Family when Laurel Adams comes home and discovers a foster kid and a seriously charming horse trainer living on her grandmother’s ranch. And in A Merry Wyoming Christmas, single mom Leann Bowden is starting over when she and her daughter are rescued from a snowstorm. Might the dashing cowboy be the Christmas gift they’re dreaming of?

About Jill Kemerer
Jill Kemerer is a Publishers Weekly bestselling, multi-published romance novelist with Harlequin Love Inspired. Her essentials include coffee, M&Ms, a stack of books, her mini-dachshund, and long walks outdoors. She resides in Ohio with her husband and two almost-grown children. For more information, please visit her website, https://jillkemerer.com/
About Brenda Minton
Brenda Minton lives in the Ozarks with her husband, three children and a few too many pets. She’s a pastor’s wife as well as children’s ministry worker.

Her hobbies include sitting on the porch drinking coffee and going out to eat with friends.

If you enjoy her Love Inspired Cooper Creek series, you can find Brenda most days drinking coffee and hanging out on facebook.

My Rating: 5 Stars!

‘God had laid a new path before her and it was frightening.’

This was just the best little book! I had already read Jill Kemerer and love her books but I’d never read Brenda Minton. I have found a new author to read!

A Merry Wyoming Christmas by Jill Kemerer made me want to go live in that small town. A single mother is stranded when her car slides off the road and is rescued by a very nice wildlife biologist who used to be a cowboy. I loved every minute.

His Christmas Family by Brenda Minton was so precious, I found myself getting very leaky eyes more than once and outright crying in other places. A young woman returns to her hometown with a heart full of hurt to take care of her grandmother but finds a very handsome cowboy next door who is wounded himself. Again, I loved every minute. I recommend this book very much.

*My thanks to the publisher and author for a preview copy of this book. The opinions stated here are entirely my own.

‘Word of Comfort For Women’ by Carolyn Larsen

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When we get out of bed in the morning, we don’t know what the day ahead holds. It could be routine. It could be amazing. It could be devastating. No matter what each day holds, one of the biggest influences on the direction our days take is our own attitude. We can live in fear, worry, and anxiety, or we can choose to live with purpose, trusting God in every circumstance.

Compact and concise, Carolyn Larsen’s Words of Comfort for Women and Words of Hope for Women each offer you 90 inspiring devotional readings that will help you remember God’s presence in your days and see your world from a positive perspective. These short, to-the-point readings illuminate God’s promises and show you just how they apply to your everyday life. Beautifully designed, these devotionals are the perfect gift for a friend–and for yourself.

About Carolyn Larsen

Carolyn Larsen has written more than 40 books for children and adults. She is best known as the author of the Little Girls Bible Storybook line of products, which have collectively sold more than one million units. In addition, Carolyn is a speaker who has taught and spoken extensively in the United States and overseas. She is the cofounder of the performing group Flashpoints, which is comprised of five women who share a God-ignited passion to encourage women and girls to know God better through drama, creative movement, signing, and humor. Carolyn is the mother of three and lives with her husband in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

My Rating: 5 stars!!

I can’t say enough good things about this book. It is just perfect for a quick pick me up from God. A verse from the Bible and a short devotion is what it consists of and it’s so comforting. The very first one I read ministered to my spirit. It is just the right size to tuck into your purse, too, to carry with you and pull out when you feel the need of an encouraging word from the Lord. I will certainly be reading this one many times. I plan to keep it by my chair always. I highly recommend this.

*My thanks to Revell Publishing for a preview copy of this book. The opinion stated here is expressly my own.

Words of Comfort For Women
Publisher: Revell
Publication Date: October 15, 2019

‘Narrow Escape’ by Virginia Vaughan

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“It’s time to finish what we started.”

Survivor Rena Miller can’t forget those words serial killer Sloan Davis whispered to her as he walked free on a technicality. She’s lived in fear ever since. Can Detective Victor Freeman pick up where his dad left off and protect Rena from a killer? Or are they destined to finish what they started?

About Virginia Vaughan

Award winning author Virginia Vaughan lives by the motto ‘It’s not hoarding if its books’. Always the kid with her nose stuck in a book, becoming a multi-published author hasn’t stopped Virginia from continuing to grow her own collection of favorite reads. Her family has refused to help her move anymore because of the sheer number boxes of books, but she’s no quitter. She’ll keep buying books and, the next time she moves, hire a moving van.

If you love stories where romance intersects danger and faith, subscribe to Virginia’s email list at http://eepurl.com/dtFeVP and be the first to know when a new story arrives.

My rating: 5 Stars!

‘Her only hope was for a miracle, but even that didn’t seem likely. Why was she worth rescuing once, much less twice?’

Virginia Vaughan has a winner with this super suspenseful novella. A teenager was tortured by a serial killer, but rescued by police before being killed. Now grown up, she is being targeted again by this serial killer, who was never punished for his crimes by a technicality. The cop who had kept watch over her for 16 years has died and his detective son resents her tremendously. Will he step up and help or will this killer finally finish what he started sixteen years ago?

Taut, suspenseful and never-let-up action, this one is a definite must read for fans of suspense. Highly recommended.

*My thanks to the author for a preview copy of this book. The opinion stated here is expressly my own.

‘Alaskan Christmas Cold Case’ by Sarah Varland

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Christmas Under Fire…

The Ice Maiden Killer is back.

For years, a serial killer has eluded authorities—and he’s set Alaska state trooper Erynn Cooper in his sights. Erynn’s only chance at survival is to trust Moose Haven police chief Noah Dawson with her life and the truth about her past. But with Christmas quickly approaching, Erynn and Noah are running out of time to catch the murderer…before Erynn becomes the next victim.

About Sarah Varland

Sarah Varland lives with her husband and two sons in Alaska, with a view of the mountains that astounds her every day. She loves reading, writing, hiking, kayaking, and baking. Her first book, Treasure Point Secrets, released in 2014 and is set in coastal Georgia. Her second book, Tundra Threat, also released in 2014 and is set in Alaska. Her next few books will return to the coastal town of Treasure Point, Georgia, and the next releases in June 2016.

‘Whoever said things would look better in the morning had never had a serial killer after him.’

This is my third or fourth Sarah Varland book and I really enjoyed it. I’ve been looking forward to Noah Dawson getting a story and he is just a wonderful hero. Noah has been in love with Erynn Cooper, an Alaskan State Trooper working in the small town of Moose Haven, where is police chief. He’s never gotten up the courage to tell her that, and now someone is out to kill her. Together, they burn the midnight oil to catch this killer who has killed many before. Great suspense with a great cast of characters. Recommended.