Wednesday Writer Welcomes Ryan Jo Summer and Rainbows in the Moonlight

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Christian romance, contemporary romance, Rainbows in the Moonlight, Ryan Jo Summers, Sweet romance

 

Today, Ryan Jo Summers is back on Wednesday Writers. This animal lover has an interesting tidbit to share about her book, Rainbows in the Moonlight, that had me smiling. I have to tell you, Ryan Jo, I love this title! Welcome to the blog!

Thanks, Catherine.

Unlike most of my books, “Rainbows in the Moonlight” did not start as inspiration from a photo or from a chance observation or conversation. In fact, I really don’t recall how the story line came to me. It just happened of its own accord. Almost immediately I felt a connection to Koda and Dalton.

 

Another unusual fact about this story is I seldom write stories involving children. Just a personal comfort level of mine, I suppose. It’s easier to focus on the relationship developing between the hero & heroine without kids needing their page-time too. However, Koda’s young children, Ruthie and Terry, quickly became an integral part of the story. In fact, the charm of the story could not have happened without Ruthie and Terry.

What did surprise me was how instantly four-year-old Ruthie took over the pages. She was not supposed to be so gregarious and outgoing, but she most certainly is! There was no stopping Ruthie once she got going across the keyboard. Older brother Terry had no choice but to accept a quieter role in his baby sister’s shadow.

One more thing about “Rainbows in the Moonlight”: every single character is named for a dog I used to know. Many years ago I was active in the doggie world and was fortunate enough to know many wonderful pooches. Some of them are now have their name immortalized in the pages of this book.

The original Koda was an English Setter hunting dog. Dalton was a collie mix. Ruthie was a sheltie mix and Terry was an Australian Shepherd puppy. Dalton’s parents in the story; Cal and Judy, were really older tri-color collies. The only three characters not named for dogs are Candi (the bad girl of the story) and Koda’s co-workers Amy and Norm.

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Rainbows in the Moonlight

By Ryan Jo Summers

Blurb

Koda Jacobs urgently needs a nanny. Right now.

Fresh from prison, Dalton Clayton needs a job—and just about anything will do.

Divine Intervention steps in and tosses Koda and Dalton together. Koda struggles with the conflicts of her impulsive decision to leave her babies with an unknown, convicted felon. That just can’t be wise, can it? But she can’t help but see how quickly the children bonded to him and trust him. Or the reassuring sense that this is just right.

Meanwhile, Dalton stumbles through the spills and thrills of two young children, and his growing interest in their mother. A chance meeting brings him back to his estranged family as well.

Over time mutual attraction forms between Koda and Dalton as the bond between Dalton and the children deepens. A sweet, southern romance full of forgiveness, second chances, and fun kids.

 

About the Author

Ryan Jo Summers is a North Carolina writer who likes to pen romances with a twist. Love stories blended as inspirational, with paranormal, suspense or time travel–or several at once. She also writes non-fiction for regional periodicals. Her dad is a songwriter and his aunt wrote poetry, so Ryan came by the writing gene honestly.

Her hobbies include poetry, bird watching, houseplants and gardening, gathering with friends, hiking in the forest, painting canvas and ceramics, and working wiggly word find puzzles, mah johngg or chess.  She lives in a 1920 cottage with a menagerie of pets. She often daydreams of the shore and frequently uses water as settings in her stories.

Contact Ryan and learn more about her other books at:
WEBSITE: www.ryanjosummers.com
BLOG: http://summersrye.wordpress.com

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/RyanJoSummers

FB:  www.facebook.com/pages/Ryan-Jo-Summers-author-page/312875648810797

 

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Wednesday Writers–A Day in the Life of Romantic Suspense Author Leeann Betts

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A day in the life of a romantic supsense writer, Catherine Castle's Wednesday Writers blog series, Hidden Assets, Leeann Betts, mystery, romantic suspense, suspense, women slueths

Today, Wednesday Writers welcomes Leeann Betts to the blog. A romantic suspense writer, with book number 6 out in her By the Numbers suspense series, Leeann will be giving us a glimpse into her daily life as a romantic suspense writer. Welcome, Leeann.

Thanks, Catherine,

When I was growing up, I loved to watch movies where a writer was involved. I particularly enjoyed watching about women from small towns who made up stories about love and happily-ever-afters and handsome cowboys and men who were true heroes.

So when I grew up, it seemed only natural to write those kind of stories. And because of the support of the best gift God could give to me, my husband Patrick, I can do that.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I feel like I’m living out my dreams. And not because I live in a castle or have nothing to worry me.

I’m living my dream because I know I am right where I’m supposed to be. God has called me to be a writer. I’ve taken that calling seriously and “gone back to school” by attending a number of writer’s conferences, by being a member of several critique groups and applying feedback, and by writing.

That may seem like a strange thing to say, that as a writer, I write.

But how many people have you met who say they’re a writer, but you never see word one from them? Or who haven’t gone to a conference? Or won’t join a critique group? Or won’t even let you see what they’ve done?

As writers, we must be willing to be transparent to God, transparent to other writers, and transparent to our readers.

This dream life I live includes spending most of every day in the same room as the love of my love, my husband. Our marriage and our romance thrives on being in close contact. For the first five years we were married, we never went anywhere without the other. Friends used to tease us that we were joined at the lip and the hips.

Hubby and I spend time in devotions, prayer, and scripture reading every morning, in addition to our own individual quiet time. Then we work from home together, and often work together in ministry in the evenings.

My day, once we’re done with devotions, usually begins with writing something. Emails, blog posts, social media posts, perhaps a synopsis for a book proposal, and then actual words in a manuscript. On Mondays, I meet several writer friends at a coffee shop and we all write together. That time is a set-in-stone appointment in my calendar.

Do I write all day every day? No, I don’t. But even when I’m not sitting at my computer, I’m thinking about the story. Keeping the story in my head helps keep me anchored in the story, so I don’t have to spend so much time reconnecting before I write.

But here’s one thing I do before I start on my story: I pray. I thank God for letting me be the first person to see and hear this story. And I ask for faithfulness as I transcribe the story that He wants to tell.

Because I truly believe that without Him, no story is worth telling.

I write romantic suspense because I like justice. I want the good guys to win, and the bad guys to get what they deserve, always keeping love and compassion as my guides, of course. I also like mysteries, and I love answering the big What If? Questions, getting my characters into more trouble, and getting them out.

Because I know the trouble I got myself in, and what God had to do to get my attention. What Jesus had to do to redeem me. And what the Holy Spirit goes through in dealing with me day after day.

As I said at the beginning, my hubby is my biggest fan and supporter. He believed in me before I ever believed in myself, and he not only encourages me, he takes on tasks around the house when I’m under deadline. He supports me financially; I don’t have to work outside the home because he wants me to write. That doesn’t mean I don’t contribute to the household. I do. I work one day a week for a company that produces legal transcripts. I am the main cook, cleaner, grocery shopper.

But without his love and faith in me, I couldn’t do what I do.

Just as without God, I’d never be living my dreams.

Here’s the Blurb from Hidden Assets by Leann Betts

 

Carly Turnquist, forensic accountant, responds to a call from her friend, Anne, who is in the middle of a nasty divorce, and travels to Wyoming to help find assets Anne thinks her husband has stolen. But the mystery begins before Carly even arrives when she sees a man thrown off a train. Except there’s no body. Husband Mike uncovers an illegal scam in a computer program he has been asked to upgrade, and then Anne is arrested for her ex’s murder. Can Carly figure out what’s going on, and why a strange couple is digging in Anne’s basement? Or will she disappear along with the artwork, coins, and money?

 

About the Author:

Leeann Betts writes contemporary suspense, while her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, pens historical suspense. She has released five titles in her cozy mystery series, By the Numbers, with Hidden Assets released the end of June. In addition, Leeann has written a devotional for accountants, bookkeepers, and financial folk, Counting the Days, and with her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, has published a book on writing, Nuggets of Writing Gold, a compilation of essays, articles, and exercises on the craft. She publishes a free quarterly newsletter that includes a book review and articles on writing and books of interest to readers and writers. You can subscribe at http://www.leeannbetts.com/ or follow Leeann at http://www.allbettsareoff.wordpress.com/ All books are available on Amazon.com in digital and print, and at Smashwords.com in digital format.

CONNECT WITH LEEANN ON: Facebook: http://bit.ly/1pQSOqV

Twitter: http://bit.ly/1qmqvB6

Books: http://amzn.to/2dHfgCE

 

Mystery, women sleuths, suspense,

 

 

 

 

Best-selling Author Patrick E. Craig and The Amish Princess on Wednesday Writers

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best-selling author Patrick E. Craig, Book excerpt from The Amish Princess, Catherine Castle's Wednesday Writers blog series, Christian fiction, Historical Amish fiction, romance, The Amish Princess

Today Wednesday Writers welcomes back Patrick E. Craig. Patrick will be talking about his historical Amish book The Amish Princess. I don’t know about you, but I love Amish stories, and who could resist a catchy title like The Amish Princess? It makes me want to say, “Huh?” and read more to discover what this oxymoronical title’s secret is. So, let’s find out how Patrick developed this story.

Thanks, Catherine.

This is how I came to write The Amish Princess. In my first Amish book in the Apple Creek Dreams series, A Quilt For Jenna, Jerusha Hershberger hears the story of her great-great-great-grandfather, Joshua Hershberger from her grandmother, Hannah.

 

The story told of the choices the twin brothers made after Indians massacred their family near Fort Henry on the Ohio, and what effect those decisions had on generations of Hershbergers. One brother, Jonathan, forsook the Amish church and he and all his descendants went out into the world. The other brother, Joshua, stayed in the church and remained faithful, even under the most difficult conditions. Joshua was Jerusha’s great-great-great grandfather. It was his grandson, Hannah’s father, who came to Apple Creek in 1860 as a boy. It is because Joshua stayed true, that the Hershberger family grew and prospered in Apple Creek.

In my second book in that series, The Road Home, Jerusha’s adopted daughter, Jenny Springer, meets Jonathan Hershberger who she discovers is the great-great-great-great-grandson of Jonathan Hershberger, the twin who married an Indian princess and left the Amish faith. So I thought The Amish Princess would be a great opportunity to tell the story of both brothers and the Indian Princess and tie it into the family that is the centerpiece of both the Apple Creek Dreams series and The Paradise Chronicles series.

Ooh, two of my favorite things to read, Amish and Indians. Let’s check out the excerpt of The Amish Princess

 

 The Amish Princess

by Patrick E. Craig

 

Opahtuhwe, the White Deer, is the beautiful daughter of Wingenund, the most powerful chief of the Delaware tribe. She is revered by her people a true Indian princess. Everything changes when the murderous Delaware renegade known as Scar brings three Amish prisoners to the Delaware camp. Jonathan and Joshua Hershberger are twin brothers that Scar has determined to adopt and teach the Indian way. The third prisoner is Jonas Hershberger, their father, who has been made a slave because he would not defend his family. White Deer is drawn to Jonathan but his hatred of the Indians makes him push her away. Joshua’s gentle heart and steadfast refusal to abandon the Amish faith lead White Deer to a life-changing decision and rejection by her people. In the end, White Deer must choose between the ways of her people and her new-found faith. And complicating it all is her love for the man who can only hate her.

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Excerpt

And so Ruth sat before the fire. She remembered that Joshua had once called her the Amish Princess, and she smiled to herself. White Deer, the Lenape maiden, had come a long way from her carefree days as the apple of her father’s eye. Yet in her heart she knew that her heavenly Father watched over her and guided her steps and so she was content. She got up and knelt beside her bed to pray. “Heavenly Father, I thank you for all the blessings you have bestowed upon me. I thank you for my son and his heart for you. Tonight I pray for Jonathan and Joshua. You have given me love for both of these men, though the passion for my husband has been replaced by a true love for his brother. I ask that you would speak to Jonathan’s heart, take away the blindness of his hatred and bring him back to you. I pray for Joshua, that you would be with him while he is in bondage and walk with him in the cold cell of his prison. Bring him out and bring him back to me. I do not know the end of days, but I know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” She wept as she thought of the two men whose lives were so deeply entwined with hers.

I give them both to you, my God, and into your hands I commend my spirit.

Then she rose and, turning down the lamp, went alone to her bed of tears.

Want to read more? You can find The Amish Princess at Amazon.

 

About the Author

Best-selling author Patrick E. Craig is a lifelong writer and musician who left a successful songwriting and performance career in the music industry to follow Christ in 1984. In 2011 he signed a three-book deal with Harvest House Publishers to publish his Apple Creek Dreams series. His current series is The Paradise Chronicles and the first book in the series, The Amish Heiress, was published by P&J Publishing in August of 2015 and remained on the Amazon bestseller lists for seven months. The second book in the Series, The Amish Princess, was released in Christmas Day, 2016. Patrick and his wife Judy make their home in Idaho and are the parents of two adult children and have five grandchildren. Patrick is represented by the Steve Laube Agency.

 Where can readers find me online?

www.patrickecraig.com Webpage

https://www.facebook.com/PatrickECraig Facebook

https://twitter.com/PatrickECraig Twitter

Want to read Patrick’s other posts on Wednesday Writers? Click here.

 

 

Wednesday Writers Welcomes Toni Shiloh

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black romance, Buying Love, Catherine Castle's Wednesday Writers blog series, contemporary romance, excerpt from Buying Love, Toni Shiloh

 

Today Wednesday Writers welcomes Toni Shiloh to the blog with a post and an excerpt about her contemporary romance Buying Love. Without further ado, here’s Toni.

 Hello, readers! Today I wanted to talk a little about the setting of my latest release, Buying Love. The book takes place in the fictional town of Maple Run, Virginia, which is in the western part of Loudoun County. The place has a lot of open land, trees that change with the season, and a friendly community. I envisioned the place as a small town where the locals know one another, look out for one another, and have fun with one another. My heroine grew up as an orphan so her view on life is a little skewed as well as isolated. So I made sure to throw in a family in a small-town setting so that she could experience another way of life.

After all, isn’t that what we all hope to experience when delving into a book? A new place, new people to fall in love with, and a book that will entertain and mark our life in some way. Creating a fictional town was the easiest way for me to do so. I created important locations like their home and place of business. In other books, I’ll show more places in the quaint town of Maple Run and of course, bring everyone back to my hero’s restaurant, The Maple Pit.

Have you ever lived in a small town? If so, what’s your favorite aspect of small town living?

 Thanks, Toni. I think small towns are fun to read about. They can have a lot of quirkiness that makes books interesting. Let’s take a look at the blurb and excerpt from Buying Love.

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Buying Love

By Toni Shiloh

Will money ruin everything?

Nina Warrenton is ready for the next step in her life plan—marriage, but there is one problem. No one has proposed! Taking matters into her hand, she places an ad in the newspaper hoping to entice a willing stranger. But when she begins to fall for the small-town chef, she realizes how much she wants him to love her and not her money.

Dwight Williams needs fast cash to save the family restaurant. When he sees Nina’s monetary offer for a husband, he goes for it. He’s determined to save the legacy his dad left him, but can he let it go to prove his love for her?

Can Nina and Dwight find true love, once money has entered the equation?

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Nina Warrenton checked her watch for the umpteenth time. He was late. On the one hand, she was thankful; on the other, she was annoyed. Who makes an appointment and shows up late? Granted living in the D.C. Metro area guaranteed multiple opportunities to be late, but she made an effort to arrive on time to any appointment. Too bad the unknown Mr. Williams didn’t hold the same virtue.

She sighed. Had she acted prematurely? Putting an ad for a husband was a little archaic, but she believed it would get the job done. However, none of the previous candidates had panned out. One man had been released from prison a couple of months ago. Another had answered her ad with the hope of moving out of his mother’s place. Still, another had answered her ad because the voices in his head had prompted him to. She shook her head.

Maybe the fact that Mr. Williams was missing was God showing her he wasn’t the one. Maybe he was prematurely balding or had the personality of wilted lettuce. Of course, she had prayed that God would send her the right man, but there was no guarantee He would acquiesce to her request.

She tapped her pen on the table and looked around the room. The coffee shop was filled with D.C. metropolitans ready to embrace the autumn air. It was a gorgeous day with a light breeze and the preferred seventies temperature. Was it possible that Mr. Williams was already here and hiding behind a coffee mug or laptop, to secretly get a first impression without her noticing? She peeked around the shop, but she was the only one alone.

She glanced at her watch again. He was only five minutes late. Maybe he took the metro and it was running behind. On the other hand, maybe he drove and couldn’t find a parking spot. The sound of her pen hitting the table seemed to mark the seconds. She knew this part of D.C. wasn’t filled with ample parking, but she wasn’t ready to excuse him yet. Her place was a block away and she had made the journey in no time.

She glanced down at her aqua journal to review her notes about the man in question. He had filled out the questionnaire she had sent when he contacted her about the ad. She knew he was a few years older than herself and lived in Loudoun County, a suburb in Northern Virginia. Coming from that direction, he probably was stuck in traffic.

She really wasn’t that obsessed with time. However, he was the third candidate she planned on meeting face-to-face. Third time was the charm, right? If so, why wasn’t he here? Why hadn’t Prince Charming swept her off her feet? Shouldn’t she be the one making him wait?

She glanced up at the tinkle of the door chime. She inhaled sharply. In strode a man, wearing a sweater that matched the color of her notebook, a white-collared shirt peeking above his collar and hanging past the sweater’s edge. His maple-brown sugar skin reminded her of her favorite body scrub. He was gorgeous.

Want to read more? You can find Toni’s book at http://amzn.to/2deXj91 and www.celebratelitpublishing.com/shop

About the Author

Toni Shiloh is a wife, mom, and Christian fiction writer. Once she understood the powerful saving grace thanks to the love of Christ, she was moved to honor her Savior. She writes to bring Him glory and to learn more about His goodness. She spends her days hanging out with her husband and their two boys. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the local Virginia Chapter.

 

Contact Toni at her Website: http://tonishiloh.weebly.com ; Facebook: www.facebook.com/authortonishiloh ; Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/116452363653059921235/posts ; Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/tonishiloh ; Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/tonishiloh ; Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/toni-shiloh ; Blogs I’m a part of: http://puttingonthenew.com ; http://heartwingsblog.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Writers Welcomes Alice K. Arenz

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book excerpt Portrait of Jenny, crossover book, edgy inspirational, mystery suspense, Portrait of Jenny, Wednesday Writers Welcomes Alice K. Arenz

 

 

Today Wednesday Writers welcomes Alice K. Arenz to the blog. Alice will be talking about her book Portrait of Jenny, and why this edgy mystery suspense is a bit different than her other inspirational mystery/suspense/cozy books. Welcome, Alice!

BTW, I love the Gothic look of this book cover!

 

 

Thanks, Catherine.

What would happen if Christians only wrote books that appealed to other Christians? The searchers might not find what they need—no, make that WHO they need. And if a book has a character who is also searching, well then maybe . . .

That said, though Jenny isn’t inherently a Christian book, what I write, “my” words—the stories all come from God. I am literally not smart enough to do the writing on my own. Not nearly smart enough!

Portrait of Jenny is a crossover book which contains edgier language and situations. During the four previous readings, I’d changed many of these for others—on my own—only to realize that I had to change them back. There was a lot of prayer going on here—A LOT OF PRAYER—and a lot of time spent agonizing over things. But I finally got it, LISTENED, truly listened when He said “Stop preaching to the choir. Let it stand.” That’s when I was finally able to finish what we’d started. I know the book isn’t for everyone, my publisher has a warning on it so people used to my other books won’t be surprised. But as with all things, it’s subjective.

 

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 Portrait of Jenny

Not even a beautiful woman can save Richard Tanner from his past.

Following an explosive—and public—argument with his ex-girlfriend, artist Richard Tanner races into a rainstorm, gripped by a powerful migraine. He wanders to the gazebo in University Park, where he meets the beautiful and mysterious Jenny—a brief encounter that leaves an indelible impression on his mind—and in his paintings.

When Detective Jack Hargrave accuses Richard of the brutal assault on his ex, he finds himself confronting demons of a past he doesn’t remember. A time when little Richie Tanner walked into University Park whole, was beaten and left to die…a time that may hold the key to his future.

 

Excerpt from PORTRAIT OF JENNY

by Alice K. Arenz

I was held transfixed as she appeared to float across the gazebo with her eyes downcast, their long, sweeping lashes and her secret smile making it impossible to catch my breath. Coming to, I ran nervous fingers through my hair in an effort to make myself more presentable.

“You should use an umbrella next time.” She stopped a short way in front of me near the edge of one of the picnic tables. Lowering herself gracefully onto the seat, she clutched absently at her pendant as she regarded me with obvious amusement.

I felt the heat rise from my neck into my face, and wondered idly about the last time I’d blushed. It wasn’t a normal reaction for me, my response to the girl seeming to prove just how special she was.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” she said softly, lowering her eyes from mine once more.

“You didn’t, er, well.” I laughed. “You’re right. I should’ve used an umbrella. Actually, I had one when I started out. Guess I left it at my last stop.”

I made a futile attempt to straighten my wet clothing, quickly realized the uselessness of the effort, then sat back to drink her in.

The blush came readily to her face, touching the high cheekbones and adding to her overall beauty. Her eyes seemed to take on a darker hue as the rosy glow spread across her face, and she looked at me frankly, completely aware I studied her every move.

“I’m being rude—”

“No, no. It’s all right. Really. I,” she smiled broadly. “I’m flattered. It’s not often a girl sees such honest admiration in a man’s eyes. I like it.”

“Honest?”

She nodded. “Completely. No come-ons, no overt acts to seduce me. Why, you actually seem quite shy, even a little embarrassed to be so interested in me.” She drew her legs onto the bench and hugged them to her as she’d been doing earlier. “Whether you know it or not, you’re really quite sweet. And, I’d imagine, very nice looking when you’re not soaking wet.”

“Thank you. I think.”

She laughed.

“My name’s Richard Tanner.” I held out my hand, but she made no move to take it. Seeing her hesitation, I withdrew it and made a show of tucking the book back inside my jacket pocket.

“I’m Jenny.”

 

 

About the Author:

 Portrait of Jenny is the newest book of 2010 ACFW Carol Award winning author, Alice K. Arenz. This follows last August’s release of An American Gothic, also a mystery/suspense. Cozy mysteries The Case of the Bouncing Grandma (2009 Carol finalist), The Case of the Mystified M.D., (2010 Carol winner), and mystery/suspense Mirrored Image (2011 Carol finalist), have been re-released by Forget Me Not Romances.

 Visit her at her website www.akawriter.com

Wednesday Writer Welcomes Laura V. Hilton

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Amish romance, book excerpt from The Amish Wanderer, Laura V. Hilton, The Amish Wanderer, Wednesday Writers

Today Wednesday Writers Welcomes award-winning romance author Laura V. Hilton. Laura will be sharing an excerpt from her book. The Amish Wanderer and telling us how this book came to be. Welcome, Laura.

 

Thanks, Catherine.

The Amish Wanderer is the story of a very minor character who appeared in several of my other Amish books. This book IS stand alone.  I’ve been asked to tell the story of my maternal grandparents leaving the Amish and while I will never write the true version this is a very fictionalized account.  God gave me the verse for this story before I started writing and usually that doesn’t happen, He gives it near the middle or end. But this time, He needed me to know it all the way through.

 

 

The Amish Wanderer

By Laura V. Hilton

 

Bethany Weiss has been fascinated by Silas Beiler since he spent a couple of years in Jamesport, Missouri, before he and his family moved to another Amish community. They hadn’t kept in touch, but she hasn’t forgotten the friendly young man who brought her lemonade and took her home once from a Singing years ago. When she finds a man sleeping in her family’s barn, like Jesus sleeping in the hay, she is stunned to recognize Silas. He’s left the Amish and is backpacking across the country. She talks him into staying, at least until after Christmas.

Silas’ family has never been happy living in one area for long, and their vagabond ways are wearing on him. He’s lived in Amish communities all over the nation, moving whenever his daed became disgruntled with the leaders, and he’s looking for some sense of stability. His intentions are to make it back to Pennsylvania and stay with his Englisch onkle and his family—and pursue an education. Will Bethany be the one to bring Silas in from the cold? Or will he continue on his way to his extended family and become Englisch?

 

Excerpt

 

A black Amish hat covered the face of whoever slept up on the hay-strewn floor of the loft. His body was swaddled like a newborn boppli in an effort to keep warm, most likely. Almost like Baby Jesus in the manger. Except it was a man. Not a boppli.

And definitely not Hen. This man was taller and much thinner. Relief flooded her.

She started to descend the ladder. It wouldn’t do for a vagabond to discover her alone, almost in the loft with him. Not even if something about it reminded her of the live nativity scenes she’d seen downtown at one of the Englischer’s churches.

Little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay… The tune ran, uninvited, through her thoughts.

A board on the ladder creaked and snapped under Bethany’s weight. She dangled, her feet flailing, from the top of the ladder. Too far to fall without breaking something. Or killing herself.

Why hadn’t she noticed the crack in the wood when she’d climbed up?

She let out a strangled cry when her fingers started slipping from the worn wood. The man blasted upright, his hat falling away to reveal shocks of sun-streaked light brown hair. He struggled free of the blanket, and half-crawled to the edge of the loft.

“Are you okay?” His warm, callused hands closed around hers.

His hand was strong. Warm. Work-roughened. She glanced at his fingers, curled around hers. Unexpected sparks shot up her arms. It had nothing to do with her life hanging in the balance. Or maybe it did. She looked down at the floor thirty feet below again. And whimpered.

“Grab my hands. I’ll pull you up.”

Up. In the loft. Alone with him?

Nein.

Clinging to him seemed a gut idea though. And if it’d save her from falling…

Her shin made contact with the broken rung a moment before her tennis shoe found another ladder rail. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she held. “I’m fine.” Now. She pulled her hands free one at a time and lowered herself. A step. Two. Three…

He stepped out onto the ladder and started down after her.

Nice looking… Wait. He followed her? She needed to find her brother. Or call for him. “Timothy!” There was safety in numbers. Sidetracked watching his quick descent instead of concentrating on her own in her hurry to escape, her feet slipped off the rung. Her hands caught only slivers and—

A far away scream reached her ears. She recognized it as her own as she plunged through the air.

“Hey, wait,” the stranger called after her.

As if she could.

Her body hit something. The hay she’d been sitting on? “Ooof.” Arms wrapped around her, then… darkness.

Until…

“You shoved her!” Timothy’s voice sounded from somewhere above her, filled with anger—and fear.

Gut. She was safe. She dared relax.

Hands ran roughly over her arms and legs. Not Timothy’s hands. These hands were bigger, stronger… yet gentle, too. Hands that left tingles where they touched. Strange, this reaction to a stranger. To anyone.

“Nein, I didn’t. She slipped. I was trying to help.”

“If I hadn’t almost caught her, she would’ve died. Her blood would be on your hands,” Timothy almost shouted.

Her head throbbed. The front of her head ached, not from the fall but tension. Maybe. It might’ve been from the fall. She must’ve fainted.

“Who are you anyway, and what are you doing in our barn?” Timothy’s voice cracked and the pitch changed, the way buwe voices did in adolescence.

“I don’t think she broke anything.” The stranger, whose voice seemed familiar in some way, rolled her over and slid his hand down her spine. As if he’d be able to feel a broken back.

He moved her back again, his hands investigating her ribs, brushing against her… This went way too far. Too intimate. Who gave him such liberties anyway?

She forced her eyes open.

The stranger’s gaze, just as lost and confused as everyone else’s, fixed on hers.

She sat up, ignoring the wave of dizziness as she stared into hazel eyes. Something…

She tried to think of something witty to say. Failing that, she lapsed into silence and studied him closer.

Memories of a lemonade summer, one or two years ago, flashed as he withdrew his hands. His image waved, swayed, doubled.

“Silas?”

Want to read more? Get the book here: Amazon: CBD: Barnes and Noble: Deeper Shopping

 About the Author:

Laura V. Hilton is an award-winning, sought-after author with almost twenty Amish, contemporary, and historical romances. When she’s not writing, she reviews books for her blogs, and writes devotionals or blog posts for Seriously Write and Putting on the New.

Laura and her pastor-husband have five children and a hyper dog named Skye and currently live in Arkansas. One son is in the U.S. Coast Guard. She is a pastor’s wife, and homeschools her two youngest children.

When she’s not writing, Laura enjoys reading, and visiting lighthouses and waterfalls. Her favorite season is winter, her favorite holiday is Christmas.

Connect with Laura at: Her blogs: Lighthouse academy  & Laura V. Hilton  twitter: @Laura_V_Hilton Facebook: Pinterest:

 

 

 

Wednesday Writers Welcomes Linda W. Yezak

Tags

bullriding, Catherine Castle Wednesday Writers series, Contemporary Women's fiction, heart-warming novels, Linda W. Yezak, Romance set in Texas, The Final Ride, the story behind The Final Ride

 

 

Today Wednesday Writers welcomes Linda W. Yezak to the blog. Linda’s going to be telling us about her contemporary women’s fiction book The Final Ride and the story behind its conception. Take it away, Linda!

 

The Story Behind The Final Ride

Coming up with the idea for The Final Ride was trickier than it was for the first in The Circle Bar Ranch series, Give the Lady a Ride. I wasn’t planning to write a sequel to Give the Lady a Ride at all, much less an entire series. I had to come up with a whole new conflict, whole new goals for my characters.

For part of the conflict, I had to continue to rely on the misconceptions New Yorkers have about Texans and vice versa. So far as I know, most folks from New York think Southerners in general are poor and unsophisticated and that Texans in particular are the least sophisticated and we all dress in cowboy boots and Stetsons. And, so far as I know, there are a big chunk of Texans who regard anyone from the North, and from New York in particular, as “damn Yankees” who can’t tell a snake from a garden hose and believe that their sirloins come from Cellophane. I reckon we’re all wrong about each other, but the misconceptions and mutual snobbery make for a fun story.

So I invented Adele Cameron, Patricia’s aunt on her mother’s side, to step in and add some pressure to her life.

All Patricia wants is to discover what the new “normal” is for a New York socialite-turned-Texas ranch owner. What’s her place on the Circle Bar? What will she do with herself, considering she’s never worked with cattle or vegetable gardens, doesn’t know how to cook, and is allergic to all things domestic, including laundry and housecleaning?

Well, if Aunt Adele gets her way, “normal” will be what it’s always been–back in New York. Adele’s mission on the ranch is to get Patricia to return to Manhattan and resume her role as her US Senator father’s social coordinator. Believe me, the woman has a few tricks up her sleeve, and the Texas battle between the Yankees is on.

But if I made things rough only on Patricia, I wouldn’t have much of a story.

So, add to the mix Talon’s promise to Patricia that he wouldn’t ride bulls again–not after the last ride sent him to the ER. Now we complicate the problem. The town expects him to ride; Adele wants him to, if for no other reason than to force him to break his promise; and Colton Royder—my new bad guy—dares him to, because, according to Colton, the reason Talon doesn’t ride is because he’s a coward.

How does a man endure that much pressure? If he keeps his promise to Patricia, he’ll never silence the rumors Colton started. But if he doesn’t keep his promise, he risks losing her. He’s between the horns and the hooves on this one—and the whole ordeal came from my own daydreams.

I love creating people. Best part of the job!

 

The Final Ride blurb:

With her duties for her best friend’s wedding finally behind her, Patricia Talbert looks forward to discovering what “normal” will look like at her new home in Texas. She owns a ranch, is in love with its foreman, and is ready to assume her duties. Discovering what those duties entail isn’t an easy feat for a displaced socialite from Manhattan. But when her aunt Adele arrives on a mission to bring her back to New York, Patricia’s primary duty is to deflect the bumbling and bullish attempts–until one of Adele’s tricks takes her by surprise.

 

All of Talon Carlson’s dreams for the Circle Bar Ranch are coming true, along with another dream he never expected to be fulfilled–a chance to love again. Patricia is everything he ever wanted and more, but he made a promise to her not to ride bulls again, a promise he may have to break. His desire for a better end to his riding career is intensified by vicious rumors about why he quit. If he rides again, he will provide the ammunition Adele needs to make Patricia leave. If he doesn’t, he’ll prove the gossips right.

Patricia or Talon. Which one will take The Final Ride?

Want to read more? Click The Final Ride:

 

About the Author:

Over twenty-five years ago, after a decade of life as a “single-again,” author Linda W. Yezak rediscovered God’s love and forgiveness when He allowed her a second chance at marital happiness. She is now living her greatest romance with her husband in a forest in East Texas. After such an amazing blessing, she chooses to trumpet God’s gift of second chances in the books she writes. Linda’s novels are heart-warming hallmarks of love, forgiveness, and new beginnings.

Links: Facebook Fan Page: Pinterest: 777 Peppermint Place: Newsletter: Amazon:

 

 

 

 

WEdnesday Writers–Gail Kittleson–In Times Like These

Tags

book about spousal abuse, fiction set in Iowa, Gail Kittleson, In Times Like Theses, verbal abuse, Women's historical fiction, Words and War, WWII fiction

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Writers’ guest today is author Gail Kittleson. Gail writes women’s historical fiction and will be highlighting her book In Times Like These, a story of spousal abuse during World War II, on today’s blog. Welcome back, Gail.

 

 

Words and War

 

The Iowa countryside makes a perfect setting for Addie Bledsoe’s story. At the beginning, fierce winter storms coat the farmstead with ice, just as bitterness envelops her volatile husband Harold. Furious with the draft board for refusing to allow him to join the fight, he takes his rage out on Addie. The terror that stokes worldwide battles has a local name, and that name is Harold.

But gradually, spring thaws the frozen plains, igniting dreams of brighter days ahead. There’s nothing like bitter cold transforming into warming winds, nothing like seeing that first robin and being able to get one’s hands into the soil again.

Like spring, letters from Addie’s friend Kate in London help her navigate the long winter, and Jane, her gardening friend just down the gravel road, cheers her, too. When Harold’s father dies, no one is more surprised than Addie to witness her mother-in-law emerge from grief with a taste for joy.

Summer brings heartfelt relief, since Harold is so preoccupied with the crops and livestock. But thunderclouds envelop the farm from time to time, even felling an old maple in the yard. Addie is never free from her husband’s brooding nature, and when he lashes out, she unwittingly reinforces his behavior by believing his accusations. Surely, there must be a way she can change to make him happy.

Like George the mailman’s deliveries of Kate’s letters, autumn provides relief from summer’s heat and humidity, and a sudden surprise lightens Addie’s load. Their pastor becomes an army chaplain, and with so many joining up, the local church calls Harold, a self-made theologian and debate champion, to fill in. Then an unparalleled opportunity arises for him to receive seminary training from December through March. Imagine Addie’s relief at this unexpected reprieve!

But as harsh winds funnel east from the Dakotas, Kate’s RAF pilot husband goes missing in action. Within weeks, Kate’s situation turns from fearsome to sorrowful to desperate.

Like the solid, fertile land under her feet, Addie’s growing friendships with her mother-in-law and Jane nurture her faith. Even caregiving a dying World War I veteran (a task Harold foists upon her) reveals a silver lining.

***

The land, the seasons, and the war’s effect on quiet Iowa farm families . . . blending these together challenged me. I’m not sure I was always aware of the interplay of military battles and Addie’s ever-heightening tension. But I do love metaphors, and it’s so satisfying to see how this one works.

 

In Times Like These

By Gail Kittleson

 

Pearl Harbor attacked! The United States is at war.

But Addie fights her own battles on the Iowa home front. Her controlling husband Harold vents his rage on her when his father’s stoke prevents him from joining the military. He degrades Addie, ridicules her productive victory garden, and even labels her childlessness as God’s punishment.

When he manipulates his way into a military unit bound for Normandy, Addie learns that her best friend Kate’s pilot husband has died on a mission, leaving her stranded in London in desperate straits.

Will Addie be able to help Kate, and find courage to trust God with her future?

Want to read more?  Here’s the Buy link

Endorsement:

This extraordinary story classically captures the mindset of the 1940’s. Addie and her friend Kate reflect the voices women hear as they face confusing dilemmas almost seventy-five years later—my first read kept me up into the wee hours. I will refer my readers to In Times Like These! Patricia Evans, Author of The Verbally Abusive Relationship, Controlling People and other books listed at www.VerbalAbuse.com

 

About the Author:

 

Gail Kittleson lives in Northern Iowa with her husband of 38 years. In winter, Arizona’s Ponderosa pine forest provides another setting for her historical women’s fiction. She instructs creative writing classes and facilitates women’s workshops on spirituality, creativity, and memoir/fiction writing.

 

 

Contact Gail at her website: Facebook: author@gailkittleson.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Writers Welcomes Angela K. Couch

Tags

Angela K. Couch, book excerpt, Bumble Bee Arizona, Catherine Castle Wednesday Writers series, historical romance, Mail-Order Revenge

Today I’m welcoming Angela K Couch to Wednesday Writers. Angela is going to talk about setting, specifically, the setting of her historical romance, Mail-Order Revenge. I have to admit that this book’s title intrigues me, almost as much as the name of her book’s town. Let’s let Angela get to her story and see if you agree.

Thanks for hosting me on your Wednesday Writers Blog Series, Catherine.

When looking for a location for my novella, Mail-Order Revenge, I ran across a small town—now a ghost town—in the Bradshaw Mountains of Arizona. The town served as both a stop for the stagecoach and an outpost for the US Cavalry. Perfect! But its name was what really won me over. You could only ever name a town Bumble Bee in fiction if the town was real.

Surprisingly enough, the town was not actually named after the insect, but the nearby creek. The creek was named in 1870 after a Mr. J.X. Theut saved himself from a drunken maniac, Billingsley Callaway, by throwing a stone into a beehive. The drunk happened to be allergic to bees, fell ill and crawled back in his cave. So legend holds.

Mail-Order Revenge

By Angela K. Couch

Elizabeth Landvick knows of one man to blame for her family’s loss of fortune and her parents’ deaths. Now, she will stop at nothing to take her revenge and recover their wealth. Even travel across the country to marry the man’s son.

With his focus on his sprawling Arizona ranch, Axel Forsberg has little time for wooing a woman, so when his father finds him a bride from the east, he trusts he won’t regret the convenience. Until horses go missing, barns burn to the ground, a range war begins…and he loses his heart.

Excerpt

 

Axel seemed to heave a breath before pushing away from the wagon and starting toward her. Elizabeth had thought him grown when she’d seen him in the east, but he looked so much taller than she remembered. Broader, too. She rotated away and reached up for the chest she’d kept on the seat beside her.

She’d been mad thinking she could pull off this deceit. What if he did recognize her? He’d no doubt leave her stranded without more than a dollar in her reticule. She might make it as far as Prescott. But then what? What sort of employment was available for a woman in this barren wasteland?

She glanced sideways at the Bumble Bee Saloon and shuddered. Not just because of the predicament she’d landed herself in, but who named a town after an insect? She had no choice but follow through with her plan and hope she had indeed matured beyond recognition.

Want to read more? Go to Amazon

About the Author:

 

Angela K Couch is an award-winning author for her short stories, and a semi-finalist in ACFW’s Genesis Contest. As a passionate believer in Christ, her faith permeates the stories she tells. Her martial arts training, experience with horses, and appreciation for good romance sneak in there, as well. Angela lives in Alberta, Canada with her “hero” and three munchkins.

Connect with Angela and buy her book at:

Website: www.angelakcouch.com   Goodreads:  Facebook:

Wednesday Writers Welcomes Denise Gwen

Tags

Catherine Castle Wednesday Writers series, Clean Reads Books, Covenkeepers, Denise Gwen, Magic, YA FAntasy, YA Paranormal Adventure

Today Wednesday Writers welcomes Denise Gwen who will be sharing a bit about the back story of her YA Paranormal Adventure book Covenkeepers. I hopped over to Amazon and read the first few pages of the book. For those who like fiction stories about magic, spells, and paranormal creatures, Covenkeepers promises to be an enchanted adventure. So, welcome, Denise. Please tell us about the story behind your book.

 

 

 

Covenkeepers is the only story I have ever written and shared with my son. He was a little boy when I first wrote it, and every evening, over a period of weeks, he and I sat down together on the sofa in our family room so that I could read aloud to Nathaniel a chapter from my novel.

It gave me such joy to share with him my story of little Maddie, an apprentice witch from Salem, Massachusetts, who alights in a small town in Ohio, with her familiar, Malamar, a lazy, ginger cat, and the hijinks that happen as she and her family fight off the evil warlock who has pursued them from the coven in Salem, Massachusetts.

Nathaniel listened raptly as I read the story aloud to him, laughing with every one of Maddie’s hijinks and thrilling to every cliff-hanger.

 

Thanks for sharing with us, Gwen. And now, here’s the blurb for Covenkeepers.

Covenkeepers

By Denise Gwen

 

Maddie wants to get her father out of the deep carbonite freeze that Ezekiel, the warlock of Salem Castle, has imprisoned him into. Maddie, her mother, her nana, and her sister, flee in the dark of night and find a temporary home in an abandoned nursing home in the sleepy burg of Batavia, Ohio.

As Maddie works on ways to rescue her father, she is besieged with problems of her own. The abandoned nursing home they’re living in is haunted, and Maddie is attacked, first by a horde of mice, then by poisonous spiders. What in the world is going on?

And what will it take to get Maddie’s family back together?

You can find Covenkeeper at these locations:

Amazon: Barnes and Noble: Kobobooks: Smashwords: itunes:

 

About the Author:

Denise Gwen has been writing for years, and CovenKeepers was one of her favorite stories to write.