He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the Paradise of God.
Revelation 2:7
Ruach is the Hebrew word for spirit.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says Adonai Elohim, “Who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty!”
Revelation 1:8
Feliz Navidead
By Ann Myers
Holly, jolly, and downright deadly—the third Santa Fe Café mystery unwraps surprises both naughty and nice . . . It’s the most picturesque time of the year in Santa Fe, and Chef Rita Lafitte of Tres Amigas Café hopes the twinkling lights and tasty holiday treats will charm her visiting mom. Rita is also planning fun activities, such as watching her teenage daughter, Celia, perform in an outdoor Christmas play.
What she doesn’t plan for is murder.
Rita discovers a dead actor during the premier performance but vows to keep clear of the case. Sleuthing would upset her mom. Besides, there’s already a prime suspect, caught red-handed in his bloodied Santa suit. However, when the accused Santa’s wife begs for assistance—and points out that Celia and other performers could be in danger—Rita can’t say no. With the help of her elderly boss, Flori, and her coterie of rogue knitters, Rita strives to salvage her mother’s vacation, unmask a murderer, and stop this festive season from turning even more fatal.
ISLAND BREEZES
A very interesting Christmas indeed! Someone killed the devil – at least one of them. Rita’s daughter, Celia, is still alive, but she may well be in danger.
The traditional Santa Fe Las Posadas and and Celia’s part in it is a surprise to Helen, Rita’s very conventional mother. Helen has the exact same Christmas every year. Until now, that is. Rita’s sister is spending Christmas at the beach, and Helen is here to celebrate a Santa Fe Christmas.
Toss in Las Posadas, a dead devil, an ex-husband, a bunch of bones, a knitting group, disappearing objects, Indian curses and secretive teens. Mix them all together and you have a most interesting mystery on your hands.
Bonus #1 If you’re a knitter, you’ll find some yarn bombing ideas here.
Bonus #2 If you want to tantalize your taste buds, there’s some really good recipes at the back of the book. I’ve been drooling over Lorena’s Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie. I think that will have to be part of our family’s Christmas.
Thank you, Ms Myers, for introducing me to Rita Lafitte. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her.
***I received this book free of charge from Partners In Crime, and am giving my honest opinion.***
Read an excerpt:
About Ann:
Ann Myers writes the Santa Fe Café Mysteries. The first book in the series, Bread of the Dead (2015), introduced café chef and reluctant amateur sleuth, Rita Lafitte. Rita and her friends stir up more trouble in Cinco de Mayhem (March 2016) and Feliz Navidead (October 25, 2016). Ann lives with her husband and extra-large house cat in southern Colorado, where she enjoys cooking, crafts, and cozy mysteries.
You can find Ann online on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AnnMyers.writer/ and her website http://www.annmyersbooks.com/
Loved ones, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
3 John 11
A tale of troubled love and honorable intentions gone awry—don’t miss Michèle Phoenix’s new intimate and bold release, Of Stillness and Storm. It took Lauren and her husband ten years to achieve their dream—reaching primitive tribes in remote regions of Nepal. When a friend from Lauren’s past enters her life again, the tension of coping with the present while reengaging with the past might be too much. Will it be the family’s undoing?
Take Michèle’s new book with you on your winter vacation and enter to win her Bookworm On-the-Go Prize Pack (because you can’t take a stack of books with you when you travel).
One grand prize winner will receive:
Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on December 31. The winner will be announced January 3 on Michèle’s blog.
of stillness and storm
By Michèle Phoenix
Intimate and bold, Of Stillness and Storm weaves profound dilemmas into a tale of troubled love and honorable intentions gone awry.
“I felt torn between two worlds. Each with its own mystery. One more captivating than the other, but the other more real and breathing.”
It took Lauren and her husband ten years to achieve their
dream—reaching primitive tribes in remote regions of Nepal. But while Sam treks into the Himalayas for weeks at a time, finding passion and purpose in his work among the needy, Lauren and Ryan stay behind, their daily reality more taxing than inspiring. For them, what started as a calling begins to feel like the family’s undoing.
At the peak of her isolation and disillusion, a friend from Lauren’s past enters her life again. But as her communication with Aidan intensifies, so does the tension of coping with the present while reengaging with the past. It’s thirteen-year-old Ryan who most keenly bears the brunt of her distraction.
ISLAND BREEZES
Sam was gung ho from the beginning. Lauren wasn’t so sure for awhile, but made the committment. Ryan was dead set against moving to Nepal.
Sam would disappear into the remote mountain reaches three weeks out of every four. He soon became a stranger to his own family.
After two years Lauren needed Sam home more to help with Ryan. What she really needed was to take him back to the States. Ryan was becoming a surly, distant handful for Lauren.
After a friend kept urging Lauren to join facebook, she finally did, and doing so, discovered a new life for herself. A dangerous life for her fragile emotions. Aiden needed the connection as much as Lauren.
But can Lauren’s relationship with her son and husband survive this secret life of hers?
Thank you, Ms Phoenix, for this very touching story. I look forward to reading more of your work.
***I received this book free of charge from Litfuse, and am giving my honest opinion.***
Born in France to a Canadian father and an American mother, Michèle Phoenix is a consultant, writer, and speaker with a heart for Third Culture Kids.
She taught for 20 years at Black Forest Academy (Germany) before launching her own advocacy venture under Global Outreach Mission. Michèle travels globally to consult and teach on topics related to this unique people group. She loves good conversations, mischievous students, Marvel movies and paths to healing.
Pursuing Gold
By Cynthia L. Simmons
With his father dead and his business partner incapacitated, Peter Chandler inherits the leadership of a bank in economic crisis.
With only a newly-minted college degree and little experience, Peter joins his partner’s daughter, Mary Beth Roper, in a struggle to keep C&R Bank afloat while the Civil War rages around Chattanooga. Political pressure for unsecured loans of gold to the government stirs up trouble as tempers and prices rise. Their problems multiply when Mary Beth discovers counterfeit money with Peter’s forged signature. Can they find the forger before the bank fails? The two friends must pursue gold on behalf of their business, as they learn to pursue their heavenly Father to find hope and peace.
ISLAND BREEZES
This book has two new bank partners struggling with their new duties. They had no idea what kind of mess they were walking into.
Peter and Mary Beth were friends before becoming partners in a bank that just might go under.
There’s the Civil War nearing their door step. Then a murder. Now forged paper currency printed on their bank – a bank which has always dealt in gold and shunned paper currency.
The two must pursue gold as well as find the forgers and their cache of the false currency before it’s distributed and causes the bank to fail.
Will they also have a chance to pursue a budding romance?
Thank you, Ms Simmons, for this novel. I love historical novels and almost always learn something new in its particular time frame.
***I received this book free of charge from Litfuse, and am giving my honest opinion.***
Cynthia L Simmons and her husband, Ray, have five children and reside in Atlanta. She has taught for over thirty years as a homeschool mother and Bible teacher. She’s a columnist for Leading Hearts Magazine and she directs Atlanta Christian Writing Conference. Cyndi has a heart for encouraging women in today’s crazy, upside-down world. She loves history and peppers her speaking and teaching with fascinating vignettes from the past. Her first book, Struggles and Triumphs, was nominated for 2008 Georgia Author of the Year. She co-founded Homeschool Answers and hosts Heart of the Matter Radio.
For many deceivers have gone out into the world – those who do not acknowledge Yeshua as Messiah coming in human flesh. This one is a deceiver and the anti-messiah.
Watch yourselves, so you do not lose what we have worked for but receive a full reward.
Anyone who goes too far and does not remain in Messiah’s teaching does not have God. Anyone who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son.
2 John 7-9
The Remnant
By Monte Wolverton
What if there were an Apocalypse and Jesus didn’t return? What if the survivors found themselves living in a world ruled by a totalitarian government, where religion is forbidden and all religious texts have been destroyed? In The Remnant, award-winning author Monte Wolverton tells the tale of a band of concentration camp escapees who trek through the lawless American wilderness on a quest for authentic Christianity, only to come face to face with an unthinkable dilemma. The Remnant is a fast-paced story punctuated with dry satire, memorable characters and hard questions about religious institutions.
ISLAND BREEZES
It’s a big, scary world out there. But it’s also a world of freedom. Most people in the concentration camps have been there too long to have expierenced freedom. All they know is the one world government.
Then there’s the Safe Zone where the inhabitants are both protected and have more freedom of movement.
Outside these two areas is the “wild, wild west.” It’s not a very safe place.
One family along with friends who are fellow Christ believers decide to esvcape and find a place where they can freely worship/ They are armed only with the Remnant to guide them in their faith.
It’s a long and dangerous journey, and just when they think they’ve found what they’ve been looking for, their world is turned upside down.
In the end we are left wondering. Don’t even think about reading the end first. It won’t make much sense. Mr. Wolverton, please give me a follow up book soon. I really want to know the decision.
***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a copy without charge.***
Monte Wolverton is an award-winning author and syndicated editorial cartoonist. He is associate editor of CWR magazine. He is an ordained minister and holds a MA from Goddard College in Vermont. Along with his wife, Kaye, he makes his home in southwest Washington State.
