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Intentional Living

By John C. Maxwell

We all have a longing to be significant. We want to make a contribution, to be a part of something noble and purposeful. But many people wrongly believe significance is unattainable. They worry that it’s too big for them to achieve. That they have to have an amazing idea, be a certain age, have a lot of money, or be powerful or famous to make a real difference.

The good news is that none of those things is necessary for you to achieve significance and create a lasting legacy. The only thing you need to achieve significance is to be intentional. And to do that, all you need to do is start. You can’t make an impact sitting still and doing nothing. Every major accomplishment that’s ever been achieved started with a first step. Sometimes it’s hard; other times it’s easy, but no matter what, you have to do it if you want to get anywhere in life.

In INTENTIONAL LIVING, John Maxwell will help you take that first step, and the ones that follow, on your personal path through a life that matters.

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Are you living a life of significance or are you just trying to do your best? Are you content being the person you are or do you want more? Are you living intentionally or just living?

Everyone has a story and a why. John C. Maxwell shows you how to find yours. You then can start doing something of significance – something that makes a difference. This will lead to a life of anticipation.

Thank you, Mr.Maxwell, for leading us towards a life with a great story.

***A special thank you to Sarah Stringer of the Hachett Book Group for providing a review copy.***

John C. Maxwell is an internationally respected leadership expert and author who has sold more than 21 million books. Dr. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP, a non-profit organization that has trained nearly 6 million leaders in 177 countries worldwide. Each year he speaks to the leaders of diverse organizations, such as Fortune 500 companies, foreign governments, the National Football League, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the United Nations. A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week best-selling author, Maxwell has written three books that have sold more than a million copies: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. His blog can be read  here.

Now this is His commandment – that we should believe in the name of his Son, Yeshua the Messiah, and love one another, just as He commanded us.

The one who keeps His commandments abides in God, and God in him. We know He abides in us by this – by the Ruach He has given us.

1 John 3:23-24

Hebrew

Mars with Venus Rising

By Hope Toler Dougherty

A meddling horse, paper bag floors and a flying saucer on the town square. The little town of Mars has it all—including a brand new resident who might spell heartache for one of its own.
Twenty-something Penn Davenport yearns for an exciting life in the big city and wants to shed the label of orphan that she’s worn for years. To achieve that dream, she must pass the CPA exam then move away from the two aunts who reared her after her parents died in a plane crash.
When John Townsend—full of life and the joy of living—moves to town, he rattles Penn’s view of herself, her life, and her dreams . . . which isn’t such a bad thing until she falls for him . . . and discovers he’s a pilot.

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Penn has her life planned out. She’ll pass the CPA exam and move out so that her aunts can move back to their home.

Then along comes John. It seems as if he’s moved to her small town of Mars just to irritate her. All poor John wants is to make some friends in his new home town.

Penn starts softening up and maybe even falling for him until she learns he’s a pilot. Then all bets are off. No way, Jose. She’ll stick to her car and wayward horse.

Is there no way at all for John to work himself back into Penn’s heart? It doesn’t look like it.

Thank you, Hope, for this fun book. I’ll look forward to reading your next novel.

***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***

Hope Toler Dougherty holds a Master’s degree in English and taught at East Carolina University as well as York Technical College. A member of ACFW, RWA and SinC, she writes for Almost an Author. Before writing novels, she published non-fiction articles on topics ranging from gardening with children to writing apprehension. She cheers for the Pittsburgh Steelers, ACC basketball, and Army West Point Football. Hope and her husband, Kevin, live in North Carolina and have two daughters and twin sons.

Travel to the small town of Mars, where you’ll find a meddling horse, paper bag floors, and a flying saucer on the town square—in Hope Toler Dougherty’s book, Mars . . . with Venus Rising. Penn Davenport dreams of passing the CPA exam and moving away from the two aunts who reared her after her parents died in a plane crash. When John Townsend—full of life and the joy of living—moves to town, he rattles Penn’s view of herself, her life, and her dreams . . . which isn’t such a bad thing until she falls for him and discovers he’s a pilot.

Celebrate Hope’s Mars . . . with Venus Rising blog tour with a Kindle Fire Prize Pack giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Mars . . . with Venus Rising
• A $25 Amazon gift card
• A Kindle Fire

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry! The giveaway ends on May 18th. The winner will be announced May 19th on Hope’s blog.

The Inheritance

By Michael Phillips

The death of clan patriarch Macgregor Tulloch has thrown the tiny Shetland Islands community of Whales Reef into turmoil. Everyone assumed Tulloch’s heir to be his much-loved grandnephew David. But when no will is discovered, David’s calculating cousin Hardy submits his own claim to the inheritance, an estate that controls most of the island’s land. And Hardy knows a North Sea oil investor who will pay dearly for that control.
While the competing claims are investigated, the courts have frozen the estate’s assets, leaving many of the locals in dire financial straits. The future of the island—and its traditional way of life—hangs in the balance.
Meanwhile, Loni Ford enjoys a rising career in a large investment firm in Washington, D.C. Yet, in spite of outward success, she is privately plagued by questions of identity. Orphaned as a young child, she was raised by her grandparents, and while she loves them dearly, she feels completely detached from her roots. That is, until a mysterious letter arrives from a Scottish solicitor. . . .
Past and present collide in master storyteller Michael Phillips’ dramatic new saga of loss and discovery, of grasping and grace.

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The Laird of Clan Tulloch is dead without a will. Now it’s between two grand nephews as to who will be chosen the next to claim that title. Which one will it be?

Underlying it all are financial problems. Until the inheritance is settled, money is not available to run the mill and pay it’s employees their wages.

The two cousins are widely divergent in their plans for the community. Hardy wants to sell out to the oil industry while David wants to continue Whales Reef’s traditional way of life.

The big surprise comes when American Lori Ford shows up.

Mr. Phillips, please write rapidly. I can’t stand not knowing what’s happening. I want to come to your house to help you write so I can read the second book in Secrets of the Shetlands.

***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***

Michael Phillips is a bestselling author who has penned more than seventy books, both fiction and nonfiction. In addition, he has served as editor/redactor of nearly thirty more books. Over the past thirty years, his persistent efforts have helped reawaken interest in the writings of nineteenth century Scotsman George MacDonald. Michael and his wife, Judy, spend time each year in Scotland, but make their home near Sacramento, California.

Do  not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brethren. The one who does not love remains in death.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer – and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

We have come to know love by this – Yeshua laid down his life for us, and we also should lay down our lives for our brethren.

But if someone has material possessions and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Children, let us not love with word or talk, but in deed and truth!

1 John 3:13-18

As the music fades and a chasm separates her from the passion of her heart, will Lucy’s faith song go silent, too? Find out in Cynthia Ruchti’s new book, Song of Silence. The musical score of her life seems to be missing all the notes. When a simple misstep threatens to silence Lucy forever, a young boy and his soundless mother change the way she sees—and hears—everything.

Celebrate the release of Song of Silence with a blog tour and giveaway. Two winners will be chosen!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Song of Silence
• A $150 Visa cash card

One second place winner will receive:

• A copy of Song of Silence
• A music-themed prize pack filled with goodies hand-picked by Cynthia

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry! The giveaway ends on May 9th. The winners will be announced May 10th on Cynthia’s blog.

Song of Silence

By Cynthia Ruchti

Music taught Lucy love and beauty. Could silence teach her hope?

Lucy and Charlie Tuttle agree on one thing: they’re committed to each other for life. Trouble is, neither of them expected life to look like this. While Charlie retired early, Lucy is devoted to a long-term career . . . until the day she has no choice.

Forced to retire from her position as music educator in a small Midwestern K-8 school, Lucy can only watch helplessly as the program her father started years ago disintegrates before her eyes. As the music fades and a chasm separates her from the passion of her heart, Lucy wonders if her faith’s song has gone silent, too. The musical score of her life seems to be missing all the notes.

When a simple misstep threatens to silence Lucy forever, a young boy and his soundless mother change the way she sees—and hears—everything.

ISLAND BREEZES

This book will take your heart on a journey. Is it better to lose your music or never to have had in in the first place?

Lucy Tuttle had her music taken from her twice. It was devastating each time.

Amazingly silence helped her find a new source of music. If one listens carefully, sometimes family drama can do that.

Thank you, Ms Ruchti, for showing us what can happen if w listen to the silence in our lives.

***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***

Cynthia Ruchti is the author of the critically acclaimed Where the Morning Glory Blooms and They Almost Always Come Home. After 33 years as writer/producer of the daily 15-minute radio broadcast, The Heartbeat of the Home, Cynthia served a two-year term as president of American Christian Fiction Writers and currently serves as ACFW’s Professional Relations Liaison. In addition to writing novels, devotionals, and magazine articles, she speaks for women’s events and writers’ conferences. Cynthia and her plot-tweaking husband live in Central Wisconsin, where she creates stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark.

When a suspicious outsider with a shadowy past comes crashing into Amish widow Mattie’s fragile world, can she learn to love again? Find out in Ruth Reid’s new book, A Dream of Miracles. When Mattie and Bo cross paths, all signs point to disaster. Yet as they face a crucible of trials and tragedies together, longings begin to stir that seem destined only to end in more heartbreak. Is a miracle possible—not only of healing but of forbidden love? What secrets lie in Bo’s dreams? And will Mattie find the courage to face her uncertain future . . . or will she simply run away?

Ruth is celebrating the release of A Dream of Miracles with a Kindle Fire HD 6 giveaway (details below) and an author chat party on May 3!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• One copy of A Dream of Miracles
• A Kindle Fire HD 6

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on 5/3. The winner will be announced at A Dream of Miracles Facebook party. RSVP for a chance to connect with Ruth and other fans of Amish fiction, as well as for a chance to win other prizes!

RSVP today and spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or PINTEREST and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 3rd!