Fetching Sweetness

August 9th, 2016

Fetching Sweetness

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By Dana Mentink

Standing between Stephanie and her dream is one hundred pounds of lovable trouble.
It should have been so simple for Stephanie Pink: Meet up with Agnes Wharton in a small town in California, retrieve the reclusive author’s valuable new manuscript, and be promoted to a full-fledged literary agent.
But Agnes’s canine companion, Sweetness, decides to make a break for it before Stephanie can claim her prize. Until Agnes has Sweetness safely back at home in Eagle Cliff, Washington, Stephanie will never set eyes on the manuscript she needs to make her dreams come true.
When Stephanie tracks the runaway mutt to a campground, she meets Rhett Hastings—a man also on the run from a different life and a costly mistake. Rhett agrees to help Stephanie search for the missing dog . . . thus launching a surprising string of adventures and misadventures.
Once Sweetness gets added to the mix, it’s a recipe for love and loss, merriment and mayhem, fun and faith in the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest.

ISLAND BREEZES

Sweetness? Stephanie is on her way to a promotion as a literary agent. But before that could happen Sweetness enters her life.

Sweetness? Stephanie had to track down an author’s missing dog before she could get her hands on a hot manuscript.

Sweetness? How could anyone name that ugly mutt Sweetness? It couldn’t be because of the dog’s looks or personality.

Sweetness? That doesn’t fit with the author who drove off with Stephanie’s purse. SNow she’s stuck with a the help of a stranger to track down the dog and the author.

Sweetness? Not all that grief and misadventure along the way could be called sweet.

Sweetness? Were the surprises encountered when they caught up with the author sweet? Maybe it just all boils down to A Cup of Mud.

Thank you, Ms Mentink, for this very entertaining book. I enjoyed the smiles brought on by Sweetness.

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

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Dana Mentink lives in California, where the weather is golden and the cheese is divine. Dana is an American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year finalist for romantic suspense and an award winner in the Pacific Northwest Writers Literary Contest. Her suspense novel, Betrayal in the Badlands, earned a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching third and fourth grade. Mostly, she loves to be home with her husband, two daughters, a dog with social anxiety problems, a chubby box turtle, and a feisty parakeet.

Be Lifted Up

August 6th, 2016

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Therefore submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom.

Humble yourselves in the sight of Adonai, and He shall lift you up.

Jacob (James) 4:7-10

Carrie Stuart Parks’ ‘When Death Draws Near’ Undercover Artist Starter Set

August 3rd, 2016

Plunge into forensic artist Gwen Marcey’s world, full of cold-case murders, shady politics, and a den of venomous suspects. Add Carrie Stuart Parks’ new Gwen Marcey novel, When Death Draws Near, to the top of your must-read list. Gwen accepts temporary work in Pikeville, Kentucky—a small town facing big-city crime. But before she can finish her first drawing of the serial rapist who is on the loose, the latest witness vanishes. Just like all the others. Can Gwen uncover the truth—and convince anyone to believe her—before she becomes a victim herself?

Join Carrie in celebrating the release of When Death Draws Near by entering to win an Undercover Artist Starter Set.

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One grand prize winner will receive:

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Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on August 22. The winner will be announced August 23 on the Litfuse blog.

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When Death Draws Near

August 2nd, 2016

When Death Draws Near

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By Carrie Stuart Parks

Gwen Marcey takes death in stride. Until she’s faced with her own mortality.

Forensic artist Gwen Marcey is between jobs when she accepts temporary work in Pikeville, Kentucky—a small town facing big-city crime. But before Gwen can finish her first drawing of the serial rapist who is on the loose, the latest witness vanishes. Just like all the others.

Gwen suspects a connection between the rapist and the “accidental” deaths that are happening around town, but the local sheriff has little interest in her theories. When her digitally-obsessed teenage daughter joins her there, Gwen turn her attention to a second assignment: going undercover in a serpent-handling church. She could get a handsome reward for uncovering illegal activity there—a reward she desperately needs, as it seems her breast cancer has returned. But snakes aren’t the only ones ready to kill. Can Gwen uncover the truth—and convince anyone to believe her—before she becomes a victim herself?

ISLAND BREEZES

Gwen finally has some work in small town Kentucky. She’s a forensic artist and is trying to capture the image of the snake of a serial rapist, but all the witnesses just keep vanishing. Maybe all the “accidental” deaths around town are connected to this low life.

With little to go on and no cooperation from the sheriff, there’s no money coming in. Then an offer of a large reward has her going undercover in a church who’s into snake handling. Maybe some of the deaths are connected to this church.

Gwen ends up literally wading through snakes while trying to get to the bottom of all those deaths. But the deaths continue and she finds it difficult to figure out who the good guys are in this town.

This book will get the adrenaline working big time. Thank you, Carrie Stuart Parks, for keeping me up late at night turning pages. I’m really looking forward to Portrait of Vengeance.

 

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

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Carrie Stuart Parks is an award-winning fine artist and internationally known forensic artist. She teaches forensic art courses to law enforcement professionals and is the author/illustrator of numerous books on drawing. Carrie began to write fiction while battling breast cancer and was mentored by New York Times best-selling author Frank Peretti. Now in remission, she continues to encourage other women struggling with cancer.

What Causes Quarrels and Conflicts?

July 30th, 2016

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Where do quarrels and conflicts among you come from? Don’t they come from this, namely your passions that battle within your body parts?

You crave and have not. You murder and you envy, yet you cannot get it. You fight and you wage war. You do not have because you do not ask.

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives so you may spend it on your passions.

Jacob (James) 4:1-3

Hillary is Racist!

July 29th, 2016

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She wore that white racist outfit!

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When Melania Trump wore a white dress she was called a racist and she didn’t even give the so called “Nazi salute” that Republicans allegedly gave as they waved to the audience.

The progressives socialists commies democrats apparently don’t want us to know the Hill is racist, too. I’m sure they don’t want anyone digging into her background any more than they’ve already been doing.

After all the democrat party is the party of racism as they and their race baiters try to keep our black citizens in the victim category. They don’t want people of all races to know that they have the ability to take control of their lives and rise above the victim label. Any one can choose to rise above where he or she happens to be at the present. All without violence or handouts. People need a hand up, and there are many people out here willing to help.

Faith Versus Works

July 23rd, 2016

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What good is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can such faith save him?

If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,

and one of you says to them, “Go in shalom, keep warm and well fed,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is that?

So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works  and I will show you faith by my works.

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Jacob (James) 2:14-28, 26

shalom – Hebrew for peace

‘A Beauty Refined’ Blog Tour, Giveaway, and Facebook Party

July 20th, 2016

Little does Phoebe know that her father’s plans—for the sapphires and his daughter—are not what they seem. If you love historical fiction, romance, and adventure, don’t miss Tracie Peterson’s A Beauty Refined. When Phoebe meets Ian, everything changes. Yet the more he gets to know her, the more he realizes that her family story is based on a lie—a lie she has no knowledge of. And Ian believes he knows the only path that will lead her to freedom.

Join Tracie in celebrating the release of A Beauty Refined by entering to win her Precious Gems giveaway (details below) and by attending her author chat party on August 9!

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One grand prize winner will receive:

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on 8/9. The winner will be announced at A Beauty Refined Facebook party. RSVP for a chance to connect with Tracie and fellow fans of historical fiction, as well as for a chance to win other prizes!

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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 9th!A

A Beauty Refined

July 19th, 2016

A Beauty Refined

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By Tracie Peterson

What does it take to reveal the true beauty of a hidden gem?

Phoebe Von Bergen, the daughter of a German count, is excited to visit America for the first time while her father purchases sapphires in Helena, Montana. Little does she know, however, that her father’s intentions—both for her and the gemstones—are not what she thinks.
Ian Harper, a lapidary working in Helena, finds the dignified young woman staying at the Broadwater Hotel more than a little intriguing. Yet the more he gets to know her, the more he realizes that her family story is based on a lie—a lie she has no knowledge of. And Ian believes he knows the only path that will lead her to freedom.
Meeting Ian has changed everything for Phoebe, and she begins to consider staying in America, regardless of her father’s plans. But she may not be prepared for the unexpected danger that results when her family’s deception begins to unravel.

ISLAND BREEZES

Phoebe is a beautiful young lady who doesn’t have a clue that her life has been filled with secrets. Those start to unravel when she accompanies her father on a sapphire buying trip.

She thinks this will just be a routine mission for her father and a chance for her to experience America. It turns into anything but routine. While in Helena, Montana her life will be forever changed. Probably for the better, but you’ll never know if you don’t read this compelling book.

Thank you, Ms Peterson, for this book. I hate to leave Phoebe and the gang behind, but am definitely looking forward to your next book in the Sapphire Brides series.

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

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Tracie Peterson is the award-winning author of over eighty novels, both historical and contemporary. Her avid research resonates in her stories, as seen in her bestselling Heirs of Montana, and Alaskan Quest series. Tracie and her family make their home in Montana.

Do

July 16th, 2016

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But be doers of the word, not hearers only, deluding yourselves.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror –

for once he looks at himself and goes away, he immediately forgets what sort of person he was.

Jacob (James) 1:22-25

*God’s commandments