Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER:

I do not read every book/author I spotlight or book tour I host!
Readers, Please research and use wisdom before buying

Amazon Affiliate

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

#WednesdayWordswithFriends welcomes Karen Malley @KarenLMalley !

Good Morning,

Well, the house is gone and I am two steps closer to finalizing my mom and dad's estate. 

Bittersweet relief. 

Please give today's guest, Karen Malley a huge, warm, W-E-L-C-O-M-E!!!

Thank you for having me back again, Pam!

A few years ago, I was talking with a coworker who I knew to be an avid reader. When I mentioned writing my first book, he told me “you should write a series.” At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but when I came to the end of Following the Sparrows, I knew he was right. I had so much fun writing about the characters and the town of Pine Springs, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. There were other characters with stories to tell, so I took his advice and a series was born.

            Since that conversation, I have now written three books in the series, along with a free prequel. This month, book two, A Second Chance for Grace, releases. I’ve enjoyed exploring the secondary characters who first showed their faces in the first book.

            Here’s a little bit about it: 

A new life coming into the world disrupts Susan's quiet life ...


Susan Montgomery is used to a quiet, peaceful life managing her apartment building, where the hardest problem is her grouchy neighbor's leaky faucet. She soon finds herself dealing with a pregnant teenage niece, a mysterious briefcase left behind by a tenant, and two very different men vying for her heart.


A near-death experience gives Mac a new outlook on life ...


Christopher "Mac" MacAllister is trying to figure out how to "do the Christian thing." As a new convert, he's drawn to Susan's love for life and for God. She's nothing like the women he used to date; but can Mac compete with the guy who's come out of nowhere and knows all the right things to say?

It may be obvious from the title, but the book is all about second chances. We serve a God who specializes in second chances. Moses murdered an Egyptian and ran away to the wilderness, and when God came to recruit him, he asked God to send someone else, yet God used him to lead his people out of slavery. David committed adultery and had the woman’s husband murdered to cover up the resulting pregnancy, but God made him a mighty king of Israel. Peter spent three years of his life swearing his allegiance to Jesus, but in His time of need denied knowing the Lord. Jesus restored him and used him to draw thousand of Jewish people to Christ. Paul persecuted Christians and dragged them off to prison, but God changed his heart and he became the greatest missionary of all time. God used each of these men mightily by lifting them out of their sins. They became heroes of the faith. He can do the same for us if we open our hearts to His leading.

Personally, I’m encouraged God chose to record the mistakes made by the heroes of the faith because it means he can use even me. Maybe not to lead people out of slavery, be a king, or start dozens of churches, but I’m hopeful He uses my words to encourage others.

If you’re interested in reading about second chances, love, friendship, betrayal, and mystery, give A Second Chance for Grace a try!

Karen lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons. She works full time as a scientist, but enjoys writing in her spare time whenever she can find some! When not writing (with her left hand), she enjoys baking, volunteering at her church, camping, hiking, playing board games, and reading. She loves reading faith-based stories, because we can all use a happy ending.

Find out more about Karen by visiting her Website and connecting with her on Twitter, FaceBook, GoodReads and BookBub.

Get your copy of A Second Chance for Grace at Amazon and where other great Christian fiction is sold.

Thank you so much, Karen for visiting with us today. A Second Chance for Grace sounds like a wonderful read and we certainly wish you the best of luck and God's blessings with it and all of your writings!

Hope you enjoyed today's post as much as I did, Friends and that you'll stop by weekly for another edition of Wednesday Words with Friends and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God bless.

PamT

Saturday, April 24, 2021

#SaturdaySpotlight is on Colleen L Donnelly & Letters and Lies!

Good Morning!

Today's guest is brand new to our blog so please welcome Colleen L Donnelly with her novel, Letters and Lies! Take it away Colleen.....

Louise Archer boards a westbound train in St. Louis to find the Kansas homesteader who wooed and proposed to her by correspondence, then jilted her by telegram – Don't come, I can't marry you. Giving a false name to hide her humiliation, her lie backfires when a marshal interferes and offers her his seat.

Marshal Everett McCloud intends to verify the woman coming to marry his homesteading friend is suitable. At the St. Louis train station, his plan detours when he offers his seat to a captivating woman whose name thankfully isn't Louise Archer.

Everett's plans thwart hers, until he begins to resemble the man she came west to find, and she the woman meant to marry his friend.

EXCERPT: 

“He wrote and changed your plans? Why didn’t you tell me? You know I love hearing his letters.”

Everyone loved hearing his letters. Or at least they’d pretended to. I glanced at my friends, especially the one who’d first suggested I correspond with her husband’s homesteading friend in Kansas who was ready to look for a wife. She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief while she flicked the fingers of her other hand in a weak wave. I dredged my soul in search of a smile. The man she’d introduced me to truly had penned everything I’d ever wanted in a husband, months of letters which convinced Mama Jim was my open door. Letters I’d foolishly carted from family to friend to blather every word like a desperate spinster. Drat.

“He didn’t send his change of plans in a letter, Mama. He sent them in a telegram.” Don’t come, I can’t marry you. The only words I never shared.  

“Well I imagine your Jim has a surprise for you and didn’t have time to send a letter before you left for Crooked Creek. How thoughtful to wire you instead.” 

Thoughtful…I felt poisoned and Mama would too if she ever found out Jim had shut my open door. Which she wouldn’t, since as soon as I got out there and found him, I’d wedge it back open again. 


Born and raised in the Midwest, Colleen studied and worked in science, using that career to travel and explore other parts of the country. An avid fan of literature, both reading and writing, she loves tales involving moral dilemmas and the choices people come up against. A lover of the outdoors as well as a comfy living room, Colleen is always searching inside and out for the next good story.

Connect with Colleen by visiting here Website, on Facebook, GoodReads and BookBub

Get your copy of Letters and Lies at the following locations:

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3aXuMCl 

Oh my goodness, Colleen, my heart broke for Louise but I admire her tenacity in traveling to Kansas to find Everett and find out what's going on! I hope they find their HEA!

Hope you enjoyed the spotlight friends and that you'll check back weekly for another edition of Saturday Spotlight and Wednesday Words with Friends.

Until next time,take care and God Bless.

PamT