Monday, July 7, 2014

CFBA: Hope Deferred by Elizabeth Maddrey

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Hope Deferred
HopeSprings Books (July 1, 2014)
by
Elizabeth Maddrey




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:




Elizabeth Maddrey is a semi-reformed computer geek and homeschooling mother of two who loves a good happily ever after.

Elizabeth Maddrey began writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never looked back. Though her practical nature and love of computers, math, and organization steered her into computer science at Wheaton College, she always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time. This continued through a Master’s program in Software Engineering, several years in the computer industry, teaching programming at the college level, and a Ph.D. in Computer Technology in Education. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity.

She lives in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys.


ABOUT THE BOOK



Christian fiction for women.

Can pursuit of a blessing become a curse?

June and July and their husbands have spent the last year trying to start a family and now they're desperate for answers. As one couple works with specialists to see how medicine can help them conceive, the other must fight to save their marriage.
Will their deferred hope leave them heart sick, or start them on the path to the fulfillment of their dreams?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Hope Deferred, go HERE.

Mailbox Monday - July 7

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

We're on vacation this week, but we've had the joy of visiting two used book stores on the Outer Banks. One of them has been around for years, the other of which just opened three weeks ago. Title Waves in the Jockey's Ridge Crossing plaza sells used books, gifts, and coffee. The owner, Cathy Williams, is a former school teacher. It was nice to see a new shop there. The Lil' Diva picked up a movie cover version of Divergent that included a movie poster and a 2005 version of Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

I found this 1995 copy of a Murder, She Wrote book.


Cozy Cabot Cove, Maine, has a country luncheonette, but not much high culture. Mystery author Jessica Fletcher is the only writer in residence, but the renovation of the local Worrell mansion into an art colony may bring scores of artistic people to town. No one, however, expected a creative killer.

The posh retreat offers struggling artists a European spa, psychiatry, and even hypnotism. But soon the retreat begins to look like a health hazard. A suicide attempt and a brutal murder quickly arouse the sheriff's attention--and Jessica's. And when an old friend mysteriously disappears, Jessica fears a twisted genius is at work writing a scenario for murder--putting Jessica's own life on the line.

Murder, She Wrote remains one of my favorite television shows. I watch it on Netflix. There are over 35 books to this series and a new one is slated for October.

Before we left on vacation, I downloaded the following books for my Kindle:


What would you give for a chance at true love?

When Sherry's best friend, Lorena, promises her a virtual reality adventure for her sixty-third birthday, neither of them expect a trip back in time. But when Sherry bumps into the handsome stranger she'd once kissed on a London train in the summer of '69, she knows it couldn't be anything else. And this time she doesn't want to run.

Lorena's heart belongs to her husband who died four years ago. She returns to the present to find a letter from David which urging her to travel to a past she doesn't remember because it hasn't happened yet. Lorena will risk anything to have more time with Dave. Will travelling to this past change their shared future?


Ela Roeh of Parne doesn't understand why her beloved Creator, the Infinite, wants her to become His prophet. She's undignified and bad-tempered, and at age seventeen she's much too young. In addition, no prophet of Parne has ever been a girl. Worst of all, as Parne's elders often warn, if she agrees to become the Infinite's prophet, Ela knows she will die young.

Yet she can't imagine living without Him. Determined to hear the Infinite's voice, Ela accepts the sacred vinewood branch and is sent to bring the Infinite's word to a nation torn apart by war. There she meets a young ambassador determined to bring his own justice for his oppressed people. As they form an unlikely partnership, Ela battles how to balance the leading of her heart with the leading of the Infinite.

I recently won a drawing at Freda's Voice. I got the chance to choose one Kindle book up to $5.00 as my prize. I went with Strong Enough to Die by Jon Land because it was on my wish list.


Caitlin Strong is a fifth-generation Texas Ranger, proud to wear the badge of her father and grandfather—until a deadly shoot-out along the Mexican border causes her to question her calling.

Five years later, Caitlin is still trying to purge herself of guilt from the day that ended her Ranger career. But a shattering discovery will reopen old wounds, and Caitlin’s renewed investigation into the truth behind the bloody desert firefight uncovers a terrifying plot that reaches into every home and threatens the very core of the country.

Her only hope for success—and survival—is to team up with Cort Wesley Masters, a deadly outlaw who has every reason to want her dead. But he also holds the key to the truth she desperately seeks in the anguished brain of an amnesiac torture victim.

Caitlin’s tormented quest for redemption takes her to a dark world, ranging from Washington to Bahrain to the wastelands of Mexico, as she finds that the strength to live comes from learning how to die.

I'll probably have a new book or two once we get home, too. What was in your mailbox?

Friday, July 4, 2014

Happy Independence Day!



We weathered Hurricane Arthur last night. Didn't even lose power; just the front porch screen. Actually, I hear the weather at home has been wicked too. Hope you're enjoying some sunshine and warmth.

Here's wishing our readers a happy, healthy, and safe Fourth of July!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

This Day in History - Back to the Future Released


On this date in 1985, the movie Back to the Future was released. Michael J. Fox starred as Marty McFly, a teenager who travels back in time thanks to a time traveling DeLorean invented by Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). While 30 years in the past, Marty must make sure his parents unite in order to save his own existence.

The popularity of the original movie led to two sequels starring Fox and Lloyd. For more about Back to the Future and DeLorean, visit http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/back-to-the-future-released-features-1981-delorean-dmc-12

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Kindle Freebie: A Perfect Love: An Amish Christian Romance Story by Melanie Schmidt


Ruth Lapp suffers from a congenital hip defect due to her parents being third cousins. Her mother is also guilt-ridden and takes it out on Ruth with unending abuse and vitriolic verbal attacks. In spite of this, Ruth has become an expert quilter, gifted some say, and is coming into her own in the Amish community and beyond. When Mark King, a local Amish farmer, wants to court Ruth, Mary goes to extremes to keep her daughter under her thumb. Others in the community have become aware of Mary's abuse, and things are coming to a head as Ruth, Mary and Mark's lives spiral out of control.

File Size: 504 KB
Print Length: 81 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Melanie Schmidt Publishing; 1st edition (April 18, 2013)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00CFL8CVG

PURCHASE HERE!

In the News: Eastern Europeans Brought in to Work Minimum Wage Jobs on Outer Banks



Over the past several years, we've noticed a definite change in the young people working in Outer Banks establishments. It used to be American teens filling these minimum wage jobs. As this response to Andrew Puzder's June 10 Wall Street Journal op-ed article, "Why Young People Can't Find Work," the reader indicates businesses on the Outer Banks bring in "young people from Eastern Europe to work in the summer because American kids don't want the jobs." This is actually an overall trend. American teens aren't looking to work in the local supermarket anymore. They are volunteering and dedicating their time to unpaid internships instead. The WSJ has an interesting conversation about it at http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/05/01/teens-arent-so-keen-on-summer-jobs-anymore/