Book Review: Belle of the Glades by Cheryl Abney

Eleven-year-old Isabelle Lacey feels abandoned and alone. After the death of her parents, she is cared for by her aunt while they travel to her Uncle Arden’s place in Okeechobee, Florida. The dangers of living in such a place are new to the former city girl, and she must learn to adapt to a perilous environment.

A map-inscribed shell rock drops Belle and her friends into the middle of a dangerous adventure filled with Everglades creatures and outlaws. Through it all, Belle must depend on her faith to help her adjust to her new life and keep her safe.

Belle of the Glades is a lovely faith-filled middle grade novel girls will enjoy. Readers will be drawn in by its plucky main character. Abney has created a girl whose sense of loss and abandonment makes her sympathetic, while her tenacity in coping with challenges inspires and empowers.

Abney paints a beautiful picture of the Florida Everglades in 1918 with rich details and descriptions of the world which Belle now calls home. The mystery of the shell rock propels the action forward to a superb conclusion.

Lovers of historical novels and adventure stories will want to read Belle of the Glades by Cheryl Abney.


Publisher iUniverse (March 15, 2013)
Language English
ISBN-10 1475975406
ISBN-13 978-1475975406


I received this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I have not been compensated in any way.

This review first appeared at Christian Children's Authors.

Wordless Wednesday

CFBA: An Open Heart by Harry Kraus

This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingAn Open HeartDavid C. Cook (June 1, 2013)
byHarry Kraus



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A Word from Harry:

I started writing my first novel during my last year of surgery training at UK. I was a chief resident, and started writing Stainless Steal Hearts in a call room at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Lexington. It was a crazy time to write! I had a very demanding schedule, often spending days and nights in the hospital. I had two sons at that time, and I recognized the wisdom in my wife's urging: "Now doesn't seem the right time for this dream."

My experience as a writer is far from typical. Having received my formal training in biology and chemistry and medicine, my only preparation for a writing career was a love for reading. The longest thing I'd written before my first novel was a term paper in undergraduate school. My first novel was accepted by Crossway Books and published in 1994, and it wasn't until after I had FOUR published novels that I even opened a book of instruction about the craft of writing fiction. This is not what I recommend to others! Yes, I was successful, but I was bending the "rules" without knowing it. I had a natural talent for plotting, but I realize my initial success may have stunted my growth as a writer. I'd have made faster progress if I'd have gone to the fiction teachers sooner.

I have three sons: Joel, Evan, and Samuel. Look closely in all of my books and you'll see them there. My lovely wife, Kris, provides the basic composition for all those beautiful, athletic, dedicated women in my novels.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Their Messages—From Beyond the Grave—Might Destroy Him ...

They hover between life and death, their hearts stopped on the surgery table. And the messages Dr. Jace Rawlings’ open-heart surgery patients bring back from beyond the grave cannot be ignored. For they predict the deaths of people around him, and point a finger of suspicion straight at him.

It thrusts Jace into a firestorm of controversy and danger. A maelstrom blown by the darker winds of political intrigue and spiritual warfare. And the forces working against him will do anything to stop him from uncovering a truth they will kill to hide. He’d come to Kenya to establish a heart-surgery program for the poor. But what he will find in that place where he grew up will put everything at risk–his marriage, his career . . . his life.


If you would like to read the first chapter of An Open Heart, go HERE.

Faith on Earth? Book Blast (Giveaway)

About the book:

“Shall He find faith on the earth?” is a question Christians must answer for they will decide the matter. Believers today have yet to appreciate the magnitude of the responsibility God has placed on their shoulders. You may be surprised and challenged as Lou Poumakis sets forth the eternal significance of your personal efforts in this brief, thought-provoking volume. This book will stimulate your thinking about faith on Christ’s terms. The church and the yet to be evangelized world need this message.

Purchase at: http://www.amazon.com/Faith-Earth-Lou-Poumakis/dp/0983195781/

About the author:

Lou Poumakis is a retired electrical engineer. He practiced this profession until his retirement in 2002 but has been a serious student of God’s word since his conversion in 1974. He was ordained as elder in the Christian Reformed Church and later as minister in the Federation of Reformed Churches. Early on, he was attracted to the work of R. J. Rushdoony at Chalcedon Foundation where he discovered Postmillennialism and Christian Reconstruction. These doctrines reflected a truly Biblical Christian faith that possessed a dynamic that contrasted favorably with the passive outlook that predominated in what he had seen elsewhere. Faith on Earth? is primarily based on information garnered from this source. Before writing Faith on Earth?, he published several articles relating God’s word to current events. He and his wife Joan,
who have been married since 1955, now live in Florida.

To learn more about Faith on Earth visit http://www.nordskogpublishing.com/book-faith-on-earth.shtml

Pump Up Your Book and Lou Poumakis are teaming up to give you a chance to win a fabulous prize!

Here’s how it works:
Each person will enter this giveaway by liking, following, subscribing and tweeting about this giveaway through the Rafflecopter form placed on blogs throughout the tour. If your blog isn’t set up to accept the form, we offer another way for you to participate by having people comment on your blog then directing them to where they can fill out the form to gain more entries. This promotion will run from June 3 – 28, 2013. The winners will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter, contacted by email and announced on July 1, 2013. Each blogger who participates is eligible to enter and win. Visit each blog stop below to gain more entries as the Rafflecopter widget will be placed on each blog for the duration of the tour. Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


If the Rafflecopter form doesn’t load, you can enter by visiting the author’s tour page at http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2013/04/16/pump-up-your-book-presents-lou-poumakis-faith-on-earth-book-blast-win-25-amazon-gift-card/.

Faith on Earth? Book Blast Schedule

Monday, June 3^rd

Tribute Books and Giveaways

Tuesday, June 4^th

Maureen’s Musings

Wednesday, June 5^th

My Devotional Thoughts

Thursday, June 6^th

The Book Connection

Friday, June 7^th

The Busy Mom’s Daily

Blogcritics

Monday, June 10^th

Literarily Speaking

Tuesday, June 11^th

Cheryl’s Christian Book Connection

Wednesday, June 12^th

The Writer’s Life

Thursday, June 13^th

Beyond the Books

Friday, June 14^th

As the Pages Turn

Monday, June 17^th

Literal Exposure

Tuesday, June 18^th

Mary’s Cup of Tea

Wednesday, June 19^th

Paperback Writer

Thursday, June 20^th

Broowaha

Monday, June 24^th

The Book Rack

Tuesday, June 25^th

Divine Caroline

Wednesday, June 26^th

Lori’s Reading Corner

Thursday, June 27^th

Review from Here

Friday, June 28^th

Examiner

Teaser Tuesdays - June 11

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

She turned her back to him, her hands shaking as she unlocked the front door. She'd head down the mountain, find a spot where she could get a cell phone signal and call the police.

~Location 182, Kindle version of Fugitive by Shirlee McCoy

Teaser Tuesdays - June 11

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I call being able to give a proper handshake an art because it seems so many people have forgotten or never learned how to do so. You can learn a lot about a person by the way he/she shakes your hand. 

~ Page 95, God's Special Forces: A Manual for Becoming a Young Woman of Quality by Darlene Laney

Articles To Help You Make Your Nails Look Beautiful

Most of the time, I don't care what my toenails look like. Even at Disney it didn't matter, because I wore sneakers all the time. But when we go to North Carolina I would like to walk around in sandals without feeling I need to hide my ragged nails. The garden destroys my fingernails, so I do my best to keep them looking decent, even if they aren't polished all the time.

NannyNet™ recently posted an article entitled, "25 Blogs with Tricks for Making Your Nails Look Beautiful this Summer." It has links to a variety of articles about nail care, nutrition, and polishing. You can find it at http://www.nanny.net/blog/25-blogs-with-tricks-for-making-your-nails-look-beautiful-this-summer/