CBD Freebie: Untamed Land by Lauraine Snelling

Proud of Their Heritage and Sustained by Their Faith, They Came to Tame a New Land

She had promised herself that once they left the fjords of Norway, she would not look back. After three long years of scrimping and saving to buy tickets for their passage to America, Roald and Ingeborg Bjorklund, along with their son, Thorliff, finally arrive at the docks of New York City. It was the promise of free land that fed their dream and lured them from their beloved home high above the fjords of Norway in 1880. Together with Roald's brother Carl and his family, they will build a good life in a new land that promises untold wealth and vast farmsteads for their children. As they join the throngs of countless immigrants passing through Castle Garden, they soon discover that nothing is as they had envisioned it. Appalled by the horrid stories of fellow immigrants bilked of all their money and forced to live in squalid living conditions, the Bjorklunds continue their long journey by train as far as Grand Forks. From there a covered wagon takes them into Dakota Territory, where they settle on the banks of the Red River. But there was no way for them to foresee the price they will have to pay to wrest a living from the indomitable land. The virgin prairie refuses to yield its treasure without a struggle. Will they be strong enough to overcome the hardships of that first winter?


Format: DRM Protected ePub
Vendor: Bethany House
Publication Date: 2006
ISBN: 9781441203182
ISBN-13: 9781441203182
Availability: In Stock
Series: Red River of the North

PURCHASE HERE!

Lauraine Snelling is an award winning author of over 30 books, both fiction and non fiction for adults and young adults. She has two horse series for young teen girls, the GOLDEN FILLY SERIES which is completed and HIGH HURDLES. Lauraine is also the author of the popular RED RIVER OF THE NORTH series set in North Dakota in the past part of the 19th century. The Bjorklund brothers bring their families from Norway to begin a new life on the land they will turn from prairie to fertile farms.

Besides writing both books and articles, Lauraine teaches at writer's conferences across the country and has an active speaking career. She and husband Wayne have two grown sons, four grand dogs and live in the country where Lauraine can garden, sew, do crafts, cross stitch, enjoy her birds and eventually have a horse again.

Mailbox Monday - September 29

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.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm a bit crazy. In addition to all that is going on in our daily lives, I decided to sign up for two online courses through Canvas Network. They are both Laura Ingalls Wilder related courses. I'll have a chance to re-read some of the Little House books and also read a book I bought a while ago, Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer's Life by Pamela Smith Hill.

In other book news, I received Strong Darkness in the mail last week. This is the latest Caitlin Strong novel by Jon Land.

Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong returns in her most thrilling adventure yet

1883: Texas Ranger William Ray Strong teams up with Judge Roy Bean to track down the Old West’s first serial killer, who’s stitching a trail of death along the railroad lines slicing their way through Texas.

The Present: Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong finds herself pursuing another serial killer whose methods are eerily similar to the one pursued by her great-grandfather almost a century-and-a-half before.

But that’s just the beginning of her problems. The son of her boyfriend is nearly beaten to death at Brown University. The investigation leads back to Texas and to the Chinese high-tech company awarded the contract to build the US’s 5G network. Li Zhen, the company’s founder, counts that as the greatest achievement of his career, but it hides his true motivations—nothing less than China’s total domination of the United States.

His plan is backed by elements of the Chinese underworld. Up against an army at Li’s disposal, Caitlin blazes a violent trail across country and continent in search of secrets hidden in the past, but it’s a secret from the present that holds the key. Darkness is coming, and only Caitlin Strong can find the light before it’s too late.

This will be the second Caitlin Strong book I've read and the third one by Land. I hope to get to it in November.

What did you receive last week?

The Friday 56 - Week 196

Welcome to Week 196!

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post to the Linky at Freda's Voice. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Visit the author's website.

The thunderous rapids ahead grew louder by the second. By now, they had traveled over twelve miles down the river with no foreseeable way out.

Now Available: Christmas at Rose Hill Farm by Suzanne Woods Fisher (Giveaway Info Included)

Bess Riehl is preparing Rose Hill Farm for her Christmas wedding, but her groom isn't who she thought it would be. Billy Lapp is far away from his Amish roots working as a rose rustler for Penn State and wants nothing to do with Stoney Ridge, his family, or Bess. And that suits Bess just fine. Why should she think twice about a man who left without a word, without any explanation? It's time she moved on with her life, and that meant saying yes to Amos Lapp, Billy's cousin and best friend. But as Bess and Amos's wedding day draws near, her emotions tangle into a tight knot. She loves Amos. Yet she can't forget Billy.

When a "lost" rose is discovered at Rose Hill Farm, Billy is sent to track down its origins. Get in, identify the rose, and get out. That's his plan. The only catch is that he's having a hard time narrowing down the identity of the lost rose, and he can't get those tropical blue eyes of Bess Riehl out of his mind.

As the history of the lost rose is pieced together, it reminds Bess and Billy--and Amos, too--that Christmas truly is the season of miracles.

Join bestselling, award-winning author Suzanne Woods Fisher for an Amish Christmas to remember. Filled with heart-twisting moments amid the sweet anticipation of love, this story will charm readers into the holiday spirit.

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Revell (September 2, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0800721934
ISBN-13: 978-0800721930

Purchase here!

Enter to win a “Christmas Rose” iPad bundle and sign up to host a Christmas at Rose Hill Farm Book Club Brunch in November. Instructions on how to enter the giveaway or host a brunch can be found below.

TWO grand prize winners will receive:

• An iPad
• A Rose-patterned iPad case
• A Rose-patterned phone case (for any model phone)
• A Christmas wreath
• A set of Christmas hand-towels
• Christmas at Rose Hill Farm by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Five second place winners will receive:

• Christmas at Rose Hill Farm by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Enter today by visiting the author's website at http://suzannewoodsfisher.com/contest/. But hurry, the giveaway ends on September 28th. All winners will be announced September 29th at the author's blog.

Wordless Wednesday

Mailbox Monday - September 22

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.

Happy Monday everyone. I received a nice surprise last week in my mailbox. I had pre-ordered My Prairie Cookbook months ago. It arrived in a box underneath a new apple parer-corer that I purchased and I didn't even know it was there until I bothered removing the contents of the box several days later.

In My Prairie Cookbook, Melissa Gilbert, star of Little House on the Prairie, offers fans comforting family recipes and childhood favorites. From prairie breakfasts and picnic lunches to treats inspired by Nellie’s restaurant, the 80 simple and delicious dishes—crispy fried chicken, pot roasts, corn bread, apple pie, and more—present Bonnet Heads (die-hard Little House fans) with the chance to eat like the Ingalls family.

Gilbert’s personal recollections and memorabilia, including behind-the-scenes stories, anecdotes, and more than 75 treasured scrapbook images, accompany the recipes. With answers to the most-asked questions from fans—on topics including the biggest bloopers, on-set romances, and what Michael Landon was really like—My Prairie Cookbook is a cherished memento for Little House fans and fans of simple prairie cooking alike.

I also received the following unsolicited book. I hope I get to read it soon. It sounds like a good one.

After the Affair of the Clockwork Scarab, Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes are eager to help Princess Alix with a new case. Seventeen-year-old Willa Aston is obsessed with spiritual mediums, convinced she is speaking with her mother from beyond the grave. What seems like a case of spiritualist fraud quickly devolves into something far more menacing: someone is trying to make Willa "appear lunatic," using an innocent-looking spiritglass to control her. The list of clues piles up: an unexpected murder, a gang of pickpockets, and the return of vampires to London. But are these events connected? As Uncle Sherlock would say, "there are no coincidences." It will take all of Mina's wit and Evaline's muscle to keep London's sinister underground at bay.

I downloaded this freebie on the 18th. Looks like it's $9.99 now.

Orphaned in Iowa, Annie Kennedy moves to Boston to stay with her spinster aunt. She longs for romance to fill the void left by her parents' death. But when she falls hard for Steven O'Connor, the man who broke an engagement to her sister, Annie is worried. Will he break her heart too when he discovers who she really is?

With heart-pounding romance, intense family drama, and emotional twists and turns, A Love Surrendered is everything Julie Lessman's many fans have been waiting for.

What did you find in your mailbox?

CFBA: Hidden in the Stars by Robin Caroll

This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingHidden in the StarsAbingdon Press (September 16, 2014)byRobin Caroll

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born and raised in Louisiana, Robin Caroll is a southerner through and through. Her passion has always been to tell stories to entertain others. Robin’s mother, bless her heart, is a genealogist who instilled in Robin the deep love of family and pride of heritage—two aspects Robin weaves into each of her books.

When she isn’t writing, Robin spends time with her husband of twenty-plus years, her 3 beautiful daughters, 2 precious grandsons, and their character-filled pets at home—in the South, where else?

ABOUT THE BOOK


Following an attack that killed her mother and stole her ability to speak, 21-year-old Sophia Montgomery has no choice but to accept her estranged grandmother’s offer to return to their family home. Although detective Julian Frazier is working hard on the case, Sophia unknowingly frustrates him because her inability to speak thwarts her eyewitness evidence. The fact that Julian is undeniably attracted to Sophia doesn’t help either, so Julian hides his feelings as concern for a trauma victim and focuses instead on finding the killer.

Little do they know, the clues to solving the case may be right in front of them, displayed in Sophia’s mother’s “special” quilt design. Who will realize the secret Sophia’s unwittingly been hiding in plain sight? When the truth comes to light, will Sophia find her voice again? Or will the murderer—still at large—silence her forever?


If you would like to read the first chapter of Hidden in the Stars, go HERE.