CFBA Review ~ Fit to Be Tied

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Fit to Be Tied
Zondervan (November 1, 2009)
by
Robin Lee Hatcher
My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. The first book in the series was great, so I knew this one would be also. I like the way Robin Lee Hatcher portrays women who are strong in their convictions and in their faith. Definitely a fun read!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robin Lee Hatcher discovered her vocation as a novelist after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction (Whispers from Yesterday), the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance (Patterns of Love and The Shepherd's Voice), two RT Career Achievement Awards (Americana Romance and Inspirational Fiction), and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin is the author of over 50 novels, including Catching Katie, named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal.

Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She is passionate about the theater, and several nights every summer, she can be found at the outdoor amphitheater of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, enjoying Shakespeare under the stars. She makes her home outside of Boise, sharing it with Poppet the high-maintenance Papillon



ABOUT THE BOOK

Cleo Arlington dresses like a cowboy, is fearless and fun-loving, and can ride, rope, and wrangle a horse as well as any man. In 1916, however, those talents aren’t what most young women aspire to. But Cleo isn’t most women. Twenty-nine years old and single, Cleo loves life on her father’s Idaho ranch. Still, she hopes someday to marry and have children.

Enter Sherwood Statham, an English aristocrat whose father has sentenced him to a year of work in America to “straighten him out.” Sherwood, who expected a desk job at a posh spa, isn’t happy to be stuck on an Idaho ranch. And he has no idea how to handle Cleo, who’s been challenged with transforming this uptight playboy into a down-home cowboy, because he has never encountered a woman succeeding in a “man’s world.”

Just about everything either of them says or does leaves the other, well, fit to be tied. Cleo Arlington knows everything about horses but nothing about men. And though Cleo believes God’s plan for her includes a husband, it couldn’t possibly be Sherwood Statham. Could it?

Their bumpy trot into romance is frustrating, exhilarating, and ultimately heartwarming.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Fit to Be Tied , go HERE.

Watch the book video Trailer:

Read more...

Capturing The Moment

I'll admit it - I am a picture junkie. I love taking pictures and I love looking at them. I love the memories they evoke.
I also admit that I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to photography. Everything I've learned has been through trial and error. That is why I love my digital camera. I can take over 800 shots (as I did last week in Disney World) and know that at least a few of them are bound to turn out great.


When it comes to pictures, I do enjoy the posed pictures where everyone looks at the camera. But more than those, I love random pictures. You know, the kind taken when no one knows you are taking their picture? I just think those pictures really capture the moment.


During our trip, I realized some of the best times to snap those random, capturing-the-moment pictures were when we were standing in line waiting to get on rides or when we were just walking to the next ride.



Here are two of my favorite random shots from the week.

Someone drew a hopscotch grid in the middle of the road at Epcot. As soon as Olivia saw it, she broke into some spontaneous hopscotching. I'll never forget her delight as she jumped to the end, nor will I ever forget the man who stopped to watch her just because seeing the simple enjoyment was such a treat. This picture captures those things perfectly.

Look closely in the photo above. See that arm and fist on the right-hand side? That's Alex. He was running so fast in his excitement to check out something with his cousins that I completely missed the shot of him. Except I didn't, not really. Because this shot is even better. It sums up the joy of Disney World for a 5 year old boy. I'll treasure it always.

Capturing the moment with random pictures? It definitely works for me!

Stop by We Are THAT Family for more Works for Me Wednesday.

Read more...

Decompressing Post Disney World

We went. We walked...and walked...and walked. We rode rides and stuffed ourselves silly. We had a fantastic and memorable time in a whirlwind of activity and perpetual motion. We conquered the magic that is Walt Disney World.

We learned a thing or two from Captain Jack.

We hugged Pooh Bears...

and Princesses.

We pulled swords.

We drove race cars. (Well, one of us did anyhow.)

We marveled at landmarks.


We posed for pictures.

We were sad to leave.

But we are so glad to be home. We are catching our breath, resting our weary legs and decompressing. I am up to eyeballs in laundry, but moving right through it with memories fresh in my mind.

Lots more Disney stuff to come this week!

Read more...

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
A Slow Burn
Zondervan (October 1, 2009)
by
Mary DeMuth


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mary E. DeMuth is an expert in Pioneer Parenting. She enables Christian parents to navigate our changing culture when their families left no good faith examples to follow.

Her parenting books include Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture (Harvest House, 2007), Building the Christian Family You Never Had (WaterBrook, 2006), and Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God (Harvest House, 2005).

Mary also inspires people to face their trials through her real-to-life novels, Watching The Tree Limbs
(nominated for a Christy Award) and Wishing On Dandelions (NavPress, 2006).

Mary has spoken at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, the ACFW Conference, the Colorado Christian Writers Conference, and at various churches and church planting ministries. She's also taught in Germany, Austria, Monaco, Italy, France, and the United States. Mary and her husband, Patrick, reside in Texas with their three children. They recently returned from breaking new spiritual ground in Southern France, and planting a church.



ABOUT THE BOOK


She touched Daisy’s shoulder. So cold. So hard. So unlike Daisy.

Yet so much like herself it made Emory shudder.

Burying her grief, Emory Chance is determined to find her daughter Daisy’s murderer—a man she saw in a flicker of a vision. But when the investigation hits every dead end, her despair escalates. As questions surrounding Daisy’s death continue to mount, Emory’s safety is shattered by the pursuit of a stranger, and she can’t shake the sickening fear that her own choices contributed to Daisy’s disappearance. Will she ever experience the peace her heart longs for?

The second book in the Defiance, Texas Trilogy, this suspenseful novel is about courageous love, the burden of regret, and bonds that never break. It is about the beauty and the pain of telling the truth. Most of all, it is about the power of forgiveness and what remains when shame no longer holds us captive.


Watch the video:



If you would like to read the first chapter of A Slow Burn, go HERE

Read more...