Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Love Finds You In Golden, New Mexico Summerside Press (May 1, 2010)

by

Lena Nelson Dooley
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

For several years, Lena worked on the support staff of a church, but in November of 2002, God changed things so that she could stay home and write full-time. It has been the desire of her heart for a long time. In Proverbs 37:4, it says, “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” She believes that this blessing is a result of her delighting herself in Him, and she praises Him for the opportunity.

She have been a professional writer with a free-lance writing and editing business since 1984. In that time, she has written curriculum for public schools, private schools, and three different denominations. For one company, I managed a writing team that produced a two-year American History course for at-risk students. One of her clients was a Christian comedian for whom she wrote several routines. An airline training company had her edit and design International business reports for them.

Her first novel was published by Heartsong Presents in 1992. Since then Lena Nelson Dooley has written more than 25 works of fiction and nonfiction.

Lena has been married to her husband James since 1964. Theirs was one of those love-at-first-sight relationships. They were married three months and three days after they met. He truly was God’s gift to her. They are absolute opposites, but that means that his strengths are her weaknesses, and her strengths are his weaknesses. Together they make a more perfect whole. She believe that is what God intends for all of us.

They have two daughters. Marilyn Van Zant is married to Roger, and they have a son named Timothy. Tim is now in Tennessee at Ft. Campbell. His son Sebastian is almost 2 years old. Jennifer Waldron is married to Eric, and they have three children—Austin, Marissa, and Amanda. James and Lena love to spend time with their family, and they are blessed that both families live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, so they see them often.

ABOUT THE BOOK

All that glitters is not gold. It’s 1890, and Golden, New Mexico, is a booming mining town where men far outnumber women. So when an old wealthy miner named Philip Smith finds himself in need of a nursemaid, he places an ad for a mail-order bride—despite the protests of his friend Jeremiah.



Hoping to escape a perilous situation back East, young Madeleine Mercer answers the ad and arrives in town under a cloud of suspicion. But just as she begins to win over Philip—and Jeremiah himself—the secrets she left behind threaten to follow her to Golden...and tarnish her character beyond redemption.



If you would like to read the first chapter of Love Finds You In Golden, New Mexico, go HERE.

A Tailor-Made Bride

I loved this book! Karen Witemeyer really outdid her self with her first historical fiction novel for Bethany House Publishers.

Jericho "J.T." Tucker wants nothing to do with the new dressmaker in Coventry, Texas. He's all too familiar with her kind--shallow women more devoted to fashion than true beauty. Yet, except for her well-tailored clothes, this seamstress is not at all what he expected.

Hannah Richards is confounded by the man who runs the livery. The unsmiling fellow riles her with his arrogant assumptions and gruff manner, while at the same time stirring her heart with unexpected acts of kindness. Which side of Jericho Tucker reflects the real man?

When Hannah decides to help Jericho's sister catch a beau--leading to consequences neither could have foreseen--will Jericho and Hannah find a way to bridge the gap between them?

I loved how Karen wove Biblical value and Bible verses into the story and really told a story of how people can assume one thing about a person and turn out to find their inner person is completely different. The old saying is "you can't judge a book by its cover" but the inside of this book is as cute and clever as the picture on the outside. It will challenge you to really seek what is true without making untrue assumptions about all people based on a solitary experience with another person.

A Hopeful Heart

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

A Hopeful Heart Bethany House (June 1, 2010)

byKim Vogel Sawyer
ABOUT THE BOOK

Dowryless and desperate, Tressa Neill applies to the inaugural class of Wyatt Herdsman School in Barnett, Kansas, in 1888. The school's one-of-a-kind program teaches young women from the East the skills needed to become a rancher--or the wife of one.



Shy and small for her twenty-two years, Tressa is convinced she'll never have what it takes to survive Hattie Wyatt's hands-on instruction in skills such as milking a cow, branding a calf, riding a horse, and cooking up a mess of grub for hungry ranch hands. But what other options does she have?



Abel Samms wants nothing to do with the group of potential brides his neighbor brought to town. He was smitten with an eastern girl once--and he got his heart broken. But there's something about quiet Tressa and her bumbling ways that makes him take notice.

When Tressa's life is endangered, will Abel risk his own life--and his heart--to help this eastern girl?

If you would like to read the first chapter of A Hopeful Heart, go HERE

Sometimes

As I sit here in a hotel room in the midwest I have too much time to think sometimes.

And sometimes those thoughts go like this:

What if there was someone waiting for me when I got home, who had missed me all week.

What if there was someone to call me in the evenings and let me vent and share my frustrations a well as share how much I have been surprised at what we have accomplished this week. And just to share life with in general.

What if there was someone to remind me that when all seems hopeless that there is Hope.

What if there was someone to text me randomly during the day just to say hello because I was on their mind. Or good night because I was the last thing on their mind.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mind being single, most of the time. I have opportunities my married friends don't have. And I know that a perfect relationship would not encompass all of the above, all of the time. But sometimes, just sometimes I wish I had that chance. The chance to experience at least some of it.

The Post Where I Finally Tell You About My Trip, Part 1

So I teased almost two months ago about where I was at that time. So, here's some more information. Through some life circumstances I had the amazing opportunity to go to India. While there I was able to see things that I will remember for the rest of my life: things both magnificent in Earthly beauty and heartbreaking in eternal significance.

I rode a train (train station in New Delhi). The railway system within India is their largest employer of people. For a relatively cheap price you get a train ride and food. And the food isn't bad. Airlines could learn something from this.

I "petted" an elephant made out of broken pieces of pottery. I rode a camel at this location. Worst. Experience. Ever. Camel's are totally overrated. Especially with 3 adult on them. But it was an experience.

I rode in a cab. It was a Toyota. I felt right at home. Except for the fact that this cab ride which lasted about 6 hours in each direction was the equivalent of ground turbulence. We would be riding along and all of the sudden the road would drop several inches. The only thing I can think of to relate it to is air turbulence, but we were on the ground. I think.

I donned the traditional clothing of the region and visited the Golden Temple. While I may be smiling in this picture, the sadness of this was so overwhelming. People so close to believing what is right yet so far away. It is also so surreal to see such beauty in the midst of a city that is so dirty.

I also got a glance of Pakistan. Daily there is a pep rally at the border of the two countries where there is a "changing of the guards" type celebration with a contest between the Indian and Pakistani guards to see who can kick the highest. There is dancing and celebration and both sides have a grand time. It's quite interesting to see as these two countries are not known to be friendly at all times.

More to come....

Things I'm Enjoying Right Now

1. River Church -- Seriously, it's not church...it's community. It's a community of people who all love Jesus first and love each other and their community second. I have only been involved for a couple of months and these people have touched my life in so many ways.

2. Kindle -- This little piece of electronic wonder is amazing. I can take as many books as I want with me on any trip and it takes up less space than one book. And the wireless capabilities: amazing! When my cell phone died recently I was able to email the person picking me up from the airport to let them know when I'd arrive.

3. PapaJohns.com -- Because who doesn't love the ability to be able to order a pizza and have it delivered to their door without picking up the phone.

A Sneak Peak