Coming in early 2012 from Abingdon Press

Abingdon Press have a great range of titles releasing in February and March, 2012 so enjoy checking them out.  I'm particularly looking forward to Shelley Gray's second non-Amish historical novel (my review of A Texan's Promise coming soon) and Margaret Daley's romantic suspense.

How about you?  Any take your fancy?!

Before the Scarlet Dawn by Rita Gerlach

In 1775, Hayward Morgan, a young gentleman destined to inherit his father’s estate in Derbyshire, England, captures the heart of the local vicar’s daughter, Eliza Bloome. Her dark beauty and spirited ways are not enough to win him, due to her station in life.

Circumstances throw Eliza in Hayward’s path, and they flee to America to escape the family conflicts. But as war looms, it's a temporary reprieve. Hayward joins the revolutionary forces and what follows is a struggle for survival, a test of faith, and the quest to find lasting love in an unforgiving wilderness.

February, 2012




Honor Redeemed by Loree Lough

Highly skilled Search and Rescue (SAR) team leader, Honor Mackenzie, works almost as hard at guarding the dark secrets of her past as she does when training SAR dogs. As for widowed Sun reporter Matt Phillips, not even his former SAR work is as important as protecting his ten-year-old twin boys.

When a jumbo jet crashes outside Baltimore one cold night, their respective jobs put them face-to-face at the grisly scene--and force Matt and Honor to reconsider the difficult decisions that resulted in their long-standing "single forever" status.

As Matt tries to come to terms with his feelings for Honor, he gets word that she hasn’t reported in since starting the search for a missing child. Reverting to his SAR training, Matt leads the search team as a vicious winter storm bears down on the area. Will he find her in time? And if he does, will they find their way back to each other or go back to living life alone?

February, 2012


River's Call by Melody Carlson

Anna Larson's daughter, Lauren, is confused, brokenhearted, and misguided. It's the turbulent 1960s and feeling alienated from her mother, Lauren chooses to stay with her paternal grandmother. However, repelled by the woman's manipulative and spiteful ways, Lauren returns to her mother, the river, and the Inn at Shining Waters.

There, Lauren begins to appreciate the person her mother is becoming - and she loves the river. However, her mother's romantic interest throws a wrench into the works and Lauren, jealous and angry, returns to her grandmother yet again.

But as time passes, and Lauren, now a mother to her own defiant teenager, faces a new crisis, one that puts the entire family at risk.

February, 2012



Downtown Green by Judy Christie

When the short bypass around Green opens with much fanfare, downtown dries up faster than cement on the roadway. Businesses close and the hospital becomes a clinic. Mayor Eva must decide whether to sell her historic store or close it. The Holey Moley Antique Mall seems less like a dream and more like a nightmare. While the road is progress to some, it seems to be leading Green toward a national trend--a town that is merely a shadow of itself.

With the town going backwards, Lois is both intrigued and jealous when a fellow business owner come up with a strategy to save Green. But can his plan rescue the town from the path it’s on?

March, 2012



Saving Hope by Margaret Daley

When a teenager goes missing from the Beacon of Hope School, Texas Ranger Wyatt Sheridan and school director Kate Winslow are forced into a dangerous struggle against a human trafficking organization. But the battle brings dire consequences as Wyatt's daughter is terrorized and Kate is kidnapped.

Now it's personal, and Wyatt finds both his faith and investigative skills challenged as he fights to discover the mastermind behind the ring before evil destroys everyone he loves.

March, 2012


 

A Texan's Honor by Shelley Gray

Texas, 1874. Years ago, Will McMillan had fought in the open, next to his Captain, Clayton Proffitt. Now he’s waging another war undercover, pretending to be a member of the notorious Walton Gang.

But when a hostage situation goes awry and an innocent woman is in the middle of the fray, Will knows he must protect her no matter what happens. Even if his cover is blown. Even if they risk being killed by his gang or by the lawmen on their trail. Even if the woman he’s risking everything for will never love him back.

March, 2012





Hearts That Survive by Yvonne Lehman

On April 15, 1912, Lydia Beaumont is on her way to a new life with a boundless hope in love and faith. Her new friendship with Caroline Chadwick is bonded even more as they plan Lydia’s wedding on board the “grandest ship ever built.” Then both women suffer tragic losses when the “unsinkable” Titanic goes down. Can each survive the scars the disaster left on their lives?

Decades later, Alan Morris feels like a failure until he discovers he is the descendant of an acclaimed, successful, heroic novelist who went down with the Titanic. Will he find his identity with the past, or will he listen to Joanna Bettencourt, Caroline’s granddaughter, who says inner peace and success come only with a personal relationship with the Lord?

Will those who survived and their descendants be able to find a love more powerful than their pain?

March, 2012



The Dog That Talked To God by Jim Kraus

A wonderfully quirky, heart-breaking, heart-warming and thought-provoking story of a woman's dog who not only talks to her, he talks to God.

Recently widowed Mary Fassler has no choice except to believe Rufus, the miniature schnauzer, who claims to speak to the Divine.

The question is: Will Mary follow the dog's advice, and leave everything she knows and loves? Is this at the urging of God? Or is it something else? Will Mary risk it all or ignore the urgings of her own heart?

March, 2012

Character Spotlight ~ Loree Lough's Bryce Stone & Samantha Sinclair

Today the spotlight shines on Bryce Stone & Sam Sinclaire


Loree Lough brings us a Christmas story in her latest novel in the popular Love Finds You series from Summerside. Combining a Christmas theme with a humourous and tender tale of finding love in the town of North Pole, Alaska! Enjoy this look behind the scenes:~

Brief physical description

Taken straight from the synopsis that ‘sold’ the story to Summerside:

BRYCE STONE

32
6’1” tall
210 lbs.
brown eyes
brown hair (Marine-short)
muscular ex-soldier
blind left eye (wears eye patch)
perfectionist

SAM SINCLAIRE
26
5’5” tall
115 lbs.
blue eyes
black hair (long, shiny, curly)
petite
chef
scars on knees; childhood fall from tree
a tad klutzy

Actor/famous person

While writing LFY in North Pole, I had a clear picture of a Tom Selleck (the way he looked while working on Magnum P.I.) as Bryce Stone. Can you just see Tom (sans mustache) with a black eye patch. Dre-e-eamy!

Samantha, could easily be played by Melina Kanakaredes, who plays the beautiful, dark-and-curly-haired cop on CSI New York. Only… Sam has blue eyes.

Strengths and weaknesses

Bryce, the only child of ‘hippy’ parents who died years before the story opens, is a stoic, wounded war hero who comes back from Afghanistan with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. If not for his injury, he’d have re-upped for another tour of duty; if his Aunt Olive (who’s been running Rudolph’s Christmas Emporium (his folks’ cluttered gift shop), Bryce probably wouldn’t have returned to North Pole. At least… not to live. He wants everything done “the Marine way”—even by civilians!—and has very little patience when things don’t fall neatly into place. Because Bryce has experienced a lot of sadness and loss in his life, he tends to seem stand-offish and reluctant to get close to people. But Sam proves to him that nothing could be further from the truth!

Sam, on the other hand, is the youngest of 8 kids. As the only girl in this big happy family, she has a lot to prove when she arrives in North Pole, contract in hand to take over chef duties at the town’s only hotel, where part of her salary includes a small suite above the restaurant. On her first day in town, Sam learns the owner has given the job to his nephew, leaving her jobless and homeless. She can’t go home, because that would only prove that her rowdy brothers were right when they teased that she couldn’t ‘cut it’ in the frozen north. Sam ‘settles’ for a job as the manager of a small gift shop in the center of town. Little does she know she’ll end up managing far more than the store!

Quirk (if any)

Sam loves Christmas, a fact that inspires grins and gentle chiding from her dad, who often worried when she was a little girl that if he didn’t rein in her enthusiasm, she might just decorate every nook and cranny of their house—inside and out!—and keep it that way, all year long.

Bryce, on the other hand, having grown up in “The Town Where It’s Christmas, All Year Long”, is pretty much fed up with reindeers, Santas, and elves. Play a Christmas carol in his presence, and his expression becomes a blend of Scrooge and the Grinch!

Your inspiration for the characters

My inspiration for Bryce was to pay tribute to all the brave men and women who don uniforms and make sacrifices every day of their military lives to ensure our freedom and safety.

Background to the story

Description: Not even a former marine is a match for the spunky Samantha Sinclair….

Bryce Stone has returned home from war-torn Afghanistan a broken and wounded man, and being back in “The town Where It’s Christmas All Year Long” doesn’t appeal to the self-admitted Scrooge. What’s worse, his aunt Olive retires, forcing him to postpone his dream of opening a carpentry shop to manage the family’s cluttered and cramped Christmas shop. He hires an inexperienced young woman to run the place, figuring that even if she fails, he can always sell “Rudolph’s Christmas Emporium”.

But he seriously underestimates Sam, who learned ‘stick with it’ from her seven older brothers. She has a lot to prove—to them, to Bryce, and to herself—and will stop at nothing to survive the frozen north.

It’s a battle of wills, and the two soon find that they’re fighting for more than just the success of the shop. After all, love—and Christmas—takes as many forms as the snowflakes that blanket the streets of North Pole!

Thanks, Loree! Just in time for Christmas :)



On Thursday, I will be spotlighting Jason Elam & Steve Yohn's, Riley Covington from the soon to be released, Blackout, the third instalment in the Riley Covington Thriller series.

Relz Reviewz Extras

Review of Love Finds You in North Pole, Alaska

Visit Loree's website

Buy Loree's books at Amazon or Koorong

Love Finds You in North Pole, Alaska by Loree Lough

Synopsis:~

A former marine is no match for the spunky Sam Sinclair.

Bryce Stone has returned to his hometown of North Pole, Alaska, and he’s not very happy about it. “The Town Where It’s Christmas All Year Long” does not appeal to the self-admitted scrooge. What’s worse, Bryce must postpone his dream of opening a furniture shop when his aunt Olive retires and leaves him to manage the family’s cluttered Christmas boutique. When Bryce underestimates Sam, the inexperienced young woman he hires to run the store, it becomes a battle of wills, and the two soon find that they’re fighting for more than just the shop.

My take:~

I'll admit I'm with Bryce when it comes to a town devoted to Christmas all year round. As much as I love Christmas, living in North Pole might be a wee bit much! That being said, Loree has written a sweet and fun story of Bryce and Sam's struggle to discover their place in life and throw off the shackles of expectation and prejudice. For those who love an easy to read, happily ever after tale with the spirit of Christmas and love flavouring each page, Love Finds You in North Pole, Alaska is just the ticket to start you on your countdown to Christmas.

Relz Reviewz Extras

Visit Loree's website

Buy Loree's books at Amazon or Koorong

Come back next Monday for a character spotlight on Sam and Bryce!