Join Amy Clipston for a Facebook Chat Party

Join Amy for a Facebook chat on October 1 at PM( eastern) . I am so enjoying this wonderful book(An Amish Christmas Bakery).

Enjoy some Questions and answers from Amy.

In “Cookies and Cheer,” Alyssa came up with an incredible idea for a display. Have you ever seen a display like hers? What was your inspiration for the idea?

My mom and I brainstormed Christmas story ideas and together we can came up with the bakery display. I hope readers enjoy reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing about it.

Have you ever seen a sugar cookie nativity scene like Alyssa wants to make in “Cookies and Cheer?” What are some other creative, yet simple, ways the Amish might use to celebrate the Christmas season?

No, I have never seen a display like it; however, when I was little, we had cookie cutters. I remember having a star, a camel, a tree, and an angel, which were part of my inspiration. The Amish don’t decorate like we do. They may have a poinsettia and then decorate with some evergreen branches. They do send out Christmas cards, and they buy practical gifts. My Amish friend talked about decorating the kitchen table with gifts for her children and giving gifts such as ice skates.

Since this novella is one that Alyssa works in a bakery, what is a baked good that just has to be in the Clipston house or it isn’t Christmas?

My mom and I like to make cookies and cheesecake. I also love her lemon pound cake. Yum!

Do you have a favorite Christmas movie that you make sure to watch every year?

Yes! We always watch “Die Hard” (the first one, of course). It’s been a tradition for many years. It was one of my father’s favorite movies, and it always brings back happy memories. In fact, my son Matt and I pretty much know the lines by heart, and we like to quote them during the movie. (I’m sure that’s annoying to the other watchers!)

Every December, my family hangs a Christmas stocking for our pet dog. Do you have any special Christmas traditions that include your cats in your family’s holiday celebration?

Yes, of course! I used to have stockings with each of their names; however, I haven’t purchased stockings yet for Leo or Daisy Mae. (Yes, I know. I’m a bad cat mom.) Last year I purchased two premade cat stockings filled with toys at PetSmart. Actually, I bought them the night we found Leo at PetSmart and choose him for adoption. This year I’ll definitely buy them more toys, even though they have two big baskets full. I also need to get stockings made for Leo and Daisy Mae.

What are your boys’ favorite Christmas cookies?

They would probably say any cookies are their favorites.

What is your favorite Christmas ornament and why?

I don’t think I could choose one favorite. Each year, I go to the Hallmark Store and buy one new one for each member of my family. I also make sure I get one that has the year on it. When we decorate the tree, it’s so fun to see the older ones with photos of the boys when they were little, the ones that they made when they were little, and also the ones that Joe and I made when we were little. I also love finding the ones with the year on it and then trying to remember something that happened that year. Someday I hope the boys have special memories from their previous Christmases when they put the ornaments on their trees.

What is your favorite cookie to bake for Christmas?

Sugar cookies! It reminds me of baking with my mom when I was little. I loved decorating them.

Strangers She Knows by Christina Dodd

This is book three in this series and they just kept getting better with each one. You really need to read each book in order (the full length ones) to really appreciate the story and the characters. Kellen and her family move to an island to hopefully get away from a killer that is after them. There are a lot of twists and turns throughout. Her daughter learns a few lessons also. Loved this book and this series. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

I give this book a five out of five stars.

Publisher Description

I have three deadly problems:

1. I’ve seriously offended a maniacal killer.

2. I just had a bullet removed from my brain.

3. My new daughter is growing up too fast–and she’s in the line of fire.

Living on an obscure, technology-free island off California means safety from the murderer who hunts Kellen Adams and her new family…. Or does it? Family time becomes terror-time, and at last, alone, Kellen faces a killer playing a cruel game. Only one can survive, and Kellen knows who must win…and who must die.

STRANGERS SHE KNOWS: The Grand Finale of Cape Charade Thrillers available now!

Read the acclaimed Cape Charade series:

#1 HARD TO KILL: A Cape Charade Short Suspense

#2 DEAD GIRL RUNNING: A Cape Charade Full-length Thriller

#3 FAMILIES AND OTHER ENEMIES: A Cape Charade Short Suspense

#4 WHAT DOESN’T KILL ME: A Cape Charade Full-length Thriller

#5. HIDDEN TRUTHS: A Cape Charade Short Suspense

#6. STRANGERS SHE KNOWS: A Cape Charade Full-length Thriller

Coming in Audio! The three Cape Charade short suspenses, HARD TO KILL, FAMILIES AND OTHER ENEMIES and HIDDEN TRUTHS, starring Kellen Adams.

Valley’s, Vehicles and Victims by Tonya Kappes

This has been my favorite book in this series. I loved each of these characters that Run throughout this series. You must read some of the previous books to really enjoy each of the other books I the series. I love how Mae solves these mysteries with the help of her friends. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

I give this book a five out of five stars.

Description

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky where nothing is normal!

The Daniel Boone National Forest is gorgeous in the fall. The leaves have painted the sides of the mountains with yellow, oranges, reds and browns you won’t see anywhere else. That’s why it’s such a popular destination for weddings!

When a wedding party show up at Happy Trails Campground, Mae West is thrilled. She’s all things girly and excited to assist the bride in all things southern, which is what the bride is hankering for. 

Mae recognizes the parents of the bride when they arrive. They are from her past. The past she’s been desperately trying to escape…especially since it was the time she was married to Paul West. This just isn’t any couple, it’s the owners of the famous Moonbucks Coffee Company.

Determined to get the happy couple married off and on their way, hoping to see some of her past drive off forever, Mae volunteers herself and the Laundry Club ladies to become the wedding coordinators. 

The wedding is set to take place in the beautiful wedding barn at the Old Train Station Motel, only Gert Hobson, the owner of Trails Coffee Shop and providing the coffee for the happy couple, has decided there’s no way she’s going to help out with Tom Moon’s daughter’s wedding since she claims how years ago Tom Moon STOLE her coffee blend recipe known today as the special Moonbucks blend. 

A public fight between Gert and Tom leaves Gert a prime suspect after a member of the wedding party is found dead at the wedding venue. There might not be a happily ever after for the bride to be or Gert Hobson if Mae West and the Laundry Club ladies don’t solve the murder before the wedding party’s RV rolls out of town.

You Belong with Me by Tari Faris

This was one of my favorite contemporary romance books. I loved that there was a smidge of romance also. I loved Hannah. She knew that her home town was worth saving even though some wanted it saved in different ways than she wanted. She loved to see the history behind something. Luke was trying to find a family for himself even though he had trouble believing he was worth it. This was well written and I am looking forward to the second book in the series. I received a copy of this book from Revell for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

I give this book a five out of five stars.

Realtor Hannah Thornton has many talents. Unfortunately, selling houses in the town where her family name is practically poison isn’t one of them. When a business tycoon determines to raze historic homes in the small town of Heritage, Michigan, and replace them with a strip mall, Hannah resolves to stop him. She sets about helping Heritage win a restoration grant that will put the town back on the map–and hopefully finally repay the financial debt Hannah’s mother caused the town. But at first no one supports her efforts–not even her best friend, Luke.

Luke Johnson may have grown up in Heritage, but as a foster kid he never truly felt as if he belonged. Now he has a chance to score a job as assistant fire chief and earn his place in the town. But when the interview process and Hannah’s restoration project start unearthing things from his past, Luke must decide if belonging is worth the pain of being honest about who he is–and who he was.

The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels

This is a fantastic read. I loved how Robin needs to learn who she is after so many years. This book goes from past to present to show how Robin and Peter have learned to grow. Robins parents did something when Robin was a teen and she has to grow up quicker. I love the whole story. I received a copy of this book from Revell for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

I guide this book a five out of five stars.

Robin Windsor has spent most of her life under an assumed name, running from her family’s ignominious past. She thought she’d finally found sanctuary in her rather unremarkable used bookstore just up the street from the marina in River City, Michigan. But the store is struggling and the past is hot on her heels.

When she receives an eerily familiar book in the mail on the morning of her father’s scheduled execution, Robin is thrown back to the long-lost summer she met Peter Flynt, the perfect boy who ruined everything. That book–a first edition Catcher in the Rye–is soon followed by the other books she shared with Peter nearly twenty years ago, with one arriving in the mail each day. But why would Peter be making contact after all these years? And why does she have a sinking feeling that she’s about to be exposed all over again?

With evocative prose that recalls the classic novels we love, Erin Bartels pens a story that shows that words–the ones we say, the ones we read, and the ones we write–have more power than we imagine.

The Girl Behind The Red Rope by Ted Dekker and Rachelle Dekker

This is a book of science fiction and a bit of fantasy and a bit of Christianity. What happens when someone is part of a religion and has visions of a savior. This person gets everyone to believe that they are all in danger unless they conform in a certain way. If they conform than they will be saved someday. This is a bit of the premise for this book. This story made me laugh and cry. There are lots of hidden meanings throughout the story. This flows very nicely. I loved the characters. I received a copy of this book from Revell for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

I give this book a five out of five stars.

Ten years ago, Grace saw something that would forever change the course of history. When evil in its purest form is unleashed on the world, she and others from their religious community are already hidden deep in the hills of Tennessee, abiding by every rule that will keep them safe, pure–and alive. As long as they stay there, behind the red perimeter.

Her older brother’s questions and the arrival of the first outsiders she’s seen in a decade set in motion events that will question everything Grace has built her life on. Enemies rise on all sides–but who is the real enemy? And what will it cost her to uncover the truth?

For the first time, bestselling authors Ted Dekker and Rachelle Dekker team up and deliver an intense, tightly focused ride through the most treacherous world of all.

The Spice King by Elizabeth Camden

I loved this story. I loved the romance and the intrigue. Annabelle helps Gray to become a better man before she does something that ruins their budding relationship. Each of the characters in the book all need to learn how to be better people. I loved reading about this time period also. I can’t wait until the next book comes out to find out what happens with all of these characters. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

I give this book s five out of five stars.

Gray Delacroix has dedicated his life to building his very successful global spice empire, but it has come at a cost. Resolved to salvage his family before it spirals out of control, he returns to his ancestral home to save his brother and sister before it’s too late. 

As a junior botanist for the Smithsonian, Annabelle Larkin has been charged with the impossible task of gaining access to the notoriously private Delacroix plant collection. If she fails, she will be out of a job and the family farm in Kansas will go under. She has no idea that in gaining entrance to the Delacroix world, she will unwittingly step into a web of dangerous political intrigue far beyond her experience. 

Unable to deny her attraction to the reclusive business tycoon, Annabelle will be forced to choose between her heart and loyalty to her country. Can Gray and Annabelle find a way through the storm of scandal without destroying the family Gray is fighting to save?

Beautiful In His Sight by April w. Gardner with a giveaway

This book has some very good characters. I think this was one of the first books I ever read about Halifax during this part of the war. I enjoyed the romance and the spying. This made me laugh and cry. I felt it was a little long but it did keep my interest for most of the story. There were some very interesting characters. I received a copy of this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

I give this book a four out of five stars.

About the Book

Book: Beautiful In His Sight

Author: April W. Gardner

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: May 11, 2019

It’s 1917, and Halifax is at war. Silas Quinn, street sweeper and army reject, remains on the home front, shunning God and society as religiously as they shun him. But the night he stumbles across a half-frozen prostitute, his eyes blink open, and his greater purpose is born: preserve and protect.

There’d been a day when shop girl Helen Fraser was desperate enough to believe a few nights in a brothel would cure her troubles. By some miracle, Major Jack Gordon deemed her worth saving, but Helen knows her meticulously recreated identity cannot last. What she doesn’t expect is for its destruction to come about, not by an old john or one of the madam’s goons, but by a force great enough to flatten a city and bury her alive.

Set against the backdrop of the Halifax Explosion, Beautiful in His Sight is a Christian historical romance that explores unequivocal grace and identity in Christ.

 

Click here to purchase your copy.

 

About the Author

APRIL W GARDNER writes history with a Christian perspective and a little imagination. She is a copyeditor, military wife, and homeschooling mother of two who lives in Texas. She writes Christian historical romance with a focus on our Southeastern Native Tribes. In no particular order, April dreams of owning a horse, learning a third language, and visiting all the national parks.

April loves to hear from her readers at: aprilgardnerwrites@gmail.com

 

More from April

The Story Behind the Story

My novels are never purely fiction. They are stories constructed around truth, around some segment of the past that’s both stunning and stunningly forgotten. My latest novel, Beautiful in His Sight, is set during the Halifax Explosion, a WW1 event little known in most of the world. For those in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in December of 1917, it literally shattered their world.

That’s the setting we find my characters Silas and Helen struggling to survive, but—as in every good romance—love (and God’s grace!) brings them through.

 

The Story Behind the Setting

By December 1917, Halifax had passed tens of thousands of soldiers and sailors through its railyard and onto the naval vessels in its harbor. With the military came the prostitutes who migrated in droves to the slums. It’s reported that some days, the only passengers disembarking from the trains were women in short skirts. Slumdom’s seams overflowed with carnality, public drunkenness, and solicitations. Prostitution wasn’t the only job to be had for women. With so many men wearing army green, ladies of the proper class and training stepped behind registers and bookkeeping desks and kept Halifax running.

This is the world in which we find our female lead, Helen Fraser, a reformed prostitute desperately trying to start over as a salesclerk.

 

The Story Behind the Explosion

As Silas, the story’s male lead, puts it, the explosion was “a tragic accident, a miscommunication between passing ships.” In short, it was a dozen small decisions that accumulated to one very horrific event. The collision and blast released the equivalent energy of 2.9 kilotons of TNT and instantly obliterated everything within a half-mile radius. The munitions vessel that exploded, the Mont Blanc, rained iron shrapnel all over Halifax. Its 1,160-ton anchor landed 2.5 miles away where it can still be found today.

The numbers: Over 2,000 deaths. Over 1,000 injuries. Almost 300 blinded.

 

The Story Behind the Name

The name Helen Fraser (female lead) is an honoring nod to Helen Clark, a courageous young woman who survived the explosion. This is her story.

Helen Clark, age eight, was beginning her school day at St. Joseph’s when she felt something disturbing. “Like thunder was taking place alongside of you,” she later said, “instead of up in the sky.” She looked to the window and gaped at the glass bowing inward. She flung her arms over her face and ducked an instant before it blew in. Then, in her words, “The ceiling above gave way at one corner and down two sides of the room, hanging like the flap of a great envelope and spilling out children from the room above.”

A nun grabbed her arm and said, “My heavenly God, the Germans have arrived! Get down on your knees girls.” In lieu of prayer, Helen wrenched away and jumped out the second-story window, narrowly missing the debris that, in the next moment, struck and killed the nun. A snow mound broke Helen’s fall. Suddenly very tired, she laid down right there, feeling no cold or pain, and went to sleep.

Eventually, two men approached to see if she was dead. Though she couldn’t speak, she managed to get to her feet. They straightened the bow on the top of her head and told her to go home if she had one to go to. The blood crusted over her eyes limited her vision, but she shambled along best she could, recognizing nothing. She knew her street only by the change to cobblestones under her feet, and her grandmother recognized her only by the bow in her hair.

Quick-thinking and bold, little Helen avoided both death and blindness, and I’m honored to name my heroine after her.

Blog Stops

Simple Harvest Reads, September 9

Emily Yager, September 10

Betti Mace, September 10

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 11

Avid Reader Nurse, September 11

Reading Is My SuperPower, September 12

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, September 13

Connie’s History Classroom, September 14

JosephineAnneWrites, September 14

For Him and My Family, September 15

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 15

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, September 16

A Reader’s Brain, September 17

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 17

Inklings and notions, September 18

CarpeDiem, September 19

Through the Fire Blogs, September 20

Bigreadersite , September 20

Inspired by fiction, September 21

Texas Book-aholic, September 21

janicesbookreviews, September 22

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, April is giving away a grand prize package of a $25 Starbucks gift card and a signed copy of her book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/ec01/beautiful-in-his-sight-celebration-tour-giveaway

One Final Breath by Lynn H. Blackburn

This series just keeps getting better with each installment. I love every one of the characters that keep showing up in this series. I really enjoy reading about this dive team and how they help to solve murders and other crimes. Gabe and Anissa start out as friends and then fall in love slowly. They are not sure that they deserve to be happy. It is fun to read how they work it all out. I love the intrigue throughout the series. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

When investigator Gabriel Chavez had his cover blown by an aggressive reporter, the silver lining was being able to rejoin the dive team. The downside? Dive team captain Anissa Bell–a woman who both fascinates and frustrates him.

Anissa grew up as a missionary kid on the Micronesian island of Yap and always planned to return after college. But she remained stateside, determined to solve the case that haunts her–the murder of her best friend and the disappearance of a three-year-old child.

When Anissa’s fractured past collides with Gabe’s investigation into the tragic shooting death of a teenage boy in Lake Porter, they’ll have to put their complicated history with each other aside in order to uncover the identity of a killer. What they’ll discover is that revenge has no statute of limitations.

Award-winning author Lynn H. Blackburn closes out her nail-biting Dive Team Investigations series with a story that will have you wondering how long you can hold your breath.

The Gryphon Heist by James R. Hannibal

This was a great thriller filled with spies and lots of intrigue. There were so many twists and turns. Every page seemed to bring something new. I would think that I had the story figured out and then I found out I was wrong. I loved the dangerous characters throughout this story. It was hard to know who was good and who was bad. I can’t wait til the second book comes out in this series. I received a copy of this book from Revell for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

I give this book a five out of five stars.

Talia Inger is a rookie CIA case officer assigned not to the Moscow desk as she had hoped but to the forgotten backwaters of Eastern Europe–a department only known as “Other.” When she is tasked with helping a young, charming Moldovan executive secure his designs for a revolutionary defense technology, she figures she’ll be back in DC within a few days. But that’s before she knows where the designs are stored–and who’s after them. With her shady civilian partner, Adam Tyler, Talia takes a deep dive into a world where only criminal minds and unlikely strategies will keep the Gryphon, a high-altitude data vault, hovering in the mesosphere.

Even Tyler is more than he seems, and Talia begins to wonder: Is he helping her? Or using her access to CIA resources to pull off an epic heist for his own dark purposes?

In this Ocean’s Eleven-meets-Mission Impossible thriller, former tactical deception officer and stealth pilot James R. Hannibal offers you a nonstop thrill ride through the most daring heist ever conceived.