Tag Archives: Dawn Crandall

Top 10 Tuesday — New To Me Authors

6 Dec

2016 has been a great reading year! Lots of favorite authors with new books and plenty of new to me authors to insure many hours of reading pleasure in the future. This week the folks at The Broke And The Bookish are featuring 2016 New To You Authors. To discover a new to you author, click HERE.

toptentuesday

2016 New To Me Authors

 

 

biopicCalled “the suspense author everyone is talking about” by Family Fiction Edge magazine, Zachary Bartels is the author of critically acclaimed supernatural thrillers. An award-winning preacher and Bible teacher, Zachary has been serving as pastor of Judson Baptist Church in Lansing, Michigan, for ten years. He enjoys film, fine cigars, stimulating conversation, gourmet coffee, reading, writing, and cycling.

His debut novel, Playing Saint, has been called an “intrigue-filled thriller” (Library Journal) and “a page-turner from the very beginning . . . gripping and realistic” (RT Book Reviews). His newest book, The Last Con (HarperCollins Christian Fiction, 2015) has met early positive reviews. He lives in the capital city of a mitten-shaped Midwestern state with his wife Erin and their son.

 

71xnmguh8yl-_ux250_A graduate of Taylor University with a degree in Christian Education, and a former bookseller at Barnes & Noble, Dawn Crandall didn’t begin writing until 2010 when her husband found out about her long-buried dream of writing a book. Without a doubt about someday becoming published, he encouraged her to quit her job in 2010 in order to focus on writing The Hesitant Heiress. It didn’t take her long to realize that writing books was what she was made to do.

Apart from writing books, Dawn is also a mom to two precious little boys and also serves with her husband in a premarriage mentor program at their local church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Dawn is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, secretary for the Indiana ACFW Chapter (Hoosier Ink), and associate member of the Great Lakes ACFW Chapter.

The Everstone Chronicles is Dawn’s first series with Whitaker House. All three books composing the series were semifinalists in ACFW’s prestigious Genesis Writing Contest, the third book going on to become a finalist in 2013.

 

davis_lindabrooks_2016_01-31-copy-2Linda Brooks Davis is the 2014 Jerry Jenkins Operation First Novel 1st place winner. Her debut historical novel, The Calling of Ella McFarland, was released on December 1, 2015. Now working on her second novel, Linda pens stories inspired by her ancestors’ lives of faith and grit, tales that testify to the hope and healing found in Jesus.

Linda was born and reared on a farm in small-town Raymondville in the southernmost tip of Texas. She attended Abilene Christian University where she earned a degree in speech pathology in 1968 and maintained a forty-year career in public schools while rearing a daughter and son who are now veterinarians in practice together. As the eldest student in her post-graduate class, she earned a Master’s degree from Houston Baptist University in 2002.

Now retired, Linda lives in Central Texas with her husband. When not writing, Linda dotes on her six beautiful grandchildren, serves in lay ministry at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, reads, and explores genealogy.

 

41jx-dl32wl-_sx326_bo1204203200_51peq1iawnl-_sx321_bo1204203200_51tmntnn5pl-_sx322_bo1204203200_

4114506_origCamille Eide writes romantic, inspirational dramas about love, faith, and family. She lives in Oregon with her husband and is a mom, grammy, bass guitarist, and a fan of muscle cars, tender romance, oldies Rock, and Peanut M&Ms. I read her historical/romance novel, The Memoirs of Johnny Devine.

 

 

 

 

amy-matayo-1Author Amy Matayo is an excellent speaker, mathematician, seamstress, chef…and liar. She’s decent at writing books but not much else. Then again, the book thing makes her marginally cool and a whole lot intimidating.

Not really. Not even her kids are afraid of her.

She graduated with barely passing grades from John Brown University with a degree in Journalism. But she’s proud of that degree and all the ways she hasn’t put it to good use.

She laughs often, cries easily, feels deeply, and loves hard. She lives in Arkansas with her husband and four kids and is working on her next novel.

I read The Thirteenth Chance.

 

4129Rachel McMillan is a keen history enthusiast and a lifelong bibliophile. When not writing or reading, she can most often be found drinking tea and watching British miniseries. Rachel lives in bustling Toronto, where she works in educational publishing and pursues her passion for art, literature, music, and theater. Rachel McMillan is a keen history enthusiast and a lifelong bibliophile. When not writing or reading, she can most often be found drinking tea and watching British miniseries. Rachel lives in bustling Toronto, where she works in educational publishing and pursues her passion for art, literature, music, and theater. I read The Bachelor Girl’s Guide to Murder

1101088_origunknown1851qoqpu0bel-_sx326_bo1204203200_

611b1ezgmtl-_ux250_For 27 years, Deb Richardson-Moore was a reporter for The Greenville (SC) News, winning three national writing awards and routine recognition from the South Carolina Press Association. She was a wife, mother of three, and that suburban cliche, a minivan-driving soccer mom.

She then took over the religion beat at The News and enrolled in a nearby seminary to learn more about it. Her life was never the same. She left the newspaper and earned a master of divinity degree. Because jobs for clergywomen were scarce in her own Baptist denomination, she accepted a job as pastor of the non-denominational Triune Mercy Center, a crumbling, inner-city mission church to the homeless.

Deb is a graduate of Wake Forest University and Erskine Theological Seminary. She and her husband, Vince, have three grown children. The Cantaloupe Thief was her debut novel.

 

41tko0oljtl-_ux250_Mike Nappa is an entertainment journalist at FamilyFans.com, as well as a bestselling and award-winning author with more than one million books sold worldwide. When he was a kid, the stories of Edgar Allan Poe scared him silly. Today he owns everything Poe ever wrote. A former fiction acquisitions editor, Mike earned his MA in English literature and now writes full time. Annabel Lee was his debut novel.

 

press-kit-headshotSandra Orchard is a multi-award-winning author of mysteries and romantic suspense She is an active member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America and The Word Guild (Canada). A mother of three grown children, she lives in Niagara, Canada with her real-life-hero husband and writes full time . . . when not doting on her young grandchildren.

 

 

 

kelli-stuart-sqKelli Stuart is a writer and a storyteller at heart. A graduate of Baylor University with a degree in English Professional Writing, and a minor in the Russian language, Kelli has honed her skills in the written word through editing, ghostwriting, blogging, and traveling the world. Kelli has a gift for languages that puts her at ease in other cultures, allowing her to view this creative life from the vantage point of mothers worldwide.

Kelli is a noted blogger and the writer behind the wildly popular blog Minivans Are Hot.com. She has traveled extensively, constantly honing her craft at weaving words into tales as she experiences life and the world. Kelli has written for, and represented, such brands as The Huffington Post, 5 Minutes for Mom, Tonic.com, Disney, American Girl, The MOB Society, Extraordinary Mommy, God Size Dreams, Short Fiction Break, and (in)courage. Kelli has also served as editor-in-chief for the St. Louis Bloggers Guild and as a board member for the St. Louis Women in Media. I read Like A River from Its Course.

51-4n7vpu4l-_sx326_bo1204203200_unknown2unknown-341e1xxakil-_sx322_bo1204203200_

(All author biographical information came directly from their websites.)

What new authors did you discover in 2016?

Book Review: The Cautious Maiden

17 Oct

51ihxjionzl-_sx322_bo1204203200_Violet Hawthorne is beyond mortified when her brother Ezra turns their deceased parents’ New England country inn into a brothel to accommodate the nearby lumberjacks; but when Violet’s own reputation is compromised, the inn becomes the least of her worries. In an effort to salvage her good name, Violet is forced into an engagement with a taciturn acquaintance; Vance Everstone. As she prepares for a society wedding, Violet learns that her brother had staked her hand in marriage in a heated poker game with the unsavory Rowen Steele, and Ezra had lost. Now Rowen is determined to cash in on his IOU. With danger stalking her and a new fiance who hides both his emotion and his past, Violet must decide who to trust; and who to leave behind.

 

 

71xnmguh8yl-_ux250_Dawn Crandall is an ACFW Carol Award-nominated author of the award winning series The Everstone Chronicles, which currently consists of: The Hesitant Heiress, The Bound Heart and The Captive Imposter. The Cautious Maiden is her fourth book.

Apart from writing, Dawn is also a mom of two little ones and serves with her husband in a premarital mentorship program at their local church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

A graduate of Taylor University with a degree in Christian Education and a former bookseller at Barnes & Noble, Dawn Crandall didn’t begin writing until 2010 when her husband found out about her long-buried dream. It didn’t take her long to realize that writing books was what she was made to do.

Dawn is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the secretary for the Indiana ACFW Chapter (Hoosier Ink), and an associate member of the Great Lakes ACFW Chapter.

 

My Impressions:

Fans of historical romance will love Dawn Crandall’s newest novel, The Cautious Maiden. Book four in her popular Everstone Chronicles, brings back favorite characters from previous books and introduces a heroine to cheer and a bad-boy turned hero to swoon over. Set in the north woods of Maine and the bustling city of Boston of the late 1890s, this novel has a bit of a modern feel as well, since it touches on the problem of sex-trafficking. It is not a major element, but it definitely brings awareness to a problem that seems to be as old as time. While The Cautious Maiden is part of a well-crafted series, it can certainly be read as a standalone. But be advised; you will want to go back and read the other books once you close the covers of this one.

Violet Hawthorne has lost much in the past year, but she is determined to live a life worthy of her parents’ memory and her faith in God. When she is put in a very compromising situation, Violet is thrust into the high society life of the Everstone family. Vance Everstone, the black sheep of the family, is back and determined to live a life worthy of his Savior. Will internal pressures and external threats allow the two to live a happily-ever-after?

Violet and Vance are two very appealing characters. Violet may be innocent of the world, but her quiet strength is very evident. Vance is the man of the hour — you won’t find another man who is in turns as tender and passionate as he is. Add his protective nature, his smoldering eyes and his determination to be a better man, and you have a very, very attractive hero. There are sparks aplenty between the characters, and Crandall explores the not so easy struggle to keep the flesh in check. New creations still have temptations and those saved by grace must be reminded to forgive. An element of danger is threaded through the story from the opening chapter and comes into its own towards the end. The action comes fast and furious with a twist and a surprise at the end. A few minor characters have their own interesting story lines, and I look forward to see how Crandall develops them. Can we have more of Violet’s cousin Cal and the shy Roxy?!

So if you are in the mood for a very satisfying romance with an historical setting, be sure to check out The Cautious Maiden. You won’t be disappointed!

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

To purchase this book, click HERE.

(Thanks to Whitaker House for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

 

Top 10 Tuesday — Fall TBR List!

27 Sep

Here in middle Georgia the calendar may say Fall, but it is still 90+ degrees outside! We are expecting a cold front on Wednesday night, meaning the temps will be in the mid 80s for the rest of the week. Pumpkin everything may be everywhere, but it does not feel like Fall here. I can take comfort in the fact that when Winter hits it won’t feel like Winter either! The folks at The Broke And The Bookish are hosting a Fall TBR Top 10 List this week. So while I wait for crisp, cool temps to arrive, I can enjoy some good reading. Iced pumpkin latte anyone?

toptentuesday

Top 10 Fall TBR List

Always with You by Elaine Stock

The Cautious Maiden by Dawn Crandall

A Day And A Life by Penelope Wilcock

61shosy0gal-_sx331_bo1204203200_51ihxjionzl-_sx322_bo1204203200_unknown

The Devoted by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Kit Kat And Lucy by Lonnie Hull DuPont

Midnight on The Mississippi by Mary Ellis

The Name I Called Myself by Beth Moran

unknown51aw2iirdxl-_sx322_bo1204203200_unknown-151sody6wfl-_sx325_bo1204203200_

The Princes of Albion by Jon and Thomas Hopkins

Tangled Webs by Irene Hannon

The Thirteenth Chance by Amy Matayo

51amzuvvnhl-_sx326_bo1204203200_unknownunknown-1

What are you reading this Fall?

 

Book Review: The Hesitant Heiress

18 Aug

51PEq1iAwNL._SX321_BO1,204,203,200_After being unjustly expelled from the Boston Conservatory of Music, Amaryllis Brigham sees her dreams of founding a music academy in her hometown of Seattle, Washington, disappearing before her very eyes. Now, the only way to achieve her goal comes with high stakes for someone set on avoiding men as much as possible: Marry within the year to inherit the immense fortune of her estranged grandmother. Amaryllis reluctantly moves in to her aunt’s Boston home and rubs shoulders with fashionable society. Despite her own misgivings, she soon finds herself quickly falling in love with the most unlikely of men — Nathan Everstone, the envy of every eligible female, whose father has haunted her dreams for the decade following her mother’s tragic death. However, Nathan turns out to be much more than he seems…and everything she never knew she wanted. But just as everything Amaryllis has recently hoped for comes to fruition, it all falls apart when she finds that the real culprit who has been managing her life isn’t who she thought at all.

 

71XNMguH8YL._UX250_A graduate of Taylor University with a degree in Christian Education, and a former bookseller at Barnes & Noble, Dawn Crandall didn’t begin writing until 2010 when her husband found out about her long-buried dream of writing a book. Without a doubt about someday becoming published, he encouraged her to quit her job in 2010 in order to focus on writing The Hesitant Heiress. It didn’t take her long to realize that writing books was what she was made to do.

Apart from writing books, Dawn is also a mom to two precious little boys and also serves with her husband in a premarriage mentor program at their local church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Dawn is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, secretary for the Indiana ACFW Chapter (Hoosier Ink), and associate member of the Great Lakes ACFW Chapter.

The Everstone Chronicles is Dawn’s first series with Whitaker House. All three books composing the series were semifinalists in ACFW’s prestigious Genesis Writing Contest, the third book going on to become a finalist in 2013.

My Impressions:

I admit it. I am a bit behind in my reading. About two years behind! That’s when Dawn Crandall published her first novel in the Everstone Chronicles, The Hesitant Heiress. Dawn has been busily writing and now has three published novels and a fourth set to release in September. I’m waaay behind! But I am steadily catching up. Thanks to Dawn, I finally got a chance to read the book that has been causing lots of buzz all over the book blogosphere since it debuted. Here are some of my thoughts.

The Hesistant Heiress takes place during the Gilded Age in the homes and playgrounds of the rich — Boston and Bar Harbor. The inexperienced and newly proclaimed heiress, Amaryllis Brigham, finds herself settled into wealth and luxury. Having spent her young life on a ranch in the wilds of Washington and then sheltered in schools in Boston, Amaryllis is unfamiliar with the trappings of the super-wealthy. She also has no desire to be caught up in the schemes that would find her married and the recipient of her grandparents’ vast fortune. Amaryllis only wants to return to her beloved home state and open a music conservatory. But as she and others soon find out, man may make his plans, but God is the director of the steps.

For those who love historical romance, The Hesitant Heiress is the perfect choice. Dawn has created intriguing and endearing characters that steal your heart. Swoon-worthy hero, Nathan Everstone, is an extremely attractive character and Amaryllis will appeal to those who like their heroines determined and independent, but with a bit of vulnerability. You know you want to be swept up and swept away! Dawn does a wonderful job of weaving spiritual truths into her love story. The relationships between earthly fathers and their children almost always impact how we view our heavenly Father. In Amaryllis’ case, the abandonment and inconsistency of her father keeps her from fully trusting and surrendering to God. But perception is not always truth, as Amaryllis and readers find out. Mystery and intrigue surround Amaryllis making for a page-turning experience, especially near the end.

I have 2 more books to dive into before the release of The Cautious Maiden in September. All books are connected by the characters, but can be read as standalones. I am certainly looking forward to experiencing more drama, romance and true love with Dawn Crandall.

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

To purchase this book, click HERE

(Thanks to the author and publisher for a review copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)