Happy release day to Eva Marie Everson. Her newest novel, Miss Beth Bettencourt, is now available! I really enjoyed going back to the early 1960s to a small Georgia town where everyone knows everyone . . . and their business. Strong themes of faith are presented along with a sweet, sweet love story. Find out more below. (You can read my review HERE.)
Will an unlikely romance tear down Bethâs walls of indifference?
Itâs 1962 in Bynum, Georgia, and Beth Bettencourtâs world is turned upside down when she wakes to a man snoring in the guest bedroom.
Sheâs home alone; her parents are traveling abroad, grieving her twin sisterâs unexpected death. Instead of accompanying them, Beth stayed in Bynum to tend to her kindergarten and closely guard her own heart.
A beautiful and beloved member of the community, Beth is an unusual specimen for her time as she nears thirty and remains unmarried. She holds deep-seated unforgiveness toward her twin, Elise, who ran off with Bethâs beau. To make matters worse, Elise took their grandmotherâs ring, which had been promised to Beth.
But now a stranger enters her home and her world. David Patrick Martin seems ready to break down her walls of indifference and find the core of Miss Beth Bettencourt. But can he be trusted with Bethâs past, her present, and more importantly, her future?
Eva Marie Everson is an ECPA bestselling and multiple award-winning author and speaker, including an ECPA Gold Medallion. She is a Christy finalist, and a Silver Medallion winner. She has won a Carol, several Maggie and Golden Scroll awards, and an Inspirational Retailers Choice Award. Born and reared in Georgia, Eva Marie and her husband make their home in Central Florida where they are owned by one very spoiled cat and two hearts full of grandchildren.
Happy Friday! Today I am featuring Eva Marie Everson’s newest novel, Miss Beth Bettencourt, which releases later this month. So you are getting a sneak peek! The book is billed as a Bynum, Georgia novel, so if you read The One True Love of Alice-Ann (I did and loved it!), you will again be swept away to this charming South Georgia town.
Here’s the first line:
Why do all the bad things happen at night?
Will an unlikely romance tear down Bethâs walls of indifference?
Itâs 1962 in Bynum, Georgia, and Beth Bettencourtâs world is turned upside down when she wakes to a man snoring in the guest bedroom.
Sheâs home alone; her parents are traveling abroad, grieving her twin sisterâs unexpected death. Instead of accompanying them, Beth stayed in Bynum to tend to her kindergarten and closely guard her own heart.
A beautiful and beloved member of the community, Beth is an unusual specimen for her time as she nears thirty and remains unmarried. She holds deep-seated unforgiveness toward her twin, Elise, who ran off with Bethâs beau. To make matters worse, Elise took their grandmotherâs ring, which had been promised to Beth.
But now a stranger enters her home and her world. David Patrick Martin seems ready to break down her walls of indifference and find the core of Miss Beth Bettencourt. But can he be trusted with Bethâs past, her present, and more importantly, her future?
Eva Marie Everson is an ECPA bestselling and multiple award-winning author and speaker, including an ECPA Gold Medallion. She is a Christy finalist, and a Silver Medallion winner. She has won a Carol, several Maggie and Golden Scroll awards, and an Inspirational Retailers Choice Award. Born and reared in Georgia, Eva Marie and her husband make their home in Central Florida where they are owned by one very spoiled cat and two hearts full of grandchildren.
I have long been a fan of Eva Marie Everson. Her novels include women’s fiction and romance, both contemporary and historical. I think her strength as an author is writing authentic female characters her readers can easily identify with — those facing real life struggles. Her latest book is Miss Beth Bettencourt. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Find out all about it and my thoughts below.
Will an unlikely romance tear down Bethâs walls of indifference?
It’s 1962 in Bynum, Georgia, and Beth Bettencourt’s world is turned upside down when she wakes to a man snoring in the guest bedroom.
She’s home alone; her parents are traveling abroad, grieving her twin sister’s unexpected death. Instead of accompanying them, Beth stayed in Bynum to tend to her kindergarten and closely guard her own heart.
A beautiful and beloved member of the community, Beth is an unusual specimen for her time as she nears thirty and remains unmarried. She holds deep-seated unforgiveness toward her twin, Elise, who ran off with Beth’s beau. To make matters worse, Elise took their grandmother’s ring, which had been promised to Beth.
But now a stranger enters her home and her world. David Patrick Martin seems ready to break down her walls of indifference and find the core of Miss Beth Bettencourt. But can he be trusted with Beth’s past, her present, and more importantly, her future?
Eva MarieEverson is an ECPA bestselling and multiple award-winning author and speaker, including an ECPA Gold Medallion. She is a Christy finalist, and a Silver Medallion winner. She has won a Carol, several Maggie and Golden Scroll awards, and an Inspirational Retailers Choice Award. Born and reared in Georgia, Eva Marie and her husband make their home in Central Florida where they are owned by one very spoiled cat and two hearts full of grandchildren.
My Impressions:
Everyone knows everyone in the small town of Bynum, Georgia. And they certainly know your business, all in the matter of a few hours! Beth Bettencourt knows this full well as she seeks to live a quiet, purposeful life in the face of past heartache. Little does she know that on one fateful night (in a life derailed by another fateful night), just how much her world will change. Miss Beth Bettencourt by Eva Marie Everson is a quiet novel set in an ordinary Southern town in 1962. It seems not a lot happens there, yet below the calm surface lie regrets and grief. Beth has a lot of those until Marty enters to break down the walls she has built around her heart. Marty, a newly discharged soldier, makes a mistake when he sleepily stumbles into Beth’s home, but it is soon apparent that God has His hands all over the breaking and entering. The book is told through the first person perspectives of Beth, Marty, and Molly, the Bettencourt’s longtime housekeeper, giving the narrative a completeness. Beth and Marty discover forgiveness, redemption, and a chance at a future neither expected. I loved how trust and respect slowly develops between the two. This is just such a sweet story! There’s a bit of a mystery, and of course no fictional (or real-life) relationship exists without a few obstacles. But by the end of the book the two have grown in profound ways. I also loved secondary character, Molly, as she guided Beth with her wisdom and wit. Molly cooks throughout the book, and I was delighted to find her recipes shared at the conclusion. Yum! Can’t wait to try those and make a return to Bynum.
If you like well-developed characters facing real-life challenges wrapped up in a charming setting, then Miss Beth Bettencourt is a book for you!
Recommended.
Audience: Adults.
(Thanks to the author for an ARC of the novel. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
Spring has been around for weeks in my area of the country, but it has been erratic! We’ve had record high temps, severe weather threats, and even a bit of snow! So crazy! But the flowers are blooming, the trees are budding, and my husband is mowing the grass! LOL! Today’s TTT topic is Spring TBR Lists. I am embarking on a novel approach to my reading life — choosing to read what I want, when I want. Even the few review titles are those I really, really want to read. It’s been a while, folks! I am having a blast! I had to really think about today’s post because past seasonal TBRs have been filled with required reading (books for review.) Today’s list features book club picks and mood reads, which are hard to plan for. But I think I have a great list planned. Let me know what you are reading this season.
My book club absolutely loved AllWe Thought We Knew by Michelle Shocklee. Although it wasn’t what I would call an easy read it was full of heart and emotion. It also brought to light new details of 2 eras we thought we knew. This Christy Award Book of The Year is a definite must-read. If you liked it too, here are a few more books to read. Enjoy!
All Manner of Things by Susie Finkbeiner (available on Kindle Unlimited)
When Annie Jacobson’s brother Mike enlists as a medic in the Army in 1967, he hands her a piece of paper with the address of their long-estranged father. If anything should happen to him in Vietnam, Mike says, Annie must let their father know.
In Mike’s absence, their father returns to face tragedy at home, adding an extra measure of complication to an already tense time. As they work toward healing and pray fervently for Mike’s safety overseas, letter by letter the Jacobsons must find a way to pull together as a family, regardless of past hurts. In the tumult of this time, Annie and her family grapple with the tension of holding both hope and grief in the same hand, even as they learn to turn to the One who binds the wounds of the brokenhearted.
Author Susie Finkbeiner invites you into the Jacobson family’s home and hearts during a time in which the chaos of the outside world touched their small community in ways they never imagined.
The Last Year of The War by Susan Meissner
In 1943, Elise Sontag is a typical American teenager from Iowaâaware of the war but distanced from its reach. Then her father, a legal U.S. resident for nearly two decades, is suddenly arrested on suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer. The family is sent to an internment camp in Texas, where, behind the armed guards and barbed wire, Elise feels stripped of everything beloved and familiar, including her own identity.  The only thing that makes the camp bearable is meeting fellow internee Mariko Inoue, a Japanese-American teen from Los Angeles, whose friendship empowers Elise to believe the life she knew before the war will again be hers. Together in the desert wilderness, Elise and Mariko hold tight the dream of being young American women with a future beyond the fences.  But when the Sontag family is exchanged for American prisoners behind enemy lines in Germany, Elise will face head-on the person the war desires to make of her. In that devastating crucible she must discover if she has the will to rise above prejudice and hatred and re-claim her own destiny, or disappear into the image others have cast upon her.  The Last Year of the War tells a little-known story of World War II with great resonance for our own times and challenges the very notion of who we are when who weâve always been is called into question.
The One True Love of Alice-Ann by Eva Marie Everson
Living in rural Georgia in 1941, sixteen-year-old Alice-Ann has her heart set on her brotherâs friend Mack; despite their five-year age gap, Alice-Ann knows she can make Mack see her for the woman sheâll become. But when they receive news of the attack on Pearl Harbor and Mack decides to enlist, Alice-Ann realizes she must declare her love before he leaves.
Though promising to write, Mack leaves without confirmation that her love is returned. But Alice-Ann is determined to wear the wedding dress her maiden aunt never had a chance to wearâhaving lost her fiancĂŠ in the Great War. As their correspondence continues over the next three years, Mack and Alice-Ann are drawn closer together. But then Mackâs letters cease altogether, leaving Alice-Ann to fear history repeating itself.
This week the TTT theme has another throwback vibe — books that deserve a re-read. It is rare that I re-read a book — there are just so many other books vying for attention! Last week I shared my favorites from July 2015, so I thought I would pick those from the whole summer of 2015 that would be great to read again. 10 years is a long time in the reading world, so many of the books would be fresh again. I hope you find one to re-read or read for the first time!
I am fascinated by the home front stories of Americans during WWII. POW camps, internment camps, and espionage are part of a little studied history. There are also great stories of determination and courage for those left at home while loved ones fought for freedom. I have compiled a list of novels set on the home front — I hope you find one to love!
WWII Home Front Stories
Almost Home by Valerie Fraser Luesse
With Americaâs entrance into the Second World War, the town of Blackberry Springs, Alabama, has exploded virtually overnight. Workers from all over are coming south for jobs in Uncle Samâs munitions plants â and theyâre bringing their pasts with them, right into Dolly Chandlerâs grand but fading family home turned boardinghouse. An estranged young couple from the Midwest, unemployed professors from Chicago, a widower from Mississippi, a shattered young veteran struggling to heal from the war â theyâre all hoping Dollyâs house will help them find their way back to the lives they left behind. But the house has a past of its own. When tragedy strikes, Dollyâs only hope will be the circle of friends under her roof and their ability to discover the truth about what happened to a young bride who lived there a century before. Award-winning and bestselling author Valerie Fraser Luesse breathes life into a cast of unforgettable characters in this complex and compassionate story of hurt and healing.
The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green
In 1942, an impulsive promise to her brother before he goes off to the European front puts Avis Montgomery in the unlikely position of head librarian in small-town Maine. Though she has never been much of a reader, when wartime needs threaten to close the library, she invents a book club to keep its doors open. The women she convinces to attend the first meeting couldnât be more differentâa wealthy spinster determined to aid the war effort, an exhausted mother looking for a fresh start, and a determined young war worker.At first, the struggles of the home front are all the club members have in common, but over time, the books they choose become more than an escape from the hardships of life and the fear of the U-boat battles that rage just past their shores. As the women face personal challenges and band together in the face of danger, they find they have more in common than they think. But when their growing friendships are tested by secrets of the past and present, they must decide whether depending on each other is worth the cost.
The Discovery by Dan Walsh
Gerard Warner was not only a literary giant whose suspense novels sold in the millions, he was also a man devoted to his family, especially his wife of nearly 60 years. When he dies he leaves his Charleston estate to his grandson, Michael, an aspiring writer himself. Michael settles in to write his own first novel and discovers an unpublished manuscript his grandfather had written, something heâd kept hidden from everyone but clearly intended Michael to find. Michael begins to read an exciting tale about Nazi spies and sabotage, but something about this story is different from all of Gerard Warnerâs other books. Itâs actually a love story. As Michael delves deeper into the story he discovers something that has the power to change not only his future but his past as well.
The Last Year of The War by Susan Meissner
In 1943, Elise Sontag is a typical American teenager from Iowa â aware of the war but distanced from its reach. Then her father, a legal U.S. resident for nearly two decades, is suddenly arrested on suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer. The family is sent to an internment camp in Texas, where, behind the armed guards and barbed wire, Elise feels stripped of everything beloved and familiar, including her own identity.
The only thing that makes the camp bearable is meeting fellow internee Mariko Inoue, a Japanese-American teen from Los Angeles, whose friendship empowers Elise to believe the life she knew before the war will again be hers. Together in the desert wilderness, Elise and Mariko hold tight the dream of being young American women with a future beyond the fences.  But when the Sontag family is exchanged for American prisoners behind enemy lines in Germany, Elise will face head-on the person the war desires to make of her. In that devastating crucible she must discover if she has the will to rise above prejudice and hatred and re-claim her own destiny, or disappear into the image others have cast upon her.  The Last Year of the War tells a little-known story of World War II with great resonance for our own times and challenges the very notion of who we are when who weâve always been is called into question.
Love Finds You in Victory Heights, Washington by Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss
The Second World War has stolen Rosalieâs fiance from her. But rather than wallow, Rosalie throws herself into her work at the Boeing plant in Victory Heights, shooting rivets into the B-17 bombers that will destroy the enemy. A local reporter dubs her Seattleâs Own Rosie the Riveter, and her story lends inspiration to women across the country. While Rosalieâs strong arms can bear the weight of this new responsibility, her heart cannot handle the intense feelings that begin to surface for Kenny, the handsome reporter. Fear of a second heartbreak is a powerful opponent â but will it claim victory over love?
Nightingale by Susan May Warren
Nightingale Esther Lange doesnât love her fiancĂŠâsheâs trapped in an engagement after a mistaken night of passion. Still, she grieves him when heâs lost in battle, the letters sent to her by the medic at his side giving her a strange comfort, so much that she strikes up a correspondence with Peter Hess, an Iowa farmboy. Or is he? Peter Hess is not who he seems. Indeed, heâs hiding a secret, something that could cost them both their lives, especially when the past comes back to life. A bittersweet love song of the home front war between duty and the heartâŚa battle where only one will survive.
The One True Love of Alice-Ann by Eva Marie Everson
Living in rural Georgia in 1941, sixteen-year-old Alice-Ann has her heart set on her brotherâs friend Mack; despite their five-year age gap, Alice-Ann knows she can make Mack see her for the woman sheâll become. But when they receive news of the attack on Pearl Harbor and Mack decides to enlist, Alice-Ann realizes she must declare her love before he leaves.Though promising to write, Mack leaves without confirmation that her love is returned. But Alice-Ann is determined to wear the wedding dress her maiden aunt never had a chance to wear â having lost her fiancĂŠ in the Great War. As their correspondence continues over the next three years, Mack and Alice-Ann are drawn closer together. But then Mackâs letters cease altogether, leaving Alice-Ann to fear history repeating itself.Dreading the war will leave her with a beautiful dress and no happily ever after, Alice-Ann fills her days with work and caring for her best friendâs war-torn brother, Carlton. As time passes and their friendship develops into something more, Alice-Ann wonders if sheâll ever be prepared to say good-bye to her one true love and embrace the future God has in store with a newfound love. Or will a sudden call from overseas change everything?
Saving Mrs. Roosevelt by Candice Sue Patterson
The Safety of the First Lady Rests in Shirleyâs HandsShirley Davenport is as much a patriot as her four brothers. She, too, wants to aid her country in the war efforts, but opportunities for women are limited. When her best friend Joan informs her that the Coast Guard has opened a new branch for single women, they both enlist in the SPARs, ready to help protect the home front.
Training is rigorous, and Shirley is disappointed that she and Joan are sent to separate training camps. At the end of basic training, Captain Webber commends her efforts and commissions her home to Maine under the ruse of a dishonorable discharge to help uncover a plot against the First Lady.
Where Tree Tops Glisten by Tricia Goyer, Cara Putman, and Sarah Sundin
Turn back the clock to a different time, listen to Bing Crosby sing of sleigh bells in the snow, as the realities of Americaâs involvement in the Second World War change the lives of the Turner family in Lafayette, Indiana. In Cara Putmanâs White Christmas, Abigail Turner is holding down the Home Front as a college student and a part-time employee at a one-of-a-kind candy shop. Loss of a beau to the war has Abigail skittish about romantic entanglementsâuntil a hard-working young man with a serious problem needs her help. Abigailâs brother Pete is a fighter pilot hero returned from the European Theater in Sarah Sundinâs Iâll Be Home for Christmas, trying to recapture the hope and peace his time at war has eroded. But when he encounters a precocious little girl in need of Peteâs friendship, can he convince her widowed mother that heâs no longer the bully she once knew?In Tricia Goyerâs Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Meredith Turner, âMerryâ to those who know her best, is using her skills as a combat nurse on the frontline in the Netherlands. Halfway around the world from home, Merry never expects to face her deepest betrayal head on, but thatâs precisely what God has in mind to redeem her broken heart. The Turner family believes in Godâs providence during such a tumultuous time. Can they absorb the miracle of Christâs birth and His plan for a future?
Happy Tuesday! Have you recovered from your Thanksgiving festivities yet? We have extended our fun with a two week visit from our not quite 3 year old granddaughter. Whew! I am old! đ I keep reminding myself that when our oldest was her age, I had a 14 month old and another on the way. But I was a lot more agile back then.
Blogging has taken a backseat to the care and feeding of a preschooler, but I didn’t want to miss a TTT. This week’s theme is CozyReads. That could take all forms — from mysteries, to romances, to small town reads, and Christmas books. I am featuring some from all those categories so that you have a good mix to choose from. Hope you find a book to love!
Happy Tuesday! Numbers in Titles was a TTT topic almost 2 years ago (here’s my post). I wasn’t sure I could come up with 10 different titles, but I took that challenge. Included in this list is a book with Number in the title too. đ With the variety in genres, I hope you find a book to pique your interest.
Happy Tuesday! The countdown is on until Christmas. Have you gotten all your decorating and shopping done? I still need to do some things around the house, but my shopping list has grown shorter. But one thing I have made sure to do is get some Christmas reading in. Priorities! đ So far, I have read The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere (reading her novellas is a yearly tradition) and I should be finished with The Christmas Heirloom novella collection today (really great; review to come). Because Christmas books often fall into the romance genre (who doesn’t like a good romance?), I have decided to split my Top 10 Tuesday list into 7 genres for those who want a bit of mystery, or history, or a good laugh too. I think there’s something for everyone on my list. I hope you find a Christmas book to love — now get reading! Â Be sure to visit That Artsy Reader Girl for more Christmas fun!
Top Christmas Books
An Amish Christmas
Christmas at Rose Hill Farm by Suzanne Woods Fisher
The Christmas Remedy by Cindy Woodsmall and Erin WoodsmallÂ
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