Happy Tuesday! Today’s TTT topic is a fun one — occupations in the title of books. There are a lot of directions you can go on this. I considered going a bad guy route — pirate, thief, etc. in the title — but decided to be straightforward with real honest-to-goodness, if a bit old fashioned, occupations. 😉 I included occupations that any one can reasonably achieve — no kings or queens. It was a bit challenging coming up with 10; I went pretty far back in the archives to find them. While the genres vary, most are historical fiction. I hope you find a book to love!
Happy Tuesday! Today’s TTT topic is — Planes, Trains & Automobiles/Books Featuring Travel (books whose plots involve travel or feature modes of transportation on the cover/title). My list consists of books with Cool Rides. The mode of transportation that the MCs choose advances the plot and helps define the character. Not all are really cool (one character takes the bus), but I promise that all the books are fun reads.
With a clever title and intriguing plot, The Preacher Wore Black Leather by Loree Lough was a book I wanted to read. This quickly read novel takes the reader to Reliable, Texas, a small town where everyone knows your name and business! The story revolves around ex-pastor Matt Maxwell. His escape from problems and heartache ends when his motorcycle breaks down outside of town. The townspeople soon take Max into their hearts and homes and his healing begins. I really liked the characters Lough created — colorful, caring, and engaging. Suspense and mystery is included to move the plot along, and there is a fairly big loose thread at the end, promising a second book in the series. There are some cons to the book, though. The writing style is a bit jerky and there is trouble with continuity. I think a little more editing would have improved the novel. But I liked it enough, despite the problems, to want to revisit Reliable when book two in the Sundown Diner series is published.
Recommended.
Audience: adults.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.)
Matt Maxwell wondered a lot about changing his first name to Former: Former Marine. Former minister. Former husband. One by one, he’d lost them all. After losing his wife to his church deacon, he’d packed his battered military duffel, gassed up his ancient motorcycle, and put Baltimore in the Harley’s rearview mirrors. On an unusually cold and snowy Texas night, the Sportster breaks down along the Interstate. Out of luck and nearly broke, Matt’s lured by a bright red sign that reads SUNDOWN DINER. Inside, he meets the owners, the town’s three-man sheriff’s department, and a mechanic who thinks he can fix the old bike. Icy weather and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday make that impossible, and Matt finds himself stranded in Reliable, where everyone seems determined to keep him from the road to anywhere that isn’t Baltimore. Once the Harley is roadworthy, will he put Reliable behind him? Or does God have other plans for the down-on-his-luck pastor?
At last count, USA Today best-selling author Loree Lough had 134 award-winning books (nearly 17 million copies in circulation), hundreds of industry awards, 7 book-to-movie options), 71 published short stories, and nearly 3,000 nonfiction articles in print.
An oft-invited guest of writers’ organizations, colleges and universities, corporate and government agencies in the U.S. and abroad, Loree loves sharing learned-the-hard-way lessons about the craft and the industry.
Once upon a time, Loree (literally) sang for her supper, performing alone and “opening” for the likes of Tom Jones, Dottie West, The Gatlin Brothers, and more. Though she refuses to share the actual year when she traded her Yamaha 6-string for a wedding ring, she IS willing to admit that, every now and then, she blows the dust off her six-string to croon a tune or two. But mostly, she just writes (and writes).
Loree and her husband split their time between a home in the Baltimore suburbs and a cabin in the Allegheny Mountains, where she continues to hone her “identify the critter tracks” skills. Her favorite pastime? Spending long, leisurely hours with her grandchildren…all seven of them!
Loree and co-host Andrea Boeshaar interview writers (fiction and non), artists, editors, agents, and performers on the popular weekly podcast, Discover the Story, broadcast via iHeart Radio, iTunes, YouTube, Spreaker, and more.
Loree loves hearing from her readers, and answers every letter, personally. You can connect with her at Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and http://www.loreelough.com.
I am again twisting the TTT topic this week. Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful for books and the wonderful authors who write them. But after 10+ years of blogging, I have posted on this a lot. So today I am bringing you books that are set/begin at Thanksgiving. This list gives you a variety of books to read between now and Christmas. I hope you find one to be thankful for!
Top Books Set During Thanksgiving And After
Another Way Home by Deborah Raney
Sometimes God’s ways are not at all what we expect . . . and exactly what we need. Grant and Audrey are adding grandchildren to their family left and right, but middle daughter, Danae, and her husband, Dallas Brooks, have been trying for years with no baby in sight.
Though Danae is ready to consider adoption, Dallas will not even discuss it. Despairing of ever having a family of her own, Danae decides to pour her passion and energies into volunteer work with a newly opened women’s shelter in town. Looking for a good cause to fill her lonely days, she never expects to give her heart to the hurting women she meets there. She’s finally learning to live her life with gratitude, but then heart-wrenching events on Thanksgiving weekend threaten to pull the entire Whitman clan into turmoil—and leave them all forever changed.
Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzman
Following the tragic death of his wife, Jill, Morgan Spencer retreats to his brother’s Rocky Mountain ranch to heal and focus on the care of his infant daughter, Olivia. Two years later, Morgan begins to make plans to return to his home in Santa Barbara to pick up the pieces of his life and career. Quinn Riley has been avoiding her past for four years. Standing up for the truth has forced her into a life of fear and isolation. After a “chance” first meeting and a Thanksgiving snowstorm, Quinn is drawn into the Spencer family’s warm and loving world, and she begins to believe she might find freedom in their friendship. The man Quinn helped put behind bars has recently been released, however, and she fears her past will endanger the entire Spencer family. As the danger heightens, she determines to leave town for the sake of the people who have come to mean so much to her. Fixing problems is what Morgan Spencer does best, and he is not willing to let Quinn run away, possibly into the clutches of a man bent on revenge. But Morgan’s solution sends him and Quinn on an unexpected path, with repercussions neither could have anticipated.
Darkness Rising by Lis Wiehl and Pete Nelson
The evil in East Salem is no longer content to hide in the shadows. The stakes—and the darkness—are rising.
Dani Harris thought there wasn’t much left that could surprise her after serving as a forensic psychiatrist in East Salem. And Tommy Gunderson has faced few challenges in his life that he couldn’t overcome by either physical strength or his celebrity status.
But as they race to uncover what’s really happening behind the high walls of St. Adrian’s Academy, it becomes clear that supernatural forces have been at work here for generations. And now their focus is on making sure Dani and Tommy don’t interfere.
When the unseen becomes seen, faith is the only weapon strong enough to fight in a battle involving not just murder and betrayal—but angels and demons.
Dearest Dorothy, Who Would Have Ever Thought by Charlene Baumbich
Charlene Ann Baumbich has won a loyal following of readers with the first three books in the Dearest Dorothy series, featuring the amusing and touching adventures of the townspeople of Partonville. Now Charlene Baumbich uses her wonderful gift of storytelling to celebrate the simple pleasures of life in this heartwarming and hilarious story. The fourth book in the series finds the residents of Partonville preparing for a festive Thanksgiving dinner at the local church. Amid assigning duties and preparing recipes, everyone tries to ignore bossy acting mayor Gladys McKern. Meanwhile, Jessica Joy struggles with an unexpected turn of events, Katie Durbin considers another real estate project, and Dearest Dorothy doles out advice and love in equal amounts to everyone.
Grace in Autumn by Lori Copeland and Angela Hunt
It’s November, and as the island residents prepare for the coming months of cold and snow, they are surprised by God’s unexpected lessons of humility, trust, and hope. Authors Lori Copeland and Angela Hunt revisit the Island of Heavenly Daze in the second book of the highly acclaimed series about a small town where angelic intervention is commonplace and the Thanksgiving feast a community affair.
*****
I Shall Not Want by Debbie Viguie
Charity work can be murder!
It’s Thanksgiving and Joseph Tyler, one of the members of Cindy’s church, has organized a new charity that provides homeless people with rescue dogs to love and care for. But one by one, the homeless recipients are being murdered and their dogs stolen. Could an overly competitive millionaire with his prize-winning pooches and a grudge be behind the crimes? Or could it be someone much closer to Joseph who has something sinister to hide? Cindy and Jeremiah must rush to find a killer before he strikes again.
The Preacher Wore Black Leather by Loree Lough
Matt Maxwell wondered a lot about changing his first name to Former: Former Marine. Former minister. Former husband. One by one, he’d lost them all. After losing his wife to his church deacon, he’d packed his battered military duffel, gassed up his ancient motorcycle, and put Baltimore in the Harley’s rearview mirrors.
On an unusually cold and snowy Texas night, the Sportster breaks down along the Interstate. Out of luck and nearly broke, Matt’s lured by a bright red sign that reads SUNDOWN DINER. Inside, he meets the owners, the town’s three-man sheriff’s department, and a mechanic who thinks he can fix the old bike.
Icy weather and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday make that impossible, and Matt finds himself stranded in Reliable, where everyone seems determined to keep him from the road to anywhere that isn’t Baltimore. Once the Harley is roadworthy, will he put Reliable behind him? Or does God have other plans for the down-on-his-luck pastor?
Remembering Christmas by Dan Walsh
Rick Denton lives his life on his terms. He works hard, plays hard and answers to no one. So when his mother calls on Thanksgiving weekend begging him to come home after his stepfather has a stroke, Rick is reluctant. He’s never liked Art, despite the fact his own father abandoned them when Rick was twelve. Rick’s attitude sours even more when a couple of days helping at the family bookstore turns into weeks of cashing out old ladies and running off the homeless man who keeps hanging about,
Slowly but surely, the little bookstore and its quirky patrons—as well as the lovely young woman who works at his side each day—work their magic on him, revealing to Rick the truth about his family, his own life, and the true meaning of Christmas.
You Make It Feel Like Christmas by Toni Shiloh
It’s the most wonderful time of the year–for everyone except Starr Lewis.
As if going home for the holidays jobless and single wasn’t bad enough, she’s dragged into a holiday season full of activities leading up to her sister’s uber-romantic Christmas Eve wedding–to Starr’s ex-boyfriend. But when her brother’s best friend, Waylon Emmerson, attends their family Thanksgiving, she starts to wonder if maybe coming home for Christmas isn’t so bad after all.
As Starr finds the perfect distraction in helping Waylon make over his late mother’s Christmas shop, the most wonderful time of the year works its magic and the spark between them grows. But with the holidays fast approaching, Starr must decide what she wants out of life after the gifts are unwrapped and the ornaments are put away–to go back to New York City or to open her heart to a love that will last beyond Christmas Day?
During rush hour one cold November night, a jumbo jet crashes on a busy highway…most of it, anyway. Honor Mackenzie and Rowdy, her trusty Search and Rescue dog, join the SAR team to search for the tail section, reported by witnesses to have landed in the dark and rainy woods along Baltimore’s Patapsco River.
Pulitzer prize-winning columnist Matt Phillips, forced to leave his SAR work behind to ensure his motherless twins would always have a dad, leaves the boys with a neighbor and heads to the woods, intent on getting another breaking story. It takes weeks to figure out why she’d given him such an icy reception: Another headline-hungry reporter–whose less-than-accurate story–ended her career with the fire department. In his effort to prove that not every reporter sacrifices “truth” for “story,” Matt finds himself attracted to the beautiful sad-eyed redhead.
As weeks pass, they discover that SAR missions aren’t the only things they have in common. Haunting attachments to 9/11 and the loss of a spouse have kept them lonely and alone…until they find comfort with one another. Much as he and his boys have come to care for her, Matt isn’t convinced that Honor will ever fully commit to him or the twins…especially after she takes a job in New York without even discussing it with him.
During his annual ski weekend with the boys, the heartbroken Matt gets word that Honor has gone missing during a search for a lost girl. He leads the search team, desperate to find her before a blizzard moves in. But even if he does, will they find their way back to one another . . .
With more than 3,000,000 copies of her books in circulation, best-selling author Loree Lough’s titles earn 4- and 5-star reviews and industry/reader’s choice awards. She has received nearly 10,000 letters from fans who write to say she’s “a gifted writer whose stories touch hearts and change lives.” Her 9/11 series, First Responders (From Ashes to Honor, Honor Redeemed, A Man of Honor) is no exception, and it’s raising awareness and funds for organizations that assist soldiers and first responders, and their families. (For more information about these worthy groups, visit http://www.loreelough.com)
The First Responders Series by Loree Lough is a look into the lives of first responders — EMTs, Search and Rescue (SAR) professionals and firefighters — what motivates them and how their job choices affect their lives and relationships. In HonorRedeemed, readers meet Honor MacKenzie, a devoted SAR trainer and dog handler. Her life has pretty much become hopeless due to a scandal revolving around her and her former bosses with the Baltimore Fire Department. Forced out of the job she loved, she now clerks at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, but in her off hours she spends her time training people and dogs for SAR work. Matt Phillips, a star reporter, enters her life when she least expects or wants it. Yet his determination to get to know Honor forces her defenses down, at least for a time.
Honor Redeemed is the second in the series, and there is a lot of backstory in the first book, From Ashes To Honor. I did not read the first book and that was a mistake. I had a lot of questions that left me feeling that I was missing something. That is not a criticism of the book, just a recommendation that you start with the first book to understand all that is going on. One of the things I liked about Honor Redeemed was the very real struggle Matt and Honor have in their burgeoning relationship. They are definitely attracted to each other and it would have been easy to rush things along. But Lough has them both take a step back — Honor because of a past filled with abuse and Matt because of his twin boys that he has been raising alone from birth. I first thought this would be a love at first sight/love will conquer all kind of story, but Lough brings a very realistic turn and tone to the novel.
As said before, this is a look at the lives of first responders. There are some SAR scenes, but by and large it is a book about relationships. I would recommend you read From Ashes To Honor first. But don’t worry about the time involved, HonorRedeemed was a quick read. Your only worry is the waiting time for the next installment, A Man Of Honor.
Recommended.
(I received Honor Redeemed from Pump Up Your Book in return for an honest review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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