The Soldier's Secrets

The more I read Love Inspired books, the more I like them.

Let's just say this book REALLY made me want to read the first one in the series, Sanctuary for a Lady. It is now on my TBRRN list. (That's "to-be-read-right-now" for those who didn't know. *wink*) And I JUST heard from Naomi that her third book in the series comes out in January of next year!! Yeah!!

Book Rating: Best of the Best

Holy smokes!! This story was excellent. Naomi is a truly gifted writer and she really knows how to hook you into every scene. There's a lot of excellent action, great history (you know I love history!!) and seriously, there's a kiss in this book that is--well, it's perfect.

Bridgett Dubois, the heroine, is very wonderful. Tough, sweet, generous, thoughtful--I really liked her. She is a widow with several children and works hard to make sure they are safe--which isn't an easy task. Her father-in-law is blackmailing her--and what he's forcing her to do could ruin everything. (Don't want to give too much away here, ladies, but it's pretty exciting!!)

Jean Paul (our beloved hero--really, REALLY fabulous) is haunted by his actions during the French Revolution--even though he had acted in the name of liberty. When he meets Bridgett, he finds that perhaps he can open his heart once again, but he fears what she will think of him when she discovers the truth of what he's done.

The emotions that were woven into these characters were very real and at times, extremely touching. One of things that I found especially interesting was the history. The extent of my knowledge about the French Revolution comes from The Scarlett Pimpernel and Les Mis. Not super great. So, this really opened my eyes on some things I had no idea about.

You can't wait to read it, can you?? *teehee*

Congratulations, Naomi, on another wonderful story! I know readers are going to love it, just like I did!!

Happy Reading!
BUY IT!

January's Author of the Month

Welcome to 2014!!!

I'm so excited about this year! There's a lot of fun things planned (big changes for me...which I will be announcing soon...) and TONS of FABULOUS books set to be released, so hold on to your feathered-hats, ladies, it's gonna be a BLAST!

This month I'm thrilled to feature a great friend of mine, fellow blogger and author extraordinaire--Naomi Rawlings! I've just read and reviewed her latest book THE WYOMING HEIR (which releases today, by the way!) and I'm very excited to get to know her more, aren't you?

What a great way to start off the year!! Thank you so much for being with me this month, Naomi!!

First, tell us about you! Please include something fun/unique that we might not know. :)

I'm pretty  boring, really. I live in northern Michigan, way way way northern Michigan, where we get really cold temperatures and lake effect snow to the tune of 200 inches a year. Everyone in my family likes to snowshoe--even my three year old, and my husband is a modern day backwoodsman. As I'm typing this, he's got a dozen or so animal pelts sitting in our shed and ready to take to the fur buyer when he comes through town next.

Have you always wanted to be a writer? At what point did you feel God calling you to do this?

No, I didn't always want to be a writer. In fact, I stumbled upon it rather by accident. I had an English degree and a small child I stayed home with. Plus I was bored and had exhausted all my friends supplies of romance novels, so one afternoon I sat down and decided to write one . . . Three years and four manuscripts later, I had my first contract.

As for God calling me to write, I know I'm in His will and doing what He wants at this point in my life, but I never had any divine God moment where God told me I HAD to write. It was more just a sense and desire God put into my spirit during the time I was first learning the craft.

Your books are gripping! How do you decide what you will write about?

Ha! Not the usual way, I can tell you that much. I'm a bit of an oddball when it comes to writing and how I think about it. I usually decide to write a book because there's an underlying message I want to convey. I've done books about forgiveness, redemption, honesty, human value, and loving your enemies. This leads me to write stories set in rather unusual places like the French Revolution or Michigan's Upper Peninsula (where I live). The Wyoming Heir is a bit of exception in that I didn't start with a theme or message. This book I wrote because way back when I was trying to sell my first French novel, everyone was telling me I was ready to be published but no publisher wanted a French story. So I came up with a cowboy story that I thought might interest publishers and then decided on a theme from there. The theme ended up being about obedience.



What are FIVE of your favorite things-- doesn't have to be book related!

Oh, wow. I'm singing the Marie von Trapp song in my head after that question. :-) Okay, I'm going to answer assuming that God and family are already givens.

1. Books
2. Friends
3. Lake Superior
4. Snow
5. Hiking


What is your favorite Bible scripture and/or story?

1 Corinthians 15:10--"But by the grace of God, I am what I am . . ." I love this verse because it's a constant reminder that God created me just the way He wanted me, even with all my flaws and imperfections. And His grace will sustain me through the flaws and imperfections and trials.

How much fun! Thank you Naomi, for this great interview!

And ladies, it's not over yet. Naomi is doing a GIVEAWAY of her latest release THE WYOMING HEIR so if you want to be entered, be sure to comment below and leave your email addy!!

Hugs and Happy Reading to you all!!

The Wyoming Heir

Let's just take a moment here to absorb the utter masculinity of Luke Hayes. Seriously. He made this book for me.

Book Rating: Up All Night'er

This was my first taste of Naomi's writing and let's just say--it WON'T be my last. Her ability to get into the characters head and make their emotions and feelings tangible to the reader is fabulous. I couldn't get enough.

Luke Hayes is ready to pick up his little sister from school and take her home--that's all. And he does NOT want to get roped into anything else, but he can't help it when the school's mathematics teacher Elizabeth Wells needs his help. How can he say no to someone so beautiful--and so determined?

Elizabeth wants nothing more then to save her beloved girl's school from closing. But her unlikely supporter and ally makes it hard for her to focus--what with his dashing looks and rugged cowboy appeal. Will he stay and make all her dreams come true, or will he leave and break her heart?

You can't wait to read it, can you?! LOL For me, there was PLENTY of delicious drama and heavy tension--which you don't often find in LIH, I've found. The plot was intriguing and all the characters enjoyable. There was even a twist that I didn't see coming. Love that!!!

If you are looking for a great read to start off the new year, this is the one!! It makes its official debut January 1--so order it now!!!

Great work, Naomi!! Can't wait to read more from you!

Happy Reading!
Buy it!