Tour and Review for Guinevere: At the Dawn of Legend

"Think before acting," her father always warned. But Princess Guinevere is ruled by her heart. Her betrothal to King Arthur has not changed this.

When Guinevere and Cedwyn's latest adventure takes a dangerous turn, they find themselves embroiled in a life-or-death struggle as foretold by Merlyn's Goddess of the Stones.

Renegades--foiled in their attempt to kidnap the princess--steal the children of Cadbury Castle to sell as slaves. Guinevere and Cedwyn vow to rescue the children, but a miscalculation puts them all in more danger. The plan quickly unravels, and Guinevere's impassioned decisions come crashing down as Cedwyn chooses to turn his dream of becoming a knight into reality. Will their courage be strong enough to survive, or will one make the ultimate sacrifice?"

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I had the privilege of reading both GUINEVERE: ON THE EVE OF LEGEND and GUINEVERE: AT THE DAWN OF LEGEND and I can honestly say that I enjoyed both. They can be read separately but also together and they are both really great. Both books feature a different view of Guinevere when she is quite young and before she marries King Arthur. They show a fun loving girl who has to learn to grow up and accept responsibilities she doesn't think she is ready for. I love how the author ties in the magic of the world, and Merlin as her teacher and mentor.

The books show different times in Guinivere's life. The first when she was 12 going on 13 and the other when she is 15 and the kings and knights are at war. While the first book can be read completely on its own, the second book definitely leaves us hanging for the 3rd book. I look forward to finding out what Guinevere does to correct her mistakes and how it changes the course of her life in this version of the story!

I really did enjoy these books and I look forward to reading more by this author.

They are written for a middle grade and young adult audience but I think they can be easily enjoyed by all ages - I am proof of the! I highly recommend them.

I’m a retired high school English teacher. A devourer of books growing up, my profession introduced me to writings and authors from times long past. Through my studies and teaching, I fell in love with the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Now, I hope to inspire young readers and those Young-at-Heart to read more through my Tales and Legends for Reluctant Readers set in these worlds—Ancient Egypt, Medieval Wales, and coming soon, a hair-raising adventure through ancient worlds in search of 5 rare Phoenix Feathers.

All of my books come with Free study guides and/or extensive Back-of-the-Book materials.

My husband and I love to travel. In 2008, we spent three weeks in Egypt traveling by local train from one end of the country to the other; in 2014, we spent three weeks in the UK driving over 1700 miles through England, Wales, and Scotland; and in 2016, we spent a week in Iceland. We’ve also traveled to Mexico, Jamaica, and Aruba. Our next big adventure will be to Greece and Italy.

When I’m not writing or traveling, our 4 grandkids keep us busy.

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Servie's Song Review and Tour

The true story of one mother living in Zimbabwe, Africa who encounters a devastating loss leaving her unable to care for six children. In a heart-wrenching sacrifice she surrenders to a desperate plan to leave her children and find work in the United States. It is a door which feels impossible to walk through. But perhaps, the only door which holds any promise.

Servie's Song takes you on an emotional journey of tragedy and heartbreak to an inspiring path of hope. This touching story is complemented by gospel principles which will teach and motivate you to grab onto your faith and move forward trusting that you are never alone. God always hears your prayers.

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YouTube Trailer For Servie's Song:

I truly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend having a tissue handy, I can't imagine how much the author and Servie must have cried as this story was shared and then put into written word. Servie's History is touching and amazing and so inspirational. The strength behind Servie and all that she faced really encourages everyone and I can't imagine a person reading this and not being touched and inspired to do more.
Servie's story is mixed in with Gospel principles throughout the book, quotes from scriptures and prophets. It really does tie in well, although I do admit I would have loved to hear more about Servie if there are been time and room to add more. She has such a fascinating history and a bright future. But I do admit that I was completely gripped by her tale and I found myself hoping and crying and smiling and everything with her as the story is told. And I finished this book with a sense of "if she can do that, so can I".
I highly recommend this book. It is a wonderful inspiration and a great read!

Heidi Tucker won the 2017 Illumination Award for her first inspirational book Finding Hope in the Journey and her newest release is entitled Servie’s Song. Her passion for writing and speaking about light and hope has inspired thousands. Heidi is known as a great storyteller who motivates us to rise up and find new strength. She teaches how to recognize truth and make a difference.

When Heidi isn’t writing her next book, or speaking at a conference, you’ll find her spending time outdoors with her husband, four grown children and eight grandchildren. She loves sunflowers, hiking, and ice cream … not necessarily in that order.

Find out more about Heidi at ThePickledSunflower.com

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Otto's Offer Tour and Review

In 1868, Otto Atwell has a 160 acre homestead near Abilene, Kansas and a limp as a result of a Cheyenne musket ball hitting his low back while he marched with the 16th Kansas Cavalry on the Powder River Expedition in 1865. What he doesn’t have is a wife. Then again, what woman would want to marry a cripple?

Libby Jones comes to Junction City as a mail order bride. Not only does the man who sent for her reject her, he tries to sell her to the local brothel to recoup his fee. Otto offers to marry her, but she rejects him in favor of a job with his relatives.

Will Otto’s offer still stand when trouble from Libby’s past catches up with her?   

      

Otto’s Offer is a stand-alone book in the Lockets & Lace series sponsored by some authors of the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog. 

While they last, an ebook version of the series prequel, The Bavarian Jeweler, is available from the blog without charge.

Click here to download your Free copy

~ Amazon ~ Amazon International ~

I have finished this book now and I'm so excited to share my review with everyone!  This book was well written and engaging. The author lets us understand the situation and was able to even take us back into the history without losing us in the process. It was actually a very quick read as it takes you through the story and the situation. You feel for the characters and cheer them on too. This book does touch on a few hard topics that send a bit of a chill down your spine, but it is never descriptive or unclean, just the pain of knowing that someone had to go through something so miserable. And the bad guy was well written and made me look over my shoulder a few times (I was reading this out on a hike, so in the open I admit I looked around a few time) which made it seem so real, which really is the mark of good story writing. Overall I say well done - very well done!

Excerpt:

After it was all over and the dust began to settle, Otto decided the Atwell-

Palmer group driving cattle into his property was a sight to behold. He

had put his few cattle in his corral with feed and water and left the

pastureland next to the small creek open for whatever his visitors were

driving. Henry had cleaned and prepared stalls for a few extra horses,

but Otto knew the rest would need to be hobbled. Because he couldn’t sit

a horse for long, he didn’t know if he would be expected to help keep an

eye on the herd that night, or if his father and uncle had made other

arrangements. All he knew was, his barn, corral and pasture looked

full—how like he would eventually like it to be all the time with his own

cattle.

Mary Palmer had answered both Otto’s and Henry’s prayers. As

soon as she climbed down from the wagon she had been traveling in

while their neighbor, Shorty Sanders, drove, she headed for the kitchen

and started frying up potatoes and some ham she had brought to go with

the beans Otto had cooking. She also made biscuits, which pleased

everyone.

Henry especially felt gratified when Mary pointed to the loaf of

bread she had brought in the house.

“I have bread I baked for when we’re on the trail. But your Mama

sent that one for you, Henry. She says she misses you and will be happy

to see you home again. Now, you hide it in a cupboard, or it won’t last

until we leave.”

Henry smiled wide as he found a clean dishtowel to wrap around

his bread. “Thank you, Grandma Mary. Otto’s no baker, so it’s either

been hardtack or mush the last few weeks. You bet I’ll keep it hidden.”

“You’re welcome, Henry.”

Otto inhaled deeply as he entered the kitchen. “That ham and

fixings certainly smells good, Mrs. Palmer. It will be a pleasant break

from my usual fare.”

“Then maybe you ought to get you a fat sow about ready to pop out

a bunch of piglets instead of those chickens you plan on getting. I’d

druther take care of pigs than chickens any day.”

Otto scowled at his younger brother, who had made the suggestion.

“All in good time, Henry. Right now, eggs and an occasional chicken in

the pot will do me more good than a pig to be kept fed. Besides, we

already got the chicken coop built. I’d have to build a sturdy pen first

before I can consider getting a sow and a boar. you’ll be going home with

Pa once we get back, so it shouldn’t make much difference to you.”

Henry glanced at Mary’s face with her grin and a knowing twinkle

in her eye. He knew to not make a big issue of the matter, but he couldn’t

resist mumbling the last word on the subject. “Well, you just make sure

when you bring back those chickens, you bring back a wife to chase them

down and take care of them. I still want nothing to do with anything

having feathers and beaks.”

“What’s this about a wife?”

Otto shook his head, avoiding Mary’s probing gaze. “Nothing.

Henry is just being his usual ornery self.”

My name is Robyn Echols. Zina Abbott is the pen I use for my historical novels. I’m a member of Women Writing the West and I just joined Western Writers of America. I currently live with my husband in California’s central valley near the “Gateway to Yosemite.”

I love to read, quilt, work with digital images on my photo editing program, and work on my own family history.

I am a blogger. In addition to my own blog, I blog for several group blogs including the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog, which I started and administer.

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12 days of Clean Romance - Day 12

Her most recent accomplishment started in the summer of 2015. Making her dad’s dream come true with publishing his works as well, as an emotional accomplishment. She is the 2016 local A.N.W.A. chapter (Snake River Writers) president, won NaNoWriMo and loves StoryMakers.

            Teya has been writing for as long as she can remember. At a young age she lived on a street she affectionately named Hill Street Blues, which helped her creative writing. Her Family moved to Menan where she continued her love of writing. Her father would always be and will continue to be her inspiration, even after his untimely death in 2006.

            She loves sitting in her soft chair next to the fireplace and watching out a big living room window. It gives her plenty of creative juice for stories.

            She met the love of her life in the loft of a barn. Yep, that set up some teasing from her father. They have been happily married since 2003. They have four children and all are loving and supportive of her writing.  Her oldest daughter is following in her footsteps as a writer adding her own illustrations. She refuses to comment on the trolls in the closets and under the beds. She is active in her church, has compassion for others, and a love for all life brings.

Connect with the Author here: 

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One wrong step changes Jocelyn’s Prima Ballerina’s life in one step...

A single choice results in Jeremiah facing unbearable consequences...

When these two meet, it could be catastrophic or the answer to unspoken prayers.

Can love be tested too far? Will hearts soften and hurts be forgiven?

Or will too much loss be too devastating to find hope?

One thing is for sure, lives are about to change forever…

~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Author Website ~

Q&A With The Author:

1-   Tell us about things you enjoy — what you do for fun or personal satisfaction besides writing?

a.   I enjoy being with my family, hiking, and getting out into nature and being physical with the world around me.

2-   What is the thing you struggle with the most while writing? And how do you defeat it?

a.   I do not have the word "struggle" in my vocabulary. It stops anything positive. We have a phrase in our home that derives from a favorite movie series, it is, "do, or do not, there is no try."

3-   What are your future projects?

a.   Future projects: Death by the slice- a romance thriller, Shadow movers- a trilogy, a couple "unknown titles" at this time, The wife (title unsecured)- suspense thriller, and a couple books of short stories.

4-   What is the “message” of your writing?

a.   a message in my books, hmm. I think learning about oneself. Each one has something to think about and you see yourself how you need to change.

5-   Are your characters/stories/scenes, etc. based on anything in real life?

a.   Are my character/ stories/scenes based on real life? YES!

6-   Have you done anything writing-related, besides actually writing your books, that seemed to get a lot of positive response? Something that encouraged you?

a.   I speak to elementary kids about writing. It's pure joy to me to watch there faces light up and be excited about the story wanting to break free from each one of them.

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12 Days of Clean Romance - Day 11

When she was in Paris, Kimberley Montpetit spent most of her souvenir money at the La Patisserie shops with their beautiful and delicious pastries. She grew up in the fabulous city of San Francisco, loves all things chocolate, and now lives in a small town along the Rio Grande with her engineer husband and three sons.

She once stayed in the haunted tower room at Borthwick Castle in Scotland and didn't sleep a wink, sailed the Seine in Paris, rode a camel in the ancient world wonder of Petra, shopped the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, and spent the night in an old Communist hotel in Bulgaria.

Kimberley also writes Award-winning Middle-Grade novels with Scholastic and Young Adult novels with Harpercollins under the name, Kimberley Griffiths Little.

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A makeup artist for the Phantom of the Opera with a tragic past. A mysterious man hiding a scar worse than the phantom from the Broadway show.

Linden Adair is a talented makeup artist on the New York Broadway show, Phantom of the Opera, creating the hideous scar for the actor who plays the phantom every night. But nobody knows the deep scars Linden carries after the divorce from her husband, Mark Denly—the famous director of Phantom.

Why didn’t somebody ever tell her that marrying your director was a bad idea, especially when he has a wandering eye?

Desperate to get away after enduring several years of heartache and scars, Linden takes a cross-country trip to visit her best friend in Seattle. While driving on a deserted stretch of highway late at night, she hits a deer and crashes the rental car into a gully outside of Snow Valley, Montana.

A devastatingly handsome stranger with a tow truck rescues Linden and her smashed vehicle, but when she catches sight of him in the light, she’s shocked. Anton Baldwin possess a terrible scar on his face—just like the phantom she created every night for the theater.

But Anton is hiding more than the truth behind his scar, and during a whirlwind week while being recruited for a television show being filmed in Snow Valley, the secrets of this enigmatic man turn her world upside down. 

When Anton helps Linden open up to the world around her, Linden wonders if the small town of Snow Valley might hold the magic she needs to heal the scars on her broken heart.

If you like sweet romance and second chance love stories, then you’ll love THE SECRET OF A KISS, A Snow Valley Romance. 

~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ 

Q&A With The Author:

1.   Tell us about things you enjoy — what you do for fun or personal satisfaction besides writing?

It’s easy to be a workaholic in this business and your mind is always going, going with ideas and deadlines so to relax I have to leave my workspace completely. My kiddos are super fun and funny. We love to snuggle, make cookies, read books, go to the movies, go out to eat on the weekend, tell jokes, and can’t wait for family reunions with cousins far away at the beach or in the mountains. I also love having lunch with writer friends, or attending writer retreats.

2.   What is the thing you struggle with the most while writing? And how do you defeat it?

The biggest thing I struggle with is to actually get writing for the day. Inertia* is the HARDEST THING TO OVERCOME – IT IS EVIL! Of course, every day 10 new things come up that have to be done right away, or someone calls with a new crisis. Can I please have just ONE DAY where there are no appointments, broken cars, errands, appliances that need fixing, dental appts, shopping, bills to pay, or emergencies, and I can JUST WRITE ALL DAY LONG. It has yet to happen . . . I guess it’s called life!

*Inertia: Overcoming the terror of opening the Word document and begin typing actual words

3.   What are your future projects?

After my trilogy with Harpercollins was completed in 2017, I’m focusing on my sweet adult romance. My Secret Billionaire Romance series has been hugely popular and I have plans for at least two more titles this year. I’m also excited about a secret project I’m doing with Heather Moore Brown that will launch this summer. Gothic Romance! It’s going to be super fun, super awesome, and super romantic!

4.   What is the “message” of your writing? 

I love writing clean romance about couples overcoming life’s struggles and griefs. Stories that inspire and uplift while delivering a heart-pounding adventure and swoony romance. It inspires me to know that I can push back against the raw and often insane world we live in and flood reader’s Kindles with good entertainment that people are craving. 😊

5.   Are your characters/stories/scenes, etc. based on anything in real life?

All writers draw from personal experience with loss, disappointment, love, discouragement, and self-doubt. I like writing about characters who are often braver and more courageous than I am when they take their life by the reins and plow full-steam ahead to create the life they dream about.

6.   Have you done anything writing-related, besides actually writing your books, that seemed to get a lot of positive response? Something that encouraged you?

I do a hands-on writing workshop called The Creative Diary that has turned out incredibly successful in schools. In only one hour using my Imagination Box and vivid story imagery, the students have written two complete stories. After leading them part-way through a story that they have to finish, the kids gasp with excitement and begin writing like crazy. It’s awesome to see their enthusiasm and how much they write in just ten minutes at a time – sometimes 2 whole pages! When I invite a few to come up and read their story aloud, I’m always impressed with how terrific and imaginative their stories are.

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

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