Wednesday, September 30, 2009

It's Not About Him by Michelle Sutton


This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

It's Not About Him

Sheaf House (September 1, 2009)

by

Michelle Sutton

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michelle Sutton, otherwise known as the Edgy Inspirational Author, is Editor-in-chief of Christian Fiction Online Magazine, a member of ACFW, a social worker by trade, and a prolific reader/book reviewer/blogger the rest of the time.

She lives in Arizona with her husband of nineteen years and her two teenaged sons. Michelle is also the author of It's Not about Me (2008) and It's Not About Him (Sheaf House 2009). She has nine other titles releasing over the next three years.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Susie passed out while drinking at Jeff’s party and later discovered she’s pregnant. She has no idea who the father is and considers having an abortion, but instead decides to place her baby for adoption. Following through ends up being more wrenching than she imagined, but she’s determined to do the right thing for her baby.

Jeff feels guilty that Susie was taken advantage of at his party and offers to marry her so she won’t have to give up her baby, like his birth mother did with him. But Susie refuses, insisting he should he marry someone he loves. Can he convince her that his love is genuine before it’s too late? Can she make him understand that it’s not about him—it’s about what’s best for her child?

If you would like to read the prologue and first chapter of It's Not About Him, go HERE

Monday, September 28, 2009

The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Joyce Magnin


This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow

Abingdon Press (September 2009)

by

Joyce Magnin



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Joyce Magnin is the author of short fiction and personal experience articles. She co-authored the book, Linked to Someone in Pain. She has been published in such magazines as Relief Journal, Parents Express, Sunday Digest, and Highlights for Children.

Joyce attended Bryn Mawr College and is a member of the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Fellowship. She is a frequent workshop leader at various writer’s conferences and women’s church groups.

She has three children, Rebekah, Emily, and Adam; one grandson, Lemuel Earnest; one son-in-law, Joshua, and a neurotic parakeet who can’t seem to keep a name. Joyce leads a small fiction group called StoryCrafters. She enjoys baseball, football, cream soda, and needle arts but not elevators. She currently lives in Havertown, Pennsylvania.

The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow is her first published novel.


ABOUT THE BOOK

The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow is the story of an unusual woman, Agnes Sparrow. No longer able or willing to leave her home, where she is cared for by her long-suffering sister Griselda, Agnes has committed her life to the one thing she can do-besides eat. Agnes Sparrow prays and when Agnes prays things happen, including major miracles of the cancer, ulcer-healing variety along with various minor miracles not the least of which is the recovery of lost objects and a prize-winning pumpkin.

The rural residents of Bright's Pond are so enamored with Agnes they plan to have a sign erected on the interstate that reads, "Welcome to Bright's Pond, Home of Agnes Sparrow." This is something Agnes doesn't want and sends Griselda to fight city hall.

Griselda's petitions are shot down and the sign plans press forward until a stranger comes to town looking for his miracle from Agnes. The truth of Agnes's odd motivation comes out when the town reels after a shocking event. How could Agnes allow such evil in their midst? Didn't she know?

Well, the prayers of Agnes Sparrow have more to do with Agnes than God. Agnes has been praying to atone for a sin committed when she was a child. After some tense days, the townsfolk, Griselda, and Agnes decide they all need to find their way back to the true source of the miracles-God.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow, go HERE

Friday, September 25, 2009

If God Is Good by Randy Alcorn

Every one of us will experience suffering. Many of us are experiencing it now. As we have seen in recent years, evil is real in our world, present and close to each one of us.

In such difficult times, suffering and evil beg questions about God--Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist?

These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.

In this captivating new book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise.

Alcorn offers insights from his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world–now and forever. And he equips you to share your faith more clearly and genuinely in this world of pain and fear.

As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all.


ABOUT RANDY:

Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries and a bestselling author. His novels include Deadline, Dominion, Edge of Eternity, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, The Ishbane Conspiracy, and the Gold Medallion winner, Safely Home. He has written eighteen nonfiction books as well, including Heaven, The Treasure Principle, The Purity Principle, and The Grace and Truth Paradox. Randy and his wife, Nanci, live in Oregon and have two married daughters and four grandsons.

Back Cover Review: If God Is Good by Randy Alcorn

“Life is pain highness and anyone who tells you different is selling something.”
- Princess Bride


Six years ago Chet and I found out that I was pregnant. We experienced all the expected joy and shock at the fulfilled hope of being parents. Finally, after a week of holding our breath and tongues, we told our friends and family and co-workers. One week later, I miscarried. The worst I could imagine happened to me. I was devastated. I felt hurt. Why me? Would we be able to have children after all? (I also found out that almost every woman I worked with had a miscarriage too.)

One month later, I was pregnant again. For the next nine months I prayed and prayed and prayed. God, please let us keep this baby. Please don’t let it happen again. When I went into labor all those fears came pouring out – and my Mom listened. She had no idea I’d been so worried.

Several months after our oldest daughter was born, the phone rang one night while I was feeding her. It was a girl that I had never met, but a friend gave her my phone number. She had just miscarried, her husband was out of town and on his way home, but she had just gone through the same experience – alone. I cried with her and I prayed with her – and for her and her husband. I felt the agony of what they were experiencing right then and there. If I had not gone through the same thing, I wouldn’t have been any comfort to her. What the enemy meant for evil in my life, God used for good! I don’t know this girl’s name, but I pray that she’s snuggling up and reading bedtime stories to her own little one now!

God is my refuge and my strength. He is there to be my shelter in the storms – and as long as we’re in this world – this side of Heaven – there will be storms and pain and suffering. But one day, He’s going to come back and wipe away our tears, send Death packing and throw the knockout punch to Evil and Suffering. Until then, we need a little help making sense of all of this…

Quotes from If God Is Good:

Believing God is not the same as trusting the God who exists. A nominal Christian often discovers in suffering that his faith has been in his church, denomination, or family tradition, but not in Christ…If you base your faith on lack of affliction, your faith lives on the brink of extinction and will fall apart because of a frightening diagnosis or a shattering phone call…Losing your faith may be God’s gift to you. Only when you jettison ungrounded and untrue faith can you replace it with valid faith in the true God – faith that can pass, and even find strength in, the most formidable of life’s tests.

“I’ve read books…and I’ve discovered that wisdom begins with the humility to say there’s a great deal I don’t understand.” (p. 22)

Some of God’s virtues will forever capture the spotlight that, without evil and suffering’s temporary hold on us, never would have taken the stage.

…While often called “natural” evils, diseases and disasters are in another sense unnatural in that they result from evil, an unnatural condition.

This book is a powerful tool both for coming to terms with grief personally and for friends who have a hard time understanding how there could be a loving God that allows evil and suffering. Read it and let me know what you think!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Back Cover Review: One Imperfect Christmas by Myra Johnson

The Good Stuff:

We all have our ideals for the perfect Christmas – and boy do we take ourselves to our maximum stress high bar to attempt it. Natalie Pearce the heroine of Myra’s novel is no different - and in many ways she is very much like her own mom. When her mom suffers from a stroke and Natalie finds herself suffering from guilt galore everything changes. Will Natalie be able to let go of herself and her ideals and realize the things that are really the most important about the season? Will her mom be able to keep a promise that she made fifty years ago?

One Imperfect Christmas is a heart-wrenching and tender novel of one family’s struggle to come to terms with change and be the better for it. I like to compare a novel to a drink I’ve realized (Sweet Tea, Hot Chocolate, Lemonade…); this one is like a warm bowl of chicken soup (it has some meat to it).
One Imperfect Christmas is a healthy dose of comfort food for the soul.
An excellent “getting in the Christmas spirit” read…or a sweet gift for a friend for that same holiday!

The Minor Details:
I wanted to see the details and time passing fleshed out a little more at the beginning…or else the beginning of the novel started later. The story really seemed to start after a few chapters into it (my apologies because I’m sure Myra did the recommended throw out your first three chapters and I already learned firsthand how painful just doing that is. Even though I’m working to be honest with any person interested in these reviews about the minor weaknesses of these novels, don’t let it deter you from reading this one…

My Take:
I definitely recommend this sweet Christmas book….oh and the closing chapters are heart-touching and life-changing – for Natalie, the main character, and for the reader!

One Imperfect Christmas by Myra Johnson


This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

One Imperfect Christmas

Abingdon Press (September 2009)

by

Myra Johnson



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Making up stories has been second nature to me for as long as I can remember. A select group of trusted friends back at dear old Mission High waited eagerly for the next installment of my "Great American Spy Novel" (think Man from Uncle) and my "All-American Teen Novel" (remember Gidget and Tammy?). I even had a private notebook of angst-ridden poetry a la Rod McKuen.

The dream of writing persisted into adulthood, although it often remained on the back burner while I attended to home and family and several "real" (read paying) jobs along the way. Then in 1983, while recovering from sinus surgery, I came upon one of those magazine ads for the Institute of Children’s Literature. I knew it was time to get serious, and the next thing I knew, I'd enrolled in the “Writing for Children and Teenagers” course.

Within a year or so I sold my first story, which appeared in the Christian publication Alive! for Young Teens. For many years I enjoyed success writing stories and articles for middle-graders and young adults. I even taught for ICL for 9 years.

Then my girls grew up, and there went my live-in inspiration. Time to switch gears. I began my first women's fiction manuscript and started attending Christian writers conferences. Eventually I learned about American Christian Romance Writers (which later became American Christian Fiction Writers) and couldn't wait to get involved. Friends in ACFW led me to RWA and the online inspirational chapter, Faith, Hope & Love.

So here I am today, still on this crazy roller-coaster ride. Still writing. Still hopeful. Writing, I'm learning, is not about the destination, it's about the journey. My current projects are primarily women's fiction and romance . . . novels of hope, love, and encouragement. Novels about real women living out their faith and finding love in the midst of everyday, and sometimes not so everyday, situations.


ABOUT THE BOOK


Graphic designer Natalie Pearce faces the most difficult Christmas of her life. For almost a year, her mother has lain in a nursing home, the victim of a massive stroke, and Natalie blames herself for not being there when it happened. Worse, she's allowed the monstrous load of guilt to drive a wedge between her and everyone she loves-most of all her husband Daniel. Her marriage is on the verge of dissolving, her prayer life is suffering, and she's one Christmas away from hitting rock bottom.

Junior-high basketball coach Daniel Pearce is at his wit's end. Nothing he's done has been able to break through the wall Natalie has erected between them. And their daughter Lissa's adolescent rebellion isn't helping matters. As Daniel's hope reaches its lowest ebb, he wonders if this Christmas will spell the end of his marriage and the loss of everything he holds dear.

If you would like to read the first chapter of One Imperfect Christmas, go HERE


Watch the trailer:

Monday, September 14, 2009

Back Cover Review: You Were Born For This: 7 Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles by Bruce Wilkinson with David Kopp

As I read this book, long before page fourteen, my heart began working extra hard and by page twenty-four I was crying. This book seems like a gimmick at the start but trust me it does not continue that way. In my experience, the work of Bruce Wilkinson is godly and straight from his personal experience with God. The Prayer of Jabez is a powerful book and the Bible Study I went through with Secrets of the Vine was phenomenal.

You Were Born For This is no less life-changing. This is a book that I firmly believe will deepen your relationship with Jesus and, like Bruce’s other books, make you more like Christ – if you allow it to. Come and take the journey with me...I can’t wait to share with you in the future miracles that I experience in my life as a result of the desire for them that this book has stirred in my heart!

Win a copy of You Were Born For This by David Wilkerson with David Kopp

To win a copy of this book,
leave a comment on this post by September 18th to enter to win!



His New York Times phenomenon The Prayer of Jabez changed how millions pray. Now Bruce Wilkinson wants to change what they do next.

Anyone can do a good deed, but some good works can only happen by a direct intervention from God. Around the world these acts are called miracles—not that even religious people expect to see one any time soon. But what would happen if millions of ordinary people walked out each morning expecting God to deliver a miracle through them to a person in need? You Were Born for This starts with the dramatic premise that everyone at all times is in need of a miracle, and that God is ready to meet those needs supernaturally through ordinary people who are willing to learn how Heaven works.

In the straightforward, story-driven, highly motivating style for which he is known, Wilkinson describes how anyone can help others experience miracles in such universally significant arenas of life as finances, practical help, relationships, purpose, and spiritual growth.

You Were Born for This will change how readers see their world, and what they expect God can do through them to meet real needs. They will master seven simple tools of service, and come to say with confidence, “I want to deliver a supernatural gift from God to someone in need today—and now I know how!”



One of the world’s foremost Christian teachers, Bruce Wilkinson is best known as the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller The Prayer of Jabez. He is also the author of numerous other bestsellers, including A Life God Rewards, Secrets of the Vine, and The Dream Giver. Over the past three decades, Wilkinson has founded several global initiatives, including organizations that recruited and trained thousands of Americans to address hunger, AIDS, and poverty in Africa . Bruce and his wife, Darlene, have three children and six grandchildren. They live outside Atlanta.
David Kopp has collaborated with Bruce Wilkinson on over a dozen bestselling books, including The Prayer of Jabez. He is an editor and writer living in Colorado.


Saturday, September 12, 2009

Danger At The Door by Michelle Sutton


This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Danger At The Door

(Desert Breeze September, 2009)

by

Michelle Sutton



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michelle Sutton, otherwise known as the Edgy Inspirational Author, is Editor-in-chief of Christian Fiction Online Magazine, a member of ACFW, a social worker by trade, and a prolific reader/book reviewer/blogger the rest of the time.

She lives in Arizona with her husband of nineteen years and her two teenaged sons. Michelle is also the author of It's Not about Me (2008) and It's Not About Him (Sheaf House 2009). She has nine other titles releasing over the next three years.






ABOUT THE BOOK


Upon her fiancé's death, Laney became a recluse who only left her home for emergencies. She managed to survive - barely - on food delivery service and her work-at-home job. When she tries to move on from her grief, the commemorative meal she orders is ruined. However, it leads to an unlikely friendship with an attractive man, Bojan, who speaks little English.

As he befriends Laney he continually says the wrong things, but he doesn't give up trying to win her trust. Meanwhile, she has this strange feeling of being watched and wonders if she's losing her mind.

Complicating things further, every time she leaves her house something bad happens, confirming that she is safer at home. Can Bojan convince Laney she'll be safe with him, or will his presence put her in further danger? Will he be able to protect the woman he loves before it's too late?


If you would like to read the Prologue and first Chapter of Danger At The Door, go HERE

Friday, September 11, 2009

Back Cover Review: Just Between You And Me by Jenny B. Jones

This novel is: Witty, thought-provoking, irreverent (in the best sense), passionate, powerful, healing.

Maggie Montgomery is a small town girl that ran away. This fearless heroine has more hang-ups than a closet full of hooks – don’t we all! And nothing like coming back to the past that broke you, but sometimes that's what it takes to be healed.

ABOUT Jenny B. Jones:

Jenny did something in this book that I don’t recall ever seeing before – She thoroughly enmeshed her character’s personal thoughts within the dialogue – it worked and I loved it!

Oh, and she's downright-outright hilarious!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Just Between You And Me by Jenny B. Jones


This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Just Between You And Me

Thomas Nelson (September 1, 2009)

by

Jenny B. Jones




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I write Christian fiction with a few giggles, quite a bit of sass, and lots of crazy. My novels include the Katie Parker Production series and So Not Happening. I would also like to take credit for Twilight , but somewhere I think I read you’re not supposed to lie.

When I’m not typing my heart out (or checking email), I teach at a super-sized high school in Arkansas.

My students are constantly telling me how my teaching changes their lives and turned them away from drugs, gangs, and C-SPAN.

Okay, that’s not exactly true.

Since my current job leaves me with very little free time, I believe in spending my spare hours in meaningful, intellectual pursuits such as:

-watching E!
-updating my status on Facebook
-catching Will Ferrell on YouTube and
-writing my name in the dust on my furniture

I’d love to hear about you, so drop me a note. Or check me out on Facebook.


ABOUT THE BOOK

The only thing scarier than living on the edge is stepping off it.
Maggie Montgomery lives a life of adventure. Her job as a cinematographer takes her from one exotic locale to the next. When Maggie's not working, she loves to rappel off cliffs or go skydiving. Nothing frightens her.

Nothing, that is, except Ivy, Texas, where a family emergency pulls her back home to a town full of bad memories, painful secrets, and people Maggie left far behind . . . for a reason.

Forced to stay longer than she intended, Maggie finds her family a complete mess, including the niece her sister has abandoned. Ten-year-old Riley is struggling in school and out of control at home. The only person who can really handle the pint-sized troublemaker is Conner, the local vet and Ivy's most eligible bachelor. But Conner and Maggie keep butting heads--he's suspicious of her and, well, she doesn't rely on anyone but herself.

As Maggie humorously fumbles her way from one mishap to another, she realizes she's going to need to ask for help from the one person who scares her the most.

To save one little girl--and herself--can Maggie let go of her fears and just trust God?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Just Between You And Me, go HERE

Monday, September 07, 2009

Win a copy of The Book That Made America by Jerry Newcombe


The Book That Made America: How the Bible Formed Our Nation (Nordskog Publishing) by Jerry Newcombe is a definitive volume on the Christian roots of our nation. Those who want to restore knowledge of our Christian heritage have their work cut out. As secularism continues its stranglehold on American education, we move further and further away from retaining our Christian roots. The Book That Made America will challenge anyone to know the true origin of our Nation and to fight to keep it. Newcombe hopes to educate Americans by providing the facts of history, proving that America began as a Christian nation and American’s have every right to preserve and uphold that heritage.
All that is positive in our foundation can be traced back to the Scriptures. Recently, President Obama declared that America is not a Christian nation, while Newsweek announced the demise of Christian America. This book is the answer to America’s critics with the facts of history.
Jerry Newcombe, D. Min., is senior producer for Coral Ridge Ministries and has produced or coproduced more than fifty documentaries. The host of two weekly radio shows, he has also been a guest on numerous television and radio talk shows - including Fox Business News, C-Span, USA Radio and Moody Radio. He is the author or coauthor of twenty two books, including with Dr. Kennedy, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?, How Would Jesus Vote?, and The Presence of a Hidden God.


Coral Ridge Ministries is a media outreach founded by Dr. D. James Kennedy. Its programming reaches a national television, radio, and Internet audience at http://www.coralridge.org/.

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Back Cover Review: The Sacred Cipher by Terry Brennan

THE GOOD STUFF:

The Cipher Code is a heart-thrilling pressure-raising masterpiece from beginning to end. Even when the final plot was unveiled, I failed to recognize it’s significance – probably because I was busy soaking in the plot at a hyper-rate. This book was obviously well-researched and masterfully well-written. This book deserves awards – and a movie deal, it’s that good!

What kind of author’s mind can take these pieces of history and Biblical detail and weave it together in such a mind-blowing plot? Well, Terry Brennan does this masterfully.

THE MINOR DETAILS:

I tend to only want to mention the positive, but…the downside to this book was extremely minimal – a few editing mistakes. One of the chapters begins with them outside of a van they were just running away in – under a tree, near a building, etc. Then, the next paragraph they are back in the van and then piling out of it and the characters end up near those same locations again. The size of a book manuscripts is huge and with the number of rewrites that occur, mistakes could easily occur like this.

There are approximately six main characters and the author alternates between the use of their first and last names – and frequently conversations occur between three characters. I found the complexity of this forcing me to stop and sort out who was saying what to whom – it took away slightly from the focus of the plot.

MY CONCLUSION:

This book is excellent and I will be watching for more from Terry Brennan!!!