Category: Litfuse blog tour

From the moment they met, Tillie and Noah wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, but a deliberate omission will keep them apart—and that same omission will be responsible for the escape of a murderer, and a bride’s deception.

About The Pretender: A Blackguard in Disguise

Set in South Dakota in 1975, where eighteen-year-olds could order 3.2 beer in a bar, and loaded guns were kept under the counter.

Frankie Valli sang “My Eyes Adored You,” and American soldiers returning from Vietnam struggled with their new reality.

It’s within this tumultuous season of American history that Tillie Caselli meets Noah Hansen, and they are never the same again. Their lives were mysteriously intertwined—and had been for many years—yet they had no idea.

From the moment they met, Tillie and Noah wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, but a deliberate omission will keep them apart—and that same omission will be responsible for the escape of a murderer, and a bride’s deception.

My Thoughts

This is a powerful story of love, hope, lies, regret and fate. In our story, Tillie is a young woman who has spent her life focusing on her art and yearning for the day she would find her knight. She was always taught the difference between a blackguard, the type of man who would use a woman and leave her, and a true knight, the man who you want to marry.

Noah has always been viewed as the rebel in the family. He drinks, goes to work but wastes his money and still lives with his brother despite his advanced age. He is hurting on the inside and uses his actions to display how he feels. His behaviour is so bad that he has friends of friends praying for him to come right – including Tillie’s Mother who has never met him.

In a twist of fate, Tillie and Noah meet. While Tillie is cautious at first, she sees the real Noah. The Noah that he tries so hard to hide from others. Noah is in love with Tillie from the moment he meets her. She makes him want to be and do better and push himself to become the man his family knew he could be. They have a short romance before Tillie leaves with a promise to return so that they can be married.

In a cruel twist of fate, Tillie believes that Noah is not the man she thought he was. The two are torn apart but never speak about what happened. They lose contact but never stop yearning for each other. Both become lost, heart sore and shadows of their former selves. The people who should be there for them, hide information from them thinking it will help heal them.

This was a beautiful story that I could not put down. My heart was just so sore for this couple! Their lives were ruined and futures changed in one second due to a simple misconception and later when others refused to tell the truth. As we watch the story unfold, you can see how a simple lie can destroy a person. This is a definite must read novel – I loved every moment of it! I felt like the ending is leading into a second book and I really hope that she does continue this story.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Born and raised in South Dakota, Ta`Mara loves to write about the Great Plains and the beauty and people of Italia. While her husband and children manage their two pizza ristoranti, Ta`Mara works full-time on The Caselli Family Series, and ministers to women. It is Ta`Mara s prayer that as the readers explore the truths in these volumes, they will come away with a new perspective on love, forgiveness, obedience, and God’s plan for marriage.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Gathering the Threads is the third and final novel in The Amish of Summer Grove series.

About Gathering the Threads

Finally back in the Old Order Amish world she loves, will Ariana’s new perspectives draw her family closer together-or completely rip them apart?

After months away in the Englisch world, Ariana Brenneman is overjoyed to be in the Old Order Amish home where she was raised. Yet her excitement is mixed with an unexpected apprehension as she reconciles all she’s learned from her biological parents with the uncompromising teachings of her Plain community. Although her childhood friend, ex-Amish Quill Schlabach, hopes to help her navigate her new role amongst her people, Ariana’s Daed doesn’t understand why his sweet daughter is suddenly questioning his authority. What will happen if she sows seeds of unrest and rebellion in the entire family?

Meanwhile, Skylar Nash has finally found her place among the large Brenneman family, but Ariana’s arrival threatens to unravel Skylar’s new identity-and her sobriety. Both Ariana and Skylar must discover the true cords that bind a family and community together and grasp tight the One who holds their authentic identities close to His heart.

My Thoughts

Gathering the Threads is an intense and thought-provoking look at the life of Ariana, who in one moment had her whole life changed. She always grew up thinking she was Amish and that her parents were her parents. Fate changed this when she found out she was switched at birth. She was then thrust into the Englisch world quickly and without preparation. She was expected to change her thoughts, beliefs and even her appearance to suit her birth parents. This world was not for her and she could not wait to return to her old life.

Little did she know what an impact that small exposure would have on her life! She began to question her Daed and her elders in the Amish community. She craved freedom, independence and support as a woman. She still holds true to her love and belief in God but she questions the mad made decisions and rules that govern her community. It is this questioning that begins to have her blacklisted in the community. She refuses to cave into the roles that men have created for the women instead she quotes the word of God to back up her beliefs.

The other young girl who was switched at birth, Skylar, goes through her own transformation as well. At first she hates all things Amish – the lifestyle, the clothes, the culture and way of life. She slowly begins to appreciate the beliefs, the focus on family and their love and support of each other. She grows mentally and emotionally and it is beautiful to watch.

Both of these young girls grow as women and strong advocates of others, community and family all within the belief of love, family and forgiveness. They go through so much both individually and together as a family but somehow they pull through. Their experiences in both cultures helps them grow and learn to respect each other.

Gathering the Threads is a truly beautiful book of growth, hope, family and community. It uses scripture to help us understand God’s love for us, family and our greater role in the community around us.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of this book here.

Rating: 4/5

About the Author

Cindy Woodsmall is the “New York Times” and CBA best-selling author of nineteen works of fiction and non-fiction with more than a million copies sold. Her connection with the Amish community has been featured in national media outlets such as ABC’s “Nightline,” the “Wall Street Journal,” and a National Geographic documentary on Amish life. Cindy and her husband reside near the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

In A Name Unknown, she’s out to steal his name. Will he steal her heart instead?

About A Name Unknown

Rosemary Gresham has no family beyond the band of former urchins that helped her survive as a girl in the mean streets of London. Grown now, they are no longer pickpockets-now they focus on high value items and have learned how to blend into upper-class society. Rosemary’s challenge of a lifetime comes when she’s assigned to determine whether a certain wealthy gentleman is loyal to Britain or to Germany. How does one steal a family’s history, their very name?

Rumors swirl around Peter Holstein. Awkward and solitary, but with access to the king, many fear his influence. But Peter can’t help his German last name and wants to prove his loyalty to the crown-so he can go back to anonymously writing a series of popular adventure novels. When Rosemary arrives on his doorstop pretending to be a well credentialed historian, Peter believes she’s the right person to help him dig through his family’s past.

Anger and danger continue to mount, though, and both realize they’re in a race against time to discover the truth-about Peter’s past and about the undeniable attraction kindling between them.

My Thoughts

A Name Unknown is an exciting tale of intrigue, suspense and hope.

We first have Rosemary, a young woman growing up on the streets of London. She has learned so many hard lessons at such a young age. Life was not easy for the majority during these times in London and we get a good picture into the lives of these children who have been orphaned or left alone in the world. Rosemary builds a new family out of children who are in the same predicament as her and they become almost like her children. She learns a trade that so many of the youth on the streets know all too well – stealing. She has a rare and special talent for this and becomes the best of the best. This is what lands her the job of a lifetime – finding out the loyalties of a certain young man of German origins.

This young man, Peter, is a shy and awkward man. He has trouble socializing and your heart goes out to him so many times throughout the novel. He can be so painfully awkward but so kind-hearted and sweet at the same time. When Rosemary arrives, we see a whole new side of Peter as well as in Rosemary. They bring out the best in each other, even though each of them is holding a little bit back from the other. As one tries to uncover his past while writing a novel and the other is trying hard to earn the name and money she so desperately needs, we uncover a series of events and hate. As these mysterious events become more dangerous, we are kept on our toes as to who could harbour such hate towards Peter.

The ending of the novel was incredible and definitely not what I was expecting at all but well worth it. We uncover the secrets of the past, find out who has been behind the hateful and dangerous events as well as have a realization that love is stronger than any other emotion.

A Name Unknown is a beautiful story of hope, faith, love and trust. We watch as our characters struggle through each of the stages throughout the novel in the backdrop of misunderstanding and hatred fueled by race. It is a well written novel that I just could not put down.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of this book here.

Rating: 4/5

About the Author

Roseanna M. White pens her novels beneath her Betsy Ross flag, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two children, editing and designing, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of over a dozen historical novels and novellas, ranging from biblical fiction to American-set romances to her British series. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to make their way into her novels . . . to offset her real life, which is blessedly boring. She passes said boring life with her husband and kids in the beautiful mountains of eastern West Virginia

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.