Category: Litfuse

April 25, 2017

A Fragile Hope Book Review

In A Fragile Hope, hope grows when seeds are planted-even in the muddy middle of life.

About A Fragile Hope

Josiah Chamberlain’s life’s work revolves around repairing other people’s marriages. When his own is threatened by his wife’s unexplained distance, and then threatened further when she’s unexpectedly plunged into an unending fog, Josiah finds his expertise, quick wit and clever quips are no match for a relationship that is clearly broken.

Feeling betrayed, confused, and ill-equipped for a crisis this crippling, he reexamines everything he knows about the fragility of hope and the strength of his faith and love. Love seems to have failed him. Will what’s left of his faith fail him, too? Or will it be the one thing that holds him together and sears through the impenetrable wall that separates them?

My Thoughts

I LOVED A Fragile Hope. Josiah teaches others how to have a successful marriage and is quite good at it. BUT he can’t seem to realize when his own marriage is falling apart and what his wife needs and wants from him. Their marriage is falling apart and yet neither of them can talk to each other and work through it.

One moment changes everything for them and turns their whole world upside down. Josiah is forced to examine his life, his marriage and his own faults. We are able to view pieces of their married life from both Josiah and his wife’s views. What we get is this picture is of a couple pulling apart as their careers evolve and priorities change. This is extremely difficult for Josiah and he has to decide whether he has the strength both mentally and physically to build back his relationship.

An incredible story of hope, marriage and the strength of love. It had my angry at times (how could Josiah not see what he was doing?) and crying at other times. It was honest and real, you can relate to how this couple was being pulled apart and also how they struggled to find a way back together. It is a truly beautiful book from start to finish.

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

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Cynthia Ruchti tells stories hemmed in hope through her novels, novels, nonfiction books, articles and devotionals, drawing from thirty three years of on-air radio ministry. Ruchti has written more than twenty award winning novels, novellas, nonfiction books and devotionals. Her books have received numerous awards and nominations, including the RT Reviewers Choice, ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year nominations, two Selah Awards, Christian Retailing’s BEST, was an ACFW Carol Award finalist and a Christy finalist among other honours. Her latest release is the novel, A Fragile Hope.

One of her greatest joys is helping other writers grow in their craft. To that end, she has served as worship and devotions staff and faculty for the Write to Publish conference and teaches at other writers’ conferences across the country and internationally as opportunities arise. She also serves as the professional relations liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers. Ruchti speaks frequently for women’s groups and serves on her church’s worship team. She and her husband live in the heart of Wisconsin, not far from their three children and five grandchildren.

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

April 21, 2017

Becky Wade’s ‘True to You’ Author Chat Party

Raise your hand if you’re ready for Becky Wade’s new series! Celebrate the release of book one, True to You, with Becky and other readers on Facebook on May 4th during a fun author chat party at 8:00 PM EDT (that’s 7:00 Central, 6:00 Mountain, & 5:00 Pacific)! Becky will be chatting about the book and answering your questions about the new series, and of course, there will be plenty of fun giveaways too!

Pre-order your copy of True to You so you’re ready for a fun book discussion. Find out more about the book here.

Hope to see you on May 4 for Becky’s True to You Facebook Party!

April 17, 2017

Cynthia Ruchti’s ‘A Fragile Hope’ Blog Tour and Giveaway

When your life’s work revolves around repairing other people’s marriages, what happens when your own marriage begins to fall apart? Find out what happens to Josiah Chamberlain in Cynthia Ruchti’s new book, A Fragile Hope. Feeling betrayed, confused, and ill-equipped for a crisis this crippling, he reexamines everything he knows about the fragility of hope and the strength of his faith and love. Love seems to have failed him. Will what’s left of his faith fail him, too? Or will it be the one thing that holds him together and sears through the impenetrable wall that separates them?

Celebrate the release of A Fragile Hope by entering to win Cynthia’s Sign of Hope Giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

A copy of A Fragile Hope
A metal wall scripture hanging

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on May 3. The winner will be announced May 4 on the Litfuse blog.

March 19, 2017

Her Secret Book Review

Her Secret is a suspenseful tale of a young Amish woman who is forced to move to a new town to escape a threatening stalker.

About Her Secret

After a stalker went too far, Hannah Hilty and her family had no choice but to leave the bustling Amish community where she grew up. Now she’s getting a fresh start in Hart County, Kentucky…if only she wasn’t too scared to take it. Hannah has become afraid to trust anyone-even Isaac, the friendly Amish man who lives next door. She wonders if she’ll ever return to the trusting, easy-going woman she once was.

For Isaac Troyer, the beautiful girl he teasingly called “The Recluse” confuses him like no other. When he learns of her past, he knows he’s misjudged her. However, he also understands the importance of being grateful for God’s gifts, and wonders if they will ever have anything in common. But as Hannah and Isaac slowly grow closer, they realize that there’s always more to someone than meets the eye.

Just as Hannah is finally settling into her new life, and perhaps finding a new love, more secrets are revealed and tragedy strikes. Now Hannah must decide if she should run again or dare to fight for the future she has found in Hart County.

My Thoughts

An amazing tale spun by one of my favourite authors, Shelley Shepard Gray. In this book we have Hannah who was hurt emotionally and mentally by a stalker in her hometown. This forced her family to move to a smaller, more remote community. Hannah becomes scared of everything around her, of being with others, of enjoying life and being carefree. She bears the brunt of her siblings anger for the move.

When she meets Isaac, who accidentally hurt her feelings by referring to her as the Recluse, she realizes she needs to start living again. Very slowly she begins to open up to others again but at times she would withdraw. The story is full of so much emotion and pain, your heart can’t help but to go out to Hannah. She was the victim in this whole story but she is the one who carries the pain, hurt and anger from others. Just like her emergence from her self induced seclusion, her relationship with Isaac begins to grow. She begins to learn what trust and love is.

Our story takes a turn when both tragedy and the past catches up with the family. My heart broke for her. It is her relationship that she built with Isaac and her confidence in herself that helps get her through the worst of these moments.

A truly beautiful story about overcoming hardships, learning to love and trust others and yourself again. Hannah is a beautiful soul who needed to learn to trust herself and others again, you can’t help but fall in love with her character. I loved every moment of this well written emotionally packed novel and I know you definitely will too!

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

Rating: 4.5/5

About the Author

Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.

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

March 10, 2017

Home at Last Book Review

Why did their differences matter so much?

About Home at Last

Link Whitman has settled into the role of bachelor without ever intending to. Now he’s stuck in a dead-end job and, as the next Whitman wedding fast approaches, he is the last one standing. The pressure from his sisters’ efforts to play matchmaker is getting hard to bear as Link pulls extra shifts at work, and helps his parents at the Chicory Inn.

All her life, Shayla Michaels has felt as if she straddled two worlds. Her mother’s white family labeled her African American father with names Shayla didn’t repeat in polite-well, in any company. Her father’s family disapproved as well, though they eventually embraced Shayla as their own. After the death of her mother, and her brother Jerry’s incarceration, life has left Shayla’s father bitter, her niece, Portia, an orphan, and Shayla responsible for them all. She knows God loves them all, but why couldn’t people accept each other for what was on the inside? For their hearts?

Everything changes one icy morning when a child runs into the street and Link nearly hits her with his pickup. Soon he is falling in love with the little girl’s aunt, Shayla, the beautiful woman who runs Coffee’s On, the bakery in Langhorne. Can Shayla and Link overcome society’s view of their differences and find true love? Is there hope of changing the sometimes-ugly world around them into something better for them all?

My Thoughts

Home at Last is by far my favourite book in this series following the Whitman family. We have Link, who loves his family (and their meddling ways) but who has yet to meet someone who can truly make his heart beat. Then we have Shayla, who has had a difficult life to say the least, with her Mother passing and having to raise her brother’s daughter. She has also had to deal with racism as some people couldn’t accept her mixed heritage.

A chance encounter changes everything for the two of them. They slowly begin to develop feelings for each other. While Link adores her, Shayla worries about how others will view and accept their relationship. Her past experiences have shown her that many people wont accept this relationship and as their relationship develops we see this happening again. All they want is to be together and be accepted but there are people in society that wont let this happen.

This book makes you sad, angry and hopeful all at the same time. You want them to find happiness but are worried for them with the ugly parts of society that don’t want this to happen. This is a truly beautiful and honest book that I fell in love with. The ending was perfect for the story and leaves you with hope. I would love to see a part two of their story.

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

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Deborah Raney’s novels have won numerous awards including the RITA, National Readers’ Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, the Carol Award, and have three times been Christy Award finalists. She and her husband, Ken Raney have traded small-town life in Kansas-the setting of many of Deb’s novels-for life in the city of Wichita.

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