"AN APPALACHIAN SUMMER"--bestselling author Ann H. Gabhart invites you into the storied hills of Eastern Kentucky to discover what happens when one intrepid young woman steps away from the restrictive past into a beautiful, wide-open future (see my review)

An Appalachian Summer

Is true love worth forfeiting a fortune?

Romance and adventure are in the Kentucky mountain air in this story of a woman yearning for love but caught between two worlds—each promising something different.

In 1933 Louisville, Kentucky, even the ongoing economic depression cannot keep Piper Danson's parents from insisting on a debut party. After all, their fortune came through the market crash intact, and they've picked out the perfect suitor for their daughter. Braxton Crandall can give her the kind of life she's used to. The only problem? This is not the man--or the life--she really wants.

When Piper gets the opportunity to volunteer as a horseback Frontier Nursing courier in the Appalachian Mountains for the summer, she jumps at the chance to be something other than a dutiful daughter or a kept wife in a loveless marriage. The work is taxing, the scenery jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and the people she meets along the way open up a whole new world to her. The longer she stays, the more an advantageous marriage slips from her grasp. But something much more precious--true love--is drawing ever closer.

MY REVIEW:  Wonderful storyteller Ann H. Gabhart takes readers on a heartfelt and uplifting journey back to the Kentucky Mountains in the era of the Great Depression. Piper Danson's family is surviving the economic disaster better than most, and her parents have chosen a man for her to marry whom they think will continue to provide for Piper in the manner to which she is accustomed. The problem is that Piper wants a different kind of life for herself, and Braxton Crandall is not the man she envisions to share her future. Her lifelong friend, Jamie Russell, is the one who knows her best. However, his family suffered terribly in the economic depression, and he has become somewhat distanced. When Piper learns of a chance to work with a frontier nursing program as a horseback courier, it sounds like the answer to her prayers. It will be a summer of hard work, personal growth and revelation, and a deepening of faith. When Piper and Jamie are reunited, will it be just a reunion of old friends, or has the time come for two yearning hearts to finally become as one? Ann H. Gabhart, a Kentucky native, is a very special storyteller. Her descriptions of her home state, its people, its culture, and its heritage are like a painting colored by words. As always, there is the underlying message of deep and abiding faith.

Book Copy Gratis Revell Books


ALSO BY ANN H. GABHART

 

These Healing Hills

Francine Howard has her life all mapped out until the soldier she planned to marry at WWII's end writes to tell her he's in love with a woman in England. Devastated, Francine seeks a fresh start in the Appalachian Mountains, training to be a nurse midwife for the Frontier Nursing Service.

Deeply affected by the horrors he witnessed at war, Ben Locke has never thought further ahead than making it home to Kentucky. His future shrouded in as much mist as his beloved mountains, he's at a loss when it comes to envisioning what's next for his life.

When Francine's and Ben's paths intersect, it's immediately clear that they are from different worlds and value different things. But love has a way of healing old wounds . . . and revealing tantalizing new possibilities.

Praise for These Healing Hills
 
"Gabhart handles the Appalachian landscape and culture with skill, bringing them to vibrant life."--Publishers Weekly

"The tenacity and stalwart bravery that Gabhart so skillfully instills in her female lead in this rugged, heartwarming read are to be admired."--Booklist

"This novel vividly re-creates the world of postwar Appalachia. The compelling story line resonates long after the last page is turned."--Library Journal


Ann H. Gabhart

 

Ann H. Gabhart grew up on a farm in Kentucky. By the time she was ten she knew she wanted to be a writer. She's published over twenty novels. She and her husband have three children and nine grandchildren. She still lives on a farm not far from where she grew up. She loves playing with her grandkids, walking with her dog, reading and, of course, writing. Her Shaker books, set in her fictional Shaker village of Harmony Hill in the 1800's, are popular with readers. The Outsider was a Christian Fiction Book Award Finalist in 2009. Her Heart of Hollyhill books are Small Town, America books set in the 1960's. Angel Sister, a Rosey Corner book set during the Great Depression, will be followed by Small Town Girl. Visit Ann's website http://annhgabhart.com or her blog, One Writer's Journal, www.annhgabhart.blogspot.com

IT'S OKAY TO JUST FEEL HAPPY...WE ALL NEED TO SMILE..NEIL AND HIS WIFE, KATIE, ADOPTED TWO OF THESE PUPPIES...Neil Diamond - Something Blue (Official)

"Beach Hut Surprise"--fun-in-the-sun anthology from six talented storytellers--romance, mystery, paranormal, and more--all in the quaint little British resort town of Little Piddling sur Mer (see my review)

Beach Hut Surprise

Who's there? Lovers, vampires… A body?

Little Piddling—now renamed Little Piddling sur Mer—is a resort with ambitions.
But odd things keep happening in Little Piddling. Especially among its delectable beach huts. They are a magnet for lovers and other, stranger, visitors. Take a romantic stroll along the beach after dark and you might encounter more than you bargained for.

The stories are presented in chronological order--starting with an Edwardian comedy and going on to some wild and wacky episodes in later decades, right up to the twenty-first century.

Six favorite authors let their hair down on the Piddling sands...

Stories and Authors:

1. Grand Designs for Little Piddling  Sarah Mallory
2. Going Home?  Sophie Weston
3. The Body at Satis House  Lesley Cookman
4. Past Echoes  Liz Fielding
5. I, Vampire ~ Romance with Bite  Joanna Maitland
6. Grapes and Ale  Louise Allen

MY REVIEW:  "Beach Hut Surprise"--a fun-in-the-sun anthology from six talented storytellers--romance, mystery, paranormal, and more--all in the quaint little British resort town of Little Piddling sur Mer. Dig your toes in the sand and dig into these seaside snippets which are told in the chronological history of the town. Each beach hut (also called a bathing hut) has a tale to tell all its own. The stories and authors include: "Grand Designs for Little Piddling" by Sarah Mallory; "Going Home?"  by Sophie Weston: "The Body at Satis House"  by Lesley Cookman; "Past Echoes"  by Liz Fielding: "I, Vampire ~ Romance with Bite"  by Joanna Maitland; and "Grapes and Ale"  by Louise Allen. Not your average beach read, "Beach Hut Surprise" has a little something for everyone--including surprises. Settle back in your lounge chair--sun or shade, your choice--indulge in a cool, refreshing beverage, and let these gifted ladies who write take you on an entertaining stay-cation.

Book Copy Gratis Author


Sarah Mallory



Sarah Mallory is an award-winning author who has published more than 25 historical romances with Harlequin Mills & Boon. She loves history, especially the Georgian and Regency periods and when she is not writing she spends her time walking the Yorkshire Pennines with her rescued whippet, Willow.

Sarah also writes historical romantic adventures as Melinda Hammond.

https://www.melinda-hammond.co.uk/


Sophie Weston



Sophie Weston has written 50-ish novels, mostly romantic, sometimes quite funny. In fact, she was born in a snowstorm and never got over it. So she says she writes stories to read by fire and candlelight while the weather rages outside.
Her books sell in 27 languages and over 100 countries. She gives daily thanks for Shakespeare, P G Wodehouse, Georgette Heyer and all those wonderful readers she will never meet.
 
http://www.sophieweston.net/

Lesley Cookman

Lesley Cookman started writing almost as soon as she could read, and filled many Woolworth's exercise books with pony stories until she was old enough to go out with boys. Since she's been grown up, following a varied career as a model, air stewardess and disc jockey, she's written short fiction and features for a variety of magazines, achieved an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Wales, taught writing for both Kent Adult Education and the WEA and edited the first Sexy Shorts collection of short stories, in aid of the Breast Cancer Campaign. Lesley is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers' Association. 

http://www.lesleycookman.co.uk/home/4591535172


LIZ FIELDING
 

AUTHOR LIZ FIELDING SAYS: "I met my husband when we were working in Zambia and were both members of the Lusaka Theatre Club. He was playing John de Stogumber in St Joan, and I was the pageboy to the Earl of Warwick. He swore it was the purple tights that got him. I wish I had a photograph. Sadly none exist.

We traveled a lot in Africa and the Middle East then we had babies and settled down back home, first in Wales and now in Wiltshire – photographs in my gallery. I started writing when the children were small and my first romance, An Image of You, was set in Kenya, in a place where we’d spent many happy weekends on safari. It was plucked from the slush pile because the feisty heroine made my editor laugh. Emotion touched with humor has been the hallmark of my work ever since.

We now live in Wiltshire, within the magic circle of Glastonbury, Stonehenge, Avebury and the ancient hot springs at the heart of the city of Bath."

http://www.lizfielding.com/


Joanna Maitland



Joanna Maitland's latest story, I, VAMPIRE ~ ROMANCE WITH BITE, is available now in the anthology BEACH HUT SURPRISE, along with stories by 5 other favourite authors.

ONE CHRISTMAS TREE TO GO -- a timeslip romance for a hero trying to escape Christmas -- is available in the boxset I HATE CHRISTMAS, along with a romantic suspense by Sophie Weston.

The fourth of Joanna's Regency spy stories, HIS SILKEN SEDUCTION, a much expanded version of the original ebook-only novella, is now available in both ebook and paperback. Another novella previously available only as an ebook, STAR CROSSED AT TWILIGHT, is also available in print for the first time. (Its original title was Delight and Desire and it is a prequel to Bride of the Solway.)

Joanna Maitland is a Scot (with part Irish ancestry) though she and her husband now live in England, near the border with Wales. It's a magical area, overflowing with the kind of historical sites to tempt any author's storytelling tastebuds. To add to her nomadic history, Joanna spent her student years living in Scotland, France, Germany, and London, and she still enjoys travel to faraway places. For example, she travelled to St Petersburg, Vienna, and Venice, for her stories about a brotherhood of Wellington's spies (The Aikenhead Honours).

https://twitter.com/joannamaitland?lang=en


LOUISE ALLEN



AUTHOR LOUISE ALLEN SAYS:  "I have had my nose buried in a history book - fact or fiction - for as long as I can remember, but even more important to me are the places and the objects that conjure up the past. My first attempt at historical fiction at the age of eight was three pages of improbable medieval drama set in the local castle.

With a degree in geography and archaeology I love to try and 'read' the landscape and the buildings in it for clues about the past. Virtually any place can trigger ideas for plots, but I am particularly inspired by Venice, Burgundy, Mediterranean islands and the Hertfordshire and Norfolk countryside.

I live in England in a village in Bedfordshire with my long-suffering husband. He is not sure whether to be flattered or alarmed to be told he is the inspiration for all my romantic heroes! Whenever possible we escape to our cottage on the North Norfolk coast where Percy, the bossy pheasant, allows us to share the garden.

My resolution every time I start on a new plot is to plan it carefully, make copious notes first and write lots of drafts in a disciplined and orderly manner. What inevitably happens is that the story starts to write itself in my head until it gets completely out of control - meanwhile my study floor becomes a sea of open books, prints and maps and I am found sitting in the car at traffic lights, muttering dialogue. At that point I have to start writing, knowing full well that the hero and heroine are going to take over and sabotage all my attempts at discipline. It is, after all, their story."

http://www.louiseallenregency.com 

"When No One Is Watching: A Thriller "--by Alyssa Cole--Rear Window meets Get Out in this gripping thriller from a critically acclaimed and New York Times Notable author, in which the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning…

When No One is Watching

Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but her beloved neighborhood seems to change every time she blinks. Condos are sprouting like weeds, FOR SALE signs are popping up overnight, and the neighbors she’s known all her life are disappearing. To hold onto her community’s past and present, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour and finds an unlikely and unwanted assistant in one of the new arrivals to the block—her neighbor Theo.

But Sydney and Theo’s deep dive into history quickly becomes a dizzying descent into paranoia and fear. Their neighbors may not have moved to the suburbs after all, and the push to revitalize the community may be more deadly than advertised.

When does coincidence become conspiracy? Where do people go when gentrification pushes them out? Can Sydney and Theo trust each other—or themselves—long enough to find out before they too disappear?

Reviews

 

"From the first page of WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING, I felt like I was right there in the gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood, filled with sharply etched characters and dialogue that zings. Then bam!  I was knocked over by the momentum of an intense psychological thriller that doesn’t let go until the final page. This is a terrific read." (Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author)

"Dread builds and mutates into near-horror... It was eye-opening, sad, shocking, gripping, I devoured it in one go. I recommend SO HIGHLY."  (Marian Keyes, #1 bestselling author)

“Alyssa Cole’s upcoming social thriller When No One Is Watching is so freaking good... it’s the kind of intense and suspenseful read that you can’t put down, and when you do put it down you can’t stop thinking about it.” (Book Riot)

“This book was a lot of fun, sexy, with a compelling story. I really enjoyed the romance... Lots of erotic tension and a deeply satisfying ending. Definitely dive into this one.” (Roxane Gay on A Princess in Theory)

“Cole explores sexual and gender identities, grief, self-respect, acceptance, and love... She weaves family drama and emotional growth into a passion-filled story worthy of its irresistibly complicated (and diverse) characters. This affair of the heart is deeply satisfying.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) on A Prince on Paper)

“A gifted writer at the top of her emotional, sexy, romantic, and inclusive game.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on A Prince on Paper)
“an international cast of complex, multicultural characters...” (Booklist (Starred Review) on A Prince on Paper)

“Cole does the seemingly impossible, using the Civil War as a backdrop for a realistic, gripping interracial romance that interrogates slavery, systemic racism, and more, while still remaining utterly swoon-worthy.”  (Entertainment Weekly on An Extraordinary Union, Top 10 Romances of 2017)

“Cole deftly interweaves the fraught realities of American history with romance and adventure — this is a spy story, after all — and it is elegantly told.”  (Vulture.com on An Extraordinary Union)

“Her prose is flawless. Her historical research is absorbing, and her characters are achingly human. This book is fantastic”  (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on A Hope Divided) 

 

 

Alyssa Cole

 

 

 

Alyssa Cole is an award-winning author of historical, contemporary, and sci-fi romance. Her Civil War-set espionage romance An Extraordinary Union was the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award’s Best Book of 2017 and the American Library Association’s RUSA Best Romance for 2018, and A Princess in Theory was one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2018. She’s contributed to publications including Bustle, Shondaland, The Toast, Vulture, RT Book Reviews, and Heroes and Heartbreakers, and her books have received critical acclaim from The New York Times, Library Journal, BuzzFeed, Kirkus, Booklist, Jezebel, Vulture, Book Riot, Entertainment Weekly, and various other outlets. When she’s not working, she can usually be found watching anime or wrangling her pets.

http://alyssacole.com 

"Healing Family Relationships: A Guide to Peace and Reconciliation"--specific steps you can take in your relationships with your family members to pursue peace and healing in your homes--each chapter includes key biblical examples as well as present-day stories of families who have experienced spiritual help and healing (see my review)

Healing Family Relationships: A Guide to Peace and Reconciliation

Every family is hurting, and the wounds that come from our relatives can be deeper than all others. Conflict within a family can range from daily frictions and annoyances to rage and hatred and eventually estrangement. We want things to be different but have no idea where to start.

After 25 years of ministering to families, Rob Rienow believes reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel--reconciliation with God and one another. You will come away with specific steps you can take in your relationships with your family members to pursue peace and healing in your homes. Each chapter includes key biblical examples as well as present-day stories of families who have experienced God's help and healing--including the author's own miraculous healing of his relationship with his father.

Our families can bring out the best, as well as the worst, in all of us. May this book guide you in making your home and family a blessing in a broken world.

"Don't miss out on this life-transforming message."--DRS. LES & LESLIE PARROTT, #1 New York Times bestselling authors of Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts

"There is not a family in the universe who would not benefit from this book. It's hope filled, biblical, and practical."--JIM BURNS, PhD, president, HomeWord; author of Doing Life with Your Adult Children: Keep Your Mouth Shut & the Welcome Mat Out and The Purity Code

MY REVIEW:  While some hurtful family relationships may seem damaged beyond repair, there is still hope for reconciliation and spiritual renewal. In "Healing Family Relationships: A Guide to Peace and Reconciliation", Rob Rienow, Doctor of Ministry, offers practical guidelines, biblical insights, and personal stories (including the healing of his relationship with his own father). Not much in our lives is more painful than broken relationships with loved ones. Such situations have negative effects on every aspect of our lives. Dr. Rienow acknowledges "the power of forgiveness" and advises healing through Prayer, Repentance, Listening, Acceptance, Spiritual Warfare, Boundaries, Compassion, Patience, Mediators, and Mercy. He then explains how the positive effects of spiritual healing and reconciliation can work life-changing miracles down through generations. He includes his own story of how his troubled relationship with his father came full circle. No matter how deep the rifts may seem in relationships with loved ones, don't give up. Instead, clarify in your mind what you need to do and what you want the outcome to be--then work as hard as you can spiritually--and every way--to hold on to those you hold most dear.

Book Copy Gratis Bethany House Books



Rob Rienow

 

Rob Rienow (DMin, Gordon-Conwell) sees his most important ministry as loving his wife, Amy, and partnering with her to help their seven children follow God. In 2011, Rob and Amy launched Visionary Family Ministries, whose mission is to build the church through a global reformation of family discipleship. Through their conferences, seminars, and resources they seek to equip and encourage parents, couples, families, and church leaders around the world. He and Amy have written several books on family relationships, including Visionary Parenting and Visionary Marriage. When Rob is not fishing for men, he enjoys fishing for fish. The Rienow family lives in the western suburbs of Chicago. Learn more at www.visionaryfam.com. 

"Uncommon Justice Series"--bestselling and award-winning author Elizabeth Goddard plunges you into fast-paced, high-stakes stories of honor, forgiveness, and justice--three Wyoming lawmen brothers fight to keep safe all that they hold dear (see my review)

 

Don't Keep Silent

 

Justice comes easy for these two. But forgiveness? That's another matter altogether.

Investigative reporter Rae Burke will do anything to find her missing sister-in-law, even if it means facing Liam McKade, a man who almost lost his life saving hers. A former DEA agent, Liam thought he could find peace at his Wyoming ranch, but he doesn't feel at home anywhere anymore. When the reporter who blew his cover on an important investigation inserts herself back into his life, he's less than thrilled. But Rae's keen investigative skills have led her down the right path--and directly into the dragon's mouth--leaving Liam no choice but to protect her.

As the danger increases, the past they both tried to flee catches up to them, along with the feelings they once had for each other . . .

 

MY REVIEW: Author Elizabeth Goddard concludes her "Uncommon Justice Series" with Book Three, "Don't Keep Silent". Each book features one of the three McKade brothers--lawmen from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In "Don't Keep Silent", former DEA agent Liam McKade once again crosses paths with Rae Burke, an investigative journalist. Rae's interference with Liam's last case almost cost him everything--including his life. Now, she needs Liam's help to find her missing sister-in-law, whose secrets have apparently come back to haunt her. When Liam is compelled to join the search, danger lurks all around them--including the undeniable attraction between the two of them. It will take courage, skill, and a great deal of faith to overcome the obstacles they face. An involving romance featuring Wyoming's natural beauty, visits from "the other brothers", and a simmering awareness between the leads, "Don't Keep Silent" is top-notch contemporary inspirational romantic suspense.

Book Copy Revell Books via Library Thing

 

 

 

 

Always Look Twice

 

At the advice of her therapist, homicide survivor Harper Reynolds has traded her job as a crime scene photographer for a more peaceful life taking photographs of the natural world. But her hopes for a life surrounded by the serenity of the outdoors are dashed when she inadvertently captures a murder being committed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She flees the scene in fear--and loses the camera.

Former Green Beret Heath McKade is a reserve deputy in an understaffed county who has been called in to protect Harper, a childhood friend he is surprised to see back in the area. When Harper learns that the sheriff's department can't find any evidence of the murder she witnessed, she is determined to do what she can to see that justice is done. What neither Harper nor Heath could know is how many explosive secrets from the past will be exposed--or how deeply they will fall for each other.

In this suspenseful page-turner, bestselling author Elizabeth Goddard keeps you on the edge of your seat as you discover that uncommon justice lies just on the other side of fear.

 

 

 

Never Let Go

 

As a forensic genealogist, Willow Anderson is following in her late grandfather's footsteps in her quest for answers about a baby abducted from the hospital more than twenty years ago. The case may be cold, but things are about to heat up when someone makes an attempt on her life to keep her from discovering the truth.

Ex-FBI agent--and Willow's ex-flame--Austin McKade readily offers his help to protect the woman he never should have let get away. Together they'll follow where the clues lead them, even if it means Austin must face the past he's spent much of his life trying to forget. And even if it puts Willow's tender heart at risk.

In this fast-paced and emotional page-turner, bestselling author Elizabeth Goddard keeps the stakes high, the romantic tension sparking, and the outcome uncertain until the very end.

 

 

Praise for the Uncommon Justice series

 

"Gripping romance and mystery."--Parkersburg News & Sentinel

"A can't-miss for romantic suspense readers."--Write-Read-Life

"Brace yourself. Elizabeth Goddard has a knack for leaving you breathless."--The Suspense Zone
 

"Unique and intriguing romantic suspense that will have your heart racing. Goddard's fast-paced storytelling combined with emotional depth will keep you guessing until the very end."--Rachel Dylan, bestselling author of the Atlanta Justice series

"From the riveting opening to the satisfying conclusion, Never Let Go is a stellar beginning to what promises to be a thrilling romantic suspense series."--Susan Sleeman, bestselling and award-winning author of the White Knights series

"Fast-paced and suspenseful, Never Let Go lives up to its name. It grabs you by the throat from the first page, takes you through riveting twists and turns, and doesn't let go until a powerhouse ending."--Ronie Kendig, bestselling author of The Tox Files series 

 

"A twisting tale of romance, self-doubt, bravery, and mystery."--Interviews and Reviews

"I was hooked from the very first page."--Write-Read-Life 

 

 

Elizabeth Goddard

 

 

 

Elizabeth Goddard is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than thirty romance novels, including the romantic mystery, The Camera Never Lies—a 2011 Carol Award winner. A 7th generation Texan, Elizabeth graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and worked in high-level software sales for several years before retiring to home school her children and fulfill her dreams of becoming an author. 

 

http://www.elizabethgoddard.com

 

"CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS"--epic novel by TAYLOR CALDWELL became TV's first grand mini-series--featuring an award-winning lead performance by RICHARD JORDAN--remarkable ensemble cast --including a young JANE SEYMOUR

 Captains and the Kings

This is a great surging novel about the amassing of a colossal fortune, the political power that comes with it, and the operation of a curse laid on an Irish-American dynasty and the ruthless driving man who founded it.

Joseph Francis Xavier Armagh was thirteen years old when he first saw America through a dirty porthole on the steerage deck of The Irish Queen. It was the early 1850's and he was a penniless immigrant, an orphan cast on a hostile shore to make a home for himself and his younger brother and infant sister. Some seventy years later, from his deathbed, Joseph Armagh last glimpsed his adopted land from the gleaming windows of a palatial estate. A multi-millionaire, one of the most powerful and feared men, Joseph Armagh had indeed found a home. CAPTAINS AND KINGS is the story of the price that was paid for it in the consuming, single-minded determination of a man clawing his way to the top; in the bitter-sweet bliss of the love of a beautiful woman; in the almost too-late enjoyment of extraordinary children; and in the curse which used the hand of fate to strike in the very face of success itself.

Once again, Taylor Caldwell has looked into America's roistering past as a setting for a drama of the consequences of savage ambition - and its meaning then and now.

Reviews

 

“An absorbing story . . . Thought-provoking. Those who were enthralled by the power described in The Godfather will be even more so when they read this book.” —Cleveland Press

“A spellbinding tale . . . Her sense of timing and her ability to keep even the most alert reader guessing is something readers don’t find very often.” —Hartford Courant

“Her best novel.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“This bestselling author can tell an engrossing story. She proves it once again in this gigantic novel.” —Publishers Weekly

“There is intrigue, violence, abrupt shift of fortune, enigmatic characters, full details of scene and history, and the unflagging pace of varied action.” —Buffalo Evening News

“Captains and the Kings is a thought-provoking, utterly spellbinding novel in the great tradition of Taylor Caldwell’s earlier works, Testimony of Two Men and Great Lion of God.” —The Literary Guild Magazine


 

Captains and the Kings

NBC's First Mini-Series Event - Starring Richard Jordan in his Golden Globe Award-Winning Role
The Rags to Riches Story of an American Dynasty - Based on the Best-Selling Novel by Taylor Caldwell
Winner of Two Emmy Awards including Outstanding Lead Actress (Patty Duke) and Cinematography

Determined to create a better life for his family, Joseph Armagh (Richard Jordan), a penniless Irish immigrant, comes to America in the mid-19th century. Through struggle, heartache and ruthless perseverance, he becomes one of the richest and most powerful men in the country. But fortune has its price as Joseph's arrogance and obsession to have his son Rory (Perry King) elected president ultimately lead to his downfall.


TAYLOR CALDWELL



Also known by the pen names Marcus Holland and Max Reiner.

Taylor Caldwell was born in Manchester, England. In 1907 she emigrated to the United States with her parents and younger brother. Her father died shortly after the move, and the family struggled. At the age of eight she started to write stories, and in fact wrote her first novel, The Romance of Atlantis, at the age of twelve (although it remained unpublished until 1975). Her father did not approve such activity for women, and sent her to work in a bindery. She continued to write prolifically, however, despite ill health. (In 1947, according to TIME magazine, she discarded and burned the manuscripts of 140 unpublished novels.)

In 1918-1919, she served in the United States Navy Reserve. In 1919 she married William F. Combs. In 1920, they had a daughter, Mary (known as "Peggy"). From 1923 to 1924 she was a court reporter in New York State Department of Labor in Buffalo, New York. In 1924, she went to work for the United States Department of Justice, as a member of the Board of Special Inquiry (an immigration tribunal) in Buffalo. In 1931 she graduated from SUNY Buffalo, and also was divorced from William Combs.

Caldwell then married her second husband, Marcus Reback, a fellow Justice employee. She had a second child with Reback, a daughter Judith, in 1932. They were married for 40 years, until his death in 1971.

In 1934, she began to work on the novel Dynasty of Death, which she and Reback completed in collaboration. It was published in 1938 and became a best-seller. "Taylor Caldwell" was presumed to be a man, and there was some public stir when the author was revealed to be a woman. Over the next 43 years, she published 42 more novels, many of them best-sellers. For instance, This Side of Innocence was the biggest fiction seller of 1946. Her works sold an estimated 30 million copies. She became wealthy, traveling to Europe and elsewhere, though she still lived near Buffalo.

Her books were big sellers right up to the end of her career. During her career as a writer, she received several awards.

She was an outspoken conservative and for a time wrote for the John Birch Society's monthly journal American Opinion and even associated with the anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby. Her memoir, On Growing Up Tough, appeared in 1971, consisting of many edited-down articles from American Opinion.

Around 1970, she became interested in reincarnation. She had become friends with well-known occultist author Jess Stearn, who suggested that the vivid detail in her many historical novels was actually subconscious recollection of previous lives. Supposedly, she agreed to be hypnotized and undergo "past-life regression" to disprove reincarnation. According to Stearn's book, The Search of a Soul - Taylor Caldwell's Psychic Lives, Caldwell instead began to recall her own past lives - eleven in all, including one on the "lost continent" of Lemuria.

In 1972, she married William Everett Stancell, a retired real estate developer, but divorced him in 1973. In 1978, she married William Robert Prestie, an eccentric Canadian 17 years her junior. This led to difficulties with her children. She had a long dispute with her daughter Judith over the estate of Judith's father Marcus; in 1979 Judith committed suicide.

Also in 1979, Caldwell suffered a stroke, which left her unable to speak, though she could still write. (She had been deaf since about 1965.) Her daughter Peggy accused Prestie of abusing and exploiting Caldwell, and there was a legal battle over her substantial assets.
 

Born in Manchester, The United Kingdom, September 07, 1900, she died of heart failure in Greenwich, Conn, August 30, 1985. 

"HOMECOMING"--Book One in author Cynthia Voigt's beloved, award-winning "Tillerman Family Series" became an unforgettable film starring the great Anne Bancroft and a remarkable cast of child actors who steal your heart, break your heart, and fill your heart with wonder

 

Homecoming (Tillerman Family, #1)

Dicey's mother didn't make many explanations. Maybe that's why she didn't explain her mysterious behavior the night she packed up the whole family and sped off into the night... Or why she pulled the car into a shopping center the next morning and just walked away without a goodbye.

Now Dicey, James, Sammy, and Maybeth were stranded in an unknown town, and it seemed that every grownup in the country was against them. That meant ducking authorities, sleeping in cemeteries, and doing anything to keep clear of foster homes. It also meant walking for miles and miles...

But Dicey hadn't given up completely; she knew there must be one adult she could trust. And she figured if she could just keep her brothers and sister together, eventually they'd have their homecoming.

Book 2

Dicey's Song

Book 3

A Solitary Blue

Book 4

The Runner

 

Book 5

Come a Stranger

Book 6

Sons from Afar

Book 7

Seventeen Against the Dealer

 

Homecoming

Tells of a group of siblings who are forced to fend for themselves when their mother apparently abandons them, but has in fact disappeared. They eventually meet their grandmother, a loner who is reluctant to take them in.  

Cynthia Voigt

 

Cynthia Voigt is an American author of books for young adults dealing with various topics such as adventure, mystery, racism and child abuse. 

http://www.cynthiavoigt.com/

"Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader: Recipes from Mitford Cooks, Favorite Tales from Mitford Books"--you will greatly enjoy this "more than just a cookbook"--lovingly written, with beautiful photos and illustrations, this book offers sustenance for mind, body, and spirit (see my review)

Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader: Recipes from Mitford Cooks, Favorite Tales from Mitford Books

Millions of Mitford fans around the world will agree—it’s easy to put on a pound or two reading a Mitford novel. Scene after scene of the bestselling series’ colorful characters enjoying tantalizing dishes can immediately start a craving. Then, before you know it, you’ve read several pages by the glow of the refrigerator lightbulb.

Packed with more than 150 recipes from the Mitford novels and from the author’s own recipe box, Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader is loaded with tips, hints, jokes, culinary quotes, and delightful side-dish sidebars guaranteed to start a stomach rumbling. From Miss Sadie’s Apple Pie to Puny’s Cornbread, from Emma’s Pork Roast to Marge’s Sweet Tea with Peppermint, beloved characters come alive through their own favorite recipes. 

Here, too, are Karon’s reminiscences of her own family’s food traditions and—as dessert—four stories never before published in her books.Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader is a charming companion to the Mitford series that will have readers clamoring to bring into their own kitchens the aromas and flavors that swirl within the little town with the big heart.

MY REVIEW: A lovely, lovely book. One to be savored and read over and over. Wonderful insights, stories and recipes. Even if you have never read one of Jan Karon's delightful "Mitford" books, you will greatly enjoy this "more than just a cookbook". Lovingly written, with beautiful photos and illustrations, this book offers sustenance for mind, body, and spirit. You will savor the flavor of recipes like "Father Tim's Beef Tenderloin with Mustard Horseradish Sauce", "Cynthia's Deep-Dish Blackberry Pie", "Emma's Green Beans with New Potatoes", and so many more. 


THE MITFORD SERIES

Enter the world of Mitford, and you won't want to leave. It's easy to feel at home in Mitford. In these high, green hills, the air is pure, the village is charming, and the people are generally lovable.

Book 1

At Home in Mitford

 

Book 2

A Light in the Window 

 

Book 3

These High, Green Hills

 

Book 4

Out to Canaan

 

Book 5

A New Song

 

Book 6

A Common Life: The Wedding Story

 

Book 7

In This Mountain

 

Book 8

Shepherds Abiding

 

Book 9

Light from Heaven

 

Book 10

Home to Holly Springs

 

Book 11

In the Company of Others

 

Book 12

Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good

 

Book 13

Come Rain or Come Shine

 

Book 14

To Be Where You Are

 

 

Jan Karon

 

 

 

Born Janice Meredith Wilson in 1937, Jan Karon was raised on a farm near Lenoir, North Carolina. Karon knew at a very early age that she wanted to be a writer. She penned her first novel when she was 10 years old, the same year she won a short-story contest organized by the local high school. Karon married as a teenager and had a daughter, Candace.

At 18, Karon began working as a receptionist for a Charlotte, N.C. advertising agency. She advanced in the company after leaving samples of her writing on the desk of her boss, who eventually noticed her talent. Karon went on to have a highly successful career in the field, winning awards for ad agencies from Charlotte to San Francisco. In time, she became a creative vice president at the high-profile McKinney & Silver, in Raleigh. While there, she won the prestigious Stephen Kelly Award, with which the Magazine Publishers of America honor the year's best print campaign.

During her years in advertising, Karon kept alive her childhood ambition to be an author. At the age of 50, she left her career in advertising and moved to Blowing Rock, North Carolina, to pursue that dream. After struggling—and failing—to get a novel underway, Karon awoke one night with a mental image of an Episcopal priest walking down a village street. She grew curious about him, and started writing. Soon, Karon was publishing weekly installments about Father Tim in her local newspaper, The Blowing Rocket, which saw its circulation double as a result. "It certainly worked for Mr. Dickens", says Karon.

The Father Tim stories became Karon's first Mitford novel, At Home in Mitford. That book has since been nominated three times (1996, 1997, and 1998) for an ABBY (American Booksellers Book of the Year Award), which honors titles that bookstore owners most enjoy recommending to customers, and the only book ever nominated for three consecutive years. The fourth Mitford novel, A New Song, won both the Christy and Gold Medallion awards for outstanding contemporary fiction in 2000. A Common Life, In This Mountain, and Shepherd's Abiding have also won Gold Medallion awards. Out to Canaan was the first Mitford novel to hit the New York Times bestseller list; subsequent novels have debuted on the New York Times list, often landing the #1 spot.

Karon has also published two Christmas-themed books based on the Mitford series, The Mitford Snowmen and Esther's Gift, as well as Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader. Other Mitford books include Patches of Godlight: Father Tim's Favorite Quotes, a compilation of wit and wisdom, and A Continual Feast: Words of Comfort and Celebration, Collected by Father Tim. In addition, Karon has written two children's books, Miss Fannie's Hat and Jeremy: The Tale of an Honest Bunny, and an illustrated book for all ages, The Trellis and the Seed.

Karon says her character-driven work seeks to give readers a large, extended family they can call their own. Though Light From Heaven is officially the final novel in the series, there's yet another Mitford book in this prolific author. Karon urges her millions of ardent fans to look for the Mitford Bedside Companion, releasing in the Fall of 2006. "It has everything in it but the kitchen sink", says Karon.

 
http://www.mitfordbooks.com/