August 2009 Newsletter

Hot summer winds make me want to stay in air conditioning and enjoy reading a good book. What about you?

Announcements

I know I’m a couple of days late posting my newsletter. I was out of town over the weekend.

The book winner for July is Linda Wagner of St Paul, Minnesota. Click on the View Complete Profile link in the right hand column to find a link to my email. Or you can contact me through my web site to send me your mailing address.

Readers, if you want a chance to win one of my free books, please sign my Guest Book on my website - http://www.lenanelsondooley.com/ . The winners are chosen from those who do. But remember to check back in the next month’s newsletter to see if you won. You can sign up at the top of the sidebar column of this blog for Feedblitz. Then the newsletter will feed into your Inbox. I will only post a newsletter once a month.

Want more free books. We also give away a minimum of 16 free books a month on my blog: http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/. Some months we give away more than that.

This month I’ll be interviewing these authors:

Tammy Barley - Love’s Rescue
Kim Woodhouse - Welcome Home
William Carmichael & David Lambert - The Missionary
Linda Leigh Hargrove - The Making of Isaac Hunt
Wendy Davy - Drake’s Retreat
Jeral Davis - Tomorrow
Golden Keyes Parsons - A Prisoner of Versailles
Jessica Adriel - Forgiving Sean
Chris Fabry - June Bug
Linda Leigh Hargrove - Loving Cee Cee Johnson
Deb Raney - Above All Things
Lyn Cote - Her Inheritance Forever
Kathleene Y’Barbo, me, Vickie McDonough, Darlene Franklin - Wild West Christmas
Me, Jeanie Smith Cash, Jean Kincaid, Jeri Odell - Christmas Love at Lake Tahoe
Christina Berry - The Familiar Stranger
George Bryan Polovka - Blaggard’s Moon
Janice Thompson - Fools Rush In
Rachel Hauck - The Sweet By and By

You can find all kinds of information about my books on my Fan page on Facebook:
http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Lena-Nelson-Dooley/42960748768?ref=ts
I’d love for you to come over and become a fan.


Calendar of Events

August 2009 – Release of The Spinster Brides of Cactus Corner in Thorndike Press, Large Print, hardback edition

September 2009 – Release of Wild West Christmas
September 2009 – Release of Christmas Love at Lake Tahoe

September 2009 - Release of Can You Help Me? and Caught Redhanded in Thorndike Press, Large Print, hardback edition

September 11-12, 2009 – Speaker at North Texas Christian Writers Conference, Roanoke, Texas – Painting Historicals with Authenticity, and I will take one-on-one appointments.

September 17-20 - American Christian Fiction Writers National Conference - Denver, Colorado - I’m doing paid critiques

May 2010 – Release of Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico

May 2010 - Speaking in the Woodlands (More details later)

October, 2010 – ACFW Tulsa – Taking Settings to the Next Level – a hands-on workshop

　
Book Reviews

Because I’m working hard to finish Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico, I didn’t have as much time to read this month. So I only have three reviews to post.


The Constant Heart
By Siri Mitchell
ISBN 978-0-7642-0431-9
Bethany House
Historical

Back Cover Copy:

In the court of Queen Elixabeth. . .
BEAUTY
is a curse,
FRIENDSHIP
is bought and sold,
And TRUE LOVE
is the unpardonable sin.

Will Marget risk everything for the man who's captured her heart?

My Review:

I had a friend who read this book and was disturbed by the way Elizabeth I was portrayed. So I had to read it for myself and see what it was all about. Yes, the things that happened at court would be disturbing to 21st century committed Christians. However, things like this happened in the royal courts during the late 1500s.

I applaud Siri Mitchell for setting her book in this century. . .in this court. This historical setting lent an even deeper meaning to the love of the hero and heroine, who were prisoners of the mores of society. The book is an interesting depiction of the rigors of life in the 16th century. The love story played a variety of ways, keeping the readers wanting to turn the pages faster to find out what happened to the characters we'd come to love.

I like the fact that Mrs. Mitchell portrayed some of the unforseen dangers in the methods used during that time. An interesting and thoughtful read.

A wonderful book to add to your summer reading list.

　
Nothing But Trouble
By Susan May Warren
ISBN 978-1-4143-1312-2
Tyndale Fiction
Contemporary

Back Cover Copy:

PJ Sugar knows three things for sure:

*After traveling the country for ten years hoping to shake free from the trail of disaster that's become her life, she needs a fresh start.

*The last person she wants to see when she heads home for her sister's wedding is Boone--her former flame and the reason she left town.

*Her best friend's husband absolutely did not commit the first murder Kellogg, Minnesota, has seen in more than a decade.

What PJ doesn't know is that when she starts digging for evidence, she'll uncover much more than she bargained for--a deadly conspiracy, a knack for investigation, and maybe, just maybe, that fresh start she's been longing for.

My Review:

Susan writes the kind of books that I find hard to put down. Books that carry you along with the fast-paced story and books that take you deep into the hearts of the characters. Once again, I had a hard time putting the book down.

I love the quirky lead character, and the cast of supporting characters are sometimes even more quirky. (Check out "the kid.") That is, except for the two hunky men she encounters. Plenty of fuel to fire a blazing story that keeps the reader enthralled until the last period and wanting the next book immediately.

You won't want to leave this off your summer reading list.

　
Ransome’s Honor
By Kaye Dacus
ISBN 978-0-7369-2753-6
Harvest House
Historical Romance

Back Cover Copy:

Once Youthful Sweethearts--Can Their Love Be Renewed?

When young Julia Witherington doesn't receive the proposal for marriage she expects from William Ransome, she determines to never forgive him. They go their separate ways--she returns to her family's Caribbean plantation, and he returns to the Royal Navy.

Now, twelve years later, Julia is about to receive a substantial inheritance, including her beloved plantation. When unscrupulous relatives try to gain the inheritance by forcing her into a marriage, she turns to the only eligible man to whom her father, Admiral Sir Edward Witherington, will not object--his most trusted captain and the man who broke her heart, William Ransome. Julia offers William her thirty-thousand pound dowry to feign marriage for one year, but then something she could never have imagined happens: She starts to fall in love with him again.

Can two people overcome their hurt, reconcile their conflicting desires, and find a way to be happy together? Duty and honor, faith and love are intertwined in this intriguing tale from the Regency era.

My Review:

I've known Kaye a long time and watched her develop as a writer. When her first book, a contemporary, released, I loved it. Now she has a second contemporary and this historical. These books showcase her talents.

The story has a well-crafted plot with plenty of tension and even some suspense. And the tender romance unfolds like a budding flower, opening to reveal the depths beneath.

This book was hard to put down. I fell in love with the characters, wanting to see how they'd realize they were perfect for each other.

The setting is a rich tapestry of life in the Regency period. I highly recommend this excellent read. You still have time to finish it before the summer is over.

　
August Book Releases

Here are your August New Releases! We have a long list of outstanding titles from ACFW members this month. I know you'll enjoy reading them. God Bless!

1. All That Glitters, Scenarios for Girls, book 2, by Nicole O’Dell from Barbour Publishing. The reader will decide if Drew Daniels does the right thing when sudden popularity causes her to forget about things that were once important to her.

2. Forgiven, Sisters of the Heart Series, Book 3, by Shelley Shepard Gray from Avon Inspire, a division of Harper Collins Publishing. Tragedy strikes when a brother and sister find themselves facing two difficult situations.

3. Surrender the Wind, by Rita Gerlach from Abingdon Press. When a patriot of the American Revolution inherits his grandfather's estate in England, he inherits more than a crumbling manor house.

4. Sweet Waters, Otter Bay Series Book 1, by Julie Carobini from B&H Publishing Group. Sweet Waters is the story of a newly-jilted woman who talks her sisters into moving back to their hometown only to discover family secrets that threaten the fairy tale image she'd always had.

5. The Blue Enchantress, the Charles Towne Belles Series book 2, by MaryLu Tyndall from Barbour. An adventure-seeking woman and a security-minded captain are shipwrecked together.

6. The Last Woman Standing, by Tia McCollors from Moody. A man, his woman, and his ex-wife search for love again.

7. Truth or Dare, Senarios for Girls Book 1, by Nicole O’Dell from Barbour. Peer pressure threatens to drive Lindsay Martin to doing something she doesn't want to do; the reader will decide.

8. Under the Tulip Poplar, by Diane Ashley and Aaron McCarver from Heartsong Presents. When Rebekah Taylor and Asher Landon struggle to find their ways to the other, will they allow God to direct bring their separate dreams together as one?

9. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, Book #1 in the VA VA VA BOOM series, by Allison Bottke from David C. Cook. When life is a dance and Disco is a state of mind, it’s Mamma Mia goes Vegas!


Musings

This year continues to be the year of the unexpected. Some things good. Some things that take our careful consideration.

I was pleased to discover that two of my books were coming out in Thorndike large print editions That's a pleasant unexpected.

Not so pleasant is finally getting all the info on the Healthcare Bill being worked on in congress. I pray that the party constituents don't just vote on this without reading all 1,017 pages of the proposal.

Yes, there things that need to be fixed with healthcare in the US. But this bill isn't what is needed for that. It's like sending a bulldozer to dig your flowerbeds. I'm afraid they'll throw the baby out with the bathwater.

There's a lot that's good about our healthcare. I have expressed myself to my congressmen congresswomen, as well as to the White House, telling them that.

Let's keep what's good and hone in on what needs to be fixed and leave the rest of it alone. I personally oppose the taking of a human life. It's murder whether it's before the baby is born or someone who's walking around the earth, and moreso someone who's confined to a bed because of suffering a debilitating condition.

I do not want my tax dollars paying for such a thing.

And I don't want any more inroads into my finances by a thief or the government. Taxes are way to high. Stimulus money has been handed out to undeserving executives and companies that made poor decisions, but people who are in dire straights through no fault of their own are left high and dry. Where is the equity in that?

I'm just saying. Read the bill. Contact the people who represent you. Make your voice heard. This is your country. Don't let someone take its future from our children.