Celebrate Lit Tour: Runaway Romance

Celebrate Lit Tour: Runaway Romance

About the Book

  

Name of book: Runaway Romance  
Author: Miralee Ferrell  
Genre: Contemporary romance with Amish thread
Release Date: October, 2017

When a reality TV star meets the reality of life, will it be her downfall or her salvation? Ann Stanway had it all—a starring role in a reality show, an adoring boyfriend, and a sparkling future with limitless possibilities. Until the rules changed and the life she’d thought was real no longer existed. Leaving L.A. seems like her only option, and she lands in Kentucky at a quiet Amish inn—as far removed from her past as possible. Now she knows what was missing in her life–peace, true friendship and, dare she hope, a man who accepts her for who she is–or at least who he thinks she is. Hunter Lewis is intrigued by the new woman staying at his friend’s Amish inn. Annie appears to be what she claims, but she’s secretive and won’t open up. He’s been burned by a woman before and can’t tolerate deception. But his interest in Annie is growing, and the attraction seems to be mutual—until something happens that makes Hunter question everything he’d thought was real. Dare he risk his heart, when he’s certain Annie is keeping secrets? Can their new romance withstand the pressure, or will Ann choose to run again?

Click here to purchase your copy!

My Thoughts

Runaway Romance effectively combines the cut-throat cultures of reality TV with the simple Amish community life to tell a story of second chances and forgiveness. Annie and Hunter are both “damaged goods,” having been scarred by relationships gone bad, yet both are open to the gentle leading of Sarah, who despite her grief at being widowed, has a strong faith in God’s goodness. I liked Annie who was resilient in the face of hurt and misunderstanding. There were a couple of times I laughed out loud at her foibles while trying to fit into the Amish community. I enjoyed learning about the Amish and their belief system. All the characters were well-developed, including the “bad guys.” I would have liked more description of the setting, but that is personal preference, not a criticism. A highly enjoyable read.

I received a copy of this book for free from CelebrateLit Publicity, and a favorable review was not required. All opinions expressed are my own

About the Author

I love life, love my family, love writing Christian fiction–reading, riding my horse and puttering in my garden are all ways I relax. I often have my little 7 lb Chihuahua, Lacey, on my lap when I’m working–there’s nothing like a warm ball of love on your lap to act as a stress reliever! First and foremost I’m a child of God and daughter of the King. I’ve been involved in women’s ministries for years, I’m married to a wonderful man, have two grown children, two cats, two dogs, 10 chickens and ride my son-in-law’s Arabian mare since my old mare passed in 2013. We live about 9 miles from the nearest town on 11 acres, in a peaceful setting surrounded by trees. I started writing shortly after I turned 50, and discovered I loved it so much I don’t want to stop. I have 15 novels out & a five book set of horse novels for middle-grade girls. I write both women’s contemporary fiction, historical & contemporary romance, and horse/mystery novels for girls. One of my Western romances, Love Finds You in Sundance, WY, was awarded the Will Rogers Medallion for Western Fiction, three books have been optioned as movies, and several books have been on the ECPA best seller list. You can find out more about me andmy books at http://miraleeferrell.com/

Guest Post from Miralee Ferrell

In the spring of 2015, I received an email from a Hollywood producer, followed by a phone call. Imagine my surprise when she asked if I’d be willing to write a book for them. They were no longer producing the Love Finds You books into movies and were working on a different project for UP TV, a possible three-movie series, and she hoped I might be able to work with them. She explained that she’d optioned Love Finds You in Sundance, Wyoming, two or three years earlier, and loved it. Of the thirty-five or so titles she’d read of the line, that was her favorite. However, UP TV didn’t want to make historical or old west movies, so she’d shelved it for now. During that time period, I’d gotten my rights returned to all of my LFY books and had retitled them Finding Love in Last Chance, California, Finding Love in Tombstone, Arizona, and Finding Love in Bridal Veil, Oregon. Sundance became Outlaw Angel, and all four are still in print. Here’s the amazing part. I came very, very close to turning down that contract offer with Summerside for Sundance. I was disappointed in the advance and royalty rate, and shortly after they released it, they sold the line to Guideposts, and that company didn’t continue the line much longer. Understandably, sales waned on their final releases, and I was disappointed with my sales from that final book as my others had done quite well. For a long time, I wished I hadn’t taken that contract and instead held out for one with another company for a three-book series. However, had I done that, I doubt Runaway Romance would ever have been written. It was Sundance that grabbed Chevonne’s attention and caused her to contact me. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Blog Stops

Here are Miralee's remaining tour stops:

December 4: Big Reader Site

December 4: the Power of Words

December 5: Kat's Corner Books

December 5: Reading is my Superpower

December 6: Baker Kella

December 6: Debbie's Dusty Deliberations

December 7: Splashes of Joy

December 7: Karen Hadley

December 8: Quiet Quilter

December 9: Red Headed Book Lady

December 9:  Just the Write Escape

December 10: Cafinated Reads

December 11: Remembrancy

December 11: Carpe Diem

Giveaway

In honor of her tour, Miralee is giving away a grand prize of a Kindle Fire! Click the link below to enter! Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/c31a

Talkshow Thursday: Fellow authors Terri Wangard and Jodie Wolfe

Talkshow Thursday: 

Fellow authors Terri Wangard and Jodie Wolfe

Linda:  Thanks for joining me today, ladies. I was thrilled when our publisher CelebrateLit invited me to be part of a Christmas collection with you titled The Hope of Christmas. I had just finished reading about the English country homes that were requisitioned by the government during WWII, so decided to wrap my story around that. How did you choose what to write about?

Terri: I learned about the USS Tabberer while doing research for Wheresoever They May Be. I loved the account of the crewmen’s heroics during the typhoon, but couldn’t use it in my book. When I heard about the short stories, I knew it was the perfect place to showcase the Tabby.

Jodie: : In my first collection with Celebrate Lit Publishing, Let Love Spring, my heroine was one of three sisters. So when I was contracted to write a second story with them, I decided to write about one of the other sisters. 

LM: When I was growing up, my paternal grandparents came to our home every Christmas. Even though they were staying the night, during their first trip into the house they would carry piles of gifts rather than suitcases. What is your favorite Christmas memory?

Terri: Going to church for Christmas Eve services. The children always took part, and one year, I was one of the angels who appeared to the shepherds. As we left the podium and went past the choir loft, one of the girls in the choir said to a friend, “They have bare feet.” Back in the day, it was scandalous to be barefoot in church, but do angels wear shoes?

Jodie: I was in second grade when our family moved from one town to another. We moved over Christmas break and I remember my parents were busy packing and I'm not sure what my brothers were up to. I remember sitting on the floor by the Christmas tree, with my back against the sofa and just staring up at the lights on the tree and enjoying the beauty of it.

LM: My story, A Doctor in the House, takes place in England, and I’ve been fortunate to visit, so I have experienced the country first hand. How did you research the settings for your stories?

Terri: Most of Typhoon Prompting takes place in the South Pacific. While I have been there on cruise ships, and even during rough weather, I haven’t been in a typhoon. So all my research came from books, one in particular that I bought used and have read several times.

Jodie: While my story Picking a Bride for Paul is set in a made-up town, it's based on a place in Kansas where my in-laws used to live. Since I had already come up with the town in my first story, it was easy to draw on it for this tale.

LM: I love to write stories, but I must confess that research is my favorite task. I can chase a factoid for days, ferreting out the details. What is your favorite aspect of the writing process?

Terri: I love the research, too. I do way too much.

Jodie: For me it's a toss-up between the research and the writing process. J

LM: What advice can you give to not-yet-published writers?

Terri: Have a lot of patience. Getting published can take years.

Jodie: Wait and trust God's timing.

LM: I’m currently working on a full length historical mystery about a young woman who joins the USO. What is your next project?

Terri:  I’m moving from World War II to World War I. My setting is the Lusitania.

Jodie: I have a full-length book coming out in May 2018 that is set in the back-drop of the Cherokee Strip Land Run of 1893 in Oklahoma Territory.

LM: Where can folks find you on the web?

Terri: 

Website: http://www.terriwangard.com

Group blog: http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorTerriWangard

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/terriwangard

Twitter: @TerriWangard

Jodie:

Website: http://www.jodiewolfe.com
Group Blog: http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jodie-A-Wolfe-Author/553400191384913
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/116840153259583634192/posts
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/JodieAWolfe
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JodieAWolfe

Linda:

Website: http://www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

Group blog: http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LindaShentonMatchettAuthor

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lindasmatchett

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/authorlindamatchett

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+LindaMatchett

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author_linda_matchett

Purchase your copy today of The Hope of Christmas from Amazon

Wartime Wednesday: Children’s War Stories

Wartime Wednesday: Children’s War Stories

World War II impacted children and young adults at many levels, often because they had fathers, brothers, uncles, or cousins off in combat. But kids were also exposed to the war in the toys they played with (read my post about that here) or the books they read. Here are three of the era’s most prolific authors:

Wheaton College graduate and minister Roy Judson Snell wrote nearly one hundred children and YA books under his own name as well as several pseudonyms. Born in 1878, his first story was published in 1922. Most of his books were aimed at boys, however he did write a series about women in the uniformed services such as Norma Kent and the WACS, Sparky Ames of the Ferry Command, and Sally Scott of the WAVES.

Another author who wrote for young adults was Robert Sidney Bowen, Jr. A Boston native who served in WWI as an aviator, Bowen penned the fifteen volume Dave Dawson War Adventure series about a high school graduate who follows his father to Europe just before WWII begins. Dave befriends an English teen, and the two find themselves fighting beside the British troops. Bowen’s Red Randall series is about a young aviator who serves in the Pacific Theatre. In addition to his fiction career, he was a journalist for several newspapers and magazines.

Hilda Van Stockum was a Dutch native who lives for many years in the U.S. She published several children’s series about the war, some of which were based on her family’s experiences, such as The Mitchells: Five for Victory. Her best known book, The Winged Watchman tells how traditional windmills were used for signaling despite German occupation.

What books do you remember from your childhood?

Mystery Monday: The Elusive Emma Lou Fetta

Mystery Monday: The Elusive Emma Lou Fetta

More is known about Susan Yates, Emma Lou Fetta’s fashion designing protagonist, than the author herself. Born Emma Louise Hawkins Fetta on September 21, 1898, she attended Earlham College, a Quaker institution located in her hometown of Richmond, Indiana. Initially a boarding school at its founding in 1947, a collegiate department was added in 1859. Ahead of its time, Earlham was the first co-educational Quaker college.

From 1918 to 1920, Emma worked as a reporter for the Richmond (IN) newspaper, the Palladium then moved on to the Cincinnati Enquirer where she was a feature writer. A talented journalist, she went on to work for Chicago and New York papers before becoming the American correspondent for one of the London paper and press chairman for the Fashion Group.

Information is sketchy, but somewhere during that time she met and married George Walling Minster. It is unclear how and where they became acquainted.

In 1939, she added novelist to her resume when she published Murder in Style, the first of her three books. Because of Emma’s experience reporting the world of fashion, it is no surprise she chose that as her setting. In Murder in Style, the main character, Susan, is suspected of the crime- killing of a fellow committee member, so she attempts to prove her innocence. Assistant ADA Lyle Curtis is assigned to the case, adding romantic tension to the story.

In Mystery Women, the author observed that this pairing formed the combination that became common in the 1980s of an established female professional in another field romantically tied to a male whose profession dealt with crime.

Emma Lou’s second book Murder on the Face of It, published in 1940, was chosen as a Crime Club Mystery Novel. Her third, Dressed to Kill was released in 1941. All three books are well-written, delightful cozies (before cozies became a subgenre) and received high marks from critics and readers. Why she stopped writing mysteries is a mystery itself.

Who is your favorite cozy writer?

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours

Traveling Tuesday: Hatfield House

Traveling Tuesday: Hatfield House

Writers get their inspiration for stories in numerous places. I’ve culled ideas from newspaper articles, museum exhibits, and snippets of overheard conversation (a great “what if” starter). The basis for my most recent story, A Doctor in the House, part of “The Hope of Christmas” collection germinated from an episode of “Foyle’s War” in which a country home is requisitioned for use as a convalescent hospital.  

I was intrigued by the concept that homeowners in England could be forced from their property by the government during WWII. Most of the places taken were large country estates with acres of associated land. Sometimes as little as three days’ notice was given that the house was going to be used and the residents were required to vacate. Often there was a “cottage” on site where owners could live in for the duration of the war.

During my search for a setting, I discovered Hatfield House, located in Herefordshire, England. Located in the West Midlands on the border between England and Wales, the county is sparsely populated and known for its fruit and cider production and the Hereford cattle breed. The 135 mile River Wye weaves through the county before heading into Wales. Although the original structure no longer exists, there has been a Hereford Cathedral on the site since the late 600s.

The original Hatfield House was constructed in 1497 and was the childhood home and favorite residence of Queen Elizabeth I. When James I came to the throne, he didn’t like the property, so gave it to his minister, Robert Cecil, who promptly tore down three of the wings and used the bricks for the current home.

Exquisite gardens cover forty-two acres and date from the early 1600s. In addition to beautiful fields of flowers and shrubbery, the property has extensive woodlands which are home to fallow and red deer as well as many smaller animals.  A tour of Hatfield House can be seen here.

During WWI, the grounds were used to test the first British tanks. Trenches and craters were dug, and barbed wired strung to indicate German lines. Hatfield House also “did its bit” during WWII by serving as a hospital/Civil Resettlement Unit, a facility where returning British soldiers who had been POWs could learn to ease back into their families and society.

Pre-order your copy of A Doctor in the House today.

Mystery Monday: Ruth Sawtell Wallis Anthropologist and Novelist

Mystery Monday: Ruth Sawtell Wallis 

Anthropologist and Novelist

Better known in the academic world of anthropology for her research and discoveries, Ruth Sawtell Wallis wrote mystery novels. Her first, Too May Bones, was published in 1943. She received an undergraduate degree in English from Radcliffe College, after which she traveled to Europe as part of her graduate program in anthropology at Columbia University. A brilliant scientist, Ruth went on to receive her doctorate and began to teach at the University of Iowa. A year later, she married Professor Wilson Dallam Wallis, and as was typical of the era, lost her job as a result. Over the years she was able to work in her field intermittently, and she also collaborated on books with her husband.

According to her obituary written by a colleague, Ruth began to write mysteries in 1940 while recovering from a serious illness. Her books involve academic settings, and anthropology plays an integral part in the solution to the crimes. Set in a museum, Too Many Bones won the Red Badge Prize for best mystery of the year. When her novels were written, there were no “sub-genres” in the mystery book industry, however, hers may very well be the first in that now popular sub-genre.

Check out the map from the back of the dust jacket! Perhaps another first in the mystery genre.

Ruth conveys her feelings about women’s treatment in academia, especially wage differences, through her main character, Kay Ellis. Unusual for the time, Ruth also includes two African-American characters who have their own subplot. Unfortunately for readers, she only published five novels during a ten year period. The good news is they can be found for reasonable prices at any number of online sites.