Jennifer Haynie {Writer Wednesday}

A little bit about Jennifer...

After being an avid reader of suspense fiction for most of her life, Jennifer Haynie began writing and publishing suspense novels in 2012. She has now written over five indie suspense novels. In her spare time, she works for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, enjoys working out, and loves traveling. She currently lives outside of Raleigh with her husband and their Basenji dog.

Connect with Jennifer...

Website: www.jenniferhaynie.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6499135.Jennifer_Haynie
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jenniferhaynieauthor www.facebook.com/jenniferhayniewriter
Twitter: @JenniferHaynie1
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-m-haynie-50026169/
Pre-Order: Loose Ends (releases March 6, 2018)

Redefining Romance by Kariss Lynch | Guest Post

I am so excited to host my friend Kariss today. We're almost out of February - the "month of love" - but she's got some really valid points on what romance and love really is and how we may have lost the reality of it in what we are reading. We'd both love to know your thoughts below! 

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Up until a few years ago, I would have described myself as a closest romantic. Then I had this book come out that my publisher called “romance,” and I could no longer hide. The secret was out. I was a huge romantic. Even as my second and third book released, I continued to struggle with this label until I finally realized why I was wrestling. I didn’t want to identify with romance as culture defines it. We’ve messed it up. Instead, I wanted to redeem the definition.

Romance as God paints it in scripture is something that is strong and steady. It pursues, it asserts, it is something beautiful. Basically, romance is near and dear to the heart of God because He is the embodiment of love. But we have desperately messed it up. Over the past few years, I set out to read more outside the Christian genre. I wanted to see what others called romance. I’ve made a few observations, particularly from my reading of Young Adult Contemporary Romance and Young Adult Fantasy (both genres that I LOVE).

Carrie Turansky | New Novel News

Across the Blue 
by Carrie Turansky 

Published: February 20, 2018
Publisher: WaterBrook Multnomah (Random House)
Purchase: Across the Blue

Before 1909, flying across the English Channel seemed an impossible feat—but James Drake, a brave young aviator, was willing to try. Defying her parents’ expectations for a good match? Also impossible—but Isabella Grayson was willing to try.

Within the palatial surroundings of her family’s Edwardian estate, Isabella Grayson longs for something more. Despite her father’s success as a newspaper baron and her own journalistic talents, her parents want her to marry an established aristocrat to improve the family’s social standing rather than pursue her dream of writing for one of her father’s newspapers.

Real love drew me to write real romance. When I was a girl, the novels I read had dashing heroes who fell in love with the heroine at first sight, spouting poetic compliments.

Then I fell in love with my husband. I found him mildly annoying at first. It took us both a while to fall in love. He doesn’t give compliments, and the only poem he quotes is a limerick he wrote in junior high about dog poop (don’t ask). And I adore him.

So when I started writing, I was determined to portray real love in my stories. I wanted to portray love that would have women appreciate the men in their lives more deeply—not resent them. (tweet this)

Here are the three components of real love I like to portray in my novels:

Bethany Turner {Writer Wednesday}

A little bit about Bethany...

Bethany Turner is the director of administration for Rock Springs Church in Southwest Colorado. A former VP/operations manager of a commercial bank and a three-time cancer survivor (all before she turned 35), Bethany knows that when God has plans for your life, it doesn't matter what anyone else has to say. Because of that, she's chosen to follow his call to write. She lives with her husband and their two sons in Colorado, where she writes for a new generation of readers who crave fiction that tackles the thorny issues of life with humor and insight.

Connect with Bethany...

Website: www.seebethanywrite.com
Blog: www.seebethanywrite.com/blog
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/seebethanywrite
Facebook: www.facebook.com/seebethanywrite
Twitter: www.twitter.com/seebethanywrite

Purchase: The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck

Billy Coffey | New Novel News

Steal Away Home
by Billy Coffeey

Published: January 2, 2018
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Purchase: Steal Away Home

Owen Cross grew up with two loves: one a game, the other a girl. One of his loves ruined him. Now he’s counting on the other to save him.

Owen Cross’s father is a hard man, proud in his brokenness, who wants nothing more than for Owen to succeed where he failed. With his innate talents and his father’s firm hand guiding him, Owen goes to college with dreams of the major leagues—and an emptiness full of a girl named Micky Dullahan.

Owen loved Micky from the first time they met on the hill between their two worlds: his middle-class home and her troubled Shantytown. Years later he leaves her for the dugouts and the autographs, but their days together follow him. When he finally returns home, he discovers that even peace comes at a cost. And that the hardest things to say are to the ones we love the most.

From bestselling author Billy Coffey comes a haunting story of small-town love, blinding ambition, and the risk of giving it all for one last chance.

“In one evening, a single baseball game, Coffey invites us into a lifetime. With lyrical prose and aching description we join Owen Cross on a journey of love, loss, faith, the unexpected—and America’s favorite pastime.” —Katherine Reay, author of Dear Mr. Knightley and The Austen Escape

Picturing Heaven by Randy Alcorn | Re:View

Talk about stunning! This amazing adult coloring book is not only perfect for fans of coloring but also for use as a quick devotional.

Randy Alcorn, popular author of the book Heaven, has created forty short devotionals all revolving around heaven for this beautiful book. Ranging in topic from the New Jerusalem to the pleasure God takes in giving us good gifts, he expounds on a scripture for each devotional in a concise but meaningful manner.

Then, to add to the experience, each devotional comes with a coloring page accompanying it. The illustrations by Lizzie Preston are stunning and I absolutely love the gold accents each page has.