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09 November 2012

Guest Review by Suzie Johnson of Dina Sleiman's new release!



Love in Three-Quarter Time
By Dina Sleiman

Review by Suzie Johnson


Dina Sleiman’s historical romance, Love in Three-Quarter Time, debuted last week as the launch title for Zondervan’s new Digital First line. It’s an incredible honor to be the author of a launch title, but knowing Dina and the way she intertwines story and faith, it’s no surprise her  book is wonderful enough for this honor.

Before I tell you about the book, you need to know a little bit about Dina. Dina’s tagline is: Author of lyrical stories that dance with light.

Poetry and dancing are as much a part of her as breathing. It’s the way she expresses everything in her heart, the way she worships, the way she lives her life. This essence of Dina is evident in everything she writes. She weaves words in such a way the reader can’t help but be drawn into the lives of her characters. I found that to be true in Dance of the Dandelion, and I was delighted to find it to be true in Love in Three-Quarter Time.

Love in Three-Quarter Time is the story of Constance Cavendish, a young woman with a big heart and troubles that seem even bigger. When her father is killed and her family’s reputation is destroyed, Constance, her mother, sisters and grandmother are thrust into dire straits. And as she feels responsible for it all, Constance is desperate to come up with a way to save her family.

Having learned of a woman in Charlottesville, Virginia, who needs a dance teacher for her twin daughters’ coming-out party, Constance hopes to use her talent to spare her mother endless nights of needlework in order to feed her family. She dons a fake accent and prepares to pass herself off as a dance instructor.

Fortunately she secures the position. Unfortunately, the one person who could blow her cover is her former beau, the only man she ever dreamed of marrying.

Robbie Montgomery remembers her as a spoiled and fickle sixteen-year old. The drive to overcome hardship has changed Constance, and as she struggles to see God’s presence in her life, will Robbie be able to see her as a new creation that could very well be the woman he’s supposed to spend his life with?   

Readers of romance expect a happy ending. It’s part of the genre. But getting to that happy ending is the key to the story, and the key to drawing the reader into the story is to give them an emotional experience. Dina, with the essence of dance and poetry weaving around the reader, succeeds. She’s a new talent in the world of Christian Fiction, a rising star who is now among my absolute favorites.

This book will find its way on many a Nook and Kindle virtual keeper shelf. It’s a definite must-read for historical fans, and all I can say to Dina is: Write more words FASTER. Please?


Suzie Johnson’s debut novel, No Substitute, a contemporary inspirational novel, released November 30, 2012 by White Rose Press. She is a member of ACFW, RWA, and is the cancer registrar at her local hospital. The mother of a wonderful young man, who makes her proud every day, Suzie lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and naughty little cat.  You can visit her at the following places:


http://www.susandianejohnson.com

http://www.pinterest.com/suziejohnson1

GIVEAWAY! One blessed commenter will have a choice of Dina Sleiman's awesome book, Dance of the Dandelion, or a beautiful quill pen set!



54 comments:

  1. Thank you SUZIE for sharing this great review of DINA's wonderful book with us! I also loved it - it's on my favorites of 2012 list.
    Blessings!

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  2. Love to win a copy please !! {Love the cover }
    jashbk@earthlink.net Thank- you ,Dana "Girl " Spille

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  3. DANA, thanks for stopping by! You can win a copy of Dina's earlier book Dance of the Dandelion, or a beautiful quill pen set.

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  4. Thanks for stopping by PAT - good luck!

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  5. Thank you so much, Marian. I haven't done my list for 2012, yet, but this book will definitely be there. It's probably going on my lifetime favorite list as well.

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  6. Marian, honestly, I'm so excited that you're excited about my book :)

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  7. DANA and PAT, thanks so much for your interest :) Both books are under $4 for ebook, by the way.

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  8. Suzie, I love this review. Thanks. You actually captured the lyrical feel of the book in your own writing here. That's pretty awesome :)

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  9. I agree with you SUZIE, this book is also on my lifetime favorite list! It's sooo good!

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  10. Thank you for visiting with us, SUZIE, and for the fabulous review! I LOVED Dina's, Dance of the Dandelion, and can't wait to read this one! It's awaiting me on my kindle and hopefully (soon!) I can catch up enough to read it!

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  11. MARIAN and SUZIE, you ladies are making me blush. Honestly, please keep my career in your prayers. It's been sort of a slow start for the novel, and I really appreciate you ladies spreading the word like this.

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  12. Dana and Pat, thank you for stopping by. I agree - this cover is beautiful.

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  13. I totally understand, DIANA. I have so many books I "need" to read that it's hard to get to the ones I "want" to read. You'll find Love in Three-Quarter Time is funnier and lighter than Dandelion, although there are many similarities as well.

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  14. Aww, Dina, thank you. That is an awesome compliment.

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  15. Diana, when it's next on your Kindle, you may want to clear an entire day because you won't want to stop reading.

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  16. Marian, I think we're both brilliant judges of great and awesome books. ;-)

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  17. Dina, you are definitely in my prayers. I want everyone to read this book.

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  18. Looks like a great book. I will have to put this on my list of books to read.
    Katie (johnsonk133@yahoo.com)

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  19. Thanks, Katie, and as I mentioned earlier. It's only $3.99 for ebooks. It's part of Zondervan's new special program.

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  20. Thank for stopping by, Katie. I'm sure you'll enjoy this book!

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  21. You're in my prayers, DINA! I hope many will read your work!!

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  22. Wow! I want to to read this book! I hope I am the reader!
    likesmusic2@consolidated.net

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  23. Nice enthusiasm, Debbie :) The giveaway this time is for my first novel, Dance of the Dandelion, or a quill pen set. But Love in Three-Quarter Time is available for $3.99 for ebooks, which is a great deal. It should be coming out in print soon, but I don't have a date for that yet.

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  24. SUZIE beautiful review! SO glad you shared it with us on OTT-WGH. I'm in the middle of reading this now and it is sooo GOOD!! Dina is an exceptional writer!

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  25. Thanks for the review. I haven't read anything from Dina yet but this book sounds very interesting. Love the cover as well.

    arieljo12 at hotmail dot com

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  26. Sorry ladies. I didn't mean to disappear. I was working and now we're going to Seattle.

    Debbie, I hope you get to read one or both books. I think after you read one, you'll *have* to read the other.

    Teresa, thank you. And I'm so glad you're enjoying the book. I couldn't agree more about Dina's writing.

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  27. J.Grace, the cover of Dandelion is beautiful, too. Dina has been blessed with gorgeous covers.

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  28. This sounds good and I would love to win it. Maxie ( mac262@me.com )

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  29. SUZIE, thank you for stopping by when you can!

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  30. Love to win--great interview---wonderful sounding book. Count me in please. Darlene
    spangldlady[at]gmail[dot]com

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  31. In my small world I only thought there were a handful of authors...I'm so glad I was wrong!

    melodydurant@hotmail.com

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  32. J. GRACE, MAXIE, DARLENE, thanks :)

    MELODY, there are a lot of amazing authors out there. I'm still discovering them too.

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  33. Fabulous review SUZIE!! Hanging out even more now to get to read this!! :)

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  34. Hey Ladies,

    Still on my way to the hotel. We made it to Seattle, but it's the worst traffic ever. We got off the freeway and downtown is just as bad. I had to pull over and let my husband drive. It's getting dark and I don't see well to drive in the dark and it's worse when I have no idea where I'm at.

    Noela, thank you so much. Melody, I can give you names of some fabulous authors! So can Dina. Darlene, Maxie, thank you. I love it here.

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  35. Oh, and I meant to add - everyone has such pretty names!

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  36. Well, since Suzie mentioned it, some of my favorite authors are Roseanna White, Julie Klassen, Christine Lindsay, Sandi Rog, and Siri Mitchell. Those are all historical romance writers. I also really like James Rubart, Athol Dickson, and Lisa Samson, but those are contemporary and not romance. I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but that's a start.

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  37. Dina, me, too, me, too! I haven't read the last three yet, but I love the first group you mentioned. I also love Mesu Andrews, Lisa Bergren and TL Higley. Oh, btw, when does Roseanna's Savannah book come out?

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  38. I think early 2013 for Roseanna's book.

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  39. Well...I already read it, and it's fabulous ;)

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  40. Love the cover !! and thanks for the chance to win a copy !! I so enjoy a good romance and so true about knowing how the romance will end, but the getting there is a wonderful trip !!

    Rosemary Foley rfoley@salemstate.edu

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  41. Hi, Rosemary. I'm so glad you stopped by. I read a romance novel last week, a suspense. I was really disappointed when I turned the page, hoping for a resolution only to find the author bio. I checked and double checked to see if I'd missed something. Nope. It was The End. It wasn't even "to be continued". I felt let down because at the point where the book ended - it wasn't a happy ending. The romance wasn't solved, and worse - the heroine's missing daughter was not found. I checked to see if the author wrote a sequel and she has not. She's written several books since then, but no sequel. I want to feel good when I finish a book. I felt good after finishing both of Dina's books.

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  42. Rosemary, I like happy endings too. Not everything I write is romance, but I always include romance and have a happy ending. Obviously, Love in Three-Quarter Time is romance.

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  43. oh, the quill pen set would be nice for my daughter

    ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com

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  44. Suzie! You are such an awesome reviewer. (of course the book is awesome--that helps, huh?)

    Waving to Carrie - hope you are feeling better.

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  45. APPLE BLOSSOM, good luck in the drawing!

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  46. Glad to hear you also liked the book, DEBRA! :)

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  47. The WINNER of this contest is KATIE. Congrats KATIE!

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