Rafflecopter for Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides Collection

Here's an image of some of the prizes for the BIG Giveaway for The Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides Collection from Barbour. This new release includes my novella, "Love's Beacon", set on Round Island and Mackinac Island, Michigan! Also six other stories from some wonderful authors: Lena Nelson Dooley who posted me on her blog this past week (click here), Pegg Thomas, Candice Sue Patterson, Rebecca Jepson, Kathleen Rouse, and Marilyn Turk!

In addition to the gifts picture there are more items such as:
--a handmade beaded necklace,
--an Amazon $10 gift card,
--a three slice box of fudge from Joann's Fudge Shop on Mackinac Island
--Mackinac Island themed earrings set!

I will be doing a book signing at the College of William & Mary Barnes & Noble, Duke of Gloucester Street, in Williamsburg, Virginia, this afternoon (Sunday, November 19th, 2018) from 2-6 PM with fellow Author C.J. Chase for our Victorian Christmas Brides collection.

Debra E. Marvin -- Heroine Susannah Kimbell & Giveaway!

Miss Susannah Kimball’s story, "A Heart So Tender", in The Backcountry Brides collection is story set in July, 1764 at Fort Niagara. This great historical landmark lies at the mouth of the Niagara River where it flows into Lake Ontario. While Susannah lives a rather unusual frontier life as the daughter of the music and literature teacher at Sir William Johnson’s Mohawk School, she is not prepared for the cultural tensions rising at what Sir William, Indian Agent for the Crown, is calling “The Great Gathering”.

Blockhouse at Fort Niagara

Susannah lives in the settlement of Johnstown (NY). There, Sir William has built a community of white settlers and Mohawk families. And he’s succeeding. Johnson is unusually accepting of people of all colors and faiths and has great hopes for peace along the frontier.

Susannah has the same hope.

French Castle at Fort Niagara

It is her dream to open her own school for girls, primarily native girls, but it’s not entirely unselfish. Her adopted brother Benjamin, an Iroquois orphan, straddles two worlds. Teaching would give him a place of respect that he might not otherwise find in the white world, nor among the Haudenosaunee. To celebrate and promote what Susannah believes in, she sings duets with her brother. The Mohawk call her Yonterennothiyo, (She who sings beautifully) or “Songbird”, and in my story, Sir William uses this gift to his advantage as well.

But Susannah has another reason to desire a life of service as a single teacher, a secret she can’t share and one that requires she never fall in love.

I hope you find yourself reading The Backcountry Brides Collection and enjoy my novella, A Heart So Tender for more of Susannah’s story!

CFP: Thanks for visiting with us, Deb!  Readers, you can purchase a copy of Backcountry Brides at:

Christian Book Distributors  

Walmart 

Barnes & Noble  

Amazon 

Check at your local Christian bookstores, e.g., Lifeway, to see if they have copies, too! 

GIVEAWAY:  Tell Deb what Native American history is found in your area for a chance to win a paperback copy!

Noela reviews A PIONEER CHRISTMAS COLLECTION by Various Authors

A Pioneer Christmas Collection by 9 Authors
Barbour Books (September 1, 2015)

Reviewed by Noela Nancarrow
5 Stars *****

This is a re-release of an extremely popular Christmas collection that showcases some of the best authors in the business! Each of these nine novellas are a wonderful gift illustrating God’s bountiful provision and care, and touchingly wrapped in adversity, adventure and romance. This charming compilation of intriguing tales of pioneer life and love in untamed lands, feature the new pioneers celebrating Christmas in fascinating, unconventional dwellings.

‘Defending Truth’ by Shannon McNear, sees Truth,

Defending Truth

a young woman in western North Carolina,

alone and responsible for her younger siblings after her father had left them to fight the British. What will she do when she comes across a half-starved militia man loyal to the Crown? This is an intriguing and heart-warming story reflecting the battle on King’s Mountain and of God’s grace.

‘The Calling’ by Kathleen Fuller centers around a tavern in Unionville, Ohio, that also doubles as a stagecoach stop. Elijah Montgomery is pushed by his parents to travel and preach. Is he just being obedient to his folks or hearing the calling himself? What part might Milly, the lovely tavern girl who works for her father, have in helping Elijah to find his destiny?

‘A Silent Night’ by Anna Urquhart illustrates the struggles of a mother and young child surviving on their own in the woodlands of Michigan Territory in 1830. Refusing a marriage of convenience that most women would have taken up leaves Lorna vulnerable and unprepared for winter. How can she possibly survive and will they get their Christmas miracle that 6 year old Afton is praying for?

A Pony Express Christmas by Margaret Brownley has the bloomer-clad Ellie-May Newman searching across the unforgiving Nebraska Territory for her missing brother who rode for the Pony Express. After saving a man, she informs him he’ll be helping her on her quest. There’s an interesting love triangle in this story and an unexpected outcome for Ellie at the end of the trail. Margaret Brownley is a brilliant storyteller and this tale is a hearty feast for a novella!

A Christmas Castle

‘A Christmas Castle’ by Cynthia Hickey ambushes Annie Morgan with quite a few eye-popping revelations when she arrives at her ranch in Prescott, Arizona, to chase down her new husband who was supposed to meet her in town. This story by Cynthia was fast-moving, delightfully romantic, and especially captivating!

‘The Cowboy’s Angel’ by Lauraine Snelling has a very pregnant woman and her son living on the Dakota Territory plains in 1875 waiting for her husband to return home after leaving weeks earlier to purchase supplies. With a baby coming, a 4 yr. old son, animals to care for, and snowstorms, Belle is in much need of a Christmas miracle from God’s angels. What could have befallen her husband?

‘A Badlands Christmas’ by Marcia Gruver, soon has Australian Jonathon Nancarrow 

journeying from sophisticated New York City along

A Badlands Christmas

with his two daughters to the small town of Medora in the heart of the wilderness, still seeking peace and healing after the death of his wife. His eldest daughter Noela takes quite a while adjusting to the overwhelming differences, especially having to live in a house made of dirt and grass called a soddie! Will this little family survive a harsh Dakota winter here and can Noela find love in the wilderness? Marcia Gruver writes an immensely memorable and highly entertaining read, delivering an enchanting story with a very sweet romance.

‘Buckskin Bride’ by Vickie McDonough takes us to Oklahoma Territory in 1889 to where Mattie and her two sisters Milly and Jess are living in a tipi, which unknowingly happens to be on handsome Irishman Conall Donegan’s land. Their father hasn’t returned and Mattie having been left in charge feels a huge responsibility to keep her sisters safe, fed, and sheltered. When Jess is hurt and they are all discovered, Mattie feels like everything is falling apart. Can things come together for Christmas?

The Gold Rush Christmas

‘The Gold Rush Christmas’ by Michelle Ule delivers an interesting and unique story with twins Samantha and Peter Harris travelling to Skagway, Alaska with good friend Miles. What sets out as a search for the twins’ father ends up becoming so much more for all three of these ‘musketeers’. This takes place during the 1897 Gold Rush bringing many unsavoury characters to the region; however this story which is based on a true account ends with an extraordinary Christmas inspired conclusion.

~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~

You can find this new release of A Pioneer Christmas Collection at these places and others: Amazon; CBD 2013 edition & 2015 edition; Barnes & Noble; BAM; and in Australia - Koorong!

GIVEAWAYS: We have THREE BOOKS for giveaway today!! Generously donated by Marcia Gruver, Shannon McNear, and Michelle Ule! To be eligible leave a comment below the review along with your email address for contact purposes should you win. Using (at) and (dot) will protect you against spammers.

Teresa Mathews Reviews Carving A Future by Carla Olson Gade

Colonial Courtships

5 Stars****

Novella One of Colonial Courtships (Romancing America)

Carving a Future

by Carla Olson Gade

 (Barbour Publishing, Oct. 2012) 

In this first book in the Colonial Courtships Novella Carla starts us on our colonial times journey by taking us back to 1753 to Glassenbury, Connecticut. There we are introduced to the Ingersoll men, Nathaniel, Jonathan, Micah and Alden and as the title suggests these young men may be meeting some very lovely young ladies but the fun of it is how they will meet.

Constance Starling is not sure she will survive this horrible nightmare she has had to endure since she was abducted from her home in England. Half starved and almost dead from thirst she fears she will never see freedom again. Captain Smout thinks to sell Constance as an indentured servant and as providence would have it she is rescued by a handsome kind stranger that reluctantly agrees to buy her contract. Will he believe her story when she tells him she has been abducted?

Nathaniel Ingersoll was not expecting to come home with anything other than their needed supplies. But he couldn’t leave that poor girl lying on the deck of that ship with the evil Captain Smout. Now Nathaniel is the not­ so proud owner of a very sick indentured servant that his family doesn’t need and cannot afford but even worse he had to agree to repair Capt. Smout’s figurehead on his ship to pay for her. Is the story she told him true? Could she really have been taken against her will? What will happen when Nathaniel starts to spend more time with Constance? Could it be God has a plan in all that has happened?

Carla does a wonderful job setting the stage for this great novella. The characters are exciting and their stories are quite appealing. Thanks Carla for this enjoyable read!

Colonial Courtships is available in print and ebook at CBD. The Book Club Network store,  Barnes and Noble and Amazon. The Shadow Catcher's Daughter is available at Signed by the Author. Giveaway:  A copy of either of Carla's books, paperback or ebook (Ebook only for international winners.) 

This giveaway is for followers of this blog who also follow Colonial Quills.  You can also get an extra entry if you follow Carla's blog (Carla's follower box is on the left on her blog.)  You get an entry for each of those that you follow so you have up to three entry counts.  

Put OTT if you follow us, CQ for Colonial Quills, and COG for Carla Olson Gade followers.

Question:  What kind of novellas do you most enjoy reading?  

Review of MaryLu Tyndall's Surrender the Dawn

Surrender the Dawn Surrender to Destiny Series #3. By MaryLu Tyndall  Published by Barbour Publishing Available through Christian Book Distributors   Review by Carrie Fancett Pagels Five Stars ***** What a Pleasure! Cassandra Channing has known affluence and comfort, both of which are rapidly slipping away. When she is refused the opportunity to invest in a privateer, and what she feels is her last chance to obtain a return on her money (and support for her widowed mother and her siblings) she turns to the town rake. Cassandra resists God’s pull at her heart, angry that she has been loaded with burdens that are not of her own making. Luke Heaton struggles with a desire to prove himself worthy as he also tries to kick his reliance upon alcohol to solve his troubles.  He has provided for his younger brother and refuses to give God the credit for any of his successes. But an error in judgment endangers those he holds most dear. Against the backdrop of the War of 1812, these two all-too-human characters find that they must surrender to God and His will for their lives before their love can be realized. Luke is a very appealing hero.  I loved his dry wit. This may be MaryLu’s best hero yet (once he kicked his bad habits!) We had such fun in our Colonial Quills Tea Party  recently chatting about what a great heart-throb Luke was! This is MaryLu's best book yet! It is a MUST READ!! Disability Friendliness: I read Surrender the Dawn on Kindle. It is also available in paperback. No audio version. Giveaway:  Leave your comments and email address for a chance to win a copy of MaryLu’s latest book, your choice of format. And MaryLu is having a contest with Jamie Carie, too, stop by Talk Like A Pirate Day on her blog!