Announcing Serial Historical Romance: "A Vow Fulfilled" for March

A Vow Fulfilled serial story

You can follow this serial story "A Vow Fulfilled" beginning March 11th right here on OWG and in our blog hops on the following authors' blogs:

               Blog                             Serial section author

3/11         Carrie Fancett Pagels OWG      MaryLu Tyndall
3/12         Laurie Alice Eakes        Roseanna White

3/13         MaryLu Tyndall             Debbie Lynne Costello

3/14         Patty Smith Hall    Gina Welborn

3/15         Roseanna  White       Carrie Fancett Pagels

3/18         Gina Welborn                 Patty Smith Hall

3/19         Debbie Lynne Costello Laurie Alice Eakes

I was very pleased to participate in this serial project two years ago. Glad we are now putting the story out there for public consumption.  We all hope you will enjoy the story very much.  It is set in Charleston, South Carolina, my old stomping grounds!

Mark your calendars for some free good reading!!!

New Christian Regency Blog - Laurie Alice Eakes' Week

Laurie Alice Eakes with her dog Nick at Frontier Culture Museum

Laurie Alice Eakes is one of the new editors of the Regency Reflections group blog. This is a group blog of Christian Regency authors and is brand new!  One of the members is Sarah E. Ladd. 


I want to give a big shout out to my critique partner, Sarah E. Ladd, who just landed a three book contract with Thomas Nelson publishing company. Laurie Alice and Sarah are both represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.


With Laurie Alice and all the members of the new blog, I think Regency will be rocking the boat for some time to come!


Go over and check out the new blog!  Vanessa Riley's Christian Regency website hosts this new blog. Either use the hotlink in the first line of this post or use the hotlink for Vanessa and go over to the right upper side of the blog and click on the Regency Reflections blog.


Some of the other ladies who contribute to the blog are: Linore Rose Burhard, Ruth Axtell, Naomi Rawlings, and more (here is the link to the contributors' page.


GIVEAWAY:  The winners for this week's drawings will be posted Sunday afternoon.  Leave a comment and your email address for a chance to win a copy of one of Laurie Alice's books from OTT-WGH and another winner will receive an ebook of Laurie Alice's The Glassblower.  

Diana Flowers Reviews Heart's Safe Passage by Laurie Alice Eakes

Heart's Safe Passage 
by Laurie Alice Eakes
(Revell, 2012)

4.5 stars~
Romance On The High Seas!

In Heart's Safe Passage, Laurie Alice Eakes has weaved an exciting tale of intrigue, betrayal, vengeance, and romance on the high seas!

It is the year 1813, and our lovely heroine, Phoebe Lee wishes only to practice midwifery in Virginia, amidst the turmoil of the War of 1812. Her pregnant sister in law, Belinda, arranges for Phoebe to be kidnapped and thrust aboard a British privateer, in order to accompany her to rescue her husband from an English prison. The captain of the ship, Rafe Docherty, has agreed to do this for Belinda, in exchange for information from her husband, that he might exact revenge on the man who has destroyed his family.

Rafe has had but one thing on his mind in nine years, to find and kill the man who has perpetrated such horrific crimes on his wife, and parents. Although, not British nor American, he and his twelve year old child have sailed the wild seas in search of the elusive James Brock, the man responsible. 


Although fiercely attracted to the lovely Phoebe, Rafe will let nothing stand in the way of his quest for vengeance, but will he lose his own soul in the process? What horrendous secrets is he hiding, and can Phoebe break through the tremendous wall of bitterness he has built around himself? And what of Phoebe? What gut-wrenching secrets is she concealing, causing a canker of bitterness to grow deep within her as well, although she is a Christian? Can the two find peace with God and love again, or will their bitterness destroy them?

Laurie Alice Eakes is a brilliant author...face it, anyone that can make a story exciting with a ship as the setting throughout...has to be! Her characters are very realistic and endearing, her research and knowledge of ships is astounding, her storyline exceptional. With a strong spiritual thread of forgiveness and redemption throughout, and a satisfying conclusion, this is a must read! My reason for giving this book a 4.5 rating instead of a five is very small...I don't care for shipboard settings, but it didn't ruin the book for me. Nicely done, Ms. Eakes!

I was sent an ARC of this novel from Revell Publishing Co. and was not required to write a positive review.

Laurie Alice's books can be found on Amazon, as well as CBD, and other book stores.

GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week’s contest.  Drawing will be late Saturday.  Your choice of Laurie Alice's books, choice of format.

Guest Review by Debbie Lynne Costello of Laurie Alice Eakes's A Necessary Deception

Review of Laurie Alice Eakes's

A Necessary Deception

(Revell, 2011)

By Debbie Lynne Costello

The year is 1812. England and France are at war. Lady Lydia Gale is a young confident widow of a military man. In order to honor her dead husband’s wishes, Lady Lydia arranges parole for a French prisoner. Believing she will never see the man again, she feels she has fulfilled her duty and heads to her family’s home to help her ailing mother with her youngest sister, Honore’s, entrée into London Society and her other sister Cassandra’s wedding.

Before she makes it to London she is interrupted walking her cat at night by a man of mystery who keeps his identity hidden other than a name. He claims she is a traitor and has freed a French Prisoner and he has proof. He blackmails her into playing a dangerous game.

As if Lydia’s troubles aren’t enough the French prisoner she helped obtain parole, Christien de Meuse, shows up in her home wanting entrance into society. Lady Lydia finds herself having to make hard decisions to keep her family safe from harm and ruin.

As Lady Lydia is pulled deeper into the intrigue of spies, her two younger sisters are forever causing her trouble. But they aren’t the only troubling things in her life, Christien de Meuse has worked his way into her heart, but the question is can she trust him?

I love Laurie Alice Eakes’ unique ability to sweep you away into another world. Every historical aspect of her stories read true to time. You can be sure she’s done all of her homework. As she takes you from Dartmoor Prison, to Society in London, to balls and masquerades you can taste a bit of England history.

 I love her characters. It doesn’t matter if it is the hero, heroine, parents, sisters or one of the much lesser characters in the story, you will always find them well thought out and developed. You won’t find a cardboard character in one of Laurie Alice books. When you finish the book you’ll feel you are saying good-bye to an old friend.

Her ability to start a story out and hook you from page one and continue to keep you glued to the pages as you flip them frantically to find out what happens next is a true art. I can’t wait to read her upcoming Regency, Flight of Fancy due out October of 2012 in which Cassandra pursues her interest in balloon flight, her fiancé gets entangled with the Luddites, and they both pay what might be too high a price for their intemperate behavior.

Laurie Alice's books can be found on Amazon, as well as on Christian Book Distributors, and other book stores.

 Bio: Debbie Lynne Costello's tagline is Southern-Kissed Historical Romance. She is a member of ACFW and  HisWriters and writes Christian historical romance. She chairs the CROWN promotional group and is a member of HEWN which promotes Christian historical fiction in European settings. Debbie Lynne lives in South Carolina with her family. Debbie Lynne is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can learn more about her at her websites www.debbielynnecostello.com and www.theswordandspirit.blogspot.com.  Debbie Lynne also is co-hostess of www.fictionaddictionfix.blogspot.com.

GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week’s contest.  Drawing will be late Saturday.  Your choice of Laurie Alice Eakes’s books, choice of format.

Carrie Fancett Pagels' Review of Printed on My Heart by Laurie Alice Eakes

We are deviating from our normal format this week - Laurie Alice Eakes week here on Overcoming Through Time - With God's Help.  A brief interview and commentary will be up next Saturday. We begin the week with a review of Laurie Alice's contribution to a wonderful four novella compendium that recently released.

Highland Crossings

By: Laurie Alice Eakes, Pamela Griffin, Jennifer Hudson Taylor, and Gina Welborn

(Barbour Publishing, 2012)

Highland Crossing is a four-novella collection of Scottish immigrants, centered around an heirloom brooch. 

1758 - Printed on My Heart, By Laurie Alice Eakes

Stacks of paper at Colonial Williamsburg

This is the second novella in the series.

Laurie Alice Eakes and Gina Welborn

The really fun part of reading this novella was that I took Laurie Alice around Colonial Williamsburg, with Gina Welborn, last year when she interviewed the printer there. 

Laurie Alice is blind but the reader would never know that reading her work. She gives great details.

Laurie Alice Eakes interviewing printer at Colonial Williamsburg

This novella is yet another example of this author’s ability to pack a shorter book (in this case a novella) with unbelievable details without sacrificing the integrity of the story. 

Colonial Williamsburg Printers' tool

And what a lovely romance! Laurie Alice has you loving poor Fiona and her hero Owain before you can say “I do”!!! 


Laurie Alice's books can be found on Amazon, as well as CBD, and other book stores.


GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week’s contest.  Drawing will be late Saturday.  Your choice of Laurie Alice Eakes' books, choice of format. 

Friend on Friday - Review of The Newcomer by Laurie Alice Eakes

Review by: Katie McCurdy
www.katieslegacy.blogspot.com

The Newcomer - 4 Stars

Only a few pages into The Newcomer and I knew that Laurie Eakes had crafted together another one of her unique and wonderful stories. The last in her little New Jersey series, The Newcomer is a nice conclusion from these fun characters. Though I admit it wasn’t my favorite in the series, it was still a very enjoyable read.


All of the characters, including the main characters Gordon and Marigold, were fairly well developed. The love story between them seemed a bit rushed. I didn’t feel like I really knew them very well by the time the book came to a close. But taking into consideration that it is a small book, I can understand that.

I loved watching Marigold deal with the two girls, Beryl and Ruby. Both of the girls lost parents dear to them, and both had very different ways of showing their sorrow. As the reader, my heart went out to these orphan girls who suddenly found their lives entrusted to an Uncle that they had never met and didn’t even 
come to them until months after their parent’s death.

The tension between Marigold and Gordon was great and I enjoyed watching them work through their differences—especially where the children were concerned. All in all, I’ve enjoyed yet another of Laurie Alice Eakes' works and look forward to reading many more of her books in the future!






CFP Note: This book comes out in large print in September, 2011, also.


Here is a link to the Heartsong website that also includes a blurb of the book and a sample scene:
http://heartsong-authors.blogspot.com/2010/08/newcomer-by-laurie-alice-eakes.html  

Google Books Research

Don't miss this post on Colonial Quills by Laurie Alice Eakes.  She explains the best use of Google Books for conducting research on historical novels.

http://colonialquills.blogspot.com/2011/06/tools-of-trade-google-books.html

Friend on Friday

Laurie Alice Eakes with her father and stepmother and sister in Virginia!

Today Laurie Alice Eakes posts about research on the internet.  Laurie Alice is known as our "go to" lady with historical questions when we get stuck in both the HisWriters (European fiction group) and our Colonial American Christian Writers group.  

NOTE - Special EXTRA GIVEAWAY:  When you leave a comment at Colonial Quills

http://colonialquills.blogspot.com

AND you put "OTT" (quote marks not needed)  at the end of your post, you earn a chance for a second drawing that I am going to do for my followers who post comments on CQ.  OTT readers get a drawing and CQ readers get a drawing for a copy of one of Laurie Alice's books.

Friend on Friday - Katy McCurdy Reviews The Heiress by Laurie Alice Eakes

The Heiress, by Laurie Alice Eakes www.lauriealiceeakes.co

CFP’s Note: This book is available as part of a three book collection. The original book was part of a mass market edition and is not longer readily available. However, it is the second book in

Jersey Brides, Heartsongs Presents, March 2011.
http://www.amazon.com/Jersey-Brides-Romancing-America-Laurie/dp/161626120X/ref=lh_ni_t#_


Book Review by

Katy McCurdy http://www.katieslegacy.blogspot.com/


Katie’s Rating--5 Stars

Having been introduced to the Glassick family (CFP’s comment: In the Glassblower, nominated for a Carol award) and the symbolism of the goldfinch bottle, I felt right at home reading about Daire Glassick and his adventures with this special perfume bottle. The little mystery and spiritual journey that the characters take within this book was very compelling. As always, Laurie has written another wonderful, unique story that will capture the reader’s attention from the very beginning.

The book starts fast. In the first scene Daire is trying to sell the special goldfinch bottle. We get a good idea of what Daire is like—the desperate state he is in—as he tries to find a way to get back home before it’s too late. While the reader instantly gets the feel that he is making a big mistake by selling the bottle, when a young, kind woman buys it, we feel the makings of a great story. And so it is. After Daire leaves, Susan takes the bottle home to her home. Here we quickly see how little her family thinks of her. They thought of her only as someone to care for their many kids or run the house while her mother and sisters were away doing mission work. My heart instantly went out to Susan. From the very first pages of this book I grew to really like Daire and Susan.

Laurie Eakes writing is always vivid and engaging. I was instantly taken back to that time and into the lives of both Susan and Daire. Even though it is a shorter historical book, I enjoyed this book as much as if it had been a full-length novel. The story plot was, as I mentioned, very unique. And I loved that about it! I wasn’t sure what was going to happen as Daire and Susan searched for the goldfinch bottle. I enjoyed the intriguing twists and turns along the way.

While I normally enjoy a longer novel, I enjoyed both of Laurie’s books — The Glassblower and The Heiress. The length of this shorter historical novel (for mass market) made for easy reading and I was able to finish it in a day. Everything came together and left off very well. I always know I am in for a great adventure whenever I pick up a book from Laurie! 

Laurie Alice Eakes New Release - Jersey Brides

Book Signing, Lady in the Mist

Saturday, March 19

Barnes & Noble

12170 Jefferson Avenue

Newport News, VA

2pm – 4pm

________________________________________

WORKSHOP

Friday, March 18

11am – 1pm

Riverwalk Restaurant

323 Water Street, Yorktown, VA

It’s All In Your Head

Writing from the Heart While Writing for the Market

How can you fit what’s in your heart with what’s in your market? How can you better understand your audience and what they want? These questions and more will be answered by Laurie Alice Eakes, award winning Christian author who procured fifteen publishing contracts within fifteen months.


Award-winning Christian author Laurie Alice Eakes wanted to be a writer since knowing what one was. Her first book won the National Readers Choice Award in 2007, and her third book was a Carol Award finalist in 2010. Between December of 2008 and January of 2010, she sold thirteen books to Barbour Publishing, Avalon Books, and Baker/Revell, making her total sales fifteen. Recently, she added a novella to that collection, as well as having her first book with Baker/Revell, Lady in the Mist, picked up by Crossings Book Club, and three of her books chosen for large print editions by Thorndike Press. She has been a public speaker for as long as she can remember; thus, only suffers enough stage fright to keep her sharp. In 2002, while in graduate school for writing fiction, she began to teach fiction in person and online. She lives in Texas with her husband, two dogs, and too many cats even for her.

http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com/


Leave a comment on this blog for a chance to win a copy of Laurie Alice's latest release, Jersey Brides, a three-in-one book that includes her Carol-nominated book, The Glassblower, also.

Lady in the Mist – Review by Diana Flowers

Thank you to Diana who is a lovely historical romance reader from South Carolina. Diana is a beta reader and an influencer for several of my author friends. Welcome, Diana!



Fantastic read!!

The Lady in the Mist grabbed me from the first few pages. From the way the author describes the misty seaside setting to the description of the characters, it was so real that I felt as though I were watching a movie. This book is not about birthing babies, as much as it is about the history of our country, suspense, mystery, emotional turmoil, and of course, the chance of romance between two totally different men. I savored the book and read it slowly as I always do when reading a good book...and then it was a race to the finish to see how everything was going to play out! Thumbs up to Laurie Alice Eakes...we're going to be hearing a lot more of her in the days and years to come. I am ready for the next book in the series! You also can't beat the cover of the book as far as beauty and the power of attraction.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.



Diana posted this review through Christian Book Distributors and graciously shared it with me.



Thanks Diana!!! Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Lady in the Mist by Laurie Alice Eakes.

She Sees With Her Heart

Lady in the Mist, Laurie Alice Eakes’ new book, was delivered to me as an advance copy and thank goodness for that because my other copies have not arrived yet. ACK!!! I don’t know why, maybe because it just released. I am over halfway through and she kept me waiting to figure out if the hero really was going to be the hero or not. I think he is. ------- Okay, so I read some more. I keep doing that instead of all the chores I have waiting after my vacation to Disney with my in-laws.

Laurie Alice is blind but it really struck me as I was reading the great book that she sees with her heart. Her guide-dog, Nick, is a fantastic help, but he could not be her eyes for her writing. That just all comes from inside her and her relationship with the Lord. Will post my full review when I am done reading but then again this is one of those books you want to savor. It is a suspense as well as historical romance but not one of those must-rush-through types. I prefer getting to know my characters better.

Apparently this is available in a Kindle Audio version. Off to see what my hubby wants to buy me for Valentine’s Day. A Kindle is very romantic. Do you think so?

Large Print Books

"I just learned that When the Snow Flies and Lady in the Mist are both coming out in large print. February and May respectively."

Emailed to be by Laurie Alice Eakes—Lady in the Mist, February 1, 2011

Read an excerpt at:

http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com/

BTW, Laurie is completely blind, the only contemporary American author I know of who is.

Why am I excited? Because I wear trifocals and have an eye problem that sometimes causes my vision to get blurry even with the glasses. I am happy for people who have poor vision but will now be able to read Laurie Alice's books. Prayers have been answered. Sometimes I get discouraged when I really want to read a new or newer book and it is not on audio or in large print. The Kindle versions on a computer screen are better, too, but not everything is available in that format.

What about you? Please leave a comment on Laurie Alice's website AND on mine, to be entered for a chance to win a copy of Lady in the Mist, her book releasing later this month. It will be in standard print and if you can read that easily, please thank your Maker today.

Blessings! Carrie