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?  

Interview with Carla Gade by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Carla Olson Gade

Carla Olson Gade is the author of Carving a Future, a novella featured in Colonial Courtships (Barbour Publishing, Oct. 2012) and The Shadow Catcher’s Daughter (Harlequin/Heartsong Presents, Feb. 2012).

I met Carla, a fellow lover of Colonial Fiction, online through facebook through mutual friends. She is a member of the group I founded, Colonial American Christian Writers and contributes to the Colonial Quills blog. Carla designed the gorgeous CQ website and there would be no Colonial Quills website without Carla, so I thank her for her persistence and talent in getting us going.

Carla, welcome to Overcoming Through Time.  Would you share either the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help, or the most tragic situation or circumstance one of your character’s has had to get past?
I’d have to say loss of a loved one. While writing my first novel, The Shadow Catcher’s Daughter, my stepfather passed away.  Losing a parent is devastating, yet I had to continue to write in order to meet the publisher’s tight deadline. It proved therapeutic to write through the grieving, however; though I missed being able to call my Dad whom I often consulted regarding content for this book.  My characters have also lost close loved ones, and having experienced that myself I believe I have been able to portray their experiences with greater depth and accuracy.

What is your favorite bible verse and why?

Proverbs 3:3, “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” I received this verse at time when my heart had been broken and easily could have become bitter. It changed my perspective and taught me to trust the Lord with my heart. It ties into the previous passage of Proverbs 3:5-6 which instructs us to entrust our hearts to the Lord. (“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths.”) How often we set out on our own path and do not keep in step with God.  I’m so thankful that His way is perfect.
Disability friendliness:
Is this latest release available in audio format?

Colonial Courtships is available in print and as an ebook. I’m excited about that since ebooks provide the means to adjust the text size for better visibility and ease of reading. I would love to see my books in large print someday.

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from your books and why? 

I call my stories “Adventures of the Heart.” To me this encompasses not only the general plot, but the emotional and spiritual journey as well. Throughout the adventure, I try to weave threads of healing, hope, and spiritual truths.

As you researched your books, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?

I was moved in many ways while researching The Shadow Catcher’s Daughter.  I was impressed, rather distressed, by the belittling attitudes toward Native Americans, including the “half-breed” of my novel, as well as toward women during the late 19^th century. 

My characters discussed an incident that regarding an Indian captive (the real life Olive Oatman). Despite her horrific experience, this woman was able to realize that not all Indians were inherently bad, as many people of the time believed. Ironically, once she was free, Olive, who bore a mark on her chin that the Indian tribe had tattooed there, was often rejected, mistreated, and taken advantage of by white society. Just consider the myriad of reactions you folks would have when seeing her. What thoughts cross your own mind? All of this caused me to consider the marks that we bear that are perceived illy by others, as well as the imprint we wish make on our world, sometimes thwarted by those around us due to their attitudes. 

It also struck me what great lengths the minister missionary I included in the book (another historical person) went to in order to bring the gospel to the western slope of Colorado, which was entirely without churches at that time. These things stirred my soul that I should be so compassionate, unprejudiced, and committed to sharing the love of God to others.

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?

Colonial Courtships

In Carving a Future, Constance was “spirited away” against her will and put on a ship from England to the Americas. How frightening that must have been for her, especially as she was finally putting her life back together after experiencing the loss of her guardian uncle and means of living. She had already lost both of her parents earlier in her life. How alone and helpless she must have felt, especially in the hands of the cruel sea captain who intended to sell her indenture. These types of circumstances can often set us reeling. 

At first, Constance was ready to take things into her own hands, but as she learned to trust God in her situation, she realized that He had a plan for her life. Although life circumstances, and the sinful actions of other, can cause us great distress, the Lord never wastes our sorrows and in fact, shows us His love redemptively. Just as Nathaniel bought Constance’s indenture for a price, so did God through His son’s sacrifice on the cross. It cost Him much, but was worth it all because of His great love for us.

Thank you, Carla, for agreeing to answer these questions.  Have a blessed day and keep on writing!!

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 and Carla's 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.  Leave your email address, please.

Have any of you ever had to deal with prejudice or any injustice done to you? What mark do you wish to create on the world? 

Diana Flowers Reviews Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund

Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund

Bethany House, 2012

5 stars~*****
Reviewed by Diana Flowers

Unending Excitement!

In an Unending Devotion, author Jody Hedlund has penned an exciting, heart-rending novel set against the backdrop of the snow-covered, majestic white pine country of Michigan in the late 1800s.

Lily Young and her younger sister, Daisy, are left alone and destitute after the death of their parents and end up living in an orphanage. Thinking she is doing the right thing, Lily arranges for her sister to live on a farm with the Wretcham family until she can find a way to make a home for the both of them. She secures a position with Oren, a kind, elderly man and a photographer who travels from one lumber camp to another taking pictures. When she returns to the Wretcham's she finds Daisy has run away, leaving Lily to search the brothels in every town she and Oren find themselves in.

The town of Harrison is known for its wickedness and debauchery, and is virtually run by James Carr, an evil man known to prey upon young women and children, forcing them into a life of prostitution. While in Harrison, Lily meets Connell McCormick, the boss of a successful lumber camp, and they immediately butt heads in spite of their attraction to one another.

Connell doesn't like the evil goings on in Harrison, but feels there is nothing he can do about it, and is content to run his father's business and stay uninvolved. But as his attraction to Lily grows, he finds himself longing to help her and devises a plan to help her find her sister. Lily, however, decides to take matters into her own hands and ends up in terrible danger. In her search for Daisy will she find love as well?...and can the evils and injustices of Harrison ever be rectified? These answers can only be found as Lily learns to surrender her stubborn will to the Lord. 

This fiction based on fact novel will haunt and fascinate the reader-not only with its heart pounding excitement, romantic tension, and realistic characters, but with the heartbreaking realities of childhood enslavement that still occur in this day and time. Jody Hedlund handles this tough subject with compassion and discretion, and I applaud her. A remarkable book in every sense of the word!

Jody's books can be purchased through Amazon, CBD and other bookstores.

GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week's contest. Drawing will be late Saturday. Your choice of Jody's books, choice of format*. Void where prohibited by law. *International winners only receive the book in ebook format, not as a paperback.

Jody Hedlund's new release Unending Devotion reviewed by Marian Baay

Unending Devotion

Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund

Bethany House, 2012

Reviewed by Marian Baay

5 stars~*****

Jody Hedlund takes the reader to the lumber town Harrison where Connell McCormick is the boss-man of his father’s lumber business. Harrison is a town full evil. There are lots of brothels for the many shanty boys. One of them is run by an evil man named James Carr. He kidnaps young women and forces them into prostitution.

Connell doesn’t like the brothels, but believes that they are a necessary evil to keep the shanty boys satisfied.

Lily Young is a young woman of 18 years old. She has lost her parents and her only remaining family is her younger sister Daisy. When they were too old for the orphanage, Lily found a job with Oren and Betsy—an older couple. Daisy was going to live with a family while Lily was trying to make enough money for them to begin their own life. Betsy died and Lily remained with Oren and helped him with his photography business. When Lily received a letter from Daisy that she left the family she lived with to find a job in prostitution, Lily was shocked and determined to find her sister and get her out of the life she has chosen.

In the winter Oren is visiting the lumber town to take photographs of the shanty boys. Lily is traveling with him as his assistant, meanwhile searching for her sister in the brothels – without luck so far. 

When they visit Harrison they are staying in the Northern Hotel, where Lily meets Connell for the first time. They are attracted to each other, but both are trying to convince themselves a relationship will never work, because they are so different. Lily wants to fight injustice, but Connell thinks there is not much he can do to change anything.

Soon Lily is searching the Harrison brothels in the hope to find her sister. While doing this, she is witness of how a girl is kidnapped by Carr’s wife. Lily is going after the girl without telling anyone and gets stranded in a snowstorm and needs rescuing herself. When Connell finds her she is unconscious and suffering from hypothermia. He needs to get her warm again and finds a shelter for them where they will have to stay until the storm is calming and someone will come to rescue them.

After they get back to town rumors are spreading about Connell and Lily together in their shelter. Rumors are traveling to Connell’s parents’ home and his brother is coming to deliver a message from their father. 

When Connell’s brother meets Lily he thinks he has seen her before, but it seems that he has met Lily’s sister and knows where to find her.

A rescue plan is made, but will it all work out alright? Will Lily come in time and get Daisy out without being seen – and keep her safe?

What troubles are waiting for Lily and Connell? And will their attraction grow into something more? When Connell has to choose between helping Lily fighting injustice and his responsibility for his father’s business – what will he choose?

I really enjoyed this story – loved Lily and Connell and loved the secondary characters Oren, Vera and Stuart. Based on a real event, the story was very realistic. It broached the tough subject of prostitution, but Jody surely handled it well.

Jody's books can be purchased through Amazon, CBD and other bookstores.

GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week's contest. Drawing will be late Saturday. Your choice of Jody's books, choice of format*. Void where prohibited by law. *International winners only receive the book in ebook format, not as a paperback.

Carrie Fancett Pagels Interviews Jody Hedlund

Jody Hedlund

Jody, welcome to Overcoming Through Time – With God’s Help.  We appreciate your willingness to share your testimony of overcoming with our readers. 

Would you tell us about the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help?

I've had a number of hard things come my way, including the death of my dad when I was twenty-two years old. He died of a heart-attack when he was only 50. It happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that I never had the chance to tell him goodbye.And while that was hard, even more difficult was when I gave birth to my twin babies.

At that time, we'd just moved to Michigan. I was busy unpacking boxes, had a two year old son, and was hugely pregnant. I thought I had two months to finish getting ready for the new babies.

But boy was I mistaken.During a routine doctor's visit at thirty weeks gestation, I discovered I was in labor. I hadn't felt any contractions and my water hadn't broken, but I was well on my way to having the babies. So the doctor ordered an ambulance to take me to the closest hospital with a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) so that after the babies were born they could receive the best possible care.

Fortunately that hospital was only thirty minutes from my home. But unfortunately I was going to have to be in the hospital for the duration of my pregnancy. Having a husband with a brand new job, a toddler who needed constant care, and knowing very few people in the community, complicated the situation immensely.

Family rallied to our support. Both Moms offered to come and stay with us during the difficult days ahead.But my twins were determined to enter the world early. And after only a week in the hospital, my labor continued to progress against the best efforts to stop it.

My twin daughters were born NINE weeks early. They weighed 3.0 lbs. each. One of them had to be on a ventilator to help her breathe. And both of them were hooked up to numerous machines in an incubator. When I was finally allowed to hold one of my daughters, I could fit her in my hand.The first time I walked into my new home after being released, I cried of a broken heart. I was so distraught to return home empty-handed and leave my babies at the hospital.

But somehow I managed to survive the month of half-living at the hospital and half at home with my toddler (who wasn't allowed in the NICU). Now my daughters are 13 years old, healthy, and beautiful young ladies.The hardship still haunts me. But I've learned that difficulties come into our lives to help us become more grateful for our blessings.

(Comment from Carrie: I started out my career as a psychologist in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and a clinical assistant professor in a medical school, and worked with the follow up clinic to monitor development. What a blessing that your girls were born only 13 years ago!  Because it has really only been in the past 25 years or so that we've had good success with saving premature babies and them having good outcomes!  But watching those parents, day in and day out, waiting for their babies to come home, was heart breaking. So glad your girls are doing well!)

What is your favorite bible verse and why?

One of the many verses I treasure is "I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." Phil. 4:13 That verse has held me in good stead through many trials.

Disability friendliness: Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio?  Do your e-books have audio capability? Do you have any in large print? 
Yes, I'm happy to relate that Unending Devotion is available in audio format. The Preacher's Bride is also available on audio.

Unending Devotion

As you researched your books, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?

I live in central Michigan in an area that was once filled with towering white pines and that played a major role in the lumber era. I decided I wanted to explore that era, especially since it happened right in my backyard, so to speak.

During my research for the book, I ran across stories of young women who were abused, exploited, and even enslaved, and was heartbroken by the lesser known evils of an era that is usually quite glamorized.

Unending Devotion is inspired by one of those women, Jennie King. She rode a train into central Michigan in answer to  newspaper ad for a job. She expected to work in a hotel. Instead she found herself enslaved in a brothel. She fled, but was recaptured and beaten. The brave and desperate woman escaped again, wearing only a nightgown, and this time gained help from a local family. The brothel owner tried to get her back again. But the family helped smuggle Jennie out of town and to a safe place.

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from your books and why?

It was my hope in Unending Devotion to bring attention to some of the problems that existed during the lumber era, particularly the issue of white slavery, which is unfortunately still a problem within the United States (and throughout the world) today.

My prayer is that we will never forget the countless women who suffered. Even more than that, it's my hope that we may we rise up, stand tall, and fight against the injustices that still exist today.


Thank you Jody for agreeing to answer these questions.  Have a blessed day and keep on writing!!

Jody would love to connect with you! Find her in these places: Website  Blog Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. 

Buy Unending Devotion here: Amazon, CBD.com, and B&N

Giveaway this week: Book of your choice by Jody, choice of format.  International winners ebook only.

Guests:  Have you experienced a premature or difficult birth with any of your children?  What got you through it? Did you fear you may lose your child(ren)?  How did God help you?  Did He put people around you to help?

Overcoming Guilt and Shame of the Past by Diana Flowers

I recently finished a wonderful new novel called A Love Surrendered by one of my favorite authors, Julie Lessman, in which the hero in the book suffered from such shame and guilt over his past, he simply could not move on. His relationships with his friends were stagnant. He couldn't have a meaningful relationship with a young lady, and he couldn't even have one with God – or so he thought. Just a book character . . . right? Christians in real life aren't plagued by shame and guilt . . . wrong! After talking with many Christian and non-Christian women and family members I knew I HAD to write this post.

Us women are all so different—some of us like fishing, others cooking, gardening, hiking and one of my Facebook friends loves riding four wheelers (not me!). But one thing we all have in common is a past. The past is anything that happened before today. One may carry guilt over something that happened just yesterday, a year ago, or perhaps something that occurred in their childhood—and 30 plus odd years down the road it's still weighing them down. Some may harbor guilt or shame concerning events in their lives before they came to Christ, still others after they became a Christian. Many unfortunately bear the heavy burden of shame concerning sin that someone perpetrated against them.

Satan uses guilt and shame as a ploy to get the believer to think about past failures and to cause them to see themself in a distorted light. And he uses it with unbelievers as well – to make them feel unworthy of salvation. His objective is to keep us looking back at our past failures so much, that we begin to see ourselves as failures – the complete opposite of what we really are! How can we move forward with God with one foot still chained to the past? Remember Lot's wife who dared to look back (Genesis 19:26)—and thank God we live under the new covenant!

The woman at the well (John 4) was living a shameful life when she happened upon Jesus that fateful day. He told her she had been married umpteen times and the man she was now living with was not her husband. Did He condemn her? No, He was just telling her the facts and He told her how to get free! I'm convinced she repented, picked up a broom, beat that man out of her house, and lived a new life free from guilt and condemnation of the past. Romans 8:1 says—There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit!

The first step in freeing ourselves from the sins and guilt of the past – if we haven't done so already – is to repent and make Jesus the Lord of our lives. Simply ask Him to forgive you, come into your heart, and life, and make a new creature out of you—and He will! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says—Therefore if any man (or woman – my words) be in Christ, he/she is a new creature: old things are passed away; Behold all things are become new! ALL things!!!

The second step is asking forgiveness for not forgiving one's self for a past that is under the blood. A preacher said something so simple and profound one day that it literally changed my life and my whole thought process. He said that when a person will not forgive himself for the past and continues to carry guilt and shame over it, it is saying that Jesus' blood was not enough for us. Though He took upon Him the sin and shame of the whole world and shed His life's blood that we might find forgiveness – we are saying His blood wasn't enough; if we won't forgive ourselves. My shame and guilt were a thing of the past when I heard that. However . . .

The third step is to think about those things no more. Let them go! When satan tries to remind you of your past – remind him of his future! In Micah, God tells us that all of our sins are cast into the depth of the sea, never to be remembered any more by Him. I don't want to dredge them all the way up from there . . . do you? Hebrews 8:12 says—"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Now that our past has been blotted out, it's time to forget it, and as Philippians 3:13 says—Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before; I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!

I would be remiss here if I didn't address something to you that I had personally battled over for years . . . guilt and shame over things that were perpetrated against you that were not your fault. Jesus bore the stripes, the shame and shed His blood for that, too. We may not understand why that had to happen to us, but we live in a sinful, fallen world and some day we will be rewarded for all the tears we have shed because of another's sinful actions. Kneel at the cross and leave your guilt and shame at his nail scarred feet. Give it to Him and He will carry it for you. It's too heavy for us to bear, brothers and sisters, but He already bore it for us at Calvary's cross.

I end this post with tears streaming down my cheeks as I know firsthand the suffering that some of you have carried around for years. Let's kneel before the King together and walk forward hand in hand with our heads held high, for after all, we are Princes and Princesses—children of the most High, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!

Julie Lessman's new release "A Love Surrendered" Reviewed by Carrie Fancett Pagels

A Love Surrendered

A Love Surrendered
by Julie Lessman
(Revell, 2012)

Loved this book! 

Susannah Grace Kennedy, or  "Annie" used to be called Grace by her older sister and parents. Now an orphan, Annie brings her younger sister, Glory, to Boston where they must live with a spinster aunt. (Beautiful story arc with the aunt.) Their older sister, Maggie, lives in Hollywood and from all the tales she told of her time at college in Boston, Annie longs to follow in her sister's footsteps.  Unfortunately, the innocent young women has no idea of how "fast" her sister's crowd was.  She's about to find out!

Enter Steven O'Connor, prohibition agent and Maggie's former beau, who knows all too well the cost of failing to keep himself from moral turpitude.  Although Annie knows who he is, Stephen doesn't realize the young beauty he attempts to protect is Maggie's little sister. He makes it his mission to protect her from both the young women she's been associating with and the men who seek to take advantage of her innocence.

Julie does a great job of moving the reader past the "ew" factor of having two sisters in love with the same man, who has been a lover to the older sister. She's dealt with similar territory before in the extended O'Connor family and knows how to hook the reader and get them so involved they can understand why the characters might still fall in love.

Stephen and Annie both have their own spiritual issues to resolve. Annie finds a woman at church who begins guiding her--Stephen's older sister! Beautifully rich scenes where Annie is pulled into the circle of the O'Conner women's open arms. In fact, the entire extended O'Connor clan shows up in this novel, which is marvelous!

Wonderful secondary storyline woven in of Patrick and Marcy's progress in making decisions whether to adopt their foster daughter or not.  Always love the scenes with the parents and can't wait to read their story "A Light in the Window" which is available for pre-order now. 

Bibliotherapy: Sexual abstinence, foster parenting vs. adoption, sibling issues, alcohol use and abuse,  forgiveness, and loss of parents. Lots of great reading about overcoming!

The only problem with this book is that it concludes Julie Lessman's six books series! BUT--I ordered the audiobook, the first audiobook available, and so I can listen to this story again! And I have the pre-quel ahead of me!  I could not wait for the audiobook so I read the NG download on my Kindle.

As usual we have Passion with a Purpose all through this book.  Julie's mission is to caution young women about making poor decisions in relationships that have veered toward the mainly physical attraction and to find God's best for their lives.

A Love Surrendered has been placed on my Best of 2012 list!!!

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Julie Lessman's books can be purchased on CBD, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lifeway, and other book stores.

GIVEAWAYS: Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week's contests. Three drawings will be done this week for all the posts, with the last one late Saturday, your choice of Julie's books and choice of format*. Void where prohibited by law. 

*International winners will only receive the book in ebook format, not as a paperback.

Readers: Which of Julie's books have you most related to?  Which had a theme of overcoming that resonated with you?