Pepper Basham's Blog, page 14

Swoony Saturday – Tate Whitcomb

Welcome! Welcome! Swoony Saturdays are your opportunity to be introduced to a book hero who fits high quality hero characteristics. (okay, so he just makes us weak in the knees for all kinds of reasons, but you get the point)

The photos involved are chosen as the most representative of the heroes featured, so IF they look like someone you’ve seen before, that’s almost entirely accidental.

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Earlier this week I posted a review for A Note Yet Unsung (you can find my review HERE). Next we travelled to Nashville with Book Journeys to visit Belmont Mansion (travel with us HERE). And today, we are swooning over the hero…Tate.

Who? Nathaniel Tate Whitcomb

Where can we find this dreamboat? A Note Yet Unsung by Tamera Alexander (Bethany House Publishers 2017)[image error]Personality summary: Nationally acclaimed conductor Nathaniel Tate Whitcomb is Nashville’s new orchestra leader. And despite a reluctant muse–and a strange buzzing and recurring pain in his head–he must finish composing his symphony before the grand opening of the city’s new opera hall. But far more pressing, he must finish it for the one who first inspired his love of music–his father, who is dying. As Tate’s ailment worsens, he believes Rebekah can help him finish his symphony. But how do you win back a woman’s trust when you’ve robbed her of her dream? (From the back of the book)

What makes us swoon?

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MUSIC! He is a musician, need I say more?

Not only is he a musician, he is a nationally acclaimed conductor!

He is a serious, brooding sort.

Beth Erin says: “Rebekah and Tate made music together (literally) which was quite HOT like ‘you complete me’ good!”

He’s a moody fella, but, oh so tender with his family.

Fiercely loyal.

Rebecca Maney says: “(He is) complex, but he has his reasons.”

[image error]Gifted Musician…Wait did I say that already?

Toni Shiloh says: “Protective and debonair.”

He is a Godly man!

The mountain music will make you swoon indeed!

Though his relationship with Rebekah begins with discord, they learn to work together to complete Tate’s symphony.

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Kissing level of such swooniness:  They didn’t kiss much but the sparks were definitely flying. After conferring with fellow Tate fans, we decided on a solid 3 “May forget to breathe.”

Basic hero type: Tate is definitely a Darcy-ish character. His serious, brooding nature coupled with his fierce loyalty makes him a top notch swoony hero!

How can I meet this swoony mister? You can find a copy of A Note Yet Unsung from the following retailers:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Christian Book Distributors

About the Author


www.tameraalexander.com

Tamera Alexander is a USA Today bestselling novelist and one of today’s most beloved authors of Christian historical romance. Her works have been awarded and nominated for numerous industry-leading honors, among them the Christy Award, the RITA Award, the Carol Award, Library Journal’s top honors, and have earned the distinction of Publisher’s Weekly Starred Reviews. Her deeply drawn characters and thought-provoking plots have earned her devoted readers worldwide.

Tamera and her husband reside in Nashville, Tennessee, where they live a short distance from Nashville’s Belmont Mansion and Belle Meade Plantation , the setting of Tamera’s #1 CBA bestselling Southern series. Her upcoming series, the Carnton Novels , launches in fall 2017 with Christmas at Carnton  (October 3, 2017), a Christmas story, which is set at Franklin, Tennessee’s historic Carnton Plantation.

 

Kissing Levels & Hero Types

 

Tagged: A Note Yet Unsung, books, Heroes, music, Nashville, Tamera Alexander

Book Journeys – Belmont Mansion

Belmont Mansion – Pinterest

Known for its musical history, Nashville is a city with, not only a song or two, but a rich story. Home of our nation’s 7th president, Andrew Johnson, as well as the reputed ‘birthplace of country music’, Nashville offers a wide range of opportunities for a journey.

 

But since we’re celebrating Tamera Alexander’s newest release, A Song Yet Unsung, our feature place for our book journey is Belmont Mansion and…I’m also tempted to take you guys on a little jaunt to the mountains of eastern Tennessee.

Belmont – Pinterest

The Civil War was particularly hard on the South, and Nashville was no exception. With the battle raging both within and without the city walls, the world Rebekah Carrington steps back into is nothing like the city she left 10 years before. In A Note Yet Unsung, our heroine, Rebekah, garners employment with (and finds an ally in) the formidable Adelicia Acklen – a woman of fantastic wealth and influence. In the novel, she holds sway for both Rebekah and Tate (the hero), and Tamera does a fantastic job of incorporating this real-life heroine as a secondary character into her story.

 

Adelicia Acklen – Pinterest

In all honesty, Adelicia could have been the heroine of her own story. Her early life with riddled with grief. Her fiancé died just before their marriage, her second husband died after seven years of marriage, and all four of their children died before they reached the age of eleven. She would marry again and lose two of her six children before her second husband died after 14 years of marriage. Her second husband, Joseph Acklen, was an excellent businessman and increased Adelicia’s original wealth substantially. Together they built Belmont Mansion – an antebellum, Italian-style home seated on the highest hill of a 177 acre ‘plantation’.

 

Belmont Mansion – Pinterest

Construction began in 1853 and the house and grounds included an art gallery, aviary, bear house, and even a zoo. The Acklens opened the grounds to the locals so they could experience the opportunity of seeing the variety Belmont had to offer, and in so doing, had Nashville’s first public park. The 36 room mansion houses artwork from all over the world and oozes elegance and style. The Acklens also gave an annual ball at their home. Despite Belmont being a Union headquarters during the Civil War and caught in the middle of the Battle of Franklin, the sprawling and impression mansion survived – beautifully intact.

 

Inside Belmont – Pinterest

I can’t imagine what Adelicia’s losses forged within her but from all accounts she was a force to be reckoned with, although she was an exceedingly generous person. Beautiful, smart, and highly influential, she’s been compared to Scarlet O’Hara in being able to work the crowd to get what she wanted. Read more here.

 

[image error]To read more about Adelicia Acklen in fictional form, don’t miss Tamera Alexander’s book, A Note Yet Unsung. You can read my review here. And stop by Saturday for our Swoony Saturday post featuring Tate, the hero in this novel.

And…if you read the book, you’ll get a taste of my Appalachian culture. Just for kicks, here are a few pics from eastern Tennessee where my family lived for 8 years.

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Tagged: books, history, Location, Nashville

A Note Yet Unsung by Tamera Alexander

[image error]A Note Yet Unsung by Tamera Alexander is a duet between two hearts who are trying to make their dreams come true. Rebekah Carrington watches the world of music from behind the curtain of social norms. A talented musician who has studied for years in Vienna, Rebekah isn’t allowed to perform on stage due to society’s rule against women performing. Refusing to allow the curtain to drop on her dream, Rebekah seeks an audience with the new maestro of Nashville’s symphony orchestra, Nathaniel Tate Whitcomb. Despite his compassion in her plight, the young maestro cannot break convention and offer this woman a seat in his all-male orchestra. Though their relationship begins with discord, as they work together to complete Tate’s symphony, despite his recurring headaches and dizziness, a friendship blossoms into something much deeper.

But neither Rebekah or Tate are completely what they seem. Secrets from their pasts keep a hold on their futures and they must work in harmony to have a chance for both of their dreams to come true.

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Tamera Alexander’s beautiful writing and heart-touching ability to draw upon the characters’ distinct differences to complement each other is masterfully done. What should we expect from a master storyteller, though? As a mountain girl, I was particularly delighted in the way Tamera described Appalachian people in a positive light, without sugar coating reality. The tenderness and fierce love of family shines through in these scenes, which were my FAVORITE scenes…and I’m totally biased

Revolution Era Fiction

Happy Independence Day…or as my British friends say, “Happy Treason Day!”

Being Brave – 2017

[image error] Several years ago, m y six and seven year olds were having a conversation that went like this:

“You won’t believe what I did?” The seven year old leaned close to his sister, his blue eyes as wide as a monster-truck wheel.

His six year old sister caught the flare of excitement from him. “What?”

“I touched my eyeball. Just like this.” And he proceeded to demonstrate his amazing skill with a little probing for good measure.

His little sister, mouth hung in appropriate awe, replied, “You are so brave.”

[image error]We may snicker at this example and think of a time when kids in our memory did something in the same way. A ‘small’ adventure carried the excitement and energy of something as grand as stepping on the moon – and then we’d shrug it off as inconsequential – but in the world of the small, small things are big.

[image error]Now I’m not saying big deals shouldn’t be important or small things shouldn’t be put in proper perspective… but I AM saying ‘proper perspective’ matters a great deal.

One of the things that amazes me about Jesus is how he sees the needs of our hearts. He knows the ONE thing which will bring us the most joy and comfort (his love), but he also knows what we must overcome to find the perfect path to peace.

He knows the great or the small things that make our spirits tremble and He can provide the courage necessary to surmount the odds.

Do you remember the story of the Rich Young Man in Matthew 19? He came to Jesus and asked how he could receive eternal life. BIG deal, right? Eternal life! And according to the laws of the Pharisees, the man was pretty good at keeping the rules too. He had a ‘perfect’ record. A spotless checklist.

[image error]But even with a track record of gold, he still came to Jesus because something in him warned him he wasn’t good enough yet. He wasn’t secure. He wrestled uncertainty…aka- FEAR.

Christ hits him right at his heart. Speaks to that deepest fear with the accuracy only divinity can claim.

Jesus tells him to sell everything he has and follow Him.

The young man leaves sad, because he is very rich. He didn’t have the courage to release the temporal world for the eternal one. His ‘life’ was wrapped in HIS life – instead of a life wrapped in God.

One of the most beautiful and frightening things about Christianity is the truth that we must give everything up to gain everything. We must release our good things (dreams, hopes) as well as our bad things (sins, selfishness) to Christ and have the courage to trust His plans.

[image error]Is it easy? Some days it can be easier.

And other days? Not so much.

But the great thing about Jesus is – if he asks us to be brave, he doesn’t just leave us to find our own courage. He provides the opportunity AND the ability.

We are not left without the resources to do the BIG and the small things He calls us to do.

“Courage is not the absense of fear. It is the judgement that something is more important than our fear.” Ambrose Redmoon

(Isn’t that how God sees it too? His love, his strength, the opportunity to serve him becomes more important than our fear?)

[image error]Sometimes the biggest act of courage is a small one. ~Lauren Raffo

(service? love? finding a band-aid?)

People are made of flesh and blood and a miracle fibre called courage. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook, 1960

That miracle fiber? Jesus.

He displayed the ultimate courage on the cross, so we could pull from His reserves…

in the BIG or the small.

Tagged: Being Brave, From the Heart

Swoony Saturdays – Adrien Delaporte

Welcome! Welcome! Swoony Saturdays are your opportunity to be introduced to a book hero who fits high quality hero characteristics. (okay, so he just makes us weak in the knees for all kinds of reasons, but you get the point)

The photos involved are chosen as the most representative of the heroes featured, so IF they look like someone you’ve seen before, that’s almost entirely accidental.

Earlier this week I posted a review for one of my favorite books, Kissing Adrien (you can find my review HERE). Next we travelled to Paris with Book Journeys (travel with us HERE). And today, we are swooning over the hero…Adrien.

Who? Adrien Delaporte

Where can we find this dreamboat? Kissing Adrien by Siri Mitchell (Harvest House, 2005)

Personality summary: Confidante, funny, compassionate, and flirty, Adrien Delaporte is the quintessential French good guy. Since Kissing Adrien is first person from Claire le Noyer’s point of view, we don’t get firsthand ideas of what Adrien is feeling, but boy, oh boy, Siri describes this gorgeous specimen of European manhood’s emotions so well as seen through Claire’s eyes.

Adrien has been Claire’s childhood friend – now 10 years after their last meeting, they’re brought together again in the City of Love and Light to settle the estate of a mysterious aunt of Claire’s. The mystery of this aunt continues to keep Adrien and Claire in close proximity, and despite Claire fighting tooth-and-nail against how Adrien tries to get Claire to think outside the box, eventually the truth of her being loved and beautiful transforms this insecure workaholic into someone much more like she was created to be. Love does that, you know

Book Journeys – Paris

This week I’m celebrating one of my favorite contemporary romance novels. An “oldie” but a goodie, this book was published in 2005, and oh la la, I was introduced to the story and the author in 2007.

Why is that important?

Well, as a budding romance writer, I’d had a hard time finding books that really fit the mix of depth and fun I was going for, and when I stumbled across Siri Mitchell’s novel, Kissing Adrien, it was a match made of fictional proportions.

 

So, of course, I then purchased every book by her I could find. I’d also discovered Mary Connealy around the same time and felt pretty sure I’d struck gold! Two authors who combined faith, fun, and romance into well-written stories? Wowzah!

Now, let’s get to the Book Journey for today.

Kissing Adrien is a novel of self-discovery with romance sprinkled in. In the current flare of Katherine Reay, Siri Mitchell’s novel is about a young woman who’s allowed her creativity to dull beneath real-life expectations and has lost her dreams along the way. The story introduces a hero who is quite delightful in his own right. We’ll swoon over him lots more on the upcoming Swoony Saturday post, but for today…we’re talking setting.

Paris

Now, of course, there are a gazillion things to see in Paris, so we’re only going to chat about 5 and the #1 on the list is NOT the Eiffel Tower. GASP!

1. Notre Dame






Paris 1949 Pinterest

Located on the River Sienne, the grand and gothic cathedral, Notre Dame rises into the cityscape with its memorable western façade, spires, and flying buttresses. Completion of the cathedral occurred in the 12th century and the building has been both a setting and character in many books, most notably the Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. For trivia’s sake, the largest bell in Notre Dame, and the one you’ll hear tolled on the hour, is named Emmanuel and weighs 13 tons. Here is a video you can watch to HEAR the bell toll for yourself!

2. The Louvre

Next on our tour list is…nope, not the Eiffel Tower! I know, I know! What about the most iconic building in Paris? Well, let’s take a side trip first to one of the most culturally exquisite buildings in Paris. The Louvre.

Hailed as being one of the best art museums in the world, the Louvre opened its treasure-trove doors in the late 1700s and features art from all over the world. With paintings, sculptures, and mummies, this former royal residence houses a truly breathtaking display.

3. The Eiffel Tower

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Next is the most visible symbol in The City of Love. The Eiffel Tower.

Gustav Eiffel at the Eiffel Tower 1889 Pinterest

Ready for this? It was originally designed as a temporary structure for the 1889 World’s Fair. So, #1 it wasn’t supposed to be featured on the streets of Paris forever and #2 it’s not sooooo old. Another interesting historical tidbit, Gustav Eiffel (creator of the famed tower), designed it with a true scientist’s brain. He ran experiments off the tower related to transmissions – and because of the tower’s height, it became a strategic communication tower during WWI to not only transmit Allied info, but to intercept messages from the enemies.

 

 

 

4. The Marais
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If you’re more into the city-life scene with a wonderfully historic-bent, another great place to visit is The Marais. Similar to Manhattan’s West Village, except with a French twist, The Marais is filled with trendy shopping, restaurants, hotels, and pastry shops, yet the setting is pre-Napoleonic France. Cobblestone streets and elegant whitewashed buildings bring a bit of small town (though quite liberal in philosophy) feel in the center of a thriving city.

 

Alright, last one (although there are many more I could list). I chose this one for me because I WANT to see it someday and I love historic houses…or in this case…um…palaces.

5. The Château de Versailles

The Château de Versailles is the former residence of King Louis XIV and XV. A conglomeration of architectural extravagance and dazzling beauty, the palace boasts The Royal Opera House, the Royal Chapel, and the most visited fixture – The Hall of Mirrors. There are also extended gardens to explore and a wonderful history to uncover, so what’s not to love?

Now, if we add a very romantic guy named Adrien to the list of things to see in Paris, then this Book Journey sounds like a dream-come-true. Learn more about Adrien Delaporte on Saturday in Swoony Saturdays.

So….if you could visit Paris, what would you most look forward to seeing?

Tagged: Love, Paris, Siri Mitchell

Kissing Adrien…AGAIN

[image error]How’s that for a ‘grab you’ title?

10 years ago I read Kissing Adrien by Siri Mitchell for the first time. It was one of those moments as a budding writer where you realize: What? Someone writes in a style/way I want to write!! How cool is that?!

Kissing Adrien is a beautiful story with so many fun and poignant elements. Yes, it’s a romance. Yes, it’s a fun jaunt through the city of Love. Yes, it’s quirky and enjoyable, but it’s so much more. It’s a journey of one woman taking a deeper look at who she is and who GOD is…and how that changes her view about everything else.

As I reread this book for my Kissing Adrien week, I realized all the more how Siri took this story and made God BIGGER through Claire’s journey. So many times we minimize the greatness of God by making him fit into some prepackage of our own making – and by doing this, our world becomes smaller, our adventures become safer, our dreams become compact, and our self-image as God’s kid becomes tainted.

By using the hero, Adrien, Siri not only opens Claire’s heart to seeing her own self-worth and beauty as God’s child, but also uses Adrien to guide Claire through it.

Adrien is French…and seriously, Oh LA LA does not even reach the pinnacle of his awesomeness. You can learn more about him in my Swoony Saturday post because it’s ALLLLLLL about Adrien!

Claire is the girl-next-door who’s forgotten how to color outside the lines because life kind of ‘got in the way’ of silly things like fairytales and dreams. She’s forgotten who she is. She’s lost her way. All she needs is someone to find her, help her learn how to wear the perfect black dress, and sweep her off her feet along a walk down the Champs Elysees

Swoony Saturdays – The Beast

Welcome! Welcome! Swoony Saturdays are your opportunity to be introduced to a book hero who fits high quality hero characteristics. (okay, so he just makes us weak in the knees for all kinds of reasons, but you get the point)

The photos involved are chosen as the most representative of the heroes featured, so IF they look like someone you’ve seen before, that’s almost entirely accidental.

We are having a little fantastical fun today with our featured SWOONY hero.

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Who? Beast aka Dan Stevens

Where can we find this dreamboat? Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast released March 2017

Personality summary: Some people are experiential learners and for this prince, it’s going to take an enchantress’ curse, some faithful houseware, and a fearless commoner to transform him into hero material. Not all heroes are born. The prince’s future and personality were impacted by his mother’s death and his father’s cruelty, corrupting his heart into a loveless quest for self-indulgence. When the enchantress changes him into a beast, the only way to break the spell is for him to “learn to love and earn their love in return”, but not a lot of people brave a wolf-infested forest to a creepy, always-winter-never-Christmas castle in the middle of nowhere…except maybe a beautiful woman trying to save her father.

Through an interesting turn of events, Belle, the girl, takes her father’s place as the Beast’s prisoner, and with a little rescuing of each other, healthy arguing, a whole bunch of compassion, some singing flatware, a pretty substantial gift of books, a deeper understanding of their backstories, and the discovery of their mutual interests, this uncertain, brooding hero is rescued by true love.

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What makes us swoon?

Dan Stevens

Dan Stevens’ voice

Dan Stevens’ eyes

Oh, sorry…you mean the character of Beast. RIGHT!

Beth Erin says “Fur is manly and warm and cozy.”

He has a teachable heart, once he gets over his grumpiness

Tina Turpin said, “He is kind and compassionate.” Which is true once he sets his bitterness aside.

His insecurity is sweet

He likes to read

And he gives Belle a LIBRARY…WHAT can be swoonier than that?

He also gives her a trip to Paris, but that’s anticlimactic after the library gift.

He is quick to apologize when he realizes he’s wrong

Humility looks fabulous on him

Marisa Deshaies had this wonderful quote to add: I have something: The Beast/Prince Adam is swoony because he becomes who is meant to be as he falls in love with Belle. He is the embodiment someone who learns to love (and not just in the romantic sense, as he also loves his friends) and becomes the better for it because in loving he forgoes his own desires and gives to the other person what they need.

Did we already mention Dan Stevens?

Here is the video of Beast’s song:

[image error]The EYES! Pinterest

Kissing level of such swooniness: In all honesty, it’s a kid-flick, so the kissing level barely made it to a 3. I’m certain if the camera hadn’t panned out so fast, we’d have gotten more of the 4 kind-of-kiss we see in the animated version.

Basic hero type: The consensus is that Beast is a combination of Darcy and Edward Ferrars. This melancholy is a brooder with a whole lot of uncertainty underneath that growl. When given the opportunity to show affection and love, he’ll shower it in extravagant ways from a tender heart, but his past keeps him second-guessing himself. Good friends, a steadfast heroine, and

 opportunity, truly transform this beast into prince charming.

How can I meet this swoony mister? Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast. You can order it on Amazon HERE.

Kissing Levels & Hero Types



Tagged: Beauty and the Beast, Heroes, Swoon Often

Book Journeys – Historic Villages

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[image error]I finished reading Becky Wade’s newest novel, True to You, last week which features a historic village that the heroine owns, so I thought it would be cool to feature a few historic villages in the U.S. to celebrate keeping history alive