Deborah Vogts's Blog, page 120

This Week's Recipes

Here are this week's new additions at Country at Heart Recipes, great to serve for a Mother's Day brunch or event. Enjoy! 
Lemon Blueberry Scones
Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Cinnamon Twists
and Author Deborah Raney shared her recipe for Blackberry Cream Cake. Be sure to stop by and check them out! 

Book Drawing ~ Submerged by Dani Pettrey

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Submerged • Bethany House Publishers; Original edition (May 1, 2012) by Dani Pettrey


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dani Pettrey is a wife, homeschooling mom, and author. She feels blessed to write inspirational romantic suspense because it incorporates so many things she loves--the thrill of adventure, nail biting suspense, the deepening of her characters' faith, and plenty of romance. She and her husband reside in Maryland with their two teenage daughters.


Just in case you’re curious…The real Dani does love traveling. She’s been to some amazing places (Greece, Hawaii, the Keys) and there are many more she hopes to visit in the future. And while she’s not quite up to sky-diving, cave diving or heli-skiing (too high, too enclosed, too cold!) she and her family love hiking, canoeing, wave jumping and a ton of other outdoor adventures a little further down on the risk scale.


ABOUT THE BOOK
A sabotaged plane. Two dead deep-water divers. Yancey, Alaska was a quiet town . . . until the truth of what was hidden in the depths off the coast began to appear.


Bailey Craig vowed never to set foot in Yancey again. She has a past, and a reputation--and Yancey's a small town. She's returned to bury a loved one killed in the plane crash and is determined not to stay even an hour more than necessary. But then dark evidence emerges and Bailey's own expertise becomes invaluable for the case.


Cole McKenna can handle the deep-sea dives and helping the police recover evidence. He can even handle the fact that a murderer has settled in his town and doesn't appear to be moving on. But dealing with the reality of Bailey's reappearance is a tougher challenge.


She broke his heart, but she is not the same girl who left Yancey. He let her down, but he's not the same guy she left behind. Can they move beyond the hurts of their pasts and find a future together? If you would like to read the first chapter of Submerged, go HERE.



Leave a comment below (along with an email address) to enter this week's book drawing. A winner will be selected on Sunday, May 13.

  *Void where prohibited. Open only to US residents. Odds of winning depend on number of entrants. Comments must be made on this blog. Social network comments are not valid.

Mailbox Monday

One of the greatest treasures as a writer is the interaction I have with my readers. I continue to be amazed that even though my books have been out for awhile, I am still gaining new readership. Here are a few letters I've recently received that have personally blessed me. Wishing you a lovely Monday. ~ Deborah

Hi Deborah,Just want you to know I just finished this book (Snow Melts in Spring) and it was terrific. I cried! I laughed! I remembered! I repented! You are the only person I have ever emailed but I want you to know that your book helped heal some of my hurts and my own self-condemnation. It is a great book and I hope to find more that you have authored. Thanks for persevering! MS


*********Deborah, 
I had to write to you and tell you how I loved your two books in the Tallgrass series.  I honestly didn't want them to end.  Both are just so well written and the characters are so likeable and believeable.  Its such a pleasure to read romance written by a Christian, and I truly hope you will have another in the series coming out, like fall and winter??? Hoping and crossing my fingers??  I liked them so much I bought them to keep in my library. You made me want to see this country and hopefully I will one of these days. I read your blog and I also saw that you talked about a book by Stephen Bly so I went to the library and have been checking his books out too and totally enjoying them. May God bless and favor you and your family.  Thanks again for two of my favorite books in my collection. Sincerely EM


*********And another by a 13-year-old reader: 



Dear Deborah,Hello, I have recently just read your book Snow Melts In Spring. And I wanted to thank you for writing such a terrific book that involves horses. Sometimes it's hard to find a good romance with horses and other animals. I also wanted to thank you because you helped me move on from my dad’s death and helped me realize it wasn’t  my fault he died and that there was nothing I could do to help him. I would give your book a 5-Star rating. Thanks So Much, BM

This Week's Recipes

Here are this week's additions at Country at Heart Recipes . Enjoy! 
Taco Bowl Salad
Savory Southwest Biscuits

Book Drawing - Traveler's Rest

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Traveler’s Rest
Bethany House Publishers; Original edition (May 1, 2012)
by Ann Tatlock


Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association "Book of the Year" in fiction for both All the Way Home and I'll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her "one of Christian fiction's better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories." Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina.


ABOUT THE BOOK
A YOUNG WOMAN determined to honor her commitment...
AN INJURED SOLDIER convinced life is no longer worth living...
A RETIRED DOCTOR certain it's too late to be forgiven...


Jane Morrow has a dilemma. She's engaged to Seth Ballantine, a member of the National Guard's 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, and he's returned from Iraq severely wounded. Jane hasn't seen him for nearly a year, and with trepidation, she heads to the VA hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, where he is being treated.


Seth isn't happy to see her. He'd asked her not to come. He wants to end the relationship. But Jane loves him, and despite his injury, she's determined to convince him that they can have a life together. Her faith has never been strong, yet she hopes God will answer her prayers and tell her what to do.


Beautifully written, Travelers Rest takes readers on a journey through pain and tragedy to a place of hope and redemption. If you would like to read the first chapter of Traveler’s Rest, go HERE.



Leave a comment below to enter this week's book drawing. A winner will be selected on Sunday, May 6.
  *Void where prohibited. Open only to US residents. Odds of winning depend on number of entrants. Comments must be made on this blog. Social network comments are not valid.

Goats and Roses

Our oldest daughter and her husband drove in from Phoenix this weekend for his grandfather's funeral scheduled later this week. Here are some pictures from our time together. 
Our daughters (always happy to be together)
My first rose of the season
 Our youngest daughter's 4-H goats. No names yet, but I'll keep you posted. Hope you have a great week! 

This Week's Recipes

New this week on Country at Heart Recipes. Enjoy! 
Orange Cinnamon Rolls
Bow Tie Pasta with Sausage and Sweet Peppers
Coconut Cream Pie

April Flowers Bring May Showers

Well, maybe Mother Nature has it backwards this year. We'll see what May brings. April certainly was full of blooms. My roses are full of leaves and buds and are just beginning to bloom. I hope to share pictures of them soon. Until then, I hope you'll enjoy these:
Purple Iris
Red Dianthus
Lavender

What flowers are blooming in your yard? Enjoy the moments . . . 

Book Drawing - Need You Now

Leave a comment below to enter this week's book drawing. A winner will be selected on Sunday, April 29.
  *Void where prohibited. Open only to US residents.  Odds of winning depend on number of entrants. Comments must be made on this blog. Social network comments are not valid.
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is: Beth Wiseman and the book: Need You Now Thomas Nelson; 1 edition (April 10, 2012)***Special thanks to Rick Roberson, The B&B Media Group, for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: When a personal crisis tested and strengthened her faith, award-winning journalist Beth Wiseman was advised by her agent to consider writing a Christian novel, particularly an Amish one. Encouraged by her agent’s urging, she began exploring the Amish lifestyle and soon developed a great appreciation for the more peaceful way of life. In 2008 Wiseman wrote her debut novel, Plain Perfect, featuring the Amish lifestyle within the context of a fictional love story. It was a bestseller, as have been all of the full-length novels and novellas she has written since.


While Need You Now is Wiseman’s first non-Amish novel, she is confident it will not be the last. She is already making plans to write a second contemporary novel in the near future. Like Need You Now, it will also be set in small-town Texas, a familiar background she thoroughly loves exploring and writing about.


Wiseman’s previous releases have held spots on the CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) and the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) bestseller lists. In 2010, she received the INSPY Award for Amish Fiction (chosen by blog reviewers). In 2011, she received the Carol Award and was the Inspirational Readers Choice winner for her book Plain Paradise. Her novel Seek Me with All Your Heart was the 2011 Women of Faith Book of the Year. In addition, Wiseman has been a Retailers Choice Finalist, a Booksellers Best Finalist and a National Readers Choice Finalist. Prior to becoming a novelist she received many honors for her work as a journalist, including a prestigious First Place News Writing Award from the Texas Press Association.


Today, she and her husband are empty nest parents of two grown sons, enjoying the country lifestyle and living happily with two dogs, two cats, two pot-bellied pigs, two chickens and a single pygmy goat in a small community in South Central Texas. Along with writing, she enjoys cooking, reading, traveling and watching good movies. Her favorite pastime, however, is spending time with friends and family. Visit the author's website.


SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION: We all count on the support of those around us when times are tough, but what do we do when those we depend on the most are suddenly gone? How do we cope when life has pulled the rug out from under us and left us with nothing and no one to hold on to? To whom can we turn when it seems no one, not even God, is there? These are the questions best-selling author Beth Wiseman addresses in her first contemporary novel, Need You Now (Thomas Nelson).


After the safety of one of their children is threatened, Need You Now’s main character, Darlene Henderson, and her husband Brad choose to move their family from Houston to the dot-in-the-road town of Round Top, Texas; moving into the old fixer-upper farm left to Darlene by her grandparents. Adjusting to the change is more difficult than any of them imagined, especially for the middle child, 15-year-old Grace, who becomes a cutter, using a dangerous and particularly self-damaging way of coping with stress.


The move also begins to take a toll on the couple’s marriage when Darlene decides to take a job outside the home in an effort to make new friends in the community. As the domestic tension rises, both begin to wonder if the same shared faith that has carried them through difficult times in the past will be strong enough to help them now.


To make matters worse, Darlene begins receiving inappropriate attention from the widowed father of the autistic young girl she is assigned to work with at the school for special needs children where she is employed. Unfortunately, this new attention comes just when she is most vulnerable. If there has ever been a time in her life when she needed God, it is now. But will she allow arising feelings of unworthiness to keep her from seeking Him?


In her first novel not set in an Amish community, Wiseman spins her well-honed characters and setting into a thought-provoking message that not only makes the reader ponder his or her own relationship with God, but also sheds light on the little-known disorders of using self-injury as a way of seeking relief and high-functioning autism. Need You Now is the perfect read for anyone who has ever questioned life and God’s will.



Product Details:
List Price: $15.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson; 1 edition (April 10, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595548874
ISBN-13: 978-1595548870


AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Darlene’s chest tightened, and for a few seconds she couldn’t move. If ever there was a time to flee, it was now. She put a hand to her chest, held her breath, and eased backward, sliding one socked foot at a time across the wooden floor of her bed- room. She eyed the intruder, wondering why he wasn’t moving. Maybe he was dead.
Nearing the door, she stretched   her arm behind   her, searching for the knob. She turned it quickly, and at the click of the latch, her trespasser rushed toward her. In one movement, she jumped backward, across the threshold and into the den, slamming the door so hard the picture of the kids fell off the wall. She looked down at Chad, Ansley, and Grace staring up through broken glass, then hurried

This Week's Recipes

Here are the new recipes I shared this week on Country at Heart Recipes.
 Easy Corn Dip
 Zesty Pizza Sauce
Also, Featured Author, Diana Brandmeyer, shared her recipe for Gluten Free Irish Soda Bread. Stop by and say hello!