Davalynn Spencer's Blog, page 55

Book 7 – The Nativity Bride

The Nativity Bride by Miralee Ferrell touched my heart with its setup of tender young love thwarted by outside circumstances.

And I wondered: Would love win?

Even in the face of long-standing resentment?

You won’t be disappointed with The Nativity Bride.

 

 

About the book: Deborah Summers has waited five years and prayed for Curt Warren to return to Goldendale, Washington, passing up another marriage proposal by believing in her first love. When tragedy finally brings him home, will a rift with his father drive him away too quickly?

 

Miralee Ferrell is an avid reader with a large collection of first edition Zane Grey books—her inspiration to write fiction set in the Old West. She rides horseback with her adult daughter and lives with her husband on 11 acres along the Columbia River in southern Washington. Learn more about Miralee at her website and on Facebook.

 

For a fun Christmas contest, visit my author Facebook page and look for Christmas Wedding Bell Brides for a chance to win a special Christmas tree ornament!

Book 6 – The Gingerbread Bride

 

Fall is snuggling into its wintry coat and we’re halfway through the 12 Brides with Gingerbread Bride by Amy Lillard.

Seeing is believing, right? But what about believing the wrong thing, in spite of the evidence?

I couldn’t help but laugh my way through this delightful Christmas tale of gingerbread misgivings and longed-for love.

How about you? Has a gingerbread man ever changed the way you view love?

 

About the book:

Maddie Sinclair loves Harlan Calhoun, but feels like she can’t get his attention, so she visits an eccentric woman in the Ozark Mountains for an herbal mixture—a love potion—that she bakes into a batch of gingerbread cookies. When Harlan suddenly proposes, Maddie is torn by guilt and confusion. Is this true love or just the herbs talking?

Published author, expert corn bread maker, and Squirrel Princess. Amy is a native of Mississippi who currently lives in Oklahoma with her husband and son. For more information about Amy, please visit her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

 

For a fun Christmas contest, visit my author Facebook page and look for Christmas Wedding Bell Brides for a chance to win a special Christmas tree ornament!

Book 5 – The Yuletide Bride

Music – the voice of the heart. Especially at Christmas!

I loved the part music plays in The Yuletide Bride and you will too if you set out looking for author Michelle Ule’s hint of “eleven pipers piping.”

Obstacles abound, in this delightful romance but so does faith. And if you like surprises, you won’t be disappointed with The Yuletide Bride.

Life is often hard, but God made a way for us all when he sent His Son. Have you seen His hand in your life?

 

 

About the book:

Ewan Murray and Kate McDougall hold a mutual appreciation for music—and each other. But as she comes of age, Ewan realizes he must do something to prove his worth to her banker father. Will a refurbished heirloom and a sudden snowstorm be the key to earning permission to marry?

Michelle Ule’s novellas have appeared in the New York Times best-selling A Log Cabin Christmas Collection and last year’s best-selling A Pioneer Christmas Collection. She lives in northern California where she writes, reads, and plans the next trip to an exotic location. Find Michele at www.michelleule.com and on Facebook.

FUN TIP:

This week, exclusively at select Walmart stores, look for Christmas Wedding Bell Brides. Inside you’ll find my story, No. 11, “The Snowbound Bride” that releases as an e-book Dec. 15.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also check for White Christmas Brides (with Michele Ule’s story) and The Heartland Christmas Brides. These three Walmart-only books contain all the 12 Brides stories.

Book 4 – The Gift-Wrapped Bride

The weeks are flying!

Today Book 4 in The 12 Brides of Christmas debuts with a feisty heroine forced to ask, “Do bullies ever change?”

This story reminded me that sometimes the Christmas miracle takes place in the heart.

Can we really forgive – and forget – the past?

 

About the book:

Sophie Stewart’s family has just moved to Chicago to join her brother and help start a church. Sophie is an artist with big dreams, but she feels her parents are pushing her to marry someone like Noah Jackson, a young man from their Ohio hometown. But forgiving the past and recognizing Noah’s maturity and changes may take a miracle.

The award-winning author of eleven books, Maureen Lang has been writing since childhood. Her latest release is part of The Gilded Legacy Series: All in Good Time. She lives with her family in the Midwest.

Connect with Maureen on her website and on Facebook.

 

Book 3 – The Evergreen Bride

It’s here! – The Evergreen Bride, by Pam Hillman, book 3 of the 12 Brides of Christmas collection.

I enjoyed this story because it took me where I’ve never been – the piney woods of Mississippi. However, as a California girl originally, I could relate to the heroine’s longing for a white Christmas.

The Evergreen Bride is a heartwarming historical tale of almost missing what you truly value because it’s so close you don’t see it.

Has that ever happened to you?

 

About the book:

Mississippian Annabelle Denson dreams of visiting cousins in Illinois and enjoying a white Christmas. In the face of her excitement, Samuel Frazier hides his growing affection for her behind a quiet smile and a carpenter’s lathe. Samuel starts to worry that if she goes, Annabelle won’t return. Can he convince her to stay?

Award-winning author Pam Hillman writes inspirational fiction set in the turbulent times of the American West and the Gilded Age. Her debut novel, Stealing Jake, was a finalist in the International Digital Awards and the 2013 EPIC eBook Awards.

Connect with Pam on her website, Facebook  and on Twitter @PamHillman

 

Book 2 – The Nutcracker Bride

Already we’re in week 2 of The 12 Brides of Christmas novella collection. This week’s story offers:

Family traditions, outlaws, Texas Rangers and a beautiful blue-eyed baker – it’s all here in The Nutcracker Bride  by Margaret Brownley.

Each of the 12 Brides stories celebrates a special, out-of-the-ordinary gift, and gives the reader a peek into historic holiday traditions.

What family traditions do you celebrate year after year?

 

About the book: While Lucy Langdon gathers walnuts, someone throws a bag of money into her wagon and rides away. Now Chad Prescott, a Texas Ranger, is determined to recover the bag, but not before he is shot as a prowler. Waking up in a house full of German nutcrackers is rather disconcerting for this lawman, but not as troublesome as feeling his heart fall for the lovely Lucy.

Margaret Brownley has penned more than thirty novels. Her books have won numerous awards and she’s a former Romance Writers of American RITA® finalist. She’s also written for a TV soap, and is currently working on a new series of mystery/romance novels. The first in the series, Petticoat Detective, will be published in December 2014. Connect with Margaret at her website, on Twitter, and Facebook.

 

 

Twelve Ways to Enjoy Christmas

Did you realize there are twelve weeks left until Christmas? Some of you are jumping up and down in excitement like you did as a child … and some of you are screaming and running to the other room.

No worries either way—you are perfectly entitled to respond as you choose. But I hope you’ll also choose to join in the fun of a new Christmas love story for every one of those 12 weeks.

Eleven other authors and I have written novellas set in the 1800s. These historical romances are part of Barbour’s The 12 Brides of Christmas collection for the holidays. A new story will be released each Monday until Christmas, and is available for your e-reader—even if you don’t have one. You can download a free app on Amazon that will let you read on your phone or home computer.

Over the next 12 weeks, I will highlight the novella of the week with a buy link included for your convenience. Only .99!

Here’s to enjoying a simpler holiday from days gone by. And don’t forget to tell your friends!

Merry Christmas!

Book 1:

The Advent Bride, by Mary Connealy

Three lonely people explore the mystery of a puzzle box that takes them through the cold days of December on a journey to Christmas. A journey that soothes their lonely lives and leads them to love.

Join in the life-changing puzzle of the Advent Box.

Mary Connealy is a best-selling author who writes romantic comedy with cowboys. She is a Carol Award winner and a Rita, Christy, and Inspirational Reader’s Choice finalist. Her Western series include “Wild at Heart,” “Trouble in Texas,” “Kincaid Bride series,” and many more. Mary is married to a Nebraska rancher and has four grown daughters and three spectacular grandchildren.

Find Mary online at her website and on Facebook. She also blogs on Petticoats and Pistols and Seekerville.

 

 

The Snowbound Bride – Dec. 15. Pre-order here!

What’s the question again?

If God asked you a question, what would it be?

“God doesn’t need to ask me a question,” you say. “He already knows everything about me.”

True, He does, but God is relational. He has always asked questions of those He loves. Here are a few examples:

He asked Adam in the Garden of Eden, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)
He asked Elijah on Mount Horeb, “What are you doing here?” (1Kings 19:9,13)
He asked a blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51)

The answers all seem pretty obvious, but I believe God still asks those same questions today.

Where are you? Is God waiting for you in the cool of the evening or the quiet pre-dawn to talk with you, listen to your concerns, warm you with His presence as you worship Him? Have you missed that appointment often enough that God is whispering, “Where are you?”
What are you doing here? Have you run away from something the Lord called you to do? Have you thrown up your hands in disgust or discouragement and quit? Are you in the wrong place at the wrong time, wondering how you ended up in a cave, how you got off track?
What do you want me to do for you? Jesus said we miss out on a lot because we don’t ask. What is it exactly that you need from Him? Can you pinpoint it? Are you willing to ask, or are you afraid He won’t come through with an answer?

An all-knowing God who asks us questions is a personal God who cares about relationship.

What is He asking you?

WHAT VOICES DO YOU LISTEN TO?

Voices from the box on my desk tell me the world is too hot, too wet, too cold, too out of control.

Those voices shout doomsday declarations about the industry I’m involved in. They tell me that evil is on the rise and justice is on the lam. That I need more money, a smaller figure, a newer car, a bigger house.

And then I walk outside and see the morning. Again. Just like yesterday. And I hear God say, “I’ve got this.”

If there were no electricity, we could still hear God.

Where morning dawns and evening fades

You call forth songs of joy.

Psalm 65:8 NIV

What Would You Recommend?

Too many books; too little time.

No one can read all the good books out there, but everyone can read a few, and what a great way to relax, learn, experience, escape.

Last week I shared some award-winning novels with you. This week I’m adding a few earlier releases to the list (alphabetically by title).

What books (by any author) have you read that you would recommend? I’d love to hear your choices. Comment below and be entered in a drawing to win a copy of my latest historical.

 

 

 

Anyone who says they have only one life to live

must not know how to read a book.
–Author Unknown

A March Bride by Rachel Hauck (A Year of Weddings Novella Book 4)

A Pioneer Christmas Collection with stories by Lauraine Snelling, Margaret Brownley, Kathleen Fuller, Marcia Gruver, Cynthia Hickey, Vickie McDonough, Shannon McNear, Michelle Ule, Anna Urquhart

Shattered by Dani Pettrey

Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer

The Substitute Bride by Linda S. Glaz

Wedding on the Rocks by Rose Ross Zediker