Sarah Holman's Blog, page 90

Adventure Between the Pages: The Princess Spy

Buy it Here Age Appropriate For: 13 and up for mild romance and mild violenceBest for Ages: 13 and up
Description: Margaretha has always been a romantic, and hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, is destined to be her one true love. But then an injured man is brought to Hagenheim Castle, claiming to be an English lord who was attacked by Claybrook and left for dead. And only Margaretha---one of the few who speaks his language---understands the wild story. Margaretha finds herself unable to pass Colin's message along to her father, the duke, and convinces herself 'Lord Colin' is just an addled stranger. Then Colin retrieves an heirloom she lost in a well, and asks her to spy on Claybrook as repayment. Margaretha knows she could never be a spy---not only is she unable to keep anything secret, she's sure Colin is completely wrong about her potential betrothed. Though when Margaretha overhears Claybrook one day, she discovers her romantic notions may have been clouding her judgment about not only Colin but Claybrook as well. It is up to her to save her father and Hagenheim itself from Claybrook's wicked plot.
I didn’t think that any of Dickerson’s book would ever come close to The Captive Maiden. After all, I love Cinderella, and her retelling of that story was just so wonderful. However, The Princess Spy has taken the spot of my #1 favorite fairy-tale book.
Margaretha was my favorite female character in all of Dickerson’s books, maybe even one of my top 10 of the year. She had so much spunk and fire, while still being lady-like. Too often, when writers write about spunky girls, they make them tom-boys. Margaretha was a wonderful exception. I loved her fault of talking too much at times, and how Dickerson wove that into the story.
Colin was pretty awesome himself. Some readers might remember his grandparents from the book The Merchant’s Daughter. He had come to Germany from England to avenge the death of a friend, only to find his enemy threatening the only person that spoke English, Margaretha.
I don’t think that I have read a book that did as good a job showing the difficulties of the language barrier. Margaretha constantly has to repeat things in English for Colin, and there are some words that she doesn’t know in English (which is often humorous).
I don’t think I have laughed so hard with any of Dickerson’s books. Not only did the difference in language make for some very funny scenes, but Colin and Margaretha where just the perfect mix for humor. I laughed so much during this book that a couple of my siblings said that they had to read the book as soon as I finished. However, even though it was funny in parts, it also kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was coming next
I loved the faith element in this story, and the romance was even sweeter than normal. Colin’s love for Margaretha, despite her faults, was so wonderful.
I highly recommend this book to those who love fairytales, romance, and exciting stories that keep you turning pages.


I received this book from Zondervan in exchange for my honest review. I was under no obligation to write a positive review. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

The Best Books and Blogs for Writers By Amber Schamel

Today, I am taking part in Amber Schamel's blog tour for her newest book, The Messiah's Sign. Here is a bit about the book:
Dreams…they shouldn’t bother him, but when Tyrus’ worst nightmare is vindicated, he has no choice but to face reality. His wife has been unfaithful, and God has punished her with the most feared disease in the land: leprosy. Banishing her to the leper colony, Tyrus struggles to raise their son alone and protect him from a merciless outlaw. But when Malon begins following the teacher from Nazareth, what remains of their business and reputation is at stake. Can Tyrus save his son from the beguiling lies of a false Messiah before he loses the only thing he has left?
Now, for a great post by Amber:
I've often been asked what my advice for beginning writers would be, and the answer to that is two parts: First, be teachable, and the second plays into that, which is LEARN! Learn how to be a better writer, learn how to market better, and search out this information. The problem is, a lot of times writers don't know where to start. I have a number of great blogs and books that I've found, so I thought I'd share them with you.
The Best Writing Books I've Found:
Rivet Your Readers with Deep POV by Jill Elizabeth NelsonThis is a book you'll want to add to your keeper shelf. Jill shows you how to take your writing to the next level and really pull your readers into the story world through the method of Deep POV. This is a fairly new method, and I believe this is the first book to be written on it, but it will make a HUGE difference in your writing. It did for me!
Goal, Motivation & Conflict by Debra DixonI wish I would have read this book years before. I was missing something in my writing, and I knew I was, I just didn't know WHAT it was. While reading this book, my light bulb lit up. I had characters with lots of tension and conflict, lots of terrible things happening to loveable people, and they even had a motivation at times. But they were ping-pong balls being bashed around in my story world with no particular goal or purpose. When I picked up GMC and started reading, I could have hugged Debra for what she taught me. She has a gift of explaining in terms that we can understand, and uses lots of examples for those of us that learn that way.
Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors By Brandilyn CollinsThis is a great book on developing our characters into life-like people. One of the best I've read so far.
The First Five Pages by Noah LukemanThis book gives you a really good overview of beginner mistakes and how to avoid them. It's a really great place to start. The best marketing book I've read is by far Platform by Michael Hyatt. Michael does a great job at explaining how marketing our writing works, what works best, and where to start. He's included lots of extras, examples, and helpful links in his book as well. It's worth every penny if you are serious about selling books.
My Favorite Writing Blogs:
Seekerville BlogSeekerville is an AMAZING writer's blog, and most of you have probably already found it, but for those of you that haven't, I'm listing it here. Seekerville was my Writer's University, and I continue to learn from EVERY SINGLE post. The blog authors are amazing writers who are dedicated to helping other authors and encouraging them in following God's call to write. The help, encouragement and wisdom I've gained from this group of authors is immeasurable. http://seekerville.blogspot.com/
Seriously Write BlogI discovered the Seriously Write blog about a year ago, but it has quickly become one of my top five blogs. The posts are timely, educational, uplifting and practical. They cover topics such as writing tips, marketing, how to's, connecting with editors and agents, and much more. http://seriouslywrite.blogspot.com/
The Write ConversationThis is Edie Melson's blog, and she posts a lot of helpful information for writers, especially those published by small presses, or those that are going indie. http://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com
Novel RocketThe Novel Rocket blog is put out by a team of authors with the goal of helping other writers "rocket" their novel to success. I'm subscribed to daily updates from this blog, and love it. They have instructional posts, author interviews, contest updates, and more. http://www.novelrocket.com/
The ACFW BlogPut out by the American Christian Fiction Writers Association, this blog has a guest author each day sharing encouragement for writers, tips, and answers to writer questions. You can subscribe to the blog without being a member, however if you are a Christian Author, I would highly suggest membership. http://www.acfw.com/blog/There are a lot of other books and blogs that I could recommend, but these are the best of them all.
What are your favorite writing books and blogs? Will you share them with me?I'd like to invite each of you to join me in celebrating my new release with the Name-A-Character Giveaway! Enter to for a chance to pick the name of a main character in Amber's upcoming book The Christmas Pardon. Terms and conditions apply. In the aftermath of the Civil War, a young lawyer battles with the U.S. Supreme court. In what seemed to be a Christmas miracle, he had secured a pardon for his friend from Lincoln himself. The army executed the boy anyway. On the fifteenth anniversary of his death, will the lawyer finally clear his friends name and bring justice to his memory?
http://www.amberschamel.com/contests.html
Best selling author Amber Schamel writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. She has a passion for history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest". A homeschool graduate from a family of 12 children, Amber found her calling early in life. First published at age 21, she has continued to hone her craft and is now the author of over half a dozen books. Between ministry, family and working in their family-owned businesses, Amber loves to connect with readers. Find her on the Stitches Thru Time blog, or on any of the major social media sites.  Amber is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Historical Novel Society.http://amberschamel.com/
Blog: http://www.stitchesthrutime.blogspot.comFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAmberSchamel
Twitter: @AmberSchamel
Pintrest - http://pinterest.com/AmberDSchamel/
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7073165.Amber_Schamel

Faith to Start Your Week: Proverbs Project Week 10

Faith to Start Your Week: Proverbs Project Week 9

Faith to Start Your Week: Proverbs Project Week 7

Adventure Between the Pages: Prophet by R. J. Larson

Buy it Here Age Appropriate For: 15 and up for violence, scary scenery, and mild romanceBest for Ages: 15 and up
Description: Ela Roeh of Parne doesn't understand why her beloved Creator, the Infinite, wants her to become His prophet. She's undignified and bad-tempered, and at age seventeen she's much too young. In addition, no prophet of Parne has ever been a girl. Worst of all, as Parne's elders often warn, if she agrees to become the Infinite's prophet, Ela knows she will die young. Yet she can't imagine living without Him. Determined to hear the Infinite's voice, Ela accepts the sacred vinewood branch and is sent to bring the Infinite's word to a nation torn apart by war. There she meets a young ambassador determined to bring his own justice for his oppressed people. As they form an unlikely partnership, Ela battles how to balance the leading of her heart with the leading of the Infinite.
I must admit, that this is a hard book to write a review for. Fantasy has never been my favorite genre, but a friend of mine are going to read a book on our Kindle’s every month this year to get through a lot of the free books we have. It was her turn to pick first. At first, I wasn’t excited, but this book ended up being strangely compelling.
The clear faith element was interesting at times, and at others mirrored some of my own heart struggles. Sometimes, in fantasy and allegories, God gets lost. That was not the case in this book. The messages were clear, and God and His power came through strong. Moreover, the events and messages were biblically sound.
Ela was a relatable character. She sacrifices a normal life to become a prophet, and knows that it will mean that she dies young. She follows the Infinite’s (God’s) call on her life even with the knowledge. Her faithfulness, even when the cost is high, is an inspirational.
Although it is understandable, I thought that Ela seemed to look for her death in every shadow. The fact that she will die young seemed to be overplayed. That fact made the romance a little awkward for me.This book was not a favorite, but it was compelling and kept me turning pages. I defiantly will be reading more in the series in the near future.

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Faith to Start Your Week: Proverbs Project Week 5

The Blog Tour Ends

Now the blog tour is over and it is time to announce the winners of the ebooks!


Lisa Johnson C.
Esther (Kings Princess)
Sierra Faith

The winners will be emailed shortly!

Finds of the Week: It has been a long time

It has been a long time since I have shared my finds of the week, because it has been a very long time since I have found the time to read blogs. I am hoping to reenter the blogging world with lots of comments, follows, and posts.



"Why sacrifice what you love in order to find a more "stable" job, especially when there are countless ways you can make money in your area of expertise?" ~ Tessa Emily Hall





"Silence was not something I wanted to be trusted with, but the Lord knows what we need when we don’t." ~ Katie






"It is discouraging. It is frustrating. It makes you angry at yourself. You made a plan, a very good plan, but it crumbles. I know the feeling, I have been there. This year has been very discouraging when it came to meeting my goals." ~ By me on Word Painters

Adventure Between the Pages: Playing by Heart

Buy it Here Age Appropriate For: 13 and up for mild romanceBest for Ages: 13 and up Description: Lula Bowman has finally achieved her dream: a teaching position and a scholarship to continue her college education in mathematics. But when she receives a shocking telephone call from her sister, Jewel, everything she's worked for begins to crumble. After the sudden death of Jewel's husband, Jewel needs Lula's help. With a heavy heart, Lula returns to her Oklahoma hometown to do right by her sister. But the only teaching job available in Dunn is combination music instructor/basketball coach. Neither subject belongs anywhere near the halls of academia, according to Lula! Lula commits to covering the job for the rest of the school year, determined to do well and prove herself to the town. Reluctantly, she turns to the boys' coach, Chet, to learn the game of basketball. Chet is handsome and single, but Lula has no plans to fall for a local boy. She's returning to college as soon as she gets Jewel back on her feet.  However, the more time she spends in Dunn, the more Lula realizes God is working on her heart--and her future is beginning to look a lot different than she'd expected.
My friend and fellow author, Alicia Willis, has been telling me what a talented writer Mateer is. So, when I was given the opportunity to review one of her books, I was eager to try. Sure enough, I found that she is an excellent story teller.
At first, I thought this book was going to be very typical. Girl in man’s world shows everybody that she is even better than the men in her field. However, this book was far from typical. The twists and turns of this sweet story made me feel very happy.
Lula is a very smart girl who loves math. Mateer made her feel very real and pulled me into her inner struggle. Chet also was very well developed, with his own struggles and heat aches. Their romance was a big part of the story and was very honorable. Together, they kept me reading their story with a happy sigh at the end.
The setting was also so nice and different. High school basketball in during the world war? I don’t think I have even heard of another book like that. I really loved that some of the story was even based on the author’s family history.
This was my first book by Mateer, but it will not be my last. Her style is so sweet and God-honoring. It is the kind of book that leaves you feeling good, as well as causes you to examine your own life and faith.
I highly recommend this book for those who love historical fiction, sweet stories, and unique plots.
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I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review. I was under no obligation to write a positive review. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.