Frost Heaves Review

About the Book

Book: Frost Heaves

Author: Alana Terry

Genre: Contemporary Christian mystery/suspense

Release Date: March 15, 2019

Jade will do anything to rescue her daughter.
Even risk her own life.
Or take someone else’s…

Jade’s a single mom with one goal: to give her daughter a happy childhood, free from the fears and abuse Jade experienced growing up in a cult.

Even though she broke free from her traumatic and dangerous past, Jade is still haunted by fiends … both seen and unseen … and by secrets some people will try to silence forever.

A fast-paced, can’t-stop-reading Christian thriller set in the heart of rural Alaska, Frost Heaves is real, relevant, and almost impossible to put down.

Just like you’d expect from award-winning author Alana Terry.

Grab your copy today.

(But you might want to read it with your lights on.)

Click here to grab your copy.

My Thoughts

Frost Heaves was a fast paced psychological thriller that I managed to finish in a day because I just could not put it down. I absolutely loved the main character Jade, who is a single mother doing the best she can for her daughter with limited financial resources but endless love. Jade was once in a cult at her last church and endured a lot of mental and physical abuse. I thought the cult aspect of the book was very interesting because I have not read a lot about cults in books before and it was really sad to see the effect it can have on a person.

I found myself rooting for the characters to find Jade’s daughter Dez and loved the sense of community that her new church showed during this difficult time. Church members, police, and friends all came together searching endlessly through the Alaskan woods in freezing cold temperatures without breaks or rest. The story also deals with important matters such as race and ethical situations involving law enforcement.

About the Author

Alana is a pastor’s wife, homeschooling mom, self-diagnosed chicken lady, and Christian suspense author. Her novels have won awards from Women of Faith, Book Club Network, Grace Awards, Readers’ Favorite, and more. Alana’s passion for social justice, human rights, and religious freedom shines through her writing, and her books are known for raising tough questions without preaching. She and her family live in rural Alaska where the northern lights in the winter and midnight sun in the summer make hauling water, surviving the annual mosquito apocalypse, and cleaning goat stalls in negative forty degrees worth every second.

More from Alana

While my childhood was spent in the lower 48 states, my husband and I moved to Alaska and this beautiful state has now become the place I call home. Even though adjusting to rural living (we moved to a town with only 400 residents) took some getting used to, I have grown to love everything about Alaska.

In fact, I love it so much, I thought to myself, “I want to share the beauty of where we live with my readers.” And the best way I could think of to do that was to write a three-book, standalone series showcasing some of the wonderful things about Alaska living.

However, it wouldn’t be an Alana Terry series without a lot of exciting, fast-paced suspense readers have grown to love. Identity Theft, Termination Dust, and Frost Heaves are filled with action, adventure, mystery and even a little bit of romance.

Three different stories. All set in my beautiful state of Alaska. With all the action, adventure, suspense, and underlying hope that readers have come to love.

One reviewer described Frost Heaves as “… full of suspense, covered with faith and truth, and sweetened with a touch of romance.”

I wrote these books to share my love of Alaska as well as God’s love and redemption with others. And I hope you’ll turn the last page satisfied, but ready for more.

If the Alaska Refuge Christian Suspense series is your introduction to Alana Terry books, you’ve read all three in the series (in any order), and you’re ready for more action, I’d like to introduce you to Kennedy Stern. Read Unplanned, Book 1 in the 9 book series. Once you get started, I’m sure you won’t want to put it down.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, September 24

Robin’s Nest, September 24

Livin’ Lit, September 25

Avid Reader Nurse, September 25

Genesis 5020, September 26

Betti Mace, September 26

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 27

Carla Loves To Read, September 28

Quiet Quilter, September 28

For Him and My Family, September 29

Mary Hake, September 29

The Becca Files, September 30

Blogging With Carol, September 30

Godly Book Reviews, October 1

April Hayman, Author, October 1

Inklings and notions , October 2

CarpeDiem, October 2

A Reader’s Brain, October 3

D’S QUILTS & BOOKS, October 3

janicesbookreviews, October 4

As He Leads is Joy, October 4

Tell Tale Book Reviews, October 5

Stephanie’s Life of Determination, October 6

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 6

Texas Book-aholic, October 7

Maureen’s Musings, October 7

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Alana is giving away the grand prize of a $30 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/e954/frost-heaves-celebration-tour-giveaway

Beautiful in His Sight Review

About the Book

Book: Beautiful In His Sight

Author: April W. Gardner

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: May 11, 2019

It’s 1917, and Halifax is at war. Silas Quinn, street sweeper and army reject, remains on the home front, shunning God and society as religiously as they shun him. But the night he stumbles across a half-frozen prostitute, his eyes blink open, and his greater purpose is born: preserve and protect.

There’d been a day when shop girl Helen Fraser was desperate enough to believe a few nights in a brothel would cure her troubles. By some miracle, Major Jack Gordon deemed her worth saving, but Helen knows her meticulously recreated identity cannot last. What she doesn’t expect is for its destruction to come about, not by an old john or one of the madam’s goons, but by a force great enough to flatten a city and bury her alive.

Set against the backdrop of the Halifax Explosion, Beautiful in His Sight is a Christian historical romance that explores unequivocal grace and identity in Christ.

Click here to purchase your copy. https://amzn.to/2GWjqSB

My Thoughts on Beautiful in His Sight

Beautiful in His Sight was an excellent book with many different genres for all to enjoy such as history, mystery, romance, and christian fiction. I had not known about the Halifax explosion in Nova Scotia before reading this novel. People who are big history buffs will appreciate the references to human compassion and support that were readily given during the Halifax tragedy. They will also enjoy the historical references to the Titanic that are also mentioned throughout the book.

The novel included a mystery filled with espionage set during the times of World War I. I enjoyed the twists and turns that I was not expecting and was eager to learn who the enemy was and who was a person true to their word. The book had excellent character development and truly brought you into the difficulty and dark times of both Helen and Silas’ pasts. The book sends an important message to the reader that the greater you’re sin, the greater God’s forgiveness may be. I saw myself rooting for Helen’s character because although she may have had a rough past with men, she had a truly good heart and deep down wanted to be forgiven.

Also, fans of the emergency and medical fields will appreciate the rescue efforts provided by doctors, nurses, the rich, poor, and the entire community during the aftermath of the explosion and ensuing snow storm. Readers who enjoy a genuine love story are also in for a treat. The relationship between both Silas and Helen is a beautiful story where trust is slowly built and not easily obtained at first. All opinions are my own and I received this book in exchange for an honest review from celebrate lit.

About the Author

APRIL W GARDNER writes history with a Christian perspective and a little imagination. She is a copyeditor, military wife, and homeschooling mother of two who lives in Texas. She writes Christian historical romance with a focus on our Southeastern Native Tribes. In no particular order, April dreams of owning a horse, learning a third language, and visiting all the national parks.

April loves to hear from her readers at: aprilgardnerwrites@gmail.com

More from April

The Story Behind the Story

My novels are never purely fiction. They are stories constructed around truth, around some segment of the past that’s both stunning and stunningly forgotten. My latest novel, Beautiful in His Sight, is set during the Halifax Explosion, a WW1 event little known in most of the world. For those in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in December of 1917, it literally shattered their world.

That’s the setting we find my characters Silas and Helen struggling to survive, but—as in every good romance—love (and God’s grace!) brings them through.

The Story Behind the Setting

By December 1917, Halifax had passed tens of thousands of soldiers and sailors through its railyard and onto the naval vessels in its harbor. With the military came the prostitutes who migrated in droves to the slums. It’s reported that some days, the only passengers disembarking from the trains were women in short skirts. Slumdom’s seams overflowed with carnality, public drunkenness, and solicitations. Prostitution wasn’t the only job to be had for women. With so many men wearing army green, ladies of the proper class and training stepped behind registers and bookkeeping desks and kept Halifax running.

This is the world in which we find our female lead, Helen Fraser, a reformed prostitute desperately trying to start over as a salesclerk.

The Story Behind the Explosion

As Silas, the story’s male lead, puts it, the explosion was “a tragic accident, a miscommunication between passing ships.” In short, it was a dozen small decisions that accumulated to one very horrific event. The collision and blast released the equivalent energy of 2.9 kilotons of TNT and instantly obliterated everything within a half-mile radius. The munitions vessel that exploded, the Mont Blanc, rained iron shrapnel all over Halifax. Its 1,160-ton anchor landed 2.5 miles away where it can still be found today.

The numbers: Over 2,000 deaths. Over 1,000 injuries. Almost 300 blinded.

The Story Behind the Name

The name Helen Fraser (female lead) is an honoring nod to Helen Clark, a courageous young woman who survived the explosion. This is her story.

Helen Clark, age eight, was beginning her school day at St. Joseph’s when she felt something disturbing. “Like thunder was taking place alongside of you,” she later said, “instead of up in the sky.” She looked to the window and gaped at the glass bowing inward. She flung her arms over her face and ducked an instant before it blew in. Then, in her words, “The ceiling above gave way at one corner and down two sides of the room, hanging like the flap of a great envelope and spilling out children from the room above.”

A nun grabbed her arm and said, “My heavenly God, the Germans have arrived! Get down on your knees girls.” In lieu of prayer, Helen wrenched away and jumped out the second-story window, narrowly missing the debris that, in the next moment, struck and killed the nun. A snow mound broke Helen’s fall. Suddenly very tired, she laid down right there, feeling no cold or pain, and went to sleep.

Eventually, two men approached to see if she was dead. Though she couldn’t speak, she managed to get to her feet. They straightened the bow on the top of her head and told her to go home if she had one to go to. The blood crusted over her eyes limited her vision, but she shambled along best she could, recognizing nothing. She knew her street only by the change to cobblestones under her feet, and her grandmother recognized her only by the bow in her hair.

Quick-thinking and bold, little Helen avoided both death and blindness, and I’m honored to name my heroine after her.

Blog Stops

Simple Harvest Reads, September 9

Emily Yager, September 10

Betti Mace, September 10

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 11

Avid Reader Nurse, September 11

Reading Is My SuperPower, September 12

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, September 13

Connie’s History Classroom, September 14

JosephineAnneWrites, September 14

For Him and My Family, September 15

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 15

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, September 16

A Reader’s Brain, September 17

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 17

Inklings and notions, September 18

CarpeDiem, September 19

Through the Fire Blogs, September 20

Bigreadersite , September 20

Inspired by fiction, September 21

Texas Book-aholic, September 21

janicesbookreviews, September 22

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, April is giving away a grand prize package of a $25 Starbucks gift card and a signed copy of her book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/ec01/beautiful-in-his-sight-celebration-tour-giveaway

Strands of Truth Review

About the Book

Book: Strands of Truth

Author: Colleen Coble

Genre: Suspense

Release Date: September 10, 2019

Harper Taylor is used to being alone—after all, she grew up in one foster home after another. Oliver Jackson finally took her under his wing when she was a runaway teenager, and now Harper pours her marine biology knowledge into Oliver’s pen shell research. But she’s never stopped wishing for a family of her own.

So when a DNA test reveals a half-sister living just two hours away, Harper is both hopeful and nervous. Over warm cinnamon rolls, Harper and Annabelle find striking similarities in their stories. Is it just a coincidence that both their mothers died tragically, without revealing Harper and Annabelle’s father’s name?

Oliver’s son Ridge still sees Harper as a troubled teen even all these years later. But when Oliver is attacked, Ridge and Harper find themselves working together to uncover dangerous secrets that threaten to destroy them all. They must unravel her past before they can have any hope for the future.

Suspense, romance, and generational secrets meld in this engrossing new novel from USA TODAY bestselling author Colleen Coble.

Click here to get your copy.

My Thoughts on Stands of Truth:

Strands of Truth was an addictive, page turning story set on the gulf coast of Florida. If you are a fan of atmospheric reads set in quaint, beachy towns then you will love this story. I felt as though I was on the marina in the small town of Dunedin looking among the waves and seagulls. I also learned quite a bit about marine biology, which was a fascination of both main characters Harper and Ridge. The reader gets quite a bit of information into the sea life of manatees and pen shells. References to beautiful areas in Florida such as Sanibel Island and Clearwater keep the reader interested as these are real sought after locations.

The pasts of the characters are well developed, as you learn about the rough, foster homes Harper grew up in and the rocky familial relationships Ridge had to endure growing up. If a fast paced, need to know the truth thriller appeals to you, then you will thoroughly enjoy this story. The author uses the premise of DNA and a murder mystery to keep readers on their toes to unlock the killer. The book also weaves in a complicated love story that begins on shaky ground but evolves throughout. I highly recommend this book to readers of both thrillers and romance. I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

About the Author

Colleen Coble is a USA TODAY bestselling author and RITA finalist best known for her coastal romantic suspense novels, including The Inn at Ocean’s Edge, Twilight at Blueberry Barrens, and the Lavender Tides, Sunset Cove, Hope Beach, and Rock Harbor series. Connect with Colleen online at colleencoble.com; Instagram: colleencoble; Facebook: colleencoblebooks; Twitter: @colleencoble.

Read a Premium Excerpt

Suspense, romance, and generational secrets meld in this engrossing new novel from USA TODAY bestselling author Colleen Coble.

Strands of Harper Taylor’s childhood are resurfacing—but will the truth save her . . . or pull her under?

Harper Taylor is used to being alone— after all, she grew up in one foster home after another. Oliver Jackson finally took her under his wing when she was a runaway teenager, and now Harper pours her marine biology knowledge into Oliver’s pen shell research. But she’s never stopped wishing for a family of her own.

Suspense, romance, and generational secrets meld in this engrossing new novel from USA TODAY bestselling author Colleen Coble.

“Free-dive into a romantic suspense that will leave you breathless and craving for more.” –DiAnn Mills, bestselling author

“As always, Colleen Coble never disappoints. Strands of Truth is no exception. I was hooked from the first page. Trying to read this story slowly is impossible. Don’t be surprised when you find yourself flipping the pages in a hurry to find out what happens next! This one is for your keeper shelf.” –Lynette Eason, bestselling, award-winning author of the Blue Justice Series

“Colleen Coble’s latest book, Strands of Truth, grips you on page one with a heart-pounding opening and doesn’t let go until the last satisfying word. I love her skill in pulling the reader in with believable, likable characters, interesting locations, and a mystery just waiting to be untangled. Highly recommended.” –Carrie Stuart Parks, bestselling author of Formula of Deception

“Once again, Colleen Coble delivers an intriguing, suspenseful tale in Strands of Truth. The mystery and tension mount toward an explosive and satisfying finish. Well done.” –Creston Mapes, bestselling author

“Just when I think Colleen Coble’s stories can’t get any better, she proves me wrong. In Strands of Truth, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. The characterization of Ridge and Harper and their relationship pulled me immediately into the story. Fast paced, with so many unexpected twists and turns, I read this book in one sitting. Coble has pushed the bar higher than I’d imagined. This book is one not to be missed.” –Robin Caroll, best-selling author of the Darkwater Inn series

“It’s in her blood! Colleen Coble once again shows her suspense prowess with a thriller as intricate and beautiful as a strand of DNA. Strands of Truth dives into an unusual profession involving mollusks and shell beds that weaves a unique, silky thread throughout the story. So fascinating I couldn’t stop reading!” –Ronie Kendig, bestselling author of The Tox Files