#Excerpt from SHENANDOAH NIGHTS by @LisaBelcastro19 #Romance #Christian #AmReading

Rebecca turned to face the captain. “Ready. How do I look?”

When she heard his sharp intake of breath, her fears evaporated like drops of water on hot pavement in the summer sun. His eyes roamed over her body. She fought the impulse to cover herself. She suddenly felt naked under two hundred pounds of cloth. She raised her head and met his gaze. Her heart plunged to her stomach. He was devouring her with his eyes.

“The dress does not do you justice, Mrs. O’Neill.”

“Mrs. Reed,” Rebecca corrected, hoping desperately to divert his attention from the dress.

“I stand corrected Mrs. Reed. Now turn about so I may fasten the laces.”

Rebecca felt Ben’s hands moving up her spine, his knuckles resting on her back as he stretched and pulled the laces together. Why in blazes does the barest touch, through cloth nonetheless, send my heart racing?

Rebecca lost all focus when Ben’s fingers reached the top of the dress and brushed across the base of her neck. Before she had time to recover, Ben drew his thumb over her skin along the edge of the dress. She struggled to catch her breath.

“Relax, Mrs. Reed.” His words caressed her skin as he spoke. “Lift your hair so I may tie these off.”

He is torturing me and surely knows. If I live through this day, I’m going to kill him. Rebecca’s silent vow brought a small amount of satisfaction.

Ben spent an eternity tying the bow, and then lazily, ever so softly, dragged a finger up her neck to the base of her hairline. Rebecca sucked in her breath and dropped her hair. She thought she heard him stifle a chuckle. He leaned closer and whispered, “You have beautiful hair. I can’t get the smell of it out of my mind.”

As he eased back, he ran his fingers through her hair and turned her around to face him. Rebecca was certain every emotion she felt would be reflected in her eyes.

“Ben?” she asked softly.

He grazed his thumb over her cheek, never taking his eyes off of hers. There was such tenderness in his touch. Rebecca wanted. She didn’t know what she wanted. Something. Something to. To what? She felt Ben take her left hand, running his fingers over hers and turning her grandmother’s ring around her finger. She thought of her parents and her grandparents, how happy their marriages had been, and she wondered for just a moment if she could be as happy with Ben. Her eyes misted over and she reached up with her right hand to brush away a tear. Ben practically threw her hand from his.

“I’m sorry,” he said while moving away from her. “I did not think.”

Rebecca had no clue what he was talking about, but she felt the chill whip through the cabin as Ben changed once again into her warden/captain. She held back the sobs pressing to be released. She searched his eyes and saw remorse and, maybe, shame. What had happened?

Could this all be a bad dream? How was she to know? Rebecca had far more questions than answers. Tisbury, Massachusetts, Martha’s Vineyard The last thing sixth-grade teacher Rebecca O’Neill wants to do during the final week of her summer break is chaperone twenty-five kids on a six-night, seven-day trip aboard the schooner Shenandoah. But after a desperate phone call from the school principal, she doesn’t have a choice. 

Worse, the ship is rumored to be ‘haunted.’ Five years ago, during the Holmes Hole student cruise, teacher Melissa Smith complained about hearing voices and seeing visions, then disappeared without a trace-from the very same cabin where Rebecca will be staying. Everything seems normal on Sunday as Rebecca boards the impressive Shenandoah. But as she sits in Cabin 8, she hears hushed voices that don’t sound like they’re from this century. 

Mike, a crewmember, insists he believes the crazy Island story that Melissa time-traveled to Colonial Boston. His eerie interest in constantly tracking Rebecca’s whereabouts rattles her nerves. Her first night onboard, Rebecca drifts off to sleep…and wakes the following morning with memories of a secretive conversation about a battle with Britain. Monday night Rebecca crawls into her bunk after an adventurous day of sailing, swimming, and overseeing students. 

She’s startled awake when a man grabs her and yells, ‘Stowaway!’ Dragged in front of Captain Benjamin Reed, she looks up into the most gorgeous brown eyes she’s ever seen…. 

A Vineyard Romance. Romance, history, adventure. Get swept into the exciting Winds of Change series. Book 1, Winds of Change.

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Genre - Romance, Christian

Rating – G

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Website www.lisabelcastro.com

Nina Elaine Borum on Her New #Book - Praying for Men of Power @TrinityGalBlog #Christian #TBR

How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk?
I journal and write poetry with pen and paper but I type my manuscripts on a laptop on my couch in my pajamas. A part of me would love to purchase an old fashioned type writer and write a best selling novel, I love the sound of a type writer.

Where do you get support from? Do you have friends in the industry?
I joined a local Writers group in my city. We meet a few times a month to share about our upcoming projects and give feedback.

How much sleep do you need to be your best?
8-10 hours. I know that’s a luxury, but that’s when I feel the best and most energized. I start to wind down between 9 and 10pm and love to be out of bed by 8am.

Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge and thank for their support?
My family, church and friends for constantly encouraging me and inspiring me to never give up.

Every writer has their own idea of what a successful career in writing is, what does success in writing look like to you?
Success in writing for me would be to write a NY Times best seller within the next one or two years.

It is vital to get exposure and target the right readers for your writing, tell us about your marketing campaign?
For this particular book, I am targeting Christian women and asking them to join in a 30 day prayer challenge for the men in their lives. It’s more important for me with this book to focus on getting women to join the challenge and not so much book sales. Here is the link to join the challenge http://trinitybodymindspirit.us7.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=bf1199c5fa26493d107cc83f2&id=9b1c8ec02c

Tell us about your new book? What’s it about and why did you write it?
Praying for Men of P.O.W.E.R. is a 30 day prayer guide. The prayers are directly crafted from scripture and focus on purity, obedience, wisdom, exhortation and responsibility. The book also includes journal pages after each prayer. I wrote this prayer guide because I was struggling with praying for the men in my life and wanted to give up. I decided that instead of giving up, I would find a different way to pray. I wrote this prayer guide for women who are at a point in their prayer lives that they want to give up as well.

Sometimes we don’t know what to pray or how to pray it. Pre-written prayers are just as powerful as ones that we come up with on our own. This book includes powerful written prayers but also allows you to write in your own prayers.

If you could have a dinner party and invite anyone dead or alive, who would you ask?
I would want to have a huge family reunion with all my ancestors from every tribe and nation. It would be really interesting to meet the people and cultures that I come from.

When you are not writing, how do you like to relax?
Reading, sleeping, eating or exercising helps me to relax.

Sometimes it’s so hard to keep at it - What keeps you going?
Knowing that I have a message that is worth hearing, that could change people’s lives and mindsets. Whether that be an obvious message in non-fiction book or a message that portrays itself differently through characters in a fiction work.

Have you met any people in the industry who have really helped you?
Timothy Bond, creator of Truevinepublishing.org, Jason Lutz (jasonlutz.com) and Sarah Catlett (decaldarling.com) have been instrumental in helping me to develop my platform and website. I would be completely lost without them!

 

You didn't learn these prayers in Sunday school. Put your armor on, and get ready to see God move!

Do you ever get sick of praying? It's okay to admit. We all do. It is emotionally draining to beg God without ceasing. Christians often forget that under Christ's authority, we have the power to command God's promises to be released from heaven to earth and into our lives.

In Praying for Men of P.O.W.E.R., author Nina Elaine Borum challenges readers to stand confidently and command the promises of God for the men in your life. As someone who has struggled with prayer, Nina believes that God does not intend for his children to feel helpless in praying. His Word has instructed us in how to bring the kingdom of heaven to a world where Satan runs freely. We are all in the midst of a vicious spiritual battle, and Nina hopes this book will help you to fight on behalf of Christian men.

Buy Now @ Amazon & Tate Publishing

Genre - Christian non-fiction

Rating – G

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Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Lynn Murphy #amreading #christian #romance

1. I know the words to at least one song from every Broadway musical. Well, maybe not every musical, but close. My husband does not think this is something to be proud of. Neither he or my two teenage sons share my enjoyment of this genre of music. I’m also well versed on Cole Porter’s music too, many of which are Broadway songs. I get a lot of my book titles from these songs,  so it has paid off a little.
2. I’m an expert on The Holocaust. At least I’ve been recognized as being such. I’m a two time winner of The Margot Stern Strom Teaching Award from Facing History and Ourselves and have over 75 hours of instruction in teaching the Holocaust and Human behavior to middle and high school students. I’m also a semi-finalist for The Irena Sendlar Award.  I teach about The Holocaust in both my English and my Art classes and have written two books about the concentration camp Terezin, Terezin Twilight and When The Butterflies Flew Away.
3. I love sushi. I really do. Especially the angry dragon roll at Green Ginger- it’s fabulous. Every year at Christmas my husband and I have shopping and sushi- we eat sushi somewhere and do all our Christmas shopping.
4. I can sing the Greek alphabet. Learned how to do it during rush in college- never forgot it! Alpha Beta Gamma Delta….and I was an Alpha Gamma Delta.
5. I’m a good cook.  I love to cook and have people over for dinner. Paella anyone?
6. I want to visit Ireland. I did even before I married someone who is almost 100% Irish. I’d love to take photos there. Not sure about hanging upside down to kiss the Blarney stone, though.
7. I really enjoy visiting art museums. Yes, it’s true. I love wandering through museums. I’ve drug my poor husband to a dozen all over the country. He’s a good sport, but he doesn’t love it like I do.
8. I can quote Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Actually, my whole family can. (What is the air speed velocity of a sparrow carrying a coconut?)
9. I drive a little silver sports car. A G35 actually. My only criteria when I started looking was a two door car that didn’t look like a mom car. I love my car, almost as much as I love my Brahmin bag.
10. I wrote Dream A Little Dream. And the other books in the series, Look To The Rainbow, Only For You, Just Thinking Of You, and Save the Last Dance For Me.

Madison Walker never planned on falling for her boss when she accepted a teaching position at The Newport School For The Deaf. Seamus Lansing is handsome, wealthy, athletic, charming- and hearing impaired himself. As the only hearing person in her own family, Madison isn't sure she wants a long term relationship with someone who can't hear but she can't deny that she is attracted to Seamus. As their romance develops, Seamus will find himself questioning things he never considered about his disability.

Jim O'Brien has achieved worldwide acclaim for his musical ability. When unexpected circumstances threaten to take away his ability to play the piano how will it affect his recent marriage to Lady Berry Harrington?

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Genre - Romance, Christian

Rating – G

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#Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Dead & Godless by Donald J. Amodeo #Christian #Fiction @donamodeo

With each passing second, the train’s metallic roar grew louder. Was it possible that it would brake in time? Surely somebody had to have called 911. That is, unless everyone in the crowd was under the assumption that someone else had already called. The Bystander Effect. Corwin had heard of it before, though he never expected to be a living example.

“Give us a hand!” yelled his partner as they neared the ledge.

Summoning the wherewithal to stand, the homeless man between them planted his feet, but his balance failed him. Luckily Mary reached down and grabbed one of his hands. Corwin pushed from behind, and soon others in the crowd were helping to haul him up. The tall businessman vaulted onto the platform.

“Thanks for the help,” Corwin called after him.

“You can pay me back later.”

“Hurry!” urged Mary.

Corwin didn’t dare look towards the train. He boosted the vagabond with one last shove and clasped Mary’s outstretched hand. Safety was only a short climb away. Then a heavy boot struck him square in the chest.

While clambering onto the platform, the drunk’s knee had slipped, his clumsy kick finding its mark at just the wrong moment. Corwin felt Mary’s fingers slip from his grasp. He was falling. A steel rail greeted the back of his skull with a sharp thunk.

Blacking out for an instant, a surge of adrenaline was the only thing that kept him conscious. He vaguely heard Mary screaming over the ringing in his ears.

“Corwin, get up! Corwin!”

As he turned his head, the world blurred into slow motion, yet one thing was crystal clear. In that split second, he saw every dent, every scratch in the paint, every glimmer of light reflected in the glass. The look of horror on the conductor’s face was burned into his mind. Corwin had never seen anything as vividly as he saw the front of that train speeding towards him.

A chill draft pulled at his cashmere coat. He felt his heart beating, the cool touch of the steel tracks, and then Corwin felt nothing at all.

Sparks flew from the rails and the brakes squealed in protest as the J scraped to an emergency stop. Mary collapsed to her knees, her eyes wide with a vacant stare. She couldn’t cry out, couldn’t speak. The breath had been robbed from her lungs. It all seemed so unreal.

“Get yer hands offa me!” slurred the drunk beside her.

With a violent twist, he shook free from the grip of those who had helped to pull him out of harm’s way. The stunned commuters parted before him. Bleary eyed, he glared into the crowd, completely oblivious to what had just taken place. No one spoke a word to explain, not that he would have listened. Only hushed voices and quiet sobs filled the station.

Spitting curses, the man stomped off for the stairs.

“Don’t nobody in this town know how to mind their own damn business?”

When outspoken atheist Corwin Holiday dies an untimely but heroic death, he’s assigned a chain-smoking, alcoholic angel as his defense attorney in the trial to decide the fate of his soul.

Today many cast Christianity aside, not in favor of another faith, but in favor of no faith. We go off to school or out into the world, and we learn that reality is godless and that free thinking means secular thinking. But must faith entail an end to asking questions? Should not the Author of Reason be able to answer the challenge of reason?

Dead & Godless is a smart and suspenseful afterlife adventure that explores the roots of truth, justice and courage. In these pages awaits a quest that spans universes, where the stakes are higher than life and death, and where Christianity’s sharp edges aren’t shied away from, because we’re not called to be nice. We’re called to be heroes.

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Genre - Christian Fiction

Rating – PG-13

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