Tuesday, April 25, 2017

COTT Author Spotlight: Danny and Wanda Pelfrey



Danny and Wanda Pelfrey are longtime writers of non-fiction books in the educational and inspiration markets. They have for most of their lives been avid readers of mystery/suspense. AS A SHIELD and a previous mystery title are the result of a desire to entertain themselves and others as well as drive home important spiritual messages. Their passion is now “mysteries with a message.”


https://www.amazon.com/As-Shield-Danny-Pelfrey-ebook/dp/B01N4UBKXR
CLICK COVER to BUY
AS A SHIELD is one of four planned Davis Morgan mysteries set in a small North Georgia town. Davis, a pastor for almost twenty-five years, returns to his hometown after the death of his wife, to operate a rare and used bookstore. He is promptly appointed chaplain of the small police department and recruited by city officials to write a history of his home town. Mystery and romance seem always to be lurking around the corner for the popular bookseller.The reoccurring characters such as Charley Nelson, young police officer; Amy Morgan, Davis’s young daughter who is an English teacher; her roommate Deidre, who Davis is more and more drawn to as time passes; Miss Helen, the local historian and a host of others add to the fun and excitement.

 A visit to little Adairsville, Georgia will surely be a memorable event for anyone who chooses to drop-in. In AS A SHIELD, Davis, through his encounters with two strange villains, comes to experience for himself the truth of Psalm 5:12, “For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”



About the Authors: Danny and Wanda Pelfrey are a husband/wife team who in the past were active writers of non-fiction material, having, between them, cranked out several books. They are both graduates of Point University and Danny has a Masters from Kentucky Christian University. Danny has spent most of his adult life as a pastor and Wanda as a teacher.Their interest at present lies in the creation of mysteries with a message.

Danny and Wanda are the proud parents of two daughters and five grandchildren. They reside in a little Cape Cod style cottage in the small town in North Georgia that is the setting for their mysteries.

About the Book: Davis Morgan, having left the ministry after the death of his wife, returns to Adairsville, Georgia, his hometown. There he operates a used and rare bookstore while being appointed chaplain of the police department. He and Charley, a young policeman, after discovering the body of a tattooed man find themselves in a serious battle to bring justice to two strange villains who are threating the safety of Davis's daughter. While all this is going on, Davis is struggling with interpreting his relationship with a young history teacher who happens to be his daughter's roommate.

Friday, April 7, 2017

Book Review of Root Beer and Roadblocks

Root Beer amp; Roadblocks

Root Beer and Roadblocks, book 4 of the Orchard Hill series
Susan M Baganz

Read an interview with the author here

February, Prism Book Group, an imprint of Pelican Ventures LLC
$4.99 eBook
$15.99 Print

Buy on Amazon

About the Book
When God strips away all your hopes and dreams can you trust Him to give you something better?

Johnny Marshall's cancer is back . . . and so is the girl who broke his heart seven years ago. As Johnny struggles to find the will to live and fights his second round with the disease, he finds that hope comes in small packages with an energetic little boy named David.

Having bought in to her parents' narrow view of finding a man worthy of her, years ago, Katie abandoned the one man she'd ever loved. In all the years since, no one has ever compared to Johnny. Now as a single mom of a young boy, she wonders if their reunion right on time or is it too late for a future together?

My review
The stories coming from Orchard Hill just keep getting better and better, if you can call dealing with a lot of illness in various fashion “better.” Lots of emotion and a whirl of events help a young couple reunite under the most difficult circumstances.

Secrets come out of the closet in Root Beer and Roadblocks. Return of cancer for a member of a popular praise band puts Johnny in a funk. Even with the return of the woman of his dreams, he has a hard time willing a desire to grab life. Katie is just discovering who she is…or isn’t, in her opinion. When she realizes she’s turned herself “off,” so to speak, just to deal with being alive and handling devastating circumstances within a classically dysfunctional family, revelations of the stuff of nightmares aren’t as much of a shock. Together Katie and Johnny know they can win any obstacle course, especially with the fruit of their first love, David, and love for another child who comes into their lives and needs them, Khloe.

There’s a lot of ups and downs, tears all around, hugs and passion in this story of forgiveness and grace, and future uncertainties. Told in multiple viewpoints, old friends from the past stories haunt the pages in a good way, and it truly come around to needing a village to make life a good one for each other and our children. Nicely done, occasionally tear-jerking. Recommended for readers of contemporary romantic stories and couples learning to deal with the realities after the “I do.”


Monday, April 3, 2017

Clash of the Titles Champion!


Congratulations to Jennifer Vander Klip
and the novel
Protective Custody
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━


About the book:
A cop burned by love falls for a key witness in a crime implicating the town's rich and powerful.

Lifestyle magazine editor Heather McAlister was in the wrong place at the wrong time. What she saw sends her faith and life into a tailspin. As a key witness in a crime shaking the roots of the town's power brokers, doing the right thing may cost her everything. Including her life.

Detective Kyle Taylor is in the midst of solving the town's worst crime spree, a case that cold make or break his career, when the woman he thinks he might have a future with witnesses a gang initiation gone wrong before they can finish their first date. He has spent his entire adult life protecting his hometown. Now he's protecting a woman he'll risk everything to save.

With more than their future at risk, they must discern betrayal from trust, image from truth while avoiding a danger closer than they think.

Christian Romantic Suspense

What Reviewers Are Saying:
I just kept turning pages to see what would happen next! Can't wait for the next one!—R. Cole

This is my second novel from Vander Klipp and I continue to be impressed with her writing.--Kelly T.

Add this book to your must-read list!—Regina F.


What COTT Voters Had to Say:
~Great Book, Jennifer! Kept me on the edge of my seat!!
~Jennifer Vanderklipp, keep on writing. Some days it may seem as if no one appreciates
your books, but believe me, we, your readers, are out here just waiting for your next
release. A. Zuniga
~You have an awesome cover.The book sounds great.
~In love with Jennifer's writings!!!
~Enjoying so many new titles from amazing authors that pour their hearts in to their work. However I have to say that Protective Custody is a nail biter beginning to end. I could not put it down. Kudos to Jennifer Vander Klipp. Looking forward to more great reads from her.
~I like suspense like Jennifer VanderKlipp writes!

About the Author:
I make beauty from neglect, order from chaos. I like fixing messes!

And I get to do that a lot since I’m a mom to two and stepmom to four, navigating the tweens and
teens while battling my daughter’s juvenile arthritis, exploring the delights of my son’s autism, and keeping gluten free. A California native transplanted to the Midwest, my favorite thing is discovering with my husband how much there is to love about seasons, snow, and the delight that is Michigan.

Upcoming Release:
Promise Me is a prequel novella to Protective Custody, and it is releasing in May. With the same great setting as Protective Custody, (Orange County, California) this story focuses on Cait Bellamy and Grayson Kendall, who make brief appearances in Protective Custody. But we also get introduced to the stars of Protective Custody, Detective Kyle Taylor and Heather McAlistair.

Marketing director for Samashima Family Farms Cait Bellamy, on a break from the endless restoration of her farmhouse, witnesses potentially-devastating vandalism at the farm. Car restoration hobbiest and real estate attorney Grayson Kendall finds himself intrigued by the happenings at the farm which seem to be related to his latest real estate development. He does some digging, unknowingly putting Cait and her beloved farmhouse in danger. Can they both learn trust each other and create something new out of the wreckage their pasts while trying to discover who wants to put the farm out of business?

To find out more about her books, her latest releases, and get free chapters sign up for her newsletter at www. JenniferVanderKl ipp.com

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Clash of the Titles! Find a new author to love


Clash of the Titles presents four new springtime reads!
Peruse the images, read the blurbs,
then vote on your favorite in the survey.
I know which one is my favorite.
Enjoy, dear readers!

~~~~~



He's a nature photographer returning to make amends, and she's a camera-shy naturalist seeking privacy. Their love for a boy brings them together, but the camera could drive them apart.
~ ~ ~


Lifestyle magazine editor Heather McAlister was in the wrong place at the wrong time, witnessing a crime that shakes the roots of the town’s power brokers and sends her life into a tailspin. Previously burned by love, Detective Kyle Taylor has spent his entire adult life protecting his hometown, but now he’s protecting a woman he’ll risk everything to save.
~ ~ ~


She’s ready to fly free of a life-long cocoon; he’s looking for anything but Raine. Can Paradise Pines find a miracle for two unwilling hearts?

~ ~ ~


When a homeless man rescues Glorilyn Neilson from violent assault, he's not the man he seems. What powerful secret keeps him on the streets?
VOTE BELOW!

If you have trouble viewing the entire survey Click Here to load a dedicated page to the survey.


Friday, March 24, 2017

Rootbeer and Roadblocks with Susan Baganz

Product Details

About the Book
When God strips away all your hopes and dreams can you trust Him to give you something better?

Johnny Marshall’s cancer is back . . . and so is the girl who broke his heart seven years ago. As Johnny struggles to find the will to live and fights his second round with the disease, he finds hope comes in small packages with an energetic little boy named David.

Having bought in to her parents' narrow view of finding a man worthy of her, years ago, Katie abandoned the one man she'd ever loved. In all the years since, no one has ever compared to Johnny. Now as a single mom of a young boy, she wonders if their reunion right on time or is it too late for a future together?

Discover healing, forgiveness and second chances in Root Beer & Roadblocks, book four in the Orchard Hill series.

February 2017
Prism Book Group, an imprint of Pelican Ventures LLC
Inspirational Romance

eBook $4.99
Print $15.99


Susan what do you love about this book in the series?
            Root Beer & Roadblocks is probably one of my favorite stories. Johnny was a secondary character in Feta & Freeways and based on a real-life person who inspired both books. At the end of Feta I realized Johnny needed his own happily-ever-after. He was a particularly fun character to write, and especially the interactions between him and his cousin and best friend, Niko, a relationship that continues now from Johnny’s point of view in this story. Johnny’s a bit of a wild card, kind of sassy in Feta. Life got crazy for him in Root Beer & Roadblocks. When all seemed lost, hope broke through, but it was a rough journey. Kind of like Job, he felt like he had lost everything—but it was fun to surprise him and give him his own happily-ever-after. Also, kids can be fun to write as well and there are a few in this story and those interactions were sweet.

Does each book get easier or harder to write/publish/promote?
            Some are harder to write than others—but more because of life than the actual writing although I do hit a wall of fear with every novel where I think it’s pure rubbish and I think I’ve written myself into a corner. When I recognize that and push through I’m fine. I couldn’t tell you n any of my stories where that spot was. Publishing and going through the editing process is not something I mind (although the first round of revising the rough draft is the hardest). Promoting gets tedious and sometimes feels futile. Ultimately, I need to trust that God is the One who will use the words I write and get those books into the hands of those who need them.

What are you reading now?
Other than books I’m editingI’m in a book group at church reading Beyond Loneliness: The Gift of God’s Friendship by Trevor Hudson.

What's next?
I’m playing around with writing two different stories in between editing for others and reviewing submitted novels. One project, a romantic suspense, I started last year but need to do some research on before I can continue. Another book is one just for fun, because I was challenged to write it—kind of a murder/mystery with comedic elements. I was pushed by my boss as well as the owner of a music store where I take guitar lessons give it a shot. He wanted someone to write a comedy about a music store…but my boss wanted the murder element—the suspect list is long! So, I hope to combine the two. I may have to channel some Shawn Spencer from Psych for that book. Eventually, I hope to write book eight in the Orchard Hill series because there’s a poor guy who needs his own happily-ever-after so that’s brewing in my head as well. It’s quite busy up there.

About the Author
Susan M. Baganz chases after three Hobbits and is a native of Wisconsin. Susan writes adventurous historical and contemporary romances with a biblical world-view.
Susan speaks, teaches and encourages others to follow God in being all He has created them to be. With her seminary degree in counseling psychology, a background in the field of mental health, and years serving in church ministry, she understands the complexities and pain of life as well as its craziness. She serves behind-the-scenes in various capacities at her church. Her favorite pastimes are lazy ones—snuggling with her dog while reading a good book, or sitting with a friend chatting over a cup of spiced chai latte.

You can learn more by following her blog www.susanbaganz.com, her twitter feed www.twitter.com/susanbaganz  or her fan page, www.facebook.com/susanmbaganz and Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/silygoos.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Keely Brooke Keith and Far Above Rubies

Above Rubies (Uncharted Beginnings) (Volume 2)

Far Above Rubies, book 2 of the Uncharted Beginnings series
Keely Brooke Keith

Edenbrooke Press
c. Feb 2017

Print $12.99
Ebook $3.99

Buy on Amazon 

About the Book
It’s 1863, and schoolteacher Olivia Owens believes education should be a top priority in the newly established settlement of Good Springs. Between planning lessons and helping out on her family’s homestead, Olivia doesn’t have time for Gabriel McIntosh’s charming advances. When the council denies her request to build a schoolhouse, Olivia must challenge their ruling and teach private lessons—all while hiding frequent bouts of word blindness (dyslexia). If the council knew the new teacher couldn’t always read, they wouldn’t allow Olivia to teach anymore. As a carpenter, Gabe McIntosh is working hard to help build the settlement of Good Springs, and once his land is granted, he begins constructing his own house. When Olivia discovers he plans to share it with her, she guards her heart from him. But Gabe is determined to win her affection and figure out what she’s hiding.

My Review
Oddly different from American settlements moving westward, this New England community shipwrecked on a very forgiving land prides itself in a strange mix of self-containment and communal resourcing. Two years after the hazardous sea journey, families have built themselves a village with the bare necessities of housing, gathering/worship center and are beginning to expand their agricultural and trade. Communal school for the children takes a distant backseat. So does medical science and the desire to experiment with properties of the gray leaf of their new home, even when Olivia pointed out its unusual properties in the first book. The first death touches everyone. A member of the society flouts agreed-upon regulations while another in the family loses touch with reality that results in the first trial. The author offers readers a picture of a community struggling to hold together, much less survive.

Keith has developed a good grasp of internal and external conflict. Her focus character in this story about the Land, is Olivia Owens, whose mother was a teacher in their home. Olivia wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps but self-doubt and the unusual reluctance of the members of the new settlement to provide regular education to their children hold her back. A strange and peculiar affliction challenges Olivia to work twice as hard at her chosen profession to the detriment of keeping her place in society and risking her future with Gabe McIntosh, a friend who has loved her from afar.

Although I studied the condition and taught dyslexic students, I never heard of it coming and going as Olivia experienced, though I could accept it might happen. The settlers who moved across our continent often built a school either before or at the same time as their house of worship and put education foremost. In this story, Olivia heeded her experienced mother’s advice to teach necessary lessons, though she still struggled to prove herself and the practice of communal education.

Told from Olivia’s point of view, this second story of survival in a new land focuses on developing society with all the intrigue, hand-holding, gossip, judgments, and growing romance. Those who enjoy pioneering stories will like Far Above Rubies.

About the Author
Keely Brooke Keith
Keely Brooke Keith writes inspirational frontier-style fiction with a slight Sci-Fi twist, including The Land Uncharted (Shelf Unbound Notable Romance 2015) and Aboard Providence (2017 INSPY Awards Longlist). Keely also creates resources for writers such as The Writer’s Book Launch Guide and The Writer’s Character Journal. Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Keely grew up in a family that frequently relocated. By graduation, she lived in 8 states and attended 14 schools.  When she isn’t writing, Keely enjoys playing bass guitar, preparing homeschool lessons, and collecting antique textbooks. Keely, her husband, and their daughter live on a hilltop south of Nashville, Tennessee.



Friday, March 17, 2017

Connie Cortright and Lead Me Home

Lead Me Home, Book 2 in Grace Alone
Connie Cortright



Milk Door Publications
February, 2017
eBook $4.99
Print: $13.99
Buy on Amazon

Historical romance

Maggie Ehlke, a younger sister of Emma from Guide Me Home, is sent from her home in Wisconsin to help care for Emma's and Neil's growing family. Since Neil is now a pastor at a church in Dubuque, Iowa, Maggie moves her belongings to this city on the shores of the Mississippi River. 

She struggles to understand why life seems so unfair. Her dream of attending college and making something of her life have fallen through because of the economy. Now the reality of being sent from home to her sister's house weighs on her mind. As the train takes her closer to Dubuque, she feels that her only comfort is the books packed in her weighty trunk. 

Cortright says, “Book Two of my series takes place nine years after my first book—1935. Of course, that means that my characters are living in the years of the Great Depression, where hunger, unemployment, and homelessness are common place in every town across the United States.”

Book 1 of Grace Alone: Guide Me Home is available on Amazon

A Interview with the Author:
Connie, tell us what you love about this book. 
I love how this book brings the history of the Great Depression to life. It shows what our grandparents/parents went through during those years especially living in the Midwest - lack of food, no money, dry years with bad crops, etc. It also shows how people back then had to make the best of things and still had happiness in their lives. Their faith in God’s saving grace brought peace into their lives no matter what the physical circumstances were just like faith in God fills our lives with peace today.

Introduce us to your hero. 
Super-shy Romy Iverson, who can hardly speak with any female, has to figure out how to live in the same house with Maggie Ehlke when she moves in with the family. How will he manage to tell Maggie how to light the fire in the wood stove or wash clothes with the wringer washer if he can’t speak to her? Her presence, after the death of Romy’s mother, is very much needed to help manage the household with Romy’s three sisters, but she complicates Romy’s life as much as she helps the situation. Romy has to deal with this new female in his life and learn how to come out of his shell.

Share two things that you learned while writing this story. 
I learned what an interesting city Dubuque, Iowa is. We traveled there several years ago and discovered the Fenelon Place Elevator which is a tram that takes people up a steep cliff. Of course, this tram shows up in my book when the heroine Maggie Ehlke moves to Dubuque. My husband and I rode on this short train taking us to the top of the bluff, so it was easy to describe the experience for my readers. We also found out about the Cassville Ferry that crosses the Mississippi River upstream from Dubuque. We found out that this ferry was working during the Great Depression and that young adults (who could afford it) would take a day trip from Dubuque north to the ferry and then drive back to Dubuque on the Wisconsin side of the river. Of course, that happens in my book also. As you can probably tell, learning about history is why I love to write historical fiction.

What are you reading now? 
I’m currently reading In Farleigh Fields: A Novel of World War II by Rhys Bowen. This historical fiction story, set in England, gives the reader a hint of suspense. It has captured my attention as I read it on my Kindle. 

What’s next? 
That’s a complicated question for me at this point in my life. My husband and I are currently preparing to move to Prague, Czech Republic where he will be working as a missionary to tell people about Jesus. We hope to be moving over there sometime in May. I started writing book 3 in my series, but I have no idea how much I’ll be able to write until we actually relocate to Europe. Book 3 is about the youngest sister in the Ehlke family - Katie - and her adventures as a nurse in a POW camp for German soldiers located in New Ulm, Minnesota. I have about five chapters written already, but my writing life has been on hold for a time during this transition.

Lisa: My very best wishes for you and your husband. I hope you find time to write, as I look forward to the next story.


My review:
From our first meeting with the bashful and dreamy Romy, sent to pick up the pastor’s wife’s sister, and Maggie, on the train crossing the mighty Mississippi into Iowa, readers are pulled into their converging world.

Maggie feels like one mouth too many to feed in a large family during the harshness of what came to be known as the Great Depression. As she is thrown first into what came to be a short-lived reunion with family, and then into the harsh realities as caretaker of a motherless brood of virtual strangers, she feels abandoned not just by the people she loves, but also by God. Romy’s dedication to the family he adores wars with his adventurous side. All around him dreams are shriveling and dying during the harshness of the broken economy. His shyness has kept him from forming meaningful relationships with girls, but when he meets Maggie, her spirit and gumption in the light of her own disappointments points toward a new path for him to follow, even as tragedy strikes his family. A wealthy family takes up the ruined farm down the road and the dandified son takes up company with Maggie and Romy is forced to act in the best interests of everyone around him, even if the consequences lead him away from any chance at finding a home of his own.

Cortright’s story is beautifully detailed with all the nuances of love and faith and tragedy of that troublesome era of American and international history. Her characters are lovingly developed and the setting painstakingly recreated. Those who are familiar with Dubuque will feel right at home. Told in alternating points of view, readers can sympathize and rejoice and cry along with Maggie and Romy as life unfolds around them, and they respond by growing in faith and following their hearts.

About the Author

Raised on a farm in Wisconsin, Connie Cortright taught Lutheran elementary school before marrying a Lutheran pastor. She has traveled across the country and beyond, following his ministry. She enjoys writing Christian historical fiction where she sprinkles bits of her own experiences into her stories. Visit her website, www.conniecortright.com