Love Stumbled In with Nancy Bolton

 

Love Stumbled In by Nancy Shew Bolton

In the midst of tragedy and uncertainty, love stumbles in.

Inspirational Romance from Prism Lux, November 13, 2020

172 pp

About the Book:

In the years of World War I and the flu epidemic that followed, American society and its people underwent profound changes. Carrie and her adopted family are not spared these changes and tragedies, yet what can they do but continue on the best way they can? As Carrie comes of age, she is faced with a future very different than the one she hoped for. She gave her heart, only to have it returned back to her and now she must search herself to find a new direction or give in to the temptation to simply give up and let circumstances dictate her life.

Judd has spent his young adult years coping with the aftermath of war injuries and profound family losses. With no time to grieve or recover, he is thrust into the role of family head and pours himself into steering his brothers and Carrie to adulthood while also seeing to the needs of the family farm. Like Carrie, his losses have caused him to grow cold towards God, leaning only on himself to bear the weight of his responsibilities. The pressure has forged a resolute hardness in him and an unwillingness to be close to anyone. The life journey of both is in need of new direction, if they will choose to take a chance and step toward it.

Enjoy this Excerpt:

Her mind wandered back to days spent with Mama, watching her cook, and sharing the small triumphs while she learned. Memories warmed her and loosened her tongue. “I wish she could know how good I am at it now. With her gift for pies and cake, and mine for bread, maybe we could’ve run a bakery together. That would’ve been wonderful.”

Lucas rumbled out an indeterminate sound. “Two women running a bakery? Never heard of that.”

Carrie’s wistful, nostalgic mood shattered. How backward. Was Jesse the only man in this family with any foresight?

Quenching a sharp retort, she kept her voice airy. “It’s the twentieth century, in case you forgot. Women can do pretty much anything these days. Vote, get a job. Why, I read a story the other day about women policemen in California.”

Lucas sputtered out a laugh. “You just called them policemen. Wouldn’t they be policewomen?”

She scowled at his smirking expression. “Ha-ha. You know what I mean.”

About Nancy: Nancy Shew Bolton is a wife, mother of five grown sons, and grandmother to a boy and girl. Ever since she learned to write, she would jot down her thoughts and impressions in little snippets of inspiration in the form of poetry, song lyrics, or short essays.

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Books webpage: https://nancyboltonbooks.com/

$5.99 ebook

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At 50% off: Love Stumbled In : Pelican Book Group Christian Fiction, Illuminating fiction

New Memoir from Nancy Bolton

Adventures in Poverty

Nancy Shew Bolton

               

Memoir, 171 pp.

c. July 2019

Celebrate Lit publishing

$4.99 ebook

$12.99 print

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About the Book

Faced with eviction, living on union strike pay, our time for making a decision was running out. Where could we go to live with our five small sons? We had few options. The scariest possibility was also the one that fit best with our tiny income. But could we really make such a difficult move? To transport our family, and our mobile home onto a five-acre parcel of rural, undeveloped land? No electricity, no running water, with winter fast approaching. It sounded a little crazy.......

My Review

An eye opening look at living simply with purpose and joy.

Bolton’s story of raising her family during a difficult period of time in the 1980s unencumbered by modern conveniences is uplifting and truthful. Told with a spirit of making do and a deliberate choice not to complain (much), Bolton shares what it was like for a few years living on public and private assistance while her husband reoriented his career. It honestly sounded like a terrific leap of faith that worked out better in the end, though I think Bolton ended her tale without letting us know that for certain.

The best parts of her adventure included her willingness to do whatever it took, raising chickens, milking goats, using a kerosene heater, planting a garden, and cooking on a camp stove, besides hauling water, and the worst parts were being treated as poor by the public. Poverty means barely or not having enough, but Bolton proved that they truly did have enough, although maybe not by modern standards. I would have had a much more difficult time accepting the image of being poverty-stricken, and realize that my attitude on both sides of the equation need to adjust.

I’m glad she shared this bit of her life in a fascinating read. She didn’t mince problems but told simply how she dealt with issues from neighbors to tilted tables to the loss of the chickens to hunting to freezing cold to charity with grace. Good read. Recommended.

About the Author

Nancy Shew Bolton loves to write character-driven stories about relationships of love and faith, since she is fascinated by the complexities within this emotional terrain. She thanks God and His Son for her life, her loved ones and the spark of creativity inside every person. She believes each person is a unique creation, with their own special voice and place in this amazing universe. God’s handiwork amazes her every day!

Prism Book Group Love Is series A Haven in the Woods

Love Is Number 11: Love always protects

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a New International Version (NIV)  

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is no tproud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8. Love never fails

A Haven in the Woods

Nancy Bolton

Novella, romance

$2.99 eBook

Buy on Amazon - http://amzn.to/2dcG2Td

Print collection coming soon

About the Book

Ellen is running away. Heartbroken and carrying the ever growing shame of her foolishness in trusting a man, she rents a remote cabin in the woods. All she needs to do is survive until the baby is born. Once that happens she’ll be free to start a new job and a new life. The last thing she expected was to be pulling out her gun on a strange man walking out of the woods.

Robert loves the solitude of the mountains. Tracking the wildlife with only his dog for company. It’s not the profitable career his family would desire for him. He wished they’d understand. But the woman in the cabin, while an annoyance, also concerns him. She’s not prepared for the brutal winter in the mountains. And pregnant? He resolves to help her.

Robert falls for the taciturn woman and even more for the child she carries. When her home is destroyed he brings her to his…offering protection and shelter from the harsh winter. He can’t understand why she won’t talk about the baby, or make plans for it.

Can two lonely souls trapped together, testing the limits of solitude and friendship, find true love?

My Review

All of the books in this series connected only by a Bible verse are based on one aspect of First Corinthians 13:4-8. Bolton’s romantic novella uses love “always protects,” and takes place deep in the Appalachians. Ellen and Robert have both decided to take a break from the harshness of society and chosen to battle nature instead. Brutal, beautiful, predictable in the change of season, each needs a chance to be alone in order to assess their individual wounds, and then to heal. Winding up as unexpected neighbors, Robert has the advantage of a cabin with a working stove to protect him from winter’s blast, while Ellen must learn that there are heroes in the world, and that trust is not overrated. That lesson comes hard to both of them.

Robert is one of those too-good-to-be-true superheroes I adore. Yes, he has grown from a wounded heart, yes he’s stubborn, but that’s what gets him back on the road to life. Who doesn’t love a man who’s willing to give everything for an infant? Ellen comes from a bubble that is difficult to break from, and yet, when she does manage to free herself, she realizes that freedom can have overwhelming consequences. As a faith-filled couple, they are better at facing life head-on, meeting their obligations and serving the Lord with joy together.

Bolton’s lush setting paints a perfect backdrop for these people who learn that protecting each other, no matter who they came together, as well as living under the protection of God’s wings, makes life worth living. Told in multiple viewpoints from the perspectives of the main characters, this sweet novella clips right along at a quick pace. Full and satisfying, readers will root for both Robert and Ellen, even in the darkest moments.

Enjoy an Excerpt

She kept the gun aimed at him. “Stay off my property or I’ll shoot you.”

“Technically, I’m standing on my land.” His calm voice didn’t fit with having a gun trained on him. He pointed at a small orange flag affixed to a rod in the ground near him. “The survey marker shows where your land starts and mine ends. Also, you can’t just shoot someone in New York State for stepping onto your property.”

He seemed like a reasonable person, but didn’t people always say psychopaths were good at appearing normal? She continued to point the gun at him. “I can shoot anyone I think means to harm me.”

“Well, that wouldn’t be me.” He shrugged and gave a brisk flip of his hand. “See ya.”

About the Author

Nancy Shew Bolton is a wife of 42 years, mother of five grown sons, and grandmother to a boy and girl. Ever since she learned to write, she would jot down her thoughts and impressions in little snippets of inspiration in the form of poetry, song lyrics, or short essays. About six years ago, she decided to try her hand at writing a full-length book. She’s since written five works of fiction, two non-fiction, and is working on an idea for a children’s book, as well as more fiction manuscripts. Writing a full-length work is much more challenging than she thought, and she has received so much valuable assistance from other writers, especially from the ACFW critique groups. Her husband has been supportive of her long hours spent at the keyboard. Many thanks to her beloved Johnny! She thanks God and His Son for her life, her loved ones and the spark of creativity inside every person. She believes each person is a unique creation, with their own special voice and place in this amazing universe. God’s handiwork amazes her every day!

Historical romance with Nancy Bolton

Answering Sarah

Nancy Shew Bolton

 

Prism Book Group

2016

Print $14.99

ISBN  978-1533575661

Ebook $3.99

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Historical fiction

About the book: After a fire destroys their home when she was a girl, Sarah’s family rebuilds their lives, yet the echoes of the fire’s damage remain. Sarah learned to turn inward, and keep her curious mind to herself, asking God all the questions that her own father used to delight in. But the fire silenced her father, and spread the stillness to the rest of them. Yet Sarah longs to express herself, to find answers to all her questions. A new, young pastor arrives, and captivates her heart. The prospect of a challenging and unexpected life dances before her, but then is held out of her reach. And with the new possibilities come questions she’s never asked herself before. Is she ready for the answers?

My Review:

What a delightful though slower-paced historical romance. Bolton uses interesting antagonists to weave the two love interests into a true cord of three strands throughout a courtship to their wedding.

I love a too-good-to-be-true hero. While true that the pastor, Mark, must undergo a transformation from his initial declaration of pure service to God to that of sharing his life with a God-ordained helpmeet, he does so with little struggle. Even the temptation of being with Sarah and the major obstacles in their way are a bloodless coup. But I meant what I said. I enjoyed this pastor’s maturity and would love to learn at his feet. Our heroine, Sarah, has all the right ingredients, too, in a youthful and spunky joie de vivre. Her solutions to handling her parents are a good lesson for us all. Her deep-seated faith life was truly inspirational.

Bolton’s setting of small town America during late settlement is a good microcosm of personalities and opinions. I was afraid for the fate of the library, and am only slightly shocked that times haven’t changed all that much. A local book club I belong to tries to read at least one “banned” book a year—only they keep changing! Readers will have to check this book for some sweet and entertaining way to deal with curmudgeons.

Answering Sarah is told through the eyes of both Sarah and Mark. Sarah learns not only to ask her questions at the right time and place, but to learn when silence is a golden, mature option. I enjoyed this story, and though it is quite long, it didn’t feel as though it dragged and kept me reading into the next chapters even when I knew my time was up. Recommended for those who enjoy rural and rustic historical romance that takes its sweet time to be told by achingly sweet and respectable characters who know when to pull the reins and when to smack them.

About the Author:
Nancy Shew Bolton is a wife of 43 years, mother of five grown sons, and grandmother to a boy and girl. Ever since she learned to write, she would jot down her thoughts and impressions in little snippets of inspiration in the form of poetry, song lyrics, or short essays. About six years ago, she decided to try her hand at writing a full length book. She’s since written five works of fiction, two non-fiction, and is working on an idea for a children’s book, as well as more fiction manuscripts. 

Love Does Not Boast, read Nancy Bolton's A Work in Progress

Ah, love! Such a topic!

For me, I had a close, loving family growing up, but we hit some rough times when my siblings and I were all teenagers in the 1960s, and the closeness often became strained and rocky, especially with our Dad who felt pretty overwhelmed with his outspoken, stubborn children. How I longed for the uncomplicated days when we were smaller!

 I’d always gotten along well with boys, and often preferred their company. But due to a childhood trauma, as I grew older, I was wary of any romantic relationships, and figured I’d never marry since the whole dating process appeared pretty scary to me. Though I perceived interest from various boys during high school, I kept a friendly distance, protecting myself from the titanic hurts I watched my siblings suffer as they navigated through their dating years.

Then, in my junior year, when I was seventeen, I became re-acquainted with a boy who’d once lived next door to us years back, and who I’d hardly seen in recent years. He had soulful, dark blue eyes, and a marvelous, quirky sense of humor which captivated me. He didn’t show any of the annoying romantic attention that always made me wary, and I delighted in humorous bantering with him, and sharing comic observations about everything. He was such fun to talk to.

Somehow, he snuck through my giant defenses, and I found myself fascinated at the thought of getting to know him as more than a friend. Though I resisted it once I realized he was becoming romantic toward me, it grew more difficult to push away the strong feelings I had for him. To his credit, he waited and maintained our friendship while the attraction deepened. When I finally opened the door to my heart, he rushed in and though we’ve had our rough times, now five sons and 40 plus years later, he still makes me laugh and is my other half.

We also shared our spiritual journey toward new birth in Christ in our twenties, and God has been a huge part of our ongoing relationship. I am well and truly blessed with love, and children and we even have two grandchildren now. We’ve never had a regular sort of life, but I’m comfortable being rather an oddball, and so is my husband, who first taught me to embrace my eccentricities, and enjoy them, just as he’s always enjoyed his and mine.  God makes all kinds of quirky folks, and I’m so happy to share my life with my husband John, though honestly sometimes he drives me nuts!!! I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Check out Nancy’s contribution to Prism Book Group’s new Love Is series…

A Work in Progress

“Love is kind…” 1 Corinthians: 13:4

$2.99

Prism Book Group

February 26, 2016

Buy on Amazon

About the Book:

There’s something cooking outside the kitchen…. 

They’ve worked together for two years, but that’s all they have in common. Like oil and water, they just don’t mix. Julie thinks he’s a shallow flirt, Mark thinks she’s a cold fish. Despite their mutual dislike, they’ve carved out a civil work relationship at the restaurant. But after each of their inner worlds suffer a jolt; the careful, polite kitchen routine becomes a stew of conflicting emotions. Things are about to get interesting. 

My review:

Nancy Shew Bolton, author of other Prism novella favorites of mine, Hidden Storms, and The Right Ingredients (both on sale at 99 cents each), adds another winner to the Love Is line, based on the apostle Paul's famous biblical passage in I Corinthians 13. "Love does not boast" means gifted, talents chefs Julie and Mark, who work at the same steakhouse restaurant, each with their special creative abilities to turn out new special dishes, should not let stress affect their work. When Mark visits a clinic for troubling symptoms, he meets new friends who help him put his life into perspective. But when he learns about Julie's secret outside-of-work life, his sense of duty wars with his curiosity. Used to getting the attention of girls, Julie is a puzzle Mark is determined to unlock. When their lives circle around and a mutual project brings them a fresh purpose, these cooks definitely sizzle.

Told from contrasting viewpoints, A Work in Progress follows two individuals with strong passions as they learn to meld and help each other grow.