Book Review: When Love Calls by Lorna Seilstad

When Love Calls

 

By Lorna Seilstad

Historical romance

Revel, a division of Baker Publishing Group

May 2013

ISBN 9780800721817

Paper: 14.99

 

From the publisher:

Hannah Gregory is a good many things, but that list does not include following rules. So when she must apply for a job as a switchboard operator to support her two sisters, she knows it won’t be easy. Hello Girls must conduct themselves according to strict and often bewildering rules, which include absolutely no consorting with gentlemen while in training. 

With historical details that bring to life the exciting first decade of the twentieth century, Lorna Seilstad weaves a charming tale of companionship that blossoms into sweet romance.

 

My review:

I enjoy Lorna’s stories. So far they’ve made the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth-century era come alive in America’s heartland—Iowa.

 

In this new book, When Love Calls, from the Gregory Sisters series, Seilstad explores the world of switchboard operators on the telephone exchange. I was especially interested since I had written about a similar character. Readers who enjoy history, particularly the plight of working women in the early twentieth century, will find much to appreciate about the depth of detail the author uses to effectively create dilemma for her wonderfully multi-layered characters.

 

Romances don’t leave much to the imagination, but the journey to the church aisle is often entertaining. From the moment attorney Lincoln Cole shows up at the recently orphaned Gregory girls’ farm to foreclose, the reader knows Hannah is in for a fight for her heart. Having given up law school in order to find work, independent and feisty Hannah sees an advertisement for switchboard operators, or Hello Girls, for the Iowa exchange, and applies for a highly-coveted training position. Not even the dire warning that less than half of them will graduate and only a handful will succeed on the switchboard, Hannah excels in the course, making friends and enemies along the way. Too practical to realize a farm neighbor has been harboring a secret crush, Hannah worries but ignores his warnings about the unrest caused by local union activities for laborer’s rights.

 

Lincoln Cole, son of a senator, is pushed toward his late father’s political aspirations. Those plans include associating with the right type of people and marriage with the right kind of society woman, not a common switchboard operator who associates with criminals. Lincoln realizes there is more to life when he meets Hannah and her younger sisters, a teenage potential hoyden, and the youngest, a dreamy schoolgirl who’s willing to help him plot Hannah’s romantic downfall.

 

When Love Calls hit nice highs and lows for all characters during this time of change, of unrest and uncertainty. Told from multiple viewpoints, the story shows what family devotion, faith, love, and respect should look like.

 

Available May 2013 at your favorite book seller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Meet Mary Ball, author of Escape to Big Fork Lake

Meet some of my new friends from the Prism Book Group, starting with Mary Ball, author of Escape to Big Fork Lake

Mary, what do you love about Escape to Big Fork Lake?

I love that Samantha Blacker got a new start in life. How many of us have often fantasized about starting fresh somewhere else 

 

Introduce us to the story and one character—any one:

 

Bad luck seems to follow Sam Blacker. She loses her job and faces daily struggles keeping her drunken neighbor away from her. When an unexpected inheritance gives her a chance for a new beginning, Sam, a city girl at heart, is hesitant. However, after a brutal attack she has no choice. Making a decision that will forever change her life she flees to the small fishing town of Big Fork Lake, Alabama and soon finds herself in the arms of Noah Frye. As Sam adjusts to small town life trouble lurks in the shadows, waiting and watching. Inescapable, Sam’s bad luck returns when she stumbles upon a murder and becomes the only suspect.

 

Exciting, Mary. What one new thing did you learn during the research of this book?

I discovered the beauty that lies in Alabama. (one city I haven't visited yet)

 

What’s your best marketing tip?

Stay away from blue eye shadow or use it sparely.

 

Me: Big grin! Thanks, Mary.

 

Will an inheritance bring new happiness or a trap for murder?

https://www.amazon.com/author/marylball

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y42b7wBUdHI

 

Mary L. Ball lives in the North Carolina. She writes novels and Christian articles. Her passion is weaving together Inspirational Romantic Suspense and Mysteries, which show the imperfect lives of everyday characters as they face hardships while discovering the real meaning of grace. When she’s not writing she enjoys family, the outdoors and fishing. You can visit me at http://MaryLouwrites.weebly.com Stop by and “like” her FB page.

May 6-10: National Teacher Appreciation Week

May 6-10: National Teacher Appreciation Week

  

Just Icing on the Cake

By Hally Franz

 

Teachers deserve our appreciation. There are many ways my daughter’s school commemorates National Teacher Appreciation Week, held this year May 6-10. Parents serve themed, private, and, most importantly, long lunches to teachers and staff, while monitoring classrooms during these respites. Students bring in flowers to build a vibrant and bountiful spring bouquet. Kids supply treat bags with candy bars and microwave popcorn to satisfy afternoon blood sugar dips. You can brainstorm your own ways to show teachers appreciation this year.

It’s wonderful to close the school year with a celebration of teachers and their hard work, but perhaps we should view this week of pampering as icing on the cake, a final thank you that follows a year of appreciation and support for those educating our children each day. Here are some ways parents can show we value teachers throughout the school year.

 

Partner with Your Child’s Teacher

Fifty years ago, parents just naturally supported teachers. Children understood that parents held the same expectations for classroom behavior and academic performance as the teacher; there was solidarity between the two. When parents provide that support, it means a lot to a teacher, and it benefits kids. Not only do children clearly know what’s acceptable, they learn to respect authority figures.

 

Take the Initiative on Communication      

We may have unrealistic expectations regarding communications from teachers. Fortunately, technology in many school districts makes it convenient to check grades, attendance and lunch accounts as often as we like. However, it may be more difficult to get that personal conversation or note from a teacher, especially at the secondary level. With the job of teachers becoming more difficult each year due to larger class sizes and/or increased state mandates, we should take time to address concerns or check-in on things ourselves. That lets the teacher know we’re attentive and, at the same time, we recognize the demands teachers face.  

Words of Thanks Throughout the Year

When school programs or events occur during the year, teachers appreciate not only our attendance, but also our thanks for the extra time they’ve spent to spotlight our children. A bit of praise or a heartfelt compliment means a lot to these hard-working professionals.

Final Assessment

Most teachers are genuinely devoted to their students and the goal of educating. If we find that to be so, let’s give them our appreciation all year long, knowing that this special week in May will be yet another rewarding moment in a year of a job well done!

About the Author:

Hally Franz writes about her observations on family, faith, parenting and people. A former high school guidance counselor turned stay-at-home mom, Hally is a 4-H leader, and she serves as her church secretary and a Bible class teacher. She enjoys traveling with family and monthly book club meetings with pals.

April 7 is No Housework Day by Robin Steinweg

Since I believe any day can be a no housework day, I offer this article.

April 7 is International No Housework Day

 

 

No Housework Day

By Robin Steinweg

 

I used to be queen of procrastination. I abdicated that throne.

 

Now you can call me Sisyphus.

 

That’s right—the mythological Greek who was forced to roll a boulder uphill all day, then watch it plunge back down at night—only to start again the next morning. And the next, and the next.

 

Anyone whose responsibilities include the daily round of family meals, dishes, laundry or floor-care could relate to Sisyphus. A recurring nightmare might go like this:  a mountainous meatball lumbers down the stairs toward my kitchen, spraying a trail of spaghetti sauce, grated Parmesan and a few unruly noodles. It gains momentum. It lurches straight toward my freshly shined sink.

 

“Nooooooo!”

 

The meatball takes a deliberate turn. I hear its sneering tone as it threatens me, “I’ll roll over you. You’ll be flat as a sheet.” The meatball leans over me menacingly, looking strangely like my husband—

 

“Roll over, Honey. You’re dreaming. And you’ve got the flat sheet all to yourself.”

 

The average American woman scrubs her house for at least seventeen hours a week^*. That means if she lives to be eighty years old, she’ll have spent over eight years of her life cleaning house!

 

I’d like to slice a sliver out of that perennial pie. April 7 is International No Housework Day.

 

Put down your mop

Hang the broom

Watch dust bunnies gather in every room

Don’t let your youth just fade away

Take time to celebrate No Housework Day

 

Put off till later what needs to be done

Cooking and housework aren’t much fun

Take the day off. Augment your sorrow—

Every mess, every job will be there tomorrow

 

Dishes will litter each horizontal space

Oatmeal will harden at an alarming pace

Slog through the clutter? You’ll be confounded

As tasks pile up with interest compounded

 

Hm. That didn’t go quite like I thought it would.

 

It could be that the statistics of the average woman’s housecleaning would change in the wrong direction. I’ve heard that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If I take a day off, how many extra hours—days—months—will it take me to catch up?  

 

Maybe I’ll be queen of procrastination one more time—

 

—and put off celebrating No Housework Day!

 

^*According to a 2008 study by the University of Michigan.  

 

 

Robin Steinweg

Robin Steinweg finds life sweet in the middle of writing, teaching music students, caring for aging parents, adjusting to having adult children, and nudging life and home to a state of order. She, her husband and sons live near Madison, Wisconsin.

Lynn Dove's Love the Wounded book blast! Enter a Drawing!

Title: Love the Wounded By Lynn Dove

About the Book:

Love the Wounded by Lynn Dove is the final and dramatic conclusion to her brilliant Wounded Trilogy series that has followed the lives of teenagers Jake, Leigh, Mike, Dylan and Tim as they come to terms with a series of tragedies and events that have made each of them question why God allows “bad things to happen to good people.” Leigh does not know who to choose…her heart tells her she will always love Jake, but he has changed so much since the death of their friend, Ronnie, and with his mother going through breast cancer, he has totally closed himself off from her emotionally. Now she is dating Dylan and try as she might to accept him for who he is, she can’t stop thinking about Jake!

Dylan has never gotten over the loss of his father and little sister, killed by a drunk driver when he was just a young boy. After a horrific accident that has put both Tim and his little brother, Evan in the hospital, everyone knows that not only is he being bullied at school; he cuts himself to cope with it all. But meeting Cassidy has given him the courage to stand up to the bullies and at the same time give her what she so desperately needs…a life-giving bone marrow transplant.

Jake’s mother keeps telling him that “God works all things out for good” but with all the things going on in his life and with his friends, he’s just not sure anymore. It is only after Mike is paralyzed in a car accident that Jake was partially responsible for that all the families and friends will be brought back together, not by coincidence, but by God’s design and then Jake will finally believe that God truly does Love the Wounded.

“A life of working with youth has inspired Lynn Dove, a Cochrane mother, to turn her experiences into a book trilogy…(the Wounded Trilogy) series that parallels the struggles of students…(and) covers the angst of some of the real serious issues that teenagers face today, particularly with bullying and gossip. ” -Rocky View Weekly-

Kindle | Paperback

Lynn Dove Lynn Dove calls herself a Christ-follower, a wife, a mom, a grandmother, a teacher and a writer (in that order). She is the author of award winning books: The Wounded Trilogy. Her blog, Journey Thoughts, won a Canadian Christian Writing Award - 2011. She has also had essays published in "Mother of Pearl: Luminous Lessons and Iridescent Faith" and "Chicken Soup for the Soul - Parenthood" (March 2013).

Readers may connect with Lynn on Facebook, Twitter and on her blogs: Journey Thoughts and Word Salt or on her website: www.shootthewounded.org

Follow Lynn Dove Website | Facebook | Twitter

Enter to Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card!

Enter below to enter a $50 amazon gift card, sponsored by author Lynn Dove! a Rafflecopter giveaway This book blast is hosted by Crossreads. We would like to send out a special THANK YOU to all of the CrossReads book blast bloggers!

Review of Days of Vines and Roses by Linda Rondeau

Days of Vines and Roses

By Linda Wood Rondeau

 

Helping Hands Press

c. March 2013

e-book

ASIN: B00BYHPRTM$4.99

 

From the publisher: A romance writer and her estranged publisher husband spend a summer together in their Connecticut estate. But when reconciliation seems possible, malignant forces within the home seem determined to keep them apart.

 

My review:

A lifetime of regrets in a marriage kept up for appearance's sake comes to the tipping point in its thirtieth year.

 

Sylvia and Henry Fitzgibbons have struggled along because they are comfortable in their Wednesday dates, their parasitic lifestyle and separate tents, so to speak. Sylvia, aka Lana Longstreet a somewhat over the top romance writer, has overstepped her bounds as a bread-winning wife and allowed her devil may care Lana personality trump her husband, Henry, who along with an army buddy partner, runs a successful publishing firm catering not only to Lana but others. Henry and Sylvia could have been divinely in tune but for their personal hangups and decided lack of confrontation, er, communication skills with each other. They are, of course, in love as well as lust with each, but can't figure out how to make the other aware of their feelings.

 

In true Lana form, Sylvia bought a mansion for herself early on in the marriage. She decamped there, outside of New York City, to write and mother their two children. Henry always hated the early American historic home, and claimed the feeling was mutual. Sylvia ignores the odd things that happen upon occasion and made fun of Henry for his fears. But the summer of the roses, the last-ditch effort Sylvia makes to try and salvage their marriage, forces them to face their...ghosts. Literally.

 

If Sylvia and Henry can't find the means to confront themselves, outside influences force them to decide whether they are stronger alone or together, and even better, three-stranded with the One God who above all else, keeps them in perfect peace.

 

Told in snippets from Sylvia and Henry's viewpoints, along with chapters from the novel Lana is currently writing, Days of Vines and Roses is an interesting read. From things that go bump in the night to facing the demons that make us who we are, and force us to confront the choices we've made and how those choices affect others, readers of contemporary fiction who like a forties-era feel to their heroes will find reasons to keep turning these pages.

YA Book Review: Stopped Cold by Gail Pallotta

Stopped Cold

Gail Pallotta

Front Porch Romance

c. April 10, 2013

ASIN: B00CBAT37I

e-book $2.99

Young Adult

 

From the publisher: Margaret McWhorter enjoys a laid-back Freshman year in high school flirting with Jimmy Willmore, swimming and hanging out with friends—until that day. Her brother, Sean, suffers a stroke from taking a steroid. Now he’s lying unconscious in a hospital. Margaret’s angry at her dad for pushing Sean to be a great quarterback, but a fire of hatred burns inside her to make the criminals pay.

My review:

Pallotta’s high school drama could take place anywhere. Pressure from all sides: parents, teachers, coaches, and peers take their toll, no matter the size or type of school. Margaret McWhorter and her brother Sean attend the exclusive Meriwether School, one which is targeted by drug-trafficking creeps who have infiltrated the very place that’s supposed to be a safe and supportive environment.

 

It’s not enough to be talented in the world of high school athletics. Margaret and Sean’s parents unwittingly push their son over the edge as new competition for Sean’s quarterback position comes in and takes over. Sean is pressured into taking steroids and body-building, and suffers a stroke and subsequent coma. Even though the pressure for Margaret, a champion swimmer, is eased by Sean’s condition and the resulting parental guilt, she can’t stop her own consuming desire for vengeance against those who hurt her brother.

 

But Margaret is only a freshman. She’s just learning about life in high school, what can she do to find the bad guys? And who are they? Who can she trust, besides her mother’s faith that God will make everything right? And Dad—he was the one who pushed Sean too much to begin with.

 

Detective Garrett, the one assigned to the case, is moving way too slow for Margaret’s taste. He won’t figure things out until someone else gets hurt, and Margaret isn’t about to let that happen. She finally confides in her best friend Emily, who agrees to keep her eyes and ears open around school and their fav hangout, The Grill. Life changes in many ways as Margaret is forced to learn who to trust and what to believe in. Emily is a Buddhist, and a boy Margaret secretly admires, Jimmy, wants to hang out and help find the people behind the drugs. Is Emily’s faith stronger than Mom’s? And what does Jimmy really want?

 

Find out in this great new read. Told in first person, follow Margaret’s journey to discover the depth of true character and faith not only in school and friends, but family.

 

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