Cover Attraction: While We're Far Apart by Lynn Austin

Title: While We're Far Apart
Author: Lynn Austin
Release Date: 10/01/2010
Publisher: Bethany House

About the book:

In an unassuming apartment building in Brooklyn, New York, three lives intersect as the reality of war invades each aspect of their lives. Young Esther is heartbroken when her father decides to enlist in the army shortly after the death of her mother. Penny Goodrich has been in love with Eddie Shaffer for as long as she can remember; now that Eddie's wife is dead, Penny feels she has been given a second chance and offers to care for his children in the hope that he will finally notice her and marry her after the war. And elderly Mr. Mendel, the landlord, waits for the war to end to hear what has happened to his son trapped in war-torn Hungary.

But during the long, endless wait for victory overseas, life on the home front will go from bad to worse. Yet these characters will find themselves growing and changing in ways they never expected--and ultimately discovering truths about God's love... even when He is silent.

No, I'm Really Not Speedy Gonzales

I'm sure I'm not the only one that loves spring. Since I've become a bit of a garden addict, I just love seeing my flowerbeds fill up with new flowers. My hydrangea bush has started to bloom, as well as all my rose bushes. Ahhh....I just love it.

But this year, I need to get some bulbs in the ground to start filling up some new flowerbeds that I set up last fall. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, I'll have those bulbs in the ground by this weekend. I've only ever planted bulbs once before, and had mixed results, so I'm a little nervous about doing it again. This year, I've already bought some dahlia bulbs to plant in the flowerbed in my front yard. If they bloom, I'll upload some pics.....cross your fingers for me. *grin*

My gardening plans would've started a little sooner had I not had a little accident at the house about a week and a half ago. I have now learned that I cannot race through my house like Speedy Gonzales. There are consequences when I do that. :o)

DH decided to order pizza the other night, and told me beforehand: "Hon, when the pizza guy gets here, will you come and get the dogs so they don't race out the front door?" (Bella, our chug, likes to escape out the front door if she gets a chance, and runs all over the neighborhood like she's going on vacation or something.) I said I'd help him with that when the time came. About thirty minutes later, the pizza is at the house. I'm in my newly-cleaned craft room, and race to get to the living room to keep the dogs under control. Just before I make it out of my room, I bang (yes, bang) my left pinky toe into the desk that's right next to the door. Oh. My. Gosh. I have never known such pain in my whole life. And I'm sure you can visualize this scene quite well in your mind....the dogs are going nuts, hubby's trying to pay for the pizza, and I'm screaming bloody murder. I literally could not even walk to the living room, and we're talking a very short distance between my craft room and the living room. I plopped down in the hallway, and just cry like a baby because my whole foot hurts SOOO bad, and all I did was hit that little bitty toe. (Also going through my mind was what the pizza guy must be thinking.) Bella must've heard my blood-curling screams, so she comes to see if I'm alright. She then proceeds to pee right there in the hallway on the carpet....right in front of me. By this time I'm thinking, "Could this night get any worse?" Yep...sure could...she decided she'd do the same thing in the living room. Needless to say, she was not my biggest fan that particular night....didn't like hubby much, either.

Hubby was so sweet for the rest of the night, though, I must say. Cleaned up the doggie pee, and was checking up on me the whole time. Got me an icepack for my foot, got it all propped up, and then he started, "Hon, do you wanna go to the doctor tomorrow?" I respond with a pleading "please don't make me go!!" He's like, "Are you sure? Your toe might be broken." I'm convinced that it's not broken because it looks normal, just a nice shade of red. (Yeah, there's a reason why I never went into the medical field.)

The next morning I decide to make an appointment to see the doc. Good thing I did, too, because my husband can diagnose stuff better than I can. Sure enough...my left pinky toe was indeed broken. Unfortunately, there's nothing they can do about that at the doctor's office except tell me to go to the drugstore and get some tape so I can wrap the pinky toe to the toe beside it. Seriously, I've lived on this earth for 28 years, and never broken a bone in my life. And when I decide that I'd like to break one, I think it should be, according to the doctor, "the smallest, most insignificant bone in your body....it's not there for much, except to probably help you balance better." Great. Well, if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it right.

So, for the past week and a half, I have worn the most unattractive shoes in my closet simply because they are the most comfortable. (Lesson #1, never throw out all your ugly shoes...you never know when you might need them.) And if you've never broken your toe, you'd think it's not that big a deal...until it is. I cannot run, I can't lift anything really heavy (yep, experienced that one firsthand), and I walk around looking like I need a cane.

Oh, and the doctor also said no yardwork. While normally I would love to hear that, I've got to work on my flowerbeds. Hubby is great at a lot of things, but planting flowers is not something that he's tried, and I don't think he really wants to. So, as long as I can get outside early enough on Friday morning before it gets up to 80 degrees (yep, the hot temps are already here in west TN), I'll sit myself on the ground, plant those bulbs, and hope that there will be fruits to my labor come summertime.

CFBA Tour and Book Review: Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa by Melanie Dobson

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa


Summerside Press (March 1, 2010)


by


Melanie Dobson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melanie Beroth Dobson is the author of the inspirational novels Together for Good (2006), Going for Broke (2007), The Black Cloister (2008), Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana (2009), Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa (2010), Refuge on Crescent Hill (2010), and The Silent Order (2010) as well as the co-author of Latte for One and Loving It! A Single Woman's Guide to Living Life to Its Fullest (2000).

Prior to launching Dobson Media Group in 1999, Melanie was the corporate publicity manager at Focus on the Family where she was responsible for the publicity of events, products, films, and TV specials. Melanie received her undergraduate degree in journalism from Liberty University and her master's degree in communication from Regent University. She has worked in the fields of publicity and journalism for fifteen years including two years as a publicist for The Family Channel.

Melanie and her husband, Jon, met in Colorado Springs in 1997 at Vanguard Church. Jon works in the field of computer animation. Since they've been married, the Dobsons have relocated numerous times including stints in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Colorado, Berlin, and Southern California. These days they are enjoying their new home in the Pacific Northwest.

Jon and Melanie have adopted their two daughters —Karly (6) and Kinzel (5). When Melanie isn't writing or entertaining their girls, she enjoys exploring ghost towns and dusty back roads, traveling, hiking, line dancing, and reading inspirational fiction.

ABOUT THE BOOK



Times are hard in 1894. Desperate for work, former banker Jacob Hirsch rides the rails west from Chicago with his four-year-old daughter, Cassie. When a life-threatening illness strands the pair in Homestead, Iowa, the local Amana villagers welcome the father and daughter into their peaceful society. Liesel, a young Amana woman, nurses Cassie back to health, and the Homestead elders offer Jacob work. But Jacobs growing interest in Liesel complicates his position in the Amanas. Will he fight to stay in the only place that feels like home, even if it means giving up the woman he loves? Or will Liesel leave her beloved community to face the outside world with Jacob and Cassie at her side?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa, go HERE.

My thoughts:

This was a very good story, and my first experience with author Melanie Dobson. It was also my first time reading a story that shared some history about the Amana Society. As with all the books in the Love Finds You series, this story focuses on a real town in the US as well as some of the history of that town.

I loved the gradual relationship that formed between Jacob and Liesel. At the beginning of the book, Liesel is engaged to another man, and is advised several times that she must guard her heart and not become to attached to Jacob and his precious daughter, Cassie. Jacob and Cassie first arrive in the town of Homestead with Cassie sick with diphtheria. The three of them are quarantined at the local doctor's house for several weeks while Cassie recovers, and they gradually get to know each other. Liesel is confused at first as to why Cassie's mother is not there to care for her sick child, but Jacob has not shared with her yet that he lost his wife in childbirth the year before. The more Liesel gets to know Jacob, the more she realizes that no one is giving him a fair chance. All he wants to do is to find work and care for his daughter. When the Elders first learn that Jacob knows how to swim, they realize that maybe they should give him a chance after all because he can be a huge help to the rest of the community. Once Jacob is cleared from the quarantine, he begins to work on a dredge boat with some of the other locals, and Liesel continues to care for Cassie while he is away. During this time, Liesel becomes very attached to Cassie, and wonders what the future holds in her relationship with Cassie's father.

The Amana Society seemed very similar to the Amish lifestyle, which was one of the reasons I was intrigued to read this book. The Amanas have Elders that oversee the entire community and make sure that everyone is contributing and following the rules, whereas the Amish have Bishops that lead the church services and make sure that their community is following the guidelines of their Ordnung. In both communities, everyone looks out for each other, and they all do their best to maintain a lifestyle that is set apart from the outside world. The biggest difference between the two was that the Amanas lived in a communal society with everyone contributing to the community. The members do not have to worry with money because all of their resources are shared with one another.

The only thing that I would've liked to have seen more of was the history of the Amana people and their Society. I wished there had been more of it sprinkled throughout the story because there were a couple of scenes where certain things didn't make sense. To give the author credit, there was a footnote at the end that explained what happened to their Society in the years following 1894 (the year this story took place).

All in all, I think Ms. Dobson is a very good storyteller, and is very good at invoking emotions in her stories. If you haven't had the opportunity to read anything in the Love Finds You series or anything by Melanie Dobson, this story would get a high recommendation from me. I'm surprised that this is only the first book that I've read by her, but I can promise you this...it most certainly will not be my last!

We Have a Winner!

We have a winner!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who put in an entry for the Paula Deen giveaway...I wish I could give goodies to everyone! And if you didn't win this time around, please do visit CSNStores.com because truly, their prices are quite good, and there are LOTS of bargains to be found!

And now, the winner! Thanks to the random number generator at Random.org, the lucky winner is.....

32 - Bermudaonion

I hope you'll enjoy your new goodies! I will be contacting you shortly to get all the necessary info so that your new stuff can be on its way to ya. :o)