Tackling the Fields review and giveaway

Cole Sanders is a changed man. The university quarterback questions his direction in life after serving on a mission trip in Honduras. Things that used to fill Cole’s ego seem empty after witnessing the developing country’s extreme poverty and the death of a precious child. The one glimmer of hope through his confusion is the fresh perspective he now has about his tutor, Audrey. She possesses something beautiful inside and out—something that might help him become the person he wants to be.



University senior Audrey Vaughn tutored Cole Sanders for an entire year and never imagined the popular quarterback would see her as anything more than a friend. After partnering with him on the mission trip, they are drawn together. And he appears to have changed for the better. To let Cole into her life, Audrey will have to overcome not only her brother’s distrust, but also the paralyzing fear still lingering from a past she’s tried to leave behind.



Cole can’t walk away from Audrey now that they’re back in Oxford. He’ll have to figure out how to keep her giant of a brother, a lineman on his football team, from killing him when the coach has his back turned. But can Audrey trust her heart to a player so similar to the one who stole so much from her in the past?

About the Author

Janet W. Ferguson grew up in Mississippi and received a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Mississippi. She has served her church as a children’s minister and a youth volunteer. An avid reader, she worked as a librarian at a large public high school. Janet and her husband have two grown children, one really smart dog, and a few cats that allow them to share the space.

Guest Post from Janet Ferguson

Hi, I’m Janet W. Ferguson, and I’m so excited to be back again and meet more readers through Celebrate Lit!



This is a story I didn’t want to write, but felt called to tackle. The loss of the dream, the loss of innocence, and life’s other unfair struggles can challenge our faith—can make us captive to fear and disappointment.



 In the South, we love football. In writing this book, I’m not trying to make a statement for or against the sport. My husband and son loved playing the game. After my son suffered a torn ACL, torn shoulder labrum, and four surgeries, he could no longer participate in the game he loved. He mourned the loss of the brotherhood of his team. I saw the popular pastime differently from his eyes. For young men, I believe it is a bond between friends for a common goal. Though the character in this book is totally fictional, I’m dedicating this book to my son, Luke.



The other sensitive topics in this story seemed particularly sad, but relevant in our society. Trust me, I didn’t prefer to research acquaintance/date rape or human trafficking, but both are going on all too often in communities both small and large. There are a number of organizations set up to help victims of these crimes if you feel a calling to help.



Someone reading this may have had something terrible that happened in their past or may know someone who has. God is able to set free the captives, set you free from the bonds that hold you. My prayer is that you find comfort in that truth.

Blog Stops

August 15: Quiet Quilter

August 16: A Baker’s Perspective

August 17: Blogging With Carol

August 18: The Power of Words (Spotlight)

August 19: inklings and notions

August 20: Christian Chick’s Thoughts

August 21: Karen’s Krayons

August 22: Bigreadersite

August 23: A Greater Yes

August 24: Chas Ray’s Book Nerd Corner

August 25: A Reader’s Brain

August 26: Mary Hake

August 27: His Grace is Sufficient

August 28: Cassandra M’s Place

August 29: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations

Giveaway

[Insert Giveaway Picture]

  

 To celebrate her tour, Janet is giving away a $75 Amazon gift card Click here to enter:

My thoughts: While I enjoyed the previous books in the series, this one was my favorite! The characters are incredible and their struggles real. I love that Cole has come home from a mission trip ready to change and looking at his life differently. This book deals with difficult subjects, like human trafficking and pornography, showing how those two tie together. Janet handles these sensitive subjects marvelously though! I think this is a great YA story, since it shows the impact of some of our decisions that we think only affect us.
I received this book from Celebrate Lit in exchange for my honest review.
If you would like to buy a copy,go here

I think boxes like this are so much fun! My brother has tried the Loot Crate a couple of times, and it is so much fun to see what kind of nerd things are in there. Well, one of the groups I review for is now offering a box of goodies related to books. I love the idea! Here is the box they will be offering for October.

Celebrate Lit is excited to announce our new Celebration Box! The celebration box is a unique, one of a kind box with goodies hand picked by the author just for you! These boxes are special because they are not sold anywhere else. There is a limited supply so be sure to get yours right away!

October’s box features Molly Jebber’s Change of Heart. Sales for the October box will close on September 16 or while supplies last.

The basic box includes:

A minimum of 6 items handpicked by the author themed around the book.
A themed charm specifically chosen for this book.
One lucky box will contain a special item that no one else will receive.

Along with the basic box, you can purchase the ebook or paperback book for a discounted price.

To purchase your box, click here

The Beauty Series

Beauty for Ashes: Jazz is being forced to move and her mom has given her a major task to accomplish. She has to pack up the attic. What Jazz finds in the attic changes her life in ways she never imagined, and opens her up to life altering possibilities.

Monstrous Beauty: Ethan’s father was a piece of work, to put it mildly. His father managed to become quite wealthy before he died, yet he left Ethan deeply damaged in more ways than one. Can the love and care of a strange young woman with a past of her own free him, or is he doomed to never change?

My thoughts: I enjoyed both of these re-tellings of fairy tales! I am drawn to fairy tales, so I was thrilled to have the chance to pick these stories up and read through them. While I enjoyed both stories, I think I especially liked the second book, since it is a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, which is one of my favorites from childhood (honestly, it is probably the library and the fact that Belle was bookish that drew me in as a kid!). Carol does a wonderful job of drawing the reader in. I look forward to seeing which fairy tale she picks next!
I received these books through Celebrate Lit in exchange for my honest review.

Carol Keen currently resides in Alabama with her husband and family. She spends her time writing, reading, working on photography, and working with her much loved critters. She started creating stories to share with others at the age of two years old. She was published for several years in FAMA magazine (Freshwater And Marine Aquarium) as a contributing editor. She published her first book on CD, called Simply Seahorses. She is overjoyed to be publishing her fiction to share with you now. Carol currently has more books in the “works”. Please feel free to follow her for updates.

Can you believe it? I’m on my second tour with Celebrate Lit! Wow! I’m floored and happy and close to tears too. I have to say a HUGE thank you to Sandy and Denise for their encouragement and patience and help.



Today we are talking about my first series, The Beauty Series. The first book, Beauty For Ashes is the very first published fiction book that I have released. It started out as a contest entry. When it didn’t make the winning selection, I expanded it and had several trusted people read it. It was well received over all, and so I braved the scary world of navigation Amazon and published it.



Beauty For Ashes is based on Cinderella, and it was a challenge to write. I had always had some questions about why certain things weren’t covered in that story, so in my version, I added them. I answered my unanswered questions. I also have always felt that Cinderella had to be Christian to survive what she did and still be who she was.



My third published book is the second book in this series, and one of my favorite fairytales of all time. Monstrous Beauty is based on Beauty and the Beast. As with Beauty For Ashes, I always felt a “back story” to what drove the Beast was missing. In this version I have added all that, as well as having other answers to why “Beauty” was in this situation to start with. How would either of them relied on God to get through their situations?



 I had a lot of fun writing Monstrous Beauty, and I’m looking forward to the next book I plan to write in this series.



Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure, and please feel free to ask questions!



Blessings, Carol :)

Blog Stops

August 11: A Baker’s Perspective

August 12: Eat, Read, Teach, Blog

August 13: Chas Ray’s Book Nerd Corner

August 14: Back Porch Reads

August 15: Pause for Tales

August 16: It’s Storytime with Van Daniker

August 17: A Greater Yes

August 17: inklings and notions

August 18: Karen’s Krayons

August 19: Blossoms and Blessings

August 20: simpleharvestreads

August 21: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations

August 22: The Power of Words

August 23: Cassandra M’s Place

August 24: ArtisticNobody

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Carol is giving away three ebook copies of the Beauty Series with bookmark. Enter the giveaway here: https://promosimple.com/ps/a180

The Bard and the Bible

I am not usually one for devotionals, since I like to read a book all the way through and then move on, but I have to say that I have enjoyed this one! It is interesting to see the devotions that are a mesh of scriptures from the King James and quotes from Shakespeare. This is such a fun and unique devotional! It would make a perfect gift, especially for English majors.;) Though, this is an excellent devotion for people from all walks of life, as there is something for everyone in its pages.
I received this book from Worthy in exchange for my honest review.

Punderdome

From the daughter-father duo that created Brooklyn's beloved live pun competition comes Punderdome, the "Punderful card game [that] will replace Cards Against Humanity at your next party" (Mashable.com).

One part game, one part conversation starter, you don't need to be a pun master to master Punderdome: the goal is to make bad jokes and have fun along the way.

A player (the prompter for that round) draws two prompt cards from the deck, and then reads the prompts to the rest of the group, who have 90 seconds to create a single, groan-worthy pun that combines the two prompts.

When time is up, pun makers share their puns with the prompter, who awards the prompt cards to the player whose pun he or she likes best. The winner then draws the next pair of prompt cards and the process repeats. Players win by obtaining 10 pairs of cards.

Every Game Set Comes With:
· 200 double-sided cards (100 White and 100 Green)
· 2 Mystery Envelopes with fill-in prize slips
· 2 80-page pads for drafting puns
· 1 instruction card and 1 pun example card
· A stu-PUN-dous time for 3 or more players

My thoughts: This is a fun game to pull out when you have a group of friends or family over who like to share puns. I love that it gets your brain thinking, and can really come up with some fun things. I also think that it would be hilarious to play with a bunch of tired people. lol. I wish that this game was around when I was a teen, since it would of been awesome to pull out at family get togethers! I know it is one that my husband will stomp me at.;)
I received this game from Blogging for books in exchange for my honest review.

Fetching Sweetness

Standing between Stephanie and her dream is one hundred pounds of lovable trouble.

It should have been so simple for Stephanie Pink: Meet up with Agnes Wharton in a small town in California, retrieve the reclusive author’s valuable new manuscript, and be promoted to a full-fledged literary agent.

But Agnes’s canine companion, Sweetness, decides to make a break for it before Stephanie can claim her prize. Until Agnes has Sweetness safely back at home in Eagle Cliff, Washington, Stephanie will never set eyes on the manuscript she needs to make her dreams come true.

When Stephanie tracks the runaway mutt to a campground, she meets Rhett Hastings—a man also on the run from a different life and a costly mistake. Rhett agrees to help Stephanie search for the missing dog…thus launching a surprising string of adventures and misadventures.

Once Sweetness gets added to the mix, it’s a recipe for love and loss, merriment and mayhem, fun and faith in the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest.

My thoughts: I loved this story! The characters are a lot of fun to get to know, since they have their own quirks and a depth to their stories that a lot of fiction misses out on. I loved getting to know Stephanie Pink and her ragtag band as they make the trip up the west coastal states to win the manuscript of a lifetime. You don't have to be an animal lover to enjoy this wonderful story.
I received this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review.

Top Ten book in x setting

At first, I debated doing my top ten favorites set in England or in a fantasy style land, but then I thought that might be to easy and have a lot of repeats from the lists I have done recently. So, instead, I will do my top ten favorites that have to do with the sea. Come to find out, that was not as much of a challenge as I thought it would be.;)

1. The Things We Knew
I actually have to post a review on this one soon. While it wasn't quite as much of a mystery as I had hoped, I still loved the main characters and the drive of the story. I also love that it was set in Nantucket!

2. The Secret in Belfast
Not only is this book about the Titanic, but it also has magic in it!

3. Through Waters Deep
I loved the characters in this one and that there was such a sweet romance that blossoms over the course of the story. And, it's a WWII setting, which is almost always a winner for me!

4. Anchor in the Storm
This one is in the same series as Through Waters Deep. I loved the plucky heroine!

5. Five Days in Skye
I picked this one up on Netgalley on a whim, and was so glad I did! Skye is such a gorgeous setting for a book.

6. Beyond the Rising Tide
This was an interesting one, with the impossible romance.;)

7. Maggie Bright
While perhaps a tad dry and hard to get into, I LOVED this one! It is about Dunkirk, which was fascinating. I love the depth of the story.

8. The Prayer Box
I loved the history showcased in this story.

9. The Sea Keeper's Daughter
This one is loosely in the same series as The Prayer Box, but you don't have to read them in order (though you will want to read the whole series!)

10. Beyond All Dreams
This reminds me, I need to read the last two books that Elizabeth Camden has released, since she always does a fabulous job of bringing to life history. This one has to do with the Library of Congress and disappearing ships.;)

So, for some reason I am unable to post pictures with my post. So, instead you get the link to read about each book.;)