Book Review: The Vaquero’s Heart

~ lindasmatchett ~ Leave a comment

162 pages

Published August 22, 2023

ISBN 979-8860467682

Heather Blanton’s books are page-turners, and I better not start one late in the afternoon or I’m going to lose sleep. Fortunately, for The Vaquero’s Heart, I had an entire day and set aside chores to hunker down on the couch and lose myself in the story. The book is part of the Burning Dress Ranch series but is easily read as a stand-alone (other than making me want to go back and read the others.)

Pearl, the female protagonist, is a horse thief through no choice of her own. Her father is cruel and heavy-handed, and unmarried women in the 1800s had few options, so Pearl is stuck. A chance to escape occurs and through a series of events, she ends up at the Burning Dress Ranch. What Pearl doesn’t realize is that the owner’s purpose is to take in women who are hurting in some way, and then teach them a skill through which they can earn a living. Miss Sally also shares the love of God with them to help them heal. Miss Sally is a force to be reckoned with and has her own baggage to deal with. I love how she treats her staff and the girls she’s housing.

Pearl meets her match with the head wrangler at the ranch, Rodrigo Garcia. A widower with a young son, he can spot a liar a mile away, so he immediately knows Pearl is hiding something. He makes it his mission to find out what.  The author does a wonderful job of getting readers into the characters’ heads and hearts discovering their flaws and vulnerabilities. I enjoyed learning about the role the Latinos played in the cowboy culture.

The Spanish influence in ranching and the Old West began before there was an Old West. Spanish rancheros filled the Southwest landscape with horses, cattle, and sheep by the mid—1600s. Hispanic contributions to cowboy culture did not end with the introduction of the horse, as evidenced by the terminology. Vaquero is the Spanish word for cowboy. Bronco, the English spelling of broncho is Mexican Spanish for wild or rough. A lariat is la reata, “the lasso,” from the Spanish word reatar which means to tie together.

My heart broke for both Rodrigo and Pearl as they tried to deal with the difficulties in their lives and navigate the unwanted feelings they had. Rodrigo’s son is delightful, precocious but not obnoxious, and he acts as the bridge between his father and Pearl. A beautiful story of redemption.

Book Blurb:

She wants to steal horses…but at Burning Dress Ranch, only hearts are stolen.

On the run from the law, daring horsethief Pearl Pickett stumbles upon the enigmatic Burning Dress Ranch and its mysterious owner, Miss Sally. Sensing something is amiss with the newcomer, Miss Sally asks Pearl to work with a captivating herd of Arabian horses. Pearl’s sole desire is to lay low for a while, but the allure of these stunning creatures proves irresistible.

Ranch wrangler Rodrigo Garcia is a widower with a young son. Brooding and surly, he’s not happy about taking on a know-it-all female as an assistant. But the sassy woman knows horses, even though she initially tries to hide it. As the two work together, Rodrigo can’t help but soften a little, particularly when he witnesses the bond she is forming with his son, Miguel.

Still, it is a shocking revelation when he realizes Pearl is stealing his heart.

But that may not be all she’s out to steal…

Getting to Know Lady Abigail from Reclaiming the Spy by Lorri Dudley

~ Kathleen Rouser ~ Leave a comment

Welcome to Novel PASTimes, Lady Abigail. We’re pleased you stopped by today.

I’m delighted to be here. Lovely to meet you. Please call me Abby, all my friends do.

So, Abby, you’re married? For how long?

Nick and I have been married for over ten years, but he’d enlisted in the Napoleonic Wars shortly after the war began. We’d only been married a day before he was called to the front lines.

That’s a short time to be together. How did you stay in touch through letters?

I wrote Nick every day for years but never received a reply. You see, he’d been recruited by a special regiment within the Foreign Office to spy for the crown and was stationed deep undercover in France. He couldn’t risk his letters being confiscated and compromising the mission. He tried to sneak a couple through with his handler, but they never reached me. 

Goodness. Did you think he’d died?

My heart refused to believe. Not even when the crown declared him missing and a casualty of war. I didn’t want to accept that all my prayers had gone unheard. Despite the bodiless funeral and the condolences and sympathy of my friends and family, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Nick was out there somewhere—still alive.

What got you through those hard years?

My mother-in-law, Mama Em. I couldn’t have made it without her strong faith and words of wisdom. She’s the one who told me to take my questions and fears to God. He could handle them. Some days, though, I could barely breathe. My longing for Nick and grief suffocated me. On those occasions, Mama Em would remind me that we’d get through if we just kept breathing. She was right. I learned most from this trial that God listens to our prayers. Even if we don’t hear Him, He’s working. His timing and ways are better than ours, and He works all things together for our good. 

I’m sure her passing was difficult.

Most definitely. She was my last link to Nick. Tossing the handful of dirt on her grave felt so final. It hit me that she wasn’t coming back, and I started to believe neither was Nick. It had been ten years since he’d left, and I was under a lot of pressure from my family to remarry. I didn’t want to burden them, but I loved Nick and couldn’t imagine a life with anyone else taking his place. 

Thank heaven that didn’t happen. 

(Laughs) Indeed. What a disaster that would have been.

How did you and Mr. Emerson meet?

My twin brother and Nick became fast friends as children, and I was the tag-along younger sister. They stormed my tea parties and raided my doll house. Nick used to knot my braids and dangle worms in front of my face, but I retaliated by tying his boot laces together and tossing them high up in the tree branches, so he’d have to walk home barefooted. 

When did the two of you fall in love?

I secretly admired Nick as a young girl, but I never thought he reciprocated those sentiments until he returned from university. I initially didn’t take his pursuit seriously, thinking he was funning me or goading my brother, Stephen, but Nick wouldn’t relent. He coerced my brother into getting him nightly dinner invitations and wooed me until I was bereft without him. Ours was a love based on friendship that grew into something intimate and unique that, with God, nothing—not a war, espionage, nor the detrimental physical and mental scars they caused—could separate. 

What a sweet love story, Abby. I hope you and Nick are reunited soon. Thank you for being our guest on Novel PASTimes today.

Author Bio:

Lorri Dudley has been a finalist in numerous writing contests and has a master’s degree in psychology. She lives in Ashland, Massachusetts with her husband and three teenage sons, where writing romance allows her an escape from her testosterone filled household. 

Find her online at her website and watch the book’s trailer here on YouTube.

To purchase Reclaiming the Spy:

Find it HERE on Amazon.

Meet Ann Terry Greene Phillips from Jacqueline Friedland’s The Stockwell Letters

~ Cindy Thomson ~ Leave a comment

Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.

Our readers might not be familiar with you. Can you tell us a little something about yourself to get us started?

Certainly. My name is Ann Terry Greene Phillips. I was born in 1813 and lived all my life in Boston, Massachusetts. I was raised by my aunt and uncle on Chauncy Place after the untimely death of my parents. I lived with them until my late husband, Wendell Phillips, and I were married and moved together to a modest home on Essex Street. My life has been dominated by twin passions: my abhorrence for the institution of American slavery and my love for Wendell.

What do you think you learned from being raised by your aunt and uncle instead of your own parents?

I am lucky to have been born into a large family, such that in living with my aunt Maria and Uncle Benjamin, I was surrounded constantly by other family members as well. While I missed my own parents terribly, I never suffered for love or attention. Aunt Maria and Uncle Ben were staunch abolitionists, and growing up in their home, I was treated to many opportunities to become involved myself. For example, even as a young girl, I helped my aunt organize and sponsor abolitionist bazaars, where volunteers would donate crafted items to sell, and all monies earned would then be used to support the abolitionist agenda. Similarly, my aunt would bring me with her to meetings of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, where I learned a great deal about the Cause and how to best use my own skills to help eradicate the horrid system of slavery that continued in the southern states. As soon as I was of age, I joined the BFAS as an official member and remained active in the organization throughout my life.

When did you know that Wendell Phillips was the person you wanted to marry?

I will never forget the day I met my Wendell. I had been tasked with accompanying my cousin Mary on a long ride back to her family’s home many miles from Boston. Mary was very much in love with her beau, William, at the time, and she convinced me that he and his friend, Wendell, should join us on our ride. I suppose I was there mainly as chaperone. William brought Wendell perhaps to distract me so that he and Mary could whisper to themselves for the duration of the ride. When Wendell arrived, I remembered that I’d seen him before, at an abolitionist rally that had turned violent. Though I could hardly have focused on the handsome bystander that day, while my friends were being threatened with arrest, I confess I had thought about him several times since. Once we were settled in the carriage and had the opportunity to converse, he began asking me questions about that rally and the Cause in general. I’m embarrassed to admit that I grew quite passionate in my answers, speaking at such length that I eventually had to apologize for droning on so long. Well. Wendell assured me that he’d never been more interested in anything than what I’d been saying. I knew in that moment, that I had found my match.

We were sorry to hear that you’ve had some health challenges. How has that been going?

Yes, a few months after I met Wendell, I began to display signs of a mysterious illness. I had no outward signs of illness, no fever, or cough, or even rashes. Instead, I had headaches of such magnitude that I could not rise from my bed. Similarly, my muscles ached and I experienced shooting pains throughout my body at random. There were weeks when the symptoms were so bad that I could not rise from my bed. Other times, I might experience bursts of energy and hope that I was cured. Over time, I began to understand that the symptoms would simply come and go throughout my life and that I must always take care with myself, or those symptoms would return with vengeance. It has been conjectured since my death that the condition from which I suffered was a severe case of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Sadly, this was not something for which there was any treatment in my time. We did, of course, try the remedies suggested, such as water cures, various herbs, and seaside retreats. Eventually, I simply learned to live with my condition and do everything I was able in spite of it.

Living in the mid-1800s, there have been many restrictions placed on you because of your sex. In some ways, it seems that being female may actually have helped you do the abolitionist work that has been so important to you. Can you talk about that?

I suppose we can all acknowledge now that women are conspicuously absent from much of the historical record. It’s not because we were not involved in the major historical events of our day. We simply had to restrict our participation so that it was behind closed doors. As you probably know, my husband, Wendell, became an active abolitionist and gave speeches throughout the country. He was often called “The Golden Trumpet of Abolition” for his unparalleled oratory skills, and his speeches have been memorialized in many published books. As his wife, let us just say I had great “influence” over the content of his speeches. Similarly, because people were so often focused on the men in the room, female activists such as myself were often able to complete certain tasks related to the Cause without being detected. Though we often had to force ourselves to be creative in our actions, in some ways, being female may have allowed us to be more effective than our male counterparts. 

I’ve heard a rumor that you don’t eat sugar. Can you expand on that?

The rumor is true, and the reason is quite simple. I refuse to sweeten my comestibles with the spoils of slavery. Cane sugar is one of the many crops that my brothers and sisters in the South have been forced to harvest, and until such time that sugar is collected by free people who are paid for their labor and treated fairly, I want no part of it.

I understand that you were one of the wealthiest young women in Boston at the time of your marriage, yet your home is quite modest. Can you tell us why that is?

Similar to my last answer. Yes, at the time that Wendell and I married, I may have been the single wealthiest young woman in the entire city, thanks to an outsize inheritance from my deceased parents. I saw no reason, however, to live in luxury while slavery persisted in this country, not when I could use my funds to help others. Wendell and I lived on what we needed, and the rest, we donated to help the enslaved, the marginalized, the downtrodden, with whatever they required.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you? 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The efforts that I went to in order to advance the abolitionist cause and help the enslaved were never intended as a way to bring attention to myself. I simply wanted to ensure that our nation, which promised freedom and equality for all, was living up to its ideals. I hope that my work and achievements moved us closer to that goal, even if there is still quite a way to go. I also hope that people will read my story and decide for themselves.

Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!

Jacqueline Friedland is the USA Today bestselling author of four novels, including He Gets That From Me and That’s Not a Thing. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and NYU Law School, she practiced as a commercial litigator at the New York law firms of Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP and Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP. After determining that office life did not suit her, Jackie began teaching Legal Writing and Lawyering Skills at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in Manhattan and working on her first book during her off hours. Finally deciding to embrace her passion and pursue writing full time, she returned to school to earn her Masters of Fine Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, graduating from the program in 2016. Since then, she has published four novels and has been hard at work on new projects. Her books have received multiple awards, including the gold medal for fiction from Reader’s Favorite, and first place in both the NextGen Indie Awards and the American Fiction Awards. 

When not writing, Jackie is an avid reader of all things fiction. She loves to exercise, watch movies with her family, listen to music, make lists, and dream about exotic vacations. She lives in Westchester, New York with her husband, four children and two dogs who shed more than she ever imagined was possible.

Meet Addison Bell from A Summer at Thousand Island House by Susan G. Mathis

~ Kathleen Rouser ~ Leave a comment

Welcome Addison Bell—I mean, Addi. Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself.

I taught at the Watertown Center one-room schoolhouse for five years, and I’m ready for a change. I love the little ones, but the older children are too much of a challenge. Now, after my papa passed and forced me to board with grouchy old Mrs. Baumgardner, I need an escape. Hearing about the position at Thousand Island House is just the ticket out.

Tell me something about you that readers may find surprising?

I love the Thousand Islands, just seventeen miles from my hometown. The 1,864 islands are shared almost equally between New York state and Ontario, Canada. It’s where Lake Ontario narrows and becomes the St. Lawrence River. Here the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River intersect to become the world’s largest inland navigation system. Huge freighters pass by tiny islands along the main channel and share the waterway with all kinds of boats including kayaks and canoes.

Tell us more about the Thousand Island House where you work. 

Thousand Island House is one of the grand Thousand Islands hotels accommodating up to 600 patrons who flock to the Thousand Islands from East Coast cities and beyond during the summer. The hotel has one of the finest views of the St. Lawrence River, the most refreshing breezes around, and the most modern amenities too. The hotel’s recreation pavilion on tiny Staples Island is a great place to work. 

Who is this Liam Donovan I keep hearing about? 

He’s the Staple’s Island recreation pavilion manager, and he’s a great boss. He’s a little overconcerned with the natural noise children make, and he has some kind of hurt in his life that I’d like to get to the bottom of, but he’s helpful, kind, and a charming Irish gentleman.

And the Lighthouse Inspector, USN Lt. Maxwell Worthington? What about him?

Yes, he’s a lighthouse inspector from Buffalo, and I think he’s tired of leaving his little boy, Jimmy, with a nanny while he travels the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario inspecting lighthouses. So, I get to take care of Jimmy this summer. He’s a delightful little boy. 

If you could leave readers with one message, what would it be? 

Trust in God and His plans for you. Hope for a better future. Hope for love. Hope for healing. I want to give readers hope that God can heal a broken heart and help you forgive those who hurt you. He did that for me.

Thank you, Addi. I couldn’t agree more that you have a worthy message.

Here are a few fun, quick questions:  

What is your favorite hobby? Reading, of course.

Please describe yourself with three words. Joyful, friendly, and creative. 

What’s your most precious possession? My deceased mother’s silver locket.

Are you a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kind of person?

That’s easy. I always look on the bright side of things, except when I get in trouble.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

People misunderstand me. Though I try, folks often challenge and judge me wrongly.

What is your greatest achievement?

Teaching children. I love their zest for life.

What is your biggest secret?

I dream about Liam. Shhh….don’t tell him, please.

What is your heart’s deepest desire? 

That’s easy. To love and be loved. After losing both of my parents and being an only child, aloneness is a terrible place to be.

What have you learned about yourself in the course of your story?  

I’ve learned to trust in God and His plans for me. God can heal a broken heart and has helped me forgive those who hurt me. 

About A Summer at Thousand Island House

By Susan G Mathis

She came to work with the children, not fall in love.

Part-nanny, part entertainer, Addison Bell has always had an enduring love for children. So what better way to spend her creative energy than to spend the summer nannying at the renowned Thousand Island House on Staple’s Island? As Addi thrives in her work, she attracts the attention of the recreation pavilion’s manager, Liam Donovan, as well as the handsome Navy Officer Lt. Worthington, a lighthouse inspector, hotel patron, and single father of mischievous little Jimmy.

But when Jimmy goes missing, Addi finds both her job and her reputation in danger. How can she calm the churning waters of Liam, Lt. Worthington, and the President, clear her name, and avoid becoming the scorn of the Thousand Islands community?

ABOUT SUSAN:

Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands, her childhood stomping ground in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than twenty-five times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books. She has ten in her fiction line including, The Fabric of Hope, Christmas Charity, Katelyn’s Choice, Devyn’s Dilemma, Peyton’s Promise, Sara’s Surprise, Reagan’s Reward, Colleen’s Confession, Rachel’s Reunion, Mary’s Moment and A Summer at Thousand Island House. Her book awards include two Illumination Book Awards, three American Fiction Awards, two Indie Excellence Book Awards, and four Literary Titan Book Awards. Reagan’s Reward is a Selah Awards finalist. Susan is also a published author of two premarital books, two children’s picture books, stories in a dozen compilations, and hundreds of published articles. Susan makes her home in Colorado Springs and enjoys traveling around the world but returns each summer to enjoy the Thousand Islands. Visit www.SusanGMathis.com/fiction for more. 

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Character interview Tim Beatrice Carraway from the novel The Girl From the Papers by Jennifer L. Wright

~ Cindy Thomson ~ Leave a comment

Inspired by one of America’s most notorious couples, Bonnie and Clyde, Jennifer L. Wright delivers a riveting tale set during the public enemy era of the Great Depression. 

Welcome to NovelPASTimes! Today we’re joined by Miss Beatrice Carraway. Welcome, Beatrice!

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Beatrice: Thank you for having me.

Why don’t you go ahead and tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

Beatrice: Well, my name is Beatrice Carraway, but I guess you’ve already told them that. I’m nineteen years old, and I live in Dallas, Texas, with my mother and my little sister, Eleanor. 

Dallas! That sounds exciting!

Beatrice: Well . . . West Dallas. 

Oh.

Beatrice: But I work across the river in Dallas proper! It’s my grandparents’ house, you see, over there in West Dallas, and my mom, sister, and I are just living there until we can save up some money. We don’t plan on actually staying in that dirty, mosquito-infested, smoke-covered pit. I mean, I trust you’ve heard what they call it?

No, actually.

Beatrice: The Devil’s Back Porch.

Oh my.

Beatrice: Exactly. Nothing but petty thieves, drunks, and factory workers. No thank you. But it won’t be long before I’m across that Trinity River for good, like I’m supposed to be. I’ll have the fancy house, fancy car, fancy clothes. All of it. I mean, having you seen some of the dresses they sell downtown? Silk with dropped waists and creeping hemlines? Goodness. I’d just die to have some of those frocks in my closet.

Well, you look very lovely as it is, Beatrice.

Beatrice: Thank you. I do my best with what I have. This one I’m wearing today I altered from an old dress that had grown thin in the collar. See how I cut the neckline into a V shape and added some fringe? And I added this patch of white cotton to the left shoulder, which I also fringed, to make it a bit more with the times. I based it on a dress I saw in a window display downtown.

You seem to know a lot about fashion.

Beatrice: Well, I have to. It’s part of the job.

The job?

Beatrice: I’m an actress. And we actresses have to stay on top of the latest trends. I mean, what would our fans think if they saw us out in a prairie dress or hobble skirt? Would you want to watch a woman dressed like that up on the stage?

I—

Beatrice: You wouldn’t. Trust me. I may have been born with a face fit for the silver screen, but the clothes are what really make a dame stand out above all the rest.

Is that so? Well, that’s very interesting, Beatrice. I’ve never met an actress. What shows have you been in? Anything I might have seen?

Beatrice: Umm . . . well . . . nothing in Dallas. Yet. I’m fairly new to the city, and I’m still waiting for the directors here to finally figure out what a talent has landed on their doorstop. I mean, I was Little Miss Firecracker, 1916. I performed a rendition of “Alabama Jubilee” that had the judges two-steppin’ faster than a three-legged cat on a Texas sidewalk at noontime in July.

Interesting metaphor.

Beatrice: Thank you.

Well, so, what are you doing in the meantime? As you wait for the actress thing to pan out?

Beatrice: Right now I’m waiting tables at Hargrave’s. It’s right downtown, and the tips are pretty good, especially being so close to the medical school. Lot of lonely college boys looking for a good time, if you know what I mean.

I’m not sure I do. By “tips” you do mean just extra change for good service and a quick meal, don’t you?

Beatrice. Yes . . . *winks* and no.

*Coughs*

Beatrice: Oh, stop. It’s not like that. They just like to take us waitresses out for drinks and dancing sometimes. It’s nice to have a night out on the town. I certainly wouldn’t be able to afford it on my paycheck. 

So I’m guessing you have your fair share of beaus, then?

Beatrice: *shrugs* I’ve been on a lot of dates, but none of them have been keepers. I’m still looking. But I’ll tell you one thing.

What’s that?

Beatrice: When I do find the right man, it’s going to be forever. Just me and him until the very end, whenever and however that may be. 

Well, thank you for your time, Beatrice. I look forward to seeing your name up in lights—or in print—very soon.

Beatrice: Oh, you will. I guarantee it. 

About the Author

Photo by Pure Simple Photography, 2021

Jennifer L. Wright has been writing since middle school, eventually earning a master’s degree in journalism at Indiana University. However, it took only a few short months of covering the local news for her to realize that writing fiction is much better for the soul and definitely way more fun. A born and bred Hoosier, she was plucked from the Heartland after being swept off her feet by an Air Force pilot and has spent the past decade traveling the world and, every few years, attempting to make old curtains fit in the windows of a new home. She currently resides in New Mexico with her husband, two children, one grumpy old dachshund, and her newest obsession—a guinea pig named Peanut Butter Cup.

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Meet Eleanor from Tracie Peterson’s Finding Us

~ Cindy Thomson ~ Leave a comment

Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.

Tell us a little about yourself:

My name is Eleanor Bennett and I’m twenty-one years old.  It’s 1909 and I’ve done a very daring thing. I left my family home in Kansas to come to Seattle for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. It’s a world fair where millions of people are planning to attend. It’s so exciting and I decided to stick around for a while.

You came to see the exposition and stayed on.  What are you doing for a living?

I hired on with Fisher Photography. They put together a group of young ladies called Camera Girls and we’re going around the expo taking pictures of families and individuals to advertise the new Brownie Camera from Kodak.  We take a person or family photograph, and they can buy it for just ten cents. This gives them a nice souvenir of the expo, as well as a beautiful picture of themselves or their family. And if they decide to buy a camera and mention my name, I get a commission.

Where are you living while in Seattle?

I live with a young woman named Rosemary Connors.  She advertised for a roommate in the newspaper and I answered the call.  She says I’m very spirited which sometimes exhausts her, but that’s just my nature. I’m red-headed and I think red-headed people are more enthusiastic about life. Most people say I’m vivacious. I’m afraid Rosemary doesn’t always agree with the way I manage things.

What has been your favorite part of your work?

Meeting the people has been amazing, but…well you see I am passionate about botany. I really want to study it and so when I realized that the expo was actually taking place on the University of Washington’s campus, I thought I would check into classes they were offering on botany and explore the grounds. Seattle looks nothing like Salina, Kansas, let me tell you.  I was hoping to save up money and take a class or two at the college, but God allowed something much more wonderful to happen. I met Bill.

Who is Bill?

Bill is William Reed and he just so happens to be a botanist.  I was photographing some plants the day we met and Bill saved me.  I won’t go into how, but he was wonderful, and he promised to teach me about botany.  I’m so excited about learning, and about Bill.  I’m also going to help him get his manuscript re-typed and sent in to his publisher.  It’s a wonderful way to learn all about botany since the book is about plants in Alaska.

What was your life like before the exposition?

I lived in Kansas, as I mentioned.  My father has a photography studio so I was naturally drawn to being a Camera Girl. I know how to develop photographs and even work on cameras. My mother and father weren’t too excited when I decided to come to the exposition. They were even more upset when I told them I wanted to stick around for a while. Now, however, I think they understand.  They know I have good discernment and a strong faith in God.  I seek to know His will in everything I do, and it just feels right that I’m here now.

 What has been the best part of the exposition?

Besides being a Camera Girl and making so many great friends, oh and of course, meeting Bill, I have found myself in the middle of quite an intrigue.  I can’t say too much, or I’ll give the story away, but I love a good mystery and have found myself quite excited by the entire matter.

Is there anything else you’d like the reader to know about you?

I can’t really think of anything more.  I mean, I don’t want to spoil the story for the readers, and this is quite the adventure.  I’ve already mentioned Bill, and you might as well know that we both believe in love at first sight, but a whole lot of other people and circumstances seem determined to keep us apart. It gets to be a real mess at one point, but God teaches me a lot about trusting Him. I’m so glad He’s patient with me.

We will look forward to reading more about you, Eleanor Bennett in FINDING US by Tracie Peterson.Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!

Often called the “Queen of Historical Christian fiction”, Tracie Peterson is an ECPA, CBA and USA Today best-selling author of over 130 books, most of those historical novels.  Her work in historical fiction earned her the Life Time Achievement Award from American Christian Fiction Writers in 2011 and the Career Achievement Award in 2007 from Romantic Times, as well as multiple best book awards.  Throughout her career, Tracie has also worked as a managing editor of Heartsong Presents, Barbour Publishing, speaker of various events and teacher of writing workshops. She was a co-founding member of the American Christian Fiction Writer’s organization and has worked throughout her career to encourage new authors.  Tracie, a Kansas native, now makes her home in the mountains of Montana with her husband of over 40 years.

Meet Hepsy from Letters from My Sister by Valerie Fraser Luesse

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Sisters Emmy and Callie have no secrets between them until a mysterious accident robs one of a crucial memory and sparks troubling visions. Only through letters they exchange while painfully separated do the sisters reveal hidden truths leading back to a fateful springtime day—and a chilling September night—that changed them both forever.

August 15, 2023; ISBN 9780800741600; Ebook ISBN 9781493439744; $16.99; Paper. Affiliate link used will not cost you more but supports the blog.

Welcome to Novel PASTimes! Let’s start with the basics. Tell us your name.

I ’preciate you havin’ me. My name’s Hepzibah Jordan. Ever’body calls me Hepsy. I was named for a queen in the Bible, but Mama spelled it her own way—same as the Baptist church where we go. Might seem strange or a colored woman in Alabama to have a queen’s name, but Mama says that’s the name I was meant for. 

And who is your mother?

Tirzah Randolph. Mama came to Alabama as a slave. Got pulled away from her people in South Carolina when she wasn’t but fifteen. Didn’t get freed till after the war. When she got down here, all by herself, she asked God to send her a balm to sooth her soul and heal the hurt in her heart. He gave her a home and a family, and she promised to go where he led from then on. He gave her the gifts o’ sight and healing and led her to the birthin’ bed, where she saved many a woman and her babies, most ’specially, Miss ’Relia Bullock. Miss ’Relia don’t trust nobody but Mama when it comes to her chil’ren. And she made it her business to look after Mama and her family. The Bullocks are good people. They saved my family from a lot o’ hardship. But then again, my Mama saved them. It’s a circle that don’t never end. Sometimes it’s hard to say who’s dependin’ on who.

Can you tell us a little bit about where you live and work?

I live in Shelby County, Alabama. My husband—he’s done passed from the cancer—he built us  a cabin on some land Mama bought from Mr. Ira Bullock, right on the Coosa River. I work at the Bullock house on one of the biggest cotton farms in the whole state. Mama ran the house till she got too old and needed a rest. That’s when her and Miss ’Relia made a promise to each other. Mama promised she’d train me to take over the house if Miss ’Relia would teach me to read and write and cipher. They both kept their word. Miss ’Relia hires me help when I need it, and I keep the house runnin’ smooth and meals on the table. Her chil’ren treat me like fam’ly—much as I let ’em. Sometimes they got to be reminded o’ the lines white folks drew a long time ago.

What are the Bullock children like?

Good gracious, they’re all so different. Mr. James is the oldest—probably in his early thirties by now—done married and out o’ the house but works the farm with his daddy and his brothers. Mr. James is a fine farmer. He’s real quiet and polite. Next is M’George—I can’t say his name without smiling. That one just warmed my heart from the time he was a little bitty boy. Made me so sad to see Miss Lucinda break his heart. I just have to believe something’s gonna bring ’em back together one day. Mr. Sam is a wild one—fifteen years old and can’t wait to get off the farm and go sail a ship or something. Mr. Theo is the baby—just five years old. And amongst all them boys are Miss Emmy, who’s twenty, and Miss Callie, who’s eighteen. Mama says Miss Emmy’s got the tender heart, but Miss Callie’s got the questionin’ heart. She wants to understand the world and find her place in it. And she don’t take anything for granted. Just because white people say “this is how it is,” that don’t mean Miss Callie’s gonna go along. That’s prob’ly why she’s so close to my heart. 

We hear Callie just met somebody new?

That’s right. Mr. Solomon Beckett moved down here from Missouri and bought the old Cruz place. None of the boys around here’s up to Miss Callie. She’s too smart for ever’ last one of ’em. They ain’t man enough for her. But Mr. Solomon? I expect I’ll do what has to be done to move that along.

What do you hope readers can learn from your story?

That all people—not just the white ones—are God’s chil’ren. I’m not just a housekeeper. I’m not just a cook. I’m a person. Got my own joys and sorrows that don’t have a thing in the world to do with the people I work for. Got fam’ly I love. I might work for you, might even care an awful lot about you, but I’m not yours. I belong to Almighty—flesh and blood, heart and soul.

Valerie Fraser Luesse is the author of five novels set in the South: Christy Award winner Missing Isaac (2018), Almost Home (2019), The Key to Everything (2020), Under the Bayou Moon (August 2021), and Letters from My Sister (coming in 2023), all published by Revell Books. An award-winning magazine writer, Luesse is perhaps best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern Living, where she wrote major pieces on the Mississippi Delta, Acadian Louisiana, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Her editorial section on the recovering Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, photographed by Mark Sandlin, won the 2009 Travel Writer of the Year award from the Southeast Tourism Society.  Luesse earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Auburn University and Baylor University, respectively. She is a native of Harpersville, Alabama, and lives in Birmingham, where she creates Southern fiction from a tiny writing studio she calls the Story Shack. 

Book Review: The All-American by Susie Finkbeiner

~ Cindy Thomson ~ Leave a comment

368 pages, Paperback
Published
July 11, 2023 by Revell
ISBN
9780800739362

Amazon Affiliate Link Used to help support this blog.

I really enjoyed this story. Baseball, books, a writer, a lesson from history, what’s not to like? The story is told from the perspective of two young sisters. The way they each view situations (due to their different ages and interests) makes this a little different than most novels and certainly special and fun. I think young girls would enjoy reading this. The story of a family uprooted due to being falsely accused of belonging to the Communist Party offers the look at history I’m always interested in. And really, have we learned anything? I hope so.

Being a baseball fan, I was looking for more in the story, but it’s there, especially at the end and it’s obvious the writer knows the game. It’s always painfully obvious when a writer doesn’t.You don’t have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this novel, however. The emotional twist at the end makes this a book well-worth reading. You’ll enjoy it.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Cindy Thomson

www.cindyswriting.com

Meet Flossie from Susie Finkbeiner’s The All-American

~ Cindy Thomson ~ Leave a comment

Hello. I’m Susie Finkbeiner (I’ll be SF throughout the interview). I’m the author of All Manner of Things, Stories That Bind Us, and The Nature of Small Birds. My ninth novel The All-American releases July 11.  This novel is set in the early 1950s Michigan. 

Pre-order by clicking on the book cover.

Today I’m happy to interview one of the characters from that book, eleven year old Florence Mabel Harding (who will be FH throughout).

FH: Actually, you may call me Flossie.

SF: All right. And, I guess you can call me Susie.

FH: Oh, I don’t think I can. My mother would never allow me to call an adult by her first name. She’d give me a severe look and I wouldn’t want that. Would you?

SF: I would not. 

FH: So I’ll just call you Mrs. Finkb…Finkbeener? Finkenbinder? What a name. Is it German or something?

SF: Yes, it is.

FH: That’s unfortunate.

SF: Well, moving on. Tell me what it’s like to be one of the main characters in a novel.

FH: It’s peachy, I guess. Of course it would be better if I didn’t have to share the spotlight with my big sister Bertha. Who cares about Bertha’s part of the story? All she does is play baseball. What’s so interesting about that? 

SF: A lot, actually. It wasn’t all that common for girls to play sports, let alone professional baseball in 1952.

FH: Well then why didn’t you just write her part this way, “Bertha went off to play baseball. The end.”? Do you really think people want to hear more about it than that?

SF: Flossie.

FH: Yes?

SF: Did you even read the book?

FH: Of course I did!

SF: Did you skim over Bertha’s chapters to get to your own?

FH: I’d rather not answer that question.

SF: Why not?

FH: Because my mother told me that I should mind my manners and it wouldn’t be mannerly to tell you that those parts were boring.

SF: Okay. Moving on. You are quite the reader, aren’t you? What would you say is your favorite book?

FH: Oh, oh. This is an easy question to answer. Anne of Green Gables. No. Little Women. Oh. Maybe I should say The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Oh, I really can’t choose. This is an impossible question to answer. 

SF: Would you like to know what one of my favorite books is?

FH: I suppose so.

SF: I really like The Grapes of Wrath.

FH: By Mr. Steinbeck? Oh, Mrs. Finkbender, this is disappointing. 

SF: Why’s that?

FH: Because Mr. Steinbeck isn’t a very good writer. He wouldn’t know a happy ending if it came up behind him and knocked him on his keister.

SF: How did you get to be such an opinionated girl?

FH: Well, I don’t know. Weren’t you the one who wrote me?

SF: Honestly, Flo, I never had control over you. Not even once. Moving on. If there’s one thing you would like people to know about you, what is it?

FH: I would like people to know that I’m not just some ordinary little girl. Sure, I’m always the smallest in my class. But that’s not all there is to me. Once I was eavesdropping on my dad and heard him tell someone, “though she be but little, she is fierce”. That’s from a Shakespeare play. My dad was always quoting Mr. Shakespeare. When I asked my dad about it later, he told me that he suspected that Mr. Shakespeare was thinking of a girl just like me when he wrote that. I am small, but I am a force to be reckoned with. 

SF: I have to agree, Flossie. You are one incredible character and I’m so glad I could write you into my book. 

FH: Of course you are. I’m an absolute delight.

SF: You are, my girl. You truly are. And I hope that readers will love to read you as much as I loved to write you. 

Susie Finkbeiner is the CBA bestselling author of All Manner of Things, which was selected as a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, as well as Stories That Bind Us, The Nature of Small Birds The All-American is her ninth novel. Susie and her husband have three children and live in West Michigan. Learn more at www.susiefinkbeiner.com.

Meet Minerva Jane Jenkins from This is Where It Ends by Cindy K. Sproles

~ Cindy Thomson ~ Leave a comment

Widow Minerva Jenkins has lived alone in her small mountain home for 40 years where she has guarded her husband’s deathbed request. When a young reporter comes calling and inquires about a rumored box of gold on her property, an unlikely friendship forms. Will she go to her grave with her husband’s secret, or will the weight of it be the death of her?

My name is Minerva Jane Jenkins, and I reckon I’ve always been a force to be reckoned with. As we meet, in the spring of 1902, I have reached the ripe age of 94, and well, my days are numbered. I’ve lived on this mountain for the better part of my life. I can’t tell you why the good Lord opted to number my days to this length, and I sometimes spar that decision with Him. Still, the Lord knows what is best for us, and He’s seen fit to give me 94 years – even though they have been lonesome years, I’ve made do, and I’m happy.

About my family

Lordy, mercy, my family is long gone. Another reason I questioned the good Lord’s reasonin’ for leaving me here so long. I married Stately Jenkins when I was fifteen, and he was seventeen. He’d come from the war with a bummed-up leg and a sour attitude toward the north. But then, he was a true and faithful Confederate soldier. I lived in Lexington at the time, the daughter of a railroad laborer, so when I finished tenth grade, and they was no more school available, the timin’ was right for Stately to come into my life. We married, and he up and moved us to Shoal Mountain, six miles from the tiny town of Barbourville, Kentucky. I never saw my momma and daddy again, but that’s what happens when you marry and move away. I heard by way of a letter when daddy died and then by chance when momma passed. Lordy, I miss them to this day. Still, Stately built us a life on the side of a mountain overlooking the river, and though it was a beautiful place, I was never able to share it with children. I loved my husband, and I thought he loved me. After all, he married me and brought me to this mountain, not some floozy from Lexington.

What advice do you have to share about your 94 years?

Lawsy mercy, I suppose that would be the one thing that still nags me. The one question I’ve asked myself for years. How long does a body keep a promise, even if it’s detrimental? My momma told me once, don’t never make a promise you can’t keep. A promise is a person’s word, and your word is your integrity. She told me, don’t get loose-lipped and trust to tell when you’ve promised not to – and here I sit at 94 years old, holdin’ on to a promise, a secret I regretted making fifty years ago. See, Stately’s heart give out, and as I sat holding his dying body in my arms, he never said he loved me. Instead, he said, “Minerva, keep the secret. Promise me.” Before I had time to think it through like my momma told me, Stately grabbed my arm and shouted in his last breath, “Promise me!” And I did. It’s been a promise that has weighed me down for the remainder of my life. How long do you keep a promise? I’ve asked myself that question for over fifty years on this lonely mountain. Best I can determine is … you keep it to the grave. My advice – don’t make a promise you can’t keep. If you’re waiting for me to give out Stately’s secret, then it might just be until the death of you cause I’ll never utter a word. 

What would you say you are most afraid of?

Can’t say I’m rightly afraid of much. I’ve stared down that ole bear that lives up the holler – managed to draw a line in the dirt for the old cuss when I aimed my rifle at his rear and filled it with buckshot. He quit crossin’ over my line after that. This old woman ain’t got much, but I got smarts. Stately taught me farmin’ so can shoot a squirrel or rabbit. I’ve fished, raised myself a good garden, and stored away taters and green beans. I’ve ground my flour, made butter, traded for my sugar and salt, and cut years’ worth of wood for my fires, but if I was honest. If I was truly honest, my fear ain’t in dying. It’s in dying alone. Wouldn’t nary a soul know I’d passed on up here on this mountain. I’ll just drop dead one day and lay to the bone where I fell ’cause they ain’t a soul up here to bury me.

Is there anyone who has made a difference in your life?

I don’t have to think long on that question, for they’ve only come along in the last year. Oddly, what brought them into my life was that blessed old promise I made – Stately’s secret. The one I was bound to hold quiet by a promise. A young reporter, Delano Rankin, come up from Lexington looking for answers to a story he’d got wind of, one that said my Stately had a stash of gold and that he’d even murdered for the stash. My lips was sealed tight about anything Stately might have said or done, but the man kept hangin’ around. He did something a soul ain’t be able to do in fifty years. Del wormed his way into my heart, and in the few months I had with him, he grew to be like the child I’d never had. It took time for me to believe his intentions was true, but once I come to know his heart, I could see the good Lord had answered the one prayer I’d prayed since Stately died. “Don’t let me die alone.” Del was there. Then there was Robert Jr. and Cherry Blessing. I can only say, Robert Jr. was the spittin’ image of his daddy Robert, Sr. who helped me bury Stately. Robert and Cherry was balm for my soul, the comfort and peace that a good man and his wife could be as an old woman lay dying. Yes, they was the peace my soul needed.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with us that has brought meaning to your life?

I’d have to steal a few words from Del about that. And that is that wealth ain’t always found in a would-be box of gold. It’s found in the relationships we build with others. It’s found deep in the hearts of them “old people” that city folks call “elderly.” There’s a lifetime of experience, insight, and wisdom. There’s a gift of the story in their lives, and the fulfillment of a life well-lived. I’d have to say, spend time with them old coggers that you might consider troublesome or wearin’ on you because when you don’t, you’re passin’ up a wealth that money can’t bring. The gold is in lives of them old folks. Seek it out. Find it. You might just be surprised how your life is changed by knowin’ them.

Cindy K. Sproles is an author, speaker, and conference teacher. Having served for several years as a managing editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and Ironstream Media. Cindy now works as a mentor, coach, and freelance editor. She co-founded Writing Right Author Mentoring Services with Lori Marett, and Cindy is the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference. Cindy is also the co-founder of Christian Devotions Ministries and www.christiandevotions.us, as well as www.inspireafire.com. Her devotions are in newspapers and magazines nationwide, and her novels have become award-winning best-selling works. She is a popular speaker at conferences and a natural encourager. Cindy is a mountain girl, born and raised in the Appalachian mountains, where she and her husband reside. She has raised four sons and now resorts to raising chickens where the pecking order is easier to manage. You can visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com or www.wramsforwriters.com.