Little Hickman Creek Series, Or Tagged Again!

Last Friday I was tagged by my buddy Shauna over at The Coffee Stop to share about a favorite but rather lesser-known book. (If you haven't visited Shauna's blog before, it's time well spent. She has three of the funniest boys you'll ever find!) From Shauna's post last Friday:

"Patti Abbot launched this great idea. Here's her original explanation:

This is the first of what I optimistically hope will become Friday recommendations of books we love but might have forgotten over the years. I have asked several people to help me by also remembering a favorite book. Their blog sites are listed below. I also asked each of them to tag someone to recommend a book for next Friday. I'm worried great books of the recent past are sliding out of print and out of our consciousness. Not the first-tier classics we all can name, but the books that come next."

So in keeping with Friday book recommendations (yes, I know I'm posting a bit early!), I am taking some liberties with this and recommending not just one book, but a 3-book series by Sharlene MacLaren. It's her Little Hickman Creek Series, and consists of three of my all-time favorite historical romances. I'm including the synopsis from each book.

When I started this blog last year, one of my first posts was about my favorite authors. Sharlene MacLaren, who is on that list, is a new-ish author with whom I have absolutely fallen in love! Every book of hers that I have read has been one that I've read at least twice, if not more. Each book is better than the one before. And not only are her books wonderful, Shar herself is such a fun gal that you will absolutely love her. She's been so generous with me with email notes that I feel like I've known her for years. Check her out at her blog or her website. You will enjoy getting to know her better. Till then, let me encourage you--STRONGLY encourage you!!!--to read her Little Hickman Creek series.

The first book in Shar's Little Hickman Creek Series is "Loving Liza Jane":




A Divine Leading: When Liza Jane Merriwether rode into the town of Little Hickman Creek, her first thought was, "Oh Lord, what have I done?" Kentucky was much different than what she was used to back East, but she knew God had led her here for a reason. Will she discover His plan for her life?

The Handsome Widower: Soon, the petite schoolteacher is beloved by all...including Benjamin Broughton, a handsome widower struggling to raise two young children. Will he overlook the perfect wife that God has practically dropped in his lap for a mail-order bride?

A Destined Love: Liza Jane's teaching contract implicitly states that she is to have "no improper contact with the opposite sex." Will she discover that with God, all things are possible?


Sounds good, doesn't it???? I can assure it, IT WAS!!!

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The second book in the series is "Sarah, My Beloved".

A Divine Mix-up: A beautiful redhead has traveled from Boston to Kentucky by stagecoach to be a mail order bride. But when Sarah Woodward arrives in Little Hickman Creek, she is greeted by her prospective husband, who tells her he has fallen in love with another woman. Disappointed but determined, Sarah refuses to leave until she finds out the reason why God led her here.

A Hardened Heart: A tall, dark and ruggedly handsome man, Rocky Callahan meets the fiery Sarah. He has tragically lost his wife, his only child, and his sister. Faced with raising his sister's two children alone, he suggests a "marriage in name only" to Sarah.

Healing the Past: Will Rocky let go of the pain in his past and trust God's plan for his life? Will Sarah leave him for a past beau, who has followed her to Kentucky to bring her home? Or will Sarah and Rocky find true love from the hand of the ultimate Matchmaker?


I love a good "marriage of convenience" story...and this one is JUST THAT!!! A REALLY GOOD ONE!!!

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The third and final book in the series, just recently released and what I think to be Shar's best work to date, is "Courting Emma":




A Divine Plan: Twenty-eight-year-old Emma Browning has built a barricade around her heart to survive the pain of growing up with her alcoholic father, Ezra. As she runs Emma's Boardinghouse, she plays host to an array of unkempt, earthy characters while trying to maintain a protective emotional distance from people. No one has succeeded in getting to know the beautiful yet steely edged proprietress. That is, not until Little Hickman Creek's handsome new pastor, Jonathan Atkins, takes up residence in the boardinghouse and begins to dismantle her carefully controlled world...

A Struggle to Forgive: Clinging desperately to her stubborn ways and unable to forgive her father, Emma begins receiving letters from a mysterious sender who somehow knows about her and has secret information about Ezra's past. Amidst all this, she is surprised--and unsettled--by the attentions of both Jonathan and Billy, the smooth-talking traveling showman.

A Miraculous Love: When the town of Little Hickman Creek is stunned by an unexpected turn of events, will Emma risk removing her protective shell to accept the love of God--and the love of a man?


As good as the other two are, this one is without a doubt my favorite. Well worth the wait!!!

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I love a good book, but even more I love a good series. A series gives me another book to anticipate. I also love when characters from one book show up in subsequent books. It's like visiting with old friends whom I haven't seen in a while. (Yes, I know I need to get out more!!!) Shar's "Little Hickman Creek" series has all those things, and then some. You can read these book summaries and probably guess how each book will end, but I can promise you that NONE of Shar's books are predictable. Her writing has quality and depth, and she tells a wonderful love story with a happily-ever-after ending that always leaves you sighing and wanting more. Check her out! You will be so glad you did!

And finally, to finish off my Friday book recommendation, I now tag Deb over at The Daily B. I noticed you have "Loving Liza Jane" on your Shelfari list, Deb! So next Friday is yours!!!

Roadrunner Users, Beware!

This really isn't what I wanted to post after a nice long Easter weekend, but I felt it important to pass the word along. I received the following email yesterday (thankfully in my junk mail box) and after some follow-up with Roadrunner, found it to be a false email. Check this out:


"Dear valued customer,

We are currently performing maintenance for our
Digital Webmail Customers. We intend upgrading
our Digital Webmail Security Server for better online
services.

In order to ensure you do not experience service
interruption, Please you must reply to this email
immediately and enter your password here (********)
and Check out your new  features and enhancements with
your new and improved roadrunner account,to enable
us upgrade your Account for better online services
please reply to this email.

Thank You for Using RoadRunner. "


The first thing that clued me in that something strange was afoot
at the Circle K (a "Bill & Ted" reference, in case you're wondering)
is the fact that they asked for my password.  The next thing that
caused me concern was the way it was written.  I'm a grammar/
spelling nut so the capitalizations in the middle of a sentence
--one big, long, run-on sentence at that!!!-- as well as "to enable
us upgrade" said to me that this was probably not sent out by
Roadrunner.

I called and spoke with Mike with Roadrunner Tech Support
about the email, and it struck him as odd that the email
service was referred to as "digital webmail".  Email is indeed
digital, but it's never referred to as such.  He also reminded
me that Roadrunner will NEVER ask for my password.
Finally, he asked about some things in the email header
(which, being a techno moron, took me a minute to find),
and we found that even though this was "sent" from
"support@roadrunner.com", the reply-to email address
was a Yahoo address.  So I copied and pasted the email
and sent it to the abuse centers at both Roadrunner and
Yahoo.  I have not heard back from Yahoo, but here is
what Roadrunner had to say:

"This message did not originate from RoadRunner
and is actively being dealt with by the Security
team. Please do not provide your account
information to these sites. If you have, contact
your local office to reset your account information. 
 
For additional general security information, please
visit Help and Member Services, Security and Abuse Help. 
 
RoadRunner also has a security software package
available called CA Internet Security Suite, which
\contains an Antivirus, Firewall with pop-up blocker,
Anti-Spam, and Anti-Spyware. This can be accessed
on the RoadRunner homepage, by selecting the RR
Benefits link on the menu at the left-hand side.
You can then follow the steps for downloading and
installing the software. 
 
Note: If your credit card information is
compromised while using the Internet, contact
your credit card company immediately. Each
company has specific policies regarding online
theft and fraud. Please contact them directly
for more information. 
 
 
Thank you for taking the time to contact
Road Runner. 
 
- Road Runner Abuse [CL]"


So there you have it, sports fans.  If you have Roadrunner and
get this email (or one similar), don't answer it.  Get in touch
with the abuse center (security@rr.com) so they can put a
stop to the deviants who do this kind of thing.

**************************************************

On a lighter note, I just finished book #3 from Sharlene MacLaren's
Little Hickman Creek series.  FABULOUS!!!!!!  It was so good it
inspired me to write a little bit of poetry for Shar.  I will share
it with you now:

An Ode for Shar
(with apologies to Clement C. Moore)

'Twas the weekend of Easter
And all through our home,
Only our cat stirred,
Being left all alone
(but in the good care of a neighbor!).

We had packed our car full
And headed four hours south
To Port Aransas, Texas
To hook something with a large mouth.

Our friends Dan and Cheryl
Had come in from Big D.
We fished, we sunned,
And we laughed heartily.

Upon our return,
On my porch what I saw
Was a package delivered
And meant just for MOI!

OH GOODIE! I thought
As I picked up the box.
It’s the books that I ordered,
And all were in stock!

With scissors I carefully
Cut open the tape.
I slowly opened the box,
My mouth all agape.

A light from inside
Of the box did glow.
Angels from heaven sang “AAAHHHH!”
As they looked on below.

IT’S THE BOOK I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!
I thought with delight.
“Courting Emma”, its name,
And I started that night.

A few days and interruptions later
I finished with a sigh.
Another happy ending!
Oh my my my my!!!!

She’s done it again,
I thought about Shar.
Yet another fabulous story,
Her best one so far.

And at the end another teaser!
“Hannah Grace” is its title.
A very busy author,
Hardly ever idle.

But another long wait?
2009????
Back to “Emma”, I guess,
It was, after all, SO DIVINE! 

I plan to give more details about the whole Little Hickman
series later, but if you get the chance to read these books, jump
at it!!! Sharlene gets better and better with each book she writes.
Great romance and ALWAYS a happy ending!

More soon! Hope you all are doing well.

TAG! You're It!!!

I took a peek this morning at one of Michelle Sutton's recent posts. If you don't know who Michelle is, she is the Edgy Inspirational Author, and she writes and reviews a lot--A LOT!!!!-of Christian fiction. If you don't believe me when I say "A LOT!!!", take a look at her "What I'm Reading..." list. I don't know how she does it.

Anyhoo, the particular post I read was from last week--February 23rd, to be exact--and it sounded so fun I'm going to start the tag here. Here's how it works (although I'm changing it up just a bit):

1. Grab the book you are currently reading and turn to p. 123
2. Go to the 5th sentence
3. Post the next 3 sentences
4. Tell the name of the book and author
5. Tag 5 others

Michelle's tag said to grab the nearest book, but I want to know what you're currently reading whether it's nearby or not.

Okay, here's mine:

"I'm afraid I must, Miss Coleson." Katie firmly withdrew her hand from Blanche's grasp.


"You must call me Blanche." She took one step backward.


Catching Katie, by Robin Lee Hatcher


Well, I must say that I was hoping for something a little different than that. Maybe I should've gone to p. 124. Taken out of context, this sounds as if something fishy is going on between these two ladies! I've read the book before, so I assure you Robin, who is one of my absolute favorite authors, has not written anything inappropriate!!! This book, in fact, is one of the reasons I love Robin. It's quite dreamy.

Alrighty then! So I am tagging Jenster, Becky, Deb, Shauna, and Angela! Tag, ladies, you are IT!

The Walking Wounded and Other Miscellany

Please forgive the length of this post. I really do try to keep my posts relatively short (CLEARLY I have failed in that endeavor!!!), but I've had a lot on my mind and a lot going on! So here we go!


My home, of late, has been THE place to be for the physically afflicted. First of all, both The HOFFER and Little Bit have really bad allergies anyway, but this allergy season has been horrific for them. I have never seen them suffer like this. One of Little Bit's teachers recommended a pediatric allergy doctor to us, and we had our first visit today. He agreed that Little Bit needed to be tested to see exactly what she's allergic to, but tests can't be run until all Claritin and Benedryl are completely out of her system. It only takes one week to get completely off Benedryl, but 3 WEEKS to get completely off Claritin. Poor girl. She's going to be fairly miserable for a while. That means her parents are going to be fairly miserable as well! He did give us a few other medications to help her get through till her testing.

As if that weren't enough, Little Bit tripped coming down our staircase yesterday and hurt her foot. Oh my goodness, you should have heard those screams! Miraculously, nothing is broken or even torn. Not even really sure what's hurt or what happened to it. We gave her some Motrin and kept her foot elevated all day Sunday, and there wasn't much, if any, swelling. Today she was able to get her shoe on for school, although it was quite painful. By the end of the day, she was walking on it pretty well. Still hurts, but she's doing really well in spite of it all.

Okay, want to hear something spooky? The HOFFER was walking down the stairs about a week ago, took one step too many, slipped and landed wrong on HIS FOOT! Is that bizarre or what? The really scary thing about it was that shortly after I got to him, he very quickly turned white as a sheet, started sweating profusely, then promptly passed out. I was worried he was having a heart attack and couldn't breath. He had slumped over forward, then he fell back against the wall with his chin touching his chest. I had never seen anything like it and was TERRIFIED. He was out for about a minute (although it seemed like an eternity!), then he came to and slowly regained his color, stopped sweating and was okay. He didn't remember passing out and was understandably nervous about going to sleep for the night, so I stayed up to read for a while and kept an eye on him. He slept for about 45 minutes when he woke up again. I told him I thought he was okay for the night since his color was back and his breathing was good and steady. So he slept, albeit a bit fitfully, for the rest of the night (only about 3-4 hours). Needless to say, what little sleep I got was also full of fit. After getting up and getting Little Bit off to school the next morning, I came back and joined The HOFFER in getting a bit more sleep. We slept till noon, but we needed it. Here are the God-parts: as with Little Bit's foot, nothing was broken or torn...it just hurt like the dickens. Lots of Advil, Vitamin C (my mother's cure-all) and rest helped it heal pretty quickly. He was putting weight on it in just a couple of days. AND--The HOFFER already had a doctor appointment scheduled a couple of days later! He was able to talk to his doctor about what happened, and he reassured us that everything looked just fine. The passing out was even a normal occurrence.

With all that has happened to The HOFFER and Little Bit...I'm just waiting to see what's going to happen to me!!!

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As I mentioned in my last post, Little Bit and I went to see the new Veggie Tales movie on Friday after school. I had invited several friends from school and church, and we had a great turnout! Even better, the movie was HILARIOUS! Even if you don't have any little kids to take with you, GO SEE IT! You won't be sorry! The only thing I didn't like was audience-related. Apparently, a man sitting in the row in front of us didn't think the people at Big Idea had done a good enough job, because he kept adding his own sound effects! At least his kids enjoyed it...!

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Have you ever had to put a pet to sleep? We had to do just that on New Year's Eve. We were adopted by a mama cat and her three kittens when we first moved to Austin. That was in 1992. Mama Cat passed away about four years ago. Birdie disappeared right after Thanksgiving and we haven't seen her since. We wouldn't see Mulligan for days, then he would reappear just fine. Well, this last time he reappeared he wasn't so fine, so Little Bit and I took him to the emergency animal clinic right away. Given that he was around 15 years old and any kidney treatments weren't guaranteed to set him right (renal failure is very common in elderly cats), I made the decision to let him go. It was really difficult for Little Bit to understand, and she took it very hard. They gave us a few minutes to say goodbye to our sweet kitty. They also gave us his paw print in clay for us to have as a keepsake. It was a lousy day.

At least we still have one kitty left.

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I believe I have previously discussed the fact that my favorite sports are, in order, baseball and football. Notice there is no mention of basketball? Would you care to guess what sport Little Bit is drawn to? Of COURSE it's not baseball or football...it's BASKETBALL. No offense to you basketball fans out there...basketball just never "clicked" with me. Austin has a minor-league basketball team, and we had been talking about taking her to a game when one of The HOFFER'S business associates gave him four tickets--and very nice ones, at that!--to Saturday's San Antonio Spurs game! Is that cool or what? We picked the worst possible night to go. San Antonio has a HUGE military presence, and Saturday night was Military Appreciation Night at the Spurs' game. Don't get me wrong...our military is ridiculously under-appreciated. I think our military deserves far more thank you's than they get. We civilians have no clue about what these soldiers AND THEIR FAMILIES have to put up with. It humbles me and I get really emotional when I hear about the sacrifices made by these people, the incredible feats of heroism, and the fact that these men and women see it as just doing their job. There were at least a couple of guys from a nearby burn unit at that game...others with missing limbs or other wounds. They honored as many soldiers as they could. There was a Purple Heart ceremony at halftime. Standing ovations throughout the game to say thank you. It just wasn't enough.

I spent nearly the entire game crying my eyes out.

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And last but not least (hey, what's all that cheering about???), I finished two books from my "Big Christmas Box O' Books". One was really good and one was GREAT! But I will save that for my next post. Until then, here's hoping I continue making it down the stairs safely!!! Thanks for making it through to the end with me!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!!!

Wow...do I feel out of touch! And no wonder...my last post was two weeks before Christmas! It was a pretty busy holiday, but we have had some good down time and great holiday fun. However, I could've used another day or two added to our break. As consolation, we have a four-day weekend coming up over the MLK holiday, so my wait will be rewarded.

I am the only one in my family that doesn't really care if I get gifts on THE DAY (be it Christmas, anniversary, birthday, or any other gift-giving day that I may have inadvertently left out). Big Bit (a.k.a., The Hoffer) and Little Bit are ADAMANT about having their gifts on THE BIG DAY, regardless of what that BIG DAY might be, but I don't care. I know that if I am required to wait for my gift for whatever reason, my reward will be great. And let me show you just how great my reward was:






Do you know what all this is? It's my Christmas present, which came last Thursday. Big Bit did some last-minute shopping for me and bought NEARLY EVERYTHING on my Christianbooks.com wishlist!!!! WOO HOO!!!! Does he rock or what???? CLEARLY I have been a VEEEEERY good girl!!!

Little Bit woke us up bright and early on Christmas morning, squealing that Santa had AT LONG LAST made an appearance at our house and would we PLEEEEEEEEASE GET UP SO WE CAN OPEN PRESENTS!!!! In a stroke of genius so we could stay in bed for a few more minutes, we told her to go check to see if the cookies and carrots (for Santa and reindeer) had been eaten. She was then told to grab the stockings and bring them into our room so we could dump them out there. My stocking had (among other things) two large pieces of paper sticking out of the top, which was the receipt of what had been ordered, along with a note from Big Bit telling me what he had done. As an avid reader, I could not have been given a better gift!!! There were also a couple of CDs and DVDs that I had been wanting, as well as three books on tape for my mom that I had already picked out. The coolest part: three of the books he bought for me were pre-orders that will be coming to me in January and May! THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING!!! Want to see what I got? Check it out:

Christy, The Complete Series DVD
Amazing Grace--DVD
Second Chances--DVD
Who We Are Instead--Jars of Clay (CD)
Redemption Songs--Jars of Clay (CD)
A Passion Most Pure, by Julie Lessman (arriving in January!)
Ten Thousand Charms (Book #1), by Allison K. Pittman
Speak Through the Wind (Book #2), by Allison K. Pittman
From A Distance, by Tamera Alexander (coming in May!)
Defiant Heart, by Tracey Bateman
Freefall, by Kristin Heitzmann
Autumn Blue, by Karen Harter
Remember to Forget, by Deborah Raney


(Do I sense that some of you are making notes of which ones you plan to borrow?)


Deep In The Heart of Trouble, by Deeanne Gist (coming in May!)
Lanterns and Lace, by Diann Mills
Her Cinderella Heart, by Ruth Scofield
This Heavy Silence, by Nicole Massarella
Before I Wake, by Dee Henderson
The Truth Seeker (book #3 in O'Malley Series), by Dee Henderson
The Healer (book #5 in O'Malley Series), by Dee Henderson
The Rescuer (book #6 in O'Malley Series), by Dee Henderson
Flies on the Butter, by Denise Hildreth


Not sure exactly why he bought books #3, #5 and #6 but not #4 from Dee Henderson's O'Malley series, but believe me, I am NOT complaining!!! I decided to start with "Ten Thousand Charms", by Allison Pittman. I'm enjoying it so far...it's holding my attention, but it's not so riveting that I'm neglecting my responsibilities (the true definition of a great book!). I read the short bio about the author and discovered she lives about an hour south of me in an area of town we frequent! How cool is that!


New Year's was pretty quiet. We saw the ball drop, and we watched Robbie Maddison fly 322 feet and 7 inches on his motorcycle...TWICE! It was INCREDIBLE! Even though he didn't go as far as he had hoped, he still broke the previous record. He jumped higher than a six-story building and longer than a football field! It was amazing. Here's the video, for those of you who missed it:




Surprisingly, that's all I have for now. Glad to be back in cyberspace!!!

A Frustrated Reader No More!--The Sequel

When I saw Deb's post last Friday over at The Daily B about it being all my fault, I was very flattered. (Thanks for mentioning me, Deb, and how are you enjoying The Guy I'm Not Dating?) She said I got her thinking about--or rather, rethinking--her favorite books and authors. I couldn't tell her mine, however, because it would mess up my post for today.

I had originally made this one post, but it got too long (translation: I talk too much), so I split it up so as not to overwhelm. So here is my list of my favorite authors, in no particular order (click on each name to go to their website):

1. Francine Rivers: "This announcement was brought to you by the U.S. Department of Redundancy Department." This one IS just a given, isn’t it? This is no slight to anyone else, but she is THE standard bearer in Christian fiction. There’s Francine Rivers, then everyone else. She is flat out amazing. She can also be very intense, some of her books more so than others. In addition to Redeeming Love (which is in development to be made into a movie, in case you hadn't heard), I have also read The Scarlet Thread, And The Shofar Blew (cried the entire last third of the book), and her Mark of the Lion series. If you haven’t read this series, talk to me first. There are a few things you should know before you start reading it. Many thanks to my friend Jenster over at Jenster's Musings who helped me get through it! Having said all that, Francine Rivers is one author I have NEVER regretted reading.
2. Deeanne Gist: You know, even if Dee weren’t such a good author, she is such a blast to hang out with in cyberspace! I LOVE Dee, AND her books are wonderful! She has three so far, all historical romances, and I have loved all three: A Bride Most Begrudging, The Measure of a Lady, and Courting Trouble. All of her books are fun and will make you laugh. (Her hero in Lady made me think of Tom Selleck.) Her characters have depth and are very realistic and relatable. If you have never been to Dee’s website, you are missing out. Her blog is very active, as is her new discussion board…you can tell she loves getting to know her readers. It was the highlight of my month when I won an autographed copy of her latest book! WOO HOO!!!!
3. Robin Lee Hatcher: Robin’s books are just lovely. Her stories have a very deep emotional feel to them, and God’s grace is a common theme in all of them. The stories start softly or at a low point and crescendo like a magnificent piece of music. I always end up heaving a HEAVY SIGH when I read her books. She’s an established author and has written many books, of which I have read Catching Katie (my favorite), Speak to Me of Love (a very close 2^nd place!), Loving Libby, Trouble in Paradise and Return to Me. In Return to Me she did a brilliant job retelling the story of the prodigal son (daughter, in this case) in a modern-day setting. All her books have been wonderful. She also has a great blog that is very thought-provoking and well worth visiting.
4. Trish Perry: Trish is another new author—just two books—that has an incredible sense of humor! There were parts in her first book—The Guy I’m Not Dating—that made me laugh so hard I called my mother and read them to her so we could laugh together! Her second book, Too Good To Be True, is a bit more serious but a fun read nonetheless. I feel like an absolute moron that I didn’t pick up on the pun in the title. No, I am not telling…go read it for yourself! You won’t be sorry! You'll get more out of #2 if you read #1 first, but they could easily be stand-alone stories. I love her covers too! Very fun, just like her stories.
   
5. Tamera Alexander: OH, MY. Tamera has written three of the most glorious historical romances you will find anywhere! She is another new author and wrote a series of books called the Fountain Creek Chronicles: Rekindled, Revealed and Remembered. The stories are wonderful, all set in the Colorado Territory in the 1860s. Her characters are deep, and you really get to know them intimately. When characters from book one show up in the other books, it’s like having old friends pop in for a visit. Be sure to have all three books handy so that when you finish one you can start the next. You won’t want to wait! Check out her website and read about how she got started writing…it’s a great story!
6. Sharlene MacLaren: Shar is another author that I have chatted with many times via cyberspace, and I would love her even if I didn’t like her books. But like them I do, which just makes her that much more fun! Her book Through Every Storm is a tough read about a difficult subject…in fact, I hesitated reading it. But I am so glad I did! The story is very realistic and true-to-life, and Shar handled it very well without making things depressing. You should also know that it was also nominated for an ACFW Book of the Year award this year. I’ve also read Loving Liza Jane and Sarah, My Beloved from her Little Hickman Creek series. Both were great reads, and I’m anxiously awaiting the final book in the series, which is due out in March 2008 (mark your calendars!). Shar tells a great story and can always be counted on for a happily ever after ending!

So there you have it! I have other authors that I like, but these are my current favorites. Who are your favorite authors? Another time I'll talk about favorite books!