Tuesday 22 January 2008

CSFF Tour: Auralia's Colors

Featured book: Auralia’s Colors

Book web site

Featured author: Jeffrey Overstreet
Author blog: Looking Closer Journal

Participants’ Links: Brandon Barr Jim Black Justin Boyer Grace Bridges Jackie Castle Carol Bruce Collett Valerie Comer CSFF Blog Tour D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne Jeff Draper April Erwin Marcus Goodyear Andrea Graham Jill Hart Katie Hart Timothy Hicks Heather R. Hunt Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Kait Karen Carol Keen Mike Lynch Margaret Rachel Marks Shannon McNear Melissa Meeks Rebecca LuElla Miller Mirtika or Mir's Here Pamela Morrisson Eve Nielsen John W. Otte John Ottinger Deena Peterson Rachelle Steve Rice Cheryl Russel Ashley Rutherford Hanna Sandvig Chawna Schroeder James Somers Rachelle Sperling Donna Swanson Steve Trower Speculative Faith Jason Waguespac Laura Williams Timothy Wise

New Christian Fiction - Jill's Update

Here's Jill Eileen Smith's update for January:

Happy 2008! A new year filled with fresh promises and new opportunities to see God's glory shine through each of us.

This month's lineup of Christian fiction comes to you with quite a variety of releases. Also this month, I've got a newSpotlight interview with debut authorElizabeth Goddard, author of the recently releasedSeasons of Love from Heartsong Presents. Be sure to stop by and read Beth's interview and visit the websites of the following authors. Enjoy!

1.A Soldier's Promise, Book One in the Wings of Refuge Series byCheryl Wyatt from Steeple Hill Love Inspired. A USAF Pararescue jumper and a special needs teacher teaming to make life matter to a dying child freefall into love and an unexpected family.

2.Every Good & Perfect Gift bySharon K. Souza, from NavPress. A story about the kind of friendship we all wish for, the quest for motherhood in the 21st century, and a catastrophic illness that changes everything.

3.Family In His Heart final book in the Michigan Island Series byGail Gaymer Martin from Steeple Hill Love Inspired. On a Les Cheneaux Island, a young woman escapes her past in Michigan's upper peninsula and meets a man hiding his own secrets and struggling to raise a rebellious teenage son.

4.Just Cause bySusan Page Davis from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense. Laurel Hatcher must face trial for her husband’s murder, not once but twice.

5.Learning to Fly byRoxanne Henke from Harvest House.Learning to Fly is about parenting. Learning to love, live, and let go.

6.Seven Archangels: Annihilation byJane Lebak. Satan has figured out how to destroy an angel...and he begins with the archangel Gabriel.

7.Shadow of Danger byJeanne Marie Leach from Mountain View Publishing. Rachel faces jealousy, false accusations, an unknown danger, and a jail cell before being liberated by the man she loves but who could never love her.

8.The Restorer's Journey, Book 3 in the Sword of Lyric Series bySharon Hinck from NavPress. A new, young Restorer confronts his destiny while Lyric, and the life of his mother, hang in the balance.

Happy reading~

Saturday 5 January 2008

Time Masters by Geralyn Beauchamp - Book 1 "The Call"


When I first read this book's description, I thought it reminded me a little of Doctor Who. Timelords, Time Masters, sound kind of similar? Sure.

The comparison may stand, but you'll need to add a few random elements to the mix. A fierce Highlander, a dozen cats, a grinning African, several worried chaperones, chocolate chip cookies, an antique weapons shop, an alien race, a gruesomely evil villain and his clueless hirelings, and a plentiful supply of cliffhanger climaxes. And that's not even the half of it.

You will need to be fairly tolerant of grammar and sentence structure best described as "original". However, this is certainly part of the author's effervescent style, even if it tends towards chaos at times. The rambunctious storyline is so ''out there" that its daring expressiveness is just one more aspect to leave you shaking your head in disbelief. But dinna fash yerself - the writing style is certainly vivid and gripping, including a particularly evocative rendering of the hero's Scottish dialect. Good job!

The plot will keep you on your toes for sure. You can sense how the author must have had an exciting time writing it. There are many scenes that are curiously poignant, and many profound allegorical images of things like justice, sex, music, faith. But the deepest comments are those regarding the state of being in love, being intended for the other, giving your heart away, and finally sharing one heart. All this across the breadth of three time periods - a distant past, an even more distant future, and one something like our present day.

A zany mix of cliches and genres, often hilarious, quite possibly the wildest journey of your life, aud certainly anything but predictable. If you are able to turn a blind eye to a few anomalies, I think you'll enjoy this rip-roaring tale very much indeed.

Grace Bridges, reporting from a library in Northern Ireland :)