New Tabor Heights Release: THE FAMILY WAY

 Now available from Mt. Zion Ridge Press, in paper, ebook, and audio:

Everything is going right for Lisa. Her comic strip about a pastor's family has gone national, and she has a contract for a series of books. Even better, she is pregnant. Finally, her critical father-in-law will stop mocking her for wasting time with her "scribbles" and "pretensions of being an artist," and admit she is a good wife.

Then her husband, Todd, comes home from another business trip in a foul mood and destroys her happy announcement with: "Is it mine?"

He tries to make things right, but he has never learned to simply apologize. Even more important, he has never learned that if he is truly sorry, he needs to change. As communication disintegrates and suspicions and pain increase, their marriage disintegrates, until his own sisters urge Lisa to leave him, to protect her heart, her mind, her baby, and even her life.

Family secrets, and patterns of suspicion and accusations and abuse slowly come to light. Can Lisa and Todd regain their first love and forgive each other, and break free of a family tradition that could destroy them both?

 

www.MtZionRidgePress.com

New release sample: WHITE ROSES

Mt. Zion Ridge Press

Listen to the Books on the Ridge podcast for a discount code to get $1 off ebook, audiobook or print from Mt. Zion Ridge Press!

 

"Likely prospect?" he greeted Angela, as she came back down the hall. They paused in front of the large room where the reporters worked.

"Maybe. But we really don't have any openings. Something about her caught my attention. I'm not sure what." She rubbed her temples and attempted a smile. "Please tell me Dad isn't trying to install another arcade game on the file server?" She gestured at the cluster of workers gathered around the stacked unit of CPUs and printers, with a jungle's worth of cables leading out to the other computers in the office.

Andrew Coffelt had inherited the Tabor Picayune from his father and had gladly embraced every advance in technology. Curt sympathized with Angela, because her father was a little too eager to rest on his credits as publisher, semi-retired yet still in the office every day. His delight in trying out new software on the office system was a constant source of frustration for Angela. The only thing that kept her from banning her father from the office was the fact that his experiments hadn't interfered with the publication of the paper. Not yet, anyway.

Curt suspected that even if Andrew caused a power blackout of downtown Tabor Heights for a week, Angela still couldn't ban her father from the paper. They both loved it too much. He just wished she wasn't stuck with being the adult while her father enjoyed his second childhood.

"I think he's just checking out the FBI site that Loni decided to access. Tracking the White Rose and identifying him has become the favorite hobby here," Curt offered.

"Unfortunately." Angela's brown eyes lost focus. Then she shuddered, wrapped her arms around herself, and continued down the hall to the lunchroom, her shoulder-length black hair streaming out behind her with the impetus of her exit.

"Something wrong?" He followed her.

"Everything lately reminds me of the White Rose. That woman who was just in here—”

"Looks like both his targets?" He nodded when she stared at him. "I noticed. She reminded me of someone I knew when I was a kid."

"You might have known her. Toni said she lived here for a few years. Toni Napolitano. Sound familiar?"

Curt started to say no, then choked. "Short for Antoinette?"

He remembered Angelique's little sister, trying to tag along with them when their gang from school went to play kickball. A scrawny kid, she pouted a lot when Angelique told her to stay home. Curt thought she was four years younger than him, putting her in third grade while the rest of them were in seventh.

"Yes, Antoinette. Her credits are impressive. She brought a folder full of clippings." Angela sighed and put down the coffee carafe without filling her mug. "We can't really afford another reporter on staff right now. But it wouldn't be fair to just tell her no without at least examining her work."

"Look at it this way." Curt's smile felt stiff. "She looks so much like the White Rose's targets, would you feel right giving her a job that would have her all over town, letting him get a good look at her?"

"That's not funny." She dumped cream and sugar into her cup before reaching for the carafe again.

"I wasn't trying to be funny." He glanced toward the open door of her office. "So, those clippings she brought. What did she write?"

"Everything. Her specialty seems to be investigative reporting. If you ever feel like you need a partner, I'd seriously consider her."

"Nah, not yet." Curt stayed in the kitchen when Angela went back to her office.

Investigative reporter, huh? He felt sick with the certainty of what brought Toni Napolitano back to Tabor Heights. Somehow, she had heard about the White Rose, the two women he had terrorized, the one he had killed. She heard about the notes, demanding undying love and purity; the white roses left on doorsteps and even inside the victims' houses. The threats against any men who trespassed on his territory. 

Just like he had done, had Toni made the connection between the White Rose and her sister's murder? Did she feel duty-bound to hunt him? Just like Curt felt duty-bound? After all, he found Angelique's body, left lying like so much discarded forest trash in the park.

 

New release sample: WHITE ROSES

Mt. Zion Ridge Press

Listen to the Books on the Ridge podcast for a discount code to get $1 off ebook, audiobook or print from Mt. Zion Ridge Press!

 

"The White Rose?" Ted Gruber, the senior advertising rep, sauntered into the room. "Bet you anything he got rejected by e-Harmony. Maybe we should get the cops to subpoena them to open up their records."

Curt and Max exchanged glances. She muttered about a queue full of stories that needed to be edited and hurried out of the lunchroom. Ted sidled up next to Curt and went up on his toes to see through the gap into Angela's office. He whistled.

"Who's the cutie? Looks kind of familiar... Hey, is she victim two? What's her name, Karen? Kate?"

"Katrina," Curt muttered. "That's not her."

His stomach twisted and he stared at the young woman, standing now and shaking hands with Angela. Make her hair longer, exchange that brown blazer for a fuzzy pink sweater, and make her twelve years old… she could be Angelique Napolitano.

But Angelique was dead. Nearly twenty years now.

Curt shook his head. He was seeing Angelique everywhere, lately. He had nearly knocked himself out on the basketball court two weeks ago, when he looked up in the stands and thought he saw her sitting there, cheering for Tabor Christian's team in the inter-church basketball tournament. The look-alike was Sheila McGuire, Officer Frank McGuire's niece. Her parents were Army doctors, both on duty overseas.

Ted stomped over to the coffeemaker and tossed a quarter into the donation jar. Everyone was supposed to put in fifty cents for the coffee. "Some loony thinks he's in love and plays Cyrano DeBergerac, spouting love poetry from the bushes. When the girls get scared, he gets nasty." He spilled coffee on the counter, then scattered as much sugar as he put in his coffee. He picked up the sponge from the tiny sink, made a half-hearted swipe at the mess, left it sitting there, and headed out of the lunchroom. "What happened to the good old days when a guy saw a girl he wanted, clobbered her over the head and dragged her back to his cave?" He disappeared down the hall to the front of the long, narrow office space.

"I bet you got rejected by e-Harmony, too," Curt muttered.

He heard the doorknob click and pretended to read the six-month-old copy of Writer's Digest. He sauntered to the doorway of the lunchroom, watching from the corner of his eye as Angela walked the stranger to the front of the office. The long hallway down the far side of the office unit went from front to back, giving Curt a clear view of the traffic at the front door. He watched Angela and the Angelique look-alike shake hands. Several knots of tension in his gut and shoulders loosened when the young woman walked out the door.

New release sample: WHITE ROSES

RELEASE DAY!!!!

Mt. Zion Ridge Press

Listen to the Books on the Ridge podcast for a discount code to get $1 off ebook, audiobook or print from Mt. Zion Ridge Press!

 

"Who's that?" Curt Mehdlang moved back from the table in the lunchroom at the Tabor Picayune, until his shoulders touched the top of the hatch window looking out over the river behind the building. It gave him the perfect angle to see through the gap in the curtain over the porthole window into Angela Coffelt's office.

A dark-haired young woman sat opposite Angela's desk while the editor looked through a sheaf of papers. As assistant editor for the twice-weekly newspaper, Curt would have known about any interviews. So what was she doing there?

"Hmm?" Max Randolph, one of the copyeditors, pulled her mug of hot water out of the microwave and stepped over next to Curt. "Oh. She's here for a job interview. I heard her tell Myrna she was a reporter at a newspaper out in Iowa somewhere."

"Job interview?" Curt shook his head. “When did we advertise?”

"We didn't." Max raked her fingers through her mop of dark hair and twisted her combs back into place to hold it out of her eyes. "I heard her say she just moved back to town. Takes a lot of guts, moving without a job to go to, in this economy."

"A lot of confidence," he muttered, still watching the composed, familiar-looking woman. "Not much going on to warrant new staff."

Something about her oval face, those big, dark eyes and the way she tipped her head to one side. He knew he should recognize her.

"Hmm?" He jerked, startled when Max touched his arm. "Sorry. A lot on my mind."

"I said, how can you say there's nothing going on, when the White Rose is still on the loose? That's kind of exciting. Sick, but exciting."

"You and Tony aren't going to use it for your next book, are you?"

"Spare me." Max rolled her eyes and ripped open two packets of raspberry hot chocolate mix for punctuation. "We write romances. Sickos preying on innocent girls, demanding love, sight unseen—that’s not romantic."

"Maybe we should check the personal ads at the PD and any other papers, to find someone who's been advertising for months and can't find his true love." Curt's stomach twisted and his mouth tasted like he had bitten into moldy bread. How could he make a joke about the White Rose Killer? Gretchen McKenzie was dead, and now Katrina Harper alternated between terror and frustration.

"I don't think someone like the White Rose would waste time and money on advertising. He's the kind of guy who sees what he wants and punishes anyone who won't give it to him."

Upcoming release sample: WHITE ROSES

Mt. Zion Ridge Press

Listen to the Books on the Ridge podcast for a discount code to get $1 off ebook, audiobook or print from Mt. Zion Ridge Press!

Snow frosted the stiff grass over Angel's grave. Toni shivered, seeing in her imagination the white roses that had been there every time she came to the cemetery, until her parents couldn't take the pain, the cruel, silent taunting from the unidentified killer, and moved them to Indiana. Shaking, she crouched and leaned against the simple cross that held Angel's name, and her dates of birth and death. She had a hole in the index finger of her driving glove, but she ignored the wet and cold to clear out the engraved letters in the gray and pink granite.

There were no roses on Angel's grave. She supposed she should be grateful. How long had the roses continued? Until he found a new true love to haunt with notes and roses and demands for eternal loyalty?

"He's doing it again," she whispered, and her throat tried to close up.

Toni blinked away tears that felt as if they had been building up for years, just waiting to burst out. Her head ached from the pressure. She rubbed the tears away with the back of her fist. Now wasn't the time for crying. Not yet. When the White Rose was caught, exposed, and punished, then she could cry. Then she could finally ask her parents to forgive her for keeping Angel's secrets from them. Why hadn't she tattled on her sister? Their parents wouldn't have approved if they found out Angel had a boyfriend. They would have made her break up with him. She wouldn't have gone to the park to meet her boyfriend. She wouldn't have died, strangled by fencing wire and left lying in the dirt.

Tabor Heights still felt small, quiet, and safe. Just like it had when Toni, Angel and their parents had moved here. She had liked her small classes in school and the quiet, tree-shaded streets. She had felt safe going anywhere she wanted.

Toni hadn't felt safe since Curt Mehdlang went to the park to look for Angel and came back with the police, pale-faced and red-eyed from crying.

She had to get that job at the Picayune. She needed a job, and working for the local newspaper would give her all the information she needed, immediately. People expected reporters to ask questions.

"Please, God, if You're listening to me anymore, I have to have that job. I have to do it for Angel."

Standing, feeling a little wobbly in her knees, Toni stepped backward from the grave. She wondered where the other murdered girl was buried. She wondered what the current target of the White Rose Killer was doing right that moment. Did she feel curious about the man who wrote her those demanding, frightening love notes? Did she feel angry?

Toni thought about contacting the police, to ask to talk to the girl. Would they believe her, if she told them about Angel and her theories about the White Rose? Would they think she was a crackpot, capitalizing on someone's terror? Would it do any good to tell anyone? 

Bottom line: she had to do something. Even if she had to do it alone.

 

New Release Coming: DETOURS

 The next book in the Tabor Heights series, DETOURS, will be released in paper, ebook and audio on July 15.

What is Tabor Heights?

Welcome to Tabor Heights:

A friendly little town on Ohio's North Coast, where sweet romance is always in the air.

Here you'll be able to explore the lives of the members of the congregation of Tabor Christian Church in the space of two years. The stories overlap, and there's no one right place to start.

Just like any small town, you come in, you meet someone, you hear their story and get to know them. As you get to know these new friends, they introduce you to other people, and tell you about other interesting stories in town.

It's the same way with Tabor Heights. Start with the story that interests you the most, and then branch out.

Settle back and enjoy your visit.

Welcome!

DETOURS is Year 1, Book 2

A year in the life…

 

Roommates Bekka, Kat, and Amy have a lot in common: Theater students, pursuing writing careers, supporting each other in crises and heartaches. Amy keeps breaking up with her boyfriend. Kat never dates a boy more than twice. Bekka is too busy with part-time jobs and writing to even want a relationship. Especially seeing how miserable her roommates are in their love lives.

 

All that changes when Shane shows up. Bekka lets herself dream, even through the turmoil of Amy's boyfriend following his dreams and the effect on Amy, and the damage done by Kat's stepfather, and the destruction of her mother's marriage and dreams. Life is hectic -- especially when a con man tries to steal Bekka's chance at making her own dreams come true. Can't she have at least one miracle? The problem is that she and Shane never seem to meet up -- and then somehow Kat and Shane start dating, and once she dumps a guy, he never comes back. Bekka can't help hoping, though…

From Mt. Zion Ridge Press: www.MtZionRidgePress.com

The Tabor Heights books were originally published by Desert Breeze Publishing. When they closed their doors in 2018, Tamera Kraft and I started Mt. Zion Ridge Press, and spent the first couple years figuring out what we were doing, and re-releasing our orphaned books. The Tabor and Quarry Hall books were originally released by us in ebook only, with the original Desert Breeze artwork. NOW, we've designed new artwork, and have added audiobook to the offerings.

Hope you enjoy the re-released series, which will happen every other month .... for the foreseeable future!

New Release: THE SECOND TIME AROUND

 

THE SECOND TIME AROUND

 

Daniel Morgan's past returns to haunt him when a freshman girl shows up for class wearing his college sweetheart's face.

 

Lynette Tyler is determined not to face her past, even when she learns her daughter's favorite new teacher is the man she had forced out of her life when she got pregnant.

 

When Daniel learns that Kat is his daughter, he dares to ask God for the dream he had let go years before... to finally be a family. He pursues Lynette's love through tragedy and shame, learning to forgive each other and themselves. The biggest hurdle isn't whether Kat would forgive them when she finally finds out the truth, but whether Lynette can let go of the past long enough to let them have a future together.

New Release: THE SECOND TIME AROUND

 

New in PRINT!

TODAY!!!!

Available in print, ebook, and audiobook

New cover.

Re-release from Mt. Zion Ridge Press

Book 1, Year 1, The Tabor Heights series

Welcome to Tabor Heights:

A friendly little town on Ohio's North Coast, where sweet romance is always in the air.

 

Here you'll be able to explore the lives of the members of the congregation of Tabor Christian Church in the space of two years. The stories overlap, and there's no one right place to start.

 

Just like any small town, you come in, you meet someone, you hear their story and get to know them. As you get to know these new friends, they introduce you to other people, and tell you about other interesting stories in town.

 

It's the same way with Tabor Heights. Start with the story that interests you the most, and then branch out.

 

Settle back and enjoy your visit.

Welcome!

 

Excerpt: FOR SALE: WEDDING DRESS. NEVER USED.

The whole mess started with...a mess. A bunch of idiots (seniors) decided the lake that had taken over the Commons would make a perfect football field. Mud football is the sport for real men, supposedly.

Real men didn't believe in avoiding hundred-year-old trees.

I was heading to the cafeteria for lunch with Tonia and Lynn and a couple girls from the basement. We heard the shouting and stopped to watch the battle of mudmen. I didn't even know Andy was playing. Any sensible person would have been catching the last half hour of lunch and maybe studying.

Then again, these were senior boys. Proof that testosterone caused brain damage.

I heard my name. Honestly, even in a Christian college, how many Eves could there be? I turned, and there was this muddy figure waving at me and jumping up and down, holding the ball. At least, I assumed that dripping glob in his hands was the ball.

Tonia laughed. "That can't be Andy!"

I had my doubts, until he pulled off his stocking cap, revealing semi-clean blond hair. He waved the hat, spattering mud in every direction, and shouted for me to stay and watch.

"No way," one of the basement girls said. "There's Tim McCarr!" She shrieked and ran. We all ran.

Tim McCarr made the Incredible Hulk look like a featherweight. Plowing through mud and water, he churned up a wake the Loch Ness Monster would have envied. Waves swamped the sidewalk as McCarr headed straight for us.

Some guys shouted for him to leave us alone. Andy led the charge of five guys headed on a collision course to stop McCarr. When they hit him en masse, they changed his direction and went rolling and sliding through the mud and water.

The whole ugly, tumbling knot of them hit probably the biggest tree in the entire county, sitting in the corner of the crisscross of sidewalks through the Commons. Naturally, Andy was the point of impact.

Excerpt: FOR SALE: WEDDING DRESS. NEVER USED.

"What do you do, Eve? What's your major?" Pastor Tom asked.

"She's only a sophomore. She's still too busy getting her requirements out of the way," Mrs. Carleone said, with a little laugh, as if Pastor Tom had wasted his breath asking.

"Eve is majoring in administration," Andy said. "She's been doing summer camps and kids' crusades and snow camps for Allen Michaels since -- what? -- middle school?"

That grin on his face made me think he was proud of me. The next astonishing deduction was that to be proud of me, he had to feel...possessive?

Tonia and I later discussed the whole weird day. She theorized Mrs. Carleone was either trying to condition me to brainless slavery or scare me away. Why would she try to scare me away when I wasn't interested in Andy, and he certainly hadn't expressed that kind of long-term interest in me?

Back to lunch: Ginger said it sounded like I had a full-time ministry waiting for me when I graduated. Mrs. Carleone countered with the old "Not if she gets married" line. So dummy me, I had to blurt that I had no boyfriend, no plans for marriage, and all signs indicated God wanted me to stay single.

"I've never had a date in my whole life," I added.

"What do you call this?" Pastor Tom gestured at Andy and me on one side of the table.

"Church isn't a date. And I thought the whole team was coming today."

Andy snorted. His face got red. "My fault," he said, when his mother demanded an explanation. "You should have seen the look on Eve's face when she came out to my car and saw we were all alone. Sorry -- guess I forgot to tell you it was just going to be us."

"I think that's charming." Mrs. Carleone smiled, her first genuine, warm expression all day. Probably because she realized I had no plans to drag Andy to the altar.

At that point, all I wanted was a silent ride back to school. The day couldn't get any worse.

I was wrong.

Excerpt: FOR SALE: WEDDING DRESS. NEVER USED.

I always hated those novels where the girl suffered through half the book and then found out the problem between her and the hero was all a misunderstanding. She should have just asked the guy in chapter two what was going on.

So after trying not to stew about that mystery all day, I ran into Andy in the cafeteria line at dinner. I figured, get it over with quickly. After all, it wasn't like we were together in any way, shape or form.

When I asked him if he went into the annex to avoid everybody else, Andy gave me a crooked grin, like a bad little boy caught making a mess. A bad little boy who knew he would be forgiven because he was so cute.

For about two seconds, I wanted to punch his lights out.

"If you didn't want to be seen with me, you could have just let me sit down first, and then sat somewhere else at the table." I turned to walk away. No way did I want him to see me cry. Not that I was about to cry. But why risk it?

Andy stepped in front of me to stop me. "What makes you think I don't want to be seen with you?"

"We could have sat with the team and got some work done."

"Yeah, but don't you get sick of living and breathing and eating Spiritual Emphasis Week?"

"It's fun."

"For you, maybe. Sometimes I just want it to be us having breakfast. Got me?"

The Hallelujah Chorus went off in my head, but I had enough self-control to keep my face calm and say I was sorry. We got into line for dinner. I knew something good had happened, but the breeze from something passing right over my head was strong enough to be felt.

"Hey, Eve." He leaned in so close I caught a whiff of his spicy aftershave. He grinned. "Rewind the tape. What'd I just say?"

"You need a break from working on Spiritual Emphasis Week." All I could do was mirror his grin as we moved up in line.

Andy wanted to be with me.

We ate dinner with Mike, Tyrone and Amira. It was nice, once I remembered to breathe. Just a bunch of college kids. Mike had work-study at the Playhouse fall semester, and he had been helping me collect all the props for SEW. Tyrone was this unwashed art geek who hung out with the theater students. He did most of the talking because nobody could stop Tyrone talking. We sort of slipped comments about SEW in among his rambling discourse. Amira was there because she was in love with Mike. He didn't know it, because he only saw her as a friend. At least he was nice to her. When I was relatively sane, I knew that was all I had with Andy.

Excerpt: FOR SALE: WEDDING DRESS. NEVER USED

With my luck, I figured Tonia had already arrived, moved in, and run off to the picnic. I ran through my list of options as I staggered up the stairs to my dorm room. Maybe now was the time to hit the grocery store. I could stock our refrigerator and reward myself for working on a day I had planned to be lazy. I quickly discovered Tonia had arrived and left a note on the bed, commanding me to join her for dinner at the Grease Pit.

Funny how fast I could run when I was weak with hunger.

I found Tonia at a table where she could see the door, snarfing a rack of ribs and a double helping of coleslaw. She could get away with that kind of eating since she had been born skinny as a rake and stayed that way no matter what she ate. If I didn't love her so much, I would have hated her. She gave me a big barbecue sauce grin when I waved and ran for the counter to order.

Tonia was the coolest girl I'd ever met. She had a talent for making odds and ends from the Salvation Army store look like the latest fashions. She saw no need to crush her internal organs to wear something currently "in" or make herself look three sizes smaller. She had the gift of looking equally as elegant in an oversized camouflage jacket as she did in the red silk Mandarin-style dress she wore to church. She had a coffee-and-cream complexion, and didn't wear a speck of makeup.

Today she had her hair in a dozen braids, all wound with ribbons in graduating shades, so it went from red on her left ear, through purple and blue, to orange on her right ear. A walking rainbow. She wore enough bracelets to sound like a junk truck when she moved.

Knowing Tonia's eating habits, I ordered a peanut butter malt ice cream swirler along with my dinner. I got it in front of her just as she turned to look for me. All she got out was "Hey, E--" then looked down and saw that jumbo-sized cup. She snorted and gave me a cocked eyebrow look Spock would have envied as I slid into the seat opposite her.

 "So, you learned to read minds over the summer?" she asked in a fake, nasal Bronx accent.

"If only. That would sure help me pass my tests." I saluted her with my sandwich and took a bite.

New Release: FOR SALE: WEDDING DRESS. NEVER USED

Eve chose ministry over marriage, thanks to: 

Andy, her college sweetheart with a domineering mother, and vague plans for their future.

(She bought the dress for Andy, but it didn't suit him any more than it suited her.)

Charles, who she didn’t even know she was dating on the rebound. 

Mason, the loony who "bought" her from her bully cousin. 

Nathan, the ex-Marine who started out pretending to be her boyfriend just to "protect" her from an unwanted suitor.

(Or at least, she thought she didn't want him...)

Real love didn't come back into her life until AFTER she decided to finally sell the dress, and let go of that particular dream. 

Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?

BUY LINK: https://books2read.com/u/31ODZv

New Release: FOR SALE: WEDDING DRESS. NEVER USED

Now available from Mt. Zion Ridge Press

In print and ebook
At all major online outlets

This one is part romance, party chic-lit, part snark, part comedy in places and part ... well, I can't say semi-autobiographical, because that kind of indicates at least half of it is real.

And it isn't.

Yes, I have a wedding dress in my attic, unused, bought for a wedding that never took place, after I broke up with my college boyfriend/fiance.
Yes, there was a guy who broke up with me because he claimed I was trying to "convert" him. Umm, I'm totally against missionary dating, if you know what I mean!
Yes, the chairs were "kidnapped" and held for ransom on my college campus -- but they were stolen from the cafeteria and the payment was Iowa pork chops for dinner -- in the story, the chairs were stolen from the chapel and the ransom demand was pizza.
Yes, gerbils were dropped by garbage bag parachutes through a hole in the ceiling in the middle of a college chapel.

Everything else, in Eve's story of all her disaster relationships and trying several times to get rid of a dress she was never going to use ... is entirely fictional!

Follow THIS LINK for ebook purchases or THIS LINK to go to the Mt. Zion Ridge Press website.

Or you can buy the paper edition from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

More about this book later in the week!!

Off the Bookshelf: THE ROYAL WEDDING COLLECTION, by Rachel Hauck

If you're a Hallmark movie fan (especially the royal wedding movies) then you've probably seen the movie adaptation of Rachel Hauck's book, ONCE UPON A PRINCE. That's the impetus for getting at least the 1st book in this trilogy. Along with the fact that Rachel is an amazing teacher and worship leader -- heard her at this year's ACFW conference -- and she's the featured guest at this year's Faith and Fellowship Book Festival in Columbus, Ohio, December 1. (and an OSU football fan!)

CLICK HERE for info, and come see her (and me, too!!)

On to the review:

I bought all three books because hey, it's ebooks so no worry about shelf space, and 2nd hey, a lot cheaper to buy all 3 together and besides, I was really, really in the mood for some romance.

ONCE UPON A PRINCE -- Nathaniel (prince of Brighton) and Susanna
PRINCESS EVER AFTER -- Reggie (great-granddaughter of the long lost princess of Hessenberg, ally of Brighton) and Tanner
HOW TO CATCH A PRINCE -- Stephen (Nathaniel's brother) and Corina

Can I just say ... *sigh* What fun! Satisfying, funny, clever, and anything that smelled faintly of cliche was dealt with cleverly so it just plain worked.

Nathaniel is on diplomatic business for his father, the king, and taking a bit of a vacation when he meets Susanna. He has fun hiding his identity and being an ordinary guy, and when duty calls, he's honest with her -- it's against Brighton law for them to try to have a future. She understands that. She's not in the market for another broken heart. But of course they get thrown together, and they try to obey God and do what's right, and there's the whole political/diplomatic mess with Hessenberg distracting Nathaniel.

Reggie is happy restoring vintage cars, and has fond memories of the princess game she and her great-grandmother used to play. Until Tanner shows up on her doorstep after a long search through letters and immigration records, to tell her, guess what? You're our princess, we need you to get involved in a big political change 100 years in the making. Reggie's a smart girl who knows better than to get involved in foreign politics. And besides, she'd have to wear dresses and deal with scheming politicians and social upheaval. Who'd want that? Then there's Tanner's painful, shameful secrets and strained family relationships.

Stephen has some BIG secrets in his past, tied to the war in Afghanistan, and a lot of guilt. He considers himself completely unworthy of his position -- and doubly so when it comes to Corina, who loves him, who he loves, and who happens to be the twin sister of one of his soldier buddies who died protecting him. She wants the truth about what happened to her brother, and he's got this tendency to keep trying to throw himself on his own sword, metaphorically speaking.

Do I need to say that love conquers all -- as long as there's a lot of prayer, a lot of tears and soul-searching, and a hefty dollop of divine, spiritual interference?

*sigh* Just lovely. And I devoured all 3 books in 6 days. Ummm, more please?

Off the Bookshelf: THE RANCHER'S MISTLETOE BRIDE, by Jill Kemerer

Love Inspired Romance -- so easy to read, and as I've learned from trying, so hard to write. So I admire anyone who is able to write Category.

My chapter of ACFW was lucky enough to have Jill Kemerer speak to us a while ago about writing for LI, the requirements, the process of proposing, and all that goes into being one of their authors. Very grateful for the chance to learn about this specialized market.

And grateful for free books!

MISTLETOE is about two hurting people who come together to take care of duties and obligations and help each other, and who get a chance to heal in the process.

Lexi is a wedding planner with a successful business out of state, who comes home to take care of the family ranch after her father dies. Along with guilt for what she perceives as putting her career ahead of family, she has apparent rebellion among the ranks back at the business. She's alone, she's questioning her goals, and when a chance comes to change and fix things, she's ready to grab it. Maybe.

Clint is a foster kid who has basically been taught by everyone except a few close friends, fellow survivors of the foster system, that he's worthless, that nobody wants him, that he'll always mess up. He was cheated and robbed, and the wound is still hanging over him when he gets a chance to do what he loves -- run a ranch. Lexi's ranch. He knows better than to let anyone get close, especially a beautiful woman who is going back to her own life soon. But Lexi is irresistible.

We all know what the outcome is going to be -- it's a romance, after all -- but the JOURNEY is the fascinating part, and where Jill shines. I'm pretty sure there will be more stories set in the town of Sweet Dreams, featuring Clint's friends -- and tempted to look for them.

Off the Bookshelf: HAND ME DOWN HUSBAND, by Rosanna Huffman

It's not often I get to read a book written by a friend. I have a number of books in my to-be-read stack and my wish list written by friends in ACFW. Slowly, I'm working my way through the stacks -- and making room to buy the ones on the list.

It's even more rare when I chuck all the items on my do list for the day and just lie down on my couch and read the whole day away. What makes the experience even sweeter is when it's a book I heard about when it was just a twinkle in the author's eye, and a chuckle in her voice as she talked about her idea!

HAND ME DOWN HUSBAND

Rosanna's story could have taken place in the next county. The farming community has its share of characters -- the oblivious, the caring, the self-important, the interfering, the ones who can't say no, the grieving, the lonely, and the ones who care to the point of frustrating the ones who really don't want their help. Yeah, you've been in a community like that. Then there are the people you just want to grab by their ankles and slap them against the wall until they straighten out.

Which just proves Rosanna knows how to write characters that are real, and make you care about them.

Suzanne is a teacher in a small church-run school who cares about her students, adored by her students, and overlooked and unappreciated by everyone else -- her family, the school board, and people in church who only see her when they need help but never notice when she needs help. She has had to fight -- quietly -- for what she has in life, and has made some resolutions she sticks to, no matter how inconvenient. Such as no hand-me-downs -- she's not taking anyone's discards anymore, in terms of clothes, furniture, and even boyfriends.

Mitch is a widower, going on two years when the story starts. When he is talked into taking over as principal of the school, he notices Suzanne and really sees her like no one has in her entire life. He appreciates her, he sees how she is taken advantage of, As they change from co-workers to friends to something deeper and sweeter, they face a number of obstacles -- the difference in their ages, interference from his family, matchmaking friends who want Suzanne with someone else, and their own still-healing wounds.

Lovely debut novel -- and I'm not just saying that because she's my friend.

Off the Bookshelf: A WINNING RECIPE, by Bonnie Engstrom

The full title is: A Winning Recipe for Meatloaf Magic and Love Everlasting. A mouthful, huh? Wish I had a mouthful of some of the recipes described in the book, which, per the title, features cooking quite often.

The story starts -- and throws the romantic leads together -- at a cooking competition. Kate is a control freak and Lance has some strong white knight tendencies, coming to her rescue from the start -- and maybe being just a little too friendly. At least, too friendly for a stranger ... who just happens to get on the same shuttle to the same hotel. As we find out soon, Kate has had some boyfriend issues, a guy who wants to control and dominate her life -- the kind who says she likes it when she protests his treatment. So when Lance kind of takes over from time to time, that irritates and frightens her.

I wish the author had put the winning meatloaf recipes in the back of the book -- they both sound scrumptious. This is a fast read, funny in places, frightening in others as Kate deals with some issues in her life, emotional and physical. If you like Golden Retrievers -- Kate's faithful sidekick -- and you like people who like to cook ... try it!

Off the Bookshelf: RASPBERRIES AND VINEGAR, by Valerie Comer

This sweet, inspirational romance by Valerie Comer was a lot of fun to read.

Jo is Green -- heavily into natural products, energy conservation, organic food, sustainable sources, eco-friendly housing. She and her friends have come to a farm they have bought -- and named Green Acres -- in the little town of Galena Landing. Their mission: Change the world.

Zachary is a veterinarian with a problem. He was dating the daughter of the vet he was interning for, and hoped to work for, but when her demands didn't match his morality, suddenly he was out on the street, with lies told about him, and no chance of a recommendation. Not good for his career. Zach came home to Galena Landing to take care of the homestead while his father dealt with sudden, serious illness. Jo and her friends moved in next door.

The clash between the health food girl and the guy who loves junk food is predictable in some ways, unpredictable and fresh and fun and surprising in others, and heartbreaking in still others. You'll ache for them both by the time they get things straightened out, in their lives, their hearts, and their souls. It's a romance, so you know how it will end, but it's the JOURNEY that's so much fun. Of course, there are more stories about Jo's roommates, so ... more fun awaits!

Off the Bookshelf: HOW SWEET IT IS

Book exchanges are great. Besides creating room on your shelf for new treasures and new authors to discover, you get to share a book that you know you won't read again (not because you don't want to, but because there just isn't enough TIME to go back) with someone who might just fall in love and make it a keeper. Everybody has different tastes.

Thank goodness. That means out there are people who love my books, along with people who like them and others -- may they be few! -- who see my name on a book cover and say, "Meh!"

HOW SWEET IT IS, by Alice Wisler, came to me through a book exchange with my ACFW chapter a year or so ago. Maybe longer. Just shows how BIG my to-be-read pile/bookshelf is. Wish I had read this charming, first person POV journey of recovery from shattered dreams and love and a car wreck and its attendant scars just a little sooner.

Deena, our heroine, is a chef -- until the story starts, working at an upscale restaurant in Atlanta. Then a car wreck and discovering her fiance had someone else in his life and an inheritance from her grandfather send her to the mountains of North Carolina. Maybe she doesn't start out searching for change, but it finds her. She learns from some unique and charming characters along the way and learns something about herself while she struggles to teach cooking to emotionally wounded children and set up her cake business. I wish I had her remote cabin in the mountains... Read the book, and visit there for a while, too. You won't say, "Meh!" to this story. Delicious, soft, and sweet. Like the white velvet cake recipe included.