Fun giveaway for Regina Jenning's For The Record

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf-mxnaj0Pr5GN4ULm_e4bAeQK64QXf-5OfGe3hqXI0BpTNRQ/viewform?c=0&w=1

An Uncommon Courtship by Kristi Ann Hunter

I have been looking forward to reading Trent's story, and it was well worth waiting for. Due to the rules of the times, Trent and Adelaide are required to marry quickly. They are strangers who are now married. I loved the way Kristi wove the customs of the time with a story that grabs hold and carried one along. The visits with Trent's family, the Hawthornes was an added bonus. Kristi is definitely one of the top Regency writers today.

From Amazon:
Life for Lady Adelaide Bell was easier if she hid in her older sister's shadow--which worked until her sister got married. Even with the pressure of her socially ambitious mother, the last thing she expected was a marriage of convenience to save her previously spotless reputation.

Lord Trent Hawthorne couldn't be happier that he is not the duke in the family. He's free to manage his small estate and take his time discovering the life he wants to lead, which includes grand plans of wooing and falling in love with the woman of his choice. When he finds himself honor bound to marry a woman he doesn't know, his dream of a marriage like his parents' seems lost forever.

Already starting their marriage on shaky ground, can Adelaide and Trent's relationship survive the pressures of London society?

About the author:

Kristi Ann Hunter graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in computer science but always knew she wanted to write. Kristi is an RWA Golden Heart contest winner, an ACFW Genesis contest winner, and a Georgia Romance Writers Maggie Award for Excellence winner. She lives with her husband and three children in Georgia.


I was given this book by Netgalley.com for review purposes. All thoughts are my

The Mark of the King by Jocelyn Green

I am still awaiting my copy, but I wanted to get this out there for release day, January 3rd! My review will come later! :)

From Jocelyn Green's blog:

The Mark of the King

"The Mark of the King grabbed me from the first scene and wouldn't let me go! The setting is vibrant, unique, and full of fascinating true details about the early French settlement in New Orleans. With arranged marriages, forced immigration, and struggles against starvation, the elements, and warring natives, the story is riveting. A must-read!"
~Jody Hedlund, Christy Award-winning author

"A page-turner of a tale set against France’s early struggles to colonize Louisiana, The Mark of the King bears all the marks of the best historical fiction—rich attention to detail, settings historically accurate and lushly depicted, a complex and layered plot, diverse cultures vividly portrayed, and the ever-present sense of the larger forces of time and place shaping the lives and destinies of characters I came to care about. The unjustly exiled Julianne is a woman to admire and cheer, the soldier Marc-Paul a man of strength and devotion. Lovers of historical fiction will be transported by this beautifully written novel of the early 18th century frontier."
~Lori Benton, award-winning author of The Wood’s Edge and A Flight of Arrows

After being imprisoned and branded for the death of her client, twenty-five-year-old midwife Julianne Chevalier trades her life sentence for exile to the fledgling 1720s French colony of Louisiana, where she hopes to be reunited with her brother, serving there as a soldier. To make the journey, though, women must be married, and Julianne is forced to wed a fellow convict.

When they arrive in New Orleans, there is no news of Benjamin, Julianne's brother, and searching for answers proves dangerous. What is behind the mystery, and does military officer Marc-Paul Girard know more than he is letting on?

With her dreams of a new life shattered, Julianne must find her way in this dangerous, rugged land, despite never being able to escape the king's mark on her shoulder that brands her a criminal beyond redemption.

Free Excerpt

*Read the prologue and first chapter here.

(link is external)

about Jocelyn Green:

Award-winning author Jocelyn Green inspires faith and courage in her readers through both fiction and nonfiction. A former military wife herself, she offers encouragement and hope to military wives worldwide through her Faith Deployed ministry. Her novels, inspired by real heroines on America’s home front, are marked by their historical integrity and gritty inspiration. Jocelyn graduated from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, with a B.A. in English, concentration in writing. She is an active member of the Christian Authors Network, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Military Writers Society of America. She loves Mexican food, Broadway musicals, Toblerone chocolate bars, the color red, and reading on her patio. Jocelyn lives with her husband Rob and two small children in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Connect with her on Facebook(link is external). [Looking for the Media Kit? It's right here.] Okay, that was my official bio. Now, here's a little more. . .

• If it weren't for God's presence in my life, I would not be able to inspire faith and courage in others. He is my inspiration, my strength, my joy.
• My favorite verse is Isaiah 26:3. And also Psalm 30:5. Oh wait, Psalm 34:18 is another great one . . . I'll stop now.
• I'm an ordinary mom. I make lunches, wipe noses, play Chutes & Ladders, read bedtime stories, dispense band-aids, and give lots of hugs and kisses to my kids while they'll still let me.
• I fall behind in my household chores from time to time, especially when on deadline. I keep up with laundry pretty well, but my mop doesn't see any action, for instance, while I write a book.
• We love traditions in this house. Among our favorites: having pizza and Family Movie Night on Fridays, watching Rick Steves on Saturday mornings, spaghetti dinner (made by my husband) on Sundays.
• I do my best writing wearing pants with elastic waistbands. I call these "writing pants." My favorite pair is summer pajama bottoms from L.L. Bean.
• I'm an introvert but enjoy public speaking. Weird, right?
• I'm really big on list-making. I think it's hereditary, because my 6-year-old seems to have inherited the gene as well. Evidence at right.
• I tend to either cook 30 meals in a day or go for three months without cooking more than twice a week (and therefore using the 30 meals I had prepared ahead of time). It works out nicely. Although sometimes I wish I was one of those people who cooked and baked super good stuff for fun.
•  I'm not very crafty. I'll just say it. I really admire those who are, though.

Thanks so much for stopping by. This feels a little weird talking so much about myself, but that's what this page is all about. I'd much rather connect with you in a way that's not so one-sided, though, so please, connect with me through my blog, the contact page, or my Facebook(link is external)page. I'd love to hear from you. :)

The Give-Away

To celebrate the release of The Mark of the King, I am giving away to one lucky winner a gift basket from Cafe de Monde in New Orleans (two mugs, coffee and beignet mix), a set of French soaps, and a pair of silver fleur-de-lys earrings!

Please use this Rafflecopter form to enter. The drawing opens early the morning of Monday, Jan. 2. Good luck!

http://www.jocelyngreen.com/2016/12/26/the-mark-of-the-king-free-excerpt-give-away

Without Warning by Joel Rosenberg

Wow! It's hard to find the words to adequately describe Joel Rosenberg's latest thriller. J.B. Collins is back and the bad guys are still after him. The fact that Joel lives in the Middle East adds authenticity to his writing. The setting is described in such a way that you can imagine yourself there with J.B. and company. At times my heart was pounding with fear for the folks in the book. There is a depth to the characters that only comes from being a master storyteller. I expected to read a disclaimer at the end of the book stating that the names have been changed to protect the innocent.  Do yourself a favor and don't start this book until you have time to settle in for the great adventure.

From Amazon:
As he prepares to deliver the State of the Union address, the president of the United States is convinced the Islamic State is on the run, about to be crushed by American forces once and for all. But New York Times foreign correspondent J. B. Collins tells the president he’s dead wrong. With the Middle East on fire, the Israeli prime minister dead, and Amman in ruins, Collins fears a catastrophic attack inside the American homeland is imminent. He argues that only an all-out manhunt to capture or kill Abu Kahlif―the leader of ISIS―can stop the attack and save American lives. But will the president listen and take decisive action before it’s too late?

About Joel Rosenberg:
Joel C. Rosenberg (www.joelrosenberg.com) is a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of eleven novels and five nonfiction books, with more than 3 million copies sold.
His books have been read and enjoyed by a wide range of U.S. and foreign leaders, including former CIA Director Porter Goss, former Delta Force Commander Lt. General (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, Sen. Marco Rubio, former Sen. Rick Santorum, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky, and former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.
Joel has been interviewed on hundreds of radio and TV shows, including ABC’s Nightline, CNN, CNN Headline News, C-SPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, The History Channel, the Rush Limbaugh Show, the Sean Hannity Show, and the Glenn Beck Show. His articles and columns have been published by National Review, FoxNews.com, CNN.com, the Jerusalem Post, World magazine, and the Washington Times, among others. He has been profiled by the New York Times, the Washington Times, and the Jerusalem Post.
Joel has spoken to audiences all across the U.S. and Canada and around the world, including Israel, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Russia, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, India, South Korea, and the Philippines. He has also addressed audiences at the White House and the Pentagon, members of Congress on Capitol Hill, members of the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, and spoken at a conference held at the European Union Parliament in Brussels.
He is the founder and chairman of The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.com), a nonprofit educational and charitable organization he and his wife launched in 2006 to mobilize Christians to “bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, according to Genesis 12:1-3.”
Joel’s books, most of which are published in numerous languages, include
1. The Last Jihad (2002)
2. The Last Days (2003)
3. The Ezekiel Option (2005)
4. The Copper Scroll (2006)
5. Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future (2006, nonfiction; an updated version, Epicenter 2.0, was released in paperback in 2008)
6. Dead Heat (2008)
7. Inside the Revolution: How the Followers of Jihad, Jefferson & Jesus Are Battling to Dominate the Middle East and Transform the World (2009, nonfiction)
8. The Twelfth Imam (2010)
9. The Tehran Initiative (2011)
10. Implosion: Can America Recover from Its Economic and Spiritual Challenges in Time? (2012, nonfiction)
11. Israel at War: Inside the Nuclear Showdown with Iran (2012, nonfiction e-book)
12. The Invested Life: Making Disciples of All Nations One Person at a Time, written with Dr. T. E. Koshy (2012, nonfiction)
13. Damascus Countdown (2013)
14. The Auschwitz Escape (2014)
15. The Third Target (January 6, 2015)
16. The First Hostage (December 29, 2015)
He has produced two documentary films based on two of his nonfiction books, Epicenter and Inside the Revolution.
Several of his books have won national awards.
• The Ezekiel Option was named by the ECPA as the Gold Medallion Award winner for the “Best Novel of 2006.”
• He is a five-time winner of the Retailers Choice Award for best books of the year in fiction and nonfiction categories. These awards, presented annually by Christian Retailing magazine, are based on the voting of people working in the Christian publishing and music industries.
• In 2007, Epicenter won in the Christian Living category.
• In 2009, Dead Heat won in the Fiction: Mystery & Suspense category.
• In 2010, Inside the Revolution won in the Social Issues category.
• In 2011, The Twelfth Imam won in the Fiction: Mystery & Suspense category.
• In 2012, The Tehran Initiative won in the Fiction: Mystery & Suspense category.
• The Auschwitz Escape was a finalist in the 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Historical Fiction, finishing in fourth place out of twenty-one contenders.
Several of his books have reached the top or near the top of national bestseller lists.
• The Last Jihad hit #1 on the Amazon.com bestseller list.
• Dead Heat reached #4 on the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list.
• The Third Target hit #4 on the Publishers Weekly hardcover fiction bestseller list and spent two months as the #1 bestselling work of fiction in the Christian market in North America.
• The First Hostage was also the #1 bestselling work of fiction in the Christian market in North America.
Before becoming an author, Joel worked as an aide to U.S. and Israeli business and political leaders, including Steve Forbes, Rush Limbaugh, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky, and then-former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also worked for the Heritage Foundation, Empower America, and Americans For Hope, Growth & Opportunity.
Joel was born in Syracuse, New York. His father is a first-generation American from a Jewish background whose parents and grandparents emigrated from Russia and settled in Brooklyn, New York. His mother, a Gentile, was raised in Rome, New York. When Joel was two, his parents moved to a community just outside of Rochester, New York. He grew up in the small town of Fairport and graduated from Fairport High School. He attended Syracuse University—spending one semester of his junior year studying at Tel Aviv University—and graduated from Syracuse with a BFA in film drama.
Joel married his college sweetheart, Lynn, in June of 1990. Together, they made their home in the Washington, D.C., area for twenty-four years. In 2014, they and their four sons—Caleb, Jacob, Jonah, and Noah—made aliyah and now live in Israel as dual U.S.–Israeli citizens.
• For more information on conferences Joel organizes, please visit www.epicenterconference.com.
• You can find his weblog at https://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/.
• You can sign up for his “Flash Traffic” e-mail updates at http://www.joelrosenberg.com/flashtraffic_form.asp.
• You can follow him on Twitter @joelcrosenberg and Facebook (facebook.com/JoelCRosenberg).

My 12 Best Books of 2016

Most people are posting their 10 favorite books of 2016, I just couldn't narrow my list that far. I honestly could have done a top twenty! So here are my 12 favorite books in no particular order:

It has been an awesome year for books! Thank you to all of the authors out there for providing so many hours of enjoyment! Happy New Year! I look forward to all of the new books in 2017!
                                         Kris

Paradise Protocol by Anna Zogg

The Paradise Protocol by Anna Zogg is a science fiction novel with a strong romantic theme. There is also an element of suspense. While I liked this book I would have liked a stronger plot. There is plenty of action, many strange creatures, and the vegetation is certainly not terrestrial. I will be reading the second novel to see if some of my questions are answered.

From Anna Zogg's webpage:
 THE PARADISE PROTOCOL

Submit to the director...
or forfeit your life!
Alone on a primitive planet light-years from Earth, bio-scientist Aric Lindquist believes she has been abandoned by SARC, the sponsor of her research assignment. In the five months since her assistant disappeared, she has struggled to survive Empusa III’s beautiful but hostile environment. Is SARC punishing her because she accused them of breaking protocol in not safeguarding the indigenous humanoids? After a new assistant finally arrives, Aric’s suspicions escalate.
When Sean Reese agreed to this mission, he expected to find a dangerous and possibly demented woman. Carrying out his orders would have been easy. But Aric is unlike anything he expected. Sean might find a way to save her life if she submits to the powerful director of SARC.
If she won’t, the director will use any means to silence them both...including murder.

About Anna from her web page:
What do you get when you cross an army brat, a police record, and an opera singer? Anna, of course! She’s been surrounded by the military (father, three siblings, husband and son), she was an exchange student in Denmark (where police records are mandatory) and she trained as a vocal major in college. With such a diverse background, she couldn’t help but become a writer.
After traveling the globe, she and her husband settled in Utah--a place they once swore they’d never live. Now they love it. With the towering mountains, nearby Great Salt Lake, high desert temperatures--she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
Well, maybe...

A Royal Christmas Wedding by Rachel Hauck

A Royal Christmas Wedding is Rachel Hauck's fourth and final book in her Royal Wedding series. Fans will be glad to visit with characters from the other three books and see how they are getting along. Avery believes she has given up all feelings for Prince Colin after he abandoned her at her high school prom. Now she is visiting her sister, Princess of Brighton, and Colin is there. Will they continue to follow their own plans, or will they seek G-d's will? I believe that the following verse applies to Avery and Colin's story; 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

From Amazon:

            Avery Truitt aches for true love—the kind she once shared with Prince Colin. Can she dare to hope for happily ever after, or is a fairy-tale ending beyond reach?

College volleyball star Avery Truitt has not seen her former flame, Prince Colin of Brighton Kingdom, since he suddenly pushed her away five years ago. But now, the sadness of losing her father and the joy of her sister Susanna’s pregnancy have brought Avery back to Brighton just in time for Cathedral City’s enchanting Christmas season.

Avery knows she can’t avoid seeing Colin—now the Kingdom’s most eligible bachelor—whether or not her heart is ready to relive the pain. But seeing him again might bring her the closure she needs after all this time.

When Colin finds himself at the center of a centuries-old Brighton tradition, he must decide whether to follow the path laid out before him or follow his heart to the only woman for whom he would ring the Pembroke Chapel Bell.

Can Colin convince Avery to meet him at the chapel on Christmas morning—as tradition dictates—or will Avery run back to her St. Simons home and pursue a coaching career as planned?

In the fourth installment of the Royal Wedding Series, New York Times bestselling novelist, Rachel Hauck, weaves a charming story of holiday romance as two broken hearts seek the love they once knew.

About Rachel Hauck from Amazon:

   Rachel Hauck is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY bestselling author of The Wedding Dress, which was also named Inspirational Novel of the Year by Romantic Times and was a RITA finalist. Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and two pets and writes from her ivory tower. Visit her online at rachelhauck.com Facebook: rachelhauck Twitter: @RachelHauck

I was given this book by the Fiction Guild for review purposes. All thoughts are my own.