Book Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway: Home for Christmas by Catherine Lanigan

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

Home for Christmas
(Shores of Indian Lake #12)
By Catherine Lanigan
Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 384 Pages
November 1st 2019 by Harlequin Heartwarming

Can a magical Christmas under glass…

…bring them back together for good?

Widowed dad Adam Masterson still doesn’t understand why Joy Boston left Indian Lake and broke his heart all those years ago. Now she’s returned to sell her grandfather’s beloved poinsettia greenhouse—and Joy and Adam’s connection is as strong as ever. But Joy has a life in New York. And Adam has only until Christmas to convince Joy that she belongs in Indian Lake—with him.

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Guest Post from Author Catherine Lanigan

                             THE CHRISTMAS POPS CONCERT

What is Christmas without music? After all, at the first Christmas, the angels sang.  Though this is early October as I write this, I have to confess, I fight the urge to put my Johnny Mathis Christmas album on every day. I know. But I love, love, love Christmas. I do believe it’s a time of magic and miracles. Love and giving.

Even the saddest Christmases I’ve had, and there have been many in my years, there is still that hope that everything will be all right. That Love will find a way and that if you have faith and believe, dreams really do come true.

In my hometown, we have a Christmas concert the second Saturday of every December. This concert was another of my sister, Nancy’s, favorite organizations to chair. To this day, I still don’t know how she managed her time to create, orchestrate and plan so many events, especially since many of them were at Christmas. But she did.

The Christmas Pops is truly unique. It’s held at our Civic Auditorium, built in the 1920’s and houses over 3,000 people. The main floor, where basketball used to be played when I was in high school, is filled with linen covered tables and chairs, decorated with flowers and candles and the ceiling is draped, flung and crisscrossed with thousands of Christmas lights. The La Porte County Symphony plays as various choral groups, the Children’s Choir, soloists and local harmonizing groups perform.  The night is upbeat and fun. Everyone dresses up, lots of tuxes and gowns; Christmas dresses and fun Christmas ties, I have to say.

Before the Pops, I gave a pre-party and again, pulled out as many “stops” as I could.

In HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, Adam rents a horse-drawn carriage to take Joy to the concert. It’s only five blocks from the greenhouses to the Civic Auditorium, (true) but the night is romantic and fun. On the way back, Adam finally asks Joy to stay in Indian Lake with him and not go back to New York and her fiancé, Chuck.  Can you guess her answer?  You’ll have to delve into the pages of the book for that. Until then….

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Catherine

Other Books in the Series

About the Author

Catherine Lanigan is the international bestselling and award-winning author of over forty-five published titles in both fiction and non-fiction, including the novelizations of Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile. Ms. Lanigan’s novels have been translated into over twenty-four languages. Lanigan was tasked by the NotMYkid foundation to pen a collection of compelling and informative true stories of teen addicts. Ms. Lanigan’s SHORES OF INDIAN LAKE series for HARLEQUIN HEARTWARMING includes LOVE SHADOWS, HEART’S DESIRE , A FINE YEAR FOR LOVE, KATIA’S PROMISE, FEAR OF FALLING, SOPHIE’S PATH, PROTECTING THE SINGLE MOM, FAMILY OF HIS OWN, HIS BABY DILEMMA, RESCUED BY THE FIREFIGHTER and HERS TO PROTECT (2019).

Ms. Lanigan is a frequent speaker at literary functions and book conventions as well as inspiring audiences with her real stories of angelic intervention from her Angel Tales series of books. She is an outspoken advocate for domestic violence and abuse and was honored by The National Domestic Violence Hotline in Washington, D.C. She has been a guest on numerous radio programs including “Coast to Coast” and on television interview and talk show programs as well as blogs, podcasts and online radio interview programs. She writes a monthly blog for Heartwarmingauthors.blogspot.com.

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Tour Schedule

Tour Giveaway

- One winner will receive a $100 Amazon eGift Card (open internationally)

- Two winners will each receive a signed copy of Home for Christmas with a bookmark (US only)
- Ends November 27, 2019

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Blog Blitz & Giveaway: The Sleuth's Conundrum by Kimberly Rose Johnson

Welcome to the Blog Blitz and Giveaway for The Sleuth's Conundrum by Kimberly Rose Johnson, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

 
Title: The Sleuth's Conundrum
Series: The Librarian Sleuth #3  
Author: Kimberly Rose Johnson
Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink  
Genre: Cozy Mystery  
Release Date: November 1, 2019  

Adam and Tara are sucked into a police investigation that might get Tara killed. Can Adam keep her safe or will he lose her forever?

Tara James, the local librarian assistant, is afraid her past will catch up to her when an infant is abandoned outside the Tipton County Library. Will news of the abandoned baby stir up publicity and force her to go on the run again?

Librarian Nancy Daley’s world has become complicated. Carter is pushing to set a wedding date, a woman was left for dead on the side of the road, and Tara, her assistant, is acting strange. Nancy is working every angle she can think of, but the case goes from bad to bizarre. Can she find the baby’s mother, help Tara, and plan her wedding without upsetting her life’s delicate balance?

Slow news days become a thing of the past for local reporter Adam Stacy when a dead body is discovered on the side of the road. Was the woman murdered or was it an accident? Adam’s feelings are growing for Tara, but she appears to have secrets she’s hiding. Is she somehow connected to the abandoned infant?

When things go from bad to worse Adam does everything in his power to protect Tara, but will it be enough?  

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Award winning author Kimberly Rose Johnson married her college sweetheart and lives in the Pacific Northwest. From a young child Kimberly has been an avid reader. That love of reading fostered a creative mind and led to her passion for writing. She especially loves romance and writes contemporary romance that warms the heart and feeds the soul. Kimberly holds a degree in Behavioral Science from Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington, and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. You can sign up for Kimberly's newsletter via her website at: https://kimberlyrjohnson.com/  

CONNECT WITH KIMBERLY: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | BookBub

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TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a $10 Amazon gift card!

Enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Giveaway will begin at midnight November 11, 2019 and last through 11:59 pm November 18, 2019. Open internationally as long as winner can accept gift card from US Amazon. Void where prohibited by law. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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Review & Giveaway: Maggie's Place by Annette Haws

My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing

Synopsis

Years ago, Mary Margaret Sullivan changed her name, boxed up her previous life, moved into the Eagle Gate Apartments, and hid her painful memories in her chicken-wire storage unit in the basement. But secrets have an inconvenient way of surfacing when least expected.

Three weeks before Christmas, an elegant man in a penthouse, a young woman named Carly—homeless and ill with pneumonia—and two calculating thieves invade Maggie’s carefully reconstructed life, and in different ways, each is connected to Maggie’s difficult past. As Maggie and friends nurse Carly back to health, hearts begin to heal with a hope for the future. But all is not as it seems. When faced with the shocking truth, Maggie must rely on her wits, her friends, and her own strength as never before.

My Review

This book really spoke to my heart and was more than I expected it to be. The writing is gentle yet captivating, and I had a sense of anticipation as secrets are revealed little by little, new relationships begin, and the suspense of impending danger hangs over everything. The story is mainly told from Maggie's perspective and her great-niece Carly, a runaway who finds herself in over her head, with a few enlightening chapters from the point of view of Kristen, Maggie's estranged daughter. The author skillfully shows the individuality and humanity of each of Maggie's neighbors, and how they bring value to each other's lives. I loved how Maggie's closest friends supported her and helped her choose happiness after decades of heartbreak. (Some of their adventures remind me of my mom and her closest female friends who love to travel together and have sessions where they map out life goals and follow up with each other). The theme of friendship is strong, and is woven into Carly's story with her loyalty to her friend Terry who endured with her the cruelty of being an outcast in school and at home and joined her on her misadventure, and her new friendship with Paolo, the diligent security guard of Eagle Gate. Most interesting to me was Kristen's story, how she resented her long-suffering mother and the difficulties and trauma she and her brother endured in their youth. It briefly explored her bitterness and how it prevented healing over the years, even though she has a good life. I loved seeing the support of her husband and his wisdom in discerning what she needs. While the lives of the characters are realistically messy and flawed, there are moments of grace, memories of love, and hope for the future that prevent the hardships from bringing the tone of the book down. I appreciated the sensitivity of the author with the difficult themes of rejection, depression, loneliness, homelessness, suicide, aging, death, and grief. I felt that it brought an awareness to universal struggles that can be countered with kindness, friendship, forgiveness, compassion, and humility. This is a wonderful book that prompts thoughts, insights, and inspires discussion and self-reflection. 

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

Note from author Annette Haws

Maggie’s Place is a contemporary work of fiction set in the Eagle Gate Apartments located at the intersection of State Street and South Temple in the heart of Salt Lake City during the Christmas season. As it is a mystery, a romance, a morality tale, and a Christmas story, the story crosses genre lines, and hopefully, will appeal to a wide audience.  A little information about the story behind the story might be helpful to you.

My favorite aunt lived the last ten years of her life—her happiest years—at the Eagle Gate. During frequent visits, I met her delightful collection of neighbors who were docents at the Church History Museum and the Church Office Building. They regularly attended the Temple, the symphony, concerts at the Tabernacle, and free lectures anywhere they were offered.  They played Scrabble, shared late night pizzas, visited back and forth, made shopping expeditions to Harmon’s and City Creek Mall; and most importantly, they cared for each other. Everyone had a story to share and most had secrets tucked away in the past.  Inspired by what I observed, I sketched this story about people, still vibrant, entering the third act of their lives.

That said, I believe there are no boring people. Behind each face, placid or stern, young or old, there is a story worth telling. At my stage in this journey, all the “what ifs” and the “roads not taken” are as interesting to me as the choices actually made. What would have happened if Maggie’s husband had made different choices? What if she had asked her husband difficult questions earlier? What if her husband had walked away when he realized his business partner was defrauding friends? How difficult would it have been to turn away from affluence and social status? If they’d made different choices, would Maggie and John be sharing a remote or holding hands as the final lights flickered?

Several other issues were circulating in the back of my head as I started to put fingers on the keyboard for the first draft.

Affinity Fraud: a major theme in this book. There are more Ponzi schemes in Utah per capita than any other state in the union. Two-thirds of the population participate in the same religious community, and so the stage is set for people (I won’t call them religious because clearly they’re not) to take advantage of acquaintances under the guise of friendship. 

Homeless adolescents: another theme in the book. “Lost boys” is a term used for young men, thirteen to twenty years of age, who’ve been excommunicated or pressured to leave the polygamous communities on the Utah/Arizona border to reduce the competition for wives. In the past decade, “lost boys” have numbered in the thousands. I also focus on the vulnerability of runaways. There will always be villains who take advantage of homeless kids, and Lemon is cast in the role of Fagin (think Oliver Twist), and it’s no accident his sociopathic cohort is named Bill.  

I don’t pretend to understand the relationship that evolves between an author and her characters, because characters take on a life of their own. Occasionally, I think I might recognize Maggie or Ed if I saw them walking down the street; particularly if they were together. Announcing a favorite character is comparable to declaring a preference for one child over another, but I have to say, Ed is my favorite. He is the personification of redemption. He’s learned the lessons life has taught.   

No one loves a good romance novel more than I do--I grew up on Jane Austen—but I hope your readers will also enjoy this cautionary tale, because at the end  of the day what is more important than love, friendship, and most of all forgiveness?

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Review: A Distance Too Grand by Regina Scott

My rating: 4 stars / I really liked it

Synopsis

Meg Pero has been assisting her photographer father since she was big enough to carry his equipment, so when he dies she is determined to take over his profession--starting with fulfilling the contract he signed to serve on an Army survey of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in 1871. What she doesn't realize is that the leader of the expedition is none other than the man she once refused to marry.

Captain Ben Coleridge would like nothing more than to leave without the woman who broke his heart, but he refuses to wait even one more day to get started. This survey is a screen for another, more personal mission, one he cannot share with any member of his team.

As dangers arise from all sides, including within the survey party, Meg and Ben must work together to stay alive, fulfill their duties, and, just maybe, rekindle a love that neither had completely left behind.

My Review

It took me a bit to adjust to the slower pace of the narrative which is rich with description and historical detail, but once I developed a connection to the characters I enjoyed their journey along the rim of the Grand Canyon. As a photographer I was fascinated by the arduous process Meg went through in order to take a picture. And the thought of being limited to such a small amount of photos! I loved her passion in capturing the expanse to share with the public. She has the determination and grit to succeed in a male-dominated industry, and is willing to take the risks necessary to get the shot.

Ben is an admirable hero who takes his responsibilities seriously. He is protective of Meg while at the same time resenting her earlier rejection. I loved how their friendship rekindled and he grew to trust and confide in her, deepening their relationship beyond what it had previously been. They face mundane tasks and hardships amidst the stunning beauty of the wilderness they are exploring, and the pace of the story picked up significantly as the danger increased. Perfect for readers of historical fiction, especially fans of Karen Barnett, Regina Jennings, and Carla Kelly.

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

Review: A Christmas Haven by Cindy Woodsmall, Erin Woodsmall

My rating: 4 stars / I really liked it

Synopsis

For fans of holiday romances and Amish life comes a new Christmas tale of surprising expectations and discovering miracles.

Old Order Amish Ivy Zook is wrestling with her need to shed her community's ways so she can grow the business of her dreams: planning parties. As long as she's stuck living without modernization, she can barely get her business on its feet. But if she leaves too soon, she'd cause trouble for her sister, Holly, who is planning her wedding to Joshua Smucker. All of their plans become twice as complicated when an old car crashes into the storefront of Greene's Pharmacy, carrying a Swartzentruber (ultra-conservative sect) Amish man, Arlan, and his very ill sister.

The Zooks take in Arlan and Madga, tending to the woman's illness and Arlan begins helping around the family farm. Ivy and Arlan are on different tracks, one wanting to leave her community and the other to return to his. But both young people are trying to discover what God has in store for their futures and what miracles might lie around the corner this Christmas season.

My Review

I loved how this book continued the story of Holly and Joshua from the first book as a subplot! The main character is Holly's sister, Ivy, who is struggling to balance her past and future while she is attempting to make a major life transition. Also in limbo are Arlan and Magda, young adult siblings who are on the run from their family. I was surprised by the differences between the Amish and Swartzentruber Amish and the prejudices each have about the other. I enjoyed that Ivy and Arlan spoke plainly and unapologetically with each other about their disagreements, but still developed a friendship based on mutual respect. It was interesting to see how the more time they spent with each other, the less they disagreed and the more they re-evaluated their priorities and choices. A sweet romance set in a lovely place during a festive time of year!

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

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Don't miss the first book in An Amish Christmas Romance series . . .

Read my 4 star review here

Synopsis

When an Old Order Amish woman takes a job at a small-town pharmacy struggling to survive in a world of "big box" stores, her motive is to help her Plain community. But the advent of the holiday season brings an unusual mystery to the surface--and possibly love.

Twenty-four-year-old Holly Zook lives a unique life for a young Amish woman. Years ago, her bishop allowed her to continue her education and become the lead technician for Greene's Pharmacy, an old-timey drugstore that looks out for the Amish community--a group largely without secure healthcare plans. She knows she can't marry and hold onto her professional job. She's Amish, and she can only have one or the other, so she spurns love and works toward addressing treatable diseases--like the one that claimed her father's life.

As long as Holly continues to avoid Joshua Smucker, the one man who draws her like a warm hearth in winter, she should be fine. When something unexpected threatens Greene's Pharmacy, Holly and Joshua must work together to unravel what's happened and find the "missing" patient before the Board of Pharmacy shuts them down. As the snows of December arrive, with Christmas in the air, will Holly succumb to the generous spirit of the season?

Review: Hereafter by Jody Hedlund

My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing

Synopsis

The third lost princess. The final key to the treasure. And a battle for the throne.

Growing up deep in the forest as a poor charcoal burner’s daughter, Emmeline has always known her identity as a princess of Mercia, and she lives in fear of being caught and killed. When her adopted father returns from town with news regarding the imminence of war, Emmeline has no wish to join the rebellion against King Ethelwulf.

Prince Ethelrex, the strongest warrior in the land, has done everything he can to prove his loyalty to his father, including searching for the last lost princess. When Ethelrex finally captures Emmeline, the king commands his son to marry the princess in order to win the support of the people and undermine the rebellion.

Forced into marriage, Emmeline has one goal—to escape. But Ethelrex takes his marriage vows seriously, including his promise to love and cherish his wife, and has no intention of letting Emmeline get away. As the battle for the throne rages, will the prince be able to win the battle for Emmeline’s heart?

My Review

Epic. I love how this final book finished the series in such an unexpected way! After reading the heroic adventures of her two sisters, I struggled with Emmeline's personality a bit, the way she gives in and doesn't fight tooth and nail or make the sacrifices others think she should. But over time I grew to appreciate her strengths and attributes that helped finally bring peace to the land. The Prince was another unknown personality to get used to, and it was great to see his perspective and learn of his inner turmoil as he seeks with Emmeline for a future void of war. The story played like a movie in my mind with the action and suspense of the dangerous journeys, treacherous maze of tunnels, and vindictive villains, balanced with blossoming romance, reunited sisters, and self-discovery within the two main characters. This is an exciting series that is perfect four young adults and not-as-young adults alike!

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

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Don't miss the previous books in The Lost Princesses series . . .


Prequel Novella

Book One

Book Two