Blog Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway: Downsizing by Lin Stepp

 

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Downsizing by Lin Stepp, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Downsizing
Series: Mountain Home Books #2
Author: Lin Stepp
Publisher: Mountain Hill Press
Release Date: April 1, 2021
Genre: Clean/Sweet Contemporary Romance

Forced to suddenly downsize her life, and not by choice, pushes Mary Pat Latham to give up all that is familiar, to reexamine her life in every area, and to eventually open her heart to new beauty and purpose, instead of only looking back in regret.

At midlife, Mary Pat Latham has an almost perfect life—a successful husband, a beautiful home, four fine grown children, and a wealth of meaningful activities and social clubs to fill her days—so it’s a total shock when her husband walks in one day and says he wants a divorce. As if hearing a stranger talking in her own kitchen, Mary Pat listens to Russell’s reasons for wanting to abandon their long marriage and to his plans, already in place, to sell their home and move on. What will she do? Where will she go? She hasn’t worked since the children were born, her life wrapped up in home and family. Stunned, Mary Pat heads to the small mountain home she and Russell bought from her parents years ago, too shocked and humiliated to face her friends or anyone she knows right now. 

Owen McCarter knew he’d need to stop by the old Jennings place, on some pretense or other, after Wheeler told him he’d seen a woman up there acting sick. After all, the house was next door to his at the end of Highland Drive. When he knocked on the front door later, it took him a minute to recognize Mary Pat, weeping and so different from the girl he’d known in childhood and fallen in love with. Owen reached out in friendship, of course, seeing Mary Pat so upset, but he felt surprised at the old memories that touched him, too. Hearing her problems and learning why she’d come to the mountains, Owen knew it unlikely she’d stay for long after the more lavish life she’d known. But he couldn’t help wishing she would. 

Another Lin Stepp novel set in the Smoky Mountains … with a special “Downsizing Diet” available free to readers as a book supplement.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

 

EXCERPT

The next day after driving her mother to the airport, Mary Pat pulled into the driveway in front of her home and had one of those moments. She stared at the house, the house that had been her home for over twenty years, and wept. She’d been so happy here, raised her children here, shared holidays with her family here. It was going to be very hard to walk away and say goodbye. The house, a beautiful large two-storied white colonial home had crisp black shutters, lush landscaping and a black ornate fountain in front, with a long, green lawn reaching down to the river behind to the boat dock where Russell kept his boat. Or where Russell had kept his boat. He’d moved it somewhere now. …

   While her mother had been here this month, Mary Pat held back a lot of her grief, hating to seem overly emotional and immature. But she knew she had some bad days ahead of her now. Despite how everyone said ‘things were only things’ the things in her home had meaning to her and were filled with the memories of her married life and years raising her children. It would be hard watching all her possessions hauled out of the house. Sold or given away. ….

   Mary Pat expected a lot of crying sweeps over the days to come. And some lonely, lonely times.

   None of the children had come home during this time to be a comfort either. They made excuses as to why, but she knew they were angry about the divorce. They didn’t want to come home; they didn’t want to see her or Russell or the house they’d grown up in that would soon be sold. …

   Taking a deep breath, Mary Pat got out of the car at last. She had a lot to do and precious little time in which to do it. In the kitchen she stopped to read the quote she’d put on the refrigerator door to encourage herself: “Grief comes in two distinct stages. The first is filled with loss, denial, and heartache. But the second is filled with new beginnings and the making of a new life.” She needed to remember that and to look ahead instead of back.

 

MORE BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image credit Katie Riley

Lin Stepp is a New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon best-selling international author, A native Tennessean, businesswoman, and former  faculty member at Tusculum College, Lin has twenty-one published books, including her beloved Smoky Mountain and Mountain Home novels, all set in different Tennessee and North Carolina locations, plus a novella A Smoky Mountain Gift in one of Kensington’s Christmas anthologies.

Stepp’s latest novels, set around the Smoky Mountains, are Downsizing (2021) and Happy Valley (2019). Lin also has three novels set on the South Carolina coast in her Edisto Trilogy: Claire at Edisto (2019), Return to Edisto (2020) and Edisto Song (2021). Lin and her husband J.L. also write regional guidebooks, including a Smoky Mountain hiking guide and two state parks guidebooks for Tennessee and South Carolina.

Lin’s title Claire At Edisto was the 2019 Best Books Award Winner in Fiction: Romance, sponsored by American Book Fest, her novel Welcome Back a finalist in the 2017 Selah Awards, and Lin and her husband’s guidebook Discovering Tennessee State Parks a 2019 Best Books Award Finalist in Nonfiction: Travel Guides with American Book Fest.

Lin enjoys hiking and exploring out of doors and she loves speaking for events, festivals, libraries, and book clubs and sharing about her work and interests through her monthly blog and newsletter, both on her website at: www.linstepp.com

CONNECT WITH LIN: Website | Facebook | Twitter

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TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a Tennesee gift pack including a print copy of Downsizing by Lin Stepp, The Afternoon Hiker and Discovering Tennessee State Parks by J.L. & Lin Stepp, and a Great Smoky Mountains National Park pocket guide!

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight April 5, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on April 12, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

 

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

Review: Before Time Runs Out by Amy Matayo

My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing

Synopsis

Graduate student Bree Sanders is failing the one class she needs to get her degree. So when her professor gives her an ultimatum—ace her dissertation or risk having to repeat her final semester—she knows she has to pull out all the stops. After scrambling for an idea, she decides to create her own Ghost Club, a club that blames ghosts for unsolved crimes, the same type of club originally founded two centuries ago by Charles Dickens.

What she doesn’t expect is to find an original copy of one of Dickens’ early works, or to be transplanted into Dickens’s actual ghost club meeting, circa 1870, the instant she picks it up.

When Bree shows up in nineteenth-century England wearing cut-offs and an old t-shirt, her only option is to hide. The Cambridge of 1870 won’t look kindly on a woman dressed like her. So, when Theodore Keyes finds her tucked behind a bookcase at the Trinity College library and immediately demands to know where she came from, she knows he doesn’t belong here either. Turns out she’s right; the same book caused him to time-travel from 1947 almost three months ago and he’s been stuck in England since.

Together, the two vow to work side-by-side in their search for the lost book that will take them home. But as their feelings for one another deepen, Theo and Bree are caught between a desire to return to the lives they each left behind, and the knowledge that if they find the book, they won’t be able to leave together.

In the end, they each must decide which sacrifice is worth making—the one that will cost them their hearts, or the one that could cost them their very existence.

My Review

I'm not a fan of time travel stories, but when it's a favorite author I make exceptions, and I'm so glad I did! I think the biggest reason this worked for me is that Bree and Theo are both from the future- albeit different futures. The premise is fascinating, and I loved learning fun tidbits about Dickens and the era. The technicalities of the time travel were left vague, and the focus was more on the characters and what they are facing in their lives- the lives they just left and the current ones in Victorian England. Bree's voice is definitely modern young adult, but her sometimes shallow persona is offset by the deep grief she feels for her lost brother as well as her love for classic literature. Theo's history is a painful one as well, having recently served as a medic in WWII and struggling to feel joy in daily living. I loved the way they surprise each other with their differences due to living in different time periods, but they also connect in important ways. The story has a good pace and I was eagerly reading to see how the plot and their relationship would come to a resolution. I'm excited that the author will be writing more books in this new series! 

Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.

Movie Trailer Spotlight & Giveaway: Mission Stories

New Major Motion Picture, MISSION STORIES, Launches Ambitious New Media Franchise

-Trailer Debuts Wednesday, April 7 & Film Opens Exclusively in Theaters on Friday, May 7-

Salt Lake City – Excel Entertainment announced today the creation of a new media franchise, MISSION STORIES, focused entirely on telling stories of missionaries for The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints. The franchise launches with the theatrical release of MISSION STORIES, a moving retelling of three true stories of missionary work. The theatrical trailer for the film debuts on Wednesday, April 7 at missionstories.com and the feature film opens exclusively in theaters on Friday, May 7 distributed jointly with Purdie Distriution.

Assembled as an anthology of three stories told over four chapters, the project was created by the filmmaking team of Bryce Clark (writer, producer, director), Jason Allred (producer), Crystal Myler (writer) and Arthur Van Wagenen (executive producer) after meeting with a full room of former mission presidents and their companions. “We heard so many incredible stories -- story after story of events that cannot be simply coincidences,” explained Bryce Clark. “Every story shows that God has his hand in the work and people’s lives are being transformed and saved through this work.” 

“People assume they know what a “mission story” depicted on the big screen will be like,” said Arthur Van Wagenen. “Our goal in this film and the entire MISSION STORIES franchise is to tell stories from not just the perspective of missionaries, but from the perspective of people who make the radical choice to become disciples of Jesus Christ.”

The film tells three true stories, including “Hermanos” that focuses on a father overcoming a crisis of faith so that he can baptize his family. “Chuck” tells the story of a man questioning whether God truly loves him and learning to see himself as God does. Finally, “Full Circle” is told in the opening and closing chapters of the film, and shows that the power of faith applied over years or even decades can ultimately bear fruit in overcoming spiritual issues as serious as depression and addiction. 

“’Full Circle’ is an especially personal story for me because a character is based on me and the culmination of this story played out as we were developing this project,” explained Clark. “When people watch the film they’ll see when people struggle the Lord never gives up on them, and how the faith of others can help rescue them. I hope sharing this story may inspire others who are facing similar challenges.”  

“The MISSION STORIES film is only the first step in creating a full Mission Stories brand and media franchise,” said Van Wagenen. “We are creating an avenue where people can submit their own mission stories which can be shared with the world to help increase people’s faith and sense of worth.”

Going forward, Mission Stories will become an incubator for up-and-coming writers and directors who will continue to tell these important stories for years to come.” 

 

MISSION STORIES WEBSITE  

 

GIVEAWAY

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Blog Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway: Shielding the Amish Witness by Mary Alford

 

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Shielding the Amish Witness by Mary Alford, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Shielding the Amish Witness
Author: USA TODAY Bestselling Author Mary Alford
Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense
Release Date: April 1, 2021
Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense

Seeking refuge in Amish country puts everyone she loves in danger. 

On the run after discovering her brother-in-law was behind her husband’s murder, Faith Cooper can think of only one safe place—her Amish grandmother’s home. But when danger follows Faith to the quiet Amish community, her childhood friend Eli Shetler is her only protection. And their survival depends on outlasting a relentless killer…one who has nothing left to lose. 

From Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.

 

 

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound | Christianbook | BookBub

EXCERPT

“Run!” Eli yelled and grabbed her hand. They raced toward their closing window of freedom while Faith struggled to keep fighting against the insurmountable odds facing them. She and Eli had survived some of the worst situations of their lives, yet they were nowhere close to being finished.

Gott, please, help us. We can’t keep going like this.

Eli didn’t waste time once they were inside the buggy. “Go, mare!” Eli slapped the reins hard, and the horse jolted forward, heading back the way they’d come. There was just enough time to duck before bullets shattered the back window, flew through space, and lodged in the buggy near where they were crouching.

 

ALSO AVAILABLE

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

USA Today Bestselling Author, Mary Alford, loves giving her readers the unexpected, whether it be in a rugged mountain setting or a peaceful Amish community.

Her titles have appeared on the USA Today Bestselling List, Publisher’s Weekly Bestselling List, and have been finalists in the Daphne Du Maurier award of excellence, The Beverly, The Maggie, and The Selah Awards. 

Mary lives in Texas with her husband, two very spoiled cats, and a sweet rescue dog named Cody. Mary is very active online and would love to connect with readers on Facebook and Twitter or any social platforms listed at www.maryalford.net. 

CONNECT WITH MARY: Website | Facebook | Twitter

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TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a $40 Amazon gift card and winner's choice of print or ebook copy of Shielding the Amish Witness!

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight April 5, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on April 12, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.