inspirational romance

Annoying or Divine? You choose…

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. I just wrapped up my Christmas novella, Christmas in the Rink, and behold! Edits for two other books, Beck’s Peace and Burk’s Surrender, arrived in my inbox within seconds of each other. 


I expected Beck’s Peace, but I was rather surprised to receive both books. Since I’m fairly single-minded, I don’t usually bounce back and forth between books, especially when they feature identical twin heroes, Beck and Burk. Hello! Anybody see a problem here? Although these twin heroes, polar opposites, were so much fun to write, it was torture keeping them straight. I was afraid that somewhere along the way Burk would end up romancing Beck’s heroine or vice versa.

Typically, I stop whatever I’m working on to dig into edits, but last weekend, we expected our house to be bursting-at-the-seams with family. My parents were coming, and it was the last opportunity to visit with them before they made the trek back to AK for the summer. Also, several of  our male family members were excited about heading to the NASCAR race in Martinsville, and our house made the perfect landing spot for all.

So what to do? Clean and shop for a full house or work on edits for two books?

For me, the decision wasn’t too hard. Family takes precedence, and I had ten days to turn in the edits. But what if I was backed up against a tight deadline and losing a couple days in my schedule really mattered? 

Well, don’t you know that very same weekend our awesome pastor preached on…divine interruptions. Kinda timely, don’t you think? I won’t go into details of the message, but later that week God really hammered me with this particular passage (and it wasn’t even part of the sermon!). 

Do I consider the interruptions in my daily work schedule as God-appointed? Or am I more exasperated that I’m not reaching my word count goal? Ouch.


Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying schedules and daily goals are a bad thing. After all, God prefers organization over chaos. (1 Cor 14:33) But, since God sees the big forever picture, His plans for my day might be a bit different than mine, and if I’m praying for God to direct my path, shouldn’t I be open to the opportunities he plants in front of me? 

You know how amazing God is? He stretched my time as only He can do, allowing me to accomplish all the tasks, and my editor received the edits way ahead of schedule.

What about you? Do you tend to get frustrated or annoyed with interruptions? Or do you treat them as the divine encounters they might be?

God, help me to acknowledge that You order my day, not me, and to recognize these interruptions as divine appointments. Fill me with Your joy, and allow me to be a beacon for You.

A December Wedding by Denise Hunter ~ Sharing My Review

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments
Purchase Link~
DeeperShopping.com

About the book~

What started as a whim turned into an accidental — and very public — engagement. Can Layla and Seth keep up the façade in Chapel Springs this holiday season – for the sake of her career . . . and his heart? Under normal circumstances, Seth Murphy — the best friend of Layla O’Reilly’s ex-fiancé — would be the last person she’d marry. But the news of their upcoming (and phony) nuptials convinces a big client that Layla may be high-society enough to work for his agency — a coup that would put her fledgling home-staging business on the map. Seth has secretly loved Layla for years, even when she was dating his best friend. Maybe she’ll never forgive him for the way he hurt her back then, but he has to try. And Layla is willing to keep up their engagement farce until she’s landed her client. For Layla, it’s the chance to save her career. But for Seth, it’s his last chance to win her heart.

Sharing My Review~
A December Bride draws you into Layla’s predicament right from the first page. Layla’s friendly date cancels on her at the last moment, and she’s determined to find another one, pronto. After all, the wedding she’s attending should have been hers, but the groom’s marrying her cousin instead. Seth Murphy offers to take her, and while she hasn’t forgiven Jack’s buddy for his role in their breakup, she’s not about to miss the wedding and the chance to show her ex-fiance that she’s so over him.

I just love a hero who’s loved the heroine for a very long time, but the circumstances kept them apart, and Seth fills the hero role to perfection. He should have asked Layla out first, but Jack beat him to it. Now that Jack’s married, this is Seth’s chance, but he almost blows it. 

Layla set the white votive inside the Mason jar and slid it down the table to Murphy.

He caught the jar and cut a length of twine. “I swear they’re going to revoke my man card.”

Layla scooped sugar into the next jar and arranged red berries around the votive. “You own a hardware store; I think your manhood is intact.”

He scowled. “I’m tying bows on glass knickknacks. Don’t you need some wood chopped or something?”

“What I need is thirty of these to line the walkway, so butch up and tie the bow.”

Cute, adorable sparring keeps the dialog moving along at a face pace, and A December Bride packs just enough heat to make me reach for the air conditioner switch in the middle of winter. Denise Hunter is now on my must-read list, and A December Bride could slide very easily onto your bookshelf any time of the year!

Disclaimer: Sending a big thank you to Zondervan  Fiction and NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reviewing this book. I received a free copy of A December Bride in exchange for my fair and unbiased review. This opinion is my own, and I received no compensation.

Have you read FIVE DAYS IN SKYE by Carla Laureano?

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments
Five Days in Skye

About the book~
Hospitality consultant Andrea Sullivan has one last chance to snag a high-profile client or she’ll have to kiss her dreams of promotion good-bye. When she’s sent to meet Scottish celebrity chef James MacDonald on the Isle of Skye, she just wants to finish her work as efficiently as possible. Yet her client is not the opportunistic womanizer he portrays himself to be, and her attraction to him soon dredges up memories she’d rather leave buried. For James, renovating the family hotel is a fulfillment of his late father’s dreams. When his hired consultant turns out to be beautiful, intelligent, and completely unimpressed by his public persona, he makes it his mission to win her over. He just never expects to fall under her spell.

Soon, both Andrea and James must face the reality that God may have a far different purpose for their lives—and that five days in Skye will forever change their outlook on life and love.


Meet the cast~

“I like men. I just don’t particularly trust them.” 
Meet Andrea Sullivan. After a disastrous marriage straight out of college, Andrea abandons her dream of playing in a symphony and strives to become Vice President of a hospitality consultant firm, ignoring the hurtful zingers from the men she works with about her personal life. She’s a workaholic with a strong closing ratio, and that coveted VP designation is right around the next contract.

Until she runs across celebrity Chef James MacDonald, who’s flirty and fun. His smile ignites her dormant excitement about life, but he’s too much like her ex-husband to stand a fighting chance to claim her heart. Besides, he’s fighting his own demons from the past. After a devastating breakup with his ex-fiance, he’s determined not to become emotionally entangled again. It doesn’t help that Andrea’s equally determined not to be just a pretty girl on his arm.

Sharing my thoughts~
OK. Here’s where I confess that I’m not particularly enamored with either the cover or the title, so this book sat unopened in my kindle for at least a month. But, when I read the first few pages and they totally reeled me in, I was hooked! What a playful, engaging book! I loved it, from the cast of characters to feeling like I was actually touring Scotland, if only in the pages of a book. 

I mean, really. What’s not to like about this?

“The entire Sound of Sleat spread out in front of them, a wide expanse of blue. Gentle waves lapped at the rocky beach below, creating lacy ripples of white froth against the dark sand. Across, she could see the mountainous edge of the Scottish mainland. The sun had finally risen, and now the sky was a brilliant blue, dotted with fluffy white clouds.”

Don’t you just want to dive into the pages of this book? Or book a trip to Scotland? Yeah, I know. I hear ya. If I like that excerpt, why don’t I like the cover? For some reason (lack of people maybe?) the cover doesn’t work for me. This is a prime example of why I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but that’s such a challenge for me.


If you know me, you know I love “happily-ever-after’s.” Like the title implies, this book covered just five days, so there wasn’t what I’d call a “proper” HEA, but the ending definitely left me satisfied. No spoilers from me. You’ll just have to read the book. Those Five Days in Skye are jam-packed with character depth, emotions and setting. 

Reviewers have noted that Five Days in Skye isn’t your typical Christian romance. Some readers might not appreciate particular topics like drinking wine/ale with meals, which I considered to be more of a cultural difference. It’s also rated high on the kissing intensity scale, yet I found the scenes well-balanced with emotional tenderness and never graphic. I appreciate how the author showed realistic characters and tackled sensitive issues like this:

“Christians like to talk about love and forgiveness, but they’re no better than anyone else. They’d sooner judge you than accept you. I’d rather be a heathen than a hypocrite.”

Ouch.

Have you read Five Days in Skye? 

Do you agree with my review? What were your thoughts?
What about you? Do you decide whether to read a book based on whether you like its cover?

Purchase Link

Disclaimer: I scooped this book up from Amazon when it was offered free. The opinions expressed in this review are my own, and I received no monetary compensation.

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