Journey’s End

Review for Awakening by JoAnn Durgin

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments

GEAR UP FOR AN EXPEDITION with Awakening by JoAnn Durgin. 

A God-fearing man. A God-seeking woman. For Sam Lewis and Lexa Clarke, it proves a combustible combination.
Lexa Clarke signs up for a TeamWork Missions summer assignment expecting adventure in a far-off, exotic country. Instead, she’s sent to sweltering San Antonio to help rebuild homes destroyed by sudden flooding. She survives the four-hour bus trip from Houston, dust in the lungs, a flat tire, a tool-throwing incident and a spitting goat–not to mention an inquisition from a distractingly handsome cowboy–all before reaching the work camp.
TeamWork director Sam Lewis isn’t sure what to think of his newest volunteer. She’s feisty, witty, and incredibly pretty, but looks more prepared to board a cruise ship than build houses. Burned by a past betrayal, he’s got a job to do, a reputation to uphold. Sam can’t afford to be distracted by a woman who attracts animals, defies his rules, finds trouble at every turn and questions God’s purpose. But when she tumbles from the top beam of one of the houses into his arms, Sam suspects his life will never be the same.
During their weeks together in the TeamWork camp, Sam and Lexa learn the power of forgiveness and healing. Enduring a chain of incidents which challenge their faith, trust and growing relationship, they look to the Lord for guidance as together they discover a love greater than either could ever imagine. At the end of the eight-week work camp, Sam is committed to a year-long, dangerous overseas mission for TeamWork. Can Lexa trust the Lord enough to let him go? Will Sam safely return and keep his promise to meet her at the Alamo?
You’ll keep turning the pages of this sweeping romantic adventure. With great characters, plenty of humor, enough emotion to make you shed a tear or two, and an ending that’ll have you cheering, Awakening will leave you breathless. Hold on tight. The adventures of Lewis and Clarke have only just begun!

My Review:
Featuring feisty Lexa Clarke and once-burned Sam Lewis, Ms. Durgin takes you on an incredible expedition of love and healing in Awakening.


Assigned to a TeamWork Missions summer project in San Antonio, Lexa overcomes emotional barriers from her past while Sam wrestles with forgiveness issues. Ms. Durgin loads the book with humor, ramped up sexual tension, action, and sweet romance. I found the characters to be true to life, charming and witty, with real and emotional struggles, taking a turn rather unexpected at times. Ms. Durgin doesn’t come across as preachy; rather, she gently weaves Christian themes throughout the course of Sam and Lexa’s journey.


Set aside a few hours to read Awakening because once you get started, you won’t want to stop. What a great read by this debut author. She’s now on my must-read list.
(Review based on my purchase of the book.)






Second Time Around 
releases 
September 15. 
Isn’t this cover gorgeous? 

Walking through Fire?

/ Dora Hiers / 4 Comments
Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, 
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord, your God, 
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead. 
Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you…
(Isaiah 43:1b-4a NIV)

Are you sinking in the cold water of pain? Is it swirling around your chest, suffocating, pressing, closing in?


What about the fire of anxiety and trouble? 
Are the hot flames leaping closer, sizzling, smoking, threatening to devour you in their intensity?
Do the troubles of life consume you? 
Too much to handle? Too emotionally painful?

As a 40+ year survivor of a significant burn injury, I know not to take this passage literally.
God never promises a peaceful, painless journey through life. Actually, He warns that we’ll experience trouble and heartbreak along the road.

But He vows to never leave you, never give up on you. 
He promises to carry you through the water and the fire.
Why? Because He loves you.

Through more surgeries than I can remember. Countless skin graphs. Extended hospital stays. Self-esteem issues. Pain.
God has carried me through this journey. He’s never left me. 
I trust Him.
What about you? 
Will you trust Him?

Plotter or Pantser?

/ Dora Hiers / 1 Comment
Which side are you on?

You’re a plotter if:
You like the idea of using a “roadmap” and find your rhythm by organizing your thoughts and notes prior to any actual writing.
You type out a rough outline and think through any plot twists ahead of time.
You’ve logged hours and hours in your hero and heroine’s heads, with fully developed character charts, so you know they’ll follow the path you’ve forged for them and why.
You’ve written a detailed, chapter-by-chapter synopsis before you start the book, so you know where your book is going, and how it will end.
You plan. You plot.

You’re a pantser if:
You sit down in front of your laptop and just start typing, with just a few rough ideas for either characters or story floating around in your head.
You love the freedom of allowing the characters to write their own story.
You don’t care that the story you end up with is not necessarily the same as the idea you started with. If it’s a great story, why should you?
You write by the “seat of your pants.” 

Which one are you? 
A plotter or a pantser?
Or are you somewhere in the middle?

Me? 
I’m organized to the point of dividing my shopping list by aisles in the grocery store, like frozen foods, canned goods, produce, etc. 
I eat the same thing for breakfast every morning. I go to bed at the same time every night. My hubby will tell you that I really don’t like surprises. 
So what do you think I am?
Ahhh! You’d be wrong.
I’m a pantser!

Where do you fall on the scale?