A Mother's Gift

A Mother’s Gift

by Charlotte Hubbard

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GENRE:  Inspirational Romance (Amish)

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BLURB:

For Leah Otto, marrying Jude Shetler is a long-held dream come true. As a young girl, she was captivated by his good looks and talent as an auctioneer. When Jude, now a widower with three children, begins to court her, Leah doesn’t hesitate. Other men may not appreciate her tomboy ways, but Jude values Leah’s practical nature and her skill with the animals she tends, and both enter the marriage with joy and optimism.

Three months later, Leah feels as if her world is coming down around her. Her twin teenage step-daughters, Alice and Adeline, are pushing boundaries and taking far too many risks, while five-year-old Stevie deeply misses his mother. Leah, more at ease in a barn tending her goats and chickens than in a kitchen, struggles with her housekeeping duties.

Then a baby is abandoned on their doorstep, and Leah must search her soul. Caring for little Betsy fills her with renewed purpose and the strength to begin pulling her family together. With Jude’s steadfast support, Leah finds that what she once thought of as a happy ending may be something even better—the beginning of a life rich in love, faith, and unexpected blessings.

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EXCERPT:

Jeremiah Shetler leaned his elbows on his kitchen table, gazing earnestly at his younger brother—who, at thirty-three, was surely old enough to know better about what he was getting into. “Last chance to see reason, Jude,” he stated bluntly. “If you go through with this wedding tomorrow, you’ll be signing on for a lifetime of sorrow and regret.”

Jude’s dark eyes flashed with resentment. “Sounds more like my marriage to Frieda—God rest her soul,” he added quickly. “Why can’t you let me find my happiness with a woman who won’t keep secrets? A woman who adores me and makes me laugh?”

“Leah’s a nice girl, jah,” Jeremiah said with a shake of his head, “but she’s clueless about such basic activities as putting a gut meal on the table—”

“Why are you telling me this?” Jude demanded.

Jeremiah exhaled forcefully. He’d never understood what Jude saw in Leah. He could only assume that his widowed brother was so desperate for affection and companionship that he was willing to settle for a woman who’d never progressed beyond being the tomboy daughter Raymond and Lenore Otto hadn’t taught much about a wife’s responsibilities.

“Have you ever eaten a meal Leah cooked?” he challenged. “Vernon Gingerich has told me that any time he’s visited the Otto home, Lenore’s been bustling around in the kitchen and Leah’s been in the front room chatting with him and her dat. And at our family dinners these past months, Leah’s cleaned up the dishes, but I’ve not seen any signs that she knows how to operate a stove.”

“Lenore does the cooking when Vernon visits because he’s her bishop, and she enjoys cooking for a man now that Raymond’s gone,” Jude explained impatiently. He raked his hand through his disheveled dark waves, glancing downward with an anguished sigh. “Come on, man. You know how it is to lose a wife—and you don’t even have kids to look after. Doesn’t the loneliness—the need for adult conversation—eat you alive at times?”

Jeremiah looked away, his heart pierced by the blatant reminder of Priscilla’s absence. After three years of living without her, he did indeed know how the silence of nights alone clawed at a man’s heart like a relentless beast. But he needed to pursue his present purpose before Jude made the biggest mistake of his life.

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A Word From the Author

What would we find under your bed?

            Dust bunnies. Big, fluffy dust bunnies that get all excited when my Border collie, Vera, sends her ball flying under the bed and I have to get down on my stomach to knock it out with a yardstick. Now there’s a picture for you!

Do you listen to music while writing? If so what?

            I do—and the kind of music/playlist varies with what I’m writing. It’s always instrumental, because I can’t write while someone else’s words are playing. As I work on these interview questions, my playlist includes classical pieces that shuffle with New Age songs. When I’m working on a book, I tend to run my playlist of hymn tunes played on all sorts of instruments—or, when I was recently working on A SIMPLE CHRISTMAS, I listened to the Christmas playlist. Lori Line, Mary Beth Carlson, and Dreamcatcher are among my most listened-to artists.

What is something you'd like to accomplish in your writing career next year?

            In 2019 I’ll be writing books 5 and 6 of the Promise Lodge series—and it’ll be time to negotiate a new contract with my publisher. My editor tends to favor series that don’t go beyond 6 or 7 books, so we might conjure up a new Amish series. OR, if the Amish story market seems to be declining by that time, we may go a different direction! I’m amazed that these Amish books have remained popular for so long in a market where hundreds of authors are publishing them (either with a publisher, as I do, or self-publishing them online).

How long did it take you to write this book?

            I wrote A MOTHER’S GIFT in about four months, give or take some time for revising. My books are all the same length/word count, so I allow the same amount of time for each one—but now that my husband’s retired, I also allow for more travel time when I won’t be writing. I know my readers would like me to write MORE books, faster, but my mind and body need time away from the computer. Life’s too short and too wonderful to spend every waking moment staring at a computer monitor!

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Charlotte Hubbard is the acclaimed author of Amish romance and fiction that evokes simpler times and draws upon her experiences in Jamesport, the largest Old Order Amish community west of the Mississippi. Faith and family, farming, and food preservation are hallmarks of her lifestyle—and the foundation of all her novels. A deacon, dedicated church musician and choir member, she loves to travel, read, try new recipes, and crochet. A longtime Missourian, Charlotte now lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her husband and their border collie, Vera. Please visit Charlotte online at www.CharlotteHubbard.com.

CharlotteHubbard.com

Facebook: Facebook    www.Facebook.com/Charlotte.Hubbard1

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Order Print

Kensington Bouquet

March 27, 2018

ISBN-13: 9781496712189

ISBN-10: 1496712188

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Marvelous Are Thy Works

#marvalousarethyworks

 Marvelous Are Thy Works

Author: Meiah Shaun

Paperback: 120 pages

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (July 12, 2014)

ISBN-10: 1500398039 ISBN-13: 978-1500398033

Genre: Inspirational, Christian Fiction, Novella

About The Author

Meiah Shaun is an inspirational author and freelance writer. She is a graduate of LeTourneau University. She is a native of Orange, Texas and currently resides in Plano, Texas. Meiah Shaun is the author of Marvelous Are Thy Works, a novella. Meiah Shaun has a special interest in empowering African American women to self love and to embrace their natural hair. She and her twin sister rock Sisterlocks. Her fraternal twin sister is thirteen minutes older than her.

Meiah Shaun is featured on Ezinearticles.com as a platinum level author penning articles on numerous topics such as inspirational, spirituality, goal setting to shopping and product reviews. Meiah Shaun enjoys writing, reading, cooking, jazz music and making scrapbooks.

About The Book

Fatima, her best friend Lauryn and her cousin Sheba are natural hair stylist at All Natural Hair Salon in Washington, DC. Fatima wants to build a brand and invest into other business ventures for their salon. She desires to empower African American women by motivational speaking about the natural hair movement. She wants to travel nationally to spread her message. Lauryn and Sheba have rejected Fatima’s business proposal. They are going through different life events and are struggling to maintain their friendships while doing business together. Fatima’s boyfriend has not proposed after dating her for over five years. Fatima has to stand on her faith and follow her instincts as she moves into her destiny. Marvelous Are Thy Works is an inspirational story about natural hair empowerment, self love and relationships.

Chapter 1

All Natural Hair Salon’s busiest time was the first weekend of the month. Fatima made it to the salon at ten o’clock that morning. After parking her car in front of the salon, she noticed Lauryn and Sheba were already inside. The front window shades were pulled back and the lights were on.

“Good morning, ladies,” Fatima said as she walked through the door. “Good morning, Fatima,” Lauryn answered, while sashaying to her workstation in her high heels and locs pulled back into a lobster tail style. Always the diva, Lauryn appeared to be in a good mood and eager to work.

“Hey, girl, you finally made it in,” Sheba said as she sorted through her laundry bag of towels. Her hair was loose in a kinky and curly twist-out hairstyle. She was dressed comfortably in white skinny jeans.

“Are there any messages for me?” Fatima asked. “A young lady called to make an appointment. She requested a low maintenance hairstyle.” “What time did she call?” Fatima inquired. “She called a few minutes before you walked in,” Lauryn replied. “She said her name was Danielle Evans.”

“Did she leave her phone number?” “I put it on your desk,” she said. Fatima continued to her station so she could check her itinerary for the day. It was unusually free. “I’ll just work a half day and meet up with my honey later,” she told her co-workers.

Fatima then sat in her chair and started daydreaming about the day she would become Mrs. Ephraim Okoye. She could not wait to see him. “Ladies, what are your plans today?” Fatima questioned. “I have a couple of appointments for locs retightening, and I got a new client scheduled this morning. He’s a chef and new in town.” Lauryn smirked while doing a shimmy with her shoulders to show her excitement.

“A new male client? Girl, you be pullin’ the men,” teased Sheba. “I need to pull a husband.”

“Baby, I met my husband when I wasn’t even lookin’. I was minding my own business down at the Farmer’s Market and––”

Lauryn rolled her eyes. “Sheba, you’ve told that story so many times,” she said, cutting Sheba off and looking down at her iPad to show her disinterest in hearing it again. Sheba walked over to Lauryn and tapped her on the knee with her forefinger. “When you least expect it, that’s when you’re gonna meet him. It happened to me, girl!”

“I wish God would hurry up and send him!” Lauryn snipped. “Most married people forget what it’s like to be single, so it’s easy for them to tell someone else to be patient.” “That’s not true,” Sheba replied.

Fatima butted in. “Some women who are married have never had to experience being single for long.”

“Don’t you just hate that, girl?” Lauryn said. “Then they try to tell you to wait and have faith. Chile, please!”

Social Links

Tour hosted by: WNL Book Tours

Author Tour Schedule

Six Sentence Sunday

I hope some of you won't be disappointed.  Several people have wanted to read more from The Welcome Inn, and I promise we'll get back to it soon, but today I want to let you sample my new release The Sentence.  Here's a blurb about the book.

Has her father totally lost his mind?  How could he bring the man who burned the church into their home for six months?  Yeah, it was an accident and her dad’s a minister, but if he wanted to help Clint Hayes, why didn’t he go to the prison to do it?  And no matter what her friend Christina says, she doesn’t watch Clint every single moment they’re together!

 In this excerpt, Reverend Amos has just told my hero Clint how a man is supposed to behave on a date.

Clint looked at him as if he had sprouted angel wings on his shoulders. “You don’t have to worry. Rachel doesn’t want to kiss me or hold my hand. She doesn’t even like me.”

Reverend Amos smiled at him. “She may change her mind if you have a good time at the concert.”

If you'd like to read more check out yesterday's Sweet Saturday Sample.  Also, you might want to look at what Rachel wore on her date with Clint.  That was posted on Friday.  The Sentence is available at http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=10046831

Six Sentence Sunday

Hi.  Welcome to my blog.  Today's six come from my soon to be released novel The Sentence.  In this excerpt my heroine tries once more to deny her attraction to my hero.

Attracted?  Rachel Amos attracted to a…a… drunken….nobody?  Rachel had to remind herself to breathe.    It probably wasn’t a real attraction.  She didn’t know anyone like him so she was curious about him.  That’s all it was. 

Mr. Shipley's Governess

Readers, please help me welcome Joanne Troppello to the blog. Joanne is going to share a guest blog as well as her biography and an excerpt from her new book. Joanne, take it away!

Bio:
I am an author and a freelance writer / marketing consultant, located in Pennsylvania. I have two books published. Shadowed Remembrances is a mystery novel and Mr. Shipley's Governess is an inspirational romance novel, published through Wild Horse Press. I am contracted to work for several different companies, to write non-fiction, how-to articles each week. I also work as a freelance marketing consultant for a local medical organization and I manage facebook and twitter accounts for different clients. I love to write and read and spend time with my family. For more info, visit my website: http://www.joannetroppello.weebly.com

Blog:
Be Persistent and Don’t Give Up!

Back in the summer, my husband and I had a pesky little groundhog invading our vegetable garden. Actually, he wasn’t such a little critter; he was pretty fat and I didn’t think he needed to eat our tomatoes. Now, I love animals, don’t get me wrong, but I love my tomatoes and other veggies more. But, I do have to give our furry friend some credit because he’d been persistent and didn’t seem to want to give up.

We have two 8 x 8 raised garden beds and my husband did a great job of setting this garden up and putting wire fencing on the ground underneath the garden beds; he also put 3’ high rabbit fencing all around the garden. We’ve had this garden for two years now and haven’t had much trouble with animals until now. Last year the groundhog was around, but he wasn’t so brazen.

During the end of the summer, the groundhog started coming around and nibbled on some tomatoes that had overgrown the fencing. Yes, we do have to do some reorganizing next year and plant the Juliet and Grape tomatoes further from the fencing. So, I do understand how our friend came along to eat some tomatoes growing through the fence. But, while I finished up on work one day, my husband called me into the kitchen as he looked out the window and we saw the groundhog literally sitting like a king on top of the wooden gate posts, leaning on the tomato cages eating as if he owned the place. Of course, I charged out on to our deck, with my husband chuckling in the kitchen, as I tried to scare the groundhog away. As he’s done before, he made his way around the other side of the garden and hid there in front of his hole under the fence of the property line, as if he thought I didn’t see him. Yes, I yelled at him again to get away. By the way, we live in a townhouse community and by now after these escapades with me coming out to scare our friendly critter away, they probably think I’m crazy. Maybe that’s why my husband isn’t coming out; either that or I’m providing entertainment for him.

Anyway, the groundhog dutifully went into his hole under the fence until the next day when he brazenly came back to our garden to feast. Thinking about this groundhog made me realize that as authors, we need to be just as tenacious and consistent in our search to reach our goals in writing great stories and marketing our work. Even if we have editors getting back to us saying our work is not good enough, we need to take the good with the bad and keep going. Of course, if their criticisms are legitimate, we should heed them and make corrections. We need to be determined like the groundhog and never give up until we reach our goals and find the publishers we are looking for.

When it comes to marketing, we must keep working at it even when it seems like we are the only author, drowning in a sea of other authors and don’t feel like our efforts are making a difference. If we give up, then we won’t be making a difference in our success. However, every step we take in the right direction, even if it’s only baby steps in writing and marketing, is going to make a difference. Whenever we feel like giving up, let’s remember my furry friend, Mr. Groundhog, and keep hanging on. Success is just around the corner.

Latest Release:
Mr. Shipley's Governess
By: Joanne Troppello
Purchase Link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-mrshipleysgoverness-481158-149.html

Summary: Sophie Baird is looking for a way to escape the painful reality of her parents' deaths. Unable to live in their home any longer, she takes a job as a live-in tutor to Anastasia Shipley to remove herself from her painful memories and the feeling that God has abandoned her.

Anastasia has an illness that has prevented her from ever attending school and makes her father, Sebastian, over protective.

When Sophie first meets Sebastian, she cannot deny the intense attraction she feels toward him. When an unexpected romance begins between them, she starts to rebuild her relationship with God, with the help of a certain little girl.

Excerpt:
Later that afternoon Sophie found herself blindfolded by Sebastian and he led her through the house towards the front door. He kidnapped her from a lazy afternoon of reading in the parlor. His words kept her guessing. “Can you get bundled up? I want to show you something outside.”
“Where are we going?” She heard him open the front door.
“I have a surprise for you.” He held her hand. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes, at least I think I do.” She smiled.
“You have a beautiful smile.”
“Thank you. So where are we headed?”
“I’m going to hold your hand and guide you down the driveway towards the sidewalk. Ready?”
“I guess so.” She held tightly to his hand.
He stopped walking. “Let me try a different tactic here.” He put his arm around Sophie. “I think I can guide you better this way and maybe get back some of the circulation in my hand.”
“Sorry. It’s not every day I’m abducted and forced to walk blindfolded.”
They walked for a few moments in silence. “It’s so beautiful out here. Do you feel the snow flurries?”
She held out her hands and nodded.
“I think it’s better if you stick your tongue out.”
She joked back. “Aren’t you fresh? Are we there yet?”
“You’re as bad as my daughter.”
“Speaking of Anastasia, where is she?”
“I begged my father to keep her occupied for a few hours.”
“What are we going to do for a few hours?”
“I can think of many things.” She heard the devilish tone to his voice.
She turned her head towards him. “You know, I’m beginning to think that deep down, men are adolescents at heart.”
“I think you’re right.” He guided her to the left. “Okay, we’re here, but he isn’t.”
“Can I take this blindfold off?”
“Not yet. Oh, there he is. Can you cover your ears?”
“What?” She felt Sebastian’s gloved hands cover her ears for a minute.
Finally, he removed the blindfold.
She opened her eyes and saw a horse drawn carriage in front of her. She turned to Sebastian. “After you, milady.” The driver stepped down and helped her step up into the carriage. She shook her head, feeling as if she dreamt this.
“So what do you think of part two of your Christmas present?”
She hesitated in responding. “That maybe it’s a little bit inappropriate from my employer.”
“Well, that may be so, but I’m also your friend and--”
“Are you ready, Mr. Shipley?”
“Yes, we are.”
“So you were saying--”
“That I’m your friend and I hope you might classify me as your special friend.” He pulled a red velvet blanket up over their laps and reached over to hold her gloved hand. “So, how do I measure up?”
“Oh, you classify.”
He put his arm around her shoulder and she snuggled close to him, enjoying the secure feeling of his nearness. She rested that way throughout the entire carriage ride and they both remained silent for the majority of it. Sebastian opened the door to romance a crack and invited her to squeeze in. She knew he only offered her an appetizer right now, but she believed he wanted her to stay for the main course and Sophie felt up to the challenge of getting to know this intricate and delightful man.


Joanne, thank you so much for coming. Your book sounds like a treat.