Looking out the Window: Jean Pike Talks about her New Book, King of Hearts and Shares a Personal Story

A Warm Welcome to Jean Pike

Thanks so much for having me today, Gail.

It's my pleasure.

There are so many Biblical truths I tried to incorporate into King of Hearts that I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to tell your readers about the story. But as I started thinking about one of my secondary characters, my thoughts seemed to fall into place. Clara Blessings spent her life giving to others. When my heroine, Harper, and her brother, Nicky became motherless, Clara stepped in to help raise them. A talented pastry chef, she devoted her life to using her talents for the glory of God. Along with to-die-for wedding cakes, she baked amazing birthday cakes for underprivileged children who might not otherwise have gotten one. When Clara becomes increasingly forgetful and starts to make unsafe choices, a social worker threatens to have her removed from her home. The town rallies around their beloved Clara with offers of help. A local contractor offers to install safety locks on the doors. The owner of a yarn shop invites Clara to join her crochet club. Even the town diva steps up with offers of lunch and shopping dates. Luke 6:38 says: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall be laid in your lap. For with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you again.

My aunt used to say, “You can’t outgive God” and I have found that to be true. God does not forget a kindness done in his name.

More than forty years ago, when I was a new believer, I met a girl named Carmody. Her family didn’t have much. She often wore the same brown slacks with frayed hems, the same threadbare jacket. One day God whispered to my heart about my closet full of clothes, many of which I never wore. The next week I filled a bag with some of them and gave them to Carmody. The happiness on her face was nothing compared to the joy in my heart that came with knowing I had heard from God, knowing I had pleased him. Over the years, I filled many bags for Carmody and for others. I crocheted scarves and mittens at Christmas and dropped them off at the collection center. I bought socks and underwear for the local women’s shelter. Providing clothing for others became my ministry, and one of my greatest pleasures.

Fast forward many years and I was the one struggling. After weeks of being unemployed, I’d finally found a new job, but I had nothing appropriate to wear, and very little cash to buy anything. But God… prompted a kind coworker to present me with clothes, things she didn’t wear anymore. Bags of beautiful dress slacks, blouses, and even shoes. This trend has been ongoing in my life.

People give me clothes. They give them in good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. Some I keep, some I pass along to others. Puzzling over this phenomenon one day, I heard the still, small voice of God whisper a memory of Carmody. And Luke 6:38 popped into my head. And I knew, in my heart of hearts, that each bag of clothing I received was a smile from God.

About King of Hearts

After keeping a secret promise to a friend, Harper Blessings' s life is spiraling out of control. Her food truck barely pays the bills, she' s raising her rebellious brother and caring for her forgetful aunt...and she' s four months pregnant.

When Aunt Clara wanders off at a carnival and hires the carousel operator who rescues her to do odd jobs, Harper' s house-of-cards life begins to topple. The last thing she needs is a handsome drifter complicating her already problematic life. Or so she thinks.

Drifter Dalton Kingston has a few secrets of his own. Growing up as a child of privilege, he wanted for nothing...except love. Then an unspeakable tragedy causes him to walk away from it all, pushing love as far away as possible. Until love pushes back in the form of a beautiful woman who desperately needs his help, and the God he' s not sure he can forgive.

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Bio: Changing seasons. Unexpected blessings. Love that lasts forever. These are a few of M. Jean Pike's favorite things. With a writing career that has spanned two decades, Jean combines an insatiable curiosity about humans and why they do what they do with a keen interest in the quirky and offbeat things in life to bring readers unforgettable tales of life, love, and the inner workings of the human heart. Her short works have been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Whispers From Heaven, The Lutheran Digest and others.

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