Peering Through Life's Window

  A Warm Welcome to Serena Clarke Serena shares an excerpt from  In Royal Ruins, which is a retelling of the Grimms’ fairytale, King Thrushbeard.  She also shares an excerpt and her favorite recipe, Chinese Chicken Salad. (see below). About In Royal Ruins Appalled by his daughter’s vain and impertinent attitude, the king forces her to marry a peasant, hoping to teach her a lesson. Feeling devastated by this decree, Alora loses everything she knows and is thrust into a world she is not prepared for. The skills she learned to help her rule a kingdom have not prepared her for the drudgery of living the life of a peasant’s wife.  Larik, her new husband, is determined to help Alora and show her kindness despite her unfriendly personality. Will Larik’s example and affection towards her be enough to heal her heart of anger and grief so that she can see the beauty in the world once again? Can she let go of the past and allow herself to be loved?  Praise and Re...

Happy New Year, Everyone!!! More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website Contemporary Romance: The Love Penalty by Carolyn Miller -- With her fondness for tattoos and spider jewelry Sylvie Miles is used to being pre-judged and misunderstood. She has friends and connections but she still feels alone, and works several jobs while daydreaming about finding a guy who sees further than skin deep and won’t shy away from her battered heart. So when a hot pro hockey player with a smile as vast as his skills takes a shine to her what’s a poor girl to do but fall in love? Ryan Guillemette sure wasn’t looking for romance in a bookstore in his hometown but quickly becomes intrigued by the sassy Goth-like assistant with a snarky way with words. When an accidental kiss proves dangerously addictive, she soon becomes embedded in his heart. But even as the romance heats up he’s torn as she’s not following God. Can these two opposites make a match or sho...

Merry Christmas!  Luke 2: 11-12, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger.” The greatest love the world has ever known started in a humble stable in Bethlehem when Jesus was born.  Later He suffered and died to conquer death for us. Knowing what he endured, it’s difficult to comprehend the depth of unconditional love He has for us. Before He was crucified, he preached a Gospel telling us to love one another.     Today with wars popping up and hate rhetoric we might wonder if we’ve run out of love, if we’ve abandoned it, or if we’ve forgotten where to find it. We can’t manufacture it. We can’t buy or demand it because we can’t dictate what’s in a person’s heart.  It must be given and received. It was given on Christmas in Bethlehem and again on the cross when Jesus died for our sins. We only need to accept it. Once we do, it lives inside us and spills over to ot...

More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website Contemporary Romance: Bidding on a Second Chance by Emily Conrad -- His bid for a second chance this Christmas might lead to her most disastrous fall yet. Police officer Graham Lockhart’s life is dangerous enough without accident-prone Piper Wells tripping around in it—at least that’s what she claimed when she declined his marriage proposal two years ago. But he can’t help but wonder if there is more to her refusal. Piper always cared for Graham, but she is incapable of giving him the one thing he wants more than anything—family. All her orphaned self knows about that is how much it hurts to lose. She’s better off focusing on caring for her nephew and running her business. Secondhand furniture doesn’t break hearts. When an injury sidelines Piper leading into the holidays, Graham steps up to help her keep her commitment to a Christmastime auction benefiting a local family. Can they overcome ...

Thanksgiving gives us the opportunity to think about all of the good things in our lives and be grateful for them. We might also ask ourselves where these blessings come from.  Quite a few years ago when our daughter was in first grade, the school administration put up images illustrating Thanksgiving drawn by the children for an open house.  That night turkeys, Indians and Pilgrims lined the halls. As my husband and I toured the school, we stopped at our daughter’s offering and told her how good it was— of course.  She peered at me with wide brown eyes. “My friend had to take down her picture and do it over.” “Why?” I asked. “Here it is.” Our daughter pointed to a drawing with a boat and some stick people standing around it. “She wrote something on it the first time?” “Did she write over the picture?” I asked. “No, she wrote here.” She pointed underneath the boat. “She said the Pilgrims gave thanks to God, and that’s not allowed.” I wasn’t certain she said what she inten...

  A Warm Welcome to Linore Burkard Get a special price of $2.99 on Forever Lovely while it's on pre-order! See below. Hi Linore, Tell us about your latest book. Forever Lovely is book two in a time travel romance series (Forever in Time Series) but it can be read as a stand-alone. It takes place three years after the first book, but rather than focus on the same characters, it takes the younger sister of one and gives her a coming-of-age sweet love story of her own. Familiar characters from book one are in it, but the spotlight is on Miss Margaret, the sister of Clarissa Andrews, and so it’s really quite a different sort of fun. And I emphasize the word ‘fun.’ While there are realistic themes of love, loyalty, family, and growth, there’s also comedy. (You can’t take a young lady out of Regency England and bring her to modern-day New York without some good laughs!)     What inspired you to write this particular book? I had originally planned to do a second book and ...

  Hats... Horns... The winner is... Congratulations, Andrea