A Passion Redeemed.....

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Julie Lessman is a debut author who has already garnered writing acclaim, including ten Romance Writers of America awards. She is a commercial writer for Maritz Travel, a published poet and a Golden Heart Finalist. Julie has a heart to write “Mainstream Inspirational,” reaching the 21st-century woman with compelling love stories laced with God’s precepts. She resides in Missouri with her husband and their golden retriever, and has two grown children and a daughter-in-law. A Passion Most Pure was her first novel.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

No man can resist her charms. Or so she thought. Charity O'Connor is a woman who gets what she wants. Her stunning beauty and flirtatious ways have always succeeded with men. Until Mitch Dennehy, that is. Brilliant and dangerously handsome, Mitch is a no-nonsense newspaperman who wants nothing to do with her. Charity burned him once, destroying his engagement to the only woman he ever truly loved. He won't play with matches again. But Charity has a plan to turn up the heat, hoping to ignite the heart of the man she loves. And she always gets what she wants--one way or another. Or does she? Will her best-laid schemes win his love? Or will her seductive ways drive him away forever?

Book 2 in the Daughters of Boston series, A Passion Redeemed will captivate your heart and stir your soul with a story of faith and redemption rising from the ashes of temptation, desire, and shame.

MY THOUGHTS:

I LOVED the first in this series and I'm having just as good a time getting to know Charity. I haven't finished this sequel just yet but I can't wait! I already love the beginning.

Here' s a pic of me and my 6 week old daughter reading A Passion Redeemed in bed =)

Praise for the first book in the series:

"Full of romance, humor, rivalry, and betrayal, A Passion Most Pure will captivate readers from the first page." --Historical Novels Review "Superb! Incredible!

"I loved Julie Lessman's A Passion Most Pure from the second I picked it up until the very last moment I stopped reading." --Armchair Interviews

"I devoured this book and loved every single page. . . . This is a thick, juicy read, and one I would pick up again in a heartbeat." --christianreviewofbooks.com

If you would like to read an excerpt from A Passion Redeemed, go HERE.

To buy your own copy, click HERE!

A new novel by Tracey Bateman!

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
That's (Not Exactly) Amore
FaithWords (August 14, 2008)
by
Tracey Bateman




Tracey Bateman published her first novel in 2000 and has been busy ever since. There are two other books in the Drama Queen Series, Catch A Rising Star (#1) and You Had Me At Goodbye (#2)She learned to write by writing, and improved by listening to critique partners and editors. She has sold over 30 books in six years.She became a member of American Christian Fiction Writers in the early months of its inception in 2000 and served as president for a year.Tracey loves Sci-fi, Lifetime movies, and Days of Our Lives (this is out of a 21 year habit of watching, rather than enjoyment of current storylines.She has been married to her husband Rusty for 18 years, has four kids, and lives in Lebanon, Missouri.


ABOUT THE BOOK


When Laini Sullivan lands a job designing Nick Pantalone's coffee shop, there are two problems: one, Nick's nephew Joe hates all of her ideas and two, Laini has to admit he's right--she's a disaster at design. Still, she can't risk losing the job. To compromise, Joe brings in help on the project, while Laini continues to bake the goodies that keep his customers lining up.Their relationship is moving along, so when new guy Officer Mark Hall implies that Joe's family is tied to the mob, Laini doesn't want to believe it.


But things spin out of control when she meets the family, including "the uncles," who seem to confirm Mark's suspicions. To make things worse, Nana Pantalone makes it clear Laini isn't the kind of girl she has in mind for her grandson. Laini's not sure if she should give Joe the benefit of the doubt or just set her sites on Mark and fuhgetaboutit.

"Tracey draws us into the world of family and friendship with a few surprising twists along the way Bravo!"~ RACHEL HAUCK, author of Diva NashVegas and Sweet Caroline

If you would like to read the first chapter of That's (Not Exactly) Amore, go HERE

Choices, choices!

So life has become a blur of choices...

"Audrey is asleep. Do I want breakfast or a shower more?"

"Audrey is still asleep. Do I want to put away laundry or take a nap?"

"Audrey is going to be waking up any minute. Do I want to unload the dishwasher or go to the bathroom?" (just kidding... kinda!)

Don't worry, usually I choose a shower =) But wow, mommyhood is so crazy! Its so much work and the little things I took for granted all my life (like being able to go to the bathroom anytime I want! lol) are now like delightful treats...yet I can't imagine life any other way. What did I do before she was here???

For those of you who know me best, you know I bring new definition to the term "Type A" personality. I'm sooo organized, detailed, and well, uptight about schedules and lists and layouts and spreadsheets and plans and.....yeah, mommyhood doesn't really allow for that! Lists and plans help, but most of the time, the list just mocks me and my plans are just dreams for another day. But somehow, its still okay. God is teaching me so much through my precious little bundle of squishy, snuggly, smiley, smelly diapered joy. =)

She's worth every poopy diaper, every stretch mark, every failed plan and un-checked list and sleepless night. I know I'm her mama and its my new duty in life to teach her and guide her, but she's already doing the same to me =)

So life is different. I'm still me, and I still want the same things...I'm still Betsy, I'm still an author, I still have my dreams and goals for my writing career. I still love reading and writing and blogging and emailing and mexican food and Nerds and shoe shopping and working out. But now I'm also Mommy, and with that new identity comes a whole list of new responsibilities that are also important and time consuming.

Yet somehow, it's all working out. God is SO good. I firmly believe He is blessing my time and allowing me to juggle all these new things that while pregnant, I was sooo worried wouldn't work out. It's all coming together.

I know some days will be harder than others but overall, I know as long as God stays involved, we'll all be just fine!

I'm realizing I don't have to sacrifice myself and my identity, I simply (and sometimes not so simply lol) just have to embrace my new role in life and mesh everything together into a new complete package. Betsy + 1.

And I used to never like math!! =P

A fun quiz, with startling results! =)

"WHAT NAMES DO YOU LIKE?"

I found this quiz today and it seemed like fun. I just had the privilege of naming my baby girl a month ago, and of course, authors are always searching for the perfect name for their newest character in their stories...

Here are my results!

You Like Names that Are Retro and Fashionable

You like names that are from the past but becoming modern again. Names with a strong history are very appealing to you. You're a big believer in giving children very adult sounding names. You're not a fan of nicknames or newfangled spellings.

Some female names you might like: Audrey, Emma, Fiona, Georgia, Isabelle, Naomi, Rosemary, and Veronica
Some male names you might like: Brendan, Colin, Ethan, Jared, Kenneth, Martin, and Nathaniel

______________________________

The reason this was so neat is that I named my daughter Audrey - fits perfectly with the description and was even the first name they suggested! Ha! Usually these little quizzes are fun, not aways accurate, but this one was right on!! =)

Here's the link to take the quiz yourself!
Let me know how you did!

Another Update...

So life is flying by! I can't believe it's only been/already been 3 weeks and 3 days since I had Audrey. In some ways it seems like she's always been around and I can't imagine/remember life without her! Then in other ways it seems like WOW - 3 weeks. That's less than a month! Impossible! lol

Last night Hubby and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. Speaking of things flying by! 4 years.....wow. My parents kept Audrey and we got to go to dinner and a movie and have a night of uninterrupted, deep sleep. Bliss! But I missed my baby girl! We've had some catch-up snuggle time today =)

Here are some new pics!!

In other news - I've finished my revisions for my summer release of Return To Love (waaaay ahead of deadline, praise God!) and am mailing them to my editor today. How exciting!

I used to think summer of 2009 would never get here but now I see how quickly it really will! Time is so relative. For instance, snuggle time with Audrey in the morning can feel like minutes but last for hours, and middle of the night feedings can feel like hours and only be minutes =P

Can anyone relate to that with their writing? Some times I can sit and stare at the computer, blocked, and it feel like I'm there forever being incredibly unproductive. Then other times I get on a writing roll and two hours feels like 10 minutes! Kinda puts a new perspective on the verse in Isaiah that claims a thousand years with the Lord is like a day, and a day like a thousand years....

Okay, enough babbling. Can you tell I'm still tired? ha!

Time to change a diaper! =)