BOOK REVIEW & TEA WITH ROSEMARY SWEEPSTAKES: WHEN THE HEART HEALS by ANN SHOREY

Summary:  In When the Heart Heals, Book 2 in author Ann Shorey’s Sisters at Heart series, Civil War nurse Rosemary Saxon wants to use her skills as a healer in the town of Noble Springs. But the townsfolk, and the town's new doctor, aren't sure what to make of her unconventional ways!

To celebrate the story, Ann and Revell Books are proud to announce the TEA WITH ROSEMARY giveaway, featuring three incredible prizes.

Timeframe & Notifications:  This giveaway starts February 15, 2013 and ends March 7, 2013 @ 11:59 pm (PST)

Winners will be selected Friday, March 8, 2013, and announced on her site.

GRAND PRIZE:

6 MONTH ARTISAN BREAD CLUB MEMBERSHIP

Rosemary's artisan breads are a town favorite. Our grand prize winner will enjoy fresh-made artisan breads just like Rosemary's, delivered right to their door with a Zingerman's 6 month Bread of the Month Club membership.

SECOND PRIZE:

GROW YOUR OWN GARDEN STARTER KIT

Rosemary's garden is a source of healing for many in the town of Noble Springs. Our second prize winner can grow their very own herb garden, from the comfort of their kitchen.

THIRD PRIZE:

ROSEMARY'S KITCHEN PRIZE PACK

Rosemary's hand-blended teas and soaps are sold at the town mercantile and grocery, and are a favorite of several of the town's eligible bachelors. Our third prize winner will have the chance to create their own special tea blends, and enjoy soap just like Rosemary's. 

How to Enter:
Go to http://www.annshorey.com/contest.html and click the Enter Now button, anytime between February 15 and March 8.

About the book . . .

Courageous and unconventional, Rosemary Saxon served as a nurse during the Civil War, a service that has caused most women in town to regard her as unfeminine and downright vulgar. Although she would like to put her experiences as a nurse behind her, she must support herself. Rosemary takes a position with Dr. Elijah Stewart and a mutual attraction begins to develop.

But when a sophisticated woman arrives in town claiming to be Elijah’s fiancée, a heartbroken Rosemary decides to leave Noble Springs and start fresh. Can Elijah convince her of the mystery woman's deception before he loses her forever?

Return to the town of Noble Springs, Missouri, for an engrossing story of love’s tentative first steps and fragile future in the face of opposition. Readers will find in Rosemary a sympathetic but strong woman determined to thrive in a world that doesn’t always understand.

Read an Excerpt

About the author . . .          

Ann’s mother always wanted to write a book about her ancestors. She felt there was enough material in her collection of family memoirs, which dated back to the 1600’s, to make fascinating reading.

When Ann’s mother died in 1994, she passed those memoirs on to Ann. Over the next several years Ann put stream-of-consciousness reminiscences into chronological order and followed up each “remembered fact” with necessary research.

Thanks to the computer age, she wrote the book her mother had envisioned and in the late 1990’s distributed it to family and interested historians.

In the process of researching her family history, Ann discovered that all of the collected memoirs had been written by men. Memories of the American Revolution, the Mexican and Civil Wars, and the westward migration were all told from the male perspective. What was life like for the women who maintained the homes, reared the children, and followed their husbands from place to place? That question sparked her interest in writing fiction to fill in the gaps. Over the next several years Ann learned her craft by attending classes, reading books, and, yes, collecting a few rejections.

On a research trip to Kentucky in 1997, Ann and her husband, Richard, were fortunate enough to locate the graves of her great-great-great grandparents on the land they had settled in 1800. Standing in front of her great-times-three grandmother’s resting place, Ann promised that grandmother she would not be forgotten.

The At Home in Beldon Grove series honors that promise. The first volume, titled The Edge of Light, was released in January, 2009. The second book in the series, The Promise of Morning, released in March 2010, and the series concludes with The Dawn of a Dream, released in April of 2011.

Ann's new series, Sisters at Heart, opens with Where Wildflowers Bloom. The stories follow her ancestor's emigration from Illinois to Missouri after the close of the War Between the States. As the series title promises, the books are linked by the friendship between Faith, Rosemary and Cassie, the novels' protagonists.

One of the best things Ann learned about fiction is that it’s okay to make stuff up! Thus, although these novels are inspired by her courageous female ancestors, the largest percentage of their adventures are fictional. Ann leaves it to her readers to separate truth from “it could have happened like this.”

Ann is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency, and is an active member of several writer’s organizations, among them  American Christian Fiction Writers, Oregon Christian Writers, and Willamette Writers. As such, she is enthusiastic about the benefits of attending workshops and conferences. Ann is available to teach workshops on research, story arc, and other fiction fundamentals to writer’s groups.

In addition to writing, Ann has won many prizes for her culinary skills. Her recipes have appeared in Country Woman magazine, and in several national cookbooks, including Taste of Country and Taste of Home. Recently author Patti Hill included one of Ann’s recipes in her  Garden Gates Cookbook, available on Patti’s web site. Ann has been privileged to present cooking demonstrations to young women from her church as part of the Apples of Gold mentoring program.

Ann and Richard share their home with a loveable Belgian Shepherd named Amber.

Goodreads                Website                Facebook                Twitter

Reader review . . .

The Civil War has ended, and Rosemary Saxon has settled in Noble Springs, Missouri.  The older doctor in town does not believe in female nurses, so when Dr. Elijah Stewart sets up practice, Rosemary convinces him to hire her.  Although most of the doctor's patients seem to like her, someone is leaving threatening notes and vandalizing her property.  Rosemary must decide whether to stay in Noble Springs and see what the future holds for her and Dr. Stewart or run from her adversary.

The pace of this book is a bit slow at times, picking up only when Rosemary, her dog, and her property are threatened.  The rest of the storyline is not as exciting, but it is interesting. 

Rosemary is an unusually strong female character for that time period, but since nursing was considered to be a vulgar profession for women then, I would imagine that any woman who became a nurse would have been a strong character.  Her compassion for those who have been ill-treated would seem to be fitting for her profession.  I must admit that at times Dr. Stewart seemed too thick-headed to be real, but of course that is the needed conflict for the story.

This is a clean, historical romance with a Christian theme.  Recommended for teenagers and up.

4 stars

“Available February 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Baker Publishing Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. 

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2013 A-Z Reading Challenge

Do you love to read? You know I do! Escape with Dollycas Into a Good Book is hosting a reading challenge for 2013.This challenge will run from January 1st, 2012 until December 31st, 2013.

You can join anytime. It’s an alphabet challenge!!! The challenge is to read one book starting with every letter of the alphabet.


So there are two different ways you can set up your own A-Z Reading Challenge.


A - Make a list on your blog from A-Z. Throughout the year, as you go along, add the books you are reading to the list. Towards the end of the year, you can check and see which letters you are missing and find books to fit.

OR


B - Make a list now of 26 books, picking one for each letter of the alphabet. For example: A – The Azalea Assault B- Blue Monday C – Crops and Robbers D – A Deadly Grind etc.


Books can be read in any order and all formats – print – e-book – audio – are acceptable for this challenge!

Ready to join??

Sign up at Escape with Dollycas Into a Good Book and grab the button.

Non-bloggers you can join too! Just keep track any way you wish and enter a link below if available or sign up in the comment section. You can even set up a special shelf on Goodreads to help you keep track!


Need some help finding titles to match the alphabet – Jandy’s Reading Room has a wonderful list to get you started.

Here is my list:

A AN ANGEL BY HER SIDE - RUTH REID - 4 stars
B
C CHRISTMAS WITH THE FIRST LADIES - COLLEEN CHRISTIAN BURKE
D THE DILEMMA OF CHARLOTTE FARROW- OLIVIA NEWPORT
E
F

G
H
I ICONIC SPIRITS: AN INTOXICATING HISTORY - MARK SPIVAK
J
K KILLER RATINGS - LISA SEIDMAN
L TO LOVE A WOLF - BK WALKER
M MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER - ROBIN OLIVEIRA
N NEVER LET YOU GO - ERIN HEALY
O O! JACKIE - MERCEDES KING
P PERIL: FROM JACKBOOTS TO JACK BENNY - PEARL GOODMAN - 4 STARS
Q QUEEN OF THE AIR: A TRUE STORY OF LOVE AND TRAGEDY AT THE CIRCUS - DEAN JENSEN
R RAISING CUBBY-JOHN ELDER ROBISON
S SECRETLY SMITTEN - COLLEEN COBLE, DENISE HUNTER, KRISTEN BILLERBECK, & DIANN HUNT
T THE POSTMISTRESS-SARAH BLAKE
U UNCONQUERED: THE SAGA OF COUSINS JERRY LEE LEWIS, JIMMY SWAGGART, AND MICKY GILLEY - J.D. DAVIS
V VANISHED-IRENE HANNON - 5 STARS
W WHEN THE HEART HEALS - ANN SHOREY - 4 STARS 
X
Y
Z

I will be updating my list and will keep it posted on here. Check back to see what I've read, and comment and let me know when you join the challenge. Here's to a year of good reading!

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“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”   ― C.S. Lewis