HHH BOOK DAY September 2024

GREAT FALL READS

 

 

SMALL TOWN ROMANCES

Inspirational Boxed Set

By Mary Davis, et al.

5 Novels by 5 bestselling, award-winning authors. You'll love these unique stories of love! Something for everyone with 2 historical, 2 contemporary, and a fantasy romance. My novel is The Daughter’s Predicament—As Isabelle Atwood’s romance prospects are turning in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams. Despite gaining the attention of a handsome rancher, her parents are pressuring her to marry a man of their choosing to rescue her sister’s reputation. While a third suitor waits silently in the wings, hoping to sweep her off her feet. Whom will Isabelle choose?

 

 

BRIDE BY BEGUILEMENT

By Debbie Lynne Costello

Kirsten father’s last will and testament stipulates that she must either marry, lead the plantation into a first year profit, or forfeit it to her uncle. Thefts are hurting the profit and marriage is proving no easy option. Every suitor seems more enamored with the land than with her. Silas’s last year at veterinary school ends abruptly when he is called home to care for his young orphaned sisters. Troubles compound when he finds an insurmountable lien on the family home and an unscrupulous banker is calling in the loan. How will the two overcome pride and distrust to find real happiness?

 

 

TITANIC: LEGACY OF BETRAYAL

A Time-Slip Novel

By Kathleen E. Kovach, et al.

A secret. A key. Much was buried on the Titanic, but now it's time for resurrection. Follow two intertwining stories a century apart. 1912 - Matriarch Olive Stanford protects a secret after boarding the Titanic that must go to her grave. 2012 - Portland real estate agent Ember Keaton-Jones receives the key that will unlock the mystery of her past... and her distrusting heart. Review: “I told my wife to move this book to the top of her reading list... This titanic story is more interesting than the one told in the Titanic movie... She will absolutely love it.”

 

 

AN UNCOMMON GIFT

By Sherri Stewart

Ella Davis’s papa always told her there’d be no class difference in Heaven, but Ella has years to live on God’s green earth until she reaches her reward. She’s content to be a maid, as long as she has her books and her kitten. But when her ladyship, Amberly Huntington, coerces Ella to take her place on the Mauretania, the fastest ocean liner in 1910, Ella’s worst nightmare has come to pass. She must pretend to be nobility for the eight days it takes to reach New York. In other words, she must live a lie—and just before Christmas!

 

 

APRIL’S PROMISE

By Terrie Todd

One secret. Three sisters. One wants desperately to uncover the truth. One wishes the truth would simply go away. And one will do anything to keep the truth hidden forever. April’s Promise was a finalist in the ACFW Carol Awards for Historical Fiction, and won the 2024 Word Awards for Historical Fiction.

 

 

FINDING THE DOG GROOMER'S SOULMATE

BOOK #2 GROOMERS LOVE STORIES

By Cindy Ervin Huff

Dog Groomer Aaron Willis longs for a soulmate. Although he’s no longer “Fat Aaron” insecurity steals his confidence around women. When Cassie Quinn, a beautiful, disabled veteran takes his breath away, can he convince her she’s the one? Cassie never thought herself pretty and now with a missing arm, she feels so much more than ugly. When Aaron, her super-attractive boss, asks her out, she’s convinced it’s a pity date. But when one date leads to more, she may just have to take a step back before her heart gets broken.

 

 

“THE ANGEL AND THE SKY PILOT”

From COURTING THE COUNTRY PREACHER

By Naomi Musch, et al.

Every Preacher needs a wife, right? But some might need convincing. Minnesota, 1910—A preacher with a checkered past sets off to win souls in the lumber camps like the "sky pilots" before him. But can he earn the respect of hard-living men—and still respect himself—after a local trader's daughter joins the all-male congregation? Pre-order Courting the Country Preacher to read “The Angel and the Sky Pilot” and three more stories of Faith, Hope . . . and Falling in Love.

 

 

LOVE AND CHOCOLATE

By Linda Shenton Matchett

She just needs a job. He wants a career. Is there room in their hearts for love?

 

 

The Destiny Series

SWEPT INTO DESTINY, DESTINY'S WHIRLWIND, DESTINY OF HEART, WALTZ WITH DESTINY

By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield

Get whisked into the lives of the McConnell women in this historical Christian fiction series. Follow these strong women from the days of the Civil War through the epic battle with Hitler. Discover what has inspired readers across the world as these four books are brought together as a set for the first time. "The message of the Destiny series is even more applicable to today than when it first released. Praying for America’s repentance and to embrace God like never before." Debra B. From Antebellum Era to Word War II, The Destiny Series gives readers CHRISTIANITY—ROMANCE—PATRIOTISM with True-to-life adventures.

 

 

FALL FLIP

By Denise Weimer

The tragic death of Shelby Dodson’s husband—her partner in a successful Home Network house flipping business—stole love, status, and career. Now a bungalow redesign thrusts Shelby into the company of a new contractor. Scott Matthews remembers Shelby from high school, and her contemporary style goes against his down-to-earth grain. When the house reveals a mystery, will its  secrets cost them a second chance at love?

 

 

WHEN MEMORY WHISPERS

By Johnnie Alexander

Marie Wyatt longed for fame and fortune and found herself in wartime London working as an Allied courier. But when a routine mission turns deadly, a mysterious German agent becomes her unlikely savior. Yet the line between duty and loyalty blurs when the German agent is imprisoned in a Florida POW camp with Axis soldiers who consider him a traitor. Marie embarks on a desperate mission to save him before he’s fatally injured. Plummet into a heart-wrenching tale of courage, treachery, and a love that defies all odds.

 

 

MONTANA GOLD SERIES BOXED SET

By Janalyn Voigt

Love Wild West romance? Read the Montana Gold boxed set!

1. Hills of Nevermore – Can a young widow hide her secret shame from the Irish preacher bent on protecting her?

2. Cheyenne Sunrise – After her wagon journey goes terribly wrong, a woman disillusioned in men must rely on a half-Cheyenne trail guide.

3. Stagecoach to Liberty – A Hessian woman must decide whether to trust a handsome stranger or remain with her alarming companions.

4. The Forever Sky – A young woman with no faith in love wonders if she can trust the man who broke her heart.

 

 

ALL WE THOUGHT WE KNEW

By Michelle Shocklee

Ava must put her life back together after her husband is killed at Pearl Harbor. A job at Camp Forrest provides income, but it also puts her in contact with Enemy Aliens interned on the military installation. Can she trust the German medical student whose friendship means more to her than it should? Mattie ran away from the pain when her brother was killed in Vietnam. Now she’s back in Tullahoma facing another devastating loss. Yet it is the bundle of WWII letters Mama insists she reads that makes her question everything she thought she knew about herself.

 

 

LOVE’S FORTRESS

By Jennifer Uhlarik

In present-day St. Augustine, Dani Sango finds many Native American drawings inside her estranged art forger father’s home, leading her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher whether this is her recently-deceased father’s latest scam. In 1875, God changes Sally Jo Harris’s dream of serving in foreign missions when seventy-three Plains Indians are incarcerated in Florida’s ancient Fort Marion. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives. How does Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story end, and how does it impact Dani’s family?

 

 

EL JIREH - THE GOD WHO PROVIDES

Compiled by Living Parables of Central Florida

Mary Dodge Allen, contributor

In A Mother’s Desperate Prayer, Mary Dodge Allen shares her struggle with guilt and despair after her son is badly burned in a kitchen accident. When we are at the end of all we have, El Jireh shows His hand. God doesn’t always give us what we want or when we want it, but He perfectly provides all we need at the right time. The stories, poems, devotions, and essays in this collection demonstrate the various and mysterious ways God is El Jireh—the God who provides—to His children.

 

 

DREAMS OF THE HEART

By Penny Zeller

FH&L Reader’s Choice Award Winner

Poverty and abuse at the hands of her drunkard father leaves Hannah Bane trapped and alone. Without hope, she prays for a miracle just on the off-chance God will hear her. Will the handsome new deputy be Hannah’s one chance to escape the only life she’s ever known? For as long as he can remember, John Mark Eliason has wanted to be a deputy sheriff. When a job opens, he eagerly accepts but finds his greatest mission won’t be bringing justice to the ruthless Wyoming town, but saving a beautiful young woman he barely knows.

 

 

OBEDIENT UNTO DEATH

By Liisa Eyerly

Winner of Eric Hoffer's First Horizon Award, Obedient Unto Deathlaunches the thrilling Secrets of Ephesus mystery series, weaving a captivating Christian twist into the heart of the first-century Roman Empire. When a scribe is murdered during an illicit Christian gathering, an innocent bishop is imprisoned. Sabina, a fearless believer, navigates a treacherous world of deceit and betrayal to save him. With time running out and his execution looming, she risks everything to uncover the truth—before the fragile Christian community is torn apart forever. Will Sabina's courage and faith be enough to stop the injustice before it's too late?

Heroine's of the Frontier, Part 5 - Women Who Were Parted Forever / Frances Slocum, Wyoming's Missing Child

I remember when my teacher read Little House in the Big Woods to my third grade class. Of course, we were gripped by Laura Ingalls Wilder's enthralling story of life in Wisconsin's big woods. It was one of the first stories in which I was caused to consider what it meant for pioneers to leave their homes and families and likely never see them again. Letters might be sent once or twice a year, if possible, but in all actuality, ties might be forever cut when a man decided to move his family to a new property or across the ocean of prairie, whether in search of land, freedom, or an elusive wealth.

I even wonder about the people who first settled the farm where I live. They were immigrants from Czechoslovakia. Their newspapers from home were stuffed in the walls of our porch for insulation. Did they see some of their relatives again before they passed on, or were newspapers and letters their only connection to their old country? And where did their children go, those who were raised here on this ground? We only know of one, the youngest, who eventually moved to Maine.

Then there were those pioneers who had to survive against starvation, fires, raids, illness--entirely alone. They had to do the best they could, whether covering themselves with dirt in a tilled field to escape a prairie fire, hiding in a well to escape raiders, walking for miles to find their way out of the wilderness, or treating their own illnesses with whatever they had on hand. I can't even imagine the trials.

And there were those whose foray into the wilderness brought them to their journey's end in ways they never could have anticipated. Here is one such story.

Wyoming's Missing Child - Frances Slocum 

The Capture of Frances Slocum (Internet Archives Book Image)

The Slocum family were Quakers who emigrated from Rhode Island to the Wyoming Valley in eastern Pennsylvania in 1777. They settled on the edge of the wilderness near Wilkes-Barre with their four children ages 13, 9, 5, and a, trusting that the Quakers' peaceable relations with the natives would keep them safe. However, on November 2nd in 1778, while Mr. Jonathan Slocum was away, three Delaware Indians attacked the family farm and carried off Frances Slocum, age five, her younger brother Ebenezer, and Wareham Kingsley, a young boy whose family was living with the Slocums at the time. Ebenezer was released, but both Frances and Wareham were carried away, while Frances's mother begged for her release. The last Mrs. Slocum saw of her child was likely a tearful glance as she cried out, arms outstretched. After that, Mrs. Slocum never saw Frances again, although she never gave up hoping for her return.

Over the following years, her family continued the search for their missing sister. Her brothers traversed the forests from the Susquehanna to the Great Lakes and even into the wilds of Canada hoping for some shred of evidence that their sister was still alive, but to no avail. Even when, by treaty, the Indians were made to return their captives, Frances was never numbered among them. Eventually, they began to believe that she had not survived her captors or their harsh lifestyle in the wilderness.

It turned out they were wrong. The Delaware had given young Frances to a childless Delaware chief and his wife, who raised her as their own child and named her Weletasash. Frances grew and assimilated into her adoptive family. She was married for a brief period to a Delaware man, but when she suffered domestic violence at his hand, she returned to her Delaware parents. 

At some point she encountered a wounded Miami man while traveling through the forest. With her parents' assistance, she brought him to their village, where he remained with them and regained his health. His name was She-pan-can-ah, known as Deaf Man to the white men because of his deafness. Frances eventually married him, and the couple had two boys, who died young, and two girls. They also moved to the Mississinewa Valley of north-central Indiana.

Nearly six decades passed, when one day Colonel George Ewing, an Indian trader fluent in Miami, stopped for the night at the double cabin of an elderly Miami woman and her extended family in Deaf Man's Village. During Ewing's stay, the woman revealed that she born a white woman who was abducted as a child. She no longer spoke English but remembered a few things. One was that she'd come from a Quaker family somewhere near the Susquehanna River, and she recalled that their last name was Slocum. 

There were theories about why she chose to reveal her identity to Ewing. Ewing believed it was because she was old, and that she wished the truth to be known before she should die.

Ewing went away purposing to find the woman's white relation. After some time, with a letter the postmaster in Lancaster which was misplaced for a spell, a notice was published that finally found its way to a minister in the Wyoming Valley and eventually to Frances's brother Joseph. 

After making a number of arrangements, the siblings of Frances traveled to Indiana near present-day Peru to meet their long-lost sister. They were shocked at the sight of her, so changed. One brother cried out, "Oh! Is that my sister?"

Certain bits of information were exchanged through an interpreter, as Francine answered questions stoically, her two grown daughters beside her:

"What was your name when a child?"

"I do not recollect."

"What do you remember?"

"My father, my mother, the long river, the staircase under which I hid when they came."

"How cam you to lose your thumb-nail?"

"My brother hammered it off a long time ago, when I was a very little girl at my father's house."

"Do you know how many brothers and sisters you had?"

She then mentioned them, and in the order of their ages.

"Would you know your name if you should hear it repeated?"

"It is a long time since, and perhaps I should not."

"Was it Frances?"

At once a smile played upon her features, and for the moment there seemed to pass over the face what might be called the shadow of an emotion, as she answered, "Yes."

William Worthington Fowler. Woman on the American Frontier / A Valuable and Authentic History of the Heroism, Adventures, Privations, Captivities, Trials, and Noble Lives and Deaths of the "Pioneer Mothers of the Republic" (Kindle Locations 3050-3058). Kindle Edition.

Despite her siblings urging her, however, Frances rejected their with to return with them, leaving her Miami family behind. She no longer had any desire to go back to that long-forgotten life, but preferred to remain with her adopted people. 

Joseph Slocum and his two daughters returned a second time to try and convince her to come with them, but even so, Frances would not be moved. "I would feel like a fish out of water," she told the interpreter.

Frances did agree to allow her Slocum family's request to have her portrait painted however. 

Although Frances Slocum never returned to the home or family to whom she was born, she did leave a legacy. A short time after their reunion, the Miami tribes began to be forcibly removed to Kansas. Frances appealed for help from her white brothers, Joseph and Isaac Slocum, who with the aid of a lawyer in Peru, found sympathetic ears in Congress for an exemption for an old woman who had suffered much hardship and hoped to remain near both her families, native and white. So, three years after Frances's identity was revealed, Congress signed a treaty providing some of the Miami with land grants allowing them to remain in Indiana. While Frances herself was not allowed a land grant, the two daughters with whom she was living were, so she and her family were able to remain in Indiana. The members of her Miami village formed the nucleus of today's Miami Nation of Indiana.

Frances Slocum was parted from her family for nearly the whole of her life, but she was not forgotten. She died of pneumonia in 1847 in Deaf Man's village at 74 years of age and was buried beside She-pan-can-ah and their two sons. In 1965, during construction of a dam that would soon be used to flood the area, their graves were moved to Wabash, Indiana, and a monument was raised there in her honor.

___________________

One more month to pre-order Courting the Country Preacher, Four Stories of Faith, Hope. . .and Falling in Love! (Releases November 1, 2024)

About the Collection

Being a preacher in the countryside is not for the faint of heart nor faith. Four inexperienced preachers face a myriad of challenges including those who figure a man of the cloth needs a wife. Can they meet the expectations of "helpful" congregants and be true to their hearts?

Convincing the Circuit Preacher by Carolyn Miller, Australia, 1863

Mail Order Minister by Kari Trumbo, South Dakota, 1889

The Mountie's Rival by Angela K. Couch, Canada, 1907

The Angel and the Sky Pilot by Naomi Musch, Minnesota, 1910

Click to Pre-Order Now!

The History of North Carolina by Donna Schlachter with giveaway

Please note: all images from https://abc11.com/community-events/celebrating-all-things-north-carolina-on-this-special-day/2464339/


Today is National North Carolina Day.

But wait…before you folks who live in or were born in North Carolina make plans for a parade and a paid holiday—every state has their own special date. So while you may celebrate ALL things North Carolina-ish today, you will have to join in with the same fervor as the other forty-nine states roll around on their special day.

Here are eleven things you may not know about North Carolina:

- It became the twelfth state to ratify the US Constitution on November 12, 1789

- It was the first state to establish a state symphony and state museum of art

- Estimated population 2024: 10,975,017

- Fort Bragg, NC is the largest military base in the country, housing more than 50,000 active duty personnel

- North Carolina produces more than half the sweet potatoes grown in the US

- In 1893, “Brad’s Drink” made its debut in New Bern, NC, and five years later, was renamed Pepsi-Cola

- The nation’s tallest lighthouse calls North Carolina home, along with six other coastal lighthouses.

- Most of the state now known as Tennessee was once part of North Carolina

- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the oldest public university in the country, opened in 1795

- The state earned the nickname of “The Good Roads State” in the 1920s, and currently maintains the second-largest system of roads in the country

- The Charlotte Speedway hosted the first official NASCAR stock race on June 14, 1949

 

 

Other items of note include the fact that the state has produced the most number of Nobel laureates in the nation, and the Wright Brothers tested their first flight there. In 1901, with a mind to reducing illiteracy in the state, a Literary and Historical Association was formed.

But what of the history behind the state? In 1584, Queen Elizabeth 1 of England commissioned Sir Walter Raleigh to establish the state. Which he did, encompassing much of Tennessee within its boundaries while he was at it.

Since 1792, Southport and Oak Island have been the site of many festivities.

In 1860, North Carolina occupied the headlines of the country and the mind of President Abraham Lincoln. About one-third of the population of the state were slaves who fought for their freedom, led by their beloved president.

In 1895, the Vanderbilt family built the nation’s largest private home, with around 250 rooms. It now serves as a museum and refuge for turn-of-the-century artwork, furnishings, and decorum.

As you can imagine, having a National Day of Observance for any state can be overwhelming to keep straight on your calender. But you can be sure that if you visit North Carolina any day of the year, you won’t be disappointed.



Enter a giveaway to win a free ebook copy of Recipe for Disaster. Answer this question: Would you travel to a state simply because it was their National Day on the National Days calendar? Don’t forget to leave your cleverly disguised email address so we can get in touch if you win. For example: donna AT livebytheword DOT com



About Recipe for Disaster: A spinster sister, left behind by her four younger sisters, feels unwanted and unneeded. But when three orphans and a wounded soldier turn up on her doorstep, her life takes on new meaning.

A man in search of his family—has he found them at last? But something isn’t quite right.

Can God weave these five lives into something beautiful for His glory, or will half-truths and missing memories create a recipe for disaster?

Check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMGFKVKN and the rest of the Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGM7Q2GM

About Donna:

 

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 60 times in books; is a member of several writers groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter. She is taking all the information she’s learned along the way about the writing and publishing process, and is coaching committed writers. Learn more at https://www.donnaschlachter.com/the-purpose-full-writer-coaching-programs Check out her coaching group on FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/604220861766651

Connecting Online:

www.DonnaSchlachter.com Stay connected so you learn about new releases, preorders, and presales, as well as check out featured authors, book reviews, and a little corner of peace. Plus: Receive 2 free ebooks simply for signing up for our free newsletter!

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Resources:

https://abc11.com/community-events/celebrating-all-things-north-carolina-on-this-special-day/2464339/

https://nationaltoday.com/national-north-carolina-day/ Fun video of other September holidays

https://www.ncrabbithole.com/p/national-north-carolina-day-made-up-holiday