Exposed by Ashley Weis - REVIEWED

About the Book: (from the author's site)

Porn shreds the Happily Ever After page from the story of marriage. Then, it goes back to the beginning to tear out page after page on the way. When it’s trashed all of the marriage it can, it perforates the heart and with the gentleness of a murderer … porn rips out love.

That's the story of Jessie and Ally Graham, a married couple struggling to cope after porn rips their marriage to pieces. They are not perfect, but they are real.

As you follow the story of Jessie and Ally you will also read the story of Taylor Adams, a young girl who naively falls into the porn industry and discovers how harmful it can be.

Throughout the pages of Exposed you will see the aching truths hidden behind the porn industry’s mask. Taylor's story is not reality for every porn star, but it is for many. I have chosen to omit language and details to protect the minds of my readers, but the porn industry can be much, much worse than it is portrayed in these pages. Also, the wife’s story may seem melodramatic to some, but it is loosely based off of my story and the story of many women who write to me. No story is the same and some may be better or worse than the lives I’ve chosen to show in these pages, but for many of us … these stories are painfully real.

My Thoughts:

Exposed is not an easy story to read. Primarily, because the story is so brutally honest. The reader follows a young woman in the shadow of her husband’s porn addiction, and the story of a young lady enslaved in the porn industry. Two very different viewpoints, one very serious bondage, and one very merciful Savior. Exposed takes the reader behind the scenes of the porn industry and into the hearts of the people whose lives it so viciously damages. This is a story based on the author’s own experiences, and it is a story you will never forget.

Reader, the problems in this book are not fictional. They exist in the lives of people you know. God is using Ashley and her husband in a powerful way to expose the lies of Satan that enslave so many hearts and minds. Don’t miss this book! Don’t miss any opportunity to bask in the love, mercy and grace of our Heavenly Father. He is bigger than all of our messes, and He alone can redeem what Satan means to destroy us.

A powerful story, with a powerful message! Not a feel-good read by any stretch of the imagination, but a very timely and urgent topic that Christians do not need to hide from!!

About the Author: (from the author)

Ashley Weis is a wife and mom of three under three. She and her husband, George, recently endured the effects pornography had on their marriage. Now, on the other side, Ashley hopes to bring encouragement to women going through the same thing.

Some facts about Ashley:

She loves reading, writing, and anything that has to do with stationary or ink.

She's creative, but there's a method behind her creativity.

She'd rather have a messy house and lots of fun memories with her kids.

Jesus is her everything and she asks Him to never stop changing her heart, stripping her pride, and increasing her faith.

Love. Romance. Ashley love's these things and hopes to see every marriage find the life it's always desired.

Blood of the Prodigal by P.L. Gaus - REVIEWED

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Blood of the Prodigal Plume; Reprint edition (September 28, 2010) by P.L. Gaus



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Paul took an interest in writing fiction in 1993, and with the advice and encouragement of author Tony Hillerman, he began writing mystery novels set among the Amish in Holmes County, Ohio. The first of Gaus's mysteries, Blood of the Prodigal, An Ohio Amish Mystery, was published by Ohio University Press in June of 1999, and a total of six novels have appeared in this series: Broken English, 2000, Clouds Without Rain, 2001, Cast a Blue Shadow, 2003, A Prayer for the Night, 2006, and Separate from the World, 2008. A seventh novel in the series is in preparation.



All of Paul's stories have now been republished by Plume (a division of Penguin Group USA) as The Amish-Country Mysteries, and these editions have been embraced by Christian retailers such as CBD.com, Family Christian Stores, and LifeWay. Future mysteries in the series will still first be published in hard cover editions, as The Amish-Country Mysteries by Ohio University Press, with Plume bringing out the soft cover editions some time later.



Paul and his wife Madonna still travel frequently in Holmes County. He lectures widely about Amish culture at libraries, bookstores, literary societies, and the like, and his books have been featured at Book Expo America and similar professional shows around the country. Paul's novels have been reviewed in prominent journals and newspapers, for instance, Kirkus Reviews, ForeWord Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, Ohioana Quarterly, and the New York Times Book Review.



ABOUT THE BOOK

For Jonah Miller, shunned by his Old Order sect and cast into the wider world, the summer begins with his decision to kidnap his ten-year-old son from the home of the bishop who had exiled Miller a decade earlier. In his desperation to retrieve the boy, the bishop appeals for help to the only "English" men the sect would ever approve.



Professor Michael Branden and Pastor Caleb Troyer had been looking forward to the kind of sleepy rural summer they had enjoyed as boyhood friends growing up in the small college town of Millersburg. Instead, they plunge into the normally closed Amish culture to find the boy. When the kidnapping leads to murder, they can no longer keep the case from the law. Working sometimes at cross purposes with his friend Sheriff Bruce Robertson, Professor Branden digs through the past to uncover truths that many would prefer to leave undisturbed. Little does he suspect that even the anguished bishop, torn by an insoluble moral dilemma, tragically does not tell everything he knows about the case. Suddenly the vast tangle of Amish and Mennonite settlements that sprawl among several thousand small farms and homesteads seems less bucolic than unknowable and impenetrable.



As they inquire delicately among the peaceful ones, Branden and Troyer learn that the troubles of Jonah Miller began far earlier than the kidnapping, with his Rumschpringe - the customary wild year before taking Amish vows. But his grand Rumschpringe had exploded into a decade of drugs, whiskey, and women, in the company of people no Amish person should meet.



In the tradition of Tony Hillerman, P. L. Gaus depicts a culture that successfully stands outside the mainstream yet interacts with it in complex and fascinating ways, a culture that is every bit as susceptible to the undertow of the human spirit as any we might know.


My Thoughts:
This blog tour really excited me, because my librarian had introduced me to Gaus and his books years ago. Originally published by Ohio University Press, these wonderful books have been picked up by a subsidiary of Penguin and re-released to a broader audience. I couldn't be more pleased!! Gaus has created a character who is a college professor by trade, and a brilliant detective by choice. He is sought out by an Amish family who has had their grandson kidnapped from them.


This mystery is layers deep, and includes some unexpected twists and turns. While the story includes a lot about the Amish and their culture, the focus is more on the mystery and the efforts to solve the problem before anyone else is harmed. (there is a murder too) The balance between the "English" and the Amish is brilliant, the story line grabs the reader and continuously grows in intensity. In short, if you like a good mystery, Gaus is brilliant!! Like I said, I am VERY pleased that this series is going to reach a larger audience! I am even more thrilled that there will soon be a new book in the series!!



If you would like to read the first chapter of Blood of the Prodigal, go HERE

Beyond the Mirror by Ashley Weis - REVIEWED

About the Book: (from the publisher)

When our husband’s porn addictions come out into the open it completely destroys our trust and security, not to mention our self-esteem. It’s tough to find the broken pieces of our marriage and heart, much less put them back together.

Beyond the Mirror defines true beauty — beauty that transcends time and reflects the character of Jesus Christ vs. the counterfeit beauty that leads women down a path of endless striving. Ashley Weis relates to readers and challenges each of us to break the glass of our own reflections and discover the joy and freedom that is waiting beyond the mirror.

Women who want to learn how to find the beauty in the storm and feel content in who God made them to be, this book is dedicated to you.

My Thoughts:

Truly, as a child of God, I derive any beauty I have from Christ alone. In me, Christ's reflection is all I ever need that is beautiful. I never knew that pornography had become an enslaving, addictive force in so many people's lives until recently. Do you know that there have been studies done that prove that porn is more addictive than methamphetamine? That's the truth!


The devastation in the lives of women whose husband's have rejected and destroyed their marital vows through lust and addiction to porn sends a powerful message - your beauty, your love, YOU are not enough. And, in fact, we as women, are not enough. We were never meant to be. God alone is enough. And while our husband's lives may be enslaved by porn, many women live lives just as enslaved to the world's definition of beauty. Millions are spent every moment on hair products, make-up, hair styles, clothes, gym memberships and other beauty products and services - all in a vain attempt to capture and keep the man who has captured our heart.


Folks, the world is selling a bunch of lies to men and women, and families are being destroyed left and right in the wake of pornography. Ashley takes a good, long, hard, honest look at the devastation in the shadow of this problem. Don't be fooled. You know someone suffering from this broken image. This problem is that prominent! Learn what God's Word says about your beauty and your value in Christ and live joyfully in the victory of your relationship with Christ. He alone will be enough for those in the shadow of addiction and those enslaved to pornography. This is a powerful book, and I cannot stress the timeliness of the truth it contains!

Ashley has other books available, so check out her site, More than Desire!

About the Author:

When I discovered my husband’s porn addiction I never thought I’d be here today, writing about the restoration of our marriage and the hearts of porn stars. God had a plan. A bigger plan that I may have missed had I not been willing to forgive and love. My husband and I have published a workbook for couples, based off the beatitudes of Jesus. You can see it here. And I’ve also published a novel about the heartache porn brings to those affected by it. The novel, Exposed (visit website here), was released in September 2010. We will be releasing two workbooks, one just for men and one just for women, sometime in 2011.


I truly love helping women find hope who are going through that same dark tunnel I went through. It seems like there is no possible end, no light. But I assure you there can be. I’m not here to educate people on addictions and porn and recovery. I don’t claim to be a psychologist or professional counselor. But I am here to offer hope to women who feel like they’ll never feel good enough to anyone. I’m here to be a friend. That’s all, but I know that a friend who understands means so much when you’re going through this. I also hope that this blog will serve as an aid in the healing of hearts like mine. My greatest desire is to see marriages, relationships, and love overcome the devastation porn causes.


Please feel free to email me. I am always open to talking to those who have no one around them to open up to. Bottling your emotions inside will never produce a healthy outcome. Never hesitate to contact me. It may seem strange, but I really do love you. I know what you’re going through and it’s not easy. I may not love you like a friend who knows you inside and out, but I love you in the sense of a stranger who feels your pain. -Ashley Weis takes a good, long, honest look at the lives shattered in the wake of pornography addiction.

Micro Business for Teens by Carol Topp - Brief Review

(Cincinnati, OH) With unemployment rates high, the teen population is finding it harder and harder to find work. Adults are competing for the same minimum wage jobs. But there’s an alternative—starting a micro business. What is a micro business? It is a very small, one-person business that you can start easily and quickly with what you already know or own. No money needed, low risk and no debt! Students can spend as much time running a micro business as they wish and can even close it down during busy times. The best advantage for teens to own a micro business is that it not only brings in extra cash (often more than imagined), but students end up learning a great deal about business, money and themselves. It may lead to an entrepreneurial life or at the very least, prepare students for higher learning opportunities.

Starting a Micro Business will help teenagers earn money while learning how to start their own business. A micro business is simple to start, usually home-based, low risk, educational and easy for a busy student to run. This book offers ideas, a business plan, starting with no debt, pitfalls to avoid and resources to get a teenager started making money running their own micro business.

My Thoughts:
My family lives in a very rural area, so this book was very idea-rich for my two teen sons. With driving and dating now part of our every day, money is always in short supply. Carol is brilliant with ways to encourage teens to work, earn their own money, and develop business skills that will serve them the rest of their lives! I can't recommend this book highly enough!

Carol Topp, CPA advises teenage business owners though her Micro Business for Teens book series. Carol’s day job is accountant to business owners, and she enjoys teaching teenagers to succeed beyond their dreams. Students appreciate how she shares what they need to know in clear and helpful lessons. Her website is MicroBusinessForTeens.com

Spring Cleaning: A Time For a Teenager to Make Money

by Carol Topp

Here are some ideas for a micro business a teenager can start this spring:

• House cleaning: Offer to tackle large jobs like washing windows, moving furniture, etc. Many people are grateful for a young, strong teenager to help them with heavy lifting. What is easy for you might be very difficult for them, especially if they are an older person.
• Routine house cleaning: Some customers need regular house cleaning and may hire you on a weekly or monthly basis. Don't wait for them to ask: offer to come weekly or twice a month and see what they say.
• Attic cleaning: Offer to help people do a job that they put off, such as cleaning an attic.
• Garage cleaning: A big job that can earn you big bucks!
• Yard cleanup: Offer to trim bushes, pull weeds, plant flowers and spread mulch to spruce up a yard.
• Car and van cleaning: People spend a lot of time in their automobiles and their cars and vans need frequent cleaning. Melissa gladly paid to get her van cleaned inside and out every week because her four children could really make a mess in it. You can make some cash by offering to clean a van inside and out.
• Organize. Organize a house, playroom or garage. Charge the customer for any bins, tubs and labels that you purchase for them and then add on the value of your time. Take before and after photos to use on your advertising fliers.
• Declutter: Do you love HGTV shows on organization? You might be able to find someone to hire you to declutter their house like you see on TV.
• Garage sales: Advertise, organize and run a garage sale for your neighbors. Get several neighbors to participate together and really earn the bucks!
• eBay sales: Offer to sell your neighbors' stuff on eBay and take a cut for yourself. Combine the decluttering, garage sale and eBay tasks into a full package to help your customers profit from their excess stuff.

Tea for Two by Trish Perry

I didn't sign up for this tour, but want to share a great read with you! This is getting great reviews!

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Tea For Two Harvest House Publishers (April 1, 2011) by Trish Perry



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A word from our Author: I started writing short stories—pretty bad ones. And I started taking creative writing courses to round out my degree. So I was in classes full of people just like me—lousy writers. But we were learning!



Then the Lord led me to a local writers' group, Capital Christian Writers, and the contacts and friends I made through CCW enriched my personal life and my writing life more than I can measure. Through CCW and through reading just about every book and magazine ever published by Writer's Digest, I started catching on. Now I'm writing full time and man oh man do I love it.



Before the writing began, I worked for attorneys in Washington, D. C. I worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission. And I was a stockbroker. A horrible stockbroker. How do people do that? Take responsibility for other people's financial futures? Yikes. I'm perfectly happy to take responsibility for the amount of time any one person wants to spend reading my books. If you enjoy the experience, then know that we both enjoyed it together. I love that about books.



In the midst of all that fretting over other people's money and writing about other people's lives, I racked up a few personal experiences myself. Some good, some bad, but all part of God's plan. Now I'm an empty nester living in Northern Virginia. My brilliantly funny son is in college. I have a savvy, gorgeous grown daughter, a charming son-in-law, and an amazing grandson.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Zack Cooper tries his best to raise his children, but he's losing his grip on them in their teen years. They've both had scrapes with the local law.



Tea Shop owner Milly Jewel has the perfect woman in mind to help Zack. Counselor Tina Milano meets weekly at the tea shop with her women's group. Milly encourages Zack and Tina to work together to draw the teens back before they get in even hotter water. Milly never thought things might heat up between Zack and Tina. Or did she?



Tina's connections with the Middleburg police department prove a mixed blessing for Zack and his kids. Both her best friend and old boyfriend are officers on the force.



And when Tina's women's group gets wind of her personal pursuits and clashes, they want to help. The group's meetings at the tea shop take on a slightly different flavor. Tina wonders who, exactly, is counseling whom.



Although heroine Tina Milano and her women's group are mentioned in The Perfect Blend (the first book in this series), Tea for Two is where we meet her and hero Zack Cooper. I knew I would write this book while I wrote the first, so it was fun to plant a passing mention of Zack and Tina while I wrote Steph's story in The Perfect Blend. By the time I was able to write Tina and Zack's story, I was eager to unfold their lives, conflicts, and love. I hope readers will be eager to experience what happens to them!



If you would like to read the first chapter of , go HERE.



Watch the Book Video:

You Are Loved by Linda Gomes - An Interview!

About the Book:
In this sensitive, insightful book Linda Gomes shares her story. With disarming honesty, she tells of building new foundations from the ashes of an abusive childhood. She has helped many people come to terms with the pain of their past, encouraging them to redirect their energy into healthy productive channels and assuring them that "You Are Loved!

About the Author:
Linda Gomes has been a life coach and motivational speaker for more then 15 years. She has a strong background in Physical Fitness and a faith and belief that God has created her and restored her life to be used for His purpose. She has brought many women through the trials of relational loss, self worthlessness, hopelessness, devastating illness, extreme weight gain, weight loss, and spiritual deprivation. She has published her own life story in a gripping and alarmingly honest book called You Are Loved! in order to help women realize that they are not alone and that they are not the sum total of their history! She believes and has found through the healing power of prayer, there are answers beyond the explanations of our past. An amazing lesson in trust and faith, You are Loved is about learning how to live and not just survive. Helping you to realize the struggle with authority is the wall between you and God when you are “just” surviving. Linda walks you step-by-step through amazing platforms of faith in order to build the trust and renew your hope and love for God.


Linda founded EMRACE Ministries in 2008. It is dedicated to women of abuse, single women and single moms who are searching for a place of support, love, and life tools to help them get to the purpose of what God intended their lives to be. Through this ministry she has continued to write and reach out with "Monday Morning Prayer," a weekly devotional that tackles today's trials with the tools of His word.


Linda is a proud mother of two beautiful girls. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area and continues to teach, write, and fully embrace the precious life that God has gifted her.


An Interview With Linda!

What inspired you to write You Are Loved? And was there a pivotal point that changed your life?


My life and its past had always been a burden to me. I tried to hide it, lie about it and pretend that I was just as “normal” as everyone else until I realized that my faithful life was being affected by not being myself! I made a decision to become a part of a class at my church called Wounded Hearts that was lead by the most amazing woman! (You can read more about her in dedication of my book) after several hours of being a part of this group I was encouraged to write or journal and that lead to asking for prayer and writing Monday Morning Prayer which I emailed to my friends. It was very well received, much to my surprise as I never thought of myself as a writer! Then one day I was thrust into a trial that I had no frame of reference to handle. I thought that my attending my class was confidential until I read an email from a pastors husband that once again tried to pigeon hole me by suggesting that my crying foul and not tolerating abuse in my life was somehow “because of” my past! The exact words were “she must have some significant damage in her past to react this way” It had been the story of my life to not speak out when I was hurt, to not demand respect and to take the abusive behavior from others as just another part of my life as if I deserved to be treated less then. The impression that was transmitted openly in a not so private email was that this man felt that he knew who I was, because of a class that I was attending! God hit me at that moment like a Mac truck! I was keenly aware that this type of reaction and careless assumption was the reason I had hidden for years, taking me off of my path and “shaming” me back into hiding and away from the blessings God had intended. I saw it so clearly at that moment! I was working so hard to not be “pigeon holed” that I was not the authentic person that God was trying so desperately to use for His purpose.


I made the decision that day that I would use my life and all of its facets to speak out and not hide any longer. I would not allow anyone else to “tell” my story! I could no longer allow another broken person to define “who I was” and just cower in the shadows. I realized in that moment that women hide from their abuse because they believe they will not feel loved by anyone if they tell their story. The ignorance in one email brought me to my knees before God, begging to be relieved from the pain of the secret that was snuffing out my life and the gifts that He had intended me to be blessed with!


You are loved, was the message that I had to accept and then I had to allow Him to use my story to reach out to others!


How can reading your book have an impact on the reader’s life?


My hope and prayer is that my life will encourage other women to be brave in his name! I exposed my life because I was living in a way that the world had designed and defined and not the life that God was working to use to restore others. I believe that His plan is to shed the light in the dark corners where we hide our deepest pain. My book reveals pain and fear that can control and lead a life into desperation and isolation, destroying His purpose! As you will read in the first page of You are Loved, Surviving is my History, Living is my Destiny, the impact will be that my readers will finally know and believe that they are loved and that they are worth it!


What are your plans for the future in the publishing world? Think you have any more books in you?


I am in the process of writing new book called EMBRACE. This book is a culmination of all the steps it took for me to be the woman God intended. Embracing your life and all of its facets is a process, this book will bring you full circle, through the pain of your life to the joy that the healing that God creates through that pain, teaching you to walk in His Embrace in order to lead others to His salvation!


What else does God have you doing these days Linda, and how can our readers connect with you?


Embrace Ministries is the passion of my life these days. I am still writing Monday Morning Prayer and the Daily Light Switch. You can find me at www.embrace-ministries.net. I am also on Face book at http://www.facebook.com/people/Linda-Gomes/1260573178#!/pages/You-Are-Loved/281441512624. Both of these pages allow feed back and support. 



How can our readers purchase your book?


You can purchase my book on www.embrace-ministries.net.



I was given a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for posting the author’s interview on my blog. This blog tour is managed by Christian Speaker Services (www.ChristianSpeakerServices.com).

Beside Still Waters by Tricia Goyer - Contest!! Reveiw!

About the Book: (from the publisher)
Marianna Sommer believes she knows where her life is headed. Nineteen years old and Amish, her plan is to get baptized into the church, marry Aaron Zook, and live in the only community she's ever known.

When Marianna's family moves from Indiana to Montana she discovers life and faith will never be the same. As she builds an easy friendship with local guy, Ben Stone, Ben not only draws her heart, he also gets her thinking about what loving God and living in community is all about.

As Marianna struggles to find "home", she also encounters God in intimate ways. Click here to watch the book trailers. http://triciagoyer.com/contemporaryfiction.ht

ml#BesideStillWaters

My Thoughts:

“There are people from your community who love Him in a quiet reverent way. Their are others who are more bold and vocal about their faith… It’s that personal connection, I bet, that brightens His day.” (p. 209)

Marianna Sommer has lived a life shadowed by a tragedy that happened the day she was born. Some twenty years later, she is still dealing with the aftermath of that tragic time in her family, and when her parents decide to move from Indiana to Montana….well, her world tilts on its axis one more time. All Mari wants is a family and home of her own – settled and predictable and as staid as the beliefs that have anchored her life so securely in the Amish community. She could never begin to imagine the changes God had planned for her future when she agreed to accompany her folks to Montana for six months.

Tricia Goyer takes an Amish story and makes a bold statement about the personal relationship every believer has with the Father through relationship with Jesus Christ. While not unlike many Amish stories – these folks are forever trying to decide whether or not to commit to their way of life or become “English” – Goyer adds something different when she introduces the character of Ben to the Sommer family. Transformation is slow, but God’s hand is sure from the beginning, and their lives are set free from things they never knew bound them. I loved that about this story!

So, if you enjoy an Amish story, but are looking for something with a little different angle to it – check out Tricia Goyer’s Beside Still Waters! It’s a novel I am happy to recommend!

About the Author:

Tricia Goyer is the author of twenty-six books including Songbird Under a German Moon, The Swiss Courier, and the mommy memoir, Blue Like Play Dough. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference in 2003. Tricia's book LifeInterrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005.In addition to her novels, Tricia writes non-fiction books and magazine articles for publications like MomSense and Thriving Family. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences, and has been a workshop presenter at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Conventions. She and her family make their home in Little Rock, Arkansas where they are part of the ministry of FamilyLife. Visit www.triciagoyer.com for more info.

A GIVE AWAY!!!

To celebrate the release of the first book in the Big Sky Amish series Tricia is giving away 10 copies of Beside Still Waters and a pair of super cute antique Amish salt & pepper shakers.

Details at Tricia’s blog, It’s Real Life: http://triciagoyer.blogspot.com/2011/04/beside-still-waters-giveaway.html

BONUS! Each person who enters the giveaway will receive a FABULOUS Montana Amish Calendar. Hurry, it’s only available while supplies last!