Showing posts with label Deeanne Gist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deeanne Gist. Show all posts
Monday, February 1, 2010
CFBA: Beguiled
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Deeanne Gist, the bestselling author of A Bride Most Begrudging and The Measure of a Lady, has a background in education and journalism. Her credits include People magazine, Parents, and Parenting. With a line of parenting products called "I Did It!® Productions" and a degree from Texas A&M, she continues her writing and speaking. She and her family live in Houston, Texas.J. Mark Bertrand has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston. After one hurricane too many, he left Houston and relocated with his wife Laurie to the plains of South Dakota.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Reporter Logan Woods is covering the break-ins with the hope of publishing them as a true-crime book. The more he digs, the more he realizes this beguiling dogwalker seems to be at the center of everything. As danger draws ever closer, Logan must choose: Chase the girl, the story, or plunge into the shadows after the villain who threatens everything?
If you'd like to read the first chapter of , go HERE
Check out their video:
See my review and more here.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Beguiled by Deeanne Gist & J. Mark Bertrand-- Review
When novelists Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand first met in a Houston critique group, they never expected where friendship would take them. She wrote romance; he wrote crime novels. But growing respect for each other's work culminated in the decision to try blending their talents into this wonderfully engaging story merging romance and mystery. Rylee Monroe walks dogs in old-money Charleston, a part of the city recently targeted by a daring thief. Logan Woods works the crime beat for the local paper but dreams of a life as a nonfiction writer. When the string of robberies takes a strange twist, Logan sees the making of a once-in-a-lifetime book that seems to circle around this charming, eye-catching dogwalker. But pursuing the truth means ignoring that he seems to be falling for her. And what is she hiding in her past that could crack the story wide open?My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Beguiled
is a novel that I could not put down until the end. Truly I do love Deeanne Gist's historical romances. This however is not historical, yet I still love it. The collaborative novel from Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand is fabulous. Edge of your seat suspense with the incapability of turning the pages fast enough. As well as heart palpitating terror in some pages that is reminiscent of a Mary Higgins Clark novel. Yet filled through out that pages in all of the plot is a thrilling romance that brings smiles and tears almost to my eyes with it's beauty. This is a novel that has just about all of it. I could not be more excited by this relationship of writing between two such authors (even though this is my first experience with Mark) and I look forward to more. *Thanks to Bethany House for providing a copy for review.*
Tomorrow look for the CFBA tour post with a link to read the first chapter of this book. Or you can read an excerpt now from Deeanne's site.
View all my reviews >>
My reviews:
Deeanne Gist - Courting Trouble Series
Courting Trouble
Deep in the Heart of Trouble
- Stand alone novels A Bride Most BegrudgingThe Measure of a Lady
A Bride in the Bargain
Maid to Match
* -- Look forward to this one later this year. Deeanne Gist's website -- Historical Romance
J. Mark Bertrand's website -- Suspense
2010 novels from Dee and Mark:
Other historical novels from Deeanne:
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
A Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist (a review)
(Just a review that had not made it's way to the blog before...)
A Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist
When Lady Constance Morrow finds herself held against her will aboard a ship bound for the American colonies-a ship filled with "tobacco brides" and felons-she is quite sure that as soon as she arrives she will find a reasonable man who will believe her father is an earl and send her back on the next ship to England. Instead she meets Drew O'Connor, a determined Colonial farmer who is nearly as headstrong as she is. Drew wins Constance as his bride but soon realizes he has taken on much more than he bargained for.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
'Eh. I had heard so much about this book and know several people to have read it and loved it and was expecting something extravagant, but it was just kinda okay. I read it in two days, so obviously it kept my interest. There were two or three chapters toward the end that were a fabulous read, but overall I felt that there could have been just so much more, but I guess I realize that this was the author's first book and could account for some, but I dunno. I did like it, don't get me wrong. It just wasn't the best of all the religious Christian Fiction that I have read.
View all my reviews >>
- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Bethany House (July 1, 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764200720
- ISBN-13: 978-0764200724
- Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist (a review)
(Just a review that never made onto the blog before now...)
Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist
Bestselling, Christy award-winning author's humorous romance--a 30-year-old single woman who draws up a list of the eligible bachelors in 1890's Texas.
Essie Sprekcelmeyer loves her hats, her snakes and her bicycle--Peg, for short. But the one thing she wants to love, but can't, is a husband. The year of her thirtieth birthday, Essie creates a list of potential husbands to catch...but the catching, and the unintended consequences thereof, might cause her more trouble than it's worth.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am very much so looking forward to the sequel of this book! Sometimes there are topics that people who have experience certain things are hurting terribly to tell someone to get opinions and help in a way, but the policies of society closes their mouths and keeps them alone in thought. Essie is a girl that is getting to a spinster age and wants nothing to do with it and seeks out herself a husband. Not only is she becoming an old maid at age 30, but she like hats, and gasp rides a bicycle (This is 1894 in Texas). Her first goal for a husband ends up getting baffled, but not before she moves onto desiring a drifter cowboy.
This is where confusion and emotions play apart. I would really recommend this book for every girl and woman to read. Even men really. Sometimes you want something so badly that you are willing to break rules to get it, and do not even realize that the rules that you are breaking will take it completely from your grasp as well as effect the rest of your life. Who would imagine that something private you take part in effects everyone you know and love. The basic tells of this story is not of a spinster who looks and searches for her one true love, although that does happen. It is about a woman who wants to be loved so much, and doesn't realize that she already is. Jesus Christ is the one man who will love all no matter what they do, and the hard part in many peoples lives is how we can overlook that fact and get our lives to a ruining stand point before we realize we do not have to go searching just accept.
I recommend this book for anyone. But especially for those who knew me when I was age 16 and 17. This story will explain a lot to them and perhaps render some understanding into what fools we humans can be, but how we can grow and seek the right kind of love.
- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Bethany House (June 1, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764202251
- ISBN-13: 978-0764202254
- Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
View all my reviews >>
Click here, to go back and read my review of the sequel to this book, Deep in the Heart of Trouble.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
CFBA: A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist
Go back one post to see my review and thoughts. - MJ
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Deeanne Gist, the bestselling author of A Bride Most Begrudging and The Measure of a Lady, has a background in education and journalism. Her credits include People magazine, Parents, and Parenting. With a line of parenting products called "I Did It!® Productions" and a degree from Texas A&M, she continues her writing and speaking. She and her family live in Houston, Texas.Since the debut of those novels, her very original, very fun romances have rocketed up the bestseller lists and captured readers everywhere. Add to this two consecutive Christy Awards, two RITA nominations, rave reviews, and a growing loyal fan base, and you’ve got one recipe for success.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Wedding Is All Planned...Someone Just Needs to Tell the Bride
In 1860s Seattle, redwoods were plentiful but women scarce. Yet a man with a wife could secure 640 acres of timberland for free.
Joe Denton doesn't have a wife, though. His died before she could follow him to Seattle and now the local judge is threatening to take away his claim. In desperation, he buys himself a Mercer bride--one of the eastern widows and orphans brought to the Territory by entrepreneur Asa Mercer.
Anna Ivey's journey west with Mercer is an escape from the aftermath of the Civil War. She signed on to become a cook--not a bride. When she's handed over to Denton, her stubborn refusal to wed jeopardizes his land. With only a few months before he loses all he holds dear, can he convince this provoking, but beguiling, easterner to become his lawfully wedded wife?
If you would like to read the first chapter of A Bride In The Bargain, go HERE
A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist (a review)
A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist
In 1860s Seattle, redwoods were plentiful but women scarce. Yet a man with a wife could secure himself 640 acres of timberland for free.
Joe Denton doesn't have a wife, though. His died before she could follow him to Seattle and now the local judge is threatening to take away his claim. In desperation, he buys himself a Mercer bride -- eastern widows and orphans brought to the Territory by entrepreneur Asa Mercer.
Anna Ivey's journey west with Asa Mercer's girls is an escape from the aftermath of the Civil War. She signed on to become a cook -- not a bride. When she's handed over to Denton, her stubborn refusal to wed jeopardizes his land. With only a few months before he loses all he holds dear, can he convince this provoking, but beguiling, easterner to be his lawfully wedded wife?My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
On the east coast, then around the horn to the west coast this book spans the United States shortly after the Civil War. Being a southern girl through and through it was interesting for me to really feel for a character who could not be more devoted to her Union ties. Starting with nothing but loss and a past that is haunted by guilt not earned our heroine learns to get up and go on with life. The matter is she has to open her life to where God leads and not to where she is determined to be. Our hero is set and knows what he wants, but does not necessarily like what he has to do to get it. Until he accepts his fate and realizes that quite possibly God has a better plan that he. A bargain is made and if all goes well there might be a bride, but which one and will it be in time for everything else to be saved?
The preface of the book is set on a historically accurate fact that a man did take it upon himself to go to the east coast to find wives (orphans - not in the children sense you think of, but girls old enough to marry with no family or other options and widows - women who were left alone with either children or not after the Civil War stole them of their husbands) for the men on the west coast. If you've read much historical fiction, you know many men went west for the land, the mining, and this case the lumberjacking as well. The man who was the "entrepreneur" was not an honest man, but he was not evil in the sense of some characters as well. He was just a man who did not always tell the whole truth.
Other than just knowing that the women who were invited to participate in the exodus were from categories such as widows and orphans, there is no real emphasis on the fact or details of the past lives. So there is no dwelling sadness there as one might assume.
In a way, I would very much relate a partial idea of the story to A Bride Most Begrudging. The location is completely different. The characters are completely different. The plot is completely different. But in a similar fashion there is a woman who the last thing on her mind was getting married, who finds out that it might not be up to her with her plans of what she once thought.
How does that sound?
View all my reviews.
- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Bethany House (July 1, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764204076
- ISBN-13: 978-0764204074
Sunday, February 8, 2009
The Measure of a Lady by Deeanne Gist: a review
The Measure of a Lady: A Novel by Deeanne Gist
My review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
In an attempt to review this book, I am a little bit at a loss for words. For those of you who know the other books that I read, recommend and love, I can tell you that the humor is something similar to that found in novels of my beloved favorite author Mary Connealy. The drama is amazing and the characters rip out your heart.
Easily, this novel is powerful, funny, and full of thought-provoking plot. Throughout the entire story, I felt like I was right there along with our protagonist. In so many of the situations, while she worked to finding a solution to a current dilemma, I would have just sat down and cried. Through these three hundred pages, author Deeanne Gist has really woven together a story that makes you think about what you do in your own walk with Christ and realize the bits and pieces that might need a little more tweaking and a bit more Bible Devotion.
There are people who will not appreciate this book because it may make them uncomfortable. But it does it in a way that is really attempting to show what is the purpose behind our God breathed lives and I praise this book fully for what it is capable as accomplishing as a tool for good.
I highly recommend this book to young women and older women alike. Especially those entering the romantic scene. For younger girls however, I would not say to avoid the book, but to read it and be able to discuss it with a mother, sister, or older friend.
The writing is incredible and will leaving you thirsting for more. At one point I had to put down the book while I was highly frustrated with a few particular characters and then I found myself irritated with my husband because of misplaced anger. A book that can lead on into my own life is obviously powerful enough to make me think.*grin*
View all my reviews.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Deep in the Heart of Trouble by Deeanne Gist: a review
Deep in the Heart of Trouble by Deeanne Gist
My review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
Deep in the Heart of Trouble is the sequel to Courting Trouble. They are definitely meant to be read in order. If you skip the first one you will miss most everything that is important that is said, but not quite fully said. Read both and you'll be a very happy reader. *grin*
Here we have a girl who messed up on life, but has taken another chance to live. By owning a bicycle club and teaching others various talents as well as running her father's oil company Essie really has an eventful life. She once attempted to find love and found that Christ was the only groom for her. Through this book she continues with that thought until she realizes that quite possibly she is no longer acting solely upon the respect of the relationship she has with Christ, but that perhaps she is using that as an excuse to hide from possible potential.
Deeanne Gist weaves together an incredible story with fabulous characters that really get into your heart and under your skin. I feel so blessed to have been able to read this story, both in the first volume and now second. The lessons to be learned and the reflections on your own life are quite educational. This series is a must read for most women, and definitely one for discussion afterward.
View all my reviews.
Courting Trouble, book one
Deep in the Heart of Trouble, book two
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Coming soon in 2009!
- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Bethany House (August 1, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764203665
- ISBN-13: 978-0764203664
"And Mama can be such an alarmist," Amanda whispered.
At the first report of cholera in Rochester, Amanda's mother had suggested the entire family take refuge at their summer estate on Broadmoor Island in the St. Lawrence River. However, that idea had been immediately vetoed by her father. Father had said his work would not permit him to leave Rochester, and for once, Amanda had agreed with one of his decisions. After devoting so much of her time and energy to medical training at Dr. Carstead's side, she couldn't possibly desert her work--not now, not when she was needed most.
- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Bethany House (June 1, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764201506
- ISBN-13: 978-0764201509Lacy Gallatin, the youngest of the Gallatin sisters, is a woman with a mission: to find her father's killer. Haunted by the belief that she's failed him, Lacy is also battling a desire to have something more than just revenge, something she can't quite figure out.
Enter Dave Shepard, deputy sheriff for the area. Dave has been fervently trying to find the man who killed George Gallatin, but he always feels inadequate when it comes to the beautiful Lacy. When they are together, the tension crackles between them--both when they argue and when they kiss. Lacy finds him frustratingly irresistible€¦but is it truly love?
- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Bethany House (March 31, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764205714
- ISBN-13: 978-0764205712
In the seemingly ordinary Amish home of Grace Byler, secrets abound. Why does her mother weep in the night? Why does her father refuse to admit something is dreadfully wrong? Then, in one startling moment, everything Grace assumed she knew is shattered. Her mother's disappearance leaves Grace reeling and unable to keep her betrothal promise to her long-time beau. Left to pick up the pieces of her life, Grace questions all she has been taught about love, family, and commitment.
Heather Nelson is an English grad student, stunned by a doctor's diagnosis. Surely fate would not allow her father to lose his only daughter after the death of his wife a few years before. In denial and telling no one she is terminally ill, Heather travels to Lancaster County--the last place she and her mother had visited together. Will Heather find healing for body and spirit?
As the lives of four wounded souls begin to weave together like an Amish patchwork quilt, they each discover missing pieces of their life puzzles--and glimpse the merciful and loving hand of God.
- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Bethany House (June 1, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764205013
- ISBN-13: 978-0764205019
The year is 1845. Elizabeth Barrett is a published poet--and a virtual prisoner in her own home. Blind family loyalty ties her to a tyrannical father who forbids any of his children to marry. She has resigned herself to simply existing. That is, until the letter arrives...
"I love your verses with all my heart," writes Robert Browning, an admiring fellow poet. And as friendly correspondence gives way to something more, Elizabeth discovers that Robert's love is not for her words alone. Could it be that God might grant her more than mere existence? And can she risk defying her father in pursuit of true happiness?
Nancy Moser has crafted a romantic, emotion-charged novel based on the true story of beloved poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Bethany House (May 1, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764203738
- ISBN-13: 978-0764203732
Lissa Randall's future was bright with academic promise until the tragic accident that took her mother's life--and brought her own plans to a screeching halt. Eighteen months later Lissa is still unable to get back behind the wheel.
Ev McAllistair's driving school looks like Lissa's best hope for getting her life back on the road again. His patience and fatherly wisdom seem to transcend the driving experience. But Ev's own complicated past is about to resurface, with consequences for everyone in his orbit...
- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Bethany House (June 1, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764204076
- ISBN-13: 978-0764204074
- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Bethany House; Repackaged ed edition (August 1, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764206915
- ISBN-13: 978-0764206917
Anna Ivey's journey west with Asa Mercer's girls is an escape from the griefs of her past. She's not supposed to be a bride, though, just a cook for the girls. But when they land, she's handed to Joe Denton and the two find themselves in a knotty situation. She refuses to wed him and he's about to lose his land. With only a few months left, can Joe convince this provoking--but beguiling--easterner to be his bride?
The year is 1835 and Carolina Adams finds herself enchanted by an unlikely suitor... the railroad. Frustrated by society's expectations upon her gender, she longs to study more masculine subjects and is thrilled when her father grants her a tutor.
James Baldwin arrives to serve as Carolina's teacher, but of more importance, he is to court Carolina's beautiful older sister, Virginia. Will expectations--and Virginia's southern charm--elicit the hoped-for proposal? Or will James and Carolina dare to acknowledge the mutual interests and feelings growing between them?
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