The Green Veil (Empire in Pine series) by Naomi Musch

Historical Inspirational Romance:

Colette Palmer is a young girl in 1841 when her father follows land speculator Harris Eastman from Michigan to Wisconsin Territory where lumber barons are taking land and timber by right, by force, and by theft. Separated from her childhood love by miles and years, she tries to forget her childish longings for Manason Kade until the day compassion and circumstances compel her to marry another.

But Manason does come and plants his own stake in the Wisconsin lumbering trade. It isn't long before he uncovers illegal practices in the industry and by one company in particular. Now Colette's husband will stop at nothing to crush him.

Then one unsuspecting night, Manason and Colette meet again. As memories revive, and truth is set free, Colette is forced to choose between her first love and her commitment to her marriage vows. But how can she, with her faith and an empire in pine hanging in the balance?


Excerpt:

"Nase is a friend!"
            

             His hand moved so quickly that she didn't see it coming. He struck her across the face with such force that she fell across the bed. Then, bending over her, he grabbed her jaw and thrust her head to the side in a second half-slap before standing up.

"Don't you think I know who he is to you?"

Colette hardly heard him. Stunned by the ferocity of his assault, tears came instantly. Some muscle was pulled in her neck, and even her shoulders ached from the jolt of his blow.

"Why did you want his picture so badly, Lettie? Did you hope he would come to you someday?"

"I didn't want it," she cried softly.

"You did. I know you did. You have it now, somewhere, don't you?"

She buried her face into her pillow.

"Don't think you can lie to me, Lettie. Don't think you can turn my mind with your tears. I've seen enough tears to last me a lifetime."

             Helen's tears? She tried to stop, but only succeeded in coughing.

She heard him hurl something across the room. She heard glass breaking in the fireplace.

"What does it matter?" The words moaned out of her.

"What? What's that you said?" He came over and dropped heavily onto the bed.

             "I'll never even see him again."

             He grabbed her by the shoulders, picking her up and clutching her. The smell of liquor was heavy on his breath and his eyes were wild. "You think so? Well, that's where you're wrong, my dear," he hissed. Then, leaving the white imprints of his hands on her shoulders, he rose and stormed out of the room, slamming the door as fresh sobs tore out of her.

Reviews/Notices/Awards:

"The Green Veil is one of those books where you have absolutely no idea how the book is going to end, but you MUST know." - April Gardner, author of Wounded Spirits

"Her characters were so captivating right from the opening scene, which is a preview from the middle of the story, that I couldn't stop reading." - Lisa J. Lickel, co-author of A Summer in Oakville

"Empire in Pine Book One: The Green Veil by Naomi Musch is forty chapters of a layered Christian Fiction novel published January 1, 2011, by Desert Breeze Publishing, Inc. and all I can say to begin with is--what a book! I absolutely loved it."- Barbara Robinson, author¸ author of Last Resort

Awarded COTT Champion for Best Hook and current contender in the COTT Tournament of Champions.



Why Did Naomi Write The Green Veil?

The lore of the Great Lakes early logging era combined in my imagination with the story of a young girl who might come to the wilderness, leaving behind life-long friends and an unrequited love. What would happen to her, so many miles from all she'd once known and dreamed of?

I was also thinking heavily about the idea of following one's heart. Scripture tells us that "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" The reality is that we do often become deceived by our hearts' wishes. We're gullible. It might not always be best to follow our hearts. Thus, a theme was born.

Finally, not since the early 1990s have I seen any inspirational fiction set in the historical framework of the Great Lakes early logging days. It spurred in me a desire to explore the history of my own home town in central Wisconsin where the story is set.

Purchase Links:

Amazon (including Kindle). http://tinyurl.com/3c6cv67

Barnes & Noble (including Nook). http://tinyurl.com/3s46xe4

Desert Breeze Publishing. http://tinyurl.com/3ktb54j



Author Bio:

Naomi loves stories rich in American history, but writes in several other genres as well. Naomi's aim is to surprise and entertain readers while telling stories about imperfect people who are finding hope and faith to overcome their struggles, whether the setting is past, contemporary, or even fantastic.

She and husband Jeff enjoy epic adventures around their home in the Wisconsin north woods with their five young adults. She invites readers to say hello and find out more about her stories, passions, and other writing venues at http://www.naomimusch.com or look her up on Facebook: Naomi Musch - Author, and Twitter: NMusch

 Naomi would like to let everyone know The Red Fury, Empire in Pine series Book 2 will be released on October 15, 2011 from Desert Breeze Publishing.

Taming The Wild Wind by Donita K. Paul

Historical Romance/Prairie Romance:

 

Ida has always gone her own way like a gentle breeze, drifting through social barriers as if they weren't even there. Like the breeze, her comings and goings are hard to keep track of, and her family assumes Ida's activities are the same as the other society debutantes of Pittsburgh. When she responds to the wilder wind of the Oklahoma prairie, she recognizes the untamed quality in her personality. She also comes to realize that even the wild wind has a Master. She submits to the hand of her Creator, her loving Heavenly Father, and allows Him to tame her willful nature.

Excerpt:

           “That house is haunted.”

            Ida Meade nodded wearily at the pronouncement. She’d heard it a dozen times since checking into the hotel a week before. Her response remained the same, “I don’t believe in ghosts.”

           “Haunted,” the brawny man grunted as he hoisted a burlap bag of rice to his shoulder. “That’s what I said.” He carried his load to the waiting buggy.

           Watching Lucas plod back and forth from the storeroom door to the surrey, Ida recalled some of the others in town who’d nervously couched their warnings with snickers.

           “I don’t believe it myself,” the clerk at the front desk of the Granger Hotel had said. He tapped a stubby pencil on the polished check-in desk. He looked cautiously around the lobby before leaning closer to whisper, “But there’s been people seen things. Things that aren’t natural.”

           A day later, Ida interviewed a woman for the housekeeper position at the mission. Her lone applicant was more interested in talking about the haunted house than the job offered. After repeating a fresh bit of ghost gossip, the job applicant quickly assured Ida she didn’t believe half of the rumors.

         “Especially don’t put no faith in O’Reilly’s story,” she confided. “He claimed he nearly galloped right o’er a ghost on the Burnside road.”

          The woman made a noise of disgust. Ida thought for a minute she was going to expectorate in the hotel lobby spittoon, and breathed a sigh of relief when the woman didn’t spit out anything but words.

          “It were night,” continued the woman, “and he mostly drunk, I think. As for me, don’t mind a-going there come the day, but you ain’t gonna get me to sleep there a-coming no night.”

          And then, there had been the livery owner who hitched the buggy for Ida. “I figger I can handle a rattler, a bear, or coyotes," he claimed. "But little girl ghosts, . . .” The man shuddered dramatically and left Ida standing beside the bedraggled surrey. He’d walked off muttering, spit a stream of tobacco at a can by the large wooden door, and shook his head. Ida thought she heard him say, “Fool woman.”

         Is he referring to me? Ida clutched her reticule and scowled at the man’s back. Well, he doesn’t know me. I’m anything but a fool. She let out a sigh. At least, I didn’t think I was a fool until I ended up here.

        Every person Ida encountered had an opinion, a bit of wisdom or nonsense, to impart. She listened attentively and sifted the chaff from the grains of common sense. Having lived all her nineteen years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she wasn’t prepared for prairie life. She knew it and consciously beat down her pride to take instruction. Nothing would deter her from the Lord’s purpose. He had opened doors, prepared the way, circumvented all obstacles. She would establish the Indian school. She would teach the littler ones in that ramshackle farmhouse. The younger children would get their education without being shipped off to boarding schools.

        Ida Meade refused to let the various horrifying ghost stories be the straw that broke her camel’s back. These references to haunting were merely more inconveniences in a long list of inconveniences that began long before she left her parents’ home in Pittsburgh. That list had seemed to multiply since her arrival by train to Elder Creek, a small town in the Northeast Indian Territory.

Why Donita Wrote Taming The Wild Wind:

I wrote Taming the Wild Wind because at the time I was writing romance. My mother played on the banks of the Wabash River as a little girl pretending she was an Indian princess. When she grew up she learned that her grandfather was part Native American.




Purchase Links:


Amazon (including Kindle). http://www.amazon.com/Taming-the-Wild-Wind-ebook/dp/B005IIRB1K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315851673&sr=8-1


Barnes and Noble (including Nook).

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/taming-the-wild-wind-donita-kathleen-paul/1105099654?ean=2940013046665&itm=1&usri=taming%2bthe%2bwild%2bwind

Smashwords. http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=taming+the+wild+wind

Lulu. http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/taming-the-wild-wind/16948433?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1

Author Bio:

Donita K. Paul retired early from teaching school, but soon got bored! The result: a determination to start a new career. Now she is an award-winning novelist writing Christian Romance and Fantasy. Her books include The DragonKeeper Chronicles, The Chronicles of Chiril and Two Tickets to a Christmas Ball. She says, “I feel blessed to be doing what I like best.” Her two grown children make her proud, and her two grandsons make her laugh.

Wounded Spirits by April Gardner

Historical Romance/Epic Fiction/Action-Adventure

When a distant war among the Natives spills over into a nearby skirmish, Adela's frontier life takes a perilous turn. Deep in enemy territory she must choose between the man she loves and a baby that has yet to be born; will she be strong enough to wait on God's provision?

A peace-loving yet loyal Creek warrior, Totka is forced to align with the extremist Red Stick faction whose purpose is to eradicate the Whites from Creek soil. In the midst of battle, Totka is assigned to protect those he is expected to hate--and kill. Life was simpler before his enemy became a beautiful face with a quiet strength and dignity he cannot resist.

Having lived a life plagued with death and loss, Zachariah McGirth is a man on a mission - he'll have his revenge or die trying. Blinded by grief, he can't see his way clear of yet another tragedy. Why has God taken everything from him...or has He?

Their lives molded by the course of history, can these Wounded Spirits learn to rely on God's grace during one of the bloodiest conflicts in the South?


Excerpt:

      Across the garden, the door to the house opened and closed. Only one person would search for him.

      Totka growled in frustration and willed Adela back inside.

      As her footfall neared, he refused to look at her. He couldn’t. It would do him in.

      “It is late. Go to bed.” Do not leave me.

      Her sleeve brushed against his. “You will wear a hole in the earth if you continue this way.”
     
      Did she know what a balm her voice was to his tortured mind? He closed his eyes and let it flow over him like a soothing breeze.


Reviews/Notices/Awards:

Winner of the 2010 Grace Awards, Action Adventure/Western/Historic Epic Fiction  ~ "Ms. Gardner doesn’t write like a debut author! She kept my attention right from the beginning of this story. I feel that the overall writing of this story, that it was very well-researched and that the character development was so exceptionally well-done merit extra consideration. The pacing of the story was excellent and the setting was well established. The character development and conflict were exceptionally well-done on all points. The writing was very fresh and unique. Great use was made of the vocabulary: The excellent usage of dialect and the utilization of Spanish. The background study pertaining to Zachariah McGirth, Red Eagle, etc… All of these aspects made for a compelling story." ~ Grace Awards Judge

"This historic romance and adventure novel brings a spirit of kindness, and a belief not only in God but in the good, and simple goodness, that is sweet and charming, and so much more. You don't need to be a fan of the inspirational to be left feeling a fuzzy glow from this on - do read." ~ Long and Short of it Reviews

Why April Wrote Wounded Spirits:

Wounded Spirits is the story of my heart. I wrote it as a challenge to myself, but now it's my constant visual of God's loving hand in my life.


Purchase Links:

Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Wounded-Spirits-April-W-Gardner/dp/0981989616/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Barnes & Noble. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wounded-spirits-april-gardner/1028027465

April's website. www.aprilgardner.com

Author Bio:

April W. Gardner currently resides in Georgia with her two sweet kiddos and a USAF husband. She is an author and the senior editor fo the literary site, Clash of Titles (www.clashofthetitles.com).