My Review Of: The Colonel's Lady by Laura Frantz

Title: The Colonel's Lady
Author: Laura Frantz
Genre: Historical romance/ Christian fiction
Stars(1-5): **** 1/2
Age rating: PG-13
I think young teens would enjoy this book with content that wouldn't be likely to concern parents, although when I was 13 yrs. old I  wouldn't have liked reading historical fiction, just because its too much like studying.
Back cover: 
Can love survive the secrets kept buried within a tormented heart?
Roxanna Rowan may be a genteel Virginia woman, but she is determined to brave the wilds of the untamed frontier to reach a remote Kentucky fort. Eager to reunite with her father, who serves under Colonel Cassius McLinn, Roxanna is devastated to find that her father has been killed on a campaign.
Penniless and out of options, Roxanna is forced to remain at the fort. As she spends more and more time with the fiery Colonel McLinn, the fort is abuzz with intrigue and innuendo. Can Roxanna truly know who the colonel is--and what he's done?
Immerse yourself in this powerful story of love, faith, and forgiveness set in the tumultuous world of the frontier in 1779.

My Thoughts: 
Well, I'm not sure how many times you can use the word "winsome" before it gets annoying, but Laura Frantz once again shows what a talented writer she truly is. All of her books I've read have been fantastic, and I loved this one as well, but probably not as much for but one reason: kissing. I know it sounds as if I'm just picky, but I have a 5 kiss minimum I hold to all the romance books I read. Not really, but I do love a few good kisses in novels and I just wish Ms. Frantz would have treated us to a few more of them in this book. As I mentioned before, the winsome showed up probably more than 10X in TCL, but I think that the word pretty much describes the main character, Roxie. She is winsome and beautiful, but she is sure she will be a spinster her the rest of her life...if she can survive the winter at Fort Endeavor, that is. The message of forgiveness was laced throughout the book: brothers forgiving each other, spurned lovers forgiving the each other and the like. However,  I didn't  feel like the spiritual message stood out that much from the other major themes of the book, but that is just me. The writing was top notch and the character's practically breathed air. The twist at the end was such a surprise I had to re-read it a few times just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. And the best part was the epilogue, but if I say anymore you wouldn't need to read the book, which I would recommend everyone to do.
*I have been so blessed by Donna Hausler @Revell Books, for sending me a review copy of  The Colonel's Lady in exchange for my honest opinion*

Available Auguste 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.    
 
If you'd like to know more about Laura Frantz and her books, got to:
HER BLOG
THE PUBLISHER
GOODREADS
Love Y'all, 
Ashley
P.S
Make sure to watch the trailer for TCL, which is one the side bar over there ---->

My Top 10 Books Of 2010! +Giveaway!

It's New Year's Eve and that means it's time to tell you my Top Ten Books Of 2010 and for After All, Tomorrow Is Another Day's annul End-Of-The-Year Giveaway. Last year, I made a resolution to host giveaways on my blog and I had so much fun reading Y'all Top Ten list last time, that I wanted to it again, this year.  To enter the giveaway and if you have a blog, simply leave a comment with your e-mail address and post your Top Ten Of 2010 book list (either published, read or wanted to read in 2010) on your blog, then leave the link in a comment. Or if you don't have a blog, just list your top five right there in the comment.  The prize (which is what the giveaway is all about) will be one book of your choosing, off your Top Ten list (if you already have the books on your list, then you may choose another book). Sound like fun?
Well, now unto to my Top 10 Books Of 2010 (in no particular order)

 A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman
"This book was the highlight of the year, for me.
Julie Lessman did it again and I can't wait for her newest release next year!"

A Memory Between Us by Sarah Sundin
"I'd never read WWII novels before, this book changed that, and I can say I now LOVE WWII fiction"
















 Making Waves by Lorna Seilstad
"This was such a fun read, I really can't wait to read it again. And when book 2 comes out this next year, I'll be the first in line to get it"

Courting Morrow Little by Laura Frantz
"Laura Frantz is such a great writer, I'm just sorry I didn't get the chance to read on her books till now"

Disaster Status by Candace Calvert
"A wonderful mix of drama, medicine, and romance.  I would prescribe took a doses of Candace Calvert, as needed throughout the day. I can't wait to read the whole series, in order this time"

Love Finds You In Hershey  Pennsylvania by Cerella Sechrist
"I wasn't a fan of contemporary fiction, but this a sweet read that I enjoyed more then a Hershey Kiss, and that's saying a lot. "

Angel's Den by Jamie Carie
"I was asked to read this be the publisher and I'm so happy I said yes. This book, though sad, was a great book and I look forward to reading more by Ms. Carie!"

The Anonymous Bride by Vickie McDonough
"A fun and frolicking read and a great  series to get into"

The Raven Saint by M.L Tyndall
"I LOVE pirates, what can I say? LOL!"

Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs
"I tried reading her Lowlands Of Scotland series, but just couldn't get past all the sadness. But I surprisingly LOVED this book so much more."












Ok, so now for the boring, but, important stuff.......

Giveaway Rules:
* You must have a valid e-mail address (you must leave your e-mail address in the comment to be entered in the contest. To prevent spammers write e-mail like this.... i.e: i95fahrenheit[at]ymail[dot]com)
* Must have a valid U.S mailing address.
* U.S residents only
*The giveaway will start on Dec. 31th 2010 and end on Jan. 8th 11:59 pm, 2011
Any entries after the set date will not be entered in the giveaway * The winner will be announced on Jan 9th 2011 on this blog. The winner will be contacted via e-mail. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the e-mail. If they do not reply within the 48 hours, a new winner will chosen.
For extra entries:
1+ For commenting (including the link and your e-mail address)
2+ For becoming a new follower
3+ For being an old follower
5+ For post (on the sidebar of your blog) about this giveaway on your blog
Be sure to include all extra entries in the one comment


I can't wait to see those lists!!!:)
I hope Y'all have a safe, blessed and God-filled New Year!
Love Y'all,
Ashley

My review: Courting Morrow Little by Laura Frantz

Title: Courting Morrow Little

Author: Laura Frantz
Genre: Historical Christian Romance

Publisher: Revell Books

Date released: July 1st. 2010

ISBN: 978-0-8007-3340-7

Stars (out of 5): ****
Age rating: PG-13

There were about half a dozen "pecks on the cheek" and only a hand full of kisses, throughout the whole book. Of course, the main characters are a married couple in the book, and so expurgate to see some things like that. Although, those scenes are very  brief . 

Back cover (from Revell):

Caught between the wilderness and civilization, Morrow Little must find her way to true love.

Morrow Little is haunted by the memory of the day her family was torn apart by raiding Shawnee warriors. Now that she is nearly a grown woman and her father is ailing, she must make difficult choices about the future. Several men--ranging from the undesired to the unthinkable--vie for her attentions, but she finds herself inexplicably drawn to a forbidden love that both terrifies and intrigues her. Can she betray the memory of her lost loved ones--and garner suspicion from her friends--by pursuing a life with him? Or should she seal her own misery by marrying a man she doesn't love

This sweeping tale of romance and forgiveness will envelop you as it takes you from a Kentucky fort through the vast wilderness of the West.

 My Thoughts:

There aren’t many books out market today  that are set in the pre-Rev war time period or have Indians as the main characters. So right off the bat, Courting Morrow Little procured my interest. And as soon as I started reading, I fell in love……with almost everything. I loved how richly written it was and how the whole story flowed with literary grace (you know that I mean?). Yet, it wasn’t so wordy, that I felt like I was reading the Geneva Bible. CML is my first encounter with author Laura Frantz, but from what I had heard about her and her debut novel, The Frontiersman’s Daughter, I knew her books would definitely be going on my “keepers’ shelf”. The characters were believable and well rounded with pains, sorrows and struggles of their own. The excitement and dramatic tension, which there was plenty of, made me never want to put it down. My only problem with CML and the reason I only gave it 4 stars, was the fact that we only got to see things from Morrow’s POV. I really wish we could have seen a chapter or two from the POV of another characters besides just Morrow.

But, Laura Frantz revealed to me a little bit ago, that her next book coming out will have both hero and heroin’s POV narrating, explain and describing scenes (I hope its okay, Ms. Frantz, that I said that). So, I’m SUPER excited about her newest book to come out!!! I would recommend this book to other “history nuts” like me, for sure.

Available July 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.” To learn more about Laura Frantz and her books go to:

The Publisher

Her Blog

Goodreads

  Love Ya,

Ashley



*My many thanks to Donna Hausler @ Revell Books, for providing me a review copy of Courting Morrow Little.  These are my honest thoughts on this book and are in no way determined by the publisher and/or the author of Courting Morrow Little.*

Fiction Fanatic Friday ~Giveaway!! ......and a winner

Before we start, I want to say congrats to Katy @ A Few More Pages for winning She Walks In Beauty by Siri Mitchell. I hope you like SWIB Katy, as much as I did.:)



Every week, I host a meme right here on my blog called Fiction Fanatic Fridays or FFF. On Fridays, I'll ask a question from either a random book off my shelf or a question that has been picked by the FFF winner from the week before. The first person to comment with a vaild e-mail and the correct answer , wins a costume bookmark like this------->

Amber @Seasons Of Humility was the lucky winner last week, so, this week, she got to pick this question, from The Frontiersman's Daughter by Laura Frantz, to ask Y'all.

So, here we go.....

When newcomer Ian Justus finds a red ear of corn at the Powells' corn husking party, to whom does he choose to give a kiss?

I've never read The Frontiersman's Daughter (though, I hear it's really good) so, not even I know this the answer to this one.

And as always, cheating is allowed. You can Google, Bing, Yahoo Answer even look in the book if you like, to find the answer.

I hope Y'all are having a great summer so far and are getting in some good reads as well.LOL

Love Y'all,

Ashley