The Rogue Shop by Michael Knutsen

In the LDS novel, The Rogue Shop, author Michael Knutsen takes his main character Chris from the threshold of the Baptists and dumps him in Mormon country, without a wallet.

The Rogue Shop is a fun read in more ways than one, and to be truthful, it wasn't only the story that kept me reading, but Knutsen's unique writing style. I wanted to know what words he'd put together next.

The reader who picks up The Rogue Shop knows from the start it is a conversion story that has something to do with tuxedos, but has no clue they will know the business from front to back by detour of the basement before the tale is over. There also is no warning of all the fun characters they will meet: Travis the eloquent, Eva Chandler the resurging dress designer :-), Pablo the landlord. Knutsen doesn't candy coat Mormons, (okay, just a little), but sits you on the couch with their weaknesses and idiosyncrasies. At times, doctrine is explored, but with good taste.

From the back cover:
Trying to escape from his Texas Baptist upbringing and a troubled past, Chris Kerry came to Salt Lake City to get an education -- and nothing else. But keeping his promise to stay away from the Mormons proves difficult, especially with two cute college girls living across the hall. And when Chris finds a new job at a tuxedo shop, his promise unravels as he discovers new friendships, hidden secrets and a lost heritage he never imagined he had. The Rogue Shop illuminates how we recognize truth even in the most trying of circumstances. Michael Knudsen's hilarious debut will remind you about the value of faith, family, and friends as Chris learns from his past to move forward into a better future.

I enjoyed The Rogue Shop and recommend it. Meet Michael Knutsen at his blog.

Confronting the Myth of Self-Esteem by Ester Rasband

Liberating. Insightful. Inspired.

I discovered Ester Rasband's book Confronting The Myth of Self-Esteem by chance one day. The title spoke peace to me. So many people, including myself, have struggle with the concept of self-esteem. It seems the more we try to grasp it, the further it slips away.

Rasband explains why the search for self-esteem will always frustrate. We can't find it without humility, which seems ironic. Our worldliness would tell us not to face our nothingness. Genuine confidence and peace found through gratitude and service brings the happiness we seek. She uses examples, quotes and stories from church leaders, and many scriptures to make her point.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book are:

"We must be willing to lay our self-esteem at the feet of the Lord and seek instead to love and obey him."

"Peace and confidence are gifts from God, and they are gifts given only when we are willing to give up our self-esteem and approach him in total humility."

I particularly loved chapter nine, "Always Remember Him" that focuses on Jesus Christ and our relationship to him. As members of the Church, we are taught we are "A Child of God" and the birthright is ours--which should add to our self-esteem in itself. But, "The inheritance, however, belongs only to the birthright son: Jesus Christ" Through his atonement, we are "adopted" and he shares his inheritance with us. This chapter gives better understanding of our relationship with Him.

I found the book healing. Read a few pages a day and let the concepts digest.

Rasband explains: “Inadequacy is the human condition and unless we tap into the adequacy of our Father in Heaven, we live in a somewhat fearful state — fearful that our inadequacy will cause us to fail and will stand in the way of our being loved and valued.”

Confronting the Myth of Self Esteem can be purchased at Amazon, or on the author's website.

Watch the book trailer and another here.

Excellent.

Haunts Haven--a fun ghost story

Halloween is coming! If your looking for a good ghost story for Halloween, or like reading mysteries in the Fall, may I recommend Haunts Haven, an LDS ghost story. All right, I admit I wrote it, and I admit I really like it, too.

Haunts Haven is in hardback and on Kindle and can be purchased at some LDS bookstores and Amazon.

Happy Halloween!

Winner of Chocolate Roses!

Congratulations go to Christine Jensen, the winner of the gently speckled copy of Chocolate Roses, an LDS Jane Eyre parody.

Christine is a mom to 5 fabulous kids, and lives in Utah. She is a book reviewer for Fire and Ice, and writes a weekly fitness post and does product reviews for Outnumbered 3 to 1. Check out her sites. She also loves to read and run.

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest!

Two More Fun Novels by Marie Higgins

In my last post, I interviewed novelist Marie Higgins and reviewed her LDS romance, Winning Mr. Wrong. She gives some fun answers to the interview questions that you will want to scroll down and read. Marie and I share the same publisher, Walnut Springs Press. Today, I am reviewing her two novels Hearts Through Time and Heart of a Hero. Look for her next novel soon to be released, Secrets After Dark.

HEARTS THROUGH TIME

A love story that transcends time . . .

The first day Nick Marshal opens his new law office, a mysterious woman, Abigail Carlisle, appears and asks for help solving a murder--her own!

"Mr. Marshal, the reason I know you're the man who can help is because you––you can . . ." She cleared her throat. "You can actually see me."

Nick stifled a chuckle. "Of course I can see you. You're sitting right in front of me."

"True, but your lady friend could not . . . . You don't understand. The reason she could not see me is because, well . . ." Miss Carlisle's green eyes locked on his with something akin to fear shadowing their depths. "I'm a ghost."

Of course he doesn't believe she's a ghost until he tries to touch her. The further Nick investigates Abigail's life and the circumstances around her death, the deeper he falls for this gorgeous ghost.

Abigail's grandmother and Nick's mother both had foretold Nick and Abigail's unusual meeting through advice in earlier years. As Nick and Abigail put the pieces together, they realize it is their fate to stay together. The more time she spends with him, she becomes real to the point that Nick can finally touch her.

Through a one-hundred year-old artifact given to him by a 118 year-old woman, they are whisked back in time to 1912 to face Abigail's murderer.

Hearts Through Time is a beautiful, well told love story. Romance readers (and paranormal junkies :-) would love this timeless read.

HEART OF A HERO

Summer Bennett, a tomboy sent to her aunt's finishing school for refining, returns to her hometown of Richfield, Utah to find that Jesse Slade, her childhood rival, has grown up and is now her sister's fiance.

"That does it." Jesse picked her up and carried her to the horse, then put her feet on the ground... "You may be as bullheaded as you've always been, but you ain't walkin', not on my watch."

She slapped at his hand. "I'm not going into town with you."

"You listen to me, Miss Persnickety." He paused, his heated gaze boring into hers. "I don't care what you like or don't like, I'm takin' you to town."

"I--don't--like''you." She grinded her teeth with each word.

"Too--bad--darlin'," he mocked. "You have two choices. You can get on that horse willin'ly, or I'll hog-tie you and put you there myself."

Her mouth dropped open and her mind scrambled frantically for several seconds.

He smiled annoyingly. "Time's up."

This nineteen year-old girl hasn't reformed much. Summer still thinks she's invincible, wears men's britches when it's to her advantage, and takes on capturing a band of bank robbers single-handedly, hoping to get reward money that would pay for her father's surgery and allow him to walk again.

Falling back into childhood habits, Jesse and Summer clash throughout the entire story--while falling in love. Neither understand what is happening. One argument after another and several misunderstandings later, they manage

to finally confess their love. It is a relief when everyone ends up with the right sweetheart in the end.

The Heart of a Hero is a romping read that will take you back to old west Utah, and one any romance reader would enjoy.

Buy Heart of a Hero at Deseret Book.

Buy Hearts Through Time here.

Winning Mr. Wrong by Marie Higgins

Marie Higgin's novel, Winning Mr. Wrong, is a fun read, and as you can see, it has a beautiful cover. I seldom laugh out loud while reading, but I couldn't help a smirk or two at Charley's innocent blunders, one right after another.

Here is the synopsis from the back cover.

Whoever said the quest for love wasn't comical never met Charlene Randall. Charley is looking

for a man who wants to start a family, a man who will take her to the temple. Problem is, she has never dated a man for longer than three months. When she reads an internet article called "Ten Ways to Win Your Man," she decides to try it on her new coworker, Maxwell Harrington. Max was her crush in high school, but the superstar sports anchorman doesn't even remember her.

Enter ladies' man Damien Giovianni, Charley's handsome neighbor, who agrees to help her win Max over. What follows is a hilarious tale of mishaps and misunderstandings where Charley learns that what she really needs may be right in front of her.

I loved the list on how to catch a man. And my favorite line from the book is on page 84 where Charley blotches a great opportunity to talk to Max. She has just fallen and banged her head, so she's a little confused. Max comes to her rescue and she remembers one item from the list.

Give him compliments. Tell him he looks nice. His hair looks good.

"Thanks Max." She paused, trying to think of a compliment. "Um, did I ever tell you I think your butt has an intoxicating smile?"

That didn't sound right. Why weren't her mouth and mind cooperating tonight?

That second line, (with a slight variance on the b-word,) is now often quoted in our house.

I loved Higgin's characters. Though Charley is thirty years-old, she acts nineteen under the spells of her two suitors. Damien starts out as an overbearing, shun-worthy lady's man, but the more I got to know him, he changed, (maybe too quickly) into the kind of guy every girl wants to catch.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes fun, light, clean romance quick reads. I'm looking forward to reading Marie's other novels, Hearts Through Time. and Heart of a Hero.

Read the first chapter of Winning Mr Wrong here.

Watch the book trailer.

****

And now for my own interview with Marie Higgins!

Hi, Marie! Thank you for the interview.

First question: Of all the heroines in your novels, which one do you relate to the most?

Well…as funny as it sounds, I do relate to Charlene Randall (Charley in “Winning Mr. Wrong”) the most. I love to make people laugh – just like Charley. Although Charley is a little more clumsy than I am…but still, we like to laugh.

Who is your favorite male love interest in your novels? With which one would you like to ride off into the sunset?
What a loaded question! lol I love all my heroes. Damien (“Winning Mr. Wrong”) because he makes my knees weak. Jesse Slade (“Heart of a Hero”) because he’s rugged and he loves to tease the heroine. And Nick (“Heart’s Through Time”) because he’s soooo dreamy!! I think I add something to all my heroes that will make me want to ‘ride off into the sunset’ with them.

For which novel did you do the most research?
I did more research with my ghost story. I had to make sure the streets nowadays were named the same streets back in 1912. I had to make sure there was still a mansion-style house in California that would have been built before 1912. I looked up websites that talked about how newspapers were run (machines, etc) in that era. I even checked the first newspapers to report the sinking of the Titanic – and sure enough, the first newspaper to report the ship’s sinking stated that all passengers survived. I really had fun with this story!

Considering writing style, which of your novels represents your best?
"Heart of A Hero”. It’s historical, it has humor, action and adventure, twists…and romance. Those are the type of stories I love writing. I also love to write a little mystery into my stories, so "Hearts Through Time" has an excellent mystery, I think.


Will there be another novel by Marie Higgins coming out in the future?
You betcha! At least one, hopefully more. My publisher, Walnut Springs Press, will start work on book #4 any day now – my historical paranormal, “Secrets After Dark”. (so far this title hasn’t changed…) This story is a little different than my others. There’s hardly any humor, but a ton of mystery and…you got it…paranormal! Witches, curses, werewolves…oh my! heehee This story is about a man who is cursed by a witch to shift into a werewolf when he has certain desires for a woman. Needless to say, I've tortured my poor hero! lol Anyway, hero is hiding himself away in the east wing of the family manor so he doesn't get close to any woman. The heroine comes to the manor to find answers about her father's death. She's a very curious woman, and so sneaks into the east wing even though she's been warned not to.
My publisher promised they'd have this story out by October. I can't wait to see the cover!!

Thank you for the interview, Marie.

Clairvoyance

Finished the first draft of my WIP, Clairvoyance. Yeah! Making progress.

Pralines of Prescott, a great chocolate shop!

Since my novel Chocolate Roses is set in a chocolate shop, I'm always excited to find fun shops that specialize in chocolate!

Pralines of Prescott is located on Curley St. inside the Bashford Courts Mall in Prescott, Arizona, and has been in business since 1991. The many items they make include fudge, brittle, caramel, toffee, sugar free yummies and of course pralines.

Family owned by Mary Handley, Irene Handley, (in photo), and Ashley Moser, their chocolates are homemade, and I will add, delicious! Visit their website at http://pralinesofprescott.com/

It is fun to see the transformation of downtown Prescott of the last twenty years. Several years ago, a friend scolded me for going to the antique stores and shops in the rundown old downtown, saying it wasn't safe. Now downtown is bustling with tourists and fun shops from food to crafts and clothing.

If you know of a favorite chocolate shop, please leave its name and location here in your comment.

Thank you!

Great Quotation

"The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."

Margaret D. Nadauld

Invitation to Facebook!

I've changed the name of my author page on Facebook to Joan Sowards, LDS Author. I'd love to have you join me there!