Heidi Murphy's Review of Bridges of the Heart

With each new review of Bridges of the Heart, I think it's the best one yet. I really like this one Heidi Murphy posted today on Goodreads.

Heidi

At the death of her mother, 21-year-old Rachel breaks down, fleeing from Maxson Everell (the man who wants to marry her), a grieving father, and a sister who has secrets. It isn't until a friend pulls her back to the desert that she meets a strange man who tells her she has a special place in time--at Maxson's side. Rachel's not about to give the freak any credence, since he tells her she should call Maxson on the night he's getting engaged to another girl. 

But what's a girl to do? She still loves Max. She curls up under the threadbare quilt on the end of her bed--the one that smells like jasmine.

Rachel wakes up two hundred years in the past, near her ancestress' log cabin in pre-Civil War North Carolina. She has a murder to solve, a treasure to find, and a whole passel of angry-hornet family members to cobble back together, all while trying to pose as a boy, learn to milk a cow, and avoid a major family war. As Rachel works to help her forebears solve their supposedly insurmountable problems, her own come into sharper focus.

Things are humming along right fine until Rachel helps meet Jane's housepayment--with three modern pennies. All heck breaks loose when the rent collector accuses Rachel of counterfeiting. To add insult to injury, the Sheriff looks just like Maxson, reminding her at every turn that she has to somehow get back to her own time to make things right with the man who should be HER fiance, before he asks another girl. 

I loved the premise of this story. Who wouldn't want to go back in time and fix things in their distant past? Who wouldn't want to go back and find out why this guy turned to piracy and that one joined a strange new church? Sowards' fabulous settings took me right into 1800's South Carolina with its jasmine-scented quilts, calico bonnets, bucket-stomping cows, and ramshackle jails.

I wanted to help Sam, the runaway slave, on his way to freedom. I wanted to show Coker (Rachel's third great grandpa) that he amounted to something. I wanted to hug Rachel and Jane and tell them everything would turn out okay, because they felt like My People.

Get this book for a fabulous journey through time in this fictional story about true people.

Thank you Heidi!

Visit Heidi Murphy's fun blog here.
Buy Bridges of the Heart on Amazon and Deseret Book.

The Importance of Oral Histories

The central story of Bridges of the Heart takes place in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, and is partly based on the life of Coker Lisonbee.

Coker lived in Chesterfield, South Carolina, was born illegitimate in 1804  endowed with a strong will. His father died in a farming accident before Coker's birth. Living in the time of western expansion, his mother and her family raised him until he (and perhaps they) moved south to Alabama, and then to Mississippi where he met the Mormon missionaries.

The reason we know his story is because he passed an oral history to his children--the name of his father and mother  and when and where he was born. Oral histories, even though they are heresy and often expanded upon, are important to our family history. So many of our ancestors didn't read and write but told family stories to their children.

Coker Lisonbee has a large posterity throughout the west. In the novel I have changed the spelling back to the original Lisenby. There is a pocket of Lisonbees in Mississippi who are descendants of Coker's Uncle William whom Coker either came to Alabama with, or followed him there. And the rest of the Lisonbees are Coker's descendants.

All the surname spellings in Bridges of the Heart are changed from the originals. It is to remind the reader that the story is fiction even though it is based on real people. And Lucretia felt so much better with a fiction name since I made her out to be a unforgiving old woman. She felt uncomfortable about being portrayed so, and I knew it, fretted about it.  The publisher and I changed the spellings at the last minute, and then I felt Lucretia's peace.

Bridges of the Heart is available on Amazon and at Deseret Book

Reviews on Bridges of the Heart

It is always a happy time to get good reviews on your latest novel! Here are some posted on Amazon.

I like this first one better than the back-of-the-book blurb. Thank you Susan!

"Bridges of the Heart" ...takes the reader from the present to post-Revolutionary America where Rachel, who is running from the confusion of her own life, manages to become immediately tangled in events from her family history. From her awkward arrival when she offends a grieving widow to the time she finds herself arrested by the sheriff who looks exactly like the man she loves back in her own time, it begins to seem like nothing will ever work out for Rachel without creating a time paradox. (Like becoming the name sake for the child who will later become Rachel's name sake. yep.) "Bridges" tells the story of family that connects through generations, intertwining their adventures and heartaches. It will be enjoyed by those who feel a connection to the past or would like to reshape the future.

-Susan Daley, Author of Cold Pursuit, Hot Pursuit, and Redemption

Bridges of the Heart was a pleasure to read. Characters were well developed, the style flowed nicely, and the story line was engrossing. Plus, it was not marred by the ubiquitous grammar and punctuation errors that plague new books, making them herky-jerky to read. This was lovingly developed. My only complaint---I was enjoying reading it, then it was over, with a neat and tidy ending, but I wanted it to go on. . More please!! I really enjoyed this one, and look forward to more from the same author.

By Kindle Customer 

Thank you, Kindle Customer!

Kindle if you must, but "Bridges of the Heart" is one of those rare books you will want to hold in your hand, share with your family and friends, and keep on your "favorites" shelf to read again and again. (I finished it yesterday for the third -- or may 6th -- time and still cried when it was over.) Gifted author Joan Sowards has written several amazing books, but this one, I think, is her very best!

-Kerry Blair, author of The Heart Has Its Reasons, This Just In, Mummy's the Word, Digging up the Past

Bridges of the Heart by Joan Sowards provides the reader an intriguing contemporary romance as well as unique perspective of early the 19th century South. I've read this book three times and enjoyed it more each time.

-Rachel Anderson author of the Meet Your Match series and many more.

Love's Deception by Kelly Nelson

I enjoyed reading Kelly Nelson's newest novel, Love's Deception. It had a special magic to it--being set in rural Washington, the protagonist a beautiful widow, and a handsome rugged cowboy as the hero, I'm sure had something to do with it.

 And to celebrate the release of my novel Bridges of the Heart, I am featuring Kelly, a Walnut Springs Press author, as my guest today. After reading my review of Love's Deception, enjoy the question and answer spot with Kelly!

Catherine Lewis and her six-year-old son have made ends meet ever since the untimely Iraq war death of her husband. Boarding horses in rural Washington and taking care of her cancer-fighting mother have occupied their life.

When Cat meets Ty, a handsome farmer not of her LDS faith, who not only sells her hay but comes to her barn to help unload it, Cat’s life changes. Through his persistent attentions, she learns to care for Ty, only weeks later to discover he hasn’t been completely truthful with her. When he tries to set things straight and make amends, Cat refuses to forgive.

The story is told from Ty and Cat’s points of view. I appreciated seeing into Ty’s life—that he had lived the ways of the world, and then after meeting a girl like Cat, seeks to know what makes her different. How could he help from falling in love with her spunk and fortitude? She is hard worker, beautiful, a caring daughter and mother, and a sensitive person.

Joan: I loved reading Love's Deception. What was your inspiration for Cat's story?

I had the opportunity to meet Kelly Nelson at the
LDStorymaker's conference in Provo, in May.
She's the pretty one on the right.

Kelly: I had sent out several query letters for my time-travel, YA, adventure/romance manuscript. I noticed several publishers wanted to know my background in relation to the subject of the book, or what made me qualified to write the story in the genre of the book. So I decided to write a novel that would be easier to query and one where I had specific qualifications relating to the subject matter. I worked as a CPA. Ty is a CPA in the book. I board horses. Cat boards horses. I am LDS and so is Cat. I have a brother-in-law who served 6 tours in the Air Forces. Our family's sacrifice as well as all those who have lost loved ones to war inspired the events at the beginning of the book.

Joan: Love’s Deception has a great cover. Is there a story behind it?

Kelly: My sister does free-lance graphic design for my publisher Walnut Springs Press who published Love’s Deception. My youngest sister, Laura Johnston, who by the way is also a published author is the cover model. Tracy, Linda (my editor), and I all scoured the internet searching for the perfect Ty, and in the end this guy was the one.

Joan: Tracy also designed the cover for my novel Bridges of the Heart, and I love it!

And I agree, the man on your cover fits the description of Ty in the book. I found myself studying the cover several times while reading the novel.

Tell us about your other works. You have a series publish.

Kelly: Yes, I have a four book series titled The Keeper's Saga about a high school senior, Chase Harper, who finds a gold device buried in a cave. When he touches one of the buttons it takes him back to 1863. He rescues a girl back there, and then finds out that touching one of those buttons made him the keeper of the counter--meaning now it will only work for him as long as he is alive. Of course there are those who try and take it from him. Action, Adventure, time travel and romance!

Right now I am working on:

 The Lady with No Name: a romantic suspense novel set in Utah,

The Hidden Heir: a young adult adventure about twin boys. One raised by his father the king, the other raised a peasant by a blacksmith.

Joan: They both sound interesting. Good luck with their success. Tell us something most people don’t know about you that you would like to share.

Kelly: I lost my dad to a brain tumor in 2005. He will always be one of my best friends, so the emotions of losing a parent are never far from the surface. Each time I read Love's Deception I cried at the end. It didn't matter how many times I had read it before, it still got to me. 

Joan: Husband, children, horses—how is your life like Cat’s in the story?

Kelly: I live with my husband on a ten acre horse property closely resembling the property Cat and her mother own in the book. We have 5 horses, 4 cats, and 2 chickens. And I board 10 other horses as well, so it is busy around here at feeding time. I have four kids. My oldest was married last month. My son is serving a mission in Lubbock, Texas. And I have two daughters still at home. 

Thank you for the interview, Kelly!

You can buy Love's Deception in paperback and ebook at Amazon, in Deseret Book and other LDS bookstores, and at Deseret Book online.

Announcing My Upcoming Novel--Bridges of the Heart

Bridges of the Heart is about the power of love and forgiveness, and the eternal natures of families, and will debut this spring in LDS bookstores!  

Rachel's life falls apart when her mother becomes ill and passes away. To add to her confusion, Maxson proposes marriage on the evening of the funeral. Rachel escapes to Utah to think and take time off from the relationship. She tells Maxson by phone to date while she is away, and that she is not ready for an engagement. After returning to Arizona, Rachel finds Maxson in a relationship with Paige—Rachel’s rival throughout high school. 

With time, she convinces herself she is over Maxson, but a strange Southern visitor named Jonathan tells her that in the eternal scheme, she was meant to marry Maxson. He insists it is her responsibility to apologize to Maxson and set things straight, since she broke up the relationship. But she refuses. 

Because of Rachel’s stubbornness, she is whirled back in time to 1820 to learn that families are eternal—not only through time forward, but also the past. 

Latter-day Saint women of all ages will enjoy Bridges of the Heart. Through this unique perspective of early 19th century American South, this heartwarming tale will remind readers that family bonds reach through all time.