My Most Recent Blog Posts

Courting Miss Adelaide by Janet Dean Love Inspired Historical #16 - Sep 08

Anita Mae — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:52:58 -0400

Please excuse me while I wipe the tears off my laptop and clear all the used tissues away. There, that's better. This book certainly was a surprise. For all you ‘peekers' out there on eharl - yes, I read the blog posts where you say you read the end of the book first - well, you'll want to jump on this one b/c the last few pages pack a punch.

That's not to say the rest of the book is boring - far from it. In this debut novel, Janet Dean gently lures us into her story, dropping crumbs that we eagerly snatch b/c although we know how it's going to end, we want to enjoy the awakening attraction, the kisses, the bickerings, and the distrust the two main characters must endure before they realize nothing else matters except their faith in each other and in God.

I've Been Tagged!

Anita Mae — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:32:27 -0400

You can't know the jolt that shoots through your system when you read those words, 'You've Been Tagged' unless you've actually been tagged.

I was.

I wasn't even back home from my trip to the ACFW conference when Margaret Daley sent me an email telling me the good news. Except I didn't know what it meant. Sure, I've read other people being tagged over the last 18 months I've read the blogs and joined http://www.eharlequin.com/ but I'd never been tagged so I never cared.

The Magic of Christmas - Harlequin Historical Western Anthology 2008

Anita Mae — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:50:46 -0400

My Rating: Great! - 4 ½ stars (a keeper)

Fantastic Christmas stories. I loved them. This book has 3 emotional Christmas novellas, all of which appropriately involve infants. Of the 3 authors, 2 of them - Cheryl St. John and Victoria Bylin - are favourites of mine. I will buy books from these 2 women on sight without even reading the back cover. And, their novellas in this book have reinforced my opinion of their writing.

Back Home at last

Anita Mae — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:25:46 -0400

As many of you know, I attended the American Christian Fiction Writer's Conference in Minneapolis, Minn from 18-21 Sept. Fantastic experience. I want to go next year, too.

When that was over, I drove due north for about 6 hrs until I reached my mom's house in Thunder Bay, Ontario and visited with her for a week.

Yesterday am, I left Thunder Bay and drove all day and into the evening. By the time I stopped for the night in Brandon, Manitoba, it was 11:30 pm and I was only 3 hrs from home. I pulled into a rest area and slept for a couple hours. Then I was back on the road.

A Soldier's Family (Wings of Refuge) by Cheryl Wyatt Love Inspired #438 - Mar 08

Anita Mae — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:13:28 -0400

I like this book just as much as the first one in the series - A Soldier's Promise. It's also going to my Top 10 list. Yeah, I know, this will make it 12, but what else can I do? This was a totally satisfying book. I can't wait for Book 3

Cheryl Wyatt brings the characters to life with all the human frailties, emotions and temptations you would find in everyday life. I laughed and cried with them as if they we my friends.

Me? A Golden Gateway finalist?

Anita Mae — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:33:42 -0400

Okay, so I'm doing a happy dance all over the house...

And I know this is probably waaaaay too much info for you, but just in case there are others who are thinking of entering the contests....

As some of you know, I started entering contests this year for the feedback and to get my stuff in front of the editors b/c the slush pile didn't seem to be working.

But, I garnered enough courage to try my hand via the contest route after a daily douse of the Seeker blog at http://seekerville.blogspot.com/

A Soldier’s Promise (Wings of Refuge) by Cheryl Wyatt Love Inspired #430 – Jan 08

Anita Mae — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:26:46 -0400

I held off reading this book for months. Why? Because it’s Cheryl Wyatt’s debut novel and although I only know Cheryl over the internet so far, I do enter her monthly prompt contest and try to publicize it as well. But I’d never actually read anything of hers – blog posts excluded. I’d heard and read so much about A Soldier’s Promise that I wanted to love it to. And I did.

So much that it’s #11 on my Top 10 list for 2008. Okay, I'll worry a bout my math at the end of the year.

You know how readers always say a book was so good they couldn’t put it down? Well, not only was it like that, but I also wanted to prolong it b/c I didn’t want it to end. So I took longer to finish it than I usually do. And I still loved it when I was done. A totally satisfying book.

Deadly Texas Rose by Lenora Worth Love Inspired Suspense #85 – Jan 08

Anita Mae — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:44:40 -0400

I really like this author’s books – both the Love Inspired and the LI Suspense. In this book, Julia Daniels brings her daughter to small town Texas for safety but it seems like they’ve been followed. Someone wants Julia even to abduct her at gunpoint in front of witnesses in broad daylight in a diner right across the street from the sheriff’s office. Now that’s desperate.

Wilderness Courtship by Valerie Hansen Love Inspired Historical #13 - Aug 08

Anita Mae — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:02:12 -0400

The heroine in this book is Charity Beal. If you think the name sounds familiar, you'd be right. Charity is the younger sister of the heroine in a previous LIH book Frontier Courtship which I previously blogged about. And if you remember Charity from that book, you'll be wondering how the author could ever turn her into a heroine we'd...well, to put it bluntly...like.

But, she did. Charity has learned from her youthful experience. She's a serious young woman of faith who's made a vow to never lose her heart again after the disastrous choice she made the first time.

A Cowboy's Honor (Pennies From Heaven) by Lois Richer LI #441 - Apr 08

Anita Mae — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:39:39 -0400

I loved this book. It's about a guy who disappears as a newlywed leaving a wife and daughter behind. And where has he gone? He had amnesia. Now, I know what you're saying...another boring amnesia story...but this book is anything but boring. In fact, it's very bittersweet. And it made me cry.

Gracie Henderson has lived the last 6 years in a fog of misery after her husband disappeared. Alone and pregnant, battered from the ‘I told you so's" of her father, Gracie hits rock bottom. Elizabeth Wisdom steps in and gives Gracie the means to finish her schooling and become a vet. Now, it's payback time. Gracie agrees to work at Elizabeth's ranch for handicapped kids. It's a good, safe place to raise her daughter.

Then, Dallas returns and suddenly, her daughter's turning to him for advice and comfort. And he's letting their daughter do all sorts of things that Gracie had decided were off limits. She's losing her only child to her own husband.