STILL WATERS by Shirlee McCoy

From the backcover:

A TOWN IN JEOPARDY

A window smashed. A local teenager assaulted. The close-knit community of Lakeview is panicked when a gang of unruly teens wreaks havoc in this sleepy Virginia hamlet. But Sheriff Jake Reed, a former D.C. cop, seems just the man to put a stop to the vandalism.

A WOMAN IN DANGER

Tiffany Anderson thought the so-called "crime-wave" was nothing but a bunch of summer boys with too much money and time on their hands. But when she suddenly becomes the gang's target, Tiffany must cling to other faith that God will send a protector her way...

A MAN OF SECRETS

Keeping an eye on Tiffany in the line of duty, Jake finds himself drawn to the feisty redhead who reaches out to the needy. But haunted by his troubled past, he's leery of spending time with a woman who evokes feelings he'd thought long buried. Then Tiffany vanishes, and Jake can only pray he'll find her in time. Because suddenly he understands that God didn't mean for him to be alone, but to share his life with the woman who shares his faith.

Camy here:

This is a beautiful romance, although I didn't think the suspense element was very strong. There were very suspenseful moments, well-timed, that kept the pace of the story, but there didn't seem to be that tense aura of danger overshadowing the action. Center stage is the love story of Jake and Tiffany.

The plot draws Jake's change of heart with a very skillful, delicate hand. It was gradual, believable and satisfying to watch as he realizes the flaws in his preconceived notions about marriage for his life. The characters are consistent and realistic. Tiffany's own fears about her singleness and her willingness to "compromise" in order to ensure security in a married relationship are time-worn issues many single women will relate to. I didn't particularly like her snotty boyfriend, but then again, I wasn't meant to.

The author handled the faith element with skill and elegance. Nothing "in your face" or preachy, no "Christian-ese" language or blind, unrealistic belief. It was wonderfully satisfying to see Inspirational fiction written with such natural grace.

In all, a lovely romance, well-written and entertaining. I look forward to more from this author.

Categories:

book-reviews

Comments

Michael’s Scarf knitting pattern

Michael’s Gray and Brown Scarf I had just written a scene in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 5: Prisoner where my character Michael gives the heroine a very significant scarf. When looking for a stitch pattern, I found the one used in “#31 Comfort either for a Lady or Gentleman” in The Lady's Assistant , volume 2 , published in 1842 by Mrs. Jane Gaugain, pages 125-126 (click on the link to view and/or download the free PDF of the digitally scanned book). When I did test swatches, it turned out to be a pretty eyelet pattern that looks like branches or vines winding upward. I tried the pattern as a parallelogram scarf and discovered that the pattern has a changeable orientation, looking vertical or diagonal depending on how you looked at it. So I decided to use this pattern, knitted as a parallelogram, as Michael’s scarf. I decided to use a smaller needle and add a slip stitch in the pattern to make the eyelets a bit more close and less lacy. When paired with a brown an

September and October Christian Fiction new releases

The Lone Rice Ball releases next month in a Christian Contemporary Romance multi-author box set, Once Upon a Starry Night: A Very Merry Christmas Romance Collection . It's included in this promo with other Christian Fiction new releases for September and October. You can preorder it for only $2.99, and the price will go up on the release date in October. If you prefer to read it on Kindle Unlimited, sign up for my newsletter so you can hear when it’s available to read in KU. Check out the Sept/Oct Christian Fiction new releases

CWO – Girly girls

Captain’s Log, Stardate 09.12.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is A FAMILY FOREVER by Brenda Coulter . My Monday book giveaway is JADE by Marilynn Griffith . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for A FAMILY FOREVER and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Check out Christian Women Online (click on the button above) to see what other women are blogging about this quote. "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one!'" ~ C.S. Lewis ~ I am NOT a girly-girl. I prefer jeans and pants over skirts (a remnant of having my skirt lifted in middle school—traumatic, I tell you). I rarely wear makeup. I prefer sports bras over the lacy ones, or the underwire ones, or even the “boost your bust a cup size” wonder ones. I was also never a jock in school (think pudgy and slow). I was a brainiac, with

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

Keriah's Narrow Crescent Scarf

In my series Lady Wynwood’s Spies, my character Keriah is more emotional than her friend Phoebe, and so when writing about her in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 6: Martyr , naturally I described her scarf as having more lively colors than the greens and blues that Phoebe favors. I didn’t really have a particular yarn colorway in mind when I wrote the scene, but when looking through my stash to knit her scarf, I found the Carnival colorway in Knit Picks Chroma Twist Fingering, and it was absolutely perfect for her. Chroma Twist Fingering is discontinued, but you could knit this in Chroma Fingering or any other color-transitional yarn. In the Regency era, a tri-color 3-ply yarn like Chroma Twist Fingering would probably not have been sold in shops, but it also may not have been completely unheard of. It is made by simply dying the wool rather than the finished yarn, and then the dyed wool would be split into 3 parts and each part spun into a single ply, before all three plies

We Is Friends

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. My Monday book giveaway is Heart of the Amazon by Margaret Daley My Thursday book giveaway is She’s All That by Kristin Billerbeck . You can still enter both giveaways. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for the Heart of the Amazon and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Win an iPod Nano! Exclusively for my newsletter YahooGroup subscribers, I have a huge contest running until January 31st! Get more info on my contest page ! I got this hilarious picture from my good friend Pamela James . This made me crack up, maybe because I’m not terribly fuzzy and warm and this is as close as I’ll get. TMI: Bible in 90 Days: day 41. Okay, you can shoot me if you want, but I think Proverbs is a lot of repetition. It’s not bad repetition. I mean, it’s all valuable wisdom and all. And I’m sure the deliberate change in wording of the same concepts has some deep theolog

Grace Livingston Hill romances free on Google Books

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci

Fall Into Sweet Clean Christian Romance Bookfunnel promo

Volumes 1, 2, and 3 in my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series are in this promo featuring Christian romance novels! Check out the promo and all the great Christian romance ebooks! You might find a new favorite author!

September newsletter and new novel title

Captain's Log, Stardate 09.02.2008 I just sent out my September newsletter , which is chock full of new news about my Sushi series and info about my huge website contest ! If you haven’t entered yet, what are you waiting for? In addition, I have a newsletter giveaway where I’m giving away two full sets of my Sushi series! You’ll need to read my September newsletter to find out how to enter. (I explained the differences between my website contests, my newsletter contests, and my blog contests here.) Another big piece of news is that I now have a title for my romantic suspense novel coming out next year from Steeple Hill: Deadly Intent Doesn’t it sound deliciously sinister?

Marketing Information Form, part two

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.26.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND by Kristin Billerbeck . My Thursday book giveaway is LIFE INTERRUPTED by Tricia Goyer . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Continued from Marketing Information Form, part one : More stuff they want to know about my book: Other covers: What styles, fonts, colors? This is one area I didn’t really think about, but I listed the few covers that I thought conveyed the sort of atmosphere I wanted for my book: WHAT A GIRL WANTS by Kristin Billerbeck . The cartoon design is fresh, cute, clean. SASSY CINDERELLA AND THE VALIANT VIGILANTE by Sharon Dunn . This book, more than the other Ruby Taylor books, conveyed Ruby’s character—her vibrant red hair, bohemian dress, sassy post-modern attitude. THE TROUBLE WITH LACY B

Search This Blog