Book Review and Giveaway - At Home in Your Heart Author: Carol McLeod On Tour with Celebrate Lit

 

About the Book

Book: At Home in Your Heart

Author: Carol McLeod

Genre: Religion/Christian Living/Devotional

Release date: March 29, 2022

Where do you live—truly live? You may have a street address. You may think of your childhood home. But your real home, this side of heaven, is your heart.
Your heart is home to your soul and your emotions as well as your thought life. Your attitudes, habits, and dreams are found there.

At Home in Your Heart: Inviting Christ into Every Room is written for women of all ages, backgrounds, and stages of life. Each day in this sixty-day devotional by Carol McLeod includes an essay on the thought for the day, a heart inspection, prayer, and words from Scripture. Topics include: Is Anybody Home?; Blessed by the Begats; A Song at Midnight; Wear God Out; and many more, all offered with Carol’s characteristic humor, love, and affection.

If you are a Christian, Jesus lives in your heart with you, no matter what condition it’s in. If there are problems, however, He wants to clean until His hands bleed. Carol invites you to walk through the rooms of your heart to identify the issues that Christ is shining His light on.

“Jesus wants to paint your heart the color of white snow,” she says. “He will gently move around priorities, set things out for the trash man, and replace every outdated attitude with His unconditional love and inexpressible joy. He can take a home that has been literally demolished by the storms of life and rebuild it into a palace fit for a king.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

The president and CEO of Carol McLeod Ministries, Carol McLeod is a popular speaker at women’s conferences and retreats. She is the author of a dozen books, including Rooms of a Mother’s Heart: A Sacred Call and an Eternal Purpose, Vibrant: Developing a Deep and Abiding Joy for All Seasons, Significant: Becoming a Woman of Unique Purpose, True Identity, and Irrepressible Hope; StormProof: Weathering Life’s Tough Times; and Guide Your Mind, Guard Your Heart, Grace Your Tongue.

Carol hosts a twice weekly podcast, A Jolt of Joy! on the Charisma Podcast Network, and a weekly podcast, Significant. Her weekly blog, Joy for the Journey, has been named in the Top 50 Faith Blogs for Women. Carol also writes a weekly column in Ministry Today.

She has written several devotionals for YouVersion, including “21 Days to Beat Depression,” which has touched the lives of nearly one million people around the world. Her teaching DVD The Rooms of a Woman’s Heart won the prestigious Telly Award for excellence in religious programming.

Carol was also the first women’s chaplain at Oral Roberts University and served as chaplain on the university’s Alumni Board of Directors for many years.

Carol has been married to her college sweetheart, Craig, for more than forty years and is the mother of five children in heaven and five children on earth. Carol and Craig also happily answer to “Marmee and Pa” for their captivating grandchildren.

 

More from Whitaker House

By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it
is established; and by knowledge the rooms are filled with
all precious and pleasant riches.
—Proverbs 24:3–4

You might suppose that your home is 83 East Academy Street…or 6555 Alleghany Road…or 16 Willow Lane. But it’s not. You can frantically inspect every printed map and strategically pore over every listing in an address book, but you will never discover your actual home at a zip code, on a street, or in a city.

You may presume that your particular home consists of three bedrooms and a bathroom…or a massive family room…or a farmhouse kitchen. But again, your actual home has nothing to do with the floor plan that lies under the roof of the home in which you live.

Perhaps when you think of home, you remember the childhood house in which you hung stockings along the mantle on Christmas Eve, blew out candles on eighteen birthday cakes, and colored Easter eggs every spring! But even that home, where you began your journey and where you were shaped as an individual, is not your true home either. The home of your earliest memories will never be the home of your adult realities.

Your real home—this side of heaven, of course—is your heart. Your heart is where you live day in and day out. Your heart is the hidden but obvious home in which you live.

Your heart is where you collect clutter, but it is also where you receive company, fill up trash cans, and then remodel. The wonderful, miraculous part of you that is vibrantly alive lives within the canyons of your heart.

Your heart is home to your soul, which is the birthplace of your emotions. It is also where your thought life is framed. Many people are deceived into believing that their thought life begins in their minds, but this is not the case. Your thoughts and attitudes make themselves at home in your heart.

What about your habits? Where do they live? It is easy to discern that both good habits and bad habits, which efficiently determine the exact floor plan of your life, can easily be found residing in your heart. Even your dreams, which are often beyond your wildest imagination, can be found hanging out unassumingly in your heart.

Your heart is the part of you that sometimes longs to escape from its earthly address. Your heart feels constrained by the white picket fence that you so lovingly built around the parameters of your life. Your heart is the part of you that is never content with who you are or what you are becoming.

Your heart is your real home. It is the place where the “you” that vitally matters lives and breathes. This “you,” who no one else knows, lives life with reckless abandon, glorious intensity, and holy intention in your heart.

Your heart is the most sacred part of your life because it is there that Christ has lovingly taken up residence. If you have invited Him in, He lives in your heart, and you should honor His presence day after day after day.

But perhaps an important question for you and me to answer is, “What else is living in my heart with Christ?”

Have you allowed attitudes, habits, and dreams that should not be a part of your life to live side by side with Christ? Maybe some of our hearts need a deep and detailed housecleaning due to the clutter that has accumulated, the trash that has yet to be taken out, and the out-of-date décor that we foolishly insist doesn’t look all that bad!

Jesus will live in your heart no matter what condition it is in. However, once Jesus takes residence in one’s heart and shares that personal address, He wants to clean until His hands bleed.

Jesus wants to paint your heart the color of freshly fallen snow.

Jesus longs to redecorate the house that you call home into a sanctuary of hope and peace.

He will gently move around priorities, set out the trash, and replace every outdated attitude with His unconditional love and inexpressible joy.

Jesus can take a dilapidated shack that has been built with rotten wood and miraculously turn it into a glorious temple! He can transform an unstable and cracked foundation into one that is steady and secure. He can take a home that has been literally demolished by the storms of life and rebuild it into a palace fit only for a King.

My friend, not only will He be more at home in your sparkling, restored, and renewed heart, but the greatest miracle of all is that so will you! You will love what He does with your heart and you will gulp in the splendid atmosphere that only His dear presence provides. His goal, as the Divine Builder, is to fashion your heart into His home.

As you walk through the front door of your heart, holding His hand, you will find the place where you were always meant to belong and the place that wondrously calls your name. At last—you are home with Him!

You will find contentment in the heart that you call home when He holds the keys. As you examine the masterpiece that He has created, you will be amazed by the wonder and wisdom that His lordship has brought. Most of all, you will find that His presence has filled your home with joy!

I’d love to invite you to come with me on this restorative journey that will transform your heart into a home of comfort, stability, and peace. We will discover nooks and crannies in your heart that have been wonderfully designed for learning and growing. We will dispose of every outdated appliance and replace each one with eternal truth; we will repurpose every dream into a masterpiece of prayer. As we allow the Lord to be the Architect, the Builder, and our sure Foundation, our hearts will become a place of divine residence. And we will each utter with a whisper of worship, “Welcome home, Jesus. Welcome home!”

My Thoughts

At Home in Your Heart is a devotion that is written by  Carol McLeod. This devotion really had me searching deep and far into my own heart. When I review books, I know that the order I read them in is God's own timing. I have been struggling with some things lately, and God knows what they are. This book helped me look at, pray over and sort through the issues. 

I love how this book is broken up. It is broken up into nine parts. Each part has several chapters that will have you unpack the topic. Each chapter you unpack helps you clear the clutter and cobwebs out of your heart. Jesus lives in our hearts and we want to let his love shine through us. If we are holding onto a lot of negativity, stress, ugliness, etc we can't do that. 

The book is a great balance of personal stories, and bible truths. I have read devotions by this author before and I have always felt peace when reading and praying through it. This would be a good small group women's study. I de cluttered a lot during my time in the study. 

Thank you to the author, publisher and Celebrate Lit for allowing me to read a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own. 

Blog Stops

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 30

Texas Book-aholic, March 31

She Lives To Read, April 1

Inklings and notions, April 2

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, April 3

Locks, Hooks and Books, April 4

For Him and My Family, April 5

deb’s Book Review, April 6

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, April 7

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, April 8

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, April 9

Christina’s Corner, April 10

Splashes of Joy, April 11

Cats in the Cradle Blog, April 12

Mary Hake, April 12

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, April 13

Giveaway

To celebrate their tour, Whitaker House is giving away the grand prize package ofa $20 Starbuck’s gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/1c56d/at-home-in-your-heart-celebration-tour-giveaway

Book Review - Canyon Survival by Connie Queen

 

ABOUT THE BOOK 

Ambushed in the canyon

with no memory of why…

Waking on a cliffside with bullets firing and two unknown children at her side, Annie Tillman knows she must run—even if she doesn’t know why. Dashing to the nearest ranch leads her to former FBI agent Riggs Brenner, who just might be their best chance of surviving in the canyon. But can Annie overcome her amnesia and uncover the reason why they’re being chased?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Connie Queen married her high-school sweetheart. Together they’ve raised eight children and are enjoying their grandchildren. As a child, Connie remembers her mom and sisters reading, but she preferred to be outside. It wasn't until later, she found the joy of being whisked away into another world. Today she resides in Texas with her husband, and Murphy, her Great Dane, where she’s working on her next suspense. 

Connect with the author: HERE

MY THOUGHTS

Canyon Survival is a Love Inspired Suspense Book that is written by Connie Queen. This book has all the action and does not take much time in between to let your heart beat normally again. When a woman wakes up on the side of a ledge with two children she does not know who they are and someone shooting at you she has no memory of anything. While she is not sure how she got the children, the overwhelming urge to protect them is strong. She meets Riggs while she is trying to escape gun fire. Riggs does not immediately believe her story 100% of the amnesia, but agrees to help her and the children. 

Slowly we start to learn this woman's story. Who is chasing her, who the children are and what secrets she tries to keep buried deep inside. Riggs has his own secrets, his wife and child were killed in a house explosion which he blames himself for. I enjoyed watching the two of them unravel the woman's identity and if the children are part of a child trafficking ring. 

Non Stop action, danger, suspense, romance, and so much more! Well written characters, suspenseful storyline, and an enjoyable Spring read. I received a copy of this book through JustRead Publicity Tours, all thoughts are my own. 

Book Review and Giveaway - Death Valley Double Cross Author: Dana Mentink On Tour with Celebrate Lit

 

About the Book

Book: Death Valley Double Cross

Author: Dana Mentink

Genre: Inspirational Suspense

Release date: February 22, 2022

A killer seeking revenge

will stop at nothing to get it…

Pilar Jefferson is shocked to learn that her supposedly deceased father is alive and has been in prison—and now his ruthless former partner is after her. Fleeing on her wedding day was the best way to protect her loved ones. But now with her mother held for ransom and her ex-fiancé, Austin Duke, stumbling back into her life, can she keep everyone safe—and escape an assassin?

From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.

Desert Justice

Book 1: Framed in Death Valley
Book 2: Missing in the Desert
Book 3: Death Valley Double Cross
Book 4: Death Valley Hideout

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Dana Mentink is a USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author as well as a two time American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award winner, and a Holt Medallion winner. She is the Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of over fifty titles in the suspense and lighthearted romance genres. She is pleased to write for Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense, Harlequin Heartwarming and Poisoned Pen Press. You can connect with Dana via her website at danamentink.com, on Facebook, YouTube (Author Dana Mentink) and Instagram (dana_mentink.)

 

More from Dana

I remember standing on the edge of the lookout and gazing into the wonder that is Artist’s Palette in Death Valley. Artist’s Drive, which takes you to this breathtaking view, rises above Badwater Basin (the lowest spot in North America) and then meanders along twisting canyons and hills until it brings you to this popular tourist stop. The premier view is a place called Artist’s palette. It’s a sprawling pocket of color, hues of rose, ochre, green and gold tucked in the rippling landscape and teased to life by the desert sun. Isn’t that just like God? To lead us to surprises and wonders that await us in a sometimes hostile world? Every day we spent in Death Valley held a surprise, from the rocks that move mysteriously across the sands to the towering twists and turns of 20 Mule Team Canyon. There are only two things to do with a wonderous place like that…enjoy the divine bounty, and write a novel set there so others can come along!

I hope you will enjoy this third installment in the Desert Justice series. The first is Beckett’s story and then we had quiet cowboy Levi’s adventure. Now it’s brash pilot Austin’s turn. Will he get his happy ending after being dumped at the altar and wrecking his shoulder in an accident? Turn those pages and come with me to Death Valley to find out!

My Thoughts

Death Valley Double Cross is written by the one and only  Dana Mentink. Dana is one of my most favorite authors, and it is always an honor to be on a tour that is featuring her book. This book is book 3 in the Desert Justice series. I have read books  1 and 2, however, it is not necessary to read them in order. The author will mention previous characters, but you will not feel like you are missing anything. This is part of the Love Inspired Suspense line. 

One of my most favorite things about this author is the fact that she always starts her books off with action - and it does not let up throughout the whole story. She grabs you into the plot within the first chapter. I read this book in one day. Pilar Jefferson left ex fiancé  Austin Duke at the alter six months ago. She never gave Austin reasons why - and suddenly their paths cross again when Austin brings a senior dog (Oh how I loved Chunk) to her door step. Austin is SHOCKED to see Pilar and is scared for her safety when someone tries to break into her apartment while he is there with her. 

Pilar's father was part of a armored car robbery gone bad. He went to prison and Pilar always thought he was dead until her mother tells her the truth. Pilar realizes that her father's partner thinks that Pilar and her mother have the money hidden somewhere that was never recovered and will not stop until he gets his hands on it. If that means harming or worse Pilar and her mother - then so be it. 

Austin gets caught up in the whole mess. He was deeply hurt when Pilar left with no explanation. However, his heart knows that he needs to keep her safe. He enlists the help of friends and family - but they are still stand off ish towards Pilar. Can he protect her? Will they figure out where the money is?

The author writes such great descriptions in her stories. You can picture yourself on scene watching the story unfold. Her characters are well written, the story line is unique and intriguing. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series. Thank you to the author, publisher and Celebrate Lit for allowing me to read a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own. 

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, March 29

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 29

Daysong Reflections, March 30

Texas Book-aholic, March 30

Lighthouse academy, March 31

Inklings and notions, March 31

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, April 1

Betti Mace, April 1

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, April 2

Pause for Tales, April 2

For Him and My Family, April 3

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, April 3 (Author Interview)

deb’s Book Review, April 4

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, April 4

Locks, Hooks and Books, April 5

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, April 6

Life, Love, Writing, April 6

Bigreadersite, April 7

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, April 7

Bizwings Blog, April 8

For the Love of Literature, April 8

Blogging With Carol, April 9

HookMeInABook, April 9

Simple Harvest Reads, April 10 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

Paula’s Persuasion, April 10

Blossoms and Blessings, April 11

Sodbuster Living, April 11

Labor Not in Vain, April 12

Through the fire blogs, April 12

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Dana is giving away the grand prize package of the first three books in the series (Paperback for U.S. Only) and a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/1c112/death-valley-double-cross-celebration-tour-giveaway

Book: Touch of Innocence Author: Robin Patchen on tour with Celebrate Lit

 

About the Book

Book: Touch of Innocence

Author: Robin Patchen

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release date: January 25, 2022

From a USA Today bestselling author comes a gripping story of mystery, romance, and pulse-pounding suspense.

How can she save the little girl next door from being exploited if nobody believes her?

Grace used to try to save people, but that was before she realized how powerless she is. Now, she avoids emotional ties, working from her secluded cabin, content with her aloneness. When eight-year-old Lily starts hanging around, Grace enjoys her company but carefully keeps her distance—until she discovers the girl is being exploited. Little though she wants to, she must get involved, even if it means risking her own safety to secure Lily’s.

Andrew can’t help but be drawn to his new neighbor and her beautiful foster child. When he learns about Lily’s disturbing history, he offers to help Grace prove her suspicions about the girl’s father. But the more they learn, the more puzzling Lily’s history seems. They work together to unravel the mystery, determined to ensure Lily ends up with a family who loves her.

But Lily’s father isn’t giving up his muse—or his obsession—that easily. He believes Lily is rightfully his, and he’ll do anything to get her back.

Don’t miss this thrilling page-turner, the latest in the addictive Coventry Saga.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Robin Patchen is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of Christian romantic suspense. She grew up in a small town in New Hampshire, the setting of her Nutfield Saga books, and then headed to Boston to earn a journalism degree. After college, working in marketing and public relations, she discovered how much she loathed the nine-to-five ball and chain. After relocating to the Southwest, she started writing her first novel while she homeschooled her three children. The novel was dreadful, but her passion for storytelling didn’t wane. Thankfully, as her children grew, so did her writing ability. Now that her kids are adults, she has more time to play with the lives of fictional heroes and heroines, wreaking havoc and working magic to give her characters happy endings. When she’s not writing, she’s editing or reading, proving that most of her life revolves around the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. Visit https://robinpatchen.com/subscribe to receive a free book and stay informed about Robin’s latest projects.

 

More from Robin

I love everyman-hero stories.

I know detectives and FBI agents and other law enforcement officers are fighting crime and solving mysteries all the time, but I love stories where regular folks—the kind who live next door and work in supermarkets or sell insurance—suddenly find themselves in the middle of a mystery—one only they can solve.

Maybe it’s my own longing for adventure (while living a life that consists largely of sitting in my office wearing yoga pants and tapping away on a keyboard) that leads me to write these kinds of stories

Touch of Innocence has that everyman… er, woman character, a reclusive former child therapist who wants nothing more than to be left alone. The problem is, Grace has a gift (which she calls a curse) that enables her to “see” that her eight-year-old neighbor, Lily, is being exploited by her child-pornographer father. But since Grace doesn’t have any proof, only the impressions she received when she touched the child’s palm, the police don’t do anything to rescue little Lily.

So Grace takes matters into her own hands.

As the villain so aptly puts it, she “blows up her entire life for the sake of a girl she barely knows.”

And that all happens in the first chapter. Then it gets really interesting.

There’s so much talk in the world about doing things for the greater good, for the benefit of the many, not the few, but that wasn’t Jesus’s way, was it?

Jesus didn’t die for the collective good. He died for you and me. He left the ninety-nine to seek out the one.

In a way, Touch of Innocence asks if one forgotten little girl is worth the cost of the heroine’s security, maybe even her life?

What is the value of one life, and how much are we as believers willing to sacrifice to save?

I think it’s a question worth exploring.

A little FYI about the book: I was very careful not to have any explicit scenes. Though the reader gets the sense of what Lily’s been through, there are no descriptions or images you’ll wish you hadn’t seen. I did my very best in this story to highlight a terrible thing that’s happening all over the world while at the same time honoring my readers and, above all, the Lord.

My Thoughts 

Touch of Innocence is part of the Coventry Saga series that is written by Robin Patchen. 

I have not read all the books in the series. However you can read them all as stand alones. 

One of the things about this author is she always writes such action packed suspenseful stories that leave you guessing until the last moment. The book deals with sensitive subjects but the way the author deals with it is full of grace and tact. 

The characters are well written. Grace used to love to save and help people. Now she holds everyone at a distance. When her young neighbor starts visiting Grace, she notices something off about the girl. However no one will listen. Andrew is drawn to the two of them and is the only person who believes Grace. Can they figure out out before something happens that can’t be fixed? 

 I received a copy of this book through the Celebrate Lit blogging program, all thoughts are my own.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, March 23

Blogging With Carol, March 23

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 24

Texas Book-aholic, March 25

Inklings and notions, March 26

For Him and My Family, March 27

Betti Mace, March 28

Spoken from the Heart, March 29

deb’s Book Review, March 29

Locks, Hooks and Books, March 30

Mary Hake, March 30

Maureen’s Musings, March 31

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, April 1

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, April 2

Blossoms and Blessings, April 3

Livin’ Lit, April 3

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, April 4

Simple Harvest Reads, April 5 (Guest Review from Mindy Houng)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Robin is giving away the grand prize package of Convenient Lies, book 1 in the Nutfield Saga, and Glimmer in the Darkness, book 1 in the Coventry Saga, along with a coffee mug!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/1bc9a/touch-of-innocence-celebration-tour-giveaway