REVIEW WEDNESDAY - The Doctor's Distracting Bride

Good morning, friends!

Already been a week and it's only Wednesday! Thankfully, I had a story to distract me.

AMAZON

BLURB:

Dr. Stephen Ambrose likes his world orderly. His medical instruments are labeled, his routines timed, and his patients cared for with quiet efficiency. What he never expected from Miss Mabel’s matchmaking service was a whirlwind bride who brings more laughter than silence and more peppermint lozenges than medical charts.

Della Tate has spent years volunteering in San Francisco’s free infirmary, learning every trick of nursing without ever earning a certificate. She’s cheerful, determined, and convinced that God has called her to help others, even if her new husband would prefer she sweep floors and keep quiet. But the people of Hickory Creek adore her, even as she turns Stephen’s carefully controlled life upside down.

When a mother and child nearly lose their lives in childbirth, the resulting controversy summons Stephen and Della before the Texas Medical Board. The hearing could cost him his license and her the chance to serve beside him. As uncertainty looms, both must decide whether love and faith are strong enough to withstand the weight of doubt—and whether God’s plan for them is larger than their fears.

With humor, heart, and a touch of Miss Mabel’s divine mischief, The Doctor’s Distracting Bride is a Christian Western romance about courage, calling, and discovering that sometimes God’s best prescriptions come wrapped in laughter and love.

They ask for quiet, obedient brides. Mabel sends them the ones with fire.

The Doctor's Distracting Bride is Book 6 in the Bride's of Miss Mabel's Registry.

London James has an interesting voice with her books. First off, Miss Mabel doesn't connect couples necessarily what they ask for. She has an innate ability to read between the lines to make the perfect match.

She also uses a unique trope. Rather than the 'Cinderella', 'Enemies to Lovers', etc, she uses stories from the Bible. For this one, she called on the Book of Ruth. Definitely a unique way to tell a contemporary (or in this case Historical romance) love story. I found her way of getting the couple's attention to their own predicament refreshing.

While she tells a great story, I did find a couple of editing issues, including an entire paragraph duplicated, one right after the other on a page. There were a couple minor editing issues as well. For the editing only, I'm giving a slightly lower quill rating this week. 

I'm giving The Doctor's Distracting Bride...

. 8

All my best!

~ Angela

THE WRITER'S NEST - Parris Afton Bonds

 I have been wanting to have Parris Afton Bonds as a guest for a very long time. The only thing that kept holding me back was the fear of rejection... you know... that little demon that targets all of us at one time or another.

Normally, that demon does't pester me but I just couldn't fathom someone of her caliber having time for little ol' me. LOL 

I'm here to tell you that Parris Afton Bonds is one of the sweetest people I now count as a friend. She's smart, funny, encouraging and as down to earth as can be. She is letting us into her Writer's Nest. Let's take a peek.

Describe your writing nest?

My writer’s space really is a “nest.”  Four-feet-wide, it creates the same feeling I create for sleeping, my bed mounded on three sides of me with pillows.

What is it about this space that inspires you? 

Absolutely nothing.  I remember reading a comment by the famed author, Louis L’Amour.  His office had this panoramic expanse of Colorado’s heavenly landscape.  But he purposefully faced his desk to a wall, so as not to be distracted.  A major portion of my NY Times best seller Deep Purple was written sitting on a bed before a desk (there was no room for a chair) in a two-bedroom trailer, with five sons in the other bedroom.

Has finding your space been an evolving journey? How so? 

Not to a great degree.  J.K. Rowling wrote much of the Harry Potter series in a variety of cafes.  I believe our writer’s space is in our minds.

Anything you would change? 

Not a blessed thing.  I have been so fortunate.

What advice would you give to someone looking to build their own nest? 

You already have all that you need ~ your imagination, curiosity, love of reading and writing.  Go for it!

AMAZON

I recently read The Brigands - Volume 1 of The Texicans. Fabulous book! I'm looking forward to reading book 2. I really want the full series in hard copy for my keeper shelf. 

You'll find Parris Afton Bonds via the following links:

WEBSITE   FACEBOOK   INSTAGRAM   TWITTER   AMAZON

Make sure to subscribe to her email list to stay up to date on new releases and give aways!

 

BARBARA BETTIS - Guest Author

I have a lovely surprise for you today. Barbara Bettis is a member of Ozarks Romance Authors in Springfield MO. I've known her for several years. I find her to be delightful, generous and fun. She pours her heart and soul into her writing and her debut novel, SILVERHAWK, is a shining example. I hope you'll enjoy our visit today. Then scoot on over to AMAZON to get your copy.

 Hi Angela,
Thanks so much for hosting me today.
My pleasure, Miss Barbara. I've compiled a list of questions for both readers and writers. A little something for everyone. Let's get started!


Where is your favorite place to write?
My favorite place to write new words is at my desk, where I can be alone. I edit at the dining room table when there’s no one else in the house. Otherwise, it’s back in my office.

Do you have a writing routine?
Yes. It’s bad.  Actually, I do have to work on getting social media and promotion in balance with writing.

Which comes first – Characters or Plot?
Character. Sometimes character and plot come together, but usually I see the people in my mind first.

Which of the following do you struggle with the most: Characterization, Plot, Emotions, Passive Voice  And do you work through the challenge?
I think the one thing I have to really work on is emotion. I always have to go back and layer it in. But the positive thing is, I’ve realized that it’s okay to do that. I don’t have to have everything there the first time through.

What is the best writing advice you’ve received?
Don’t worry about making it perfect the first time through. For years I thought I had to have the first part just right, and the rest would flow from there. I took me awhile to see for myself that no matter how ‘right’ I thought the chapters, they’ll probably be changed when I go back for the edits.

If you could travel forwards or backwards in time, which direction would you go and what would you most like to experience when you arrived?
No doubt—back in time to the Regency period or the Middle Ages.  Although I’d love to see my knight and live in a castle,  in actuality, early castles could be cold and damp and uncomfortable and smelly. Life, even for most nobles, was hard compared to what we have today. Although I might want to visit, I don’t think I’d want to remain there, because—no pain meds and the sanitary conditions were appalling.

Tell us something that can make you smile, even on your worst day.
Of course, my grandchildren. But they’re not always around. If I want a guaranteed smile, I read the back pages of my Columbia Journalism Review for all the headline and wording errors from newspapers and magazines. I remember making some of my own. But they weren’t nearly as funny. LOL

Most romantic thing a guy has ever done for you?
My husband was wonderful to do little, unexpected things for me and his support was absolutely phenomenal. One of the things I recall is his surprising me by moving with me for six months to Fayetteville, Ark., while I was doing my resident status for my doctorate. I’d thought I’d have to take a room somewhere for the week and drive home on weekends, or drive back and forth every night. He treated the months as a ‘vacation.’ We closed up the house and took an apartment in Fayetteville.  It turned out to be among the most wonderful experiences we shared. To me that was more romantic that all the flowers, etc., that he ever brought me. (Oh how sweet!)

Favorite Comfort food?
Anything chocolate. I absolutely believe in its calming effects. LOL. However, after hugely stressful and traumatic events—ice cream. I don’t have a favorite flavor. But I do love hot fudge. 

Favorite thing to do to relax?
I actually like to talk to friends. Otherwise, a good book, especially one by an author I know and like. I have a keeper bookcase and if my TBR pile is down, I go for a book I’ve already read and that I love. It’s like revisiting old friends.

Tell us a little about SILVERHAWK
He’s everything a proper lady should never want; she’s everything a bastard mercenary can never have.

Would you share an excerpt with us?
This scene is taken from the Lady's Garden. 

Lady Emelin knelt at a patch of straggly flowers. As Giles advanced, the bright moonlight cast his shoulders as a darker shadow on the ground ahead. By the rigid set of her back, he knew she heard him. He couldn’t explain what had prompted him to veer off course, to seek her out.

Now he stood in the midst of a dead garden, in the heart of Lincolnshire, unsure of his intent.

Emelin sat back on her heels with an exaggerated sigh. “Would you move your shoulders, Sir Knight? They block what meager light I’ve found.” If a tone could cross its arms and tap its toe, hers did. A lightness inside him felt shockingly like a smile.

That’s why he was here. She amused him.

“Where would you like me to move them, my lady?”

“London, I should think.

You show her attitude well and I love her candor as to where she'd like him to move. That line always makes me smile.

So where can our visitors purchase your book?
SILVERHAWK is available at Amazon -  http://tinyurl.com/m49lzkq


SILVERHAWK will be in wide release in November 2013

That's wonderful, Miss Barb. Thank you!  And thank you for being with us today. 
Here's a little bit more about Barbara Bettis:
Award winning author Barbara Bettis has always loved history and English. As a college freshman, she briefly considered becoming an archeologist until she realized there likely would be bugs and snakes involved. And math.

She now lives in Missouri, where by day she’s a mild-mannered English teacher, and by night she’s an intrepid plotter of tales featuring heroines to die for—and heroes to live for.

Visit her at: http://barbarabettis.com and www.barbarbbettis.blogspot.com

You will also find Barbara:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarbaraBettisAuthor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/BarbaraBettis