Reviews
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Day Three: Celebrate Lit Tour for Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise!
My virtual book tour of “Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise” continues today through Dec. 22, with Blog Stops each day (sometimes two!) by popular Christian literature bloggers. Today’s blog post is from Texas Book-aholic. Here’s what she has to say!
(Don’t forget to click through to her blog post to have a chance to enter the grand prize giveaway of a print copy of Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise and a $25 Amazon e-gift card! My review is the second one down…scroll on down to find it; although you may also want to read her review of Daniel Petronelli’s new book, The Seeds of Faith: A Christmas Miracle, on your way to my book post!)
Click the link below.
https://deana0326.blogspot.com/
MY REVIEW (This is Texas Book-aholic’s review, folks)
This has been such a fun book to read and I’m impressed that this is a debut book for the author. The wonderful characters become like family as I find myself enjoying each one. The setting is nice as we get a glimpse at Amish life. The author gives vivid details about raising goats and making baskets. These are just a few ways the Amish make money.
I would love to visit Jonas as he makes the baskets and gets them ready to sell. He has been raising his sweet daughter Abigail on his own since the death of his wife. I admire how dedicated he is to Abagail and his determination to raise her in a Godly home. When he meets Ruth I started wondering if there would be any sparks between them. He has thought about Abigail needing a mother so perhaps he should open his heart to a new relationship.
Ruth is such a good character. She lives on a big farm raising ghosts, making soaps and milk to sell. I laughed when the bishop stopped by with a proposal that took Ruth by surprise. The thought of selling her farm is ridiculous, she thinks to herself. God will provide the answer she needs, so she prays and waits on Him. I love how kind Ruth is and her desire to help others.
The story is filled with faith, hope, surprises and a new beginning for several characters. I loved getting to know the author’s writing skills and can’t wait to read her next book.
I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.
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Wait, What? Day Two of my Celebrate Lit Tour has TWO blog posts, with two reviews! Here is the second, from Blogger Mary Ann Hake:
(Spoiler: She liked the book!)
Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise by Anne Blackburne, A Review
“A great new Amish read. Both main characters have lost their spouses. Jonas has a precocious young daughter, and Ruth was never able to have children. Life pushes them together, and they could help each other out, but is that God’s plan for their future? Then the bishop’s granddaughter pushes her way into the community and sets her sights on Levi. This endearing tale quickly draws the reader in and makes them care about these realistic characters. The story offers some circumstances a bit different than typical Amish novels and drops you into an engaging story world to hang out in for a while. The book contains plenty of twists and troubles, making readers wonder how everything will ever all come out right. And the cookie title also is the name given to Ruth’s new kitten. This new author will be one to look for in the future. I received a copy from Celebrate Lit. All opinions are my own.”
Link to purchase book: https://amzn.to/3Qhc0wg
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Publishers Weekly Review of Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise!
I’m a happy author today, as yesterday something unexpected happened; something I didn’t even know was a thing until I received an email telling me it was!
One of the amazing folks at Barbour Publishing emailed me yesterday to tell me my debut novel, “Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise“, which comes out December 1 from Barbour (have I told you this before – maybe 10 times??) had received a very good review from Publishers Weekly.
I was thrilled to learn I’d received a good review, but I didn’t understand the significance of this particular review. Of course, I’ve heard of Publishers Weekly. But I wasn’t certain how important their good review of my novel was.
So I Googled them!
Here is the result: “A Publishers Weekly review is the most highly regarded review in the publishing industry. It is a capsule book review of about 200 words. PW reviews are primarily geared toward helping booksellers and librarians decide which books to purchase.”
Hold the phone: I received a very good review from the most highly regarded source in the publishing industry? May I just say, wowsers!
I’ll copy the link to the review at the end of this blog post. It made me feel very good, saying things like,
“Blackburne debuts with a stirring second-chance Amish romance featuring a 33-year-old widow who struggles to start over with the help of a mischievous pet kitten—and possibly a new beau.”
And . . .
“Blackburne delicately weaves Ruth’s and Jonas’s tenuous hopes for happiness with their conflicted feelings about moving on from their first marriages, lending the narrative depth and resonance. Readers will look forward to the next outing from this promising new voice.”
Oh boy, oh boy!
It’s as if I hadn’t realized yesterday was Christmas, and woke up to a lovely gift I didn’t expect.
Whomever the anonymous review at Publishers Weekly is, God bless you! You’ve made me very, very happy!