I’m a little late in getting this post written, but I wanted to be sure to let all my readers know about two very good books I read recently.

On Sparrow Hill by Maureen Long is the second book in her series, The Oak Leaves. I will admit that I didn’t read the first one when Ms. Long was gracious enough to add me to her “influencers” list and I got my copy of On Sparrow Hill directly from the publisher, but even so, I had no trouble enjoying this book thoroughly. I could tell there was a story before this one, but rather than making me feel I was missing something, it made me want to read the first one, just to see how they fit together.

The back cover says:

As the commercial manager for Quentin Hollinworth’s family estate, Rebecca Seabrooke is focused on just two things: making hers the most successful historic home in the country and forgetting the childhood crush shes had on Quentin since her father worked as his family’s valet. After all, they don’t exactly run in the same social circles.

But when she and Quentin uncover letters in the family vault written over 150 years ago by Berrie Hamilton, one of Quentin’s ancestors, Rebecca discovers that Quentin isn’t the only one with a legacy to appreciate. Only Berrie’s words can prepare Rebecca for the dramatic turn her life is about to take.

Ms. Long skillfully weaves the stories of the past and the present together, using Berrie’s letters to seque into Berrie’s point of view. An inherited disability affects both the past and the present and the letters help Rebecca not only advise a new friend on faith and trust but help her see that Quentin’s social standing and the gossip of tabloids need not be obstacles to happiness.

This is a lovely, special book for anyone who loves romance, family and stories of faith tested and faith triumphant.

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The next book I want to bring to your attention is Lethal Deception  by Lynette Eason.

Cassidy McKnight, daughter of an ambassador who is deeply involved in fighting against the crime of human trafficking, is kidnapped in South America, where she went to claim guardianship of the daughter of two missionary friends who were killed. Cassidy’s father hires Gabe Sinclair, a former SEAL with a secret in his past that concerns Cassidy’s brother.

Gabe rescues Cassidy and brings her and the toddler, Alexis, home and plans to go back to his own life. However, the danger to Cassidy isn’t over even after her kidnapper in South America is behind bars. Someone is still trying to kill Cassidy and possibly Lexie. Gabe can’t let that happen and his feelings for Cassidy war with this desire to keep his secret hidden.Is he willing to risk her disdain to tell the truth or will he let his renewed faith in God carry him through whatever happens?

Lethal Deception is an exciting book, but also one that will touch your heart. Cassidy and Gabe’s interaction with Lexie is priceless and the twists in the story will keep you reading. Just when you think you know all the answers, something new pops up and makes you ask yourself how you missed those clues.

I have a blog roll that I try to peruse every day. Don’t usually get through all of them, but I try. However, near the top of my list is a place called SF Signal. It’s a roundup of all that’s happening (at least all the author finds) in the worlds of science fiction and fantasy, whether it’s books, films or on TV.

Today he mentioned this post  by David Louis Edelman and I love it. If you’re looking for ways to help your favorite author, and surely you are because the more successful he/she is, the more books he/she will be able to write, check out some of this suggestions. My favorite:

…write about the author on your own site(s) and link to the author’s website. Got a blog or a website? It may seem like a no-brainer to write reviews of your author’s favorite works. But linking to the author’s website helps in a number of other, less visible ways: with Technorati ratings, with Google rankings, with Alexa rankings, etc. Not to mention having your favorite author’s name linked on your site is a constant tickler to your web visitors, who may be inclined to purchase something on your recommendation, but who might not always remember the name of the author you recommended.

This is a great way to get people going to your favorite author’s site and if he/she is anything like me, he/she checks the number of hits the site gets several times a week. It’s a great day when my site gets more hits than the day before! I’m always looking to see what brought people here and I try to make my content more reader friendly.

Check out Mr. Edelman’s post and let me know if you try any of this suggestions!

I assume a lot of you who read this blog are moms, and probably a lot of you need organization help. I know I do. I found a blog that was featuring giveaways from other blogs!

Check out:

Two Free Home Organization Books

Hidden Art of HomemakingThis elegant and insightful lady, wife of theologian Francis Schaeffer, reveals the many opportunities for artistic expression that can be found in ordinary, everyday life.

Messie No More: Understanding and Overcoming the Roadblocks to Being Organized
Revised and Expanded! Felton’s foolproof strategies can help even the most frazzled reader become “Messie No More.” With humor and much-needed affirmation, she sheds light on emotional and physical reasons for messiness and shows why most organizational systems don’t work for “messies.”

Head over to Heart of Wisdom and you can enter this giveaway!

I got a new gizzie for my Firefox browser this weekend, the BlogRovR. I’m still deciding if I like it, but the idea is that as I’m working, this thing will bring up; blogs that mention the webpage I’m viewing, as well as bringing me information about the blogs I’ve added to the list. So, in testing this out, I went to a blog I read regularly, SF Signal. Then I clicked on a link in one of his posts, which took me to an interesting blog post about a warehouse being built in England to store “books, journals and magazines that many of us have forgotten about or have never heard of in the first place.”

As a reader and a writer, I feel a little sad about this. I guess I understand the “need” to store information but you know, how does this impact authors who discover that their work is in a warehouse where, according to the article, it will be nearly impossible to find if someone should ever want it.

On the other hand, if these truly are publications no one wants, do we really have to store them somewhere?

What do you think?