COTT: Featured Novel -- Baxter Road Miracle by Carlene Havel

I read Baxter Road Miracle in one day, simply because I really didn't want to stop until I got to the end. Bet you will as well. Kudos to Carlene Havel for sharing this story with the world. 

--Amazon Reviewer

Baxter Road Miracle

by Carlene Havel

About the book: 

Can faith move mountains? The Youngbloods are about to find out.
Henry Youngblood is determined to plant a new church in Buffalo Creek, despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Meanwhile, his pregnant wife worries about paying the bills. One daughter dreams of a college education she cannot afford, and the other wants nothing more than popularity. It will take a miracle for the Youngblood family’s dreams to come true.

PURCHASE

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

What COTT voters had to say:

--I love covers with churches on them.

--Thank you for well written words that speak truth.

--Keep writing those good books!

--I'm reading it now and can't put it down!

--Excellent book.. wonderful author!

--You are an awesome woman of God. You are an inspiration and a great author.

Q&A with Carlene:

Q: The book is categorized as ‘historical.’ When does it take place?

A: The setting is during the early 1960s, when good girls didn’t kiss on the first date. When smoking a cigarette in the high school bathroom was a huge scandal. When parents disapproved of bleached hair, eye shadow, and short skirts. When an idealistic preacher decided to take on the world to fulfill his calling.

Q: Do you have another book on the horizon?

A: Of course – how nice of you to ask! Joan Alley at Prism Book Group came up with the idea of a series based on the characteristics of love. Each author selected a phrase from the First Corinthians description of love as the theme for a short novel. Mine is entitled “Evidence Not Seen,” based on love keeping no record of wrongs. It’s the story of an attorney whose father is returning home after completing a long prison sentence. If the relationships among the father, mother, and son are to survive, each one must let go of old hurts.

About Carlene:

Carlene Havel is an award-winning writer of Christian-themed fiction. She has lived in Turkey, Republic of the Philippines, and numerous US States. After a career in human resources and software development, she began writing in 2005. The Havels live in Texas, surrounded by their extended family.

Find more great new releases all year at Clash of the Titles!

COTT: January New Releases Clash

Hostess: Gail Pallotta January 2015, brought us many great fiction books. Contemporary, historical, young adult futuristic and a suspense novel round out this month’s Clash. Which of these will you put at the top of your to-be-read list?

***

During the 1960s, Henry Youngblood feels the call to plant a new church. Meanwhile, his wife

wonders how to pay the bills for the new baby, keep their teen-aged daughters under control, and temper the family’s dreams with reality.  

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Spain 1493: In order to flee the Inquisition, Isabel, accompanied by the husband she was forced to marry, must sail with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Indies. There, amid the hardships of the New World, her character is forged and her destiny reshaped as she comes to terms with who she is.  

***

When Jen unravels the family scandal within the walls of an English country manor, will she reveal the truth she’s hidden for so long as well? Or will she choose to live the lie in order to keep the man she loves?  

***

Sixteen-year-old Vivica Wilkins never questions her country’s pregnancy termination law for underage girls until she becomes pregnant. Now she must comply or fight to save her unborn child, but fighting means Vivica must abandon her mother, a powerful governor, and side with a rebel organization that’s determined to start a revolution.

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COTT: Carlene Havel, A Sharecropper Christmas

It's a new year, full of new books! But you can make Christmas last a little longer by enjoying Carlene Havel's latest novel, "A Sharecropper's Christmas." 

Also, help COTT ring in the New Year by entering our giveaway for a chance at three novels! Entry instructions can be found at the conclusion of Carlene's guest article. Enjoy!

PURCHASE THE BOOK

Amazon

B&N

Guest post by Carlene Havel

Someone asked me why I wanted to write about the 1930s. 

As a child, I loved to nestle in someone’s lap after dinner at my grandparents’ ranch while one story teller after another spun yarns from the Great Depression. “I tell you now, Boats, back in 1933, times was hard,” signaled the recounting of an adventure softened by subsequent years of prosperity. Great-uncle Boats got his nickname from the impressive size and shape of his shoes.  In addition to those extraordinarily long, thin feet, I inherited my family’s love for telling stories.

I was in high school before I realized my experiences were atypical.  For example, I saw my grandmother kill a rattlesnake when I was about four years old.  We were drawing water from the well in the back yard when the snake poked his head from beneath a pile of rocks. After arming herself with an iron crowbar, Alice calmly climbed onto the rocks--wearing her tall cowboy boots, of course.  The rattlesnake’s next peek was his last.

She didn’t normally use tobacco, but I remember Grandma Alice chewing a plug to apply to my bee sting. Long after others modernized, she prepared meals on a coal oil stove and churned her own butter. She could cook and sew and was pretty handy with a hammer and saw, too.  She let me feed the chickens and pet the horses, while Grandpa showed me the proper technique for milking a cow.

I never saw my grandmother measure an ingredient, but her cornbread, biscuits, and cobblers were legendary.  Her recipes include instructions to add liquid until the mixture looks right, and stir until the consistency feels good.  If she ever had a cooking failure, it must have been before I was born.

“A Sharecropper Christmas” is a novella loosely based on family stories and my own memories.  It is my tribute not only to my grandparents, but to a tough generation who endured enormous hardships.  My goal was to portray the determined perseverance of ordinary folks in the face of desperate poverty.

Description of “A Sharecropper Christmas”:  The Great Depression left the Shoemaker family hungry and homeless. Their desperate prayers are finally answered when Herbert Shoemaker finds work as a sharecropper. Alice makes the best of the hard times without complaint, though she dreams of giving her little family a special Christmas.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Carlene Havel writes Christian-themed romances and historical novels set in Biblical times. She's lived in Turkey, Republic of the Philippines, and all over the United States. Carlene worked for a banana importer, a software development company, and everything in between. She attended several colleges and universities, including one that--to her mother's surprise--granted her a diploma. Carlene and her husband live in South Texas, surrounded by their extended family.


FIND CARLENE AT THESE LOCATIONS:

Twitter  -  https://twitter.com/carlenehavel

Facebook  -  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarleneHavel

Amazon:  http://goo.gl/ugcII

GIVEAWAY!

Winner announced at http://www.clashofthetitles.com/

Monday, January 20, 2014

ENTER CONTEST HERE

By entering the contest, you understand that:
*The books may arrive in Kindle, Nook, or paperback format, according to each author's preference.
*Each author will send his/her book directly to the winner.
*COTT cannot be held responsible for prizes not received.
*Entry in this contest does NOT subscribe you to any feeds, newsletters, or other publications or networks