Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Inspirational
June 30, 2011 | Thursday | 0 Comments
I have two RITA® Reader Challenge reviews for this book, which finaled in the Inspirational romance category. The first is from Gail, and the second is from ReadinginAK. Gail gave this book a B, while ReadinginAK gave it an A. I’ve averaged those two to a B+. Plot Summary:His plan was simple—convince Caroline Hudson to take in his children as wards. Widower Tyrone Justice is stunned when the Nantucket schoolmistress requests a wedding instead! But really, what could be simpler than a marriage of convenience? Tyrone’s children will have stability, Caroline will have security…and neither Tyrone nor Caroline will have…
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June 29, 2011 | Wednesday | 0 Comments
Emily reviewed this book for the RITA® Reader Challenge. It finaled in the Inspirational category. Plot Summary: In Brussels at the height of WWI, a small, underground newspaper is the only thing offering the occupied city hope-and real news of the war. The paper may be a small whisper amid the shouts of the German army, but Edward Kirkland will do anything to keep it in print. Meanwhile, Isa Lassone, a Belgian-American socialite whose parents whisked her to safety at the start of the war, sneaks back into the country to rescue those dearest to her: Edward and his mother.…
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June 28, 2011 | Tuesday | 5 Comments
Everybody, this is Lindlee. She reviews a mo-ton of books for the RITA® Reader Challenge. This book finaled in the Best First Book category. Plot Summary: Jericho “J.T.” Tucker wants nothing to do with Coventry, Texas’s new dressmaker. He’s all too familiar with her kind—shallow women more devoted to fashion than true beauty. Yet, except for her well-tailored clothing, this seamstress is not at all what he expected. Hannah Richards is confounded by the man who runs the livery. The unsmiling fellow riles her with his arrogant assumptions and gruff manner while at the same time stirring her heart with…
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June 28, 2011 | Tuesday | 1 Comments
A RITA® Reader Challenge review was not submitted for this book, which finaled in the Best First Book category. I’ve collected some strong reviews for this book, but am not going to assign a grade. Plot Summary: Caring for his traumatized son is widowed FBI agent Luke Tanner’s number one priority. But when he becomes temporary fire chief in a small mountain town, a case sparks out of his control. Luke suspects the late former chief of arson and murder—until the man’s daughter returns to Pine Lake. Kitty McGuire is determined to prove her father was framed. As they work…
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June 27, 2011 | Monday | 4 Comments
This is a new one for the RITA® Reader Challenge: Reina tried to read it, and couldn’t get through the book. So it’s a DNF/ Did Not Finish for her. But the description and her review might signal that it’s a book that may appeal to you. Plot Summary: “Are You My Dad?” The young boy’s question shocks Sloan Hawkins. Until Sloan realizes he is this child’s father. Years ago, the former bad boy was run out of Redemption, Oklahoma, where, ironically, he was thought unredeemable. The only people who believed in him were his beloved aunt and Annie Markham,…
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June 27, 2011 | Monday | 7 Comments
Lindlee, who is like Iron Chef RITA Reviews over here, read this novel for the RITA® Reader Challenge. It finaled in the Best Inspirational Romance category. Plot Summary: How can she expect anyone to believe her—when she can hardly believe it herself? FBI special agent Nick Bradley has seen his share of kooks during his fifteen years with the Bureau. But Rachel Sutton is an enigma. She seems normal when she shows up at his office—until she produces a tattered Raggedy Ann doll and tells him about a strange feeling of terror it gives her when she touches it. Nick…
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June 26, 2011 | Sunday | 0 Comments
This book did not receive a review in the RITA® Reader Challenge, and so I’ve found some strong reviews elsewhere to supplement the collection. I did not, however, assign a letter grade. This book finaled in the Inspirational Romance category. Plot Summary: Widow Rachel Boyd struggles to keep her ranch afloat and provide for her two young sons, though some days it feels as though her efforts are sabotaged at every turn. When her cattle come down with disease and her sons’ lives are endangered, she must turn to Rand Brookston, Timber Ridge’s physician and reluctant veterinarian. While Rachel appreciates…
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June 26, 2011 | Sunday | 5 Comments
This RITA® Reader Challenge review was written by Courtney, and this story finaled in the Best Novella category.
Plot Summary: Teacher Olivia Rose knows what it’s like to grow up alone and unwanted. But convincing reserved rancher Jules Parrish he can give his orphaned niece a real home won’t be easy—unless Olivia seizes the chance of love and motherhood she never expected….
And here is Courtney’s review:
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June 15, 2011 | Wednesday | 30 Comments
Lisa reviewed this book for the RITA® Reader Challenge, and unfortunately found it to be a difficult review to write in some respects. Plot Summary: Welcome To Redemption, Oklahoma The idyllic little town Cheyenne Rhodes has chosen for her fresh start is almost too welcoming. After all, she’s come here to hide from her past—not to make new friends. But single dad Trace Bowman isn’t about to let Cheyenne hide away her heart. He can’t ignore the special way she has with his daughter, Zoey—or how she’s reminded him of the power of real love. Now he needs to convince…
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June 09, 2011 | Thursday | 1 Comments
Author Gail Dayton reviewed this book for the RITA® Reader Challenge. This novel was nominated in the Best Inspirational Romance category. The plot summary: Marnie Wittier has life just where she wants it. Quiet. Peaceful. No drama. A long way away from her past. In the privacy of her home, she fills a box with slips of paper, scribbled with her regrets, sins, and sorrows. But that’s nobody else’s business. Her bookstore/coffee shop patrons, her employees, her friends from church—they all think she’s the very model of compassion and kindness. Then Marnie’s past creeps into her present when her estranged…
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June 08, 2011 | Wednesday | 5 Comments
Emily signed up to review four books for the RITA® Reader Challenge, and she really liked this one quite a bit. She also said that she would “like to thank my library which had a copy of Maid to Match.” Thank you, Emily’s library! Plot Summary? Why yes! From the day she arrives at the Biltmore, Tillie Reese is dazzled—by the riches of the Vanderbilts and by Mack Danvers, a mountain man turned footman. When Tillie is enlisted to help tame Mack’s rugged behavior by tutoring him in the ways of refined society, the resulting sparks threaten Tillie’s efforts to…
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June 02, 2011 | Thursday | 30 Comments
Steph tried out this inspirational romance for the RITA® Reader Challenge, but alas, it was not meant to be. Here is the plot summary: What happens when an idealistic student nurse encounters an embittered army doctor in a stagecoach accident? How will she react when she learns her training didn’t prepare her for tragic reality? How will he, an army deserter, respond to needs when he vowed to never touch another patient? Can these two stubborn mules find common ground on which to work and bring healing to West Texas? And now, Steph’s review: I am a huge inspirational romance…
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January 01, 2009 | Thursday | 11 Comments
Jessa Slade forwarded me the following covers from the personal romance collection of the late RubyLee Schneider. Jessa writes: She was the 81-year-old treasurer of the Rose City Romance Writers RWA chapter. She died this year and her library—these books among them—was distributed to the chapter members. While she might not have entirely approved of some of the language at SB, she did have a great sense of humor and would’ve cheered the spirit of community there. We miss her very much. Any woman who donates her collection of romance to her RWA chapter is a winner in my world.…
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December 04, 2008 | Thursday | 12 Comments
Ok, I admit it: I cried and cried reading the entries to the Love Letters giveaway entry. Seriously. Y’all. This was a hard one to judge. *sniffle* But after much lip-gnawing and snuffling, the five winners are: Mary Kate for “I walked up the first two stairs and realized that my dad was reading Sonnets from the Portuguese to my mom by candlelight. I crept back down the stairs and stepped outside to our front porch and sat on the stoop until my curfew so as not to disturb them.” Krista for “I came home after a rough day in…
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September 29, 2008 | Monday | 13 Comments
To all the Jewish readers of this here hot pink site: l’shana tova. This evening is the start of the Jewish New Year 5769. Seriously. Could there BE a more fabulous opportunity for Jewish inspirational erotica? I mean, 57 varieties of 69? Hide the pickle?! Here, I’ll even give you a visual for creative inspiration: I’d also like to share a greeting to all of you, Jewish or not, which I received today from an Israeli SBTB reader named Vera: Just wanted to Wish you a happy Jewish New Year, Shana Tova Ve Metuka. May your readership increase like the…
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