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A Scattering of Light by Lori Benton Review and Giveaway

June 11, 2026June 10, 2026 Babbling Becky L

Welcome to the Book Bee Blogger’s Choice Blog Tour with JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: A Scattering of Light

Series: Crockett’s Landing, Bk #1

Author: Lori Benton

Publisher: Story Architect

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Released: April 13, 2026

A Scottish drover spirited into servitude. A young Quaker woman wounded by loss. Their meeting will leave no heart unchallenged, no life unchanged.

Colonial Virginia 1734

Mourning her wayward brother’s death, Verity Wilde has turned her back on Williamsburg society, striving to live by her notion of true religion: to keep oneself unspotted from the world. But when she boards a ship to claim an indentured Scottish clerk, she’s unprepared to find another Scotsman, starved and gravely ill, left on deck untended. With scarcely more knowledge of the man than his name and place of origin—William Crockett of Skye—pity compels Verity to purchase his indenture too, meaning to provide the compassionate death denied him by the ship’s crew. Only he doesn’t die.

Will Crockett’s survival upends Verity’s carefully circumscribed life, while he awakens to find his world shattered beyond recognition. As they seek to reconcile their broken pasts, bitterness and fear vie with hope to chart their futures. Can they find the courage to trust each other, and a God who scatters light in the darkness?

Grab your copy here!

https://www.amazon.com/Scattering-Light-Crocketts-Landing-Novel-ebook/dp/B0GRG2MC68

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About the Author

Lori’s debut novel, Burning Sky, earned the 2014 Christy Award for First Novel, Historical, and Book of the Year.

Lori Benton was born and raised east of the Appalachian Mountains, surrounded by early American and family history going back to the 1600s. Her novels transport readers to the 18th century, where she brings to life the Colonial and early Federal periods of American history, creating a melting pot of characters drawn from both sides of a turbulent and shifting frontier, brought together in the bonds of God’s transforming grace.

Other Books by Lori Benton

Burning Sky

The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn

Many Sparrows

The King’s Mercy

The Pathfinders Series

The Wood’s Edge

A Flight of Arrows

The Kindred Series

Mountain Laurel

Shiloh

The Journey of Runs-Far

Books For Young Readers

Bear Country: A Teddy Bear’s Tale

Larkspur: A Mouse’s Tale

Connect with Lori and sign up for her newsletter at loribenton.com

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My Impressions

“His blessings freely scattered like light—readily seen if one didn’t close her eyes for fear of the darkness.”

If you are a fan of Christian historical fiction by Laura Frantz, Michelle Griep, or Shannon McNear, you will love Lori Benton. I first read her books years ago, but this book, A Scattering of Light, has been percolating for many years. I, for one, am ecstatic to re-welcome Lori Benton back to the historical romance world.

Benton re-enters with a smash-hit! A young Scotsman ( Will Crockett) is rescued from certain death aboard a slaver ship and his indenture sold to a young VA Quaker woman (Verity Wilde) and her musical, odd father. When Will actually survives, Verity must rethink his place on their small plantation. Will has but one thought on his mind, that of his wife, Jenny, who was conscripted with him, but who is unaccounted for.

A Scattering of Light is such a rich book it’s hard to know where to begin to describe it! It is full of diverse 18th century characters and their different levels of faith (from deep, hope-filled faith to none at all). The writing itself is both lyrical and dialect- rich. While there is plenty of action, the novel is also very character-driven. Will, with his take on righting wrongs and taking revenge, has to learn that man’s plans are not final. What a different story this would have been if they were. Jenny, kept apart from her husband, but a staunch believer, bids both Will and Verity via letter to trust the Almighty. “If all we ever dreamt for ourselves came true, but God was no’ in it … ’twould prove the worse for us.” Jenny trusts God with an impossible situation. Will retains an anger at God for the longest time. Verity, a professing Quaker, while kind and merciful,holds herself as spiritually superior to any who don’t keep exactly to her rigid beliefs. Again, Jenny with her soft ways and firm belief wears down some of the hardness of Verity’s heart. And, Verity’s friend whom she is constantly writing in the book, reminds her that in her severe observance of being “Plain,” she may be denying herself some of the blessings God has for her. “Was her hesitance not the godly prudence she believed it to be, but merely indication of what Jane cautioned her against? Rejecting God’s good gifts.”

These characters! So many great, noble ones that I loved. Great secondary supporting characters include Verity’s father Christopher, her father’s niece, Lucy Many-Beads, and Judah Looking-Wolf. Each is such a great support to Verity. While Christopher himself shows great growth in this novel, I am hoping for a story that tells more of Judah’s future.

Do yourself a huge favor and read this book! I bought an ebook and also a paperback for the keeper shelf. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“Will kent the look—the burden of not knowing, a grief not fully embraced, therefore never allowed to heal.” – Will

“I’d long held the Almighty to account for all I’ve lost, as though he was beholden to do my will, no’ the other way ’round.” – Will

“…my Religion is become a List of Works to perform, and those through more willing Hands, a far cry from what thee possesses, a Faith that shines in the Face of Losses as grievous as my own.” – Verity

“God always makes a way forward—and nearer to Him. Oft ’tis the hard things that work the greatest good in that way.” -Jenny

“Everywhere I turn I see the Almighty’s blessings, and as he never changes, why should the future worry me? Whatever we need, he’ll see it provided.” -Jenny

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Superior! Well-worth the years of waiting!! But, hopefully, the sequels will write themselves much faster! On my Short-List of 2026 Faves!

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Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a $30 gift card (winner’s choice of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christianbook, or Baker Book House)!

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight June 8, 2026 and lasts through 11:59 PM EST on June 15, 2026. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

Enter Giveaway

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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

BLOG, Celebrate Lit Tour, Favorite, Kindle, New-to-Me Author, Purchase

Queen of the Rockies by Angela Breidenbach Review and Giveaway

January 17, 2022 Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: Queen of the Rockies

Author: Angela Breidenbach

Genre: Historical Romance

Release date: September 1, 2021

What will her courage cost?
1889 (Helena, MT): As the gold rush era ends in the most elegant and modern city in the world and Montana emerges as a state, one woman must decide if social pressure will prevail over her own beliefs. Calista Blythe enters the first Miss Snowflake Pageant celebrating Montana at Christmastime to expose the plight of street urchins. But hiding an orphan could unravel Calista’s reputation, and her budding romance with pageant organizer, Albert Shanahan, if her secret is revealed. Will love or social pressure prevail? Courage is choosing to do the right thing regardless of the cost… Romantic, comedic adventure set in picturesque Helena, Montana written by a bestselling author who is also a professional genealogist.

Click here to get your copy!

My Impressions

“Miss Snowflake will be our new tourism queen. A representative of Montana’s grace and elegance. Her duties will be to help Helena, and Montana, become recognized as Queen of the Rockies to the rest of the world. Our businesses and economy depend on drawing tourists year-round.”

On the eve of Montana becoming a state, young, enterprising Albert Shanahan realizes that Montana needs to connect with the rest of the country and world if she will survive her soon-to-be-played-out gold rush. Enter his plan for a Winter Pageant involving young debutantes, Calista Blythe in particular, to help promote tourism in this beautiful new state.

I was delighted by this book. It has a swoon-worthy romance, timely themes, loveable waifs, and great quotes! Faith, courage, and pushing oneself beyond one’s comfort level to do right for the love of others are strongly encouraged.

I am always looking for secondary characters that make the storyline great or at least possible. Calista’s parents have to be on this list. While not always having the same views as Calista, they certainly love her and have great and even godly wisdom to pass on at just the appropriate times. “If I let other people’s behavior stop me because I made a mistake, I’d never follow the path God Almighty set before me.” “Daughter, there’ll always be unkind people out to trip you and laugh as you fall. Get back up and hold yourself with dignity.”

Charles and Mrs. Brown are also some of those people in this book for me, with their willingness to put everything on the line to help Calista. They even encourage her to trust God. “Sometimes, we just have to take the next step when we don’t get to see the whole path. That’s trust, Miss Calista, trust. Do you think you can trust God to show you the next step?” Then there’s Mr. Broadwater, the business mentor to Albert. Seemingly a small part of the story, he is a huge contributor to Albert’s success. “Success in business, my boy, is about timing and relationships.” He tapped his temple. “But it’s also about ingenuity. You might be in the midst of all three.”

And villains or antagonists. Every great novel needs at least one. Dora is a great one that I strongly disliked!! What an antithetical personality to sweet, loving, Calista who is always looking out for the best of others. “But for a pretty woman, her vanity and demeanor left a lot of beauty to be desired.” This is a truism we have been working to ingrain in our own children. Beauty is only as beauty does.

I should admit the obvious. I loved Calista and Albert and their struggle to romance! *Sigh!*

And the Montana visitor guide suggestions make me realize there’s more to Montana than open skies and open roads. New vacay destination ahead! Author’s notes enhance the story as well.

After finishing, I rushed to my fave online store to buy the rest of the series. I enjoyed this book that much. If you like historical fiction, impossible odds, or adults helping unwanted children, this book is a must-read!

I received a copy of this book from the author and publisher through Celebrate Lit. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

My Rating

Magnificent!! Loved it, Purchased rest of series!

About the Author

Angela Breidenbach is a professional genealogist, media personality, bestselling author, and screenwriter. She’s also the Christian Authors Network president. Angie lives in Montana with her hubby and Muse, a trained fe-lion, who shakes hands, rolls over, and jumps through a hoop. Surprisingly, Angie can also. Don’t miss her show and podcast, Genealogy Publishing Coach! Find her on social media: @AngBreidenbach

More from Angela

Queen of the Rockies captured my imagination and my interest in the originality of Montana’s entrance into the United States of America. The people of Montana are quite varied, a true but much unknown fact. People here come from around the world, completely different genealogical origins as well as backgrounds. The influence of gold mining, transportation, and entrepreneurship as well as the exploration of the wild and beautiful lands inspired amazing creativity for both survival and communities.

From completely uncivilized mining camps to stunning old-world know-how of the native peoples to about 100 different immigrant nations brought Montana to statehood. Today, many of those descendants still are here farming, mining, doing business. Many of those languages are still spoken. We have immigrant populations that have continued to come. So though Montana is thought to be nearly all-white Americans, that’s not anywhere close to the real Montana. Don’t believe everything you see on TV 😉 Come see for yourself.

Vibrant wildlife, dangers of the wilderness and weather, and the opportunity partnered with intensely hard-working conditions created more millionaires in one place than had ever been before. But that didn’t mean everyone knew how to handle that new wealth. Vigilantes, including a sheriff who robbed those he was supposed to protect, ran the ranges for years. The women who brought civilization tamed the men who couldn’t quite keep themselves under control. It’s these incredible women who braved the elements and the hardships that are the stars in my books. Come and meet them. They continue to inspire me today!

Touring and researching through Montana and especially the three original capitals (finally ending up with Helena) fascinated me. There’s so much to do year-round here. I enjoyed it so much that I wrote short travel articles at the back of each book for my readers. I really hope those articles will intrigue people to come and visit the ghost towns, living history towns, hot springs, mountains, and small cities. Each book in this 6-book series will share something special that may not be well-known but will be unforgettable for you as a tourist.

I hope the stories are fun, full of historic entertainment and romance, but also that you’ll have a fresh view of Montana that fires you up to come and visit our beautiful state.

Please remember to pop over to my website and send me a note through the contact page if you’d like an autographed bookplate for all of your copies of the Queen of the Rockies series. If you’re an eBook fan, I’ve heard of the brilliant idea to keep an album of your favorite authors’ bookplates. I’d be happy to send you those for an album as well.

Best wishes,

Angela Breidenbach

Blog Stops

lakesidelivingsite, January 17

Austen’s Angle: Jane Austen’s Influence in Modern America, January 17

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, January 18

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 19

Joanna Bair Author, January 19

Texas Book-aholic, January 20

Betti Mace, January 20

Inklings and notions, January 21

Connect in Fiction, January 21

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, January 22

For Him and My Family, January 22

deb’s Book Review, January 23

Blossoms and Blessings, January 23

Locks, Hooks and Books, January 24

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, January 25

Pause for Tales, January 25

Connie’s History Classroom, January 26

Tell Tale Book Reviews, January 27

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, January 27 (Spotlight)

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, January 28

Stephanie’s Life of Determination, January 28

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 29

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, January 30

Mary Hake, January 30

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Angela is giving away the grand prize 20-minute genealogy consultation to a winner via Zoom!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/17c5b/queen-of-the-rockies-celebration-tour-giveaway

BLOG, Celebrate Lit Tour, LPC

The Shopkeeper’s Widow by Izzy James Celebrate Lit Tour with Giveaway

September 5, 2020September 4, 2020 Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: The Shopkeeper’s Widow

Author: Izzy James

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: August 21, 2020

Delany Fleet, a widowed former indentured servant living in the colonial port of Norfolk, Virginia, dreams of having an estate of her own where she will never have to compromise her freedom.

When the only man she ever loved shows up with a load of smuggled firearms, Delany is forced to leave her home and her livelihood to protect her family and property from Lord Dunmore’s raids and the conniving plots of a man who claims to be her friend.

Now, with her destiny forever altered, Delany must find a new way to happiness. Can reconnecting with her husband’s family and a former love be the path that God has for her?

Click here to get your copy!

My Impressions

Historical romance. Colonial Virginia, 1775. A young girl falls into an unlikely crush with a rich landowner’s son, only to meet him years later under different circumstances.
My reading juices are salivating over such a description of The Shopkeeper’s Widow by Izzy James. This book’s rating was a conundrum for me, as I sorted out what I liked (a lot) and what I think would like to see different (sometime it would be fun to have an author write a story and have different people finish it, just to see the different opinions.) I would like to highlight that these wishes, especially for a different take, are MY OPINION.
Delaney Button Fleet, widowed owner of a toy shop in Norfolk, becomes an outspoken advocate of abolition, though it may not have been referred to as such in 1775.
Delaney chooses to align with the colonists when the British loot a local print shop.
First wish: I wished the book would have ended without the epilogue. I expected some rewarding tidbit to be uncovered but felt it was too abrupt.
Secondly, when I finished the book, I was left with a few loose ends, which I didn’t know how to secure.

For happy points, I did like that we were shown how much Delany enjoyed her nieces and nephews. A book always gains my interest when children are involved in a loving, wholesome way. I did appreciate how Ms. James shows that brothers can be very different and have very disparate values. Tom Fleet is the antithesis of his brother, Sam. Also, George and Freewill were opposites. One can only assume that children raised in the same home by the same parents still can make very different life-defining choices.
The novel is a little preachy in spots. I would prefer a more naturally flowing message, but I do agree it is life’s most important message.
I like romance but got a little impatient with Delany in her unwillingness to give Field Archer room to grow. However, Ms. James was on it. I loved that Sarah reminded Delany, “you have to allow for growth to happen at its own pace.” So, the heroine is flawed. Well and good, because so was the hero.

Now, with the list of pros and cons presented against each other, I gladly rate this historical novel a solid four stars.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author and publisher through Celebrate Lit. All opinions are solely my own and no positive review was required.

My Rating

Great!

About the Author

Izzy James grew up surrounded by history and story in coastal Virginia. She still lives there with her fabulous husband in a house brimming with books.

More from Izzy

Hello! My name is Izzy James. My new book is The Shopkeeper’s Widow. It’s about freedom and second chances. I learned quite a bit of history while researching and writing this book. Did you know that the first showers began to appear in the early 1760’s? I gave Delany one of them in Shopkeeper’s just for fun. It is not likely she would have had a shower at that time, but it is fiction and as such I thought it would be a fun detail to add. We do know that some people did rig up for themselves a semblance of a daily shower by using a bucket full of water suspended above them.