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Beyond the Horizon by Penny Zeller Review and Giveaway

December 10, 2024December 12, 2024 Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: Beyond the Horizon

Author: Penny Zeller

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: November 5, 2024

She’s desperate to keep her job.
He’s desperate for solitude.
What is God’s plan in this complicated situation?

Ruby Shepherdson has worked hard to secure her job as a reporter for The Horizon Herald. After a costly mistake, Ruby’s unforgiving boss gives her an ultimatum to either interview the handsome and reclusive Jake Lynton—or lose her job. But each time Ruby has attempted to obtain an interview, Mr. Lynton has refused. Why would anyone who has saved the lives of four people deny recognition? And why does she find herself drawn to the man?

Jake Lynton just wants to be left alone. Haunted by the past, he runs from both guilt and God by leaving home and somehow finding himself in Horizon, Idaho. His hopes of living as a recluse are foiled when a pesky, but beautiful reporter insists he allow her to interview him about a good deed gone awry. Despite Jake’s efforts, Ruby Shepherdson persists, soon endearing herself to him while somehow remaining endlessly annoying.

Jake’s story isn’t the only one Ruby seeks to publish. When rumors of ill dealings come to her attention, she sets forth to uncover the truth—truth someone does not want revealed. As danger emerges and an unanticipated enemy determines to keep Ruby silent, will Jake fit the pieces together in time to rescue her? Or will he lose the woman who has found a place in his heart?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Penny Zeller is known for her heartfelt stories of faith-filled happily ever afters and her passion to impact lives for Christ through fiction. Her books feature tender romance, steady doses of humor, and memorable characters that stay with you long after the last page.

While she has had a love for writing since childhood, Penny began her adult writing career penning articles for national and regional publications on a wide variety of topics. Today Penny is a multi-published author of over two dozen books and is also a fitness instructor, loves the outdoors, and is a flower gardening addict. In her spare time, she enjoys camping, hiking, kayaking, biking, birdwatching, reading, running, and playing volleyball.

Penny resides with her husband and two daughters in small-town America and loves to connect with her readers.

More from Penny

Thank you so much for joining me for the Beyond the Horizon blog tour. I am super excited to share Ruby Shepherdson’s story with you and can’t wait for you to meet newcomer Jake Lynton. Below is an excerpt from the first chapter. Happy reading!

Horizon, Idaho, 1895

For a moment, she was the world-famous reporter, Ruby Shepherdson, author of the latest award-winning article.

Ruby closed her eyes and imagined seeing her name below the numerous articles and stories she submitted to Mr. O’Kane, the editor of The Horizon Herald. The editor from the prestigious Boise City Chronicle, who was just happening to visit his mother in Horizon, would peruse the pages of The Horizon Heraldand become engrossed in one of Ruby’s engaging articles. He would then invite her to submit a monthly story to his well-read publication.

But alas, such a fanciful dream would have to wait.

Ruby resumed scrubbing one of Papa’s shirts on the washboard. There was no fictional editor from The Boise City Chronicle visiting his mother in Horizon. And until Ruby’s shipment of her Smith Premier typewriter arrived from the R. Altman & Company in St. Louis, Missouri, she would continue to dip her pen in ink and handwrite each and every composition she submitted to the cantankerous man who’d become her boss just one year ago last week.

Not that she minded tending to everyday chores, including laundry on Mondays, for she didn’t. As a matter of fact, Ruby’s highest aspirations were to marry someday and be a wife and mother. But until the Lord saw fit to allow a suitable gent into her life, she would continue on the path of writing.

Ruby hung the shirt on the line and proceeded with washing the next item when she noticed a buggy rounding the curve to their farm. She stood tall and placed her hands on her lower back to stretch the tightness from hunching over the washboard. A closer perusal indicated Wilhelmina, one of Mama’s best friends, was paying them a visit.

Wilhelmina, a permanent smile on her round face, folded Ruby into a hug. “It’s so nice to see you. Your ma and I are planning some new recipe ideas, but first, I was asked to deliver a message.”

It didn’t surprise Ruby that Mama and Wilhelmina would be experimenting with recipes. After the Bible, Mama’s favorite book was Recipes from Augusta’s Kitchen, a book she’d purchased when she and Papa first married. “A message?”

“Yes. Tabitha said to tell you that your special purchase has arrived.”

The air caught in Ruby’s lungs. “My special purchase? It has arrived?”

“That’s what she said.”

Not caring how unladylike it might be, Ruby let out an enthusiastic squeal, threw up her hands in excitement, and danced a little jig.

“Might be that you are thrilled to hear this news,” teased Wilhelmina.

“Oh, yes. Not only thrilled but exhilarated. I’ve waited forever for this momentous occasion.”

My Impressions

“There’s nowhere better to be than resting in the Lord’s arms. Reckon that’s the safest place for us to be.”

It’s time for another visit to Horizon, Idaho, circa 1895, guided by Penny Zeller’s historical prairie western voice. In bk 3, Beyond the Horizon of the Horizon series, we meet a struggling female journalist and a curmudgeonly, isolationist farmer.

Ruby Shepherdson is fighting hard to make a career for herself as a journalist, starting by working for the local paper, where her competition is the editor’s rich, spoiled niece. When a chance for the story of a lifetime comes, she begins badgering newcomer Jake Lynton to give her an interview.

Jake is running from his past and God. He moved to Horizon for anonymity, and he has no desire to let a beautiful but pesky redhead bring his past where everyone can see and judge.

I always enjoy Penny Zeller’s humorous, easy story-telling style. The family camaraderie and banter is fun to see. As expected by now, I found several truth nuggets. What surprised me was how much a few of them would suddenly apply to me as real life took a turn as I read the story. That’s when I know I have read a novel I love and want to share- when I find bits that strengthen me in my daily life, even as I’m entertained. Thank you, Ms. Zeller!

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

Notable Quotables:

“While perspectives have their place, truth is always the best option.”

“Because people were more important than articles. Even articles that ought to be written.”

“I realized that while I can blame God for what happened, I’ll never know the peace I could know while being distanced from Him.”

“…one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. He does not see time as we do. We see the tintype version, but He sees an enormous painting.”

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Magnificent! Sweet romantic , humorous, story of Old West with Truth woven in still applies today!

Blog Stops

Madi’s Musings, December 10

lakesidelivingsite, December 10

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, December 11

Life on Chickadee Lane, December 11

Lighthouse Academy Blog, December 12 (Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)

Pens Pages & Pulses, December 13

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 14

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 15

Texas Book-aholic, December 16

Pause for Tales, December 16

Book Looks by Lisa, December 17

Cover Lover Book Review, December 18

She Lives To Read, December 19

Locks, Hooks and Books, December 20

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 21

Mary Hake, December 21

For Him and My Family, December 22

Holly’s Book Corner, December 23

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Penny is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card!!

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

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54115

BLOG, Celebrate Lit Tour, Kindle, Purchase, Wild Heart Books

Trail to Love by Susan F. Craft

October 8, 2024 Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: Trail to Love

Author: Susan F. Craft

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: September 17, 2024

A widowed father…a heartbroken nanny…and a wagon train journey that will change their lives forever.

Since the death of her fiancé, Anne Forbes has given up on the life she thought she’d have. After taking a role as nanny to her two young nephews, she’s grown close to her brother’s family—a replacement for the one she never had the chance to start. But when she accompanies them on the wagon trail to their new life in South Carolina, a handsome and gallant widowed father who’s also part of the group catches her eye and her heart, making her wonder if God might have plans of love for her after all. If only the beautiful woman the man escorts didn’t have her sights set on him.

Michael Harrigan never considered remarrying after the death of his wife. No woman could ever compare. But when he meets the gentlehearted Anne while escorting his sister-in-law on their journey to the Blue Ridge Mountains, he’s taken aback by Anne’s lovely voice and her compassion. As they face the trials and adventures of life on the trail, he finds himself open to the idea of marriage for the first time in many years.
But when disaster strikes the wagon train, Michael and Anne must work side-by-side to save lives. In the midst of their struggles, can they find a way to abandon their separate trails of grief and hardship for the trail to love?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Susan F. Craft retired after a 45-year career in writing, editing, and communicating in business settings.

She authored the historical romantic suspense trilogy Women of the American Revolution—The Chamomile, Laurel, and Cassia. The Chamomile and Cassia received national Illumination Silver Awards. The Chamomile was named by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance as an Okra Pick and was nominated for a Christy Award.

She collaborated with the International Long Riders’ Guild Academic Foundation to compile An Equestrian Writer’s Guide(www.lrgaf.org), including almost everything you’d ever want to know about horses.

An admitted history nerd, she enjoys painting, singing, listening to music, and sitting on her porch with her dog, Steeler, watching geese eat her daylilies. She most recently took up the ukulele.

More from Susan

A History of Buttons

In my Christian Historical Romance, my main character, Anne Forbes, is a tailor and seamstress. When she arrives in Philadelphia from Scotland in 1753, she visits several shops and is amazed by the huge supply of buttons.

Buttons have been around for 3,000 years. Made from bone, horn, wood, metal, and seashells, they didn’t fasten anything, but were worn for decoration.

The first buttons to be used as fasteners were connected through a loop of thread. The button and buttonhole arrived in Europe in 1200, brought back by the Crusaders.

The French, who called the button a bouton for bud or bouter to push, established the Button Makers Guild in 1250. Still used for adornment, the buttons they produced were beautiful works of art.

By the mid-1300s, tailors fashioned garments with rows of buttons with matching buttonholes. Some outfits were adorned with thousands of buttons, making it necessary for people to hire professional dressers. Buttons became such a craze that the Church denounced them as the devil’s snare, referring to the ladies in their button-fronted dresses.

In 1520 for a meeting between King Francis I of France and King Henry VIII of England, King Francis’ clothing was bedecked with over 13,000 buttons, and King Henry’s clothing was similarly weighed down with buttons.

In the 16th century, the Puritans condemned the over-adornment of buttons as sinful, and soon the number of buttons required to be fashionable diminished, though they were made from gold, ivory, and diamonds.

By the mid-1600s, button makers used silver, ceramics, and silk and often hand painted buttons with portraits or scenery.

The late 17th century saw the beginning of the production by French tailors of thread buttons, little balls of thread. This angered the button artisans so much that they pressured the government to pass a law fining tailors for making thread buttons. The button makers even wanted homes and wardrobes searched and suggested that fines be levied against anyone wearing thread buttons. But in la Guerre des Boutons, it’s not clear that their demands went beyond fining of tailors.

Towards the end of the 1700s in Europe, big metallic buttons came into fashion. At this time, Napoleon introduced the use of sleeve buttons on tunics. This time period saw the development of the double-breasted jacket. When the outside of the jacket was soiled, the wearer would unbutton it, turn the soiled surface to the inside, and re-button.

Thread buttons were used on men’s shirts and other undergarments from the late 17th into the early 19th century. Cheaper, they wouldn’t break when laundresses scrubbed and beat the material. They were also used on shifts and undergarments because they were soft and comfortable. Other types of thread buttons were death head buttons, star buttons, basket buttons, and Dorset buttons. Some said that death head buttons were called that because they resembled a skull and crossbones, memento mori, a reminder that life is short and should be lived as well as possible. Dorset buttons originated in Dorset in southern England where they became a cottage industry. Families, prison inmates, and orphans were employed in the manufacture of thousands of Dorset buttons each year, which were used throughout the UK and exported all over the world.

Bone button molds, slightly domed on one side and flat on the other, were common in the mid to late 18th century. Button molds were used to make both cloth and thread (passementerie) covered buttons.

Horn buttons were used mostly for spatterdashes and gaitered trousers. These strong durable buttons were competitive in price with other types but available in limited numbers in the 18th century since the making of them was slow.

Many colonial American buttons were made from seashells, wood, wax, and animal bones. The bones were boiled for 12 hours, cut into small pieces, shaved around the edges and had a hole punched through them with an awl. The shape was up to the maker — round, oval, square, rectangular, or octagonal.

Brass buttons, functional and ornamental, were also popular in colonial America. In 1750 in Philadelphia, a German immigrant, Caspar Wistar, made brass buttons guaranteed for seven years. He later opened the first successful glass making factory in the colonies.

(I want to thank the William Booth Drapers of Racine, WI, for some of the information provided in this post. Please visit their website at http://www.wmboothdraper.com where you’ll find a treasure trove of books about 17th and 18th century fashion — shoes, slippers, hats, bonnets, buttons and trimmings, etc., and Packet books about sewing. Fantastic resource. Thank you, William Booth Drapers.)

My Impressions

“…there’s something about this country. Being around the people on this train. Hearing about their hopes and dreams has inspired me in a way I haven’t been in years. I crave more than what I had. I dream of becoming an independent woman…a tailor…with my own shop.” ~Anne

Susan F. Craft’s series, The Great Wagon Road, has added a new, exciting third book, Trail to Love. Can Michael Harrigan, a young widower, accompanied in the wagon train by his sister-in-law and her flirtatious friend, make a favorable impression on Anne Forbes? Anne has immigrated from Scotland with her brother’s family, acting as nanny but also employing skills as a tailor and seamstress. The dangers and problems the wagon train and Michael and Anne in particular run into are very believable.

Anne seems so capable of doing almost anything needed, plus having a calming, take charge attitude, I was actually relieved to see her have a few flaws! However, I loved seeing how she chose to forgive others that wronged her, making friends out of those who could have been enemies.

I was most impressed by Michael’s quick thought to turn to prayer in trouble and his leadership ability, as well as his quickness to help those in need.

It was fun to see the beauty of the country through the eyes of someone who had never seen much of America before. It was really interesting also, to see how the adventuresome, entrepreneurial attitude of the settlers was something that drew one in and attached itself to others.

A fave character in the book is Cate. So grown-up, polite, yet adventurous and loving all in one package.

Author’s notes at the back offer some insight into different historical aspects of the story.

I received a copy of the book from Celebrate Lit, plus I bought my own copy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“You have lived more in these past months than some experience in a lifetime.” ~Iris

“She had once held a piece of rare satin in her hands, made a wrong cut, and damaged it beyond repair. Would she repeat that mistake with this life-changing decision?”

“Frightened people do strange things.”