• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • The words
  • The writer
  • The work

Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Archives for June 2014

The only way to thrive

June 12, 2014

I’m not much of a flower person, but when I met my husband, he was working for a landscaping company. The first flower he ever brought me was a pink Gerbera daisy plant. We weren’t dating yet, but I was hooked. On him and the flowers. In our seven years of marriage, we’ve yet to have a place to call our own, so I haven’t given much thought to lawn care and landscaping and gardens and flowers.

Until last year when we moved to a 19th century farmhouse now surrounded by commercial properties. For me, it’s a tiny bit of Eden (the name of a nearby township) in the midst of a business district, and our landlord has given us license with the yard.

Spring has been fun this year as we watch the yard burst with color. First, daffodils, then lilacs, now roses and some kind of dogwood, soon hyndrageas. Long before we lived here, someone thought to fill this space with beauty. rose bud

And I am grateful.

At the house we moved from, our landlord neighbors tended the flowers and the yard, sometimes with drastic measures. A few trees and bushes that graced the yard when we moved in gradually were removed completely until all we were left with was a towering conifer in the backyard that was sometimes stingy with its shade.

Still, it was something. But it also reflected that season of our lives.

Read the rest of my monthly post at Putting on the New here.

Filed Under: faith & spirituality Tagged With: gardening, putting on the new

Two kinds of heart-pumping action: Review of Raptor 6 by Ronie Kendig

June 11, 2014

From page one, Ronie Kendig’s latest story takes off and doesn’t look back. In Raptor 6, the first in her new Quiet Professionals series about the Special Forces, we’re immediately thrust into the volatile world of  international conflict. (Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of the book from Litfuse Publicity Group in exchange for my review.)

Raptor-6-252x384Kendig drops us into the action, then takes us back a few months to where the story begins. I like this method of storytelling because it gives me a hint of where we’re going. Although after a few chapters, I forgot what I’d read in the beginning because I was so caught up in the plot.

Here’s a summary:

His mission.

His team.

Captain Dean Watters keeps these parts of his life in laser-like focus. So when hackers threaten both his mission and his team, Dean’s Special Forces training kicks into high gear. Ten military super-secure computers are missing-which if opened, would give America’s enemies a blueprint of US military intelligence. Failing to stop the hackers isn’t an option.

Zahrah Zarrick is a missionary teacher to Afghan children in Mazar-e Sharif. She’s also a target. Her expertise in quantum cryptology makes her an unwitting pawn in the hackers’ deadly game. They’re coming for her, and Dean and his team must stop them.

Before the team can get to Zahrah, she disappears. Now Dean must race to rescue her and stop the hackers from unleashing terror on millions across the globe. But to do so, Dean will be forced to crack open the steel box around his heart-a move that might come at the highest cost.

I’m a newish fan of Kendig’s writing. She’s well-versed in military acronyms and jargon, which can take some time getting used to but which move the story along at her trademark rapid-fire pace. The action never lets up, and as the stakes increase, so do the feelings Watters and Zarrick have for each other. It’s not your typical inspirational romance, but for that, I’m glad. I enjoy a change of pace, and Raptor 6 delivers. I look forward to more in this series.

And to celebrate the book’s release, check out the giveaway taking place! You have a few more days to enter!

Don’t miss the first book, Raptor 6, in Ronie Kendig‘s new Quiet Professionals series. Ronie combines a dangerous romance and explosive action for a thrilling and satisfying ride. “Lock and load for this Spec Op, fighting under God’s ‘rules of engagement.'” —Bob Hamer, veteran FBI undercover agent and award-winning author



Ronie is celebrating with a Kindle HDX Giveaway!

raptor6-400-click

One winner will receive:

  • A Kindle Fire HDX
  • Raptor 6 by Ronie Kendig

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on June 15th. Winner will be announced June 16th on Ronie’s blog.

Don’t miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by Ronie’s blog on June 16th to see if you won.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: international suspense, litfuse publicity group, new releases, rapid-fire fiction, raptor 6, romantic suspense, ronie kendig, special forces

  • « Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • Page 6
  • Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Photo by Rachel Lynn Photography

Welcome

Hi. I’m Lisa, and I’m glad you’re here. If we were meeting in real life, I’d offer you something to eat or drink while we sat on the porch letting the conversation wander as it does. That’s a little bit what this space is like. We talk about books and family and travel and food and running, whatever I might encounter in world. I’m looking for the beauty in the midst of it all, even the tough stuff. (You’ll find a lot of that here, too.) Thanks for stopping by. Stay as long as you like.

When I wrote something

June 2014
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30  
« May   Jul »

Recent posts

  • Still Life
  • A final round-up for 2022: What our December was like
  • Endings and beginnings … plus soup: A November wrap-up
  • A magical month of ordinary days: October round-up
  • Stuck in a shallow creek
  • Short and sweet September: a monthly round-up
  • Wrapping the end of summer: Our monthly round-up

Join the conversation

  • A magical month of ordinary days: October round-up on Stuck in a shallow creek
  • Stuck in a shallow creek on This is 40
  • July was all about vacation (and getting back to ordinary days after)–a monthly roundup on One very long week

Footer

What I write about

Looking for something?

Disclosure

Lisa Bartelt is a participant in the Bluehost Affiliate Program.

Occasionally, I review books in exchange for a free copy. Opinions are my own and are not guaranteed positive simply due to the receipt of a free copy.

Copyright © 2025 · Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in