Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

book giveaway

I gave up fiction for Lent, but you can still win a prize

Before I gave up reading fiction for Lent, I devoured the new book, Cold Shot, by Dani Pettrey. And to celebrate the launch, Dani is hosting a giveaway with some amazing prizes.

Things like this:

GRAND PRIZE:
Cold Shot Sweepstakes Grand Prize

ROAD TRIP REUNION GETAWAY

In COLD SHOT, Griffin reunites with friends after they’ve drifted apart over the years. Do you have a friend you want to reconnect with? Here’s your chance to hit the road with them for a friend getaway!

Our Grand Prize winner will receive: A $250 gift certificate to BedandBreakfast.com, good for reservations at lodges across the Continental US, plus a $50 Darden restaurants gift card, and a Chesapeake Bay tote bag, to pack your road trip essentials.

SECOND PRIZE:

FINLEY’S FAVORITES PACK

Cold Shot Sweepstakes Second Prize
Finley has a lifelong love of travel and exploration, something captured in her cozy home decor, right down to her steamer trunk coffee table. This prize gives you a chance to have a steamer trunk just like Finley’s, and a coffee table book from the Chesapeake Bay to go with it.

Our Second Prize winner will receive: A $150 value cedar wood steamer trunk and vivid Maryland coffee table photo book.

 

TASTE OF MARYLAND KIT

Cold Shot Sweepstakes Third PrizeTHIRD PRIZE:
COLD SHOT is sure to leave you with a craving for the mouth-watering snacks Griffin, Finley, and the rest of the crew enjoy in the story. If you wish you could sample Chesapeake’s one-of-a-kind local fare too, this prize is for you.

Our Third Prize winner will receive: The beautifully lithographed, $50 value Taste of Maryland Tin, including the Chesapeake Bay Cookbook and famed local treats such as Old Bay Seasoning, Maple Syrup, Maryland crab soup mix, specialty dip, and Goetze’s Caramel Creams.

 

The series takes place in Pennsylvania and Maryland, in and around the Chesapeake Bay area, and these look like some great prizes! You have until March 7 to enter, and you can do that by clicking the banner below, or here:

Enter the COLD SHOT Sweepstakes from Author Dani Pettrey
So, enter the contest, and then get your hands on a copy of the book. Here’s an excerpt, to peak your interest:

In COLD SHOT, the first book of author Dani Pettrey’s brand new Chesapeake Valor series, park ranger Griffin McCray and forensic anthropologist Finley Scott uncover buried remains near the Civil War battleground of Little Round Top. There’s only one problem: the bones aren’t Civil War-era.

Griffin just wants the case to go away, but when Finley discovers evidence pointing to the work of an expert sniper, the case connects them with FBI agent Declan Grey, and crime scene investigator Parker Mitchell, friends from a past Griffin’s tried to leave behind.

Soon the reunited friends realize they’ll need to confront the darkest days in their shared history if they–and those they care about–are going to escape a downward spiral of crime, danger, and murder.

It’s an exciting adventure, and a dynamite start to a new series!

The beauty of winter: Review of Wildflowers from Winter by Katie Ganshert

I didn’t like Bethany Quinn at first. She seemed stuck-up, full of herself and operated with an attitude that she was better than other people.

But as with most first impressions, I was too quick to judge.

wildflowers from winterBethany’s story unfolds on the pages of Wildflowers from Winter, the debut novel from Midwest (yay!) author Katie Ganshert, and the more I got to know Bethany, the more I sympathized with her. A small-town girl with some deep wounds, Bethany hightailed it out of town when she turned 18 and didn’t look back. Now, she’s an architect at a prestigious firm in Chicago with a lawyer boyfriend, living the life she imagined. A family tragedy draws her back to her Iowa hometown and Bethany finds that escaping her past, and the memories both good and bad, wasn’t as easy as she thought.

Wildflowers from Winter is a story of loss and redemption. Bethany thinks she has it all, and when she loses the “sure things” in her life, she starts to question her life and future. She gave up on God years ago but she discovers that He hasn’t given up on her.

Ganshert’s writing is simple and poetic. The story flows like the stream winding its way through Bethany’s grandfather’s property and gently carries the reader along. And there are moments, not an abundance, where her words convey a solid truth, like a giant rock perched in the middle of the stream, and you sit with the wisdom for a little while before moving on with the story.

Her descriptions of the small town and the surrounding farmland made me homesick for my hometown in Illinois. Yes, I love the beauty of the mountains here, but I will always miss the farmland scenes. Maybe that’s something only Midwesterners can appreciate. Anyway, I could see it the way Ganshert described it, and I wanted to be there. I’d call that successful scene setting.

And Evan the farmhand? Well, let’s just say he’s a gruff, charming, passionate, hard-working leading man in this story. I loved him.

The story tackles grief of all kinds in all seasons, as well as the ways people cope and move on. There are sob-caught-in-your-throat moments and bring-a-smile-to-your-face moments. I look forward to the continuing story in Wishing on Willows, coming this spring.

You can read the first chapter of Wildflowers from Winter here.

And I have a copy for you!

Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win your own copy. I’ll pick a winner using Random.org and post the results on Monday, January 7.

For additional chances to win: “like” Author, Katie Ganshert’s Facebook page, or share about this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter. (One extra entry each.) Come back here and leave another comment when you’ve done the “extra credit.”

—————-

In exchange for my review, I received a free digital and print copy of Wildflowers from Winter from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group.