In
growing up in a church, and then spending seven years in a Bible
College and Seminary, I was blessed to hear many outstanding and
gifted preachers and Bible teachers. Many used interesting stories or
illustrations to drive their points home. In listing of some of these
illustrations, I thought I would like to know more details. Sometimes
I wondered (thankfully not too often) if the details of the story
were really true or accurate as told. Beyond doubt, this could be
partly attributed to years of reading “Ripley’s Believe It Or
Not” feature in virtually every newspaper’s Sunday comics
section. With that in mind, I have included with each illustration
not only a title, Scripture verse and topic word, but also the source
of the historical story so anyone who is interested can, with the
help of modern technology and internet databases, not only find more
details regarding the story, but also find documentation to confirm
that each story can be validated.
The details of every
illustration are, as far as can be validated by historical records,
are true.
David
Young feels truly blessed! He is now retired and lives with his wife
Ruth in Sequim, Washington where he enjoys spending time with his
family, especially his 7 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren!
Destined for the hangman's noose, love is a dream he cannot afford...
When Blayne MacNeil agrees to be Miss Charlotte Russell's bodyguard, he doesn't expect her to expand the job description to fake fiancé. After twenty years in hiding, announcing his engagement to a viscount's daughter could prove fatal. For if anyone were to recognize him, he'd be charged with murder.
Determined to keep her independence in order to safeguard her writing career, Charlotte must avoid marriage. After all, no respectable gentleman would ever permit his wife to pen outrageous adventure novels. But when her most recent manuscript disappears, the roguish Scotsman posing as her fiancé becomes her closest ally - and the greatest threat to her freedom.
Born in Denmark, USA TODAY bestselling author Sophie Barnes spent her youth traveling with her parents to wonderful places all around the world. She’s lived in five different countries, on three different continents, and speaks Danish, English, French, Spanish, and Romanian with varying degrees of fluency. But, most impressive of all, she’s been married to the same man three times—in three different countries and in three different dresses.
When she’s not busy dreaming up her next romance novel, Sophie enjoys spending time with her family, swimming, cooking, gardening, watching romantic comedies and, of course, reading.
Erin Satie is joining us for the release blitz of her historical romance, Book of Love! Check it out and be sure to get your copy today!
Title: Book of Love
Author: Erin Satie
Genre: Historical Romance
About Book of Love:
She's trying to make ends meet. He's out for a bit of fun.Cordelia Kelly is busy, focused, worried about the future of her fledgling bookbinding business. When a handsome man stops her on the street to pester her with questions, she gives him the consideration he deserves: none.That handsome man happens to be the Duke of Stroud, and he finds Cordelia's hostility hilarious. He gives chase, if only for the pleasure of provoking her again.He thinks life is a game. She doesn't play around.Within days of meeting Cordelia, Stroud sets a marching band on a matchmaking mama, defaces a local monument, and ropes Cordelia into a round of his favorite game.In that same time, Cordelia stitches together the complete works of Mary Wollstonecraft, enthusiastically devotes herself to a petition demanding expanded legal rights for married women, and beats Stroud at his own game.She defies all expectations. So does he.Most people dismiss Stroud as a fool--himself included. When Cordelia sees past his lighthearted facade, he's terrified and also... in love?Stroud barges into Cordelia's life, offering her all the material and sensual temptations she's learned to do without. She usually has willpower to spare, but turning him down takes all of it, and then some. He's oddly irresistible.Or maybe they're perfect for one another.
The dog stood about eight inches tall and half as wide, exquisitely detailed, with shiny black eyes and a little pink tongue lolling out from its open mouth, painted toenails peeking out from a fringe of fur. Cordelia picked it up and, finding the statuette fairly light, turned it upside down. A scroll of paper poked out from the hole in the base.Ruby swore under her breath.“Have we fallen into one of your novels?” Cordelia asked, not entirely in jest. She plucked the paper from the dog’s belly and returned the sculpture to its spot—slowly, giving herself time to gather her courage—before carefully unrolling the note. Rules of the Game
You have one week to deliver Homer the Roamer to a new owner.
You may employ any and all means at your disposal.
Do not get caught!!!
If you are caught, you must try again.
Each attempt must be unique. Once a delivery attempt has failed, you must devise a new scheme.
Once you are successful, you may enter his new address into the Official Register at Stroud House.
A picture of two hounds rampant stamped in red wax marked the end of the letter, in lieu of a signature.”
About Erin Satie:
Erin Satie is the author of the dark and elegant No Better Angels series, historical romances set in the early Victorian period. She’s currently hard at work on her upcoming series, Sweetness & Light, which should be just as elegant but not quite so dark. Erin is a California native who’s lived on the coasts and in the heartland, in tiny city apartments and on a working farm. She studied art history in both college and graduate school—research is always her favorite part of starting a new book. Her favorite part of finishing a book, whether reading or writing, is the happily ever after.
Hazel Trethow is infatuated with a notorious rake despite her father’s plans to betroth her to the heir of a wealthy barony. Her scheming to find a love match for her dearest friend and herself turns into a scandal that could ruin them both.
Harold Hobbs returns home from business in India with a plan to save his family from ruin. He does not anticipate his father’s plot to wed him to Miss Trethow. When he meets his intended, sparks fly.
This is the love story of Hazel and Harold as they find love in the most unlikely of places.
About The Author
Celebrated for her complex characters, realistic conflicts, and sensual love scenes, Paullett Golden puts a spin on historical romance. Her novels, set primarily in Georgian and Regency England with some dabbling in Ireland, Scotland, and France, challenge the norm by involving characters who are loved for their flaws, imperfections, and idiosyncrasies. Her stories show love overcoming adversity. Whatever our self-doubts, love will out.
Andromeda is the most frustrating creature Granby has ever encountered. When their insults turn to flirtation and the heated discussions between them lead to passionate kisses, will Andromeda succumb to their mutual attraction? Fans of steamy historical and enemies to lovers romances will devour The Design of Dukes by Kathleen Ayers, the next book in her Beautiful Barringtons Series.
Praise for Kathleen Ayers
"I loved this story. Kathleen rarely disappoints..." - Nazim, Goodreads Reviewer
"Great read... she writes books that keep you reading through the night." - Barbara, Goodreads Reviewer
"Chemise. Stockings. Piano. What a fantastic line from this book. What a passionate scene when it does happen. All the angst and tension leading up to that moment was worth waiting for." - Theresa, Goodreads Reviewer, The Theory of Earls
Lady Andromeda Barrington is the most unsuitable young lady in London.
At least in the Duke of Granby’s opinion.
Granby doesn’t care for bastard relatives or tainted pedigrees and Andromeda possesses both. Nor does he like opinionated young ladies who enjoy hurling insults in his direction.
Andromeda is, in short, the most annoying creature he’s ever met.
When she arrives, uninvited, to a house party given at his estate, Granby can’t decide whether to kiss Andromeda senseless or send her packing.
Andromeda is the victim of infatuation and bad luck.
The infatuation is that of her sister for the Earl of Blythe, but the misfortune belongs solely to Andromeda after she is forced to attend a house party hosted by the Duke of Granby. She and the duke are previously, unpleasantly, acquainted. The entire party is bound to be awkward, and their mutual dislike difficult to hide. Her only recourse is to avoid the giant block of ice masquerading as a duke. Thankfully, Granby’s estate is enormous.
But instead of mutual hostility upon arriving, Romy is greeted with unexpected attraction. Insults turn into flirtation. Heated discussions become lingering kisses.
Her heart is ruined. Granby may not even have one.
And the duke has already chosen another young lady to be his duchess.
The Design of Dukes is a steamy historical romance with a guaranteed happily ever after and next in the series The Beautiful Barringtons.
“Very well. I already know what you will ask for.”
“You do?” That surprised him. He was so close to her that if Andromeda took a deep breath, the tips of her breasts would brush his chest.
A pained look came over her lovely features. “And I completely understand, Your Grace.”
“You do?” he murmured.
“You wish me and Theo to leave the house party. It is unfortunate you and I have formed such a dislike for each other.”
“Is that what you are calling it?”
“I’ll make an excuse that I’m ill or I’m concerned for my mother so that we may return to London with all haste.” She turned away from him and bent at the waist, giving him another lovely view of her backside, glaringly apparent through the folds of petticoats she was encased in. Her hands flew over the papers spread out across the grass to
gather them up.
Andromeda assumed, incorrectly, he wanted her to leave The Barrow. The very thought gave him a hollow sensation in the middle of his stomach.
“No. I would never suggest such a thing.” His voice sounded chilly even to his own ears.
“You don’t need to, Your Grace. I take your meaning.”
Andromeda hadn’t the slightest idea how badly David wanted her. He looked over her shoulder as her hands began to stack the papers neatly together. Not drawings of the stream and woods as he’d thought. What most young ladies with a mediocre talent for sketching would draw. But gowns. Dresses. One with a motif of butterflies across the skirt. There was even a sketch of a riding habit.
I have an acquaintance who owns a dress shop.
Andromeda, already fascinating, became more so.
“I don’t wish you to leave the house party,” he said to the trim line of her back.
“My presence clearly annoys you, Your Grace.”
Indeed, it did, in so many ways David had stopped counting. “A correct assessment.”
“Then Theo and I will leave in the morning.”
“No,” his said roughly. “You will not.”
Andromeda’s hands stilled on her drawings, stiffening with anger at his commanding tone.
David stared at the line of buttons running down her spine. Could he bite them off with his teeth? The dress would fall away from her shoulders, exposing all her glorious skin.
She turned back to face him, angrily tying a piece of leather around the portfolio to keep it closed. “What else could you possibly want, Your Grace? An apology for the insult about your coat? How petty, it was well over a year ago.”
His head fell forward, nose gliding up the slope of her neck, inhaling the soft lavender scent lingering on her skin.
A soft gasp of surprise left her, but she didn’t move away. The portfolio fell from her hands.
“I want this,” he whispered. David nuzzled the bit of skin just beneath her ear before catching her lips with his.
About Kathleen Ayers
Kathleen Ayers has been a hopeful romantic since the tender age of fourteen when she first
purchased a copy of Sweet Savage Love at a garage sale while her mother was looking at
antique animal planters. Since then she’s read hundreds of historical romances and fallen in
love dozens of times. In particular, she adores handsome, slightly damaged men with a wicked
sense of humor. On paper, of course.
Kathleen lives in Houston and is married with one college-aged son and two very spoiled dogs.
Forced
into a political marriage with a man she terms “a half mad half
Viking,” Catherine Broussard is caught up in her father’s malice,
her husband’s ambition and the Norman Conquest of Anglo-Saxon
England.
The
object of their conversation was at that moment cantering her horse along the
bank of the Orne, much further north. She had seen no bodies and there were no
messages from her father, who was away pursuing one of his seemingly endless
battles. The day was fair, her horse was mettlesome and she had her hands full
to keep him from charging the riverbank. The strong choppy rhythm of the horse
combined with the scent of crushed bracken and churned-up mud to feed her
senses and she didn’t really want to stop, but the murky water was getting
awfully close.
“Mon Dieu!” she finally exclaimed,
getting him stopped before he could make the leap. He was so close she could
see her reflection and his forefeet sunk in muck inches from the river. She had
been unhorsed in water before and been none the worse for it, but of course it
was never a pleasant experience and Maman
was unhappy when she came back dripping river water on the floors. “This one
should go to the cavalry, I think.”
Broussard’s
head groom only grinned. He did not go to battle with her father, but he did
ride with Catherine, since he was one of the few riders who could keep up with
her and was a man of impeccable character besides. There was not the least
indication he would ever behave improperly and since she was being groomed for
an advantageous marriage, such considerations counted. All Leon wanted was to
keep her in one piece. He was fond of the little termagant.
“Or
perhaps to the hunt,” he suggested. “A few miles of hard hunting should blunt
his edge. And he obviously has no fear of water.”
“Obviously.”
Catherine bent to slap the bay gelding’s neck. He had been cut to make a riding
horse of him, but it was hard to tell. He still seemed half stallion, curveting
and snapping at her companion’s quieter gelding. “I will tame him, never fear.”
Leon
smiled at her again. “No, that I do not fear. Just have a care for your neck.”
“No
one would miss it.”
Fantasy
poetry driven by myths and legends has been my passion for as long as
I can remember. I was published in poetry before catching the romance
writing bug. I bring that background to my writing along with a
lifelong addiction to horses, an 18 year career in various areas of
psychiatric social services and many trips to Ireland, where I
nurture my muse. My published works range from contemporary fantasy
romance to fantasy historical, futuristic, science fiction and
historical romance. Currently I live in rural Pennsylvania with a
"motley crew" of rescue animals.
The Truth About Princesses and Dukes Bianca Blythe (The Duke Hunters Club #6) Publication date: March 30th 2021 Genres: Adult, Historical Romance
Princess Aria has been exchanging letters with the most marvelous man in the world. Perhaps her true love is somewhat aged, and perhaps she didn’t feel fireworks when they met briefly at a ball, but she is certain now that there is no man as wonderful as the Duke of Framingham. She is overjoyed when he proposes marriage.
When Rupert’s cousin, an elderly duke, tells him he’s fallen in love with a beautiful woman and needs someone to write letters on his behalf, Rupert reluctantly agrees. His cousin claims he is eager to wed her. On his wedding day, Rupert learns that the duke plans to toss her off his balcony so he can marry his mistress. The duke just wants the princess’s money, and Rupert knows he has to rescue her.
Princess Aria is astonished when she is kidnapped by a young man. She’s in love with the duke—after all, he’s sent her such wonderful letters for weeks. Soon, though, they are on the run together to London. If only Rupert were the man who’d sent her such lovely letters.
“You should not be here.” The princess raised her upturned nose and sniffed. Rupert may as well have been an unpleasant scent wafting from a cow-filled pasture.
“And you should not be murdered.”
She fixed her eyes on him. Unlike her demeanor, which was cold, as if she’d been raised by glaciers and polar bears, her eyes were a warm honey color. Something in Rupert’s heart clenched, but he shook the emotion away.
In her letters, she’d been warm and playful, but now when he was speaking with her, her demeanor was frosty. His very presence repulsed her, and his throat tightened.
He was not going to muse about her undeniable beauty. He was absolutely not going to ponder her golden skin, her large dark eyes or her upturned nose. He was not going to think about her curly dark hair, and he certainly was not going to ponder the glossiness of her strands. He had the definite sense that touching her hair would be wonderful indeed.
But Rupert was not going to think about that. She was a princess, a duchess, and worse—his cousin’s wife. It didn’t matter how curved her waist was, how alluring her long delicate neck was, how intriguing her collarbone and sloped shoulders. He forced himself not to gaze at the ruby pendant that hung from her neck. Thinking about her ruby pendant might draw his attention to her beautiful face, or worse, it might draw his attention to her deliciously curved bosom. That generous slope was most intriguing.
But Rupert wasn’t going to think of her breasts, and he wasn’t going to ponder their shape, and he certainly wasn’t going to muse about what they might feel like in his hands. He wasn’t going to imagine trailing kisses to her waist, and he wasn’t going to imagine stroking her flat belly. He absolutely was not going to imagine any of her lower region, even though her legs were long, and even though they might feel quite good wrapped around him.
No, Rupert wasn’t going to think of those things, no matter how much his heart hammered, and no matter how appealing her jasmine and violet scent was.
He was going to stop her from being murdered.
“Look,” Rupert said hastily, “I know this sounds mad.”
“Mad?” She huffed. “Even asylum dwellers would find it challenging to say something of equal absurdity.”
“I know,” Rupert said. “I know. But it’s—er—true. Absolutely true.”
For a moment the princess hesitated. She had to believe him. She’d spent the day married to his cousin—that might be sufficient reason to believe.
“Why are you saying this?” she asked finally.
“I don’t want to see you get hurt.” He glanced at the window. “Or more accurately, I don’t want to see you get flung from the balcony, and I don’t want to hear my cousin tell others that you slipped in an unfamiliar environment.”
Her face paled. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“He said he would do that this very afternoon.”
Author Bio:
Born in Texas, Bianca Blythe spent four years in England. She worked in a fifteenth-century castle, though sadly that didn't actually involve spotting dukes and earls strutting about in Hessians.
She credits British weather for forcing her into a library, where she discovered her first Julia Quinn novel. She remains deeply grateful for blustery downpours.
After meeting her husband in another library, she moved with him to sunny California, though on occasion she still dreams of the English seaside, scones with clotted cream, and sheep-filled pastures. For now, she visits them in her books.
