The third book in the Lancaster County Secrets series is here, The Choice, written by Suzanne Woods Fisher. Oh, how I love this author and her ability to weave a story, twisting in the tiniest of details to create a masterpiece. This book focuses in on Lainey O’Toole and Bess Reihl. Lainey has come back to Stony Ridge, just passing by on her way to culinary school. However, circumstances, or maybe Divine Providence, dictate a different kind of future for Lainey, one even she herself couldn’t have predicted. For as long as she can remember, having been placed in the foster care system from the age of ten, Lainey has just wanted a family, a sense of belonging. When she decides to stay in Stony Ridge, she starts to feel that belonging within the Amish community. There is something about this simple life, even with all of its sacrifices, that draws her more and more toward home.

Bertha Reihl is grandmother to Bess Reihl, who comes to stay with her over the summer and help with her rose growing/jam making business. Bess and Jonah moved away to Ohio years ago when Jonah’s wife was killed in a terrible accident. Bess is just coming of age, also starting to feel her first love. The story weaves around Bess and Lainey’s transformation and their growth. Not everything is as it seems, and there is a mystery surrounding Lainey. I don’t want to give up the story, but I will say that it’s a story that kept me turning page after page. Then again, Suzanne Woods Fisher is one of my favorite authors. Read more reviews on Litfuse, and you can also read more about this book below….

About the book:

Fifteen years ago, Lainey O’Toole made a split-second decision. She couldn’t have known that her choice would impact so many.

Now in her mid-twenties, she is poised to go to culinary school when her car breaks down in Stoney Ridge, the very Amish town in which her long-reaching decision was made, forcing her to face the shadowed past.

Bess Reihl is less than thrilled to be spending the summer at Rose Hill Farm with her large and intimidating grandmother, Bertha. It quickly becomes clear that she is there to work the farm–and work hard. The labor is made slightly more tolerable by the time it affords Bess to spend with the handsome hired hand, Billy Lapp. But he only has eyes for a flirty and curvaceous older girl.

Lainey’s and Bess’s worlds are about to collide and the secrets that come to light will shock them both.

“Beautifully written, ‘The Search’ is a skillfully woven story that takes readers through unexpected twists and turns on the long country road toward truth. Fans both old and new will find themselves immersed in this heartwarming–and surprising–tale of young love, forgiveness, and coming to grips with the past.”

About Suzanne:

In no particular order, Suzanne Woods Fisher is a wife, mother, writer, lifelong student of the Bible, raiser of puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind, a gardener and a cook…the latter two with sporadic results.

Suzanne has loved to write since she was a young teen. After college, she started to write for magazines and became a contributing editor for Christian Parenting Today magazine. Her family moved to Hong Kong for four years, just as the internet was developing, and she continued to write articles in a 44-story high-rise apartment, sending manuscripts 7,000 miles away with a click of a key.

After returning from Hong Kong, Suzanne decided to give her first novel a try. For four and a half months, she worked on an antediluvian computer in a cramped laundry room. She didn’t even tell her husband what she was up to. When the novel was completed, she told her family at dinner one night that she had written a book. “That’s why there’s no food in this house!” said her slightly insensitive sons.

Undaunted…Suzanne found a small royalty publisher for that book and wrote three more (all earned multiple awards). With help from an agent, she now has numerous  books under contract with Revell. Also look for Suzanne’s Amish non-fiction, Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World, a non-fiction book of stories and examples about the Old Order Amish, as well as Amish Proverbs, and coming in Spring of 2011, look for Amish Values for Your Family. The Choice and The Waiting are the previous books in the Lancaster County Secrets Collection.

Writing, for Suzanne, is a way to express a love of God and His word. With every book or article, she hopes readers get a sense of what faith really looks like in the daily grind. She hopes they realize that life can be hard, but God is good, and never to confuse the two.

Suzanne can be found on-line at: www.suzannewoodsfisher.com

Link to buy the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Search-Novel-Lancaster-County-Secrets/dp/0800733878/ref=sprightly-20

Suzanne Woods Fisher’s latest installment of the Lancaster County Secrets, The Search,  is just out and to celebrate Suzanne is hosting The Search iPad Giveaway!

One Grand Prize winner will receive an iPad Prize Package worth over $500 and includes:

• A brand new iPad (16KB with Wi-Fi)
• Signed copies of all three Lancaster Country Secrets books (The Choice, The Waiting, & The Search)

To enter, simply click on the icons below to fill out the entry form/s, then tell 5 or more friends about the contest. Oh, and enter soon! Winner will be announced on February 3rd at Suzanne’s Everything is Coming Up Roses Facebook Party. (Did you know The Search takes place on a rose farm?)

Chocolate….what more can I say? Chocolate and I have had an understanding for quite some time. I love chocolate; it’s my one weakness when it comes to food. Lately, I’ve been trying to very much limit myself as to how much I eat, so I got my family involved in this review; that way we could share the chocolate and enjoy it over time.

Choccreate Chocolates is a place where you can basically design your own chocolate bars. It’s fun to do, but it’s also perfect for gifts. What do you decorate the chocolate with? Try fruit, nuts & cereals, gourmet items, themed candies, sprinkles, herbs & spices, etc. Choccreate was brought about through childhood memories, rich in a mother’s legacy of preparing chocolates for her children every holiday season. I was excited to create some chocolate of my own, one bar for each person in my family. It was super easy and honestly, kinda fun!

First of all, I had to choose between milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate. Then I was able to choose different toppings. The toppings are priced differently, so I mixed and matched. Some of the fruits available include bananas, raisins, figs, blackberries, etc. Nuts & cereals include granola, corn flakes, pumpkin seeds, pecan nuts, etc. Gourmet includes things like 23karat gold powder, candied violet flowers, mimosa flowers, etc. Extra ingredients include Cheddar Gold Fish, gummi bears, M&Ms, mini pretzels, brown sugar, etc. Themed decorations include mini hearts, blue/pink feet, red white & blue stars, etc. Herbs & spices include chili powder, cinnamon, granulated honey, etc. Some of the ingredients sounded wonderful, and others seemed questionable, but to each his own, I guess.:)

Here’s a peek at what I created. The kids were so excited, they tore into them before I could even get pics. Don’t worry, I didn’t let them eat them all in one sitting; they’re still working on them, a little bit at a time. First of all, the box they all came in was beautiful, all wrapped up with a bow. The box is definitely reusable; I’ll probably use it to store scrapbook items or crafting supplies.For my husband, Dan, I made a milk chocolate bar with mini pretzels. One of his favorite snacks is chocolate covered pretzels, so this was perfect for him.For my son Jacob, I made a white chocolate bar with mini hearts. He loves white chocolate, and the mini hearts were perfect for Valentine’s Day.For Jaden I made a Smores candy bar with milk chocolate, mini marshmallows and Teddy Grahams. He loves it, and it did turn out so cute!Finally, for myself I made a milk chocolate bar with raisins; one of my favorite snacks when we go to the movies is chocolate covered raisins. Yum!I tried a couple bites, just so I could give my honest opinion (likely excuse, huh?). Each bar is very yummy; I have to say the Smores bar is my favorite so far. The chocolate is not quite as creamy as I would like, but it is very good. The toppings really add to the whole flavor and feel of the bars. It’s a unique gift, perfect for Valentine’s Day or even Easter, both of which are coming up soon. Prices are definitely affordable. My most expensive chocolate bar was $5.15. These would make great “just because” gifts, as well….hint to all the husbands out there. In fact, you can use a special discount for 20% off with the coupon code: heartprints, valid through 2/28/11.

The great news is that, thanks to Choccreate, I’m giving away a $25 gift certificate, so that one reader can create their very own chocolate creations! You can enter to win by doing one or more of the following; just be sure to leave a separate comment for each way that you enter. I’ll draw the winner, via random.org, on Friday, February 4. This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada. Good luck, and have a wonderful day!

1. Visit Choccreate Chocolates, and let me know exactly what kind of bar you would create if given the opportunity; what toppings would you use?
2. Add Choccreate Chocolates as a Friend on Facebook.
3. Follow @choccreate on Twitter.
4. Tweet about this giveaway; you can tweet once daily to earn extra entries.
5. Blog about this giveaway, being sure to link back to Real Heart Prints.
6. Follow the Choccreate Blog.
7. Leave a comment on the Choccreate Blog.
8. Follow Real Heart Prints or subscribe to my posts.
9. Follow @missmalu on Twitter.
10. Stumble this post.

(Disclosure: I received 4 chocolate bars, free of charge, from Choccreate, for the purposes of this review. All opinions/views are my own.)

It seems that every time I head to town now, there’s at least one corner on which someone is holding a sign, asking for work.  To me, it’s really sad, and I can’t imagine how desperate that person must be to stand on the corner with that sign….it’s an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I see it.  So many people are suffering right now, from living in tent cities to being homeless on the streets to going to bed hungry every single night. Over 49 million Americans (including approximately 14 million children) are facing hunger in America today.

Tim McGraw and Hamburger Helper are working to raise awareness about the hunger people of our nation are facing right now.  They are working to raise support for Feeding America through the Show Your Helping Hand campaign.  You can help.  Right now when you buy certain boxes of Hamburger Helper, you can submit a code from that box onto the Show Your Helping Hand website, thus giving 17 cents toward the work of Feeding America; that 17 cents will deliver one meal to a food bank.

We actually received a prize pack from My Blog Spark, which included a box of Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni, a foam Hamburger Helper foam “Helping Hand” (which Jaden loves), and the Tim McGraw Southern Voice CD.  Not only that, but Hamburger Helper made a $10 donation to the Show Your Helping Hand Campaign for me, which I’m so excited about!  Hamburger Helper is definitely nice for when you need a meal in a hurry.  All we had to do was add hamburger to the boxed ingredients, and voila, we had a meal.  It was full of cheesy flavor, and it was something our kids enjoyed, as well.
Tim McGraw’s Southern Voice includes 12 different songs, including Still, If I Died Today, Southern Voice, and others.  I generally don’t listen to a lot of country music, but I have always enjoyed Tim McGraw because so many of his songs tell a story.  They have emotion and feeling throughout. By visiting Show Your Helping Hand, you could have the chance to win an autographed Tim McGraw CD.

The great news is that I am giving away the same prize pack, as mentioned above; it will include a box of Hamburger Helper, a Hamburger Helper foam “Helping Hand,” and Tim McGraw’s Southern Voice CD! You can enter to win by doing one or more of the following; just be sure to leave a separate comment for each way that you enter.  I’ll draw the winner, via random.org, on Monday, December 20.  This giveaway is open to U.S. only.  Good luck, and have a wonderful day!

1. Visit Show Your Helping Hand, and leave me a comment, letting me know how you will encourage others to submit codes and join in the fight against hunger with Hamburger Helper/Feeding America.
2. Like Feeding America on Facebook.
3. Follow @FeedingAmerica on Twitter.
4. Tweet about this giveaway, being sure to use the hashtag #myblogspark.  You can tweet once daily to earn extra entries.
5. Subscribe to the Feeding America Blog.
6. Follow Real Heart Prints, or subscribe to our posts.
7. Follow @mamabzz on Twitter.
8. Blog about this giveaway, being sure to link back to Real Heart Prints.

(Disclosure: I received the prize packs/information, free of charge, from Hamburger Helper, through My Blog Spark, for the purposes of this giveaway post.)

Nightingale, written by Susan May Warren, is a novel that is, quite frankly, hard to put down.  The story is about Esther, a nurse during the time of World War II and the post-war era.  Esther cannot forgive herself for one night, in which she made a mistake, though this one night had a positive outcome, down the road, with the birth of her beautiful daughter Sadie.  However, that one night keeps her bound in a loveless relationship with her daughter’s father, Linus.  Linus is a soldier, away in Germany fighting for his country.

Soon, the story takes a turn as Esther starts receiving letters from Peter Hess, a medic who attended Linus and got to know him, as Linus seemingly lay dying of his wounds.  The correspondence between Peter and Esther continues.  I love how the author not only writes the story, but she shares the letters between the two, as if they were real letters, written back in the time of the war.

Esther doesn’t fully know Peter, though, and this book has several twists and turns, which make the book interesting, suspenseful, and of course, hard to put down.  It’s a story of tragedy, love, mistakes, and triumphs.  It’s an inspirational story that will encourage the reader to live freely through God’s grace.  Susan May Warren spares no detail; her writing is so descriptive that I could see everything as I read.  The story became very real.  I definitely recommend this book; you can purchase Nightingale for $9.99 from Christian Book.  Read on to find out more about it and to find out how to enter Susan May Warren’s awesome contest.

About Nightingale: Esther Lange doesn’t love her fiancé—she’s trapped in an engagement after a mistaken night of passion.

Still, she grieves him when he’s lost in battle, the letters sent to her by the medic at his side giving her a strange comfort, so much that she strikes up a correspondence with Peter Hess, an Iowa farmboy. Or is he?  Peter Hess is not who he seems. Indeed, he’s hiding a secret, something that could cost them both their lives, especially when the past comes back to life. A bittersweet love song of the home front war between duty and the heart…a battle where only one will survive.

Don’t miss book 1 in this stand-alone collection, Sons of Thunder.

About Susan May Warren: Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning author of twenty-four novels with Tyndale, Barbour and Steeple Hill. A four-time Christy award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Book of the Year.

Susan’s larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!. She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

Susan makes her home in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!) A full listing of her titles, reviews and awards can be found at: www.susanmaywarren.com.

Link to buy the book:  http://www.christianbook.com/nightingale-susan-warren/9781609360252/pd/360252?event=AFFp=&

Contest info:  The Letters From Home Giveaway!

Enter the Contest: Nightingale is about letters, the power of written correspondence to convey thoughts and emotions to those far away. And sometimes near. Letters are forever, they are something we savor and pull out to read again and again. They are often cherished and kept in a special place.

To celebrate the release of Nightingale, Susan would like you to write a letter. One grand prize winner will receive a Flip HD Camcorder. 5 runner’s up winners will win a signed copy of Nightingale. There are two ways to enter the contest by writing letters.

1. Write a letter to a soldier. At the end of the contest we’ll print out and mail your letter for you.

2. Write a letter to a friend, loved one, family member, enemy. Tell them something you wished you’d told them before. Tell them you love them, or maybe how they touched your life. Perhaps an apology is in order or a thank you. Or perhaps you’d like to relate a funny tale or just share life. Whatever it is, submit it here along with your email address and we’ll send it for you.

Enter here or at the SHARE page on the Brothers in Arms website. Or simply click on the button to the right.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse Blog Tour.

(Disclosure: I received a copy of Nightingale, free of charge, from Litfuse Publicity Group, for the purposes of this review.)