A Fezziwig Christmas Makes It's Debut!

Do you love sweet romance? Would you like to read novellas from six award-winning authors? Then the Timeless Romance Anthology series might be the one for you.

We are happy to announce the release of the latest edition, Silver Bells, just in time to get you in the mood for Christmas. And I'm pleased to announce that my novella, "A Fezziwig Christmas," is part of the group.

Here's what you will find:

In NY Times & USA Today’s bestselling author Lucinda Brant’s delightful novella, FAIRY CHRISTMAS, Kitty Aldershot is orphaned and forced to live on others’ charity. Offered a home under the generous roof of her relatives, the Earl of Salt Hendon and his countess, Kitty wants for nothing, not even the affections of Mr. Tom Allenby. But when Kitty stumbles across a letter written by Lady Caroline that reveals how Mr. Allenby would be ruined should he marry the likes of Kitty, she realizes she has been fooling herself all along. Kitty’s world crumbles around her as she recognizes she will forever be alone with no prospects at all.

Sarah M. Eden’s charming romance novella A CHRISTMAS PROMISE, Sean Kirkpatrick is trying to get to his new place of employment, Kilkenny Castle, in order to start as the new stablehand. His only requirement is to drive a team of high-spirited nags from Dublin to Kilkenny in a certain amount of time. Unfortunately he winds up in a muddy field, stuck, lost, and running out of time. He’s about to lose the job before he can prove himself capable of finishing his first assignment. When Maeve Butler arrives on the scene, Sean isn’t sure if she’s intent on rescuing him or bent on torturing him with her fiery wit and lovely dark eyes.

In Heather B. Moore’s enchanting novella, TWELVE MONTHS, Lucien Baxter’s best and most incorrigible friend, Will, dies unexpectedly, leaving behind his new bride and unborn child the week before Christmas. Will’s last request is that Lucien watches over Cora, not just as a benefactor, but as a husband. When Lucien does his duty and proposes to Cora, he’s turned down flat. But over the course of the next few days, Lucien discovers that marrying Cora wouldn’t be any sort of duty after all, but a matter of following his heart. 

In Lu Ann Staheli’s sweet romance novella, A FEZZIWIG CHRISTMAS, Dick Wilkins and his best friend Ebenezer Scrooge have been looking forward to the annual Fezziwig Christmas dance for weeks. Ebenezer is practically engaged to Annabelle Fezziwig, and Dick hopes to start courting her younger sister, Pricilla. Once the dance starts, and Pricilla arrives, as pretty and charming as ever, Dick discovers that he’s not the only man vying for her attention.  His best friend advises Dick that he has to win Pricilla’s heart, as well as her mother’s favor. Losing his heart has suddenly become very complicated.

A TASTE OF HOME, a captivating romance by Annette Lyon, we meet Claire Jennings, who’s on her way to spend Christmas with her family. As she rides the train with William Rhodes, who grew up across the street, memories of Christmases past flood her mind. He may be twenty-one now, but she can’t forget his torturous teasing from their school years. At the rail station, Claire discovers that her home is under quarantine because her little brother has measles. She's stuck in town, away from her family, on her favorite holiday. William stays behind with her, and as Christmas Day approaches and her homesickness deepens, she discovers that perhaps he has changed in more ways than one.

 
Becca Wilhite’s entrancing novella, MY MODERN GIRL, follows Margie, who lands her dream job as a clerk at Macy’s department store in New York City. Margie might be new in town, but she’s determined to succeed and prove to Henry that moving to the city was the right decision. As the Christmas season approaches, Margie realizes that being a “modern girl” might not be all she had dreamed of and Henry might have more to offer than she ever imagined.


Ready to own a copy? Follow the links below. Reviews are always welcome on these sites and GoodReads as well. 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OIAJ7R0

 

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/silver-bells-collection-lucinda-brant/1120553927?ean=2940150550278

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/a-timeless-romance-anthology-silver-bells-collection

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id930068298

Also, Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21973314-a-timeless-romance-anthology?from_search=true

 

LDS Fiction: TEMPORARY BRIDESMAID, A Look at Romance After Thirty

by Jennie Hansen
http://www.ldsmag.com/article/1/14914

LuAnn Brobst Staheli doesn't usually write in the Romance genre, but she's a talented writer and gave it a try. The result is Temporary Bridesmaid, a fun look at romance after thirty.

Jenny receives a wedding invitation from one of her closest friends and realizes she'll soon be the only single left in her circle of friends. She's getting closer to forty than she cares to admit and there are no prospects in sight. Perhaps it's time to stop dreaming of marriage and raising a family. Instead she should concentrate on her career.

On the day she decides her chances of marrying are slim to none, a handsome temporary worker shows up at her office. He's not your usual temp, just starting out, but an innovative computer expert who just sold his multi-million dollar computer business to obey a strong impression that he should do so and go to Salt Lake. He doesn't advertise his background to anyone in his temporary job, though a few people figure out he's a well-known figure in the computer world. Of course he and Jenny get off to a bad start and Jenny accuses James of stealing her wallet. As they struggle to both work together and avoid each other, she is overwhelmed with efforts to advance her career, earn more money, take care of her mother, and serve as her best friend's maid of honor. 

A secondary story of one of Jenny's friends runs parallel with the main story, telling the story of a woman who married too quickly to avoid the stigma of approaching middle age and still single. She discovers she doesn't know her husband very well. She hadn't expected marriage would cut her off from her mother and friends. Her husband won't even allow her to have access to a telephone. As he becomes increasingly abusive, she discovers she's pregnant. 

Jenny is strong and capable, but she's also impulsive and judgmental. Under stress she's rude. Still it's easy to sympathize with her as all of her friends marry, leaving her to face a future no one wants to share with her. Her pride takes a blow, but worse, the future she'd spent a lifetime dreaming of seems to be moving completely out of reach. James is fine with being single. Only his mother sees his single state as a problem. He likes Jenny, but suffers embarrassment and wounded pride at her hands. Staheli does an excellent job of making her secondary characters distinctive individuals. All of the major characters and the more important minor characters show growth and a greater awareness of their lives, expectations, and values as the story progresses.

 

There are not a lot of surprises in this story. It isn't as much plot oriented as character driven and I'm not sure how many approaching-forty-brides actually go in for all the frills and cutesiness that younger brides dote on, but the story is fun while giving the reader glimpses of the problems and concerns faced by older single women who desire marriage and children. 

Lu Ann Brobst Staheli got her start as a celebrity paparazzi reporter. She went on to an award-winning career as a ghostwriter for celebrity memoirs. She also taught junior high English, then became a school librarian. Some of her more well known books include Men of Destiny: Abraham Lincoln and the Prophet Joseph Smith and When Hearts Conjoin: The True Story of Utah's Conjoined Twins. She and her husband live in Utah and are the parents of five sons.

* * *

Association for Mormon Letters Reviews Men of Destiny: Abraham Lincoln and the Prophet Joseph Smith

Staheli, "Men of Destiny Abraham Lincoln and the Prophet Joseph Smith" (reviewed by Elizabeth W. Roach)

Review
======

Title: Men of Destiny Abraham Lincoln and the Prophet Joseph Smith
Author: Lu Ann Brobst Staheli
Publisher: Walnut Springs Press
Genre: LDS History, US Historical Figures, Lincoln, Abraham, Joseph Smith
Year Published: 2014
Number of Pages: 183
Binding: softcover
ISBN10: n/a
ISBN13: 978-1-59992-908-8
Price: $16.99

Reviewed by Elizabeth W. Roach for the Association for Mormon Letters

Two of the greatest leaders of the mid 19th century, the US President Abraham Lincoln and the Prophet Joseph Smith, each had thousands of devoted supporters as well as those moved to violence against them, and they shared other parallels in their lives as well. These men’s lives have both been meticulously researched and analyzed separately to evaluate their roles in United States and world history. Here is a book that superimposes one man’s biographical sketch over the other to discover new similarities in their lives and legacies as well as to catalog the familiar connections.

Lu Ann Staheli does not claim to be an expert on either of these men, and this book is not intended to be exhaustive in its scope, but rather a starting place on an outline map to indicate places of interest as people engage in further study. In this volume, which is far from her first book, she shows the effects of similar life experiences on the lives of the President Abraham Lincoln and the Prophet Joseph Smith and how their experiences shaped the history of our country and continue to shape it.

The book is divided into thematic sections. Each one begins with a quote, mostly from Lincoln. Quotes are used liberally throughout the text, giving a sense of time and place to the subject. My two favorite quotes were both from Abraham Lincoln. One that keeps coming to mind indicates a very humble acceptance of God’s will, along the lines of “not my will, but Thine be done.” After several months of war, Lincoln said, “If I had my way, this war would never had been commenced; if I had been allowed my way, this war would have ended before this, but we find it still continues; and we must believe that He permits it for some wise purpose of [H]is own, mysterious and unknown to us; and though with our limited understandings we may not be able to comprehend it, yet we cannot but believe that He who made the world still governs it.”

That seems applicable to so many of life’s challenges and struggles that we do not seek out or even want to experience, but we need to pass through on our way to self-improvement. Other quotes highlight Lincoln’s remarkable wry wit, such as: “The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.” Each section is full of familiar stories as well as little known anecdotes and daily incidents that I found helped humanize these two larger-than-life legends so they became more approachable and relatable. Possible meetings between Lincoln and Smith are examined as well as other ways their two lives overlapped.

Staheli weaves many different elements together to create this record which shows both Lincoln and Smith as warm, family loving, inspired men who struggled with human weaknesses and also had special gifts to understand people and had the vision to complete their individual destinies. She documents and shares this information with a minimum of personal interpretation.

I was very interested to read this book because I live near Illinois and have visited historic sites associated with both Lincoln and Smith. If it were possible, it would have been nice to have some illustrations or pictures of main topics. Who knows but a photograph showing the view from the front door of each of their homes may have had similar landscapes?

This is a well crafted book, well-documented, the author certainly is passionate about her subjects and portrays them very sympathetically. This book would be a good one to read as an introduction to further research and study of the similarities between these two phenomenal men.

What a WILD and Wonderful Week!

If you follow my posts on Facebook, then you know this has been a wild week, filled with lots of promotions. And the results have all been great!

Men of Destiny: Abraham Lincoln and the Prophet Joseph Smith has gone into a second printing after only two weeks on the market, plus the eBook is now available on Kindle.

The Bookmarked Bargains promotion featured two of my novels: Just Like Elizabeth Taylor and Tides Across the Sea, and both have garnered new readers in the process.

But the good news is not all about me. My friend and fellow-critique group member Robison Wells has been the recipient of the genuine kindness to so many people who participated in the IndieGoGo fundraiser that not only alleviated the medical and tax burdens Rob has been buried under with the diagnosis of his mental illnesses, but raised enough fund to also help Sarah M. Eden, another member of our group, with her medical bills and prescription expenses.

As we think today on this Memorial Day about those who have sacrificed for the freedom of our country, also consider those who sacrifice to help their fellowman in times of need.

   

Men of Destiny: Abraham Lincoln and the Prophet Joseph Smith cover reveal

Available soon on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and at Confetti Antiques

April Movie Reviews

Life is flying by so fast! Thanks heavens for having my movie-loving son home and a week of vacation for spring break. We managed to see three movies, and completely enjoyed every one of them. Here's a quick review.

Pompeii
A slave-turned-gladiator finds himself in a race against time to save his true love, who has been betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved as Pompeii crumbles around him. The ultimate Romeo & Juliet story set against a historical background. From the opening battle scene to the final moment of climax and resolution, I was completely hooked. Kit Harrington and Kiefer Sutherland were superb in their roles as the hero and villain. As a matter of fact, I wanted to grab a sword and take care of Sutherland several times myself because he was so evil I couldn't stand knowing he was going to strike one more time. Fortunately he and the people of Pompeii got was deserving them for the wickedness, although the final hope for Milo and Cassia was buried in the end, as we knew it would have to be. but still, the romantic can hope. Perhaps that final moment is the reason the film didn't set well with audiences. I'd still recommend it it you like disaster films with a love story and some epic battle scenes.
Pompeii [Blu-ray]
 

 Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Jack Ryan, as a young covert CIA analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack. A well-written and well-directed back story for Tom Clancy's familiar character, Jack Ryan. I was on the edge of my seat the entire film, not only because of the action scenes, but because this movie strikes a little too close to home. The story question is: When it comes to the governments of both Russia and the U.S., who can you trust? The twists and turns will keep you guessing and the only way you know Jack will make it out alive is because this is a prequel story to the rest of the Jack Ryan collection (Sum of All Fears, Clear and Present Danger, The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games). Chris Pine, Keira Knightly, Kevin Costner, and Kenneth Branagh were all excellent in their roles, and kudos to Branagh on the directing. It was a nice touch to include Mikhail Baryshnikov in an uncredited role. I can't wait for my husband to see this because it is his kind of movie.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and battles a new threat from old history: the Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier. An excellent follow-up, that is perhaps better than the first. No more back story for Captain America, he is part of our fighting force in today's world, and like Jack Ryan, Steve Rogers has to decide who he can trust. This time the enemy is the entire government operation known as S.H.I.E.L.D. The film is filled with high action, building relationships, moments when you think it is all over for our hero, and challenges all you thought you knew about the Marvel characters. Chris Evans was good but Anthony Mackie and Scarlett Johansson sole the show. Robert Redford was incredibly believable in his role as well, almost to the point of wondering if he's been there in real life. Be sure to stick with the movie until the final time the screen goes black. There are two bumps during the credits and at the very end that preview a coming sequel and the next Avengers.