Saturday, May 05, 2007

PETTICOAT RANCH

Day 1 Sunday



It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...sorry, that's about someone else. Yet you get the same kind of feel though with PETTICOAT RANCH. Is it a Western? Is it a Romance? Is it a Suspense? Is it a Comedy? With the most unique talent at combining genres and depicting her characters Mary Connealy leaves you wondering just what genre to place this book in. It neatly falls into any one of them. This is something I found truly awesome, especially since I'm not a big romance fan. Yet with the infusion of these other aspects she was able to get me to not only read, but truly enjoy this story, romance and all.



Let's take these one at a time. Western. This is a true old western story, told in the fashion that us “Baby Boomers” relished on TV when we were growing up. There's the harsh, unrelenting nature one had to deal with in the old west. No paved roads. No automobiles. No convenient stores. No modern appliances to make the daily chores easy. Yet there were those great qualities of human nature that overcame these obstacles. This is what we enjoyed watching our favorite westerns on TV as kids. And it is this that she brings back to life again in her novel.



Now in a western you have someone who wears the black hat and someone who wears a white hat. The bad guy verses the good guy. Mary makes it a little more complex, and enjoyable, than that. Sophie Edwards witnessed the brutal execution of her husband and has taken her 4 small girls into hiding. The men who killed her husband did so under the false premise of carrying out justice. She knows better, but has little time to seek revenge. In comes Clay McClellan, a man she at first fears, but later on spends much of the time arguing with. Clay has been hunting down these murderers on his own, well, as a deputized Texas Ranger. He's not used to family life, especially women. With little but raw courage and several firearms they take on the villains. How that comes about you'll have to read for yourself.



The story takes place in the panhandle of Texas, a wild and unforgiving place. The villains are just as unforgiving. Yet they serve a just God. One of the interesting this about this story is the ability to show that God has a sense of humor as well as one of compassion and justice. I truly urge everyone to go out and get this novel. Read it and enjoy it. You won't regret it.




Featured at Amazon.Com


Don't miss her site at Real Life Petticoat Ranch

2 comments:

David said...

Anthony, are you Debbie's boy? Yeah I still live right where I was back then. How are you brothers and sisters? How's your mom? email me direct at sonburst@juno.com

God bless you. If you're ever back this way I have an amazing church to introduce to you.

David

David said...

Can you email me at sonburst@juno.com so we can talk? Or if it's more convenient use davidbrollier@yahoo.com

I'd love to help you with your writing.

Tangerine

Tangerine by Marilynn Griffith



This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is posting about Tangerine (Revell, January 2007) by Marilynn Griffith (fellow CFBA member, blogger, writer, and mother of *GULP* seven!)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marilynn Griffith is wife to a deacon, mom to a tribe and proof that God gives second chances. Her novels include Made of Honor (Steeple Hill, Jan. 2006), Pink (Revell, Feb. 2006), Jade (Revell, June 2006), and If the Shoe Fits (Revell, 2007). Her other credits include Chicken Soup for the Christian Woman’s Soul, Cup of Comfort Devotionals and her Shades of Style series (Revell, 2006). She lives in Florida with her husband and children. To book speaking engagements or just say hello, email: marilynngriffith@gmail.com.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Tangerine is the third book in the Shades of Style Novels.

Fans of Pink and Jade will eat up Tangerine, the third book in the cutting-edge Shades of Style series. Jean Guerra, a designer at Garments of Praise design firm, doesn't like surprises. These days though, the unexpected meets her everywhere. Since Jean's return to the church a year ago, her God-encounters occur with increasing frequency, along with thoughts of her husband-the one she vowed to divorce and gave up on long ago. The one nobody at work knows about, not even her best friend, Lily, or her boss, Chenille. But when the designer assigned to work with Jean on a line of men's suits shows up, her heart flips. It's her husband, Nigel Salvador. Jean is finally rendered speechless. Can her bruised heart become whole enough to love again? Or will she remain in the trenches of loneliness forever?



The book link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0800730429


Marilynn's website link: http://marilynngriffith.typepad.com/rhythmsofgrace/

THE 3RD COVENANT - a Comparison

The following table shows where THE 3RD COVENANT stands against 7 top authors and 14 other books.

Title

Author

Times out

times per month

Judge and Jury

Cold Moon

Death Dance

Promise Me

The 3rd Covenant

The Camel Club

Violet Dawn

3rd Degree

The Collectors

Web of Lies

The 12th Card

Words of Silk

Above and Beyond

Entombed

No Second Chance

James Patterson

Jeffery Deaver

Linda Fairstein

Harlan Coben

David Brollier

David Baldacci

Brandilyn Collins

James Patterson

David Baldacci

Brandilyn Collins

Jeffery Deaver

Sandra Brown

Sandra Brown

Linda Fairstein

Harlan Coben

CHO 9

CHO 17

CHO 17

CHO 16

CHO 11

CHO 21

CHO 4

CHO 34

CHO 2

CHO 2

CHO 17

CHO 29

CHO 30

CHO 19

CHO 31

2.25

2.43

2.43

2.28

1.83

1.71

1.3

1.08

1.00

1.00

.94

.94

.91

.82

.72