What Readers Are Saying...

Early reader reviews for The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn are showing up around the net. Here's a (tiny) sample of reader's reactions from Goodreads:


Rebecca writes: "An absolutely wonderful book; extraordinary historical research; rich, enduring characters, and a story line that just kept getting better! And the ending; nothing short of brilliant!"

Rachael writes: "Lori Benton's novel set in the lost state of Franklin - an area now belonging to Tennessee - grabs the attention from page one and never lets go... Fast-paced and riveting, the story not only has a captivating plot and characters, but the setting - both in its depiction of history and descriptions of the Appalachians - is beautifully written."

Amber writes:  "The book is almost 400 pages long and I would not have wanted a single page less. Sometimes you wish for a long book to end because it’s boring, but I only wanted this one to end so that I could know what finally happened!"

Michelle writes: "The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn is incredibly well-researched. The characters grab you by the hand and yell for you to hide from the Indians. They wrap you in a warm wool cloak as you flee your pursuers in the snow and ice. They squeeze tears from your eyes as romance unfolds."

Jennifer writes: "What I adored the most was the story between Tamsen and Jesse. A lot of the time in historical fiction, romance either comes on too suddenly because the characters "don't know any better", or it comes out of the blue because at the last minute the author decided to put them together. This romance took its time and it was well worth reading."

And finally....

Brooke writes: "Though this novel was told from Tamsen’s and Jesse’s point of view my favorite character was Cade—Jesse’s adoptive father.* He was an enigma from the very beginning of the story... However, the mysterious nature of his character drew me more into the novel because I wanted to see more of him."

*Author's Note: Go Team Cade! :) Add a few more years to actor Jason Momoa... and you'll come very close to what Cade looks like.

Thank you to every reader who has taken the time to write and post a review of the book on Goodreads, Blogging for Books, CBD, B&N, other bookseller sites, and your own review blogs. I wish there was time in the day to acknowledge every single one of you individually, but I do read all the reviews of which I'm aware, and greatly appreciate them.

Congrats!

Congratulations to the winners of the Spring 2014 new release giveaway from WaterBrook Multnomah. I haven't seen a full list of the winners yet, but a few of you who won an ARC* copy of The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn have let me know about it.

Congrats to Dawn C., Chris A. and Luci! 

If you won a copy of The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn via this contest, let me know in the comments. I'll add your names here.

Thanks to my awesome publisher for this great giveaway!

*an ARC is an Advance Reading Copy, nicely bound in a finished (or in this case almost finished) cover, lacking only it's final proofread and including small mistakes and/or typos in the text. :)

A Spring Book Giveaway from WaterBrook Multnomah

My publisher, WaterBrook Multnomah, is giving away copies of their Spring releases.

Click HERE (contest closed) to enter to win one but hurry! Supplies are limited and the contest will close on Saturday, March 1, 2014 at midnight (PST)

A Note to Readers

Happy Valentines Day!

I wanted to post a heart-felt thank you to readers who have already obtained a copy of The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn via Blogging For Books. I've been told you are "gobbling them up" there and I so appreciate that. A few of you have already left reviews at BFB, and on Goodreads. Thank you!

For those of you who responded to my call for influencers and are expecting an ARC in the mail, they're all well on the way to you now, so watch for them. If you get a chance, drop me a quick email to let me know when your copy has arrived. They're coming to you via media mail, which can be quick... or not. If you emailed me to become an influencer, and haven't received your ARC by the end of the month, please let me know.

On the writing front, I hope to have some news of future projects to share with you, by and by. For the time being, however, I've slunk into my cozy writing cave and am hunkered by the fire (literally, it's a gas stove that looks like a wood stove and I ♥ it) where I'm busy drinking coffee and researching, plotting, and writing as much as I can each day.

Which means I'm bound to be more than usually quiet here on the blog.

BUT... whenever there's news about anything, especially as April 15th draws near, I'll be back to give a shout out about it. I've got some lovely promotional pins in the works I'll post here by and by, with the hope that you'll help me spread the word about The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn to all your friends and connections on Pinterest.

For now, please feel free to pin this graphic for the 2 Chapter Sneak Peek, and include a link here to my website with it. http://loribenton.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile, every Friday I'm adding a few non spoilery pins to the novel board there.

And I think that's about it. I have to hurry back to the 18th century. Lots more to learn and write about, a new mountain (of a novel) to climb.

Blessings!

Looking Back

Celestine Chua, Flickr Creative Commons

Facebook has a new feature that looks back at your history of posts in the form of a slideshow "movie." 

Have you seen yours yet? 

HERE'S MINE

This was fun and surprisingly moving.

The Promise in Suffering

A Devotional I wrote for the release of Burning Sky

Blue Ridge Mountains, photo by Mary Ann Baker, Flickr Commons

Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress. Psalm 4:1 KJV

There are many promises for the believer given by God in the scriptures, but there’s one promise we’re often hesitant to claim, or even acknowledge as part and parcel of our fellowship with Jesus Christ. It’s the promise of suffering.

Which of us, left to ourselves, would choose suffering over joy? And yet when suffering comes, haven’t we experienced God’s grace in its midst?

For there is also a promise in suffering. The loss of a dream, a loved one, a job, good health or independence, all these temporal experiences for the believer bring about eternal gain—in a realization of the need for Christ’s sustaining strength, for His peace that is deeper than our understanding, and for the sweetness of intimacy in our trust in and fellowship with Him, tested through the fires of disappointment, setback, or grief.

by Becky, Flickr Commons

Loss and suffering also bring gain in the form of soul-stretching. It’s in the constricting of our outward lives—through distress, as the psalmist declares—that inwardly our souls are enlarged. Not only enlarged with greater trust and faith in our Heavenly Father, but also with compassion for, and patience and kinship with, the sorrow and loss of those to whom God divinely links us on our journey through life. For… Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 2 Corinthians 3-4 KJV

Through that work of enlarging—and comforting—we’re prepared for the greater works and blessings God has in store for us, either in this life or eternally. Those blessings may look different than what we once dreamed, but in the end they will bring a greater fulfillment than anything we might have imagined for ourselves from our smaller and more self-absorbed perspective.