September Tea Party - Susan Craft, Roseanna White, Joan Hochstetler, Carrie Fancett Pagels, Gina Welborn

   

Cassia by Susan Craft        

         The Xanthakos family’s sea voyage from South Carolina to the North Carolina Outer Banks turns ugly after they pressure their ship’s captain to rescue a pregnant woman thrown overboard from a slave ship. When the slave contracts smallpox, the captain maroons her, Lilyan and Nicholas and their children, Laurel, Paul, and Marion, on an island.

        After Nicholas and Marion leave to seek help, Lilyan and her children and the baby, whom they have named Cassia, are captured by pirates and taken to their island hideout under the command of the vile Captain Galeo (The Shark), but Paul escapes along the way.

        Galeo is attracted to Lilyan and orders her and Laurel to dine with him where reveals his plan to make Lilyan his own and auction Laurel to the highest bidder and where he forces them to witness a mock trial and a hanging. Heartsick to see her child exposed to such evil, Lilyan rekindles her long-dormant courage and forges an escape plan. Meanwhile, Nicholas faces his self-perceived failure to protect his family. He must abandon the life of a vintner and once again call upon the skills he honed as a captain in Francis Marion’s militia. Together they face the hardest challenge to a parent, watching as life tests the mettle of their highly sheltered and beloved children. Bolstered by their faith, they realize their strength isn’t enough to see them through and that God is in control.

        Will the Xanthakos children withstand their trials and learn to be as tough as their parents? Will the family be united and return to their peaceful Blue Ridge Mountain home?  

     Cassia is the third novel in my historical romantic suspense series, The Xanthakos Family Trilogy. The first is The Chamomile and the second is Laurel.

Cassia in Hebrew means to bow down the head. An aromatic bark, it was known as the poor man’s cinnamon because it had a similar fragrance to cinnamon, but was not as costly. It was an ingredient of holy anointing oil used to anoint priests, kings and their garments, and will be the aroma of Christ’s robes when he returns to us (see Psalm 45:8 and Exodus 30:24). The ingredient of cassia reminds us of the suffering servant who in his body was the sacrifice for the world. The brokenness of his body was the sweet fragrance to the Father that he had won the human race back to himself (Ephesians 4:8).

     I will be giving away a copy of Cassia and I'll be giving away a second prize of a cinnamon candle and a box of Cassia notecards. 

Amazon link to Cassia (pre-order):  http://www.amazon.com/dp/1941103731/

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The Lost Heiress

by Roseanna M. White

Brook Eden has never known where she truly belongs. Though raised in the palace of Monaco, she's British by birth and was brought to the Grimaldis under suspicious circumstances as a babe. When Brook's friend Justin uncovers the fact that Brook is likely a missing heiress from Yorkshire, Brook leaves the sun of the Mediterranean to travel to the moors of the North Sea to the estate of her supposed family.

The mystery of her mother's death haunts her, and though her father is quick to accept her, the rest of the family and the servants of Whitby Park are not. Only when Brook's life is threatened do they draw close--but their loyalty may come too late to save Brook from the same threat that led to tragedy for her mother.

As heir to a dukedom, Justin is no stranger to balancing responsibilities. When the matters of his estate force him far from Brook, the distance between them reveals that what began as friendship has grown into something much more. But how can their very different loyalties and responsibilities ever come together?

And then, for a second time, the heiress of Whitby Park is stolen away because of
the very rare treasure in her possession--and this time only the servants of Whitby can save her.

Giveaways!

One signed copy of The Lost Heiress will be given to a Colonial Quills commenter ~

PLUS, you can enter Roseanna's big giveaway... 

Roseanna's huge giveaway of BROOK'S TREASURES is going on right now on her website, featuring coffee, chocolate, Brook's heirloom necklace, a leather journal, CD, a copy of Chivalrous by Dina L. Sleiman, and a signed copy of The Lost Heiress!

Enter on her website | Enter on Rafflecopter

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Valley of the Shadow
Book 5, American Patriot Series 

by J. M. Hochstetler

Can he save them both from the Valley of the Shadow?

Following a humiliating defeat at Philadelphia and a rival’s stunning victory at Saratoga, Washington’s army faces yet another bitter winter, this time at Valley Forge. Meanwhile, General Jonathan Carleton races to save Elizabeth Howard from the horrors of the prison ships in the British stronghold at New York, while British General William Howe plots to execute them both. 

From heart-pounding battles on the high seas, to the rigors of Valley Forge and the Shawnee’s savagely fought wars to preserve their ancestral lands, Valley of the Shadow continues the thrilling saga of America’s founding in an inspiring story of despair, courage, and triumph. 

The American Patriot Series is the only comprehensive, accurate, faith-based historical fiction series on the American Revolution.

~Two Giveaways~

A copy of Valley of the Shadow or any one of the previous books of the series—Daughter of Liberty, Native Son, Wind of the Spirit, or Crucible of War—in either print or ebook edition.

A Blue Willow 16 oz. teapot with a ceramic brewing infuser, along with a tin of Gunpowder Green Tea.The teapot’s classic Chinese Blue Willow pattern illustrates the Chinese legend of Kwang-se and her lover Chang. Pursued by her father as they sought to elope, the young couple were transformed into turtle doves and flew away to hide from the world. The traditional China gunpowder green tea, popular since colonial times, is commonly known as Pearl Tea because of its round, tightly rolled, grayish-green leaves that unfold when brewed to give a sweet fragrance and delightful taste.

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Lilacs for Juliana now available in paperback by Carrie Fancett Pagels

During the colonial times, Michigan's straits of Mackinac area was occupied by the French. Step forward to 1891, when a French descendant, Juliana Beauchamps, is about to meet eye-to-chest with the imaginary folk hero Paul Bon Jean (later immortalized as Paul Bunyan in print) when 6'6" Richard "Moose" Christy shows up in her library story circle! But as their affection grows, will a Milwaukee beer baron, or her love of lilacs, come between them?

Book 3 in The Christy Lumber Camp Series is a story about the youngest Christy sibling, Richard, as he assumes responsibility as the boss of a new lumber camp in Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula.

Giveaways: Carrie is giving away two paperback copies of Lilacs for Juliana and an E-book copy of Christmas Traditions a #1 Best Seller on Amazon for Anthologies and Short Stories! Also a complete Kindle Ebook set of The Christy Lumber Camp Series for one reader who hasn't read any of the stories yet. Extra giveaway credits for those who sign up for Carrie's newsletter (which will also get you a free short story from her!) Email her at CFPagels(at)gmail(dot)com and put newsletter in the subject line.

Christmas Traditions Eight-in-One Collection (August, 2015) released with novellas by Gina Wellborn and Carrie Fancett Pagels (as well as authors Angela Breidenbach, Jennifer AlLee, Patty Smith Hall, Darlene Franklin, Cynthia Hickey, and Niki Turner who are not CACW members.) This ongoing #1 Amazon Anthology Bestseller (PTL!!!) is also available in paperback. Carrie's Selah Award Finalist and Family Fiction Book of the Year Finalist The Fruitcake Challenge is one of the novellas in this collection. Gina's wonderful novella, Holly Daze, is also included.

Giveaway: Gina is giving away TEN (YES, TEN) ebook copies of Christmas Traditions and we are also giving away a paperback of the entire collection. 

Women Pirates Anne Bonney and Mary Read

By Susan F. Craft

(In honor of my novel, Cassia, which will be released by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, Heritage Beacon, this coming September, I plan to write my blogs for the rest of the year about PIRATES. Argh!!!)

       

 

        Anne Bonney, born in the late 1660s in County Cork, Ireland, was the illegitimate daughter of William Cormac, a lawyer, and his housemaid. The family immigrated to a plantation in Charleston, SC, where she grew up and eventually eloped with James Bonney, who took her to a pirates’ lair in the Bahamas.
        She left Bonney in 1718 to become the mistress of Captain John “Calico Jack” Rackham. She claimed that Bonney had turned informant in order to receive the king’s pardon offered by Bahamian Governor Woodes Rogers. She sailed with the captain on his sloop Vanity and, dressed as a man, soon became an infamous pirate. She had a child by Rackman and retired from piracy long enough to deliver the baby. She left her infant son with friends in Cuba and returned to piracy.
        Mary Read, born about 1690 in Plymouth, England, was the illegitimate daughter of a woman whose seaman husband left on a long voyage and was never heard from again. When their money ran out, Mary’s mother took her to London to ask her mother-in-law for help.
        The woman didn’t like girls, so Mary’s mother dressed Mary as a boy and made her pretend to be her son. Mary masqueraded as a boy for many years, even after the woman died. After working as a footboy to a French woman, she enlisted as a male in a foot regiment in Flanders and later in a horse regiment, serving with distinction.
        Giving up her double life, she fell in love with and married a fellow soldier, and they became innkeepers of the Three Horseshoes in Holland. Her husband died young, and when Mary’s finances dwindled, she reverted back to men’s clothing and went to sea on a Dutch merchant ship. English pirates commandeered the ship that eventually was overtaken by Captain Rackman.
        Anne and Mary discovered each other’s cross-dressing secret and became close friends. Mary fought in a duel to protect her fiancé, killing her opponent. They became known as ruthless and bloodthirsty “fierce hell cats,” with violent tempers.
        In late October 1720, Rackman's ship was attached by a British Navy sloop. The drunken male pirates quickly hid below deck, leaving Anne and Mary to defend their ship, but they were soon overwhelmed, and the entire crew was captured and taken to Jamaica for trial.

        Captain Jack and the male members of his crew were tried on November 16, 1720, and sentenced to hang. Anne and Mary were tried one week after Rackham’s death and were also found guilty. But at their sentencing, when asked by the judge if they had anything to say, they replied, “Mi’lord, we plead our bellies.” Both were pregnant.
        British law forbade killing an unborn child, so their sentences were temporarily stayed.
        Some say Mary died of a fever in prison before the birth of her child. Other reports say she escaped.
        There is no record of Anne’s execution. Some reports say her wealthy father bought her release after the birth of her child, and she settled down to a quiet family life on a small Caribbean island. Others believe she lived out her life in the south of England as a tavern owner and entertained the locals with tales of her exploits.



Susan F. Craft is the author of a SIBA award-winning Revolutionary War suspense, The Chamomile, and its sequel Laurel. The third novel in this trilogy, Cassia, will be released this September.