WHEN THE HEART SINGS, a JUST READS BOOK TOUR, hosted by Karen Klepsteen

Welcome to the Blog Tour & Giveaway for When the Heart Sings by Liz Tolsma, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: When the Heart Sings  
Series: Music of Hope #2  
Author: Liz Tolsma  
Publisher: Gilead Publishing  
Release Date: October 9, 2018
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance  

Natia has a secret, and she’s hiding him right beneath her captor’s nose...

The Nazis have forced Natia and Teodor from their Polish farm to a labor camp. When the couple is separated, Natia is chosen to be the housekeeper for the camp’s overseer, and Teodor is sent to work in the factory. Despite the strict camp rules—and the consequences for disobeying them—Natia finds a way to communicate with Teodor by sending messages through song as she passes Teodor’s dormitory.

The stakes get higher when Natia finds a Jewish orphan on the overseer’s doorstep. She is determined to protect the boy and raise him as the child she and her husband were unable to bear— but if her German captors discover how much she’s hiding, both she and Teodor may pay the ultimate price.  

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Christian Book | Book Depository

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Passionate might best describe Liz Tolsma. She loves writing, research, and editing. Her passion shone through in her first novel which was a double award finalist. On any given day, you might find her pulling weeds in her perennial garden, walking her hyperactive dog, or curled up with a good book. Nothing means more to her than her family. She's married her high-school sweetheart twenty-eight years ago. Get her talking about international adoption, and you might never get her to stop. She and her husband adopted three children, including a son who is a U.S. Marine, and two daughters.

CONNECT WITH LIZ: website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

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TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive (US only)

• a print copy of When the Heart Sings
• 'Just One More Chapter' throw pillow seen HERE

Enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Giveaway will begin at midnight November 26, 2018 and last through 11:59pm December 3, 2018. US only. Winners will be notified within a week of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

And now, Karen's review!

When the Heart Sings is full of universal lessons for all of us: forgiveness, patience, and finding friendship in the unlikeliest of places. When Polish Christians Natia and Teodor are forced from their home and deported to a German labor camp, they endure very different but equally heartwrenching circumstances. Teodor, always under scrutiny by Erich, the camp overseer, faces extra cruelty and work demands. Natia, living as the housekeeper in the overseer's home, faces a very different set of challenges. Home alone all day with Elfriede, Erich's wife, she is forced to take over all housework. As they slowly learn to communicate, Elfriede and Natia discover that they have more in common than they realize. When Natia brings a Jewish baby into the home, she and Elfriede are determined to love the baby and to keep it safe from Erich at all costs. The way that this plays out and the sacrifices that are made are truly inspiring.

The supporting characters in this story also portray so well those who worked secretly in the background to aid the helpless victims of the war. One of those characters in the story said my favorite line in the whole book:

"We look at our circumstances and see things as not good. But we don't see the picture clearly, as the Lord does. He knows what's going on. Things happen just the way he has planned they will. We aren't to find our joy and contentment in people or in our circumstances, but in him."

When I read that, I had to put down the book and think for a minute about how truly blessed I am. It's so easy to get caught up in my everyday problems, and some of them are genuinely stressful, but truly, there is nothing that I can't get through with the Lord's help. I've never been good at praising the Lord in times of trial, but if victims of the Holocaust can do it then so should I. I'm so grateful to Liz Tolsma for this touching reminder!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Gilead Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.