Monday, March 4, 2019

GRACE & LAVENDER by Heather Norman Smith, A JUST READS TOUR hosted by Karen Klepsteen


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Welcome to the Blog Tour and Giveaway for Grace & Lavender by Heather Norman Smith, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!


ABOUT THE BOOK

grace and lavender Title: Grace and Lavender
Author: Heather Norman Smith
Publisher: Ambassador International
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Release Date: March 1, 2019

Recently retired Colleen Hill is always busy, constantly on a quest to make life more interesting.

When the ladies’ group at her church partners with the local children’s home, Colleen jumps in as usual, volunteering to share her passion for cooking with a troubled teenager named Grace. But Colleen must balance the new project with her pursuit of becoming a contestant on a television game show, along with all the other ideas her brain continually spins out.

Colleen’s daughter Melody is quite different. She lives a calm, simple life and is content with who she is. That is, until an unexpected opportunity to work with Grace, too, pushes her to reevaluate life and dare to take on bigger dreams. The path starts with a newly-found interest in soap-making and leads her to responsibilities she didn’t even know she wanted, including helping Grace understand the meaning of her name.

Grace and Lavender is a book for all audiences—a heart-warming story that reminds us to seek God’s purpose for our lives.

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

KAREN's REVIEW:
Grace & Lavender is the story of two women and a teenage girl who are all trying to navigate their futures at different points in their lives. Colleen is a retired grandmother who is looking for her next big project. Melody, her daughter, is her opposite, content to live life as it comes. Grace, a young teen living at the local youth home, is distrustful of adults after an abusive childhood. I love the core of this story, how all three women approach change in their lives so differently. Colleen thrives on it, constantly flitting from one big idea to the next. Melody is happy to go with the flow until that’s no longer an option. Grace understandably hates change in her life because very few of them have turned out well for her. As the three women come together to help Grace through mandated community service, their hearts are all opened to God’s plans for them, far beyond what any of them originally plan.

The beginning of this book meanders a bit with Colleen’s mental musings. It was a little bit chaotic but it definitely gave you a sense of how her mind works! There were also other parts of the story where unnecessary things were stated. For example, when Colleen received a phone call this is how it was mentioned: “It was a call that would change the weekly routine she had known for some time.” I also felt like some plot points were left unresolved or not delved into deeply enough. I would’ve liked to see more of Melody’s romantic life, and I would’ve also liked to see Grace make peace with her past. One more strong edit would clear up some of these issues in the story and take it from a 3.5-star book to a 5-star book!

Overall, this story has such tender moments, such beauty even in the hard parts of life. I really enjoyed seeing how Colleen, Melody, and Grace all get their happy ending. I must admit that some of the twists in the plot kept me surprised, which I loved!

*I received a copy of this book from JustRead Book Tours and am under no obligation to provide a positive review. All opinions are my own.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

heather norman smith

Heather Norman Smith aims to entertain and encourage, while illuminating the redemptive love of God through her writing. Along with Christian Fiction, she writes devotions and children’s books. She also enjoys writing songs and singing about Jesus.

Heather is proud to be a life-long North Carolinian and hopes to present the beauty of the Tar Heel State in her writing. Her home is just outside Winston-Salem, NC, where she lives with one husband, two daughters, one son, two cats, and two dogs. Heather loves words and does not enjoy math, except when it comes to counting blessings.


CONNECT WITH HEATHER : website | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter



grace and lavender blog giveaway

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will win a print copy of Grace & Lavender (US only)

(4) winners will receive an ebook copy of Grace & Lavender (open internationally)

Enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Giveaway will begin at midnight March 4, 2019 and last through 11:59 pm March 11, 2019. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks 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.


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

  1. Thank you Just Reads for including us! We wish you much success, Heather and hope to see more from you! May your story bless many readers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds good can't wait to read it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for your review on "Grace & Lavender" by Heather Norman Smith and for being part of the blog tour.

    I would love the opportunity to read this great sounding book which is on my TBR list.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

    ReplyDelete

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