Blog Tour and Giveaway: Scandals and Mercies by Kathleen Rouser

About the Book

Book: Scandals and Mercies

Author: Kathleen Rouser

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: April 23, 2024

He’s a reporter determined to uncover the truth, but the secrets he finds could crush her family—and their second chance at love.

Taken from her family’s farm to be raised by her wealthy aunt and uncle, Nora Armstrong has accepted that not only will she never realize her dream of becoming a teacher, she’d also rather be a spinster than submit to her cruel aunt’s society selection of a suitable husband. The one man who caught her eye betrayed her best friend. And she’s got enough on her hands, hiding her sister’s shameful secret from her aunt.

When the local home for unwed mothers burns down, the arson investigation brings big-city reporter James Cooper back to Stone Creek—and back into Nora’s life. James also has a meddling aunt who raises more questions than she answers about his past. Not to mention, he can’t figure out why Nora constantly rebuffs him. When his reporting casts aspersions on the local church and lays the blame for the fire and a series of robberies at the wrong feet, he risks losing his new position at the paper.

As they seek to unravel the town’s mystery, rescue endangered mothers and children, and navigate their own family secrets forced to light, James and Nora increasingly turn to each other for help. But can they overcome James’s lack of faith and the disapproval of Nora’s guardians to find a second chance at love?

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Kathleen Rouser is a multi-published, award-winning author of historical and contemporary Christian romance. She is a longtime member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Faith, Hope and Love Christian Writers. She resides in southeast Michigan, a location which she often uses in her novels, with her hero and husband of forty-some years and two sweet cats who found a home in their empty nest.

 

 

 

More from Kathleen

Writing Scandals and Mercies: A Personal Spiritual Journey

By Kathleen Rouser

Scandals and Mercies has been my hardest story to write thus far. It seems that as I work through issues in my life it may come out in my characters. And I can relate to Nora Armstrong, my heroine. I can understand some of her struggles, her tender heart toward the Coping children, and figuring out who she is in Jesus. The challenges I had in writing this book are reflected in the theme which came through as I wrote it—identity in Christ. Then I became more purposeful in exploring the theme. Nora felt alone and had doubts at the beginning, but then she learned what it meant for her to trust in God despite her difficulties.

Though I’d been a believer for nearly forty years when I began writing Scandals and Mercies, I was—and still am—going through some difficult trials that forced me to really think about what my identity in Christ is. Who am I in Him? Will I depend on Jesus through one of the worst trials of my life? Or will I become bitter? I think of when Jesus said some hard things and many of His disciples deserted Him. He said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” And Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Jesus is truly the only One who has the answers, the words of eternal life. Where else would I turn? And when He doesn’t directly answer, especially the way I want, it’s for me to trust in Him.

And it’s also about sharing in the fellowship of His sufferings, not that we can add anything to our salvation, but that trials and suffering are a part of the Christian life, meant to mold us and grow us in our faith. And if we allow it, to be changed more closely into the someone who projects the image of Christ to others. My husband likes to say we are “Jesus with skin on” for each other.

Working through all of that while writing how Nora grew in her faith took a lot of emotional energy, but God strengthened me and I finished her story, while He is still writing mine!

Blog Stops

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 7

Texas Book-aholic, May 8

Life on Chickadee Lane, May 9

Lighthouse Academy Blog, May 9 (Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)

Betti Mace, May 10

Devoted To Hope, May 10

Locks, Hooks and Books, May 11

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, May 12

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, May 13

lakesidelivingsite, May 14

For Him and My Family, May 15

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, May 16 (Author Interview)

The Lofty Pages, May 16

Book Looks by Lisa, May 17

Connie’s History Classroom, May 18

Holly’s Book Corner, May 19

Pause for Tales, May 20

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Kathleen is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/2b58d/scandals-and-mercies-celebration-tour-giveaway

My Review

I have the first two books from the Stone Creek Brides series and was pleased to have the opportunity to read the third installment, Scandals and Mercies. I thoroughly enjoyed James and Nora's story. It was a fun and delightful adventure to take with them. I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen when secrets were revealed. I loved the life lessons, including power of forgiveness, within the pages. I thought it was a great book to read.

I am giving Scandals and Mercies a very well deserved five plus stars. I highly recommend it for fans of clean historical romance. I a hoping to get my hands on more releases to come from Kathleen Rouser in the future.

I received a digital copy of Kathleen Rouser's Scandals and Mercies from the publisher, but was not required to write a positive review. This review is one hundred percent my own honest opinion.

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Secrets and Wishes by Kathleen Rouser

About the Book

Book: Secrets and Wishes

Author: Kathleen Rouser

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: January 30, 2024

She only wants a fresh start, but her past might be the only hope to save his life—and the lives of countless innocents.

Determined widow Maggie Galloway dreams of a peaceful life and a successful business. And winning the Silver Leaf Flour Company baking contest could be the key to that success. She even has a chance at a prestigious position through a dashing former beau. But when her son gets into a fight with the local pharmacist’s son, Maggie’s peaceful life is derailed.

Reserved pharmacist and recent widower Thomas Harper is also looking for a fresh start for himself and his four children. But when Thomas falls gravely ill, his only choice is to enlist the help of the local baker with a knowledge of concocting remedies. He’s even more reluctant to admit that Maggie may also be the remedy for his grieving heart. And when a traveling medicine man’s medicines beget tragedy, Thomas and Maggie must overcome their differences to save the children of Stone Creek—and face the growing attraction between them—before it’s too late.

 

Click here to get you copy!

 

About the Author

Kathleen Rouser is a multi-published, award-winning author of historical and contemporary Christian romance. She is a longtime member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Faith, Hope and Love Christian Writers. She resides in southeast Michigan, a location which she often uses in her novels, with her hero and husband of forty-some years and two sweet cats who found a home in their empty nest.

 

 

 

More from Kathleen

Maggie Galloway’s Prizewinning Recipe

Maggie Galloway was a secondary character in my first Stone Creek Brides novel, Rumors and Promises. As the older sister and housekeeper of hero, Ian McCormick, she liked to have her say. I enjoyed getting to know Maggie as I created her character. She was so much fun to write I knew she needed her own story.

She has a knowledge of remedies from working with her pharmacist husband in the past, but Maggie is also a prizewinning baker because of her creative and cherished recipe for pecan snickerdoodles. I hope you’ll enjoy her recipe.

Increasing the vanilla in her favorite snickerdoodle recipe while adding toasted chopped pecans to the dough and the cinnamon sugar made for the delightful crunch and a nutty taste, which had won her second place in the recipe contest. (From Maggie’s musings in Secrets and Wishes.)

Maggie Galloway’s Pecan Snickerdoodles

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 ¼ cup flour

½ cup chopped toasted pecans

 

Cinnamon sugar mixture:

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon finely chopped toasted pecans

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease cookie sheet.

Beat butter until creamy. Add 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar, mixing well.

Beat egg and vanilla into the mixture. Slowly add flour and chopped pecans to the mixture.

Set dough in the refrigerator (or the icebox in Maggie’s day) for at least a half an hour to make it easier to handle.

While you’re waiting, mix the cinnamon sugar ingredients together with the 1 tablespoon finely chopped pecans.

When the dough is ready, roll into small balls and roll in cinnamon sugar/nut mixture.

Place a couple of inches apart on the cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes, only until slightly golden brown along the edges. Yield is approximately two dozen cookies.

Blog Stops

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, February 20 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 20

Locks, Hooks and Books, February 21

Books You Can Feel Good About, February 22

Life on Chickadee Lane, February 22

Devoted To Hope, February 23

Vicky Sluiter, February 23

Texas Book-aholic, February 24

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 25

ABBA’s Prayer Warrior Princess, February 26

lakesidelivingsite, February 27

Betti Mace, February 28

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, February 29

Cover Lover Book Review, March 1

For Him and My Family, March 2

Holly’s Book Corner, March 3

Pause for Tales, March 4

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Kathleen is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/2a256/secrets-and-wishes-celebration-tour-giveaway

My Review

I enjoyed the beginning to the Stone Creek Brides series, Rumors and Promises, and was excited to have the opportunity to find out what Kathleen Rouser had in store for her characters in Secrets and Wishes. I loved getting to know the main characters, Thomas and Maggie. I thought their scenes were fun together while their personalities clashed at times. It was great catching up with the previous main characters, as well.

I am giving Secrets and Wishes four and a half stars. I recommend it for readers who enjoy reading quick and clean historical romance. I am looking forward to reading the third installment from the Stone Creek Brides series, Scandals and Mercies, to see what happens next. 

I received a paperback copy of Kathleen Rouser's Secrets and Wishes from the publisher, but was not required to write a positive review. This review is one hundred percent my own honest opinion. 

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Rumors and Promises by Kathleen Rouser

 

About the Book

Book: Rumors and Promises

Author: Kathleen Rouser

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: October 10, 2023

She’s an heiress hiding a tumultuous past. He’s a reverend desperate to atone for his failures.

Abandoned by her family, Sophie Biddle has been on the run with a child in tow. At last, she’s found a safe life in Stone Creek, Michigan, teaching piano. But when a kind, yet meddling and handsome, minister walks into her life seeking to help, Sophie is caught off guard and wary. When her secrets threaten to be exposed, will be she able to trust the reverend, and more importantly, God?

After failing his former flock, Reverend Ian McCormick is determined to start anew in Stone Creek, and he’s been working harder than ever to forget his mistakes and prove himself to his new congregation—and to God. But when he meets a young woman seeking acceptance and respect, despite the rumors swirling about her sordid past, Ian finds himself pulled in two directions. If he shows concern for Sophie’s plight, he could risk everything—including his position as pastor of Stone Creek Community Church.

Will the scandals of their pasts bind them together or drive them apart forever?

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Kathleen Rouser is a multi-published, award-winning author of historical and contemporary Christian romance. She is a longtime member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Faith, Hope and Love Christian Writers. She resides in southeast Michigan, a location which she often uses in her novels, with her hero and husband of forty-some years and two sweet cats who found a home in their empty nest.

 

More from Kathleen

My inspiration for Rumors and Promises came from the story of the Samaritan woman at the well and her encounter with Jesus. At the time, back in 2002, publishers weren’t looking for Biblical fiction. Instead, I felt the Lord put on my heart a story about a young woman who had to pretend her two-year-old daughter was her sister as she left behind dire circumstances at home. That was inspired by a story my mom told me about a girl she grew up who had a son out of wedlock and her parents raised him as her brother.

Since the town minister would have the most to lose if he became acquainted with her, kind-hearted Reverend Ian McCormick became the hero of the story. That’s where the comparison stops since a man with his own past failures can’t compare with our perfect Jesus. But like the woman at the well Sophie Bidershem is marginalized because of the suspicions of other less gracious individuals in the town of Stone Creek and must find her forgiveness from Jesus. And so does Ian, before they can find their happily ever after. My desire is for my readers to relate to their real-life struggles and the hope they find in Christ.

It was fascinating to see how the Lord provided for me as I researched the plight of the unwed mother at the turn of the century. I discovered that the Florence Crittenton Mission home for such mothers existed in Detroit in 1901, so that became part of the story. I even found the name of the superintendent at the time, nurse Mary Hartwell. Isn’t that the perfect name for someone who is working with young women in need?

Stone Creek is a fictional town loosely based on historic Brighton, Michigan where I live. Before 1900 it was called Ore Creek. It’s fun to include little details like the millpond or the Pink Hotel, but for the most part the small town of Stone Creek is a figment of my imagination. I hope you’ll feel as much at home there as I do.

Blog Stops

Locks, Hooks and Books, October 23

lakesidelivingsite, October 24

Texas Book-aholic, October 25

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 26

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, October 27

Artistic Nobody, October 28 (Author Interview)

Mornings at Character cafe, October 28

For Him and My Family, October 29

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 30

Guild Master, October 31 (Author Interview)

Exploring the Written Word, October 31

Holly’s Book Corner, November 1

Pause for Tales, November 2

Cover Lover Book Review, November 3

Connie’s History Classroom, November 4

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, November 5 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Kathleen is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/2896c/rumors-and-promises-celebration-tour-giveaway

My Review

Rumors and Promises is a great beginning to the Stone Creek Brides series. Kathleen Rouser has written a delightfully sweet romance. I enjoyed reading Sophie and Ian’s story. I quickly was engaged in it and it was wonderful to go back in time and being part of this little town of Stone Creek. I adored going on this journey with them and had no problem reading the whole book in one sitting. I loved every single page, from start to finish.

I am giving Rumors and Promises five stars. I highly recommend it for readers who enjoy reading clean historical romance. I am eagerly waiting for the next installment from the Stone Creek Brides series, Secrets and Wishes. 

I received a paperback copy of Kathleen Rouser’s Rumors and Promises series from the publisher, but was not required to write a positive review. This review is one hundred percent my own honest opinion.