BooksChatter: ☀ Promise Lodge [1]

Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for Promise Lodge, an Amish Inspirational Romance by Charlotte Hubbard (23 February 2016, Kensington Publishing, 320 pages). This is the first book in a new series.

"Hubbard writes Amish stories with style and grace." --RT Book Reviews

PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and exclusive excerpt below. Read the Prologue and the first two chapters with Amazon Look Inside.

Author Charlotte Hubbard will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other exclusive excerpts (☀), and reviews (✍).

Synopsis | Teaser About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

Synopsis

It's a better life, a fresh start--and a heaven-sent second chance. Founded by three Amish sisters determined to put misfortune behind them, Promise Lodge is a colony where faith's abiding promise can be fulfilled--and love can make all things new…

Energetic widow Mattie Bender Schwartz is working day and night to get Promise Lodge going. She’s also hoping the change will help her son Noah’s heart to heal after his broken engagement. But his former fiancée, Deborah, is looking for a fresh start too. Filled with regret, and cast out by her dat for a reason she can’t yet reveal, Deborah can only pray Noah will forgive her foolishness.

Deborah is the last person Noah expected to show up at Promise Lodge. But with her cruel words still ringing in his head, he’s reluctant to accept her apology—even if the Old Order ways demand he try. If only he could obey Christ’s most important commandment: love one another. But one thing is certain—his mother and aunts, and their beloved Preacher Amos, will do their best to help him get there.

Teaser: Exclusive Excerpt

     As the three of them laughed and strode toward the timbered lodge, Rosetta’s heart felt lighter. Was there anything deeper than the love she and her two sisters shared? The surface of Rainbow Lake reflected the glorious sunrise, and as they passed the tilled plots that would soon supply produce for Mattie’s roadside stand, Rosetta gazed at the rows of newly sprouted lettuce, peas, and green beans that glistened with dew.
     That’s how it is with us, too, Jesus, she thought. You planted us here in Promise, in fresh soil and sunshine, so we can grow again.
     “What’ll we cook for breakfast?” Rosetta asked. Her old tennis shoes were saturated with the grass’s wetness, so she toed them off. Could anything feel better than walking barefoot in the cool green grass? “We could make French toast with the rest of that white bread in the pantry.”
     “And fry up the ham left from last night’s supper,” Christine added as she grabbed Rosetta’s wet shoes.
     “And nothing’s fresher than these eggs,” Mattie declared. “Your hens are laying as though they like their new home—even if it needs a few new boards and some paint.”
     Rosetta gazed at the lodge building ahead of them, thinking a double coat of stain and a new roof would be welcome improvements. “Did we bite off more than we can chew?” she asked softly. “It’s going to take a lot of money and elbow grease to convert this lodge into apartments. Every time I turn around I see something that needs fixing. I didn’t notice so many problems before we decided to buy the place.”
     “Are you saying we got a little too excited before we plunked down our money?” Christine replied as she slung an arm around Rosetta’s shoulders. “Don’t you dare admit that to the men.”
     “Are you forgetting that once the Bender sisters decide to make something work, nothing and nobody can stand in their way?” Mattie challenged, slipping her arm around Rosetta’s waist. “I’m the big sister, and I say we’ll handle everything that comes along.”
     “You’ll feel better after you eat a gut breakfast,” Christine assured her. Then one of her eyebrows arched. “Have you had your coffee yet, Rosetta?”
     Chuckling, Rosetta shook her head. “I filled the percolator but I didn’t want to wait for it to finish perking—and didn’t want to leave that old stove burning while I milked the goats.”
     “There’s your answer!” Mattie crowed as the three of them climbed the steps to the lodge’s porch. “Everything’ll look perkier after you’ve had a shot of coffee.”
     “And if the caffeine doesn’t kick you into gear, I will,” Christine teased. “You were born the youngest so Mattie and I would have somebody to boss around, after all.”
     “Jah, Mamm and Dat knew what they were doing when they made you last, Rosetta,” Mattie agreed. She held Rosetta’s gaze, her expression softening. “And they couldn’t have had a better caretaker in their later years, either. They’d be so tickled to know that the three of us are starting up a place for all kinds of folks to call home—folks like us, who need a fresh start and something to hope for.”

Promise Lodge
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About the Author

Drawing upon her experiences in Jamesport, the largest Old Order Amish community in Missouri, longtime Missourian Charlotte Hubbard writes of simpler times and a faith-based lifestyle in her Seasons of the Heart series.

Like her heroine, Miriam Lantz Hooley, Charlotte considers it her personal mission to feed people. Faith and family, farming and food preservation are hallmarks of her lifestyle. She’s a deacon, a dedicated church musician and choir member, and when she’s not writing, she loves to try new recipes, crochet, and sew.

Charlotte now lives in Minnesota with her husband and their border collie.

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