Countdown to Rosey Corner #3

Are you ready to go back to Rosey Corner and see what's going on with the Merritt sisters? I hope so because my new Rosey Corner book, Love Comes Home, will be releasing soon. (Available for pre-sale now on Amazon and other sites.) 

In fact, reviews are already popping up. The first one right off the bat was a nice one that had my editors sending me congrats. I told my family maybe I just wouldn't read any more. You know, sort of like stopping playing ball after you hit a homerun. A starred review in Publishers' Weekly is sort of like a writer's home run. Here is an excerpt: 

In a return to Rosey Corner, Ky., Gabhart revisits the inspiring beloved characters introduced in her historical Angel Sister and continued in Small Town Girl. ....This beautifully written story has a timely resonance, uplifting and filled with hope even as it addresses painful topics. Masterful storytelling blends with a written love story about sisters everywhere, resulting in a novel tailor made for book clubs that can be treasured and shared with all who appreciate the beauty of love and family and the value of struggle. 

Now that's nice. Like getting a hug from a reviewer. Then to top that off, the next day a review came in from RT Magazine. And of course, I did read it. Another hug.

“Gabhart gives readers a fantastic gift of another visit to Rosey Corner and the Merritt sisters, who are more like a real family than a family in a book. The author captures readers' attention and absorbs them into the concerns of a town that is seeing the return of its sons after WW II. You'll want to share the Rosey Corner series with friends and family, and this installment will leave your mouth watering for homemade brown sugar pie - and the recipe is included.”

And I do include the recipe for Jay's favorite pie at the end. That brown sugar pie made its first appearance in Angel Sister. 

Of course, the very best reviews are the ones I get from you, my reading friends. I always enjoy hearing what you think. 

I got my first copy of Love Comes Home Friday. The official release date is July 1. So that gives me a month to celebrate in lots of different ways. First off, just in case you haven't already visited Rosey Corner and you have an e-reader, the publisher is reducing the price to $1.99 or lower for the e-book versions of Angel Sister and Small Town Girl. The price won't last long, but if you want to check them out, here are some links:

Angel Sister - Christianbook.com

Small Town Girl - Christianbook.com

Angel Sister - Amazon

Small Town Girl - Amazon

Angel Sister - B&N Nook

Small Town Girl - B&N

For those you who want that paper book, Christianbook.com, has the paper copy of Small Town Girl for a super low price right now. Plus, you can still get that e-book version of Scent of Lilacs free at all the above internet sites too. Here's Amazon's link. 306 reader reviews and counting. Most of them reader hugs. :)

If you get my newsletter, keep an eye out for it. I'll have details of my Love Comes Home Giveaway Celebration. Still pondering about what kind of stories I might ask you to share with me. If you don't get the newsletter, you can sign up for it here. Or come on back here Wednesday for all the details and a special blog giveaway too. I'll do my best to think of something fun. 

Thanks for reading. 

Note: If you are leaving a comment to be entered in my giveaway, please leave a way to contact you. You can leave your e-mail as (name)at(emailserver)dot(etc) if you are concerned about leaving the e-mail address as it is normally written for mail. Without a way to contact you, I won't be able to reach you should you be the lucky winner. Thanks. 

Free Download News & Walking Down TV Memory Lane

Television Memory Lane

On my Facebook page today, I posted a picture of Don Knotts as Barney on the Andy Griffith Show and asked my friends to share their favorite TV shows from back when most of the television sets were black and white and the shows were a half hour of fun. Except the Westerns. They usually got an hour to entertain us. Matt Dillion and Kitty in Gunsmoke. The bachelor brothers on Bonanza. It was dangerous having one of those boys fall in love with you because before the hour was over, you would be gone, often dead. Poor Pa, Lorne Greene, had zero chance of ever getting to be a grandpa.

When Laughs Came Easy

Most of the shows mentioned on my FB page were situation comedies. I Love Lucy. F Troop. Hogan’s Heroes. The Dick Van Dyke Show. The Beverly Hillbillies. I bet there’s hardly a person of a certain age who can’t sing that song. “Shooting at some food and up from the ground came a bubbling pool. Oil, that is. Black gold.” And do you remember how Jethro could cipher. Of course, he sometimes had to take off his shoes so he could count on his toes too if the problem was difficult. LOL. Then there was that little sea excursion that ended up stranded on Gilligan’s Island. Somehow they could build or come up with everything except a boat.

And how about Petticoat Junction? Those three girls needed to take a trip to Bonanza. We could have had some TV weddings. What I remember best about that show was they didn’t bother to send the characters off to school or kill them off when one of the actresses decided to quit. They just moved another actress in and let them take over the role. They figured we knew it was all a show and they were acting anyway. And we did.

Of course, father always knew best. That was true not only in Father Knows Best but in My Three Sons and Leave it to Beaver as well as others. I liked fathers knowing best and mothers too. Somewhere along the way the shows started making the parents out as more than a little nutty and hardly fit to be parents of the really smart, and often smart aleck, children. But you know what? There’s something comforting to a kid to know that adults have a few things figured out and that they are dependable people in control of their world.

So Many Great Shows

 

But there were action shows too. Zorro. The Lone Ranger. Superman. Dragnet. Help me out. I know I’m forgetting lots of them. Then we had Carol Burnett. Perry Como. The Ed Sullivan Show. Hee Haw. The Smothers Brothers. So much fun entertainment that you never had to worry about letting your kids watch.

It could be I’m romanticizing a little here. After all, I watched Bugs Bunny and now many parents think those cartoons are too violent for kids. But I knew it was all just silly stuff on television. I never once thought I could pop my sister on the head with a stick and not get in a pile of trouble.

How about you? What shows do you remember best and which ones made you smile?  

Free Download of Scent of Lilacs

FREE! FREE! If you have an e-reader, you can download my book, Scent of Lilacs, for free at your favorite place to grab e-books.

Amazon 

Christianbook.com 

Barnes & Noble 

If you haven't already visited Hollyhill and gotten to know Jocie and friends, I hope you will give the book a try. Free's a great price. And if you have read the books and enjoyed your visit, tell your e-reading friends about the free download. It's only for a limited time, but the time's not up yet.

Thanks a bunch for reading. I'm a day late this week, but I don't have to worry about that dollar short since my book is free!