I'm going to be honest here . . .

MaryLu Tyndall completely changed my view of Christian Fiction. I used to dislike it immensely (and that's a polite way of putting it, e-hem). Have you ever felt like drop-kicking a book? When you live in a foreign country and you're desperate to get your hands on something written in English, you'll go to extreme measures to satisfy that craving.

We made a rare trip back to the States one year, and even though we were pinching pennies, I got my hands on a 500 page Christian novel (which wasn't cheap), EAGERLY brought it back to Holland with me--this was before books could be ordered online--and after wading through sermon after sermon and borrrrrrring description after borrrrrring description, the story finally got going in the LAST chapter, and it was THEN that I discovered it was the FIRST in a series! I think I tossed the book across the room (so I didn't drop-kick it or burn it like I wanted to), but after that, I decided Christian fiction was NOT for me.

I had trudged through numerous books (the 500-page one being the last straw) and found Christian Fiction too predictable, borrrring, and preachy. I'd completely given up on it and couldn't discuss it without spitting fire (yes, that 500-page disaster was a traumatic experience).

Well then along came M.L. Tyndall and my whole Christian reading world was turned upside down. Much like her heroines win over the hardened heroes, her books won me over. I was sceptical at first. I just happened to win her book The Blue Enchantress on a blog tour, similar to this one. When I got her book, I wasn't terribly impressed with the cover (The Raven Saint's cover is the best of them all, IMO) and I thought, "We'll see if I like it, humph." I had a spark of hope, but it was just a spark, nothing terribly significant, I'm afraid to say. This is coming from someone who not only loves rich historicals, but who also loves unpredictable love stories, and who's read A LOT of secular romances to find that "escape." Well, I've now found that escape in MaryLu's books! I've even ordered her books that are no longer on the shelves and have enjoyed those as much as the ones that are out now. And I have NOT been disappointed. If you like unpredictable, adventurous romances, you won't be disappointed either.

I have to say, I'm glad I didn't discover her sooner, along with the other new and great authors now out there. Had I discovered her work years earlier, I might not have become a writer--after all, there wouldn't have been a need to create something "better." But I'm in so deep, there's no stopping me now. I just hope that I'll be able to capture readers and entertain and inspire them as well as MaryLu does.

And now . . . it's time for what you've all been waiting for . . . the winner of THE RAVEN SAINT!

And the winner is . . . mommaof_3k at yahoo dot com!!! You're the lucky winner of THE RAVEN SAINT! You're going to love MaryLu's book. She writes awesome historical romance! For those that didn't win, I'm sorry! Please go to your local bookstore and BUY it. It's not that expensive, and you won't regret it.

Mommaof_3k CONGRATULATIONS!