MaryLu Tyndall is BACK!

I'm excited to announce the latest release of MaryLu Tyndall's third book in the Charles Towne Belles' series THE RAVEN SAINT!

When Grace Westcott is kidnapped by a French mercenary, tossed aboard his ship, and told she will be sold to a Spanish Don in Columbia, she cannot imagine what she has done to deserve such a horrid fate. She has spent her entire life serving God and helping the poor, not to mention trying to save the souls of her two wayward sisters. Thinking perhaps God has sent her to preach to the vile captain and his crew, Grace's every attempt to correct their sinful ways is rewarded with only mockery. When Grace's situation grows far worse than she could imagine, she is forced to face her own human weaknesses. But she isn't prepared to face her biggest weakness of all-falling in love with the nefarious captain, Rafe Dubois.

By leaving a comment and your email address below, you'll be entered to win a signed copy of this wonderful book! Sign your email like so: sandirog7 at aol dot com

Because MaryLu was kind enough to return for another giveaway, I decided to do something a little different and focus more on the book. However, if you'd like to get to know this talented author (one of my favorite authors), you can go to the link to see our September INTERVIEW.

MaryLu's publisher, Barbour, asks:

What do you hope your readers learn from The Raven Saint, especially from both Rafe and Grace’s characters?

Grace is such a perfect example of many Christians today. She loves the Lord and she’s busy about His work. The problem is, she’s so busy doing what she thinks He wants her to do, that she’s lost sight of who He really is. In other words, she has become entangled in good works and has forsaken her first Love. Because she measures her own worthiness on her good works, she measures others on theirs, and when she finds them lacking, she judges them. My hope through Grace’s story is that people will stop and take a good long look at their own hearts and ask themselves if perhaps they have fallen into the same trap as Grace. Do they have a heart like Jesus had, that loves everyone and doesn’t judge those who come to Him with open hearts? Or do they avoid and even snub those whose sins are out in the open? Now, I’m not talking about accepting sin. I’m talking about loving the sinner and by doing so, showing them who Jesus is so they’ll want to follow Him with all their heart. Jesus was able to separate the sin from the sinner and see the root cause of it in a person’s life. We can do that too, by getting to know someone and loving them, regardless of their sin. In reality, Grace’s sin of a judgmental heart was far worse in God’s eyes than the sins of those she judged. (The thieves, adulterers, murderers) Don’t believe me? Just read what Jesus had to say to the Pharisees of his day.

Rafe turned his back on God at an early age due to the bad example of his so-called Christian father. Rejected by the pious man as well as by a woman he loved, Rafe is filled with heartache and rage. I believe rejection is one of our culture’s biggest problems. Rejection by a parent or by a close friend or spouse wounds the heart like nothing else can. It causes insecurity and rage and sets a person on a very dangerous path. The last thing Rafe should have done is reject God based on the example of Christians. Never base your faith on the actions of so called godly people. You must seek God on your own and seek Him with all your heart. By rejecting God, Rafe ran away from the only One who could truly heal his own rejection. Through Rafe’s story, I hope people who suffer from deep-seated rejection can see a bit of themselves in Rafe, and like him, go to the only One whose love can heal that painful wound.

MaryLu, thank you for dropping by and sharing your talent and insights with us!

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Folks, don't forget to leave a comment with your email address if you want to be entered into the drawing. Winner will be announced on Friday.

Good luck!