Black 'n' Gold Girl's Book Spot

guest post by April W Gardner Clash of the Titles is proud to announce that author Marianne Evans with her novel, Hearts Crossing , is our newest champion! About the book : Collin Edwards, a former parishioner at Woodland Church, has renounced God without apology, his faith drained away in the face of a tragic loss. Daveny Montgomery cares deeply about her relationship with God, and the community of Woodland. Lately though, she's been in a rut, longing for something to reignite her spiritual enthusiasm. A beautification project at Woodland seems the answer for them both. Daveny spearheads the effort and Collin assists, but only with the renovations, and only because he wants to know Daveny better. Despite his deepening feelings for her, even stepping into the common areas of the church stirs tension and anger. Can Daveny trust in Collin’s fledgling return to faith? And can Collin ever accept the fact that while he turned his back on God, God never turned his back on him? M...

Hey everyone! I'm a guest @ Tracy's blog, Tracy's Treasure of Books today! Stop by and check out her great site and say hi!

A few days ago for my mother's birthday I made a delicious fruit pizza. Due to the response I got on Facebook when I posted a photo of my yummy creation I decided to post the recipe here so everyone can enjoy this different take on the classic pizza pie. It's fun and easy to make. Ingredients: ~ 1 8 oz. package of cream cheese (softened) ~ 1/4 c. sugar ~ 1 package 16.5 -18oz. refrigerated sugar cookie dough ~ Fresh fruit of your choice (I used 1 lb. strawberries and about 1/4 c. of blueberries and 1 sliced kiwi) Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of an ungreased 12 to 14in. pizza pan. Bake as directed on cookie dough packaging. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Blend cream cheese and sugar in medium sized bowl. Spread on cooled cookie dough. Top pizza with your cleaned and sliced fruit, refrigerate and enjoy!

In case you didn't know I'm a huge football fan and the NFL lockout was really killing me. The thought of having to live without football, especially Steelers football, for AN ENTIRE YEAR nearly did me in. The past week or so has been full of talk between owners, players and the commish himself, Roger Goodell and I was getting excited that a collective-bargaining agreement could be reached. Low and behold an agreement was reached and I could breath easier! Whew! Just in time for training camp. So in case you wanted to know I'm posting links to the Steelers training camp schedule (more complete info at a later date) and the regular season game schedule for you. :-) 2011 Training Camp start date 2011 Pre and Regular Season (Times subject to change due to flex scheduling) I know it's going to be a great year for the Steelers and I'm really looking forward to seeing all the rookies in action for the first time and the returning veterans. Go Steeler...

Guest post by Michelle Massaro , Asst Editor for Clash of the Titles This week COTT is focusing on gut-wrenching passages, which are some of my favorites! So it got me wondering, why do we so enjoy reading those scenes that tear our hearts out and end with an empty box of tissues? Most of us already know about stress hormones and how they build up in the body, causing all kinds of problems. According to one article I read, emotionally-induced tears contain protein-based hormones as well as leucine enkephalin, a natural painkiller. So "a good cry" flushes all those stress hormones out of our system. Well, the science is all fine and dandy but I still wanted some experiental answers. Here's what some of you had to say: Diana Prusik : Tears are cathartic. There's nothing like a good cry during a touching scene . . except for a good cry followed by laughter. (Think Sally Fields' stellar graveside scene in Steel Magnolias. Poor Ouiser!) Something about reading or watc...

Thank you so much to everyone who entered my giveaway of Surrender the Dawn ! The winner as chosen by random.org is... Julie J. Julie has already been notified that she won and her address was provided. Thank you again to everyone who entered and remember to check out the free Kindle download of Surrender the Heart available on Amazon through July 31 if you haven't already done so. :-)

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Gayle Roper and the book: Shadows on the Sand: A Seaside Mystery Multnomah Books (July 19, 2011) ***Special thanks to Laura Tucker of WaterBrook Multnomah Publicity for sending me a review copy.*** ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gayle Roper, a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America, is the multi-award-winning, best-selling author of Fatal Deduction and more than forty other books. She teaches and leads mentoring ...

see more dog and puppy pictures I found this cute pic on Icanhascheezburger and couldn't resist posting since today is a "Don't know. Don't care." day for me. I'm not feeling the greatest so this entire week will probably be a don't mess with me week. Of course I love you, my blogger friends, so you can "bug" me all you want. :-)

This week, COTT's Book Club is taking a further look at The Stones by Eleanor (Ellie) Gustafson! Much of it is narrative, but when Ellie pens dialog, she does it with expertise. The things her characters say either crack me up or sober me with their depth of wisdom. Ellie is indeed a master at crafting compelling dialog. The event that stood out to me the most during the second quarter of the book was David’s move from Hebron to Jebus (which he renamed Jerusalem). I’m not sure if I just glanced over it every time I’ve read it in Scripture or if there just isn’t much there, but it was practically new information for me. Ellie wrote a nail-biting account of the take-over of the city from the Jebusites. I never thought about who occupied Jerusalem before David or for how long. For those who haven’t read the book, the Jebusites had control of the city for hundreds of years before David decided he wanted it for his capitol. But that’s all I’m saying! You’ll have to buy the book if you...

I'm not normally a fan of country music but I absolutely love this song. It's sooo cute and the video is cute too. It's most definitely the perfect song for summer. Here's the video in case you never seen it or heard the song. "Honey Bee" by Blake Shelton

The Blessed by Ann H. Gabhart Copyright 2011 Revell Books 416 pages ISBN: 978-0-8007-3454-1 Fiction/Historical Romance From the publisher : Trapped by obligation, one woman longs for the freedom of true love. It is 1844 and Lacey Bishop's life is a tangled mess. When circumstances move Lacey to a nearby Shaker village, she is not prepared for the new life that awaits her. In the midst of her deep loneliness, Lacey works to fit in with this odd group. But everything shifts when she finds herself drawn to a Shaker man in a village where such relationships are forbidden. Can Lacey ever find true happiness in this mysterious place? My Review: These days it's hard to find any kind of romance be it Christian, general market or otherwise, that has such an original and complex setting as Ann H. Gabart's Shakers series. Where Amish fiction seems to have flooded the market it's nice to pick up a "bonnet" book that doesn't quite fit the mold. I'm not the biggest ...

Yes you read that correctly I have a copy of Marylu Tyndall's August release, Surrender the Dawn , book 3 in the Surrender to Destiny series, from Barbour Publishers to give away to one lucky winner! The book came today (Amazon doesn't even have it yet!) and its cover is just lovely! If you've read any of Marylu's books you know they are terrific romantic adventures and I expect this one to be no less than awesome. If you think that you'd like to read this book too just check out the synopsis below, follow the giveaway rules and fill out the form (it's my first time using the forms so please bear with me, if something is amiss with it please let me know). Thanks so much! Don't forget up until July 31 you can download the first book in the series, Surrender the Heart in ebook form free on Amazon (link on right sidebar of this blog)!! Surrender the Dawn (Surrender to Destiny, Book 3) by Marylu Tyndall Copyright 2011 Barbour Books About the book: You’ll be...

Many thanks to all the new visitors and followers who entered the Feast: Harvest of Dreams giveaway and Merrie for offering the awesome giveaway! If you were not the lucky winner I encourage you to check out this book at your local library or order up a copy for yourself ! Now to the news that you've all been waiting for - the randomly selected winner... Tanya1224 Congratulations to Tanya, she has been emailed and will have 48 hours to respond with her mailing address or another winner will be chosen.

Feast: Harvest of Dreams by Merrie Destefano Copyright 2011 Harper Voyager 304 pages ISBN: 9780061990823 Fantasy From Goodreads : Madeline MacFadden ("Mad Mac" to fans of her bestselling magical stories) spent blissful childhood summers in Ticonderoga Falls. And this is where she wants to be now that her adult life is falling apart. The dense surrounding forest holds many memories, some joyous, some tantalizingly only half-remembered. And she's always believed there was something living in these wooded hills. But Maddie doesn't remember the dark parts -- and knows nothing of the mountain legend that holds the area's terrified residents captive. She has no recollection of Ash, the strange and magnificent creature who once saved her life as a child, even though it is the destiny of his kind to prey upon humanity. And soon it will be the Harvest. . . the time to feast. Once again Maddie's dreams -- and her soul -- are in grave danger. But magic runs deep during H...

If there was one book in the general fiction market that I was super excited for this year it was Merrie Destefano's, Feast: Harvest of Dreams . I'm a huge fan of the supernatural/paranormal fiction genre and Merrie's books stand out. I'm in the process of reading Feast and all I can say is wow, I know I'm going to enjoy this one! I definitely love the concept of creepy dream snatchers. I'll be posting a review later in the day and hope you stop by to read it, in the meantime check out my review of Afterlife and this super fun giveaway open to ALL of my blog readers! Yep you read correctly this giveaway is open internationally, many thanks to the author! One winner gets: 1. Signed copy of FEAST 2. Bookmarks 3. Buttons To enter: Please leave a comment with your email address disguised something like this, steelergirl83(at)gmail(dot)com saying that you want to be entered. For 3 bonus entries: Leave a comment telling me what your dream come true would be! Easy ...

Guest post by Michelle Massaro The winner of this week's COTT battle is.... Joanne Sher! Joanne joins the notable COTT Conquerors family as a pre-published author. Her writing passion is Biblical and historical fiction—paving rough roads with God’s presence. Joanne says her dream is to be able to submit to Clash of The Titles as a published author. We are confident that day will come. Find her at http://www.joannesher.com/ Her winning excerpt came from her manuscript entitled Handmaiden to a Princess : “Don't you have to leave now?” Mama took a sip of water and looked out at the sun. Rivka's eyes followed her mother's. The colors of the sunrise were already beginning to fade into the blue of the Israeli sky. Rivka nodded. “Good bye, Mama. Off to the gardens.” She half-jogged toward the next part of her morning ritual. Rivka’s sandals flip-flopped on the dirt, her steps brisk and light. The scents of the lilies of the valley and hyacinths slowed her pace the closer sh...

*Image from Jen-A-Roo Blogs *