Lindsay Harrel presents a powerful story of healing, forgiveness, and finding the courage to write your own story.
A year after the death of her abusive fiancé, domestic violence counselor Sophia Barrett finds returning to work too painful. She escapes to Cornwall, England—a place she’s learned to love through the words of her favorite author—and finds a place to stay with the requirement that she help out in the bookstore underneath the room she’s renting. Given her love of all things literary, it seems like the perfect place to find peace.
Ginny Rose is an American living in Cornwall, sure that if she saves the bookstore she co-owns with her husband then she can save her marriage as well. Fighting to keep the first place she feels like she belongs, she brainstorms with her brother-in-law, William, and Sophia to try to keep the charming bookstore afloat.
More than 150 years before, governess Emily Fairfax knew two things for certain: she wanted to be a published author, and she was in love with her childhood best friend. But he was a wealthy heir and well out of her league. Sophia discovers Emily’s journals, and she and William embark on a mission to find out more about this mysterious and determined woman, all the while getting closer to each other as they get closer to the truth.
The lives of the three women intertwine as each learns the power she has over the story of her life.
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About the Author
Lindsay Harrel is a lifelong book nerd who lives in Arizona with her young family and two golden retrievers in serious need of training. She’s held a variety of writing and editing jobs over the years and now juggles stay-at-home mommyhood with writing novels. When she’s not writing or chasing after her children, Lindsay enjoys making a fool of herself at Zumba, curling up with anything by Jane Austen, and savoring sour candy one piece at a time. Connect with her at LindsayHarrel.com.
My Review
A lovely, nicely written and highly relatable tale of three very different women who overcome personal adversity and learn to live again on their own terms. Triumphant! Hopeful! Encouraging! Lindsay Harrel has created a memorable means of beautifully conveying the truth of the power of words to transcend time and circumstance. I highly recommend this memorable and delightful novel!
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book. A favorable review was not required, no compensation was received, and all views expressed are my own.
Guest Post from Lindsay
With every book I write, it seems God has something new to teach me. That certainly was true of The Secrets of Paper and Ink.
Lately, I am learning more and more about the power of our words. I’ve become more conscious of the words I speak over myself as well as what I say to other people. It’s more than “positive thinking”—the words we say ultimately contribute to the stories we weave, and I want my story to be as positive and hope-filled as possible, regardless of my circumstances.
I’ve also become much more aware of the lies that I tell myself—“you are not worthy, you are not enough, you will never achieve what you want to achieve”—and the need to replace those lies with the truths that God says about me. I have listened to Lauren Daigle’s song You Say on repeat lately, and it has become a theme not just of The Secrets of Paper and Ink, but one in the story of my very life.
So while I may not have experienced everything my characters have—I’ve never suffered emotional abuse, or been ostracized by my family, or been orphaned and alone in a world that seems against me at every turn—I have learned alongside them. I set out to write a book that would draw readers closer to the true healer and hope giver, and I ended up being drawn closer myself.
And that, to me, is the true power of story.
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Lindsay is giving away a copy of Lindsay’s first book The Heart Between Us!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
Blog Stops
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, February 26
The Avid Reader, February 26
The Power of Words, February 26
Carla Loves To Read, February 26
Blogging With Carol, February 27
Inspirationally Ever After, February 27
Kristin’s Book Reviews, February 27
Real World Bible Study, February 28
Caffeinated Christian Raves – N – Reviews, February 28
Carpe Diem, February 28
A Baker’s Perspective, March 1
Andy Carmichael, March 1
Stephanie’s Life of Determination, March 1
Bibliophile Reviews, March 2
The Becca Files, March 2
Just Your Average reviews, March 2
Christian Chick’s Thoughts, March 3
Emily Yager, March 3
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 3
Genesis 5020, March 4
Reader’s Cozy Corner, March 4
Stories By Gina, March 4
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, March 5
Simple Harvest Reads, March 5 (Guest Review from Mindy Houng)
Mary Hake, March 5
Remembrancy, March 6
Through the Fire Blogs, March 6
Inklings and Notions, March 6
Just the Write Escape, March 7
Pause for Tales, March 7
Book by Book, March 7
Living Life Free in Christ, March 8
Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, March 8
To Everything A Season, March 8
The Lit Addict, March 9
Texas Book-aholic, March 9
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 9
Tell Tale Book Reviews, March 10
Janices book reviews, March 10
Bigreadersite, March 10
Henry Happens, March 11
Godly Book Reviews, March 11
All-of-a-kind Mom, March 11
amandainpa , March 11
Baker and pastry chef Melody Johansson has always believed in finding the positive in every situation, but seven years after she moved to Denver, she can’t deny that she’s stuck in a rut. One relationship after another has ended in disaster, and her classical French training is being wasted on her night job in a mediocre chain bakery. Then the charming and handsome private pilot Justin Keller lands on the doorstep of her workplace in a snowstorm, and Melody feels like it’s a sign that her luck is finally turning around.
Long-haul truck driver Lowell Ferguson is on the brink of suicide. He is haunted by the guilt of a horrible secret from his senior year of high school. Therapy and antidepressants aren’t able to lift him out of depression. At twenty-eight years old, he believes his life has dissolved into a meaningless annoyance. Only the strong bond with his lone friend—a Chihuahua named Rufus—keeps him from choosing death. But when Lowell learns Rufus may have cancer, he fears there will be no reason left to live if his beloved dog dies.
Greg Schaffer participated in a small Christian-based group ministry in 2011 and became a facilitator with the ministry to help others find their direction toward a purposeful life. His firsthand experiences of lives transformed through such healing groups led him to write Leaving Darkness, hoping the tale of transformation through God’s grace may encourage those lost in their own darkness to reach out for help. The author of two previous novels, Greg lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife and three rescue dogs.
A storied castle. A band of rebels. A nation chasing a centuries-old dream of freedom. And three women who rise above it all . . .
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is known to most of the world as Kate Middleton. She was an ordinary girl on her way to an ordinary life until she met her Prince Charming. Now, she appears on television and in magazines. She wears beautiful, expensive clothing and travels all over the world. One day, she will be Queen of England. But along the way, she was bullied as a schoolgirl and she waited nearly ten years before marrying Prince William. Learn more about Kate’s road to royalty in this book! Written at Lexile level 930 (same as the Little House on the Prairie books), this book will appeal to girls eager to learn more about the most popular royal since Princess Diana. Includes many full-color photos and a timeline that places Kate’s life events into context next to world historical events
Susan Barnett Braun earned a BS in retail management from Indiana University and an MA in education from the University of Alabama. She taught for eight years in northeast Indiana, earning a Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Study Scholarship. Susan has had work published in Parents, Children’s Ministry, and The Secret Place. She also writes online for Fort Wayne Visitor’s Bureau and blogs at Girls in White Dresses. She is married with three wonderful young adult daughters. Susan enjoys reading, playing piano and organ, and spending her time with her family and pets (currently three rabbits and a chinchilla). She has loved the British Royal Family since Diana came onto the scene back in the 1980s.
It was murder. She was sure. And that assurance could cost her life.
Stacey Weeks: My primary ministry in life crowds around my dining room table like a ravenous herd every night. My husband and children are both my greatest blessing and greatest ministry opportunity. Caring for them is a privilege bestowed upon me as wife and mother.
Shortly after writing this necklace into Fatal Homecoming crisis struck a good friend of mine. As our church gathered around a suffering family to love and support them in their time of need, I decided to make a real pendant of stones to give to my friend to remind her and to remind me that God meets every need in His time and in His way.