Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway: Through Raging Waters by Renee Blare

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About the Book

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If Mother Nature has her way, Timber Springs will never be the same…

A warm spring and early rainstorms melt the snowpack. Spring runoff compounded by the storm of the century sends Timber Springs into a tailspin.

Tossed into the role of rescuer, local pharmacist Paul Fitzgerald must face his past before the whole world falls apart. While he fights to contain the beast around him, he finds his steadfast control slipping through his fingers. And life…everyone’s life…hangs by a thread…once again.

She isn’t a hero. Melissa Hampton has her own demons to battle. After she learns of her mysterious beginnings amidst her mother’s keepsakes, she faces more than just the river rushing outside her door. Now, she must discern friend from foe…but as waters rise and tension climbs within Timber Springs, she needs to rise to the challenge or lose the only man she’s ever loved.

Can two people find each other through raging waters?

My Review:

Through Raging Waters by Renee Blare is my first read by this new to me author.  This books starts just as nature is about to release a life changing flood on the town of Timber Ridge.  As I started reading this book I felt like I was running with these characters as they tried to save lives, property, and sanity.  There was a lot going on and at first it just seems that the main culprit is nature itself, however as the story progresses there is a whole different flood that is about to be released and that one nature has nothing to do with.

This is a story that follows the Fitzgerald clan and other townspeople.  This is a second in the series and read ok as a standalone, but I think I missed out on some of the deeper relationship ties by not reading the first.  This book has a lot going on from nature, romance, family drama, to mystery and action.  I am intrigued and would like see some more resolutions for the other siblings in this family.  This book reminded me of author Susan May Warren’s stories, especially with the large family dynamics.

I received a copy of this book through Celebrate Lit and the opinions are my own honest ones.

About the Author

Renee Blare’s nose has been buried in a book for as long as she can remember. Raised in Louisiana and Wyoming, she started writing poetry in junior high school and that, as they say, was that. After having her son, a desire to attend pharmacy school sent her small family to the University of Wyoming in Laramie. She’s been counting pills ever since. While writing’s her first love, well, after the Lord and her husband, she also likes to fish and hunt as well as pick away on her classical guitar.

Nestled in the foothills of the Wind River Mountains, she lives in Wyoming with her husband, crazy dogs, and ornery cat. She serves her beautiful small town as a pharmacist while penning her stories about struggling Christians as they travel along the journeys of their lives. She loves to interact with readers and invites you check out her website, blog, and social media.

Blog: Renee’s Inspirational Moments

Group Blog: The Diamond Mine of Christian Fiction

Website: Renee Blare|Christian Author Website

Guest Post from Renee Blare

I Wrote a Book

Five years ago, I wrote a book…and then I wrote another and another and another. Many said that the words flowed like a river onto the page. Or I painted a picture with letters.  As for me? I simply write what I see so you can see it too. What about you? Do you want to write a book?

If so, there’s one thing I’d like you to know. A book’s like a child. It starts out small or simple with garbled language…often repetitive and indistinguishable. Kind of like when a baby babbles “dada” over and over. And then that moment comes when you rejoice because you hear him say “mama.” That’s the growth every book…writer…reader…yearns for.

Different stories float around inside an author’s mind, flowing in a way much like labor. Some authors plot, others don’t. And still others combine the process in a convoluted method. But like birth, no matter how the words eventually find their way to the page, the development of a book doesn’t stop with its first dawn. It takes time, energy, and growth.

Take my first release, To Soar on Eagle’s Wings. Five years ago, I wrote it, my very first book, in three months. And it was awesome! I couldn’t believe it. God brought the plot together in a phenomenal way. But publication wasn’t the next step. I had a lot to learn before that could happen.

My latest release, Through Raging Waters is the example of a writer’s growth, but also her soul. I learned that I had to leave more than my knowledge and my heart on the page. I needed to leave a piece of my soul. When you read Paul’s struggles, you read mine. Melissa’s fear and confusion? Yes, they’re mine. The anger, the pain . . . the trials, the lessons learned are scriptural but also first-hand, taught by my Father.

Writing is more than a job. It’s more than a hobby. It’s sharing your knowledge, your hope with the world. So if you want to write a book. Do it. Then take that next step, and the next. You’ll get there. Oh, and I can’t wait to read it!

Blog Stops

July 19: Pause for Tales

July 20:  Book Reviews From an Avid Reader

July 21: Captive Dreams Window

July 21: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations

July 22: Singing Librarian Books

July 23: A Reader’s Brain

July 24: A Greater Yes

July 24: Eat, Read, Teach, Blog

July 25: bigreadersite

July 25: Cassandra M’s Place

July 26: D’S QUILTS & BOOKS

July 26: Splashes of Joy

July 27: Blossoms and Blessings

July 27: Chas Ray’s Book Nerd Corner

July 28: Daysong Reflections

July 29: Quiet Quilter

July 30: Texas Book-aholic

July 30: Lights in a Dark World

July 31: Bukwurmzzz

July 31: Through the Open Window

August 1: Carpe Diem

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Renee is giving away a wonderful package that includes a $20 Cabelas gift card, a set of her series paperbacks (books 1 and 2), and fleece blanket. Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/9f08