Blog Layout

Love's Final Sunrise -- Book Spotlight with Giveaway

Catherine Brakefield • Nov 17, 2022

Today I'm pleased to welcome guest author Catherine Brakefield as she shares about her latest release. And read all the way through, as she's offering one lucky person who leaves a comment a free ebook.



Catherine can describe herself in three simple words: Christian, patriot, and optimist. In Love’s Final Sunrise, her new futuristic Amish suspense novel scheduled to release on November 15, she utilizes all three elements. Here’s a sneak preview of the first chapter:

           

Chapter 1

“But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.” Proverbs 4:18–19 NKJV

 

Hoods covered the black-robed men, and a pitch-dark bonnet concealed a woman’s face. Fear gripped Ruth Jessup’s throat as the wind whipped her hair against her wet cheeks like a whip. Then out of the darkness galloped a milk-white stallion spouting fire from its nostrils…

Ruth bolted from her covers.

Perspiration peppered her brow, and the folds of her pj’s clung to her like wet laundry. She hoped a change of scenery might end her nightmares. She peeked out her bedroom window to the lawns and stables below. Well, that idea didn’t work so well. The barns and this old Amish farmhouse reminded her of life with Gran. I can’t believe she’s dead.

The trees outside bowed low to the probing of the wind, and the eaves of the old house croaked in reply. What happened, Gran? They never found the motorist who hit you.

Ruth and the Marcellus Hunt Club members arrived last evening at the Johansson Bed & Breakfast in Owenson during a downpour that left the Michigan countryside in a blanket of fog. Now that she was up, she might as well get dressed and saddle her mare for the meet.

Her horse, Hosanna, appeared glad to stretch her legs as much as she. They clipped down the drive in a ground-covering trot. Like the mist, the mystery of her grandmother’s death swirled around her. “You knew I’d be back. I always come back.” In the wee corridors of Ruth’s mind, she heard Gran’s gentle voice. “Ruth, life never turns out the way you planned. If you don’t seek the truth—you’ll not find it. Avoid the broad road, follow the narrow. It’ll be hard. The little-used always are.” Gran had a smile that could light up the darkest night. “Remember, dear one, obey God, follow His commandments, and complete your calling—to the end of your road.”

Ruth seesawed her bottom lip with her teeth. “The end of my road.” The police said it was an accident. “Was it, Gran?” An anonymous person had written Ruth two days before Gran died. “Your Grossmutter needs you. Stop running—and come home.”

A week ago this Sunday since Gran died—she always rose well before sunrise and reveled in the quiet, unhurried life of her Ohio Mennonite neighbors.

Ruth slowed her horse to a walk. “Guess I’m more like my grandmother than I thought.” But she desired her own sunrise. Then there was that little—yeah, right, that little thing that mushroomed like a helium balloon rises.

She patted her horse’s neck. “Maybe we should head back, huh, girl?” As she changed her direction, a sea of fog floated toward her. She shivered. “Well, unless you remember where the Johansson farmhouse is…we’re lost, Hosanna.”

Like a painter would his canvas, her eyes covered the landscape. Dark and light shadows swept the cultivated fields, which were flat as a pancake. Deep irrigation ditches gaped open on either side of the narrow road like graves awaiting a corpse. She recalled Gran’s casket being lowered into the ground. The steel shoes of her horse grated on the gravel like the promises Ruth had made and never kept.

A flash of lightning crossed over her, and an aurora of greens, yellows, and pinks illuminated the sky. Like in the Catskills of New York, they floated there for what seemed a timeless moment.

Spotting an enclosed carriage about a half-mile ahead, she urged her mare into a clipping trot. “He might know where the Johansson farmhouse is.”

She fixed her eyes on the black box on wheels with the solitary reflector. The few people she met in Owenson were strange. Even stranger than the Mennonites in Ohio.

She’d learned from Mr. Johansson, the owner of the bed and breakfast house she was staying at, that their Amish Ordnung strictly adhered to the Old Order. Which meant they lived like their ancestors of the 1800s. It was like being in an hourglass frozen in time, with no cars, electricity, or indoor plumbing. Johansson explained, “Our lifestyle keeps us from the temptations and worldly views of the twenty-first century.”

       Neat trick if it worked.

The swinging yellow beams of two lanterns ahead of her brought her back to the urgency of finding the Johansson farmhouse.

Reaching the enclosed carriage, she leaned forward on her horse. “Hello.”

“Whoa,” the man said. The large Standardbred horse stomped his foot impatiently.

“Does Michigan usually experience this type of aurora?”

“Is that what that is, an aurora?”

“Yes. I’ve seen auroras in New York, but never brought on with a bolt of lightning.” She rested back in her saddle. “Uh, do you happen to know the fastest way to the Johansson farm?”

“Follow this road until it bends to the left, then turn right on Peak. It will take you there.”

Her curiosity got the better of her. “How do your people get the news without a radio or television?”

The man poked his head around the corner of his carriage. His well-tanned face constricted into tiny laugh lines like a cork on a wine bottle. “We rely on you English.” His chuckle escaped through the click he bestowed to his horse. “Giddy up.” The horse’s shod hooves resonated a rhythmic beat, pounding a fast-paced clip as hurried as the man’s attitude.

Ruth reined up her horse. Not very sociable. Well, what did I expect, asking for a polite conversation with a guy driving a mirror-image of a century-old hearse? She urged her horse into a canter.


Getting to know Catherine: 

Your past novels were historical romance, why the sudden shift? and what can readers who enjoy Love’s Final Sunrise and your historical books do to help make them successful?

 

           Though this is a change in direction, so to speak for me, I felt right at home with the Amish. It turned out to be the perfect backdrop for my futuristic story that takes place during an EMP attack.

 

What can readers who enjoy Love’s Final Sunrise and your Destiny Series do to help make them even more successful?

 

           The best way to help me, or any author, is to write a review. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads are the most common spots. However, my publisher, CrossRiverMedia has opened up for the public to write their reviews https://www.crossrivermedia.com/product/loves-final-sunrise/  Bookbub is another spot you could post a review. 


Writers live very solitary lives. We write, write, write, making up imaginary people that we hope to bring to life through the written word. Only when we hear from our readers do we know if we succeeded in making our characters and story real enough for our readers to immerse themselves in every page and feel the magic when their imagination takes flight!


What can readers expect from you next?

I am so excited to have finished Love’s Final Sunrise! I can’t wait to see how my readers like it. My next project, after I’ve gotten Love’s Final Sunrise off and running, is to write the sequel to my western, Wilted Dandelions. 


About Catherine:

Catherine is the award-winning author of Wilted Dandelions and her Destiny Series,  Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, and Waltz with Destiny. Her newest book is Love's Final Sunrise. Catherine and her husband of fifty years have two adult children, four grandchildren, four Arabian horses, two dogs, five cats, six chickens, and five bunnies.


Giveaway: 

Have you had a chance to read any of Catherine’s books? What do you look for in a good read; educational, historical accuracy, romance, adventure, or pleasure? Catherine will give away a digital copy to the person with the best comment on this blog. Remember to cleverly disguise your email address so the bots don't find you. For example, donna AT livebytheword DOT com

Entries without an email address will not be entered into the drawing


Connecting online: 

Website: https://www.CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com 

Link to book:

https://www.crossrivermedia.com/product/loves-final-sunrise/

Visit my website at: https://www.catherineulrichbrakefield.com/   Be first to know my latest news and giveaways by signing up for my Newsletter: https://www.catherineulrichbrakefield.com/newsletter-sign-up-form.html

CrossRiver Media Author page; https://www.crossrivermedia.com/portfolio-items/catherine-brakefield/?portfolioCats=55

Amazon Author Page and learn about my newest books: https://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Ulrich-Brakefield/e/B001H6UI8U/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatherineUlrichBrakefield/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Catherine+Ulrich+Brakefield&qid=aqKTjRCaFn

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/catherine-ulrich-brakefield?list=about

Blog: Hope, Hearts, and Hoofbeats https://catherineulrichbrakefield.wordpress.com/       

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-brakefield-4710b315/   


Share by: