“This Courageous Journey” Celebrate Lit Book Tour, Review, and Giveaway

My Review:

“This Courageous Journey” is the first book I have read by author Misty Beller, but it will not be the last. While this was Book 3 in her Heart of the Mountains Series, it can easily be as a stand-alone. This reader loved it so much I am going back to read the other books now.

Author Beller is a talented storyteller. I quickly became invested in this book and stayed that way until the end. My emotions were all over the place while reading this book. I felt like I was on the journey with Noelle and Daniel. Frightened, happy, cold, excited, scared, tense, exhilarated, intrigued, worn out, awed, and even extreme romantic tension all transferred from the pages of this book into me.

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This is the tale of Noelle Grant who ventures through the Canadian Rockies with family friends to see her brother. Their guide, Daniel Abrams, is a rough mountain man, but when the two get together sparks fly. The journey is filled with danger and breathtaking adventure. They encounter fierce wild animals, severe weather, treacherous trails, and many trials. It took courage and faith to complete the trip.

The author did a fabulous job with her story. It was well researched, planned, and written. I love learning things from fiction books I read. This one taught me things I did not know. The author’s style of writing is nice. It flows smoothly and is easy to follow. Characters are well defined. I enjoyed the faith that Noelle had. If it is a Christian novel, I expect there to be some mention of faith, God, and prayer. This one excelled there. There are lessons in this book. God is faithful and always with us. When we do not know what to do, we should ask God for guidance. God gives us strength to carry on.

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If you are a fan of love stories, do not miss this one. The tension is so thick between Noelle and Daniel that I could feel it as I read. When he said “woman, you undo me” I started cheering her. When they kissed, oh, my! Oh, my! Author Beller knows her way around a good romance.

I highly recommend this page turning book. It is adventurous, romantic, historic, and inspirational. The book sweeps you up and takes you on a perilous journey across the Canadian mountains during a time you can only imagine. By the end of it, you feel like you have experienced it. It gets a 5 out of 5 stars from me. Celebrate Lit provided a copy of the book but I was under no obligation to write a review. These are my own, honest opinions.

About the Book

Book Title: This Courageous Journey
Author: Misty Beller
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Release date: October 9, 2018

As the fifth daughter in a family of nine children, Noelle Grant has spent her life working to be unique. Her love of stories helps define her goal—to be known around the country as one of the top news correspondents of her time. And what better way to uncover sensational stories than to travel through the mountain wilderness to visit the brother she hasn’t seen in years? The trip comes together perfectly as she plans to journey with family friends who will be settling in the same area. Her first inkling that things may not be as perfect as planned comes in the form of the mountain man they hire as their guide for the final leg of the journey.

When Daniel Abrams agrees to guide the small group of easterners along his usual journey northward to the Canadian mountains, his gut tells him he’s making the wrong decision. But if he doesn’t take them, who will? The man in charge refuses to consider turning back. As they start out, Daniel can’t help but notice the woman traveling under the care of her friends. Though she appears too genteel to last long in these mountains, she soon reveals a strength that draws him more than he should allow.

As the dangers of this wilderness become more than the group bargained for, Noelle is faced with the choice to delay her journey northward or proceed alone with the man she’s come to trust against all reason. She never imagines her decision will place her—and the man she loves—in a situation more hazardous than any story her imagination could conjure.

About the Author

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Misty M. Beller writes romantic mountain stories, set on the 1800s frontier and woven with the truth of God’s love.

She was raised on a farm in South Carolina, so her Southern roots run deep. Growing up, her family was close, and they continue to keep that priority today. Her husband and daughters now add another dimension to her life, keeping her both grounded and crazy.

God has placed a desire in Misty’s heart to combine her love for Christian fiction and the simpler ranch life, writing historical novels that display God’s abundant love through the twists and turns in the lives of her characters.

Guest Post by Misty Beller

Ever Been Struck by Lightning?

One of the fun things about being a writer is the crazy topics I get to research. Without giving away too much of the story, part of my research for This Courageous Journey included uncovering what happens when lightning strikes a person. It turns out anything can happen!

Surprisingly, about nine out of ten people struck by lightning live to tell their story. Each person’s experience seems to be different—some are knocked unconscious, while others are horribly aware of everything happening. One person who was struck said it seemed as if time slowed to a crawl and a white haze surrounded him like a bubble, as excruciating pain shot through him.

People usually try to determine the path the lightning traveled through them, based on where burn marks appear on both skin and clothing, but sometimes that can be difficult if jewelry or coins were touching the body. Survivors might suffer a variety of short- and long-term effects, including—but not limited to—cardiac arrest, confusion, seizures, dizziness, muscle aches, deafness, headaches, memory deficits, distractibility, personality changes, and chronic pain, among others. That may sound like an awful list, but it does beat the alternative!

As I considered the possible effects of a lightning strike when I was writing This Courageous Journey, I was reminded once again how magnificent God’s creation is. Both the incredible power contained in one streak of lightning, and the beautiful inner workings of the bodies He created for us. As the Psalmist said, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made!”