Carol Award Finalists Announced

Yesterday an exciting day! Why, you ask? Because  the finalist for the 2013 Carol Awards were announced, and Saving Gideon is a finalist in the romance category! I am grinning from ear to ear! So very excited to be among such great names as my dear friend, Margaret Daley as well as Carolyn Zane, Bradilyn Collins, and Beth Wiseman, who are also finalist this year.

Whew! Now we have to wait until September when the winners are announced. Truly it’s an honor to be a finalist…I can wait…for a while. :) Until then, here’s the cover and blurb for Saving Gideon:

SavingGideon_3D

Gideon Fisher wants only one thing out of life— to be left alone.  This is not the Amish way, but he’s devastated after the death of his wife.  He has lost his faith.  He buys a farm on the outskirts of the district and pulls away from his community.  But when a freak spring snowstorm brings a beautiful Englisher to his farm, what choice does he have but to let her in?

Dallas socialite, Avery Ann Hamilton is intrigued by the Amish farmer who pulls her out of the snow and into his austere life style.    Poor little rich girl, Avery has just gone through—–yet another—–bad breakup.  Every man she meets only wants her for her father’s money.  All she has ever wanted is to be loved for herself.  Avery soon discovers that the Oklahoma Amish country is the perfect place to hide out and heal her broken heart.

But she finds a peace in those back roads that she’s never felt before.  Now her life has purpose and meaning as she connects with God and those around her.  But it has even more as she begins to care for this man who needs both love and forgiveness.

Gideon never wanted to live again much less fall in love, but Avery finds her way into his heart, showing him the beauty of life and God’s greatness.  But as the feelings between Avery and Gideon grow, can they overcome their dissimilar lifestyles or will their sheer differences pull them apart?

B&H Publishing

Saving Gideon is the first novel in the Clover Ridge Series

Cover Reveal–Gabriel’s Bride

Katie’s Choice has launched and it’s time now to view the incredibly awesome cover for the third installment in the Clover Ridge Series. Here it is…Gabriel’s Bride

gabriel'sbridePersonally, I LOVE it! (But green is one of my favorite colors). Weigh in…what do you think?

 

And the Winners Are…

Whew! Guess what? I finally got all the winners together to announce for the launch party contest. I apologize for the delay, between summer break, tornadoes, and national holidays, I’m running a little late. But here are the winners per site.

Between You, Me, & the Gatepost (Loree Huebner’s site): “Library Lady”

Amy Clipston Books: Cheryl Baranski

Pens and Peonies: Britt 98

Margaret Daley’s blog: Kay Gervais

Confessions of a Wonder Woman Wanna Be (Jen Sulpizio’s site): Leslie Thomas

Destination Amish: Barbara Prisinzano

Once Upon a Time (Sonya Weiss’ site): Brenda Maxfield

PT Bradley’s site: Mary Ellen Ashenfelder

And the Grand Prize Winner is (drumroll, please)…

Michelle Lim

(confetti, confetti, confetti)

Thank you everyone for entering. Be watching for the next contest coming in July. And thanks again for all the wonderful friendship and support!

Amy

Amy’s Blog Tour

EnvelopeIn celebration of the release of Katie’s Choice, I’m going on tour! I hope you can join me one of the dates. I’m giving away an envelope at each stop. What’s inside? That’s a secret. But there’s some good stuff–gift cards and free books. And at the end…One lucky visitor will win a reader’s survival pack with a book bag, a copy of Katie’s Choice and chocolate, of course!

Here are the dates:

4/29 Between You, Me and the Gatepost – Loree Huebner
5/1 Amy Clipston Books
5/2 Pens and Peonies
5/9 Margaret Daley’s Blog
5/9 Confessions of a Wonder-Woman Wannabe!
5/10 Destination Amish
5/14 Once Upon a Time
5/15 P.T. Bradley
5/16 Jennifer Beckstrand
5/20 Kathi Macias

Hope to see you there!

Street Team

street team2All right, chickadees, I’m looking for a few good readers to help me spread the word about my books. Membership is easy and free *and* comes with perks. Some of which are so secret that even I don’t know about them. :)

Seriously though, if you’re interested in joining my Street Team, I’d be thrilled to have you. A Street Team’s job is simple–help promote the author’s work. This can be accomplished in many ways–Twitter, Facebook, G+, Pinterest, or whatever is your social media of choice.

I’m still pounding out the details and filing down a few rough edges and hope to have something in place very soon. In the meantime you can join using the STREET TEAM tab on this site.

Street Team membership is not without perks. I’ve got a few introductory gifts to dole out as well as an exclusive drawing each month for the members. That means a drawing for prizes for the members only! YAY!

Hope you’ll join me in spreading the word!

Ain’t That A Peach

With peaches in a wicker basket on the tablecloth, on a background of foliageSo yesterday I was struck with a thought of sheer brilliance. Since this doesn’t happen often (or as often as I’d like) I thought I would share it with you. Peaches!

Wait, of course that’s brilliant, when you add in the fact that I’m collecting peach recipes to add to the April newsletter. I’ve got one recipe to share as well as a couple to test out. Yes, it;s a tough job, but that’s how much you mean to me.

If you have a recipe starring peaches and you’d like to share it with the other readers, send me an email. You can use this site’s CONTACT ME or simply send it direct at amylillard@hotmail.com. Be it peach smoothie or gourmet peach souffle, we want to hear about it!

Thanks for reading and joining in! I appreciate you all!